SMITH, James, signer of the Declaration of Independence, born in Ireland about 1720; died in York, Pennsylvania, 11 July, 1806. The date of his birth is uncertain, for he never told it. His father emigrated with his family to this country in 1729, and engaged in farming on Susquehanna river. James was educated at the College of Philadelphia, studied law, and settled first in Shippensburg as a lawyer and surveyor, and afterward in York, Pennsylvania, where for many years he was the sole practitioner at the bar. During this period of his life he was as widely known for his humorous stories, his wit, and conviviality as for his learning and success in practice, his drollery being heightened by an awkwardness of gesture, a ludicrous east of countenance, and a drawling utterance. He also successfully engaged in extensive iron-manufactures on Codorus creek, and at the beginning of the Revolution possessed considerable property. In 1774 he raised the first volunteer company in the state for the purpose of resisting Great Britain, and was a member of the convention to consider the expediency of abstaining from importing any goods from England, and also of assembling a general congress. At this meeting he was one of a committee of three to prepare instructions for the representatives, and these instructions, together with Smith's essay " On the Constitutional Power of Great Britain over the Colonies in America," gave the first strong impulse to the patriot cause in that region. He was a member of the Pennsylvania convention in January, 1776, and of the provincial conference that assembled on 18 June of the same year to form a new government for Pennsylvania, and seconded the resolution that was offered by Dr. Benjamin Rush in favor of a declaration of independence. This, having been unanimously adopted, was signed by the members, and presented to congress a few days before the Declaration. On the day of the adoption of the resolution, Smith was appointed, with Colonel John Bayard and others, to organize a volunteer camp of Pennsylvania militia for the protection of Philadelphia. He was a member of the convention of 15 July, 1776, that assembled in Philadelphia for the purpose of forming a new constitution for the state, and on the 20th of the same month was elected to congress, remaining in that body till 1778. In 1779 he served in the general assembly of Pennsylvania. In 1780 he was commissioned judge of the high court of appeals. In 1782 tie was appointed brigadier-general of Pennsylvania militia. He was appointed a counsellor on the part of Pennsylvania in the controversy between that state and Connecticut in 1784, and in the following year was chosen to congress in the place of Matthew Clark-son, who had resigned, but his advanced age compelled him to decline a re-election. After the peace, having lost his fortune during the war, he resumed the practice of his profession, in which he continued till 1801. He was the personal and political friend of Washington and an ardent Federalist.