SMITH, Junius, pioneer of ocean steam navigation, born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, 2 October, 1780; died in Astoria, New York, 23 January, 1853. His father, General David Smith, was an officer of militia. Junius was graduated at Yale in 1802, studied at the Litchfield law-school, and in 1803 delivered the annual oration before the Society of the Cincinnati of Connecticut. He practised at the New Haven bar till 1805, when he was appointed to prosecute a claim against the British government for the capture of an American merchant ship. He pleaded the cause in the admiralty court in London, succeeded in obtaining large damages, and on his return to this country extensively engaged in commerce, and conducted a prosperous business for many years. He began the project of navigating the Atlantic ocean with steamships in 1832, published a prospectus of the enterprise in 1835, in 1836 established the British and American steam navigation company, and in the spring of 1838 proved the feasibility of the scheme by the crossing of the steamer " Sirius." Captain Moses Rogers had crossed in the "Savannah," using both sails and steam, in 1819. Mr. Smith's anticipation of the pecuniary advantages of the project were not realized, and he abandoned it, engaging in the introduction of the tea-plant into South Carolina. He purchased an extensive plantation near Greenville, and was endeavoring to prosecute the industry at the time of his death. Yale gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1840.