SMITH, Robert, P. E. bishop, born in the county of Norfolk, England, 25 June, 1732; died in Charleston, South Carolina, 28 October, 1801. He entered Goreville and Caius college, Cambridge, was graduated in 1753, and was elected a fellow of the university. He was ordained deacon, 7 March, 1756, by the bishop of Ely, and priest, 21 December, 1756, by the same bishop. He came to this country in 1757, was assistant minister of St. Philip's church, Charleston, for two years, and became rector in 1759. Though he adhered to the crown early in the Revolution, he became an ardent patriot, and at one time joined the ranks of the Continental army as a private. On the capture of Charleston by the British in 1780, Mr. Smith was banished to Philadelphia. For a brief period he had charge of St. Paul's parish, Queen Anne county, Maryland, but he returned to Charleston in 1783 and opened an academy, which was chartered in 1786 as South Carolina college. Of this institution he was president until 1798. He received the degree of D. D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1789. He was unanimously elected in 1795 to be the first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church in South Carolina, and was consecrated in Christ church, Philadelphia, 14 September, 1795. Bishop Smith, though an excellent scholar and very acceptable preacher, made no contributions in print to church literature or otherwise. He was one of the earliest members of the Society of the Cincinnati.