Born in Hanover, Massachusetts, Smith attended the common schools and was graduated from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, in 1813.
He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Portland, Maine, in 1817.
He was United States Marshal for the district of Maine 1830–1838.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1840 to the Twenty-seventh Congress.
He was interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.