[2] Smets' friend, Charles Maurel, a merchant in Savannah, Georgia, persuaded him to return to the United States with him during a visit to France.

[3][2] His early career was not entirely notable; a partnership formed shortly after his arrival in Savannah was dissolved, after which he moved into the lumber trade on his own.

"[2] On March 29, 1820, he married 22-year-old Annie Watt, with whom he had nine children,[2] including: Hortensia (born 1824), Eliza Jane Laura (1833), Uranie Cornelia (1836), Lucy Ellen (1839) and Pauline Hortense (1842).

[2] During his life, Smets accumulated a large library, regarded as "one of the most valuable and extensive collections of books ever offered to the American public.

On March 6, 1919, his (and the rest of his family's) remains were removed from the Smets Vault to Bonaventure Cemetery,[3] where he is now interred alongside his wife, who predeceased him by eight years.