When Smith's father was appointed U.S. Consul to Mexico, the rest of the family settled in St. Augustine, Florida in 1820.
Smith received his early education in Florida and visited his father in Mexico when he was about fourteen.
Smith attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and later earned a degree from Harvard Law School in 1836.
In his report Smith advocated draining the swamp with a series of canals and using the reclaimed land to grow citrus crops.
In Spain he became friends with noted historian, Pascual de Gayangos, and continued his archival research with an emphasis on the early history of Florida.
He set aside the rest of his estate to establish the Buckingham Smith Benevolent Association with a mission to benefit current and future generations of blacks in St. Augustine.
[4] Smith wrote on a variety of topics including Spanish exploration and colonization, Native American history, linguistics, and geography.