Claudius was the eldest son of David Smith (1701–1787), a respected tailor, cattleman, miller, constable, clergyman, and finally judge in Brookhaven, New York.
[1] During the Revolutionary War, Claudius, along with several members of his family, including three of his four sons (William, Richard, and James), allegedly terrorized the New York countryside in an area formerly known as Smith's Clove (presently Monroe), Orange County, New York, where David Smith and his family had moved about 1741 from Brookhaven.
[1] All accounts agree that Claudius was a Loyalist and took part in Tory raids alongside the Mohawk Indian Chief, Joseph Brant.
Claudius was soon captured and was hanged on January 22, 1779, in the town of Goshen, Orange County, New York.
Author Pam Jackson writes of Claudius Smith's legend in her novel 'Wood, Fire, and Gold' released in 2014.