[1] Smith replaced R. C. Evans, who had moved to Canada and been given jurisdiction over the church there.

[3] Smith remained in as Presiding Patriarch of the church until his resignation in 1958 for health reasons, when he was replaced by Roy Cheville.

For many years he was also the editor of Saints' Herald, the official periodical of the RLDS Church.

Among Smith's most well-known works is Restoration: A Study in Prophecy and Differences that Persist Between the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Utah Mormon Church.

Smith married Clara Abigail Cochran in Lamoni, Iowa on 4 September 1895.