In the 1870s, the family moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina, where James obtained a bachelor's degree at Wofford College in 1884.
He subsequently taught high school science and mathematics in Nashville, Tennessee for two years.
He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1922 and the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1925.
[1][2] Smith joined the Stanford University faculty at Branner's invitation upon completing his Ph.D, and retired in June 1930.
[6] Smith Creek on northern Ellesmere Island is named after him, and indirectly the Smithian substage of the Early Triassic epoch.