James Youngs Smith (September 15, 1809 – March 26, 1876) was an American politician and the 29th Governor of Rhode Island (May 26, 1863 – May 29, 1866).

His mother was descended from Mayflower passengers John Alden and Priscilla Mullens.

[2] Next year, he moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where he worked for a lumber business that he became the owner of a decade later.

He was succeeded by fellow Republican and Civil war general Ambrose Burnside on May 29, 1866.

Public offices were closed, and a funeral procession of mourners in carriages and on foot followed the body to its resting place in Swan Point Cemetery.