His grandfather Larkin Smith had served in the Virginia House of Delegates representing King and Queen County and even became its Speaker.

John received an education appropriate for his class, then traveled to Richmond to attend David Turner's high school while his father was a surgeon for the Confederate States Army, and ran Chimborazo Hospital in that city.

Following the American Civil War, he studied law at Richmond College and graduated.

Admitted to the bar in 1867, Smith began a private legal practice in Richmond, Virginia.

[1] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress