John Quincy Smith (November 5, 1824 – December 30, 1901) was an American farmer, politician and legislator from Ohio.

A voracious reader, his early schooling was limited because of his duties on the family farm, but his father believed in the advantages of an education, so that John Quincy was able to spend a short time at Miami University.

In Columbus, during the legislative sessions, Smith's roommate was James A. Garfield, who was just starting out on his public career, and other intimate acquaintances were John Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant.

[2] President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Smith as United States consul general to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, serving from 1878 until he resigned in 1882.

His published articles on tariff in the New York Evening Post attracted wide attention throughout the country and were extensively quoted by the press and on the stump.