He was an active leader of the Republican Party; he served as an alderman and a councilman.

[1][2] In February 1858, Stephen R. Smith joined the New Haven Grays.

On January 8, 1885, Smith was appointed Connecticut Adjutant General by Governor Henry B.

They had four daughters and two sons; Lizzie M. (1874), Irenel (1876), Ethel (1878), Frank I (1881–1881), M. Pearl (1883), and Claire L. (1887).

Stephen R. Smith died in December 1889, in New Haven, Connecticut.