[2] At the age of nineteen, he "became a bookkeeper at Ingleside, a large plantation on the Yazoo River", and "in his spare time, he read law books".

[5] He entered the practice of law in Yazoo City, Mississippi, in July, 1893, returning to Lexington in February 1894.

[2] In 1906, Governor James K. Vardaman appointed Smith to a seat on the Mississippi Fourth Circuit Court.

[1] On February 25, 1909 Governor Edmond Noel announced Smith's elevation to a seat on the state supreme court.

[1] Smith had a heart attack in July 1946, and thereafter remained in fragile health until he died two years later, at the age of 79.