Smith was born on April 16, 1878, in French Lake, an unincorporated area of New Brunswick, Canada.

[1][2][3][4] In 1895, Governor William H. Upham commissioned Smith as a second lieutenant in the Wisconsin National Guard.

[1][5][6][7] With the onset of the Spanish–American War, Smith rejoined the Wisconsin National Guard as a non-commissioned officer.

When he took charge of the paper, Klamath Falls had five newspapers competing for reads in a community of only 3,000 people.

She was the youngest daughter of Captain Ivan D. Applegate, an early Klamath County pioneer.

[2][20] In 1912, Smith decided to run as a Republican for a District 21 seat in the Oregon House of Representatives.

[23] Since no Democratic candidates filed for the District 21 seats, Smith and Forbes were unopposed in the general election.

[2][27] Later in the session, Smith was appointed to a special committee assigned to investigate conditions in Oregon’s state prisons.

A fiscal conservative, Smith successfully pushed a bill through the legislature that standardized government accounting within the state.

After the session, he received special recognition from eastern Oregon farmers for his work on the irrigation committee.

[2][29] In 1914, Smith decided to run for re-election, seeking to retain his District 21 House seat.

There were also two candidates running in the Democratic primary, P. H. Dencer of Bend and Fred W. Hyndman of Klamath Falls.

[2][35] During the session, Smith was appointed to the ways and means, irrigation, military affairs, and printing committees.

[45] In 1920, Smith sold the Evening Herald to E. J. Murray so he could focus on his commercial printing business.

[49] Instead of returning to state politics, Smith ran for a city council position in Klamath Falls.

[1][51][52] After leaving the council, he continued to serve Klamath Falls as chairman of the city’s budget committee.

Smith was appointed chairman of the 15-person committee that evaluated various options for improving the city’s government.

[1] Due to an extended illness, Smith was confined to his home for the last six years of his life.