Transcription contributed by Martie Callihan 29 January 2005

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George J. Smith was born on the 22d day of May, 1799, near Newtown, in what is now Hamilton County, Ohio. He was the ninth and last child of Rev. James Smith, who emigrated with his family from Powhatan County, Va., to the territory northwest of the Ohio in the year 1798. Prior to his removal from Virginia, Mr. Smith had purchased a survey of land on the Little Miami River at the junction of Caesar's Creek with the river.

As no improvement had been made upon the land, upon his arrival he took up his temporary residence at what was called Middletown Station, between Columbia and Newtown. Here the subject of this notice was born, and here his father died in July, 1800. His widow, Elizabeth Smith, was left with a family of nine children, the eldest of whom was about eighteen years of age. Mrs. Smith remained with her family at the residence above mentioned until the month of December, 1800, when she removed to the tract of land which had been purchased by her husband, and upon which, in the meantime, a dwelling house had been partly constructed The country was then almost entirely new, the population sparse, and the family was in consequence compelled to endure many of the hardships and inconveniences incident to early pioneer life. Here the subject of this notice passed the years of his boyhood and youth, laboring on the farm, and from time to time availing himself of such opportunities for education as were then afforded. These, of course, were slender.

As he advanced toward manhood, he attended a school taught in the neighborhood by a person of considerable attainments, where he diligently prosecuted the study of the Latin language, in which he acquired a considerable degree of proficiency. During the whole of his after life, he retained his familiarity with and fondness for the Latin. He was not acquainted with any other of the classic languages, and had no opportunities for studying the higher mathematics. As may well be supposed, his opportunities for general reading in his

On the 9th day of April, 1822, Mr. Smith was married to Mrs. Hannah W. Freeman, the widow of Thomas Freeman, a former member of the Lebanon bar. This marriage union, which was one of singular felicity, subsisted for more than forty-four years, and until November 25, 1866, when it was terminated by the death of Mrs. Smith.

In 1825, Mr. Smith was elected a member of the House of Representatives from Warren County, and took his seat as such at the session of the Legislature commencing December 5, 1825. He was again elected to the same position in 1826, and again in 1827. In 1828, he was a candidate for re-election, but at that time, political feeling was running-high in view of the approaching contest for the Presidency, and Col. John Bigger (also a candidate for Representative) and himself, who were favorable to the election of Adams, were defeated by a majority of about fifty votes, their successful opponents being friends of Gen. Jackson. During the session of the Legislature which commenced in December, 1828, and in February, 1829, Judge Joshua Collett, who was then the President Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, of which Warren County formed a part, was elected a Judge of the Supreme Court, and thereupon Mr. Smith was elected by the Legislature to the office vacated by Judge Collett. This result was brought about through the influence of his friends in the Legislature, without any solicitation upon his part, and, indeed, wholly without his knowledge, he having been taken by surprise by the bestowal of the honor upon him. The judicial circuit was then composed of Butler, Warren, Greene, Clinton, Highland and Adams Counties. During his term of office, however, the counties of Highland and Adams were detached from the circuit and placed in another, leaving the first four named counties constituting his circuit. At that time, the only practicable mode of traveling was by riding on horseback To this necessity he attributed the fact that a tendency to pulmonary disease which had manifested itself in his earlier life soon disappeared, and his health, which had been somewhat delicate, became robust.

Judge Smith served a full term of seven years as President Judge, and, although a candidate for re-election, he was unsuccessful, Benjamin Hinkson, of Clinton County, having been elected as his successor. At the expiration of his term of office, there was a Democratic majority of ten or twelve in the Legislature, and it may serve to show the impression he had made by his judicial services to state that, although he was a decided and ardent Whig, his successful opponent, who was a Democrat, received a majority of but a single vote; and, although all of the counties in the circuit except Warren were represented in the Legislature by Democrats, yet all the Senators and Representatives from the counties composing the circuit supported Judge Smith. Soon after

In 1836, Judge Smith was elected a Senator in the Legislature from Warren County, and was re-elected in 1838, and accordingly served in the Senate two full terms of two years each. At the session commencing December 4, 1837, the Whigs then being in the majority in the Senate, he was elected Speaker of the Senate, and served in that capacity during the session. At the next session of the Senate, he was nominated by the Whig members for re-election as Speaker, and received their support, but, the Democrats then being in the majority in that body, he was not re-elected. While a member of the Senate, and when on the floor; he took an active and prominent part in all the more important parts of legislation, and served upon the Judiciary Committee, being the Chairman of that committee at one or two sessions.

In April, 1850, Judge Smith was elected the Senatorial Delegate from the counties of Warren, Greene and Clinton to the convention which framed the present constitution of the State. He served in that body as a member of the Standing Committee on the Judiciary, and was constant and faithful in his attendance during the whole time the convention was in session, but, owing to the state of his health, which had for a time become seriously impaired, was unable to take as active a part in the proceedings of the convention as he might otherwise have done. Believing that the new constitution, as adopted by the convention, contained some provisions that were liable to weighty objections, and others that he conceived to be in conflict with the constitution of the United States, he was not able to vote for the adoption of the constitution in convention or upon its final submission to the people for approval.

After the termination of his law partnership with Judge Probasco, he took into partnership with him his son, James M. Smith, which continued until the latter entered upon the office of Probate Judge, in February, 1855. Another son, John E. Smith, then became associated with him in the practice of law. From the time when Judge Smith resumed practice in 1836, until February, 1859, except when employed in public duties, he was actively and laboriously engaged in the duties of his profession. During the greater part of that time, he regularly attended the courts in Butler, Clinton and Greene Counties. His business was large and exacting, and as a lawyer he was characterized by his patience, diligence, conscientiousness and fidelity to the interests of others that were intrusted to his care.

In the summer of 1851, Judge Smith was nominated by a judicial convention for the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the Third Subdivision of the Second Judicial District of Ohio. This nomination he declined. In 1858, he was again nominated for the same position, and accepted the nomination, and was elected, his term of office beginning in February, 1859. The counties composing the subdivision were Warren, Clinton, Greene and Clark. This office he held for two consecutive terms of five years each. On the 9th of February, 1869, he finally retired from the bench, having nearly reached the age of three score and ten years. After quitting the bench, he did not again re-enter the practice of law, although he did, on a very few occasions, accept employment from some of his old clients, and appeared for them in the trial of causes. Nevertheless, from force of long habit, he was, until prevented by the state of his health, as regular and constant in his attendance upon the sittings of the courts at Lebanon as he had been in former years when in active practice at the bar. The residue of his life was spent in that ease and comfort which he had well earned by a long life of arduous professional labor and faithful public service, and was quietly and happily passed in the enjoyment of his books and of the society of his relatives and friends. His tastes had always

been domestic, and, although a considerable part of his life was necessarily passed away from his home, he was always reluctant to leave it, and glad to return to it.

For the last few years of his life, his health was considerably impaired, and, in consequence, he did not often leave his home; but occasionally he visited his relatives, many of whom dwelt on and near the spot where he had spent the days of his boyhood and youth, and these visits were to him the source of great gratification and pleasure.

At length, on the 18th day of April, 1878, after a brief illness, his life was closed. Had he survived until the 22d day of the following month, he would have completed his seventy-ninth year. He died respected and esteemed by all who had known him, and it is believed that he was considered to have discharged all the public trusts that were committed to him with ability and fidelity, and creditably to himself, and with advantage to his fellow-citizens; and that his private life was regarded by all his acquaintances as a commendable example of uprightness, justice, conscientiousness and purity. Eight children were born of his marriage, of whom four died in infancy, and four (three sons and one daughter) survived him, and who are still living.