Background
Robert was born c. 1722 in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, and came to Philadelphia at an early age.
Robert was born c. 1722 in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, and came to Philadelphia at an early age.
There is no informatioan about his education.
Smith emerges from obscurity only about the middle of the eighteenth century as a builder in Philadelphia and a member of the Carpenters' Company of that city. His first recorded commission was the construction of Nassau Hall, built to house the College of New Jersey at Princeton (later Princeton University). The trustees' minutes refer to the design of the building (begun in 1754) as the work of Smith and "Doct. Shippen" (possibly Dr. William Shippen, Sr. , but An Account of the College of New Jersey (1764) gives the credit to Smith alone. The house he built for the president of the college still stands nearby.
His next major task, the erection of St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, was undertaken in 1758. In drawing the plans he probably had the collaboration of Dr. John Kearsley, who was a member of the building committee. The church still exists, in almost its original condition save for the addition of a spire; it is notable for its fenestration and the beauty of its interior appointments, and may probably be considered its builder's masterpiece. From this time forward Smith's services seem to have been in constant demand.
He submitted plans for a building for the Carpenters' Company in 1768, and when Carpenters' Hall was built two years later his name headed the list of the building committee. He appears to have designed the Zion Lutheran Church (1766) and the Walnut Street Prison (1773); these have been destroyed, while the Third (Old Pine Street) Presbyterian Church, also his work (1766), survives in a form altered beyond recognition.
In 1774 he was one of a committee chosen by the "mechanics" of Philadelphia to assist in organizing agitation against the coercion of Boston, and at a mass meeting of citizens on June 18 he was appointed to the committee of correspondence that was directed to take steps for a general colonial congress. On July 24, 1775, the Pennsylvania committee of safety approved a plan he submitted for the construction of chevaux-de-frise to block the channel of the Delaware below Philadelphia, and accepted his offer to serve gratis in supervising the three lines that were placed in the river near Fort Mifflin. During 1776 he was employed in the preparation of similar defences, and other works, at Billingsport, further down the river.
Smith died, however, without seeing his inventions tested in action. He was in his fifty-fifth year, when died in Billingsport, New Jersey.
He was a member of the American Philosophical Society from 1768.
His wife, Esther or Hester, lived until 1783. Smith was said to have two daughters, Martha and Rebecca, who died in 1758 and 1770 respectively.