Career
A native of Pennsylvania, Smith resided in Tinicum Township in the state's Delaware County when, in 1806, he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving through 1807. In 1815, the first year of his one-term Congressional service, Thomas Smith moved to Darby Township (later Darby Borough). Three decades later, at the time of his death, he was still in public service, as a justice of the peace in Darby.
Although the year of his birth has remained undocumented, his record as a state politician in the first decade of the 19th century indicates that he lived at least into his mid- to late sixties. The interment was in St. James’s (Old Swedes) Cemetery in Paschall (now a part of Philadelphia).