John Smith (1722-1794)
Merchant & State Senator, of "Lexington" Baltimore, Maryland
He was born in Ireland before his father emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1728. He was a first cousin of William Smith, U.S. Congressman from Maryland. He began his career as the owner of a general store in Carlisle, shipping the wheat he received from his customers through Baltimore. Eventually moving to Baltimore itself, he established himself in business with William Buchanan as Smith & Buchanan, Merchants. When he took his two eldest sons into partnership in 1774, it became known as John Smith & Sons, trading with Europe and the West Indies. During the Revolution, he supplied gunpowder, cloth, and other items to the Continental army, and his firm also had an interest in at least one privateer. By 1779, he had built at least one warehouse and a wharf on Gay Street, and he retired in favor of his son, Samuel, in 1784. He served as a State Senator (1781-91) and a Justice for Baltimore County. In 1750, he married Mary, sister of his business partner William Buchanan, and they had eight children (listed).
