Joseph Smith (1736–1792) was a prominent Presbyterian minister in Western Pennsylvania. He is one of the founders of Washington & Jefferson College.

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Smith was born in Cecil County, Maryland, not far from the modern location of the Conowingo Dam.^[1] He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1764 at the relatively mature age of 28.^[1] He was "tall, blond, slender, and had piercing eyes" and was "emotional to a degree we do not usually associate with Englishmen."^[1]

Career[edit]

He was first licensed to preach by New Castle Presbytery and accepted a call in Brandywine, Pennsylvania.^[1] He and his family moved west to Cross Creek in what is now Washington County, Pennsylvania.^[1] There, he built a home and a log school called "The Study," where he taught.^[1]

Smith was known as a "firery and eloquent speaker" and held days-long revivals on the high plateau at Upper Buffalo.^[1] He loved reading religious materials in the original language: The Old Testament in Hebrew, the New Testament in Greek, Edward Leigh's Critica Sacra, and Pool's Synopsis.^[1] It was said that he kept a cloak at the foot of his bed for use when he would spontaneously rise to pray in his bitterly cold room in the middle of the night.^[1]

References[edit]

• Smith, D.D., Rev. Joseph (1858). William Buell Sprague (ed.). Annals of the American Pulpit. Vol. III. R. Carter and Brothers.