Smith, Samuel

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: S. R. Mealing, “SMITH, SAMUEL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 6, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/smith_samuel_6E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Army officer, politician, and colonial administrator; b. 27 Dec. 1756 in Hempstead, N.Y., son of James Smith, a Scottish immigrant; m. 21 Oct. 1799 Jane Isabella Clarke at Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake), Upper Canada, and they had two sons and nine daughters; d. 20 Oct. 1826 in York (Toronto).
    • Samuel Smith joined the Queen’s Rangers as an ensign in 1777, rose to captain in 1780, and was among those officers who surrendered at Yorktown, Va, in 1781. After the war he settled briefly in New Brunswick, and in 1784 went to England. Commissioned a captain in the second Queen’s Rangers on 20 Dec. 1791, he was first stationed at Niagara (Niagara-on-the-Lake). In August 1794 he led the detachment sent to York. He commanded the regiment from 1799, was promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1801, but went on half pay when the Rangers were disbanded in November 1802. He retired to the land he had taken up in 1796 in Etobicoke Township, where other disbanded Rangers joined him. It was a settlement that was to remain isolated from the town of York for another 20 years. Smith had 1,000 acres there, but could not afford the grand schemes that he entertained for their improvement.
    • On 11 June 1817, as the senior councillor who was neither a Roman Catholic nor the holder of another office, he was sworn in as administrator of the province, Lieutenant Governor Francis Gore having left Upper Canada. He served until 13 Aug. 1818 and again, during the absence of Lieutenant Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland, from 8 March to 30 June 1820.
  • United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=7837
  • Find A Grave : https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/118070676/samuel-smith