Dr. Smith was born in Gasport, Indiana, and received a B.S. degree from Indiana University in 1882 and a M.S. in 1885. He received his medical degree from the University of Louisville (KY) in 1884. He practiced medicine in Gasport (1884–88) and then took a position at the Northern Indiana Hospital for the Insane (1888–91). He was appointed superintendent at the Eastern Indiana Hospital for the Insane in Richmond, Virginia, and remained there until 1923.
Dr. Smith served on many state committees for the care of the insane and was Chairman of the Joint Purchasing Committee for all Indiana public institutions. He chaired a committee that investigated St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., and a committee to recommend changes in laws requiring the commitment of mental cases to federal institutions, thus making St. Elizabeths a training enclave for psychiatrists.
He served as an alumni trustee of Indiana University (1916–25) and also as provost. He contributed many papers to the psychiatric literature. Dr. Smith served as counselor (1900–03), Vice President (1913–14), and President of the American Medico-Psychological Association (1914–15).