My Heroes... James Smith

James Smith was born in Ireland and traveled to America as a young boy. He didn't know his birth date or at least refused to ever reveal the exact day. He worked as a surveyor and in law. From the first, he was a supporter of the revolution. He served in Congress and repeatedly attempted to retire from it to return to his private practice, only to be called back. He did finally "escape," not long after we won independence. He preferred his private life and lived to be around ninety.

As I read the brief history in Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence by B.J. Lossing, I could not help but wish I could have known James Smith. He intrigued me. A sense of humor and deep sense of honor and duty as well as a serious devotion to Christianity.