Isaac Smith (233)

Election date: 1768 (Isaac Smith (1736–29 August 1807) was a physician, public officeholder, and judge, and a member of the American Philosophical Society via his 1768 election to the American Society. Born in New Jersey, he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1755 as well as an honorary master’s degree in 1758, both from the College of New Jersey. Shortly thereafter, Smith relocated to Philadelphia to study medicine. There, he received another honorary master’s degree from the College of Philadelphia before opening a “Medicinal Store” with business partner Richard Harris in Philadelphia. By 1765 Smith had dissolved the business and moved to Trenton, New Jersey, where he continued practicing medicine. Though he lacked legal training, he was appointed a judge of the Hunterdon County Court of Common Pleas in 1768 and in 1777 became an associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, holding that post for almost three decades. Also interested in politics, Smith supported American Independence. He was Hunterdon County’s elected representative to the state convention that selected the delegates to the First Continental Congress. He later served as a colonel in the county’s militia in 1775 and 1776. A dedicated Federalist, Smith was elected to the U.S. Congress for a single term in 1794, after which time he accepted George Washington’s appointment as U.S. Commissioner in treaty negotiations with the Mohawk Indian Nation. While never active at the APS, Smith devoted considerable energy to the New Jersey Medical Society and the Trenton Academy. Having outlived his wife and sons, he was buried next to his family in 1807. (PI))

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