Although Thomas Smith was born in Ireland, he received his formal education in Scotland, graduating from the University of Glascow, after which he studied theology with the younger Moncrieff at Alloa in Scotland. He was licensed to preach in 1776 and soon afterward was ordained as the Pastor of the Associate Presbyterian Church at Ahoghill, County Antrim, Ireland. It was there that he married Jane, the daughter of William Weir, in 1683. The Protestants and Catholics in Ireland had always been at each other's throats over government rule (Ed. Note - 1972 and they still are). The British Government being at war with France tried to pacify the situation by an attempt to form the "Society of United Irishmen." However the Catholics soon became revolutionary and belligerent and entered into negotiations with France to form an "Irish Republic," and the French did try, but unsuccessfully, to land troops in Ireland in 1796-7. In the meantime the Presbyterians in Ulster joined the "Orange Society" which soon spread to all the Protestants in north Ireland. The British troops trying to quell the rebellions actually feared the Ulster Presbyterians more than the Catholics in the south, and proceeded to disarm the Protestants by the most savage and brutal methods.

Because of the rebellion Rev. Thomas Smith decided to relinquish the pastorate he had held for 22 years, and in 1790 he, his wife and their six children emigrated to America. According to tradition, after he and his family had embarked and the ship was still in the harbor, he called his congregation together on shipboard, and preached his last sermon to them, using the text "Ye shall see my face no more." Enroute, on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland, on 29 July 1799, his wife gave birth to a baby boy whom they named Samuel Ferguson. He later followed his father's footsteps and became a minister of the Gospel. Shortly after their disembarkation in Philadelphia in late December 1799, Rev. Smith supplied a pulpit in York, Pennsylvania, for a year, and in 1801 he was installed as Pastor of the Tuscarora Presbyterian Church in Juniata County, Pennsylvania. While pastor there, he purchased a farm of 180 acres about ten miles up the east side of the Tuscarora Valley from Mifflintown. After the death of Rev. William Logan in 1806, his congregation of Fermanagh (now Mexico, Pa.) which, included the McCoysville Church was added to Rev. Smith's ' charge. All of these congregations were later organized into what was called the "Big Spring Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church. He administered to these congregations until his death 12 February 1832. It was said that he was a man of small statue, but with a fiery temper and strong convictions.

His daughters Jane and Elizabeth kept house for their brother John, on a farm near Sugar Creek in Cochranton, a small town in the northwest section of Pennsylvania. After his death, his two sisters were joined by their sister Mary Ann, whose husband had died. They were known all over the community as the "Auntie Sisters" and were quite an institution. It is said that one old widower came courting Elizabeth, and, when he was about to leave, he popped the question by saying "Elizabeth, and what would you think to marry?" Elizabeth was quite indignant and said "I never saw the man yet that. I would marry.”

History of the Fam1ly of Thomas Smith- Rev W. S. Smith
Biographical Notes - G. O. Seilhamer Vol. 3 p~269
Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography John W. Jordon Vol 10 p. 23?
Family Bible