James M. (James Murdock) Smith was a lawyer, banker, investor, lay churchman, and a Judge of the New York State Superior Court. Born in East Poultney, Vermont in 1816, Smith would move along with his family to Gouverneur, New York in 1824, where he was educated through the secondary school level. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1837 and thereafter settled in Buffalo, New York. After spending time working in various firms, Smith was appointed by the governor to the superior court of Buffalo in 1873 where he would serve for the next fourteen years. He was married to Margaret Louisa Smith and they had a daughter, Maggie, who would later marry the Buffalo attorney Robert P. Wilson. In addition to his role as a lawyer and judge, Smith spent a great deal of his time serving at the Episcopal Church, Diocese of Western New York and in the American Church Building Fund Commission.
From the description of Papers of James M. Smith, 1830-1839, (bulk 1850-1889). (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 228737759
