Henry Clay Smith was born in Montgomery County, North Carolina on September 8, 1895. A resident of Wadeville, Montgomery County, in 1918 he was arrested for violating the prohibition law. He was sentenced to time on the Stanly County roadwork chain gang, but he was later pardoned by Governor Thomas W. Bickett so that he could serve as a private during World War I. When he returned home, Roberts testified against Nevin C. Cranford, his former superintendent on the chain gang who was on trial for murdering three African American prisoners. Smith died in Montgomery County on August 25, 1985.