Samuel Smith Jr. was born in Craven County, North Carolina on June 12, 1744. An early Patriot, he served as the chair at a meeting of freeholders for Johnston County in 1774 when that county filed its nonimportation resolves. Smith later represented Johnston at the fourth and fifth meetings of the North Carolina Provincial Congress in 1776. Smith was also an officer in the Johnston County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia for the duration of the war, eventually attaining the rank of lt. colonel. He served in the North Carolina Senate from 1794 to 1800 and in 1806. He died in Johnston County on March 8, 1809.