Born in Washington county, Virginia, March 10, 1829, and was the son of James Crawford and Ann Ryburn (Orr) Smyth. At the age of eighteen, Mr. Smyth moved to Henry county, Tennessee, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1851 Judge Smyth was married, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Miss Mary A. Crocker, daughter of J. Davis and Deborah (Doane) Crocker. In 1857 Mr. Smyth removed to Burlington, Iowa, where he soon succeeded in establishing a large and lucrative practice, and by his superior legal ability and prompt attention to the business of his clients was soon declared one of the foremost lawyers of the State. In politics he was a Democrat, and uncompromising in his views. He was appointed district judge of the first judicial district of Iowa in April, 1874, by the Republican governor, C. C. Carpenter, to fill a vacancy, but resigned the position in September of the same year. He represented Des Moines county in the Twenty-fourth Iowa General Assembly, 1892. He was a member of the Episcopal Church.