Smith entered the service in June of 1776 under the command of Captain Joseph Jolly and Colonel John Thomas where he served as a private.
He served subsequent tours under Captain Joshua Palmer and Captain J. Wood on scouting duty for two months at the siege of Savanah and also a two-month tour at the Block House at Brandon’s Mill.
Samuel Smith married Sarah White sometime between 1774–1776. She was the daughter of Isaac and Mary White. The White family moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Union District, South Carolina, around 1790 and were deeded property around Lockhart Junction, Jonesville Township. Samuel and Mary had 10 children: William, Bailey, Miles, Giles, Isaac, Newell, Elizabeth, Ginsey, Patsey and Hannah. He later married Elizabeth Mitchell, and no children were born to this union.
On Tuesday, September 4, 1798, the court ordered Samuel Smith be appointed commissioner to mark out a way for a road from Landlot Porters on Browns Creek to the Grindal Shaols Road, the nearest and best way to said Shoals. Samuel Smith died on April 16, 1835, in Union District, South Carolina. He is buried in the Bogansville United Methodist Church Cemetery in Jonesville, Union County, South Carolina.