James Smith

author

James Smith

1737–1812

A colonial frontiersman who turned hard experience into firsthand storytelling, he is remembered for a captivity narrative that became an early American classic. His writings draw on years spent on the Pennsylvania and Kentucky frontier, where he was also known as a soldier, farmer, and political leader.

1 Audiobook

Captives among the Indians : $b first-hand narratives of Indian wars, customs, tortures, and habits of life in colonial times

Captives among the Indians : $b first-hand narratives of Indian wars, customs, tortures, and habits of life in colonial times

by Francesco Giuseppe Bressani, Massy Harbison, Mary White Rowlandson, James Smith

About the author

Captured during the French and Indian War, James Smith later wrote An Account of the Remarkable Occurrences in the Life and Travels of Col. James Smith (1799), a memoir based on his years in Native captivity and on the frontier. The book is one of the better-known early American captivity narratives and remains notable for its vivid detail and direct, personal voice.

Beyond his writing, Smith was a frontiersman, farmer, and soldier in British North America and the early United States. He is also associated with the "Black Boys" uprising in Pennsylvania, an early protest against British policy before the American Revolution.

Some sources connected with his books list his dates as 1737–1812, while other reference sources give 1737–1813. Even with that uncertainty, his place in early American writing is clear: he left a rare firsthand record of frontier life, conflict, and survival in the 18th century.