 He spent much of his career with the State of Illinois waterways division and was its chief engineer until his retirement in 1937.Several of his works built in the 1920s and 1930s as part of the Illinois Waterway project are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including portions of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, the Dresden Island Lock and Dam, the Lockport Lock and Power House, and the Marseilles Lock and Dam.Smith was born October 26, 1867, in Newberry, South Carolina.