Daniel B. Smith manuscripts

Daniel B. Smith (1792-1883) was born in 1792. He was an educator and pharmacist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Smith was educated at Burlington Friends School under John Griscom, where he acquired an interest in scientific studies. He later was the apprentice to John Biddle in the apothecary business, and on completion he was admitted to partnership. In 1819, he opened a drugstore in downtown Philadelphia, and in 1828, he entered into partnership with William Hodgson, renaming the firm "Smith & Hodgson", and continued to be active in business until a few years before his death. At the age of 28, he was one of the founders of the Apprentices' Library of Philadelphia.

Smith was a member of a group of pharmacists that in 1821 established the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (now University of the Sciences in Philadelphia) the first college of pharmacy in the country, was elected vice-president in 1828, and from 1829 to 1854 served as president. In 1852, he became the first president of the American Pharmaceutical Association. He was also an original member of the Franklin Institute.

In 1824, Smith married Esther Morton, and the couple had three children: John, Benjamin, and Mary. Smith died in 1883.