Smith, Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin Smith (1830 – 1927) was an artist, printer, and publisher of American city views active in the mid to late 19th century. Smith was born in South Freedom, Maine where he grew up on the family farm. His work is most commonly associated with his brothers, all of whom worked in the view-making industry, publishing both individually and separately as Smith Brothers. His brothers were Francis Smith, George Warren Smith, and David Clifford Smith. Among the brothers Benjamin, the youngest, was the most artistic, producing views as early as 1846, when he was 16. He drew his first city view, Albany as seen from the Hudson, at 17. Benjamin and his brothers initially worked as sales agents for viewmaker Edwin Whitefield. In 1849, the Smiths broke with Whitefield and began publishing under their own imprint, Smith Brothers. Benjamin Franklin drew at least four of the Smith Brother's views, and possibly significantly more. Reps suggests that the firm stopped publishing in 1855, but at least two important views, the 1857 Smith-Hill-Mottram view of Boston and the 1862 Smith view of Elmira, were issued later. Although both bear the Smith Brothers imprint, they were copyrighted by Benjamin Franklin Smith and are more likely than not, unassociated with the other brothers and their earlier views. In any case, the Smith firm was sold at an enormous profit in 1855, making the family extremely wealthy. They furthered their fortunes by investing in railroads. At the time of his death in 1927, Benjamin Franklin Smith was believed to be the richest man in Maine.