Samuel Francis Smith
#176,818 Most Popular
About
Best known for writing the lyrics to My Country, 'Tis of Thee. He titled it America. He was also a Baptist minister.
Before Fame
He was an editor for Baptist Missionary Magazine.
Trivia
He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
Family Life
He married Mary White Smith in 1834 with whom he had six children. He was a foster father to businessman and writer Thornton Chase for four of Chase's teenage years.
Associated With
His first verse of America was quoted by Martin Luther King Jr. near the end of his I Have a Dream speech.
