An important exemplar of Anglican preaching in the Carolinas and a skillful and versatile poet, Michael Smith was born in 1698 in County Meath, Ireland, the son of Rev. Robert Smith. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he was ordained by the Bishop of London in 1747 and served five years as curate at Hertfordshire. As an Anglican missionary, he brought his family to Prince Frederick's Parish, South Carolina, in 1752. A short time later, his wife and three of his eight children died, after which Smith's behavior became erratic. His parishioners wrote a letter to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel accusing him of gaming, drinking, philandering, and neglecting his parish duties.

Smith had traveled frequently while still officially a missionary to South Carolina, and in 1756 James Davis, North Carolina's first printer, published Smith's first book, A Sermon, Preached in Christ-Church, in Newbern, In North-Carolina ..., an unassuming discourse in...