Smith's work in many fields is represented in these letters although the whole collection carried the label “Botanical Correspondence.” From his headquarters in the Botanical Section he did editorial work for the Academy and for outsiders, always in the field of natural history; as a committee man in the Academy he acted as consultant and was a generous financial contributor to the Academy's various projects from 1867 on. His herbarium was bequeathed to the Academy and contained some 5,000 specimens, about half of which were collected within fifteen miles of City Hall, Philadelphia, the other half accumulated through exchange and purchase. Being very rich in “Carices” and “Juncaceae,” it made a fine addition to the Academy herbarium. A letter from Thomas Meehan written after Smith's death, presumably in 1900 and addressed to Academy officials requested that the correspondence of Smith be properly catalogued, indexed and housed for the use of future botanists. After Meehan's death there was no botanist interested enough to push the idea and the material was stored. In addition to the botanical contents mentioned, a good deal of information can be obtained about Smith's activities in the social life of Philadelphia, his editorial work and his philanthropies, but very little about his business.