In the spring of 1778 he was elected by the citizens of the central part of the Province as a member of the Supreme Executive Council. October 11, 1779, he was elected vice president of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but resigned shortly after assuming the responsible duties of his high office.
When the intelligence of the capture and total destruction of Fort Freeland, on Warrior Run, in Northumberland County, reached Paxtang, Matthew Smith marched to Sunbury with a volunteer militia of fifty men raised by his own efforts and made a hurried march to overtake the British commander, Captain McDonald, and the retreating British invaders, including their Indian allies.
This distinguished statesman-soldier-patriot established himself in a fine residence, in what is now the Fourth Ward of Milton and became its most influential and revered citizen.
The following obituary appeared in Kennedy’s Gazette, published at Northumberland, under date July 30, 1794:
“Died, the 22d inst., about sunset at Milton, Colonel Matthew Smith, aged fifty-four years, being one of the first patriots for liberty; went to Canada in the year 1775, and suffered extremities. He was once prothonotary of Northumberland County. Was interred 23d inst., attended by a large number of his friends and acquaintances, together with a volunteer company of light infantry from Milton, conducted by Major Pratt, and commanded by Captain James Boyd, who, marching about six miles to Warrior Run burying ground and shedding a tear over the old patriot’s grave, deposited his remains with three well directed volleys and returned home in good order.”
Linn’s Annals of Buffalo Valley is authority for the statement that these soldiers actually carried the body the entire distance of six miles to the old cemetery, where his bones now repose. The dust of this patriot, soldier and statesman lies within a few rods of the very fort he rushed from Paxtang with his brave militiamen to protect. His grave is unmarked and few have knowledge that he is buried there.
Fries’ Rebellion or Hot-Water War Arouses
Governor, March 14, 1799
In 1798 the Federal Government enacted a direct tax law, which became known as the “house tax,” and was unpopular in many parts of the country, especially in some of the counties of Pennsylvania, and it led to an insurrection known in history as “Fries’ Rebellion.”