CLARENCE STEWART SMITH was born in Camden, New Jersey in August of 1876 to William Henry Smith and the former Harriet C. Stewart. The Smiths had wed around 1860, and gave their first child, William Henry Smith Jr., on March 20, 1862 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By 1870 four more children had arrived, Carrie, Virginia, Augustus D., and Charles N.; sadly, Carrie had died before her fifth birthday. The family was still living in Philadelphia when the 1870 Census was taken. William Henry Smith was then working as a harbor policeman. In April of 1873 another daughter was born, Sue G. Smith. The family moved to Camden, New Jersey shortly after her arrival. The 1874 City Directory shows the family at 729 Carman Street in Camden. By 1877 the family was living at 726 Federal Street. Son Charles N. Smith died in 1877, another son, Howard M. Smith had been born in 1874 and by the end of 1877, Mrs. Smith had given birth again, to Clarence S. Smith. The Smith family was still residing at 726 Federal Street when the 1880 Census was enumerated in June of that year. Another son, Walter H. Smith, had recently been born. Two more sons would follow, Crawford Smith and Roy A. Smith. Howard, Walter, and Roy would all go on to public service in Camden. The 1882 City Directory shows that the family had moved to 14 south 8th street.

Although the 1880 Census states that William Smith Sr. worked as a clerk, his really occupation was that of a "policy writer", that is to say, he was engaged is the illegal lottery business, popularly know in our time as "the numbers racket. Known in and about Camden as "Policy Bill", he was arrested a number of times during the 1880s and had been given a one-year prison sentence in early 1883, which was reduced in February to a $100 fine and a $1000 bond not to go back into the "policy" business… which he promptly did. The 1882 City Directory shows the Smith family at 14 south 8th street and they stayed their until  1889. "Policy Bill" was arrested again during police raids in January and May of 1886.
 
On September 9, 1886 William Henry "Policy Bill" Smith Sr. died, leaving Harriet Smith to take care of nine children, five of them under the age of 15. One of the ways she kept the family going was by staying in the family business of "policy", and she would have a number of encounters with the law through the rest of the decade and the 1890s. Her house was raided in the first part of 1887, and she attempted suicide in June of that year. In November of 1889, the Smiths were living in the unit block of North 10th Street when there home was again raided.

William H. Smith Jr., popularly best known as W. Harry Smith, was already working, and by 1890 second son Augustus D. Smith found work as a blacksmith. W. Harry Smith began involving himself in local politics in Camden's 9th Ward as a Republican, and over the years this served him and the Smith family well. By August of 1890 Harriet Smith and family had moved to 741 Carman Street. Except for a brief interruption in the 1890s, the Smith family and their descendants would remain on this block into the 1960s. As best that can be determined as of this writing, Harriet Smith stayed out of trouble until 1895. The 1894 City Directory has Harriet Smith and her family at 758 Federal Street, the 1895 edition has them at 750 Federal Street. Harriet Smith and her unmarried sons lived at that address until at least 1899.

Daughter Virginia had married William N. Ferrell in 1887 and lived for the most part in Gloucester County until her death in 1924. Daughter Sue had married John Warner Kinsey Jr. on November 26, 1892. They already had a daughter together, Ethel, born on March 21, 1892. The marriage ended in divorce, with Sue Smith Kinsey going back to live with her mother and brothers and retaining custody of her daughter.

In April of 1895 Harriet Smith was indicted by the grand jury in Camden. She was tried and on May 24 sentenced to a year in prison. Although claiming ill-health, she received no support from Camden's medical community nor the sentencing Judge. Her sentence was commuted on July 16, 1895 by the New Jersey State Board of Pardons, on the grounds that others who had been tried at the same time she was had escaped imprisonment, and to be honest, on the basis of her sex. Her son, Howard M. Smith, had married Helen Goldy Penn the day before. The young couple moved in with Helen's family at 822 Kimber Street.

Before the month of July 1895 was out, daughter Sue Smith Kinsey was due in front of a judge on "policy" charges. Both Harriet Smith and her daughter were arrested again is September of 1895, and indictments were brought. These charges and those made against others were quashed. harriet and Sue were arrested again on February 10, 1896. Augustus Smith died in Camden on November 17. 1896 and was buried at Harleigh Cemetery. Sue Smith Kinsey married Harry J. Wagner Sr., on August 23, 1897. They set up house at 747 Carman Street.

Clarence Smith married Mary Thomas in Camden on September 8, 1897. The 1898 City Directory shows him at 736 Federal Street, working as a clerk. A daughter, Harriet Florence Smith, was born on November 10, 1898.

In October of 1898 Harriet Smith and her sons were under indictment again, and appear to have all moved to Philadelphia to escape prosecution. In 1900 Census Harriet Smith, and her five living sons were listed at 506 Hope Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, however Clarence Smith and his family are also listed in Camden at 428 South 2nd Street, the home of Mary's parents, Stephen L. and Martha Thomas. Clarence Smith was working as a day laborer. The 1902 City Directory shows Clarence and Mary Smith at 830 Line Street, and that he was working as an ironworker.

The 1904 City Directory shows Clarence Smith and his family living at 609 North 6th Street were his mother Harriet Smith, brothers W. Harry, Roy, and Crawford, as well as Clarence's wife Mary and daughter Harriet F. Smith. Both Clarence Smith and brother Crawford Smith had found work as ironworkers, i.e., steel construction workers employed by the Camden Iron Works. Sadly, Clarence S. Smith was killed when he fell from a 40 foot tall gas tank being erected in Moline, Illinois in 1907.

Clarence Smith's daughter, Harriet Florence Smith, married John F. Bryant, the grandson of John Foster, who served as Chief of Police in Camden from 1899 until his death in 1906… a peculiar case where the paternal grandparents were on one side of the law and the maternal ones often on the opposing side.

Clarence Smith's brother Howard M. Smith had been appointed to the Camden Police Department on March 20, 1906. Harriet Smith died in 1908. Walter Smith was appointed to the Camden Police Department on April 30, 1914. Both brothers were promoted to Detective, and served into the 1930s. Howard M. Smith was lent out to the Camden County prosecutors office and handled many murder cases while with that agency. Brother Crawford Smith, lived out most of his life on Carman Street, and was in and out of the newspapers for various activities, including engaging in the family business of numbers in the 1930s. The youngest brother, Roy A. Smith, served as a member of the Camden Fire Department from 1910 to 1933, before retiring on disability. The oldest brother, William H. "Harry" Smith worked for many years as a bartender in Philadelphia and Camden, was a charter member of Camden Lodge 111, Loyal Order of Moose, worked as an inspector for Camden's Highway Department and was employed as the custodian of the Sixth Ward Republican Club at the time of his death in 1931. Clarence Smith sister Virginia lived most of her life in Logan Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. 

As mentioned above, his other sister, Sue, had married Harry J. Wagner Sr., on August 23, 1897. The Wagner family was still living on Carman Street in the 1960s. There were four sons from this marriage. The oldest, Harry J. Wagner Jr., served as a member of the Camden Fire Department for 39 years and 8 months, reaching the rank of Acting Chief of Department. His nephew Roy A. Wagner owned Roy's Tavern on Federal Street and employed his brothers Phil Wagner and George C. Wagner as bartenders..

Clarence Smith's nephew, Edward Baker Smith, was head of security at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard, then worked for several years as an investigator with the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. retiring in 1981. He passed away on August 29, 1994.