In 1846, Mary M. "Polly" Long received 640 acres in this area from the State of Texas and deeded half to her son, Richard B. Long, in 1852. He sold this tract in 1881 while reserving one acre to preserve the existing cemetery, which had been used as early as 1857 by local settlers, many of them Long's relatives or neighbors. The earliest marked grave dates to 1862. The cemetery was named for the many members of the Smith family buried there, and other burials include "Polly" Long, early County Commissioner William Green, and Civil War veterans F.Y. Smith and James Dark.