Swan's Island: Six miles east of ordinary

Captain Andrew C. Smith was born on Swan's Island on December 5, 1856. He worked on the island as a mackerel seiner and was the captain of several schooners. Mackerel fishing declined in the late 1800s, and Smith may have turned to shopkeeping to compensate for the loss. His store in Atlantic was run out of a portion of his home, and was in operation at least from 1920-1941 (his marriage license in 1923 lists him as a merchant).

The Andrew Smith home was owned by Tina Joyce from 1946 to 1964. Charles and Ernestine King purchased the building in 1968. The home still stands at 290 Atlantic Road, and is currently owned byCharles and Ernestine's daughter, Nancy Davis.

Andrew Smith married Inez A. Joyce (born on September 3, 1857) on Swan's Island on August 12, 1877. They had two children: Lena E. Smith and Reverend Clarence L. Smith. Inez passed away in 1922, when Andrew was 65 years old. A year later he married Cora E. Staples (1858-1942), widow of Frederick Stockbridge. Andrew Smith died on February 26, 1941, on Swan's Island.

Like many island stores, Andrew Smith's sold a variety of goods. Island resident Marion Stinson remembers, "You could buy a pork chop for ten cents." Smith owned a team of horses, most likely to transport his products. The store ran in the period of Swan's Island history when the steamboat still connected island residents to Rockland.