Why is john j smith a hero? (1820-1906)?

Question

How were the people he helped?
Or just any info just so you no i'm not talking about captin john smith.

Answer 1

Sounds like this is the guy you're talking about:
http://www.nps.gov/boaf/historyculture/john-j-smith-house.htm

And this is one of the people he helped:
http://www.masshist.org/longroad/01slavery/minkins.htm