John Brown Smith (born October 30, 1837) was an American doctor, author, mutualist anarchist theorist, tax resister, and developer of shorthand. Smith was born in Canada and moved to Minnesota at age 17. In August 1862 he enlisted in a company of the 10th Minnesota and served through the American Civil War, being mustered out in July 1865. After the war, he turned his attention to medicine. In 1867, he married Dr. Ellen H. Goodell.