When Jacob Poulsen Sorensen Smed was born on 3 August 1866, in Vedersø, Ringkøbing, Ringkøbing, Denmark, his father, Søren Christensen, was 53 and his mother, Else Kathrine Poulsdatter, was 40. He married Inger Marie Christine Christensen on 5 September 1889, in Vedersø, Ringkøbing, Denmark. They were the parents of at least 2 daughters. He lived in Vedersø, Hind, Ringkøbing, Denmark for about 31 years. He died on 28 October 1948, at the age of 82.