Willoughby Smith was born June 18, 1839 in Red Hill, Montgomery County. By age eleven, he was apprentice to John Shaner, of Montgomery County. He supposedly worked at the Feeg potter in 1862, and married Maranda Feeg, of Lebanon on July 3, 1864. He and his mother-in-law, Rebecca Feeg, purchased the J. Feeg two-storied log house and pottery in Womelsdorf, Berks County on March 30, 1864. The pottery operated as Smith and Feeg until 1879 when Rebecca Feeg sold her share of the property to Smith. He was prolific in the production of earthenwares, employing two journeymen in excess of 34 years, they produced 75,000-100,000 flowerpots per year, and ran a mail order business as well as his local shop. He died on March 22, 1905 and is buried at Womelsdorf Union Cemetery. After his death, the pottery closed and was ultimately torn down in the 1920s.