 During the 1860s, Smith worked alongside John Barrett Kerfoot, newly elected Bishop of Pittsburgh, to create a boys’ school following the curricular model of famed priest-educator William Augustus Muhlenberg.In this model, “the school was to be like a large family with a priest as rector serving as father-figure "in loco parentis".” Trinity Hall operated from 1870 to 1906 attracting members of prominent regional families including Heinz, Carnegie, Kammerer, and LeMoyne along with a grandson of President Grant.In 1883, Trinity School for Boys began adopting elements of Muscular Christianity.