Joe Smith Was Native of Burke County, Jan. 3, 1921

Mr. Robert L. Starnes will leave today or tomorrow for Crawfordsville, Ga., to investigate the burning to death of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Smith and two children there, as told in a letter received by Postmaster Bagby and noted in the Record on Saturday. Mr. Smith was a native of Burke county and was in the sawmill business in Georgia at the time. He and Mr. Starnes were related by marriage. (From the Hickory Daily Record, Monday evening, Jan. 3, 1921)