Joe C. Smith, wealthy cotton manufacturer and one of the section’s most prominent citizens, passed away at his home here Wednesday at 1:30 after a desperate illness of three weeks with heart trouble from which he had been suffering for a number of years. News of his death was not a surprise to those who knew his condition but a source of great sorrow to the Piedmont section where he had spent 70 years of useful life.
Head of Shelby Cotton Mill
Mr. Smith was born in Rutherford county, the son of a pioneer Methodist preacher and whose mother was a daughter of Col. Francis Alexander who was closely related to John McKnitt Alexander, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg decoration of independence. When a boy of 14, Mr. Smith moved to Charlotte where he clerked in the drug store of his brother, Dr. T.G. Smith, who afterwards moved to Asheville where he died. He remained in the drug business with his father-in-law J.S. Spencer, which firm was afterwards succeeded by the firm of Smith and Durham with Mr. Spencer as a silent partner. After many years this business was discontinued, and Mr. Smith moved to Norfolk, Va., where he became managing partner of Heath-Smith company, a large wholesale grocery concern. Returning to his native state, Mr. Smith acquired an interest in cotton mills at Newton where he lived for 12 years. In both Newton and Charlotte he served on the boards of aldermen and was one of the charter members of the Shuford National Bank of Newton and vice president of that institution until he came to Shelby in 1905 as secretary-treasurer of the Shelby Cotton Mills, the largest textile organization in Cleveland County which prospered under his supervision, with an able and popular superintendent R.T. LeGrand, who has had complete charge of business affairs since Mr. Smith’s illness. He was secretary treasurer of the Planters and Merchants Warehouse, president of Cleveland Springs Hotel company, trustee of Central Methodist Church, Shelby, and served for several terms as mayor of Shelby, being elected by the largest majority any candidate received for years.
Plain, Friendly, Generous
Mr. Smith was a plain, unassuming man, cordial, generous and charitable. No man has died in Shelby in recent years who had such esteem and confidence of men in all walks of life. He gave liberally to all worthy causes, found time to take a part in the public affairs of the town and always had the friendship of younger men whose company he sought and who sought him for counsel. Since his illness, telegrams and phone messages came from far and near from anxious friends, not only in the towns where he had lived, but from textile men all over the north and south who had learned to love him for his fine gentlemanly bearing and admire his astute business qualifications.
He possessed a keen sense of clean humor and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his employes for whom he did much during his 19 years as head of affairs at the Shelby mill. He and Mr. LeGrand worked in perfect harmony and loved each other like brothers.
Mr. Smith was married to Miss Ella Lowe of Lowesville, who has been a great influence in the religious and social life of Shelby. She survives with one brother, Steve O. Smith of Asheville, and one sister, Mrs. W.c. Abernethy of Gastonia.
Funeral Here Wednesday
The funeral was conducted from his handsome home on S. Washington St., Wednesday afternoon at 2 o’clock by Rev. R.M. Hoyle of Belmont, assisted by Rev. A.L. Stanford of Central Methodist Church, Shelby. Funeral arrangements were made by himself on his sickbed and his remains were taken to Charlotte Wednesday afternoon for interment beside his saintly mother. Active pallbearers selected by him were: Chas. L. Eskridge, O.M. Mull, Z.J. Thompson, George Blanton, C.R. Doggett, C.S. Young, R.E. Carpenter of Shelby and R.B. Knox of Newton.
The following served as honorary pall bearers, being a list made by Mr. Smith himself and written on a bit of paper while he lay on his sickbed: J.J. McMurry, C.C. Blanton, R.S. Reinhart and J.A. Abernethy of Lincolnton, Jake F. Alexander of Forest City, George Phifer, J.H. Little, T.A. Bell, W.T. Wilkerson, Col. A.L. Smith, R.A. Dunn and B.F. Houston of Charlotte, A.M. Hamrick, Tom S. Stamey, A.C. Miller, L.A. Gettys, O.C. Dixon and Julius Smith of Shelby, R.R. Ray of McAdensville, A.H. Crowell of Newton.
A wealth of flowers seldom seen at a funeral here attested the esteem of which he was held, while hundreds from Shelby and out-of-town filled the home and spacious yard for the funeral services, many accompanying the remains to Charlotte for interment.
From the front page of The Cleveland Star, Shelby, N.C., Friday, November 15, 1924
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn97064509/1924-03-25/ed-1/seq-1/#words=November+15%2C+1924
No comments:
Post a Comment