Charles R. Smith was Elisha Smith's
son and greatly improved the Menasha Wooden Ware's fortunes. A Princeton
University graduate of 1876, he took a broom handle and barrel factory he had
formed by himself in Menasha and merged it with his father's existing Wooden
Ware business. This made Menasha Wooden Ware the world's largest manufacturer
of turned woodenware. Additionally, he became president of the First National
Bank and remained in that position until his death in 1916. He was also
superintendent of the Menasha school system.
When he died, Charles Smith was
eulogized in the local papers as it said, "All Menasha has taken personal
pride in his ascent to a position in the business world where he has come to be
known as a man among men."
A bit of trivia- the village of
Warner, Wisconsin was renamed as Ladysmith in 1900 in honor of his wife when
the Menasha Wooden Ware bought up the power site in the Flambeau River, about a
mile east of the village, and all the land between it and the village north of
the railroad. When the company's plans to dam the river and build a stave mill
became known, the information got into the newspapers and people began to flock
into the village. Within a year, the population rose from 100 to 1,000.
However, Mrs. Smith never honored her namesake with a visit.
That Mrs. Smith never acknowledge the honor is likely because the story is apocryphal. The Second Boer War and the Siege of Ladysmith was underway at the time this story came out in the press. Ladies' hats were being produced under the name Ladysmith, and cities in Virginia, Canada, and New South Wales were being named in recognition of the British victory.
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