R. J. Reynolds

Richard Joshua " R. J. " Reynolds ( born July 20, 1850 in Patrick County, Virginia; † July 29, 1918 in Winston- Salem, North Carolina) was an American businessman and founder of the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company.

The son of a tobacco farmer sold in 1874 its share of the family business and moved to Winston- Salem, North Carolina with the intention to start his own tobacco company. Reynolds, a shrewd businessman and avid workers, quickly became one of the wealthiest citizens of Winston- Salem.

Reynolda

In 1905 he married Katherine Smith, 30 years his younger second cousin. Reynolds and Katherine had four children:

  • Richard Joshua Reynolds Jr. ( * 1906, † 1964)
  • Mary Reynolds Babcock ( b. 1908, † 1953)
  • Nancy Susan Reynolds ( * 1910, † 1985)
  • Zachary Smith Reynolds ( * 1911, † 1932)

Soon after the marriage began Katherine and Richard Joshua Reynolds, the construction of a country house near Winston -Salem plan. This initial idea has quickly become the idea to a large estate and an exemplary farm. Since Reynolds himself was seriously concerned with keeping the business running, this task has been added to Katherine's hands. The majority of the purchased land was therefore acquired in their name, so the estate was also baptized in the name of " Reynolda ," the feminine form of the family name " Reynolds ". They hired the architect Charles Barton Keen, who designed the estate bungalow style, and many other buildings on the property. The area originally bemaß than four square kilometers. Besides the main building, a nearby settlement also been created, in which many of the workers lived. On the property, there were, among others, a steam heating, telephone and bus service, two churches, two schools and a nine-hole golf course. The property was completed in 1917, but died in R. J. Reynolds seven months after the arrival of the family probably due to pancreatic cancer. The property should stay at home the family for another 40 years, until a large part of the property was delivered in 1951 at the Wake Forest University. Reynolda House became a museum. Today, the building and the gardens and the nearby settlement is open to visitors.

Sustainable influence

R. J. Reynolds and his family played an important role in public life and the history of the city of Winston- Salem. In 1884, he was Commissioner of the city; Reynolds political views were - especially considering the circumstances of the time - progressive. He introduced new working conditions in his factory, which included shorter hours and higher pay, for example. He also supported by his signature a petition to establish a property tax to fund public schools and also approved for an income tax. After his death, Katharine Reynolds kept his philanthropic line at: She donated money to start the Richard J. Reynolds High School and the RJ Reynolds Memorial Auditorium (both listed on the National Register of Historic Places ), whose construction in 1919 under the direction of architect Charles Barton Keen began. The school opened in the operation of an unfinished building in 1923 after the old school was destroyed by fire. Another memory of R. J. Reynolds is an equine statue on the town hall in Winston- Salem. A memory of Katherine Reynolds is on a six -meter-high obelisk on the grounds of the Richard J. Reynolds High School and the R. J. Reynolds Memorial Auditorium.

Swell

  • Barbara Mayer, Reynolda: A History of an American Country House
  • 1997: Reynolda Museum of American Art, U.S.A.
  • Entrepreneurs (19th Century )
  • Entrepreneur ( 20th century)
  • Americans
  • Born in 1850
  • Died in 1918
  • Man
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