Biography of Henry K. Smith, Jr, St Francis County, AR

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Submitted by: Paul V Isbell
        Date: 19 Nov 2008
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
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Mr. Henry K. Smith, Jr., President of Rice Growers Bank of Wheatley is not only
one of Wheatley's outstanding citizens, but also one of the most prominent and
successful businessmen, landowners, and agricultural leaders in Eastern
Arkansas. He is now President of the Arkansas Rice Growers Association. He was
born in Wheatley on May 9, 1911, one of five children of the late Henry K.
Smith, Jr., founder and President of the Rice Growers Bank and who came to
Arkansas in 1884 from Byhalia, Mississippi. Before his death in 1943, the senior
Mr. Smith was one of the first to realize the unlimited possibilities of raising
rice in this area. The mother of Henry K. Smith, Jr., was Ella Lyon Smith, who
was born in Arkansas and is still living. After graduation from Wheatley High
School in 1928, he entered Hendrix College and graduated in 1932 with a B. A.
Degree. In addition to serving as President of the bank, Wheatley Grain Drying
Corp., and of the Wheatley Gin Company, he is actively engaged in farming 3300
acres in St. Francis, Lee and Monroe counties. On his extensive farm lands the
principal crops are rice and cotton, and he is also interested in livestock. He
is past President of the Business Men's Club of Wheatley, a member of the
American and Arkansas Bankers Associations, and a leader in the Farm Bureau and
National Cotton Council. For he past twenty years he has served as a member of
the Town Council. Mr. Smith has three living sisters; Mrs. R. A. Pickens II, who
resides at Pickens, Ark.; Mrs. J. E. Allmon of Little Rock; and Mrs. W. L.
Horner of Blytheville.


SOURCE:
HISTORY of ST. FRANCIS COUNTY, ARKANSAS, 1954 - Robert W. Chowning

Copyright, with Permission: Weston McCollum Lewey, Publisher
-Times Herald Publishing-Forrest City, Arkansas