Biography: William H. Booth, Caddo Parish La.
Submitted by: Thomas J. Casteel



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WILLIAM H. BOOTH

WILLIAM H. BOOTH, the founder of the Booth Furniture and Carpet Company,
which is one of the largest of its kind in the Southwest, was born in
Paris, Texas. He was left an orphan while a small boy and sold newspapers.
Most of his education was acquired from extensive reading and he became a
scholarly man. At the age of thirteen he moved to Texarkana and found
employment in the packing and shipping room of a furniture store, thus
becoming identified with the business in which he was to engage the rest of
his life.

His progress was rapid, and, in 1908 opportunity having been offered, he
removed to Shreveport and founded the Smith Furniture Company, which name
was later changed to the Booth Furniture and Carpet Company, Limited. Under
his, splendid management this company attained a dominant position in the
furniture business in this section, and became the leading business of
Shreveport. it is an institution noteworthy not only for its size and
prosperity, but also for the enterprise, integrity, commercial pride and
civic devotion with which it has been conducted by the three members of the
Booth family who have managed it since its organization.

Mr. William H. Booth's business career was characterized by energy,
thoroughness, integrity and the principle of square dealing, the foundation
upon which his business was built.

He left his impress upon the life of Shreveport which can never be
eradicated. He was president of the Chamber of Commerce and his
administration was a noteworthy one; he was the first president of the
Rotary Club of Shreveport, and to his influence can be traced the
outstanding position held by that organization in the civic affairs of the
community.

Mr. Booth possessed great natural histrionic abilities, which, coupled with
the broad education obtained through his wide and constant reading, made
him a most delightful and forceful speaker. He was frequently called upon
in this connection.

It was in Masonry, however, that his whole heart was interested. The
present Scottish Rite Cathedral is largely the result of his efforts, and
into it he put much thought and devotion. Successively, he held all the
important offices in both the York and Scottish Rites of Masonry, and at
his death had had the thirty-third degree, Scottish Rite, York Rite and
Shriner degrees conferred upon him - thus having received all the honors
and degrees possible to be conferred upon any man. The William H. Booth
Lodge of Masons in Shreveport was named in his honor.

After the death of Mr. Booth, the wife, Mary Kelso Booth, became the head
of the business carrying out his policies. She was a graduate of the
Ward-Belmont School for Girls at Nashville, Tennessee, and was a talented
musician. Mrs. Booth was a remarkable woman. Under her management of the
furniture business it prospered. Before her death she had begun the
erection of a branch house of the Booth Furniture and Carpet Company in
West Shreveport. This is a monument to her vision. The atmosphere that the
Booths have created and sustained has been unusually family-like and the
educational value of this house is incalculable.

Mrs. Booth helped the things that needed aid most; such as the Genevieve
Orphanage, the Girls Training School and many, many people-girls and women
especially-did she assist, about which no one has ever known save those she
assisted and herself. How quickly she seemed to understand! Mrs. Booth is
still missed, although a number of years have passed since her death.

William H. Booth, Jr., is now the head of Booth Furniture and Carpet
Company. There were only two children born to the Booths-Jaco Kelso, who
died while in college in Gulfport, Mississippi, and the present proprietor,
William H., Junior, who was born in Texarkana, Arkansas, December 25, 1902.
He graduated at the age of nineteen from the Virginia Military Institute,
with the highest honors. He then entered Princeton University, where he was
a member of the football team and of prominent clubs, graduating in June,
1924, at the age of 21. He is now president of the company here in
Shreveport that his father founded.

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From Chronicles of Shreveport and Caddo Parish, Maude Hearn O'Pry, 1928,
Page 336

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