Norfolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Upton, Luther Jarvis January 1, 1954
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Suzy Ward Fleming wardflemin@aol.com June 6, 2014, 10:21 pm

Norfolk Virginian Pilot January 2, 1954


Luther Jarvis Upton, 78, a leading produce grower and distributor in the East, 
died yesterday at 6:55 a.m. at Norfolk General Hospital.
He had been in partial retirement for several years but continued at his office 
until last Saturday, when he was taken ill. The next day he was admitted to the 
hospital.
Known as the “Potato King” he had extensive holdings in farm land and even 
greater producing acreage in potato growing soil under contract.
He was born in Camden County, N.C., in 1875, the son of the late John and Mrs. 
Caroline Jarvis Upton. From as early age he showed he was an astute business 
man, and at the age of 19 was in business for himself.
His first business venture was a boat trip to Baltimore where he bought the 
furniture from a hotel, brought it southward and sold it for a profit.
In 1894 he came to Norfolk and two years later organized the L.J. Upton Produce 
Company. At first the firm acted as broker for produce grown in the Tidewater 
area. Later it started acquiring farm land and became the leading producer of 
potatoes in the East. Upton farms were located from Florida to Maine and Mr. 
Upton was the first grower to produce Irish potatoes in Alabama and sweet 
potatoes in Florida. He had an estimated 20,000 acres under cultivation at the 
peak.
Prior to World War I, he started a fertilizer business in a building still 
operated by the company on Water Street. He was one of the pioneers in the use 
of Venezuelan goat manure and menhaden fish for fertilizer.
In 1918 he was chosen as a member of the Hoover Food Commission.
Later he had sideline businesses that included a Buick automobile sales agency 
and the Old Dominion Steamship Line.
He was also instrumental in the development of the downtown section of Norfolk. 
Mr. Upton and the late Percy S. Stephenson built the Monticello Arcade. Before 
his retirement from the active business, he was a director of the Seaboard 
Citizens Bank and an active Rotarian.
In later years, he retrenched and sold all but about 3,000 acres of farms. He 
kept 20 separate farms, all but two in the Tidewater section. Those two were in 
his home county in North Carolina.
In connection with the seed and potato business, he founded the Upton Storage 
Company, Inc., and was president of the firm. He was secretary of Farmers 
Auction Block, which dealt in strawberries.
He maintained his residence at 720 Maury Place. He was a member of Freemason 
Street Baptist Church and long had been a member of the Masonic Order.
Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Nannie Bowman Smith Upton; two sons, L.J. Upton, 
Jr., of Winston-Salem, N.C.; and William A. Upton, of Norfolk; two daughters, 
Mrs. John S. Thiemeyer, Jr., of Norfolk, and Mrs. Joseph W. Hatch, of Atlanta; 
two brothers, John and Robert Upton, both of Norfolk, and seven grandchildren.
Funeral services will be conducted today at 3:30 p.m. at the H.D. Oliver 
Funeral Apartments by the Rec. Sparks W. Melton, D.D., pastor emeritus of 
Freemason Street Baptist Church. Burial will be in Cedar Grove Cemetery.


Additional Comments:
Cedar Grove

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