Hancock County, West Virginia Biography of William L. SMITH, SR. This file was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 218-219 WILLIAM L. SMITH, SR. The real peace and contentment of the evening of life may only be experienced after a career in which industry has been the controlling factor. Each man his own life to live; early conditions and ad- vantages, or the lack of the latter, play their destined part in the shaping of his career; but it is within his own power to make use of his abilities, to so mold and direct his activities as to make his life useful to those among whom he lives and worthy to himself. No doubt there may be some satisfaction in the display of inherited wealth; but how infinitely greater may be the satisfaction of pointing to one's possessions and saying: "These things my hands have wrought." History and biography show us that all great men were industrious, and the greatness of the major- ity was gained because of their own sterling qualities and the use they made of them. The career of William L. Smith, Sr., president of the Taylor, Smith & Taylor Company, potters, of East Liver- pool, Ohio, and Chester, West Virginia, has been an indus- trious one in every respect, and has been a singularly suc- cessful one, whether viewed from the point of the material things which he has won or from the universal respect in which he is held by those among whom he has passed his life. He was born at Wellsville, Ohio, in 1858, and secured a public school education, and through youthful energy and ambition worked his way up to the ownership of a lumber and contracting business at East Liverpool. In 1893 he sold his holdings and bought an interest in the D. E. Mc- Nicol Pottery Company, with which concern he accepted a managerial position. He continued to be identified with this company until 1899, when a pottery was built at Ches- ter by what was then known as the Taylor Lee & Smith Company, which was incorporated under the Ohio laws and capitalized at $200,000. In 1903 there was formed the Taylor, Smith & Taylor Company, composed of Col. John W. Taylor, president of the Knowles, Taylor & Knowles Company, the largest industry at East Liverpool; Joseph G. Lee, of the same city and company; Colonel Taylor's two sons, W. L., now deceased, and Homer, now the head of the Knowles, Taylor & Knowles Company; W. L. Smith and C. A. Smith. In 1904 W. L. and C. A. Smith became the sole owners of this business through purchase, although retaining the same name. In 1907 the business was incor- porated under the laws of West Virginia, and about 1918 the capital was increased to $500,000, the new stockholders being largely old employes of the business. Tip to 1913 there were ten kilns, with 200 employes, but in that year seven kilns were added, making seventeen kilns in all, with 425 employes and an annual payroll of $600,000, there be- ing in excess of 300 carloads of materials used each year. The product of the company consists of earthenware and porcelain, and is sold to jobbers and high grade depart- ment stores, with four regular traveling salesmen kept on the road and special men from five or six agencies in the West and Southwest. The plant owns about ten acres, of which one-half is covered by the plant itself. A specialty of the business is the manufacture of high-grade dinner- ware. The officers of the company at this time are: W. L. Smith, president; W. C. Lynch, vice president; C. C. D&vid- son, secretary; C. A. Smith, treasurer; W. G. Jackson, assistant treasurer; and W. L. Smith, Jr., manager. The original bridge and land company, which made pos- sible the development of Chester by erecting a bridge to East Liverpool, was composed of W. L. Smith, of East Liverpool: E. D. Marshall, of Chester; George P. Rust, of Cleveland; and A. R. Markell, of East Liverpool. These gentlemen organized the East Liverpool Bridge Company and during 1896 erected the bridge, which was opened De- cember 31 of that year. W. L. Smith became president of the company, to which he contributed the benefit of his marked ability, and later he and his brother, with J. E. McDonald, secured by purchase the control of all of this property. Mr. Smith is a director in the First National Bank of East Liverpool and president of the Potters Sav- ings and Loan Company, one of the largest in Ohio. A stanch republican in politics, he has been active in public affairs, has served as delegate to several national conven- tions and has numbered among his friends many notable men, among them the late President William McKinley. His pleasant home is located at East Liverpool, but he main- tains his office at the plant. W. L. Smith, Jr., son of W. L. Smith, has been general manager and a director of the company since 1915. He resides at Chester, where he takes an active part in all local affairs, and gives his support to worthy movements. Mr. Smith married Miss Maud Barlow, of East Liverpool, who is president of the Women's Club of Chester.