R.J. Reynolds

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For other uses, see R.J. Reynolds (disambiguation).

Richard Joshua "R.J." Reynolds (1850-1918) was an American businessman and founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.

Reynolds was born in 1850 in Patrick County, Virginia. The son of a tobacco farmer, he sold his share of the family business in 1874 and moved south to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to start his own tobacco company. Reynolds was a savvy business man and a hard worker, and he quickly became one of the wealthiest citizens of Winston-Salem.

[edit] Reynolds

In 1905 he married Katharine Smith. She was thirty years younger and his second cousin. R.J and Katherine had four children: Richard Joshua Reynolds, Jr. (1906–1964); Mary Reynolds Babcock (1908–1953); Nancy Susan Reynolds (1910–1985); and Zachary Smith Reynolds (1911–1932). Soon after they were married, Reynolds and Katharine began planning the construction of a country home near Winston-Salem. The vision of the home quickly evolved into a grand estate and a model farm. As Reynolds was heavily involved in running his business, Mrs. Reynolds was left in charge of the project. Importantly, most of the land was bought in Mrs. Reynolds' name and thus the estate named for her, Reynolda, the feminine form of Reynolds. She hired architect Charles Barton Keen to design the bungalow style mansion as well as many of the other buildings on the property. The original estate was over 1,000 acres (4 km²). Besides the main house there was also the nearby village where many of the workers lived. Reynolda had its own steam heat plant, telephone service, bus service, two churches, two schools, and a nine hole golf course. Reynolda was completed in 1917, but unfortunately, Reynolds did not live to enjoy his new home. He died seven months after the family moved in from what is thought to have been lung cancer. The estate would continue to be a family home for another forty years until most of the property was given to Wake Forest University in 1951 and Reynolda House became a museum. Today the house as well as the gardens and nearby village is open to the public daily.

[edit] Lasting Influence

R.J. Reynolds and his family played a large part in the public life and history of the City of Winston-Salem. In 1884 he served as a city commissioner. Reynolds was politically progressive especially for his time. He established progressive working conditions in his factory, with shorter hours and higher pay. He also signed a petition for a property tax to pay for public schools and voted to approve an income tax. After his death, Katharine Reynolds continued his philanthropic activities. She gave money to establish The Richard J. Reynolds High School and the R.J. Reynolds Memorial Auditorium (both are listed on the National Register of Historic Places). Construction of the school and auditorium was begun in 1919 under the direction of architect Charles Barton Keen and finished in 1924 (the school opened in an uncompleted building in 1923 after the destruction by fire of the old Winston High School). Besides the Auditorium and school, another memorial to Reynolds, an equine statue, sits on Winston-Salem City Hall Grounds in downtown Winston-Salem. A memorial to Mrs. Reynolds a twenty-some foot tall obelisk, sits on the grounds of the Richard J. Reynolds High School and R.J. Reynolds Memorial Auditorium.

His grandson, Patrick Reynolds, is an anti-smoking activist.

[edit] Sources

Mayer, Barbara. Reynolda: A History of an American Counry House 1997. Reynolda Museum of American Art. U.S.A