Zachary Smith Reynolds

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Zachary "ZACH-O" Smith Reynolds (November 1911-1932) (also known as Z. Smith Reynolds, or just Smith) was the youngest son of R. J. Reynolds founder of the tobacco company of the same name. He married Anne Ludlow Cannon (August 31, 1901 - June 21, 1961) in York, South Carolina November 16, 1929 soon after he turned eighteen at her father's insistence. She was the daughter of Joseph Franklin Cannon (July 23, 1876 - June 21, 1939) of the Cannon Mills fortune and Annie Hunt Ludlow (December 9, 1887 - March 10, 1965). They had a daughter known as Anne Cannon II (August 23, 1930 - May 11, 2003). They were divorced in Reno, Nevada November 23, 1931. He died under mysterious circumstances of a pistol shot on the early morning of July 7th, after a 21st birthday party for a friend at his Winston-Salem, North Carolina estate known as Reynolda. His wife Libby Holman Reynolds was pregnant with their child Christopher "Topper" Reynolds.

Many things in the Winston-Salem, NC area are named for him. The local airport (Smith Reynolds Airport), a library at Wake Forest University, as well as a nonprofit charitable local foundation named in his honor. Smith was an avid aviator.

[edit] Death

He was found by his boyhood friend and personal assistant Albert "Ab" Walker, and with the help of his wife, Libby Holman Reynolds, they brought him to North Carolina Baptist Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5:25am on July 7th. Both were considered suspects in his death. His siblings would go on to establish a trust in his name that provided for his namesake foundation.

[edit] External links

Winston-Salem Journal Series Death at Reynolda - Z. Smith Reynolds
The Z Smith Reynolds Foundation
Z. Smith Reynolds Airport
Biography of Libby Holman Reynolds on the official Jane Bowles site