Smith, George C.

SMITH, CRAMPTON, HOSFORD, CARLL, HILL, LANGFORD, WILSON

Posted By: Volunteer Transcribers
Date: 1/31/2003 at 01:57:54

Source: "The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated" published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.
GEORGE C. SMITH

Upon the commercial activity of a community depends its prosperity, and the man who is deserving of public gratitude is he who institutes and controls extensive business concerns, thereby furnishing a source of livelihood to men who depend upon their own exertions for advancement. One of the leading and important enterprises of Clinton is known as the Clinton Paper Company, of which George C. Smith is president. His name is found high on the roll of leading representatives of industrial life in this portion of Iowa, not only by reason of the extended business which he manipulates but also owing to his straightforward business methods, his keen sagacity and his fidelity to commercial ethics.

Mr. Smith is a native of Lincolnshire, England, where his birth occurred March 5, 1831. He is a son of William and Mary (Smith) Crampton. As he was reared by his maternal grandparents, he took their name. His parents came to the United States in 1852, one year after the arrival of their son George. The father followed farming in Clinton county, near Elvira, carrying on agricultural pursuits for many years. He died in 1882, while his wife passed away in 1891. They reared a family of six children, five of whom are living in this county.

George C. Smith was educated in the schools of England, and after reaching the new world he secured employment in Chicago as stationary engineer in a distillery, working in the western metropolis when the city contained a population of only twenty-five thousand. He there remained for five years, being employed continuously as engineer with the exception of one season, which he passed as engineer in a sawmill at Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1857 he went to Fulton, Illinois, in the capacity of engineer for the firm of Dement & Company, and later removed to Lyons, where he worked in an old stone mill which was utilized for the manufacture of flour. When the Clinton Lumber Company was organized he entered its services as engineer. Their mills were erected between Third and Fourth avenues, and he had charge of their construction and later of the engineering work. In the employ of C. Lamb he was engaged in sawing lumber used in the construction of the first bridge built from the island to the Illinois side of the river. For fourteen years he remained with the Clinton Lumber Company as one of its most trusted and efficient representatives, being a director and vice-president. Since that time he has devoted his attention exclusively to the operation of the paper mill, which is conducted under the name of the Clinton Paper Company, of which Mr. Smith is president. It was organized in 1868, with a paid-up capital of sixty thousand dollars. He served as vice-president of the company until about 1890, when he was elected president.

He began the construction of the mills in 1868, and the first paper therein manufactured was placed upon the market in 1869. It was he who organized and incorporated the company in 1868, with A.P. Hosford as president, Mr. Smith as vice president and treasurer, and A. Sidell as secretary. The present officers are George C. Smith, president; Arthur C. Smith, secretary; and G.C. Smith, treasurer. They manufacture wrapping paper from rags and straw and also make building and deadening paper. Employment is furnished to twenty-five to thirty people regularly. The mill is located between Eighteenth and Nineteenth avenues and Fourth and Fifth streets, and the capacity is twelve tons of paper every twenty-four hours. The offices are at Eighth avenue and Second street, as well as at the mills, and the paper is sold to the wholesale trade as well as to the retail. They established separate wholesale offices in 1895, prior to which time that branch of the business was transacted at the general offices at the mills. In connection with their wholesale department they handle everything manufactured in their line, including every kind of paper known to the trade.
Mr. Smith was married in Clinton to Celia Hosford, daughter of A.P. Hosford, who died one and one-half years later, and for his second wife he chose Miss Sarah Carll, native of Ohio, who died in 1886, leaving seven children, namely: Bert, who is associated with his father in business. Arthur C., who is secretary of the Clinton Paper Company. Verne, who is also connected with the business. William, who has charge of the warehouse, makes the collections and acts as salesman. Earl, who is also in the warehouse. Lula, the wife of Olie Hill, a druggist of Clinton, and Georgia, the wife of Frank Langford, of Clinton, now a mining prospector of Maderia, California. After the death of the mother of these children, Mr. Smith was again married, his present wife having borne the maiden name of Mary Wilson.
In his political affiliations Mr. Smith is a Republican, and socially he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. For almost a half century he has been identified with industrial concerns in Clinton, and for thirty-three years has been manager of an extensive business which is now controlled by the Clinton Paper Company. He owes his progress to his executive ability, close application and indefatigable energy. The splendid business methods which he instituted have led to a constant increase in the patronage which is accorded the house, and at all times the Clinton Paper Company has enjoyed an irreproachable reputation for fair dealing.