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Local figure

Fred Smith

Fred Smith came to Chapel Hill in 1888 and for many years was conductor on the ten-mile branch railroad between the village and University Station, known to generations of university students. He organized the Chapel Hill lodge of the Knights of Pythias and died at his home in April 1939, shortly before his 81st birthday.

Source: DigitalNC: The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 14, 1939, pp. 3-4 (Capt. Smith Dies in His 81st Year)

1858–1939 · Dates from the Library of Congress · On the Friends’ Local Authors roster → · Library of Congress authority record ↗

2 works about Fred Smith are indexed here.

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each opens in the chronology.

The last trains on the Chapel Hill branch, 1888–19371888–1937 · Passenger service on the ten-mile branch between University Station and Carrboro ended as car ownership spread and roads improved. Captain Fred Smith became the branch's conductor on October 16, 1888. Effective January 1, 1924, the Southern Railway put the line under a separate corporation, to be operated as the State University Railroad Company, the News reported. The State Utilities Commission let the railroad drop passenger service, and the last passenger train ran on October 24, 1936, a trip some Chapel Hill and Carrboro people made into a railway picnic. The freight train was taken off by January 8, 1937, and Smith retired after 47 years as the line's conductor, kept on by the Southern Railway as a freight solicitor.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 4 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Fred Smith begins about fifty years as conductor on the Chapel Hill branch train Captain Fred Smith became conductor on the University Station branch on October 16, 1888, after about 18 months as brakeman, fireman, flagman and baggage master on the Goldsboro to Greensboro line, and kept the job for about half a century, until passenger service ended. Louis Graves later wrote that he served from 1889, but the Weekly gave the 1888 date in 1925 and again in 1931. People: Fred SmithSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 282 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, February 13, 1931, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 23, 1925, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, October 16, 1936, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 14, 1939, p. 4
  2. Fred Smith organizes a Knights of Pythias lodge in Chapel Hill Captain Fred Smith, the branch-line train conductor, organized a lodge of the Knights of Pythias in Chapel Hill in 1897 while keeping his membership in the Goldsboro lodge he had joined about 1887. The order's rites were read at his grave in 1939.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 29, 1937, p. 5 (Medal for Capt. Smith)
  3. The freight train is taken off the Chapel Hill branch and conductor Fred C. Smith retires The freight train that had run on the ten-mile branch from University Station since passenger service ended on October 24 was taken off, and Captain Fred C. Smith retired after 47 years as the line's conductor, kept on by the Southern Railway as a freight solicitor. The regular Greensboro-Durham train was to make occasional trips to the branch for Chapel Hill and Carrboro freight.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 8, 1937, p. 1
  4. Captain Fred C. Smith, for nearly 50 years conductor of the University Station train, dies Captain Fred C. Smith, who came to Chapel Hill in 1888 and served nearly 50 years as conductor on the ten-mile railroad between the village and University Station, died at his home two weeks short of his 81st birthday. He had retired in 1937; his funeral was held at the Baptist church, with graveside rites of the Knights of Pythias lodge he had organized.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 14, 1939, p. 3

Indexed works

Works about or by Fred Smith. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

Skipper of the "Carrboro Limited" for 42 years

Holder, Glenn, 1906- · 1931

Glenn Holder's 1931 profile of Captain Fred Smith, who spent forty-two years as skipper of the train known as the 'Carrboro Limited' between Carrboro and Chapel Hill. Detached from the March 1931 issue of the university's Alumni Review, the piece recounts Chapel Hill railroad history. Smith lived from 1858 to 1939.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Smith, Fred, 1858-1939.

UNC

Capt. and Mrs. Fred Smith to celebrate 50-year romance in railroading today : popular railroad conductor is fondly remembered by thousands of university students he has hauled from University Junction to Chapel Hill : has seen 43 years of service

Holder, Glenn, 1906-; University of North Carolina (1793-1962). News Bureau · 1931 · University News Bureau

Glenn Holder's release for the News Bureau of the University of North Carolina marks fifty years of railroading for Captain Fred Smith, the conductor who hauled students between University Junction and Chapel Hill across forty three years of service, and for his wife. Issued at Chapel Hill in 1931, it concerns railroad conductors and the history of railroads in Chapel Hill.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Smith, Fred, 1858-1939.

UNC

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 1 with a known location.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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Research sources

Sources and research tools for this person. For ready-made searches of other catalogs, see Search further. Research guide: Trace a family through historical records.

Background

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Fred Smith Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
  • Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries

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Books about Fred Smith

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