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Local figure

Remus J. Smith Sr.

Remus J. Smith Sr. had taught in Orange County and Hillsboro schools for about ten years, and was on the Hillsboro High School faculty, when he opened the Smith Furniture Company in the former J. C. Scott store building in Hillsboro in September 1944.

Source: DigitalNC: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 21, 1944, p. 1

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Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 16 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Smith Furniture Company opens on West King Street in Hillsborough Smith Furniture Company opened in the building formerly occupied by the Scott store, selling furniture, stoves and rugs. R. J. Smith ran it as proprietor, and it was still selling G-E appliances and heaters on West King Street in the 1960s. People: Remus J. Smith Sr.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 21, 1944, p. 3 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 25, 1952, p. 6
  2. Remus Smith becomes chairman of the county board of elections Remus J. Smith, a Hillsboro furniture dealer, was elected chairman of the Orange County board of elections, succeeding R. O. Forrest, who resigned because he was serving as a justice of the peace. The board also moved the Caldwell and Tolar's polling places for the November election. People: Remus J. Smith Sr., Robert O. ForrestSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 30, 1948, p. 8
  3. The commissioners name a Board of Tax Assessors to oversee the county revaluation Dean D. Carroll of Chapel Hill, Zeb C. Burton of Cedar Grove and Remus J. Smith Sr. of Hillsboro accepted appointment to a Board of Tax Assessors to advise the J. M. Cleminshaw Company, hired for the county's professional property revaluation, and at their first meeting began reviewing the firm's recommended base values for buildings and land. People: Remus J. Smith Sr.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 2, 1953, p. 1
  4. Commissioners urge passage of the school bonds as two objectors cite the segregation ruling At a hearing on the $2,000,000 school bond order, the county commissioners passed the order and a resolution urging voters to approve the bonds. Two Hillsboro men objected, citing the unsettled situation caused by the Supreme Court's school decision and the empty St. Mary's school; bond co-chairman Remus J. Smith Sr. answered that the county would need the classrooms even if segregation ended. People: Edwin Sidney Lanier, Dwight Ray, Remus J. Smith Sr.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 23, 1956, p. 1
  5. Hillsboro reelects Mayor Ben Johnston and seats John P. Ballard on the town board In a town election with 195 voters, insurance man John P. Ballard won a seat on the Board of Commissioners in place of F. E. Joyner, while Mayor Ben G. Johnston, unopposed, and commissioners John W. Dickson, V. M. Forrest, Arthur W. Crabtree and R. J. Smith Sr. were returned. People: Remus J. Smith Sr., John P. BallardSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 9, 1957, p. 1
  6. Hillsboro's town board adopts leave and personnel rules for town employees The Hillsboro Board of Commissioners set up personnel records and rules giving salaried employees two weeks of annual leave and five days of sick leave a year, naming the town's holidays and ending overtime pay for salaried staff, after its finance committee reported abuses in the past. People: John P. Ballard, Remus J. Smith Sr.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 7, 1958, p. 1
  7. County commissioners and school board name the Orange County ABC board Meeting jointly, the county commissioners and Board of Education named Dudley D. Carroll, 78, retired dean of the UNC commerce school, chairman of the new Alcoholic Beverage Control board, with Hillsboro furniture dealer Remus J. Smith Sr. and Cedar Grove merchant Giles M. Long, at $10 a meeting. With Carroll in the hospital, Smith became acting chairman, and the board picked a site on US 70 just east of NC 86 on Fred Cates's land for the first store, where grading began February 17. People: Dudley Dewitt Carroll, Remus J. Smith Sr.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 19, 1959, p. 1
  8. Tax collector Carl C. Davis resigns to become manager of the county ABC system Carl C. Davis, Orange County's tax collector since the job moved from the sheriff's office, told the commissioners he would resign, effective May 1, to become the first county manager of the Alcoholic Beverage Control system at $5,000 a year. The same day the commissioners lent the ABC board $30,000 from school debt service funds to open its first store, then going up on US 70 north of Hillsboro. People: Remus J. Smith Sr., Sam M. Gattis IIISearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 5, 1959, p. 1
  9. Hillsboro commissioners elect Fred T. Claytor to the town board The Hillsboro Board of Commissioners elected Fred T. Claytor, a Hillsboro High School teacher and assistant coach, to the unexpired term of Remus J. Smith Sr., who had resigned on joining the county ABC board. The board also called the town election for May 5, with registration April 18 through 25. People: Remus J. Smith Sr.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 5, 1959, p. 1
  10. Orange County builds its third ABC store near the Alamance line at Carr The county ABC board put up a concrete-block liquor store on Mutt Byrd's land about 200 yards from the Alamance County line on the Roxboro-Burlington highway, with opening expected in mid-September. By early 1960 nearly all of its sales went to Alamance County customers. People: Remus J. Smith Sr.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 13, 1959, p. 1 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 3, 1959, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 18, 1960, p. 15
  11. Orange County's third ABC store opens at Carr, near the Alamance line The county's third liquor store opened on Highway 49 in Carr precinct of Cedar Grove Township, the only rural precinct that had voted wet, placed to catch Alamance buyers who had been going to a Caswell store. Benton Efland of Efland, from the first Hillsboro store's staff, was manager; the store took in $1,241.75 on its first Saturday. People: Remus J. Smith Sr.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 17, 1959, p. 3
  12. The county ABC board repays its county loan and turns over $110,000 in profits In May, the first month its stores showed a profit, the Orange County ABC board repaid a $20,000 loan from the county and put $110,000 in profits into the county treasury. Board chairman Remus Smith reported that the county's three stores ranked twelfth in dollar sales among the state's 42 ABC systems. People: Remus J. Smith Sr.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 9, 1960, p. 3
Show all 16 dated events
  1. The county ABC board refuses a church petition to close the new liquor store at Interstate 85 The board rejected a petition signed by 125 people of the Mount Hermon Baptist Church community asking it to close ABC Store No. 4. Chairman Remus Smith said the area had voted wet two years before, no protest came until the store opened, and there had been no complaints of misconduct. February sales at the four county stores were up 25.6 percent over a year earlier. People: Remus J. Smith Sr.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 9, 1961, p. 9
  2. The county ABC board approves a $10,000 budget for the Council on Alcoholism The Orange County ABC board approved a $10,000 budget for the county Council on Alcoholism for the coming year, cutting $4,490 from the $14,490 the council had asked for. Chairman Remus J. Smith Sr. said the council would be paid in quarterly installments.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 6, 1961, p. 19
  3. The county ABC board refuses to pay for an air conditioner put on its station wagon After county commissioners' chairman Donald M. Stanford had an air conditioner installed on the ABC board's station wagon for a trip to Denver, ABC chairman Remus J. Smith Sr. said his board had not authorized it and would not pay the $588 bill. Stanford agreed to have it removed at his own expense.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 12, 1963, p. 6
  4. County ABC board votes for a second liquor store in the Chapel Hill area Over board member D. D. Carroll's bitter opposition, the Orange County ABC Board voted two to one to set up a second ABC store in the Chapel Hill area, without deciding on the proposed West Rosemary Street site behind Fowler's Food Store. University officials, five ministers, the Carrboro town board and petitions with 754 signatures opposed a store near the campus and schools. People: Dudley Dewitt Carroll, Remus J. Smith Sr.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 10, 1964, p. 9

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