11 Jan. 1843–16 Apr. 1934

William Alexander Smith, businessman, farmer, and local historian, was born in Anson County, the son of William Gaston Smith (1802–79), a planter, miller, merchant, magistrate, militia officer, chairman of the trustees of the Carolina Female College, and leader of the local Methodist church. His mother was Eliza Sydnor Nelme of Anson County whose niece, Mary Ann Nelme Crump, was the mother of Mayor Edward Hull Crump of Memphis, Tenn 

Smith was born on the Nelme plantation near Ansonville, but his family soon moved to that town where his father built a handsome residence, the Oaks. He was educated in local schools and at Davidson College, from which he was graduated in 1865. His student life was interrupted by the Civil War. Joining the Anson Guards (Company C, Fourteenth Regiment, North Carolina Infantry) in 1861, he served until 1862, when, as a member of the color guard, he was severely wounded at Malvern Hill, injuries that required him to use crutches for the rest of his life. 

Although the family fortune was depleted by the Civil War, Smith was able to launch a career in business by becoming a partner in a general store at Ansonville in 1866. Eventually he became sole proprietor and continued the store until 1886, a subsequent short-lived partnership proving unprofitable. The success of this store provided capital on which he based his later ventures.

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