Joseph Ellison Adger Smyth, known as E. A. Smyth (October 26, 1847 – August 3, 1942) was an American industrialist. He was the son of Thomas Smyth, minister of Second Presbyterian Church in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

. His older brother, James Adger Smyth, later became

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Charleston. Smyth attended

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

until 1864, when he joined the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. His gallant service in the

Battle of Honey Hill The Battle of Honey Hill was the third battle of Sherman's March to the Sea, fought November 30, 1864, during the American Civil War. It did not involve Major General William T. Sherman's main force, marching from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, ...

earned him a promotion to

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

. After the war he became a captain in the Washington Artillery Rifle Club, and used that title for the rest of his life. He started as a junior clerk in the hardware firm his grandfather, James Adger, had established, but later decided to enter the textile industry. He joined forces with Francis J. Pelzer and served as president of the Pelzer Manufacturing Company in what is now

Pelzer, South Carolina Pelzer is a town in Anderson County, South Carolina, United States, along the Saluda River. Its population was 89 at the 2010 census, and grew to 1,344 at the 2020 census. Government As of 2010, the town was governed by a mayor and four counci ...

from 1880 to 1923. He was also president of Belton Mills from 1899 to 1920, and owned a controlling interest in ''

The Greenville News ''The Greenville News'' is a daily morning newspaper published in Greenville, South Carolina. After ''The State (newspaper), The State'' in Columbia and Charleston's ''The Post and Courier'', it is the third largest paper in South Carolina. Hi ...

'' from 1912 to 1923. In 1900, Smyth purchased a house in Flat Rock, North Carolina. He changed the name from "Rock Hill" to "

Connemara Connemara ( ; ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...

". He owned it for the rest of his life, and in 1945 it was purchased by

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg w ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, E. A. 1847 births 1942 deaths The Citadel alumni Presbyterians from South Carolina Confederate States Army soldiers 20th-century American newspaper publishers (people)