Alexander Smith (October 14, 1818 – November 5, 1878) was a
Yonkers, New York, businessman and political figure who founded the Alexander Smith & Sons Carpet Company and won election to the
United States House of Representatives but died hours after being informed of his victory.
Biography
Alexander Smith was born in
Mercer County, New Jersey
Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission's ...
, on October 14, 1818. He was raised on his family's farm, educated in
New Jersey, and moved with his family to
West Farms, New York
West Farms is a residential neighborhood in The Bronx, New York City. Its boundaries, are: Bronx Park to the north, the Bronx River Parkway to the east, the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the south, and Southern Boulevard to the west. East Tremont ...
, in 1834.
Smith became interested in manufacturing, and in 1844 established a shop in West Farms for making looms and carpets. The shop caught fire and was rebuilt, and after a second fire in 1864 Smith reestablished his business in Yonkers. His business prospered, especially after he invented a loom suitable for weaving fine carpets, which other carpet makers used under licensing agreements with Smith, and his two factories eventually employed more than 3,000 people.
A
Republican, in 1878 he was the party's nominee for Congress in
New York's 12th District. He became ill on election day, and died just a few hours after being informed that he had won.
Smith died in Yonkers on November 5, 1878. He was buried at
Oakland Cemetery in Yonkers.
His company continued to operate, and through successive mergers eventually moved to
Mississippi as part of
Mohawk Industries
Mohawk Industries is an American flooring manufacturer based in Calhoun, Georgia, United States. Mohawk produces floor covering products for residential and commercial applications in North America and residential applications in Europe. The comp ...
.
The
Alexander Smith Carpet Mills Historic District
The Alexander Smith Carpet Mills Historic District is a national historic district located at Yonkers, Westchester County, New York. It includes 85 contributing buildings. It encompasses 19 stylistically varied mill buildings and six rows of work ...
in Yonkers was established in 1983, and contains many of the buildings that made up the factory and offices before the company moved out of New York.
[Westchester County Historical Society]
Historic Properties Listing: Alexander Smith Carpet Mills Historic District
, retrieved December 14, 2013
See also
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Alexander
1818 births
1878 deaths
19th-century American inventors
19th-century American businesspeople
Businesspeople from New York (state)
Elected officials who died without taking their seats
New York (state) Republicans
People from Mercer County, New Jersey
Politicians from Yonkers, New York