The Index-Journal (Greenwood, South Carolina) · Sat, May 26, 1945

The first child of William Smith and Lucy Wright Smith born at Stony Point was John Smith, the fourth son and fifth child. He was the second of the name John Smith, the first of the name having died in infancy.

John Smith, always referred to as “Skinner” Smith or “Skinner John” Smith was born at Stony Point on March 15, 1795, the year after his parents settled in StonyPoint.

He became a man of great wealth and was widely known throughout Piedmont. He married 1st to Jane Franklin, a native of Maryland. She is buried in the Andrew Chapel Churchyard Cemetery and it is stated on her tombstone that she was born April 23, 1798 in Charles County, Maryland. Married to John Smith Jan 1, 1817 and died Dec 7, 1838. The epitaph continues: “A plain unassuming woman, she was convicted and converted early in life, joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and died a consistent member A blessing to her family; a friend to her neighbors; a benefactor to the poor. Her works do follow her.”

Two infant children of John Smith and Jane Franklin Smith are buried in the Andrew Chapel Cemetery. They are Lucy Wright Smith, died in 1826, one year; and Charles Lewis Smith, died 1829, age three months.

John Smith, like his brother Joel Smith, was a man of unusual business ability. The statement on his tombstone at Old Providence “A man rarely surpassed for business qualifications and eminently successful” appears not to have been an overstatement as many eulogies are. Both John Smith and Joel Smith inherited the business ability of their father, William Smith, and while Joel Smith did accumulate a large property and at the time of his death in 1861, it was appraised, in round figures, according to a descendant, at a quarter of a million dollars, a large estate for the time. It consisted mostly of lands and slaves though he also had investments in banks and some other corporations.
John Smith appears to have started “on his own” first as a farmer above Stony Point. Later he became a merchant and removed to the Laurens side of Saluda River and built himself a large two story brick house, “The Red Brick House” in the fork formed by the junction of Saluda and Reedy Rivers. He built Smith’s Bridge over Saluda and became one of the best known merchants of that part of the State. The house is still standing and while it is not surrounded by the same numerous array of out-buildings, store, mill and so on as in the days of John Smith, it is still an imposing structure. It has four large columns in front extending to the height of the house and a portico extending from the second floor out to the columns. The house fronted on the old Augusta Road through this section, a different one from the “Augusta Road” on the west side of Saluda River which ran by Stony Point – all these roads being so named because they were used in going to Augusta to trade. The large store of John Smith was not far from the house.

“Skinner John” Smith became the central figure of more interesting and amusing stories than any other man of his time in the Upcountry. Dr Charles Foster Smith, a grandson, had in his collection of papers and documents relating to his family, a newspaper clipping identified only as “From a Laurens SC Newspaper, March 15, 1905” which has this to say about “Skinner” Smith by one who evidently knew him well:
“John (Skinner) Smith, who is spoken of in another place in this chapter as having been elected to the lower house of the Legislature at the general election of 1850, was one of the unique characters of his day and generation. He was one of the wealthy men of the District (Laurens) counting his negroes by the hundreds and his acres by the thousands, to say nothing of stocks and bonds.”

Children with his 1st wife, Jane Franklin:
1 – Joel Franklin Smith 29965370
2 – James Francis Smith 51244993
3 – John Robert Smith 29965356
4 – Lucy Wright Smith 177621644
5 – William Thomas Smith 125443145
6 – Charles Lewis Smith 177621671

After the death of Jane on Dec 7, 1838, John “Skinner” Smith married 2nd to Mary Ann Hallum (9728603)and they had 3 children:
1 – Lucy Wright Smith Irby Dickerson 9725789
2 – Charles Smith 16143407
3 – Basil Smith 177624862
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The following is a quote from the Greenwood County Sketches, page 376.
J. Skinner Smith was the first of the children to be born at Stony Point. He became a wealthy man and on his tombstone in Providence cemetery is the statement, "A man rarely surpassed for business qualifications and greatly successful." He built a large home, known as "the red brick house," in the fork of Saluda and Reedy River, South Carolina on the Laurens County side. The house burned about 1950. He also built Smith's bridge over Saluda river, the second bridge at that site.

Skinner Smith was a large-scale farmer and had a store near his home. He was the central figure of many anecdotes on his business shrewdness. One such story was that a clerk in the store confessed to having sold an expensive saddle and forgotten the name of the purchaser to whom it was to be charged. Skinner is alleged to have retorted, "Charge a saddle to every man on the books. Those who didn't buy one will complain."

In 1817 John Skinner Smith married Jane Franklin, 1798-1838. She and two infants are buried in Providence cemetery.