Zachary Smith Reynolds

Zachary Smith Reynolds (November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1932)

was an American amateur aviator and youngest son of American businessman and millionaire R. J. Reynolds.

The son of one of the richest men in the United States at the time, Reynolds was to fully inherit $20 million, valued at over $300 million today, when he turned 28, as established in his father's will.

At the time of Smith's birth in 1911, R. J. Reynolds was the wealthiest man in the state of North Carolina, and the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was producing one-fourth of all United States plug chewing tobacco.

Net profits in 1912 were 2.9 million, and would jump to $23.8 million by 1924.

The introduction of the Camel cigarettes brand two years later in 1913 spiked the company's profits.

The 1,067 acre estate would be completed in winter of 1917.

The centerpiece of the country home was a 64-room mansion, described modestly as a "bungalow" by R.J. and Katharine.

The house was four stories and divided into a central section with two wings, each attached to the main house at a 20 degree angle.

The design and construction of the house took a total of 5 years: the house's layout and utilities became complex to meet the needs of the family.

The final plan included two kitchens, three dumbwaiters, an elevator, fourteen bathrooms, a telephone in each room, and an Aeolian Company pipe organ featuring four keyboards and a pedal footboard.

The rugs, curtains, and other furnishings were designed and placed to absorb its harsh tones and create a warmer sound.

The relatively simple exterior of the "bungalow" betrayed the luxurious interior: the main rooms - central living room, reception hall, and dining room - were decorated with detailed paneling, carved moldings, and rosettes, including Corinthian, Doric, and Ionic columns, and each public room had a carved-marble fireplace mantel.

The main house was complemented by formal gardens, vineyards, a golf course, two tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool, and a man-made lake with a boathouse, called "Lake Katharine."

Lake Katharine was created by damming the nearby Silas Creek.

The lake's depth was regulated by a spillway that led into an artificial pool with a concrete bottom.

Occasionally the pond would be emptied for cleaning by sweeping out the bottom and sides.

Reynolda functioned as a self-sufficient estate and also featured the adjoining "Reynolda Village" for workers.

It had its own post office, housing for employees, two churches, two schools, and a model farm to exhibit and innovate the latest practices in agriculture, livestock production, and horticulture.

The building of the estate coincided with the growing wealth of the Reynolds family: the R.J. Reynolds company experienced a sharp increase in profit after the introduction of the Camel cigarette brand.

The family permanently moved into Reynolda in December 1917.

However, R.J. Reynolds had been experiencing illness due to pancreatic cancer earlier in the year.

Treatments including quarantine and pulling all his teeth were unsuccessful.

In the first year of production, 425 billion Camel cigarettes were sold, becoming the most popular brand in the United States by 1918.

The couple and their four children first lived in a Queen Anne-style Victorian mansion at 666 West Fifth street in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The house was located on a street known as "Millionaire's Row," along with other wealthy Reynolds family members and important Reynolds Tobacco employees.

While living at the mansion, Katharine began to design a country estate, the future Reynolda House.

Agriculture and country living were very stylish among the American wealthy at the time; Katharine herself was subscribed to fashionable publications such as Town and Country, Women's Home Companion, and Country Life in America.

In 1922, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company's net earnings were the highest ever taken in by a tobacco manufacturer in history.

In the early morning of July 6, 1932, Reynolds died, under mysterious circumstances, of a gunshot wound to the head, following a party on the family estate of the Reynolda House.

A series of investigations revealed inconsistent testimony from the party-goers and signs of tampering with the crime scene.

The death gained sensational national media coverage after Reynolds' wife of a few months, Broadway singer and actress Libby Holman, along with Reynolds' friend Albert "Ab" Walker, were indicted of first-degree murder charges by a grand jury.

The case was eventually dropped, due to lack of evidence and at the request of the Reynolds family.

It remains unsolved.

Based on the evidence and testimonies, it is unknown if it was a murder or suicide.

Multiple films were inspired by the case, including the melodrama film Written on the Wind (1956).

Reynolds' siblings donated their shares of his estate to form the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation for the benefit of social causes in North Carolina.

Reynolds (also known as Z. Smith Reynolds, or just Smith) was the youngest child of R. J. Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and Katharine Smith Reynolds.

He was close to his three older siblings.

His Sister Nancy remembered him fondly in a 1980s interview: "Smith was my friend. I mean, he was younger than I, but you never felt that way about him because he was so intelligent, and he was so adult in his thinking... He was a very strong character, Smith was."