{"id":17370,"date":"2016-12-29T19:28:58","date_gmt":"2016-12-30T00:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=17370"},"modified":"2021-12-04T09:44:29","modified_gmt":"2021-12-04T14:44:29","slug":"ladysmith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/ladysmith\/","title":{"rendered":"Ladysmith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A few weeks ago I wrote about Triangle<\/a>, a name on a road sign that I pondered as I sat stuck in traffic on a drive back from Richmond, Virginia. I also noticed another exit on that fateful trip as I slogged through miles of gridlock. The sign said Ladysmith and my mind began to wander. I figured it didn’t refer literally to a Smith by occupation, i.e., a skilled metal worker. However, who was this lady Smith and why did she deserve a place named in her honor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Virginia, USA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Ladysmith<\/a>
Barn in Ladysmith, Virginia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I passed Ladysmith about halfway between Richmond and Fredericksburg. The community sat just west of Interstate 95, at the intersection of Ladysmith Road and Jefferson Davis Highway (map<\/a>). I didn’t bother to stop. My trip had been delayed long enough already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer had to wait until I got home. It required more searching than I expected although I finally found something in the Fredericksburg Star, “From Ladysmith to Ladysmith<\/a>.” The article recounted how Ladysmith in Virginia reached out to Ladysmith in Wisconsin in the aftermath of a tornado a few years ago. It also discussed the unusual name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“…Clara Smith, the daughter of Sally Collins Smith and Civil War Capt. C.T. Smith, named the community. Her father donated land for one of the Caroline’s first public schools in the hope that the town would grow up around it. Clara Smith most likely named the town after her mother, although the daughter is the more celebrated of the two ladies Smith in Caroline.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That solved the mystery. It also opened a new door to a different Ladysmith in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Wisconsin, USA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Downtown<\/a>
Downtown Ladysmith, Wisconsin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The details actually came easier in Wisconsin. Ladysmith (map<\/a>) became the seat of government for Rusk County so historians wrote about it. The whole thing involved someone trying to curry favor for a business transaction. The town began in 1885<\/a> at the intersection of two railway lines on the Flambeau River. The owner of a local logging company, Robert Corbett named the town after himself. So it became Corbett. Then it changed to Warner because of a railroad station located there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Gates, a local land speculator, wanted to make a tidy profit. He knew that Charles Robinson Smith of Menasha Wooden Ware considered opening a manufacturing plant<\/a> in Warner. If that happened then people would move to the area and buy Gate’s land. Gates probably wanted to hasten that along so he suggested a new name for the town, Ladysmith. This honored Charles Smith’s recent bride, Isabel Bacon Rogers Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lady Smith was an interesting character. Her first marriage ended in divorce and she secretly married<\/a> Charles Smith before announcing it publicly. She seemed to be quite the socialite, living in high society and frequenting the theater. Smith died a few years later, leaving Isabel with a sizable fortune. So she moved into a fancy Park Avenue apartment in New York City. Then she met and married Orrin Johnson<\/a>, a Broadway star and silent movie actor. Eventually she returned to Wisconsin along with her third husband after his acting career faded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n