inventor, manufacturer, business executive, b. North Prairie, Waukesha County. He moved to Milwaukee with his parents in 1874, where he attended school, later worked in Kansas City and Chicago, and in 1896 returned to Milwaukee to join his father, Charles Jeremiah Smith, in the C. J. Smith and Sons Co., manufacturers of bicycle frames. In 1904 he organized the A. O. Smith Co. to manufacture pressed steel automobile frames, developing the first steel frames in America and originating the press equipment necessary for their production. Smith was president and manager of the A.O. Smith Co. from 1904 until his death, and was also active in several other Milwaukee business and civic activities. His son, LLOYD RAYMOND SMITH, b. Chicago, Ill., moved with his parents to Milwaukee in 1896. He attended the Univ. of Wisconsin (1902-1905), and in 1905 joined his father in the A. O. Smith Co. He became president of the firm on his father's death, serving in this capacity from 1913 to 1936, and from 1936 until his death was chairman of the board of directors. In 1916 the firm was incorporated as the A. O. Smith Corp. As head of the firm, Lloyd R. Smith placed his emphasis on research and the development of new products; he developed an automatic plant for mass production of automobile frames, pioneered in the manufacture of large steel pipe for oil and gas lines, and developed steel pressure storage tanks, glass lined steel barrels, and numerous other products. Amer. Biog. . . . Cyclopedia, 44 (1931); F. L. Holmes, et al., eds., Wis. (5 vols., Chicago, 1946); J. G. Gregory, Hist. of Milwaukee (4 vols., Chicago, 1931); Milwaukee Journal, June 20, 1913; Milwaukee Sentinel, Dec. 24, 1944.Learn More
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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
