R. J. Reynolds

This article is about the individual. For the company, see R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. For other uses, see R. J. Reynolds (disambiguation).

R. J. Reynolds
R.J. Reynolds, head of Reynolds Tobacco Company
Born
Richard Joshua Reynolds

(1850-07-20)July 20, 1850
Patrick County, Virginia, U.S.
DiedJuly 29, 1918(1918-07-29) (aged 68)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
Resting placeSalem Cemetery (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)[1]
Alma materEmory & Henry College
Bryant & Stratton College
OccupationOwner of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1905⁠–⁠1918)​
Children4 including; Dick, Mary. Zachary
Signature

Richard Joshua Reynolds (July 20, 1850 – July 29, 1918) was an American businessman and founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.

The son of a tobacco farmer, he worked for his father and attended Emory & Henry College from 1868 to 1870, eventually graduating from Bryant & Stratton Business College in Baltimore.[2][3] He sold his share of the family business in 1874 and moved south to Winston (now Winston-Salem), North Carolina, to start his own tobacco company. Reynolds was a savvy businessman and a hard worker, and he quickly became one of the wealthiest citizens of Winston-Salem; eventually, he was the wealthiest person in the state of North Carolina.[4] He died in 1918 of pancreatic cancer.

  1. ^ Wilson, Scott; Mank, Gregory W. (forward) (2016). "Reynolds, R.J. #10628". Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3rd ed.). McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0786479924. OCLC 948561021.
  2. ^ Scott, Gerald. "Emory & Henry Students Proud of History, Looking Toward Future". Educationth. Archived from the original on October 3, 2010.
  3. ^ "North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program". North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. Archived from the original on July 26, 2009. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
  4. ^ Tursi, Frank (1994). Winston-Salem: A History. John F. Blair, publisher. pp. 110–11, 183. ISBN 9780895871152.