Elizur Smith

Elizur Smith (1812 – 1889) was an American politician and paper manufacturer from Lee, Massachusetts. His enterprise, the Smith Paper Company, became the largest fine paper manufacturer in America. He also served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and became a Senator from the southern Berkshire District in 1879. His breeding farm, named Highlawn, became one of the largest equestrian estate in the East Coast, and was later acquired by the Vanderbilts.

Biography

Elizur Smith was born on January 5, 1812, in Sandisfield, Massachusetts.

In 1865, Smith married Marry Ann Smith, and their home became a social center for various events. It was one of the largest breeding farms in the East Coast of the United States, and one of its horses was priced at $20,000. The residence was filled by rare books, pictures, gems and art pieces from Smith's travels abroad.

During his lifetime, the city of Lee, Massachusetts, became one of the prominent centers of paper manufacturing in the United States, producing a variety of papers. Having no children, his fortune, valued at $600,000 in 1889, or over a billion dollars in 2024 money in relation to GDP, was given to his nephews such as Wellington Smith, who inherited Highlawn.

Wellington Smith would later sell the estate to William Douglas Sloane and Emily Thorn Vanderbilt, on which they would build "Elm Court", and to George Westinghouse, the rival of Thomas Edison, who would build "Erskine Park" on the estate.