Thomas Ovard Smith 1876-1954

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HISTORY OF THOMAS OVARD SMITH

Thomas Ovard Smith was born 26 November 1876 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the fifth of the nine children of William Joseph Smith and Mary Ann Ovard.

His siblings were:

Sarah Eliza Smith (1867-1955)

Enoch Smith (1870-1951)

Sarah Smith (1873-1873)

Alice Smith (1874-1943)

William Joseph Smith, Jr. (1879-1959)

Henry Joseph Taylor Smith (1882-1951)

Logan Smith (1884-1959)

Eugene Smith (1886-1893)

(The following is taken from the history of the Idaho Candy Company.)

The Idaho Candy Company began as a dream for Thomas Ovard Smith (T. O.) in his home in 1901. Mr. Smith had been a journeyman candy maker in Chicago, Illinois and Salt Lake City, Utah before he moved to Boise, Idaho to help build the Dewey Palace Hotel in Nampa, Idaho.

After finishing the hotel he found himself out of work and started making candy and selling it door to door out of shoe boxes. He was the originator of the “Idaho Spud” candy bar. Not long after starting, T.O. had seventeen ladies making candy in a small frame shop in the vicinity of 8th & Fort Street in Boise.

In 1909 Mr. Smith teamed up with the Adams family to build a modern factory at 412 South 8th Street in Boise to meet the needs of his customers. It was touted as the most modern building in Boise at the time. It included sky lights and a “welfare” or break room for the employees. This is the same 23,000 square foot factory that the candies are made in today. Some of the equipment used in the early 1900's is still in use today. The Adams’ were either part owners or owners of Idaho Candy Company until 1969, when it was purchased by Don Wakeman.

Thomas Ovard married May Pauline Rupp on September 6, 1897 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. They were the parents of Reuel Eugene Smith (1898-1986) and Lila Mary Ann Smith (1901-1999).

Thomas died May 26, 1954 and his wife, Mary, died April 11, 1956 both in Boise, Ada Idaho. They are buried in the Morris Hills Cemetery in Boise.