Editing C. R. Smith (section)

==Early life==
Smith was born on September 9, 1899, in [[Minerva, Texas]], located in [[Milam County, Texas|Milam County]],<ref>{{cite web|last1=Smyrl|first1=Vivian Elizabeth|title=Minerva, TX|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnm48|website=Handbook of Texas Online|date=15 June 2010|publisher=Texas State Historical Society|access-date=18 September 2017}}</ref> to Roy Edgerton Smith and the former Marion Burck.  Smith attended the [[University of Texas]] despite never having graduated from high school.<ref name="Hoover">{{cite web |last1=Hoover |first1=Gary |title=Proud Father of the Modern Airline System: CR Smith and American Airlines |url=https://www.archbridgeinstitute.org/2020/01/28/proud-father-of-the-modern-airline-system-cr-smith-and-american-airlines/ |website=Archbridge Institute |date=28 January 2020 |access-date=11 January 2021}}</ref>

Upon his graduation, Smith worked as an accountant for the accounting firm of [[KPMG|Peat Marwick Mitchell]]. Smith later ran a number of businesses, including a Western apparel store and a firm that sold state records of new mothers to manufacturers of baby supplies.<ref name=Hoover/>