Fred C. Smith

Fred Cecil Smith, 72, of Starkville, Mississippi, a nationally

respected antiquarian bookseller and archivist, passed away after a long

battle with cancer on February 28, 2026 at his home surrounded by his

family.

The only son of Frank Ellis and Helen Ashley McPhaul Smith, he

was born May 16, 1953 in Washington, D. C., named for his father's

brother Fred who died in World War II at Guadalcanal. His father served

six terms as a Congressman from Mississippi (1950-1962), later serving

on the Board of the TVA. Fred and his twin sister Kathy grew up in a

home filled with books, watching their brilliant father write books of

significance as national political leaders circled around their parents.

Their father was not a typical Congressman from Mississippi: he was a

polymath and author who was respected nationally for his liberal

intellect.

For the first few years of his life, Fred lived in Washington, D.C.,

only a block away from the home of J. Edgar Hoover. Fred remembered

with fondness living in the nation's capital during his father's service as

Congressman. The family would later move to Alexandria, Virginia

where Fred spent most of his childhood. His father was close to

President John F. Kennedy from their early days in Congress, and after

his defeat in 1962, Kennedy appointed his father to the Board of the

Tennessee Valley Authority, a full-time position, which resulted in the

family's move to Knoxville, Tennessee.

Although he grew up in Knoxville, his family maintained close

connections and strong identity to Mississippi. He attended Millsaps

College in Jackson, where he graduated in 1976 with a degree in

History. Always interested in politics, Fred, while a student at Millsaps,

worked for the legendary Bill Minor, then the Mississippi Capitol

Correspondent for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He also attended

the opening day of the Watergate Hearings, sitting on the front row.

He married Mary Frances Thurman on June 5, 1976 at St.

Richard's Church in Jackson. Although he began his life as a Methodist,

before marriage he converted to Catholicism, which remained his

spiritual home the rest of his life. He loved Jackson's Belhaven

community and long resided with Mary and his family in a beautiful

home on Saint Ann Street, where they raised their three children and

created wonderful, long lasting memories.

As his father approached political retirement in 1982 from

Governor's William Winter's executive staff, Fred joined him to

establish Choctaw Traders, commonly called Choctaw Books, located

originally near the historic depot in Ridgeland's Old Town Square. His

store's name had historical overtones, with the senior Smith choosing the

name "traders" with intent, a reference to the old Indian traders along the

Natchez Trace, who "traded" in anything of value.

His father, a life-long bibliophile, had long desired to open a

bookstore, and with his son, gathered together many of the excess books

from his own expansive library to stock the store. Over 36 years under

Fred's leadership, Choctaw Books became one of the nation's most

important antiquarian bookstores and was regarded as a Southern literary

treasure.

Among the many books, documents, and maps at Choctaw Traders

originally were antiques from Frank's sister's Sadie's Vicksburg antique

store. In its heyday, one coming into to Choctaw Traders would find

Fred behind the counter, in front of a countertop sign reading "We buy

books about Mississippi," and his father Frank rocking in a chair along

his side.

In early1984, Choctaw Books moved to 406 Manship Street in

Jackson, near downtown, at the corner of Manship and North West

Streets, just west of the Baptist Hospital, one block north of the historic

Manship House. Most of his customers were from Northeast Jackson,

and he felt the move to Jackson would better connect him to his

customers.

Choctaw Books specialized in used, rare, and out-of-print books by

Mississippi authors or Southern subjects. The bookstore was recognized

as the state's best source of books, maps, Mississippiana, historical

documents, and photographs capturing the state's and the South's entire

history. In 1983, Fred told a Clarion-Ledger reporter that the bookstore

focused on "Southern literary treasures," defined by him as "a book

written in the South, about the South or by a Southerner." Also, he told

the reporter that the books on his shelves must meet three criteria: be

"either rare, out-of-print or used."

To maintain his extensive collection of Mississippi and Southern

treasures, he cultivated relationships with other book dealers across the

country, from Maine to California. He also each week mined AB

Bookman's Weekly, a weekly national book trade publication, which

allowed him to purchase some of the best out-of-print books in North

America.

Besides the Southern literary treasures, the store was known for its

"Mystery Room" which contained more than 3,000 hardback and 1,000

paperback mysteries, most at prices from 50 cents to $3. His store also

maintained an extensive collection of cook-books and Folio Society

books, which are beautifully illustrated hardcover books of classic

literature. He was also highly sought as an appraiser of books and

literary ephemera, and he appraised many of the most significant

historical collections in Mississippi and the South.

He once told a Clarion-Ledger reporter of his love of being a

bookseller: "It's kind of like searching for gold, a modern-day type of

gold digging," he said. "You never know when you're going to find

something that's really valuable."

By June 1991, the store would move to a much larger site, 926

North Street, just south of Fortification Street and east of North State

Street. That was the final home of Choctaw Books, and Fred operated

the store until 2018.

In 2017, Fred joined the Archives and Special Collections Division

of Mitchell Memorial Library at Mississippi State University as the

Coordinator of Rare Books. His expertise in Mississippiana and Rare

Books was nationally respected, and he expanded the important holdings

in the Library's Collections. He created many videos for Mississippi

State Libraries entitled "Cultural Conversations" in which he

interviewed important individuals associated with history and literature.

He worked for Mississippi State until his death.

Fred is survived by the love of his life and wife of 50 years, Mary

Thurman Smith. He is also survived by his son Frank Ellis Smith, II, of

Rock Hill, South Carolina; daughter Anna Marie Baldwin (Ronnie), of

Madison, Mississippi; and son Luke McPhaul Smith (Sarah), of

Tuscaloosa, Alabama; grandchildren Kyle Smith, Shelby Smith, Allyse

Baldwin, Abigail Baldwin, and Sadie Baldwin; and by his sister Kathy

Miles (Tad) of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.

He was predeceased by his parents and his beloved basset hound,

Dudley.

Visitation will be held at St. Richard Catholic Church on Monday

March 16, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., with Memorial Mass to

follow from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at St. Richard Catholic Church,

and inurnment at St. Richard Catholic Church Columbarium in Jackson,

MS.

Fred and his wife Mary express their profound gratitude to their

family and dear friends for their loving support during his illness. His

family would also like to thank the healthcare workers and caretakers

who treated and supported Fred during this time. The family would also

like to give a special thanks to his oncologist Dr. John C. Henegan who

oversaw his treatment and provided a great source of help and hope to

the family. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations may be

made to the Archives and Special Collections at Mitchell Memorial

Library at Mississippi State University (395 Hardy Road, Mississippi

State, MS 39762) or the charity of your choice.