intl)fCttpotlettig0rk LIBRARY AMERICAN LUMBERMEN AMERICAN LUMBEEMEN I f . • • • t « > > 1 > * • • • > THE PERSONAL HISTORY AND PUBLIC AND BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENTS OF ONE HUNDRED EMINENT LUMBERMEN OF THE UNITED STATES THIRD SERIES CHICAGO: THE AMERICAN LUMBERMAN 1906 **• COPYRIGHT, igo6, BY THE AMERICAN LUMBERMAN, CHICAGO OR more than a century the manu- facture of lumber was the fore- most industry of America. Until the last decade it employed more men and capital and produced more wealth than any other pursuit. The de- velopment of this industry and the achievement of this distinction required the energy of men of brain and brawn and the direction of men of ex- ceptional ability and courage. Life histories of some of the men, living and dead, whose initiative and executive abihty, whose prophetic vision and practical wisdom, made them and their calling great, are assembled in this volume. These are the biographies either of pioneers or of the successors of pioneers, of men of yesterday or men of today. Many of them are still young and have a future to account for; but all have proved their worth. Some won ad- ditional distinction in other walks of life, public or private, and thus contributed not only to the 403443 history of the lumber industry, but also to the his- tory of the nation. These are biographies of men who recognized and utilized opportunity. Some of these men were pioneers in settlement and development; many were the sons of fathers who helped to clear the land for settlement. They breathed the breath of the forest and learned its secrets and possibilities. The face of history is turned ever toward the West, and so the lumber industry of the United States and Canada has followed the pathway of the sun. One time the sash saw tugged slowly at the eastern fringe of a forest that seemed impene- trable and inexhaustible ; now the mammoth mill mingles its song with the music of the surf roll- ing in from the Pacific. In this westward march each progressive step has brought forth the pioneer; and, as the indus- try has moved onward, there have appeared the men able to maintain, direct and preserve to the nation the stream of wealth set flowing by the ax of the first woodsman. It was inherent abihty and not wealth that made these lumbermen worthy of this recogni- tion. As one reads the history of their lives he finds that most of them at the outset of their careers were of little means and sometimes of limited education; but while mints make money and books make learning, God makes men. This volume will be found a record of man- making rather than money-making or scholar- making. Herein will be found men of strong constitution, of mental and physical endurance, of steadiness under adversity, of energy, ambi- tion and determination. What men are, rather than what they do, is vital. Theirs was and is a great industry; but greater than the forests they conquered and better than the wealth they earned is the good they contributed to our national life. CONTENTS Page Acuff, William Henry 21 Amorous, Martin Ford 405 Anson, Leonard Niles 149 Badger, Alpheus Shreve 401 Barnes, Charles 1 321 Beal, Wood 225 Bloomer, Andrew Fletcher 361 Bolinger, Sanford Henry 277 Bonds, Clifford Arthur 249 Bonner, Benjamin Franklin 293 Booth, Robert A 57 Bradley, Charles Henry 129 Bradley, Thomas Pringle 133 Burns, John Edmund 197 Camp, Herbert Asbury 253 Carpenter, Eugene Joseph 137 Christy, Henry Clay 317 Clark, Uriel Lee 121 Clarke, Hovey Charles > 141 Connor, Robert 1^7 Connor, William D 1^3 Davidson, Lynch 289 Day, David Henry 345 Dodge, Edmond Fairfield 397 Embree, John William 193 Enochs, Isaac Columbus 245 Fischer, Ferdinand Carl 393 Foster, Thomas Sampson - 281 Friant, Thomas 221 Frost, Edwin Ambrose 273 Fullerton, Robert 93 Fullerton, Samuel Holmes 89 Gilbert, Willis H 201 Goepel, Frank Herman 101 lo CONTENTS Page Goodyear, Charles Adams 181 Griggs, Chauncey Wright 13 Grover, Myron Hubert 29 Harker, John 341 Harrell, Edward Hogan 297 Hill, Arthur 213 Hinton, John Hammond 257 Hinton, Robert Wood 261 Inman, Robert David 45 Jackson, Jacob Green 65 Jackson, William Humphreys 389 Jennings, Curtis Morrison 105 Joyce, David 165 Joyce, William Thomas 169 Kaul, John Lanzel 265 Keith, Charles Smith 77 Landeck, Gustave John 161 Lane, John Lewis 305 Leadbetter, Frederick William 53 Leadbetter, Lorenzo 217 Lewis, Byron Ruthven 25 Linehan, James C 241 Linehan, Joseph J 237 Litchfield, William Elias 329 Luehrmann, Charles Frederich 113 Luehrmann, George Ernest William 117 Mauk, Clinton Alvah 325 McCormick, Harry 41 McEwen, Daniel H 69 Millard, Clifford Isaac 97 Moberly , Edward Everett 189 Moore, Thomas Anthony 365 Munroe, Thomas 385 Nalty, John Bernard 369 Neimeyer, Andrew Johnson 109 Nicola, William Wright 233 Norris, William Henry 285 CONTENTS 1 1 Page Paepcke, Herman 177 Patten, Charles Edward 37 Pickering, William Alfred 85 Pickering, William Russell 81 Pittock, Henry L 49 Poison, Alexander 33 Radford, Charles William 377 Radford, William Addison 381 Ramsay, William Edmund 269 Ramsey, Arthur Clark 125 Roberts, Edward Lazarus 173 Rumbarger, John Jacob 349 Schultz, William Ward 185 Shimer, Samuel Johnston 229 Smith, William Emerson 309 Sondheimer, Maxwell 313 Stange, August H 145 Stillwell, William B 409 Stimson, Jacob VanSickle 373 Thrane, Victor 205 True, George Ivers 333 Vansant, Rufus Humphrey 301 Wadley, William Daniel 73 Wendling, George Xavier 61 Wheeler William Carleton 17 White, William H 209 Whiting, Frank Raymond 353 Whiting, William Scott 357 Wiley, Elbert Milton 337 No If*? of Although the scene v result of the energy ot * movements, industrial a stand head and shouldt peaks tower above the r ing out prominently in i; Northwest is to be mer Tacoma, Washington. His birthplace was 1 the Willimantic River. \ i here, F Tolla many yr and her traced t of K-ing . . Having in 1848, at where he tic went home ana of Massachusetts s, at indu sncey \^ necticut, o en the fa 31, 1832. ere amon^; uncey Gr r^e of thr iature c eOOHRO XHOIFINA/ Y30MUAH0 OHAUNOEIY WRIGHX GRIOGS Chauncey W. Griggs No lettered monument could better proclaim a man's achievements than the voices of those great, bustling beehives of industry, the sawmills. All through the vast territory form- ing the northwestern part of the United States are to be heard these whirring voices of the saws, testifying to the enterprise of the men to whom the country is indebted for the wonderful development of the mighty natural resources of that section. Although the scene which western Washington presents is the result of the energy of many, yet in this development, as in all movements, industrial and otherwise, there are a few men who stand head and shoulders above others, as a few mountain peaks tower above the rest of the range. Among those stand- ing out prominently in the lumber industry of the Pacific Northwest is to be mentioned Chauncey Wright Griggs, of Tacoma, Washington. His birthplace was Tolland, Connecticut, on the banks of the Willimantic River. Here has been the family seat for four generations, and here, December 31, 1832, Chauncey W. Griggs was born. His ancestors were among the early settlers in America, and his father, Chauncey Griggs, was a cap- tain in the War of 18 12, was judge of the probate court at Tolland and a member of the Legislature of Connecticut for many years. His mother's maiden name was Heartie Dimock, and her ancestors, also, were early settlers in the colonies and traced their descent from the Dimocks of England, of the time of King Henry I. Having received a common school education, young Griggs, in 1848, at the age of sixteen years, went to Birmingham, Ohio, where he clerked in a store. In a short time, however, he went home and finished his education at the Monson Academy of Massachusetts. He then taught school, and in 1851 went 13 14 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN to Detroit, where, for a time, he worked in a bank. Then he moved to Akron, Ohio, in 1853, to engage in mercantile busi- ness on his own account. The next year he engaged in the merchandise business in Iowa, and again in Detroit, where he became interested in the furniture business with his brother. Going to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1856, he operated a supply store and speculated in real estate. At the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, in conjunction with other influential men in the community he organized a regiment and Mr. Griggs was mustered in as captain of Company B, of the Third Min- nesota Infantry. After a few months spent in pushing supplies through Kentucky and Tennessee Captain Griggs was pro- moted for gallantry to the rank of major and later of lieutenant- colonel. He participated in the battle of Murfreesboro, and it is recorded that Lieutenant-Colonel Griggs and two company commanders were the only ones to protest against the surren- der of the command. The officers spent three months in a Confederate prison before being exchanged, and, upon his re- lease, Lieutenant-Colonel Griggs was made colonel. He reorganized the regiment and in 1863 again went to the front. At Columbus, Kentucky, he was placed in command of his brigade, and he saw service at Forts Henry and Hindman. Later he fought at Vicksburg. He resigned from the army, broken in health, to build up his shattered business. He located at Chaska, Minnesota, where he engaged in brick-making, contracting and railroad building. In 1869 he returned to St. Paul and, in company with J. J. Hill, now president of the Great Northern Railway Company, organized the firm of Hill, Griggs & Co., which carried on a fuel and transportation business. In 1875 Colonel Griggs formed a partnership with R. W. Johnson and later with United States Senator A. G. Foster. This concern en- gaged in the transportation and selling of fuel and was the first to take coal to St. Paul. Later, Colonel Griggs organized and operated the Lehigh Coal & Iron Company. He also formed the firm of Griggs, Cooper & Co., a wholesale grocery house CHAUNCEY W. GRIGGS 15 at St. Paul. In 1887 Colonel Griggs closed out his St. Paul coal and iron business and went to Tacoma, Washington, and, with A. G. Foster, who was later United States senator from Washington, Henry Hewitt, Junior, Charles H. Jones and others, formed the St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company. In the following year 80,000 acres and later 20,000 addi- tional acres of timber lands were secured in Pierce County, at the base of Mount Tacoma. A modern mill was built at Ta- coma with a daily capacity of between 350,000 and 400,000 feet. Excellent missionary work was done in making known the good qualities of fir, and the wood was introduced into the eastern markets. The growth of the company's volume of business was so rapid that another mill was soon built at Tacoma. This mill was substantially constructed and was so arranged that cedar products could be worked to the best advantage. The plant has a daily capacity of 200,000 feet of lumber and 500,000 shingles and gives the company an output of 150,000,000 feet a year. The company has developed an export as well as an eastern business, and has 4,000 feet of water frontage as part of its facilities for water shipments. The St. Paul & Tacoma Lum- ber Company has the distinction of having furnished the largest steamer cargo ever loaded on the Pacific Coast, having placed 3,500,000 feet of lumber on the United States transport Dix for the United States government in the Philippines. The com- pany does its own logging and has about forty miles of railway in operation. In addition to the lumber business the St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company does a large coal mining business under the name of the Wilkinson Coal Company. Nearly all of the land of the lumber company is underlaid with coal of a fine quality. The mines in Pierce County, Washington, thirty miles east of Tacoma, have an output of more than 6,000 tons a day. The Chehalis & Pacific Land Company is another of Colonel Griggs' organizations, owning 13,000 acres of valuable timber land in the Grays Harbor district. He is the principal owner in the Beaver Dam Lumber Company, of Cumberland, Wis- i6 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN consin; is a director of the First and Second National banks, of St. Paul, Minnesota; president of the Fidelity Trust Com- pany, of Tacoma; president of the Settlement Company, an organization to close the affairs of defunct banks; president of the Dry Dock & Foundry Company, of Tacoma, and president of the Pacific Meat Company. He has large holdings in real estate in Minneapolis and St. Paul and is a large investor in lands in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. He operates a line of lumber yards in Washington and California and a wholesale yard in Los Angeles. Colonel Griggs married Miss Martha Ann Gallup, a native of Ledyard, Connecticut, who comes of an old New England family, in April, 1859. She is a woman of fine qualities and has been active in church and charitable work. They have a family of six children— Chauncey Milton, vice president and manager of Griggs, Cooper & Co., St. Paul; Herbert Stanton, a member of the Washington bar; Heartie Dimock; Everett Gallup; Theodore Wright, and Anna Billings Griggs. In politics Colonel Griggs is a Democrat; he was twice a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, three times a senator, and alderman of the city of St. Paul seven times. He was a Democratic candidate for United States senator from Washington in 1889 and 1893. OT3-JF^ \A/ll_l_IAM CARL-ETON NA/ H E E l_ E R William C. Wheeler No greater barrier to the world's commercial progress exists than the disinclination of people in every walk of life to depart from a long established custom, or to exploit a new idea in any line. Business men are loath to take hold of an innovation, even though the substitute offered be more desirable than that which it is to supplant. This difficulty confronted the manufacturers of Pacific Coast products and for years hindered the development of the lumber industry of that section. One of the men who encountered and con- quered this prejudice against a new product was William Carleton Wheeler, of Tacoma, Washington, when he entered the Lewis and Clark country. He began his career in the older settled East, continued it in the newer sections of the middle West and became a pioneer in the manufacture of millwork in the far West. His father, Loring Wheeler, was a prominent man of affairs in and about Fitchburg, Massachusetts, being engaged in manufacturing and in farming on a large scale. His mother was Evaline (Bruce) Wheeler, who came of a distinguished colonial family. It was in West Fitchburg that William C. Wheeler was born, July 13, 1841. He was brought up on the farm, and to this fact much of the sturdiness of his character and his self-reliance undoubtedly is due. His first active service after completing his education and attaining his majority was rendered in behalf of the United States. He was twenty-one years old when, on October 17, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company A, Fifty-third Massachusetts Volunteers. He went with his regiment by water to New Orleans and thence up the river to take part in the battles on the lower Mississippi. At the siege of Fort Hudson his regiment constituted part of the command of 17 i8 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN General Payne, of Wisconsin. The Fifty-third Massachu- setts command was one of four regiments assigned to make an early morning attack. In the charge General Payne was wounded and lay exposed to the fire of the enemy. After two men had been killed and two wounded in an attempt to move the general from his exposed position, four volunteers were called for to rescue the injured commander, but only two responded, one of these being William C. Wheeler. It was more than a daring deed — it was a noble one. The young soldier continued to serve with honor during his term of enlistment, and, on being mustered out of service, he became a captain in the Massachusetts National Guard. His actual business career began in Holyoke, Massachu- setts, after he had returned from the war in 1863, when he secured the position of bookkeeper for E. Chase & Sons, a large lumber concern. He spent two and one-half years in the office of the firm, and then resigned to become paymaster for the Hampden Paper Company. Failing health and the rigors of the New England climate prompted him to seek health and wealth in the great and growing West; so, in 1868, he moved to Dubuque, Iowa, where, with W. W. Carr and W. H. Austin, he began the manufacture of sash and doors, and for twenty years took an active part in building up for the firm a reputation for business ability and integrity. The busi- ness, started on a small scale, rapidly gained large proportions through the energetic and capable methods of manufacture and distribution which were followed. In 1880 N. C. Ryder was admitted to partnership and the firm name was changed to Carr, Ryder & Wheeler. It became one of the principal sash and door concerns of the country, the entire middle West being the scene of its operations. The firm is now known as Carr, Ryder & Adams. Again his failing health bore an important part in directing Mr. Wheeler's career. Although he had enjoyed better health during his sojourn in Iowa, he believed that he would be better off in the milder climate of the Pacific Coast. On WILLIAM C. WHEELER 19 January i, 1889, he disposed of his interest in the firm of Carr, Ryder & Wheeler at Dubuque, and in April went to Tacoma, Washington, where he soon began the organization of his present extensive undertakings. At that comparatively early period the conditions in Washington and Oregon were peculiar, the mills then operating having but a local and export trade. Mr. Wheeler observed the situation care- fully and, with his knowledge, gained by long experience, of the manufacture of millwork, reached the conclusion that a similar business wherein Washington cedar should be employed would prove a profitable investment. He laid his plans and submitted the proposition to two other keen business men — G. R. Osgood and D. D. Clarke. They approved of the project of establishing a factory, and the firm of Wheeler, Osgood & Co. was formed, with the avowed purpose of supplying at least part of the Pacific Northwest with doors, sash and millwork manufactured on the ground. Previous to this date such doors as had been manu- factured were of green lumber and the work was not done in a first-class way. The firm's first large shipment to the East by rail was in 1893, ^^ Portland, Maine; a most notable ship- ment from the fact that the first factory-made doors used on Puget Sound were shipped during the '40's from that place by sailing vessels. The original sash and door factory was of modest dimen- sions, designed to meet the needs of a single community. Its supply of lumber was limited to occasional carloads of stock bought from small mills. From 50 to 150 doors a day were turned out for several years until the growing demands led to an increase in the facilities of the plant. With the growth of the business timber was bought and a sawmill and a shingle mill were built at Everett, where shingles and cedar lumber for factory purposes were turned out and the product loaded on scows and taken up the Sound for the Tacoma factory. Branch offices were established in New York and Boston, and salesmen were placed in selected territory. 20 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Fire destroyed the sash and door factory in Tacoma on September 25, 1902, the plant then being the largest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. The loss was between $100,000 and $125,000, covered by insurance. Immediately the work of rebuilding the factory was started, the necessary machinery being ordered by wire. The factory destroyed had a capacity of 600 doors daily, while the new plant was equipped to turn out 1,200 doors a day, with a window frame depart- ment to match the door output. The concern has the most complete and modern equipment throughout and operates a sawmill at the Tacoma plant. The yard has a piling capacity of 6,000,000 feet of lumber, the entire plant covering about fifteen acres. The firm of Wheeler, Osgood & Co. was incorporated as The Wheeler, Osgood Company on July 3, 1903, the capital being increased from $125,000 to $250,000. Mr. Wheeler became president; T. E. Ripley, vice president; George J. Osgood, secretary, and George B. Osgood, treasurer. Mr. Wheeler married Miss Sarah E. Couch, of Holyoke, Massachusetts, March 29, 1865. Of this union have been born four children, three of whom survive— Alvin Sawyer Wheeler, professor of chemistry in the University of North Carohna; Edgar Couch Wheeler, pastor of the Congregational Church at Rockland, Massachusetts, and William Chamber- lain Wheeler, who is associated with his father in The Wheeler, Osgood Company. Early in his residence Mr. Wheeler was recognized as one of Tacoma's most progressive and public -spirited citizens. Whatever makes for the good of the community appeals to Mr. Wheeler and enlists his sympathies. He takes an active interest in church and educational matters. He has served as president of the Associated Charities and of the Chamber of Commerce, besides having held other positions of honor and trust in the community. Will TJ uic territory kr- * iala' tnc iront as a ' ? . t, the grcp' : has taker men who h Acuff, of Spokane He is a nativt vania, ■ Gwynedd, an hi _, westofPhilac tober J^ Acuff. The '.Id stone h born w. far and ^ in co AcufT been in the oo«<^ Acuff i^ The . to this r c=:^t-crr3nfl father? v Fm, iu..,..v. ._-.vv. ,.., was nhniU fivr LrUKcns, a men. n in 1050 ivii ic precc^i vivania, gu ns '"If . . money 'ti thn lated in 1 ■c.u^ w \^II_I_IAM HENRY ACUFF William H. Acuff During the last decade only has the territory known as the "Inland Empire" come to the front as a lumber producing section, and, in fact, the greater part of the development of this section has taken place within the last decade. Yet the men who have aided in this upbuilding are as truly pioneers as those who preceded civilization into the forests of the North and Northwest. One of these pioneers is William Henry Acuff, of Spokane, Washington. He is a native of Pennsylvania, having been born in Gwynedd, an historic village about twenty-five miles north- west of Philadelphia, October 8, 1846. His father was William Acuff. The old stone house in which he was born was known far and wide in colonial days as the "AcufT Inn," and had been in the possession of the Acuff family for nearly 200 years. The AcufTs came to this country in the early part of the Seventeenth Century, and were of Scotch-Welsh descent. One of Mr. Acufl's great-grandfathers was General Sheats, who acquired fame in the War of 1812. Mr. Acuff's mother was a Quaker, her name being Lydia Ellis, and she was of Welsh descent. His father died when he was about five months old, and several years later his mother married Comly Lukens, a member of one of the old German families that dwelt in Pennsylvania long before the Revolutionary War. In 1858 Mr. Acuff went to Decatur, Illinois, whither his parents had moved the preceding year. He remained there until 1863, when he returned to Pennsylvania, going to Nor- ristown, where he attended school. He spent some time at Titusville, Pennsylvania, in the oil region, working about oil wells, and was for one year a deputy tax collector. He earned money enough to carry him through the high school at Nor- ristown, from which he graduated in 1866, returning and 21 22 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN graduating in another course the following year. Going to Decatur, where his parents resided, he taught school for a year or so, and in 1870 went into the flour milling business with his stepfather ; but their plant was destroyed by fire the following year and they lost everything they had. For the next few years Mr. AcuflP was engaged in various ways. A part of the time he managed a large farm and bought grain for an eastern concern and also taught school. He had charge of the books in the office of a wholesale hardware and leather concern for five years. This work, because of its con- fining nature, did not agree with his health, and he was obliged to find an occupation in which he could be more out of doors. With this object, he began the manufacture of force pumps in 1878, at Decatur, Illinois, forming the Niagara Pump Com- pany, of which he was the manager. Associated with him in this enterprise were James Wiswell and Justus Lukens. While engaged in this business he did considerable mill work for several lumber concerns that had yards adjacent to his factory, and in this way unpremeditatedly entered the lumber business. In 1885 the Niagara Pump Company was merged into the Niagara Manufacturing Company, and two years later the manufacturing concern was consolidated with one of the lumber companies, forming the Decatur Lumber & Manu- facturing Company. A factory was built and sash, doors and millwork were manufactured on a large scale. Mr. AcufT was secretary of this company, but in June, 1889, he disposed of his interest and in the following April went to Spokane and spent nearly two years looking for opportunities in which to invest, though without engaging in any business during this period. In 1892 the Washington Mill Company was organized by Mr. Acuf?, J. C. Barline, J. W. Cook, W. H. Short and Edward Crawford. Later, other stockholders bought the interests of Messrs. Short and Crawford, and George Barline and J. C. Neflfeler, a son-in-law of Mr. Acuf?, were taken into the concern. The company engaged in the manufacture WILLIAM H. ACUFF 23 of sash, doors and interior finish, starting in a small factory with a capital of $25,000, and did a business the first year of $50,000. The capital stock of the concern later was increased to $340,000, and during 1903 the company did more than $700,000 worth of business. The company has an additional plant in another section of the city, where it makes a specialty of getting out door stock for eastern shipment, and does a general wholesale business in pine lumber for the eastern factory trade. During the twelve years of its existence the Washington Mill Company has gradually been acquiring timber until it owns about 25,000 acres of pine land and is steadily adding to its holdings. The company owns four sawmills, one at West- branch, Washington ; another three miles from Elk, Washing- ton; another five miles from Colville, Washington, and the fourth at Rodgers Spur, in Idaho. In addition to the output of its own mills the company buys lumber extensively, at times taking the cut of as many as sixteen mills. For the last four years the company has not cut any of its own timber, its policy being to hold it while the price is low. Mr. AcuflF married, in 1871, at St. Louis, Missouri, Miss Isabelle Bricker, who died in 1896. They had two daughters, one dying in infancy, the other being the wife of J. C. Nef- feler. It is with this daughter that Mr. Acuff makes his home. In all matters where public interests are at stake, either in the lumber business or in affairs pertaining to the welfare of the State, Mr. AcufI usually is to be found on the committees that have the most work to do. He has always taken a great deal of interest in matters affecting the prosperity of the lumber industry, believing strongly in association work, and has been an officer of the different lumber organizations in that section. He has been an active worker in the Western Pine Shippers' Association and has served for several years as vice president of the Pacific Coast Lumber Manufacturers' Association. He is a man of original ideas, quiet and unos- tentatious in both public and private affairs and of a disposi- 24 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN tion that labors to do away with factional differences and petty discord in association work. In the work of committees con- cerned with public business he is to be found always on the side of fair dealing and justice. He is looked upon by lumber- men as one of their most representative men and by business men in general as being just and honorable. While belonging to no local church organization and retaining his allegiance to the Quaker Church, in which he was brought up, Mr. Acuff is an attendant at various churches and has aided many of them in their work. He served as chairman of the citizens' committee of eighty in charge of the erection of a $100,000 Young Men's Christian Association building for Spokane. He also was a member of the building committee appointed to supervise the construction of a new $80,000 Masonic temple in Spokane. Mr. Acuff has always taken an active interest in Masonic affairs, being a member of all the Masonic bodies in both the York and Scottish Rite branches at Spokane, and is a member of the El Katif Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, besides being a past officer in all of the York bodies, and, in 1905, was at the head of the Oriental Consistory, No. 3, at Spokane. In 1904 he was honored by being named an honorary thirty-third degree Scottish Rite Mason. He is a stanch Republican and a believer in good government; he served his adopted city as an alderman for four years and was honored by a nom- ination for mayor by those seeking purer municipal govern- ment. Real estate in Spokane has been invested in by Mr. Acuff to some extent and he is an owner of an orange grove at Riverside, California, where his parents and two half-sisters reside. B In K heart" . . of a chief, to the trihe country. Nature L and, in recent years, it has character and of experier^f of the district being By ro I. ., ...... Whatever he possesses today is the rt severance and industriousness. As a me^- of circumstances he began work at Michigan. His course since r* - i s, es 1 t successtul bus; (jn b n at Ischua, Catt New 1864, and c i anc in the Union army F of L sion the Clayton i that settled along Old Dom. State during th 8IW3-J M3VHTUFI MOFtVO BYRON RUTHVEN LEWIS Byron R. Lewis In the extreme northwestern county of Idaho, one of the younger sisterhood of states, a territory of mountains, lakes, waterways and forests, has come into being, in the existing generation, a district famed in the lumber industry for the ex- cellence of its timber. It is the Coeur d'Alene district, in Kootenai County, which takes the name "awl heart" or "small heart" applied by French voyageurs, on account of the stinginess of a chief, to the tribe of Indians originally inhabiting the country. Nature lavished a wealth of forests on that section, and, in recent years, it has come to be exploited by men of character and of experience, a representative manufacturer of the district being Byron R. Lewis, of Spokane, Washington. Whatever he possesses today is the result of his own per- severance and industriousness. As a mere youth, through force of circumstances he began work at a lumbering operation in Michigan. His course since then has been one of advance- ment without interruption. From a humble employee he be- came successively a cruiser, timber owner and contract logger. Later, he dealt in timber lands, established a line of retail yards, conducting a most successful business along that plane and re- tiring from it only to organize and carry on a manufacturing operation at Cceur d'Alene. Byron Ruthven Lewis was born at Ischua, Cattaraugus County, New York, September 28, 1864, and comes of dis- tinguished ancestry. His father, E. R. Lewis, was a surgeon in the Union army during the war of 1861-5, who went to the Empire State, at the close of hostilities, to practice his profes- sion. The mother of Mr. Lewis was a direct descendant of the Clayton family, of Virginia, as well as of the Clanahan family that settled along the James River and was prominent in the Old Dominion State during the Revolutionary period. It was 25 26 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Colonel Clanahan, a member of this family, who drove back the British troops after they had captured and destroyed the Capitol at Washington. B. R. Lewis was an infant in arms when his parents left Ischua to take up their home at Caseville, on Saginaw Bay, Huron County, Michigan, where his father engaged in logging. Subsequently, the home was moved to Saginaw and in that center of lumber activity young Lewis had what little schooling was his. He was barely in his teens when he set about making his own living in the world. Without a trade, and devoid of edu- cation sufficient to enable him to enter an office as a clerk, he found employment in a sawmill. He continued laboring in sawmills, planing mills and the woods in the Saginaw and Au- sable districts until he was seventeen years old, when he secured a position in a hardware and farm implement establish- ment. For four years he handled hardware and agricultural tools, the last year spent in this line of business being put in traveling through the farming country for his employers. At twenty-one years of age he had developed into a progressive man with the ideas and experience of one many years his senior. It was his liking for the lumber industry and for the life of the woods that led him to give up traveling and go to Grand Rapids, Itasca County, Minnesota, in 1887, where he began cruising timber for various lumbermen, and he secured in this manner a small holding of timber for himself. In 1888 he began logging the tract he had secured in the preceding year. Later, he contracted to do logging for some of the large lumber concerns. He was shrewd, had executive ability and was successful in making money on his contracts from the start. By 1891 he had accumulated enough capital to permit of his engaging in the handling of timber lands. This business he conducted from Minneapolis, in which city he made his home. Another chapter in his busy career was in- augurated in 1896, when he organized the B. R. Lewis Lumber Company, capitalized at $50,000, to conduct retail yards, though he did not relinquish his timber land enterprise. Mr. BYRON R. LEWIS 27 Lewis became president and manager of the corporation, which established a chain of yards in western Minnesota and South Dakota along the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad and the Hastings and Dakota division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. The capital of the company was subsequently increased to $100,000 and the number of yards ultimately controlled was fifteen. Mr. Lewis first turned his attention toward the timber resources of the West in 1902, when he investigated the possi- bilities of the Idaho country. In the following year the yards of the B. R. Lewis Lumber Company were disposed of and Mr. Lewis went to Spokane, Washington, where he since has made his home. The capital of the company bearing his name was increased in 1903 to $250,000, so as to provide means for the buying of large tracts of timber for the projected opera- tions. With another increase in the capitalization to $800,000 a mill site was purchased at Coeur d'Alene, across the river from the old Fort Sherman grounds, upon which a modern plant was constructed. The plant, which began sawing in October, 1904, is equipped with two double cutting band saws and a gang saw, cutting 400,000 feet of lumber every twenty hours. The mill for one year is calculated to cut about 65,000,000 feet of Idaho white pine lumber. The planing mill operated at Cceur d'Alene is one of the best equipped in the West and has nine- teen machines in service. In March, 1906, the capital of the company was again increased, this time to $1,500,000. The officers of the corporation are B. R. Lewis, president and manager; B. P. Munson, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, vice president; Earl M. Rogers, of Cceur d'Alene, secretary, and E. P. Keefe, of Cceur d'Alene, treasurer. Those named comprise the board of directors. The company has title to about 300,000,000 feet of pine timber and is rapidly adding to its holdings. In 1905, Mr. Lewis and his associates incorporated the Idaho & Northwestern Railroad Company, of which Mr. Lewis 28 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN is president and manager. Eighteen miles of the main line of the railroad has been constructed, besides the branches ex- tending into the lumber company's timber. The logs were loaded on the railroad cars in the woods and brought, for some time, only as far as Mica Bay, where they were dumped into Lake Coeur d'Alene. The dumping point was four miles from the mill, and the railroad was later extended around the lake to the plant. One of Mr. Lewis' outside interests is the First National Bank of Coeur d'Alene, of which institution he was the founder. Shortly after going West he established the bank, which has a capital of $50,000, and he is one of its largest stockholders, Mr. Lewis has a beautiful residence in Spokane where reside his wife and five children. Mrs. Lewis before her marriage, which occurred February 6, 1891, was Miss Ida Swanson, of Fargo, North Dakota. The children of the couple are Sydney, Arthur, Mildred, Gertrude and Grace, the oldest being thirteen years old and the youngest but a year old. Mr. Lewis is a member of Plymouth Lodge, No. 160 A. F. & A. M.; Columbia Chapter, R. A. M.; Zion Commandery No. 2 and Zurah Temple A. A. O. N. M. S., all of Minnea- polis. He is a member of Minneapolis Lodge No. 44, B. P. O. Elks, and a Hoo-Hoo. a \ (.\ * •-! .11 the s former caster" Grover, of S\ big entdrpr'" He i? ■ "•'^'""-ntative wholc- salir ^ n — the Day- ' uc taken as an sacccssiiii ' ^ "iness. "^ c manufactuiiiig v^ inaustr- since he was a young man, n New John Grover s, who settled in central Conn g^ to New York about 1830. His n rl family which came from Sc( ^ *>4, New York. They M YRON HUBERT GROVER Myron H. Grover The progress of the RepubHc is traced in the migrations of lumbermen as accurately as in a history of the country. A large percentage of those who have followed the industry were born or began their lumber career in the East, and from there they went West to the then new lumber regions of Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota. Later, they continued their migrations westward toward the forests of the Pacific Coast. In the Pacific Northwest, as that vast territory between the summit of the Cascade Mountains on the east and the mighty Pacific on the west is known, dwell and labor many former eastern lumbermen. One of them is Myron H. Grover, of Spokane, Washington, a stalwart in that land of big enterprises. He is vice president of one of the representative whole- saling and producing concerns of that region — the Day- Luellwitz Lumber Company, and he may be taken as an example of the successful man in the lumber business. He has followed the manufacturing end of the industry almost uninterruptedly since he was a young man, having gained his earliest experience at Bay City, Michigan. Subsequently, he became identified with Wisconsin operations and, in 1903, assumed charge of the operations of the Cascade Lumber Company, at North Yakima, Washington, only to move to Spokane, in July, 1906. Myron Hubert Grover was born March 12, 1863, at Ithaca, New York, the son of Alva H. Grover and the grandson of John Grover. They were of English descent, in religion Calvinists, who settled in central Connecticut, Mr. Grover's grandfather moving to New York about 1830. His mother was a descendant of the Townsend family which came from Scotland and settled at Saratoga Springs, New York. They 29 30 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN were Scotch Presbyterians of a sturdy type. Myron Grover was one of a family of ten children. His people were farmers who logged the timber from their lands, as was the custom in those days, and sold the logs to small sawmills. He was educated in the public schools of Ithaca, supplemented by a two years' course in the academy at Gilbertsville, New York. He had in view a course at Cornell University, but when eighteen years old he left his studies to take charge of a dis- trict school on the outskirts of his native city. A desire to know something of the western section of the country led him, in the spring of 1883, to go to Plankington, in what was then the territory of Dakota, where he became associated with a former Ithacan in the real estate business. Dissatisfied with this line of work, Mr. Grover went to Bay City, Michigan, in September, 1883, to enter the employ of T. H. McGraw & Co., with which firm he remained at Bay City and Naubinway, Michigan, until May, 1887. His first work was carrying lumber from the sorting platform; within a few months he became assistant in the shipping department. On leaving the firm Mr. Grover was out of the lumber business for two years, during which time he was con- nected with the construction department of the " Soo Line" through northern Michigan, having charge of the commissary department on the division between Manistique and Sault Ste. Marie. In June, 1889, Mr. Grover went to Wausau, Wisconsin, to assume charge of a new mill built by C. C. Barker and H. C. Stewart, operating as Barker & Stewart, but shortly afterward the plant was destroyed by fire and was not rebuilt at that time. In the same year Mr. Barker and Jacob Mortenson organized the Garth Lumber Company, which built a mill at Garth, Wisconsin. Mr. Grover took charge of that plant in 1889, remaining with the company until all its timber had been cut out, in 1893. The company then transferred the scene of its operations to Garth, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula, where a large mill was erected. Mr. Grover was MYRON H. GROVER 31 given charge of the operations at that point, continuing until the available supply of timber was cut out and operations dis- continued in July, 1902. Successful in a managerial capacity in the north pine country, Mr. Grover essayed a wider field on the Pacific Coast. His appearance there was in February, 1903, when he formed a connection with the Cascade Lumber Company, at North Yakima, Washington, a concern which had been organized the preceding year with a capital of $100,000, that was later increased to $500,000. The men interested in this enterprise had been looking for an experienced man who was capable of completing the construction of the plant, which had been begun in 1902, and in Mr. Grover they found the man who filled all the qualifications. He had had much experience in milling in Wisconsin and Michigan and had demonstrated his executive abilities, and in the spring of 1903 he had the mill completed and sawing lumber. After two years' successful operation the plant was shut down in the fall of 1905 to permit of its being practically rebuilt and the making of additions, including the erection of a large sash and door factory and the enlarging of the box factory plant. In July, 1906, Mr. Grover severed his active connection with the Cascade Lumber Company, although still retaining his interest in that concern, to become actively associated with Harry L. Day and Gus Luellwitz in the Day-Luellwitz Lumber Company, of Spokane, Washington, manufacturer and whole- saler of western lumber. Mr. Grover secured a large block of stock of the company in which he is now interested. He takes an active part in the management of the Day-Luellwitz concern, looking particularly after the outside timber and manufacturing interests. Mr. Luellwitz, the founder of the business, is one of the most successful lumbermen on the Coast. On the reorganization of the company's affairs, follow- ing the acquirement of an interest in the business by Mr. Day and Mr. Grover, the capital was increased from $50,000 to $200,000. 32 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Those interested in the Day-Luellwitz Lumber Company are also heavy stockholders in and control the Newman Lake Lumber Company, Moab, Washington, and the Athol Lumber Company, Athol, Idaho, manufacturing concerns whose out- put of pine lumber each year is over 20,000,000 feet. This is marketed by the Day-Luellwitz Lumber Company and, in addition, it stocks several small mills with logs and markets the output. The Day-Luellwitz Lumber Company is also an extensive wholesaler of fir lumber, maintaining a buying office in the Lumber Exchange Building, Seattle, Washington. During his connection as general manager and stockholder in the Cascade Lumber Company, Mr. Grover became vice pres- ident of the North Yakima & Valley Railroad, a new line now partly built westward through the Cascade Mountains to the Puget Sound country from North Yakima, and easterly into the farming region of Washington. He was also chosen vice president of the Yakima Savings & Loan Company and a stockholder and director in the Yakima Trust Company, of North Yakima. He still retains these interests. He is a worker in the lumber association field, being vice president of the Western Pine Manufacturers' Association and a member of several of its most important committees. Mr. Grover has a home in Spokane presided over by his wife, who was Miss Ella W. Furlong, of St. Ignace, Michi- gan. They were married in June, 1888, and have one child, a boy, Myron H. Grover, Junior, who is fifteen years old. Mr. Grover is a member of Escanaba (Michigan) Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and also of the chapter and commandery at the same place. He is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, belong- ing to Ahmed Temple, Marquette, Michigan. He is a Hoo- Hoo, a member of North Yakima Lodge, B. P. O. E., and holds membership in the Spokane Club of Spokane. Alexander Poison TX. ^ difficulties, t^ •ards and the labor attendant upon tern forests, con- n. He did not find the ploy ready to his hand, was he given the where\ the foundation and build In this he differed not gre ner and measure of reliance. H" H d m the business of Hoi c Ale Iv manhnod in th^^ ■ dUUlCU. Hi lliC freight inrcc Bccom. bet of tiic n he road horseback noin Valley, in the then Tcr- secured empl^o^Q^^t^^Og^Mi^ samps, and 33 AL-EXANDEIR POLSON Alexander Poison The difficulties, the hazards and the labor attendant upon dethroning the great fir monarchs of the western forests, con- verting them into the raw material of the sawmill, and trans- porting them by devious ways to the milling centers where they are manufactured into lumber, are exemplified in the business life and accomplishments of Alexander Poison, of Hoquiam, Washington. He did not find the equipment which his camps now em- ploy ready to his hand, nor in his early life did he inherit or was he given the wherewithal to purchase, but must needs lay the foundation and build the structure of his own fortune. In this he differed not greatly from others, except in the man- ner and measure of his achievements and in his sturdy self- reliance. His has been a life of activity and progressiveness. His father, Peter Poison, and his mother, Cathrine McLean, migrated to Nova Scotia from Scotland. It was in Truro, Nova Scotia, in May, 1853, that Alexander Poison was born. He spent his boyhood and early manhood in that city, gaining his education there and remaining until he was twenty-three years old. The desire for broader opportunities for the better- ment of his fortunes caused him to join an emigrant train, and with it he crossed the western plains in 1876, eventually reach- ing Nevada. In that wild, half-settled State he labored in the woods, mines and on cattle ranches, and drove heavy freight teams in Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and California for three years. Becoming dissatisfied, not by reason of the hard work, but because of the narrow opportunities ofifered, in the fal! of 1879 he road horseback from Tucson, Arizona, to the Klickitat Valley, in the then Territory of Washington. Ultimately he secured employment in the logging camps, and the first winter 83 34 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN he spent in the Territory he worked in the woods at the head of the Yakima River, where was gotten out the first lumber used by the Northern Pacific Railway in the construction of its road in that territory. From 1880 to 1884 he was engaged in building dams on driving streams for sluicing out logs, in felling timber and doing other woods work. In 1884 and 1885 he was assessor of Chehalis County. His first logging with jack screws was carried on in 1886, and from the proceeds of this work he bought a team of oxen. From 1886 to 1893 he logged with cattle, and it might be said that up to this time he had earned his bread by the labor of his hands in the logging camps of the Coast. ' His brain, however, was not idle and the work he had been doing was but preparatory to the establishment of the business he now owns. Mr. Poison had saved something from his wages and evolved, during the years of his arduous labors, plans which he subsequently executed. Logging operations were much to his liking and in the work he showed a great aptitude, learning the business as it can be learned only by those who have for years witnessed its operations in every phase. In 1886 he launched his own commercial craft amid indications that were not any too promising for a peaceable voyage or an extended one. But the pilot at the helm knew the water in which his craft was sailing, knew the location of every sunken rock, the weak places in his vessel and also knew how to avoid the rocks and to take measures to prevent or overcome the disablement of his craft. The voyage so carefully begun has been successful. The concern was known as the Poison Bros. Logging Company until April, 1903, when the style was changed to the Poison Logging Company, and Robert Poison, Mr. Poison's brother and first lieutenant, T. D. and R. D. Merrill and Clark L. Ring, the latter three of Duluth, Minnesota, took stock in the new concern. This change was due to the burning of a large tract of timber owned by the Merrill & Ring concern, which necessitated its immediate conversion into lumber. ALEXANDER POLSON 35 The timber adjoined that owned by the Poison Logging Com- pany on the west and the only way it could be reached handily was by the Poison railway or by paralleling that line. Practical economy demanded that the interests be merged and that the timber be taken out on the one line; an agreement was reached and the consolidation effected. Following Mr. Poison's connection with the Merrill & Ring interests, the plant of the Poison Logging Company was increased and additional timber bought, until, in 1905, 103,000,000 feet was cut and delivered to the mills. The log- ging road that has been built to further the company's opera- tions has a main line thirty miles long, with an equipment of thirty logging donkeys and seven locomotives. One of the locomotives in service was the first to cross the Cascades over the Northern Pacific Hne and was built by Porter Bros., in 1871. The nature of the country traversed by the railroad is mountainous, but the road has been pushed past the dividing range, beyond which lies a fertile valley. Its settlement has followed the extension of the line and the products of the farms and ranches have an outlet over the logging road. Mr. Poison's success stands as a monument to his own labor, but it is doubtful if the man today differs greatly from the young lad who went West to seek fortune in the '70's. Hardship did not sour his disposition, nor has success spoiled the man, who, from close association with nature, has acquired some of the sublime simplicity and faith of his teacher. When one comes in contact with Mr. Poison something of the strength and of the breath of the forest is felt, although he is eminently a practical man, to which his success testifies. He has never lost interest in the work being carried on in the camps and, while the details are in charge of his brother, Robert Poison, he has a practical and working knowledge of all that is going on. To his men, of whose welfare he is very solicitious, he is known as ''Alex," which means he is still one of them. The camps of the company provide employment for from fifty-five to seventy men each, according to the nature of the timber. The camp 36 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN crews are divided into different sets or gangs of men, com- prising the yarding crew, the skid road crew, the filers and the sawing crew. The work of each supplements the work done by the other gangs of men. Ancestry may have something to do with the inherent qualities that assured Mr. Poison's success. His forefathers moved from Sweden to Scotland and their descendants im- migrated to Nova Scotia, where he was born. Directly trace- able to such intermingling with the people of various countries are many of Mr. Poison's strongest traits. He takes a deep interest in all forestry matters and keeps a close watch on all action taken by the Government forest service. The company of which he is president affords an excellent field for the practical demonstration of the utility of reafforestation, which, in his opinion, can be done only under the supervision of the Government. Mr. Poison married Miss Ella Arnold, a daughter of F. D. Arnold, of Adair, Iowa, February i8, 1891. Three children have come into the home of the couple — two boys now ten and twelve years old, and a girl of eight years. Mr. Poison is a Mason, a Knight Templar, a member of the Mystic Shrine, an Odd Fellow and also a Woodman. 1 1 ■ ^^' the men who CO the Pacific 4 the lu"^-' 1 lie iiicii who laiu Lxic 11 uu :. of that section have mauoa in the ' ^ * ng id to have i to this Edward i.. .>i Seattle, !;reat i "e We )g been \pril ;?o, 1 8^5, hi$ ■ :s being n ana bliza (Radcliff ) Patten. He is of Scotch- Knglish ancestry, his paternal ther ' ome from southern Scotland. He atten id- uated from the } leur in ^ vcar dc ^ had monc« v^ permanent to i. twenty-seven ycaia ui a^ business. 17 M3TTAR aJ=IANA/a3 S3_Jf=1AHO CHARLES EIDNA/ARD PATTEN Charles E. Patten To eastern pluck and industry, displayed by the men who migrated from the older sections of the country to the Pacific Coast, is due much of the credit of developing the lumber industry of the Pacific Northwest. The men who laid the foundations of the modern business of that section have witnessed a wonderful transformation in the industry. Among those men, who may justly be said to have contributed to this history-making epoch, is Charles Edward Patten, of Seattle, Washington. He is a product of the great middle West, having been born at Lesueur, Minnesota, April 30, 1865, his parents being Richard Patten and Eliza (Radcliflf) Patten. He is of Scotch- English ancestry, his paternal grandfather having come from southern Scotland. He attended the public schools and grad- uated from the high school at Lesueur in 1883, at the age of eighteen years. In the following year he went to Seattle, then a prosperous city of nearly 4,000 inhabitants. From there he drifted to California, where he spent a year; then returned to his home in Minnesota and bought an interest in a drug store in his native town, and, by hard study and application, was able to pass the State examination and become a registered pharmacist a year later. Mr. Patten, however, was cut out for a larger and a broader business than that of a retail druggist, and, becoming some- what restless within its confines, he sold out his interest in the drug store in 1889 and again went to Seattle. There he began dealing in real estate, representing an eastern capitalist who had money to loan. In looking about for something more permanent to occupy his attention, Mr. Patten, then but twenty-seven years of age, decided to engage in the lumber business. 87 38 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN He began the wholesaling of lumber in 1892 and was joined later by A. B. Graham, a business man and capitalist from the East who was engaged in other lines, and who, although still interested with Mr. Patten, never has taken an active part in the business. The firm of Graham & Patten was formed and continued until 1894, when the partners purchased the mill plant and several thousand acres of timber land belonging to the old McMurray Cedar Lumber Company, at McMurray, Skagit County, seventy miles north of Seattle, on what is now the Seattle division of the Northern Pacific Railway. To better control this business the Atlas Lumber Company was incorporated by Mr. Patten and Mr. Graham, and subse- quently an interest in the concern was purchased by E. W. Price. In 1900 Mr. Patten bought Mr. Price's stock in the company, which gave him the control. The concern was then reorganized as the Atlas Lumber & Shingle Company, with a capital of $150,000, Mr. Graham becoming president and Mr. Patten vice president, secretary, treasurer and manager. The company has a timber supply sufficient to last for nearly thirty years, cutting at the rate of 70,000 feet a day. It has one of the finest tracts of timber in the State, running 50 percent to cedar with the remainder fir. The plant of the company at McMurray is equipped with three band saws and other attend- ant machinery and is run largely in sawing inch stuff, which is worked up for car shipment for the retail lumber trade of the East. The shingle mill has a capacity of 300,000 a day, and, with a large planing mill and a dry kiln, together with the logging railroad running out into the timber, this plant is a very complete one. To do the logging for the mill Mr. Patten formed two logging companies, of both of which he is presi- dent and has control. They are the Skagit Logging Company and the L. Houghton Logging Company, which log exclusively for the Atlas Lumber & Shingle Company. Mr. Patten has great faith in the value of western timber, and from time to time has personally acquired considerable tracts of timber land in Washington and Oregon. CHARLES E. PATTEN 39 In the early days of the Nome excitement he secured several good claims and some of the land on which the present city of Nome is built. He has made several other successful investments, including the controlling interest in a fine min- ing property in the Sumpter district, in eastern Oregon. He is interested in several Washington banks and is a director in the Washington National Bank, of Seattle. Mr. Patten has ever been foremost in association work. He was one of the organizers and the prime mover in the first shingle association, which was formed in 1892 and afterwards collapsed. During the last ten years several organizations of lumber and shingle associations have been born and have died, and in 1900 the Washington Red Cedar Shingle Manufacturers' Association was formed, with Mr. Patten as treasurer and a member of the executive committee. He still is an active worker in this association, but has declined to serve as its president. In July, 1900, when crop failure in the Red River Valley made it necessary for the eastern shipping lumbermen of Washington to look for a new territory in which to dispose of their lumber that fall, Mr. Patten sent a representative of the Atlas Lumber & Shingle Company through the Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas territory to investigate the situation and to gather data to present to the railroad companies with a re- quest for a reduction in the rate from the Pacific Coast that would enable shipments to be made in competition with southern pine. Largely through Mr. Patten's efforts the Pacific Coast Lumber Manufacturers' Association was formed, primarily with the object in view of securing a reduction in freight rates to the territory mentioned. Mr. Patten was made vice president of the association, which ofKce he held for several years, as well as being a member of the executive committee. In all the work of the association he has been the leader and he deserves a great deal of credit for its success. In January, 1906, Mr. Patten bought the sawmill at Tacoma formerly owned by the Far West Lumber Company and or- 40 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN ganized the Reliance Lumber Company, of which he became president and general manager, to operate the plant. The mill is equipped with a double circular head saw, a double cutting carriage resaw and band resaw, and runs day and night. A planing mill is operated, as is also a shingle mill with two double block and one hand shingle machines with a capacity of 250,000 shingles in ten hours. The mill has an output of 125,000 feet of lumber daily and this product is sold through the office of the Atlas Lumber & Shingle Company. This mill supplies a large local trade in Tacoma, and what is not disposed of locally is shipped East by rail, or to California by water, the plant being well equipped to handle cargo business. Personally, Mr. Patten is kind and courteous, an agreeable companion, and an interesting conversationalist. He is a life member and a trustee of the Rainier Club, of Seattle, and also is a life member of the Seattle Athletic Club. In Hoo-Hoo circles he has the distinction of being the oldest member of the order on the Coast, having been initiated in Kansas City, March 6, 1893, before any concatenations had been held west of the Rocky Mountains. He was appointed the first vice- gerent snark for Washington and Oregon and had charge of the first concatenation ever held west of the Rockies. He has taken a marked interest in Masonic matters, and, besides being a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, is Past Eminent Commander of Seattle Commandery No. 2, Knights Templar, and Past Master of Arcana Lodge No. 87, A. F. & A. M. In politics Mr. Patten is a stanch Republic- an, though he has never taken any active part in the affairs of the party. He was married on June 25, 1903, to Miss Adelia Allmond. Ha N^ 'ire on ^ ■ r T « 11, regardless ( ..-., -d courage to gr^ , them, liarry McCormick is of Scotch-Irish linpngc and in character is a mixture of Scotch 8hrewdn« d Irish ability to circumstances. He was ^"••^ ' Cherrytree, a small town on the Su County, Pennsylvania. His great Valley, Center County, the same been the first sawmill in Pe .ania, a )ts of the ^ can revolution. . British family of B .1 lite pmc logs that grew m ee Harrv McCormick wer r^i! regions 1 vears. , and 1 e up a locomotive on the Alleg... Vallc^ aowing HARRY Mccormick Harry McCormick Numerous instances go to prove that the great new empire on the shores of the north Pacific Coast is justly entitled to its reputation of being a land of golden opportunities. The life of Harry McCormick, of Portland, Oregon, is a marked illus- tration of this fact, and also of the possibilities in the way of achievement there open to every man, regardless of influence or capital, who has the ability and courage to grasp and im- prove them. Harry McCormick is of Scotch-Irish lineage and in his character is a mixture of Scotch shrewdness and Irish adapt- ability to circumstances. He was born October 14, 1856, at Cherrytree, a small town on the Susquehanna River, in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. His great-grandfather built at Stone Valley, Center County, the same State, what is said to have been the first sawmill in Pennsylvania, and other ancestors were patriots of the American Revolution. His mother came of the old British family of Bentons, and her father, John Benton, was a soldier in the War of 1812. Mr. McCormick's father, Robert McCormick, was a lumberman and logger on the Susquehanna River in the days when down that stream were floated some of the finest white pine logs that grew in this country. In the quiet village of Cherrytree Harry McCormick went to the school provided by the none too wealthy community, and obtained a fair education for a youth of that section. When seventeen years old he started to work in a sawmill at Twolicks, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, and later went to the oil regions in Allegheny Valley and labored at the oil wells for several years. Railroading appealed to his youthful ambition, and he gave up the oil business to fire a locomotive on the Allegheny Valley Railroad. When the excitement following 41 42 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN the discovery of gold near Leadville, Colorado, in 1879, was heralded throughout the country, young McCormick aban- doned all thought of a railroad career and, with only $6 in his pocket, started West and reached the mining field. It took two weeks in Leadville to dissipate in his mind the idea of a fortune to be had for the mere seeking. Disgusted, but not disheartened, he walked to Webster, a distance of sixty miles, where he joined a telegraph construction crew on the Denver & South Park Railroad. His display of intelligence in this rough work led to his being made foreman of the crew which built a telegraph line into the Gunnison country. When this work was completed Mr. McCormick secured a fireman's job on what is now the Colorado & Southern Railway. At the end of eleven months he became an engineer and continued holding a throttle until retrenchment by the company led him to quit its service and go to San Francisco. From the Golden Gate city he journeyed to Portland, Oregon, where he arrived June 24, 1883. Unable to get a position there, he went to Spokane and became a brakeman on the Northern Pacific Railway, and for a short time was brakeman and conductor on a construction train. Tiring of railroad life, Mr. McCormick began ranching at Plains, Mon- tana; but this occupation was too inactive, and he went back to the Northern Pacific as a repairman in the telegraph de- partment. In July, 1888, he assumed the management of the American District Telegraph Company office at Butte, Mon- tana, which position he held four months, when he returned to his old home in Pennsylvania. Going West again in the spring of 1889, he took charge of a telegraph construction crew at Hope, Idaho, on the Northern Pacific, and in the fol- lowing year was transferred to the Pacific division. The vast forests of fir, spruce and cedar of western Wash- ington impressed Mr. McCormick with their value from a commercial standpoint, and he determined to engage in busi- ness for himself. His initial work in this line was the putting in of telegraph poles and piling under contract. His experi- HARRY Mccormick 43 ence in telegraph construction gave him a knowledge of the enormous demand for crossarms for telegraph poles, and, in 1895, with the money he had made at contracting, he built at Centralia, Washington, the first factory on the Pacific Coast for the manufacture of crossarms. The plant was a small one and the raw material was secured from sawmills in the vicinity. The business prospered and in 1896 Mr. McCormick built an additional crossarm factory at Aberdeen, Washington, and another at Bucoda, following this a year later by factories at Seattle and Everett. In 1896 Mr. McCormick, with F. B. Hubbard, Frank L. Hale, E. E. Dilldine and others, organ- ized the H. McCormick Lumber Company, and in January, 1897, was commenced the work of building the mill plant at McCormick, Washington, on the South Bend Branch of the Northern Pacific Railway, west of Chehalis. Two years later Mr. McCormick and his associates organized the Rock Creek Lumber Company and built a mill at Rock Creek, two miles west of McCormick. This property was sold to the Walworth & Neville Manufacturing Company in 1903. Following the sale of the Rock Creek plant, Mr. McCor- mick and Mr. Hale bought the interests of Mr. Hubbard, Mr. Dilldine and others associated with them in the H. Mc- Cormick Lumber Company. The same year Mr. McCormick and Mr. Hale bought the sawmill and timber holdings of the Marzell-Mueller Lumber Company, located one mile east of McCormick. The capacity of the two mills operated by the H. McCormick Lumber Company is 150,000 feet a day of ten hours. The timber holdings comprise about 500,000,000 feet. Besides being president of the lumber company, Mr. Mc- Cormick is president of the McCormick & Columbia River Railroad. Mr. McCormick, at the start of the operations at McCormick, built a standard gauge railroad into the timber, and, for the purpose of extending this line through the timber to the Columbia River, a distance of twenty-two miles, a sepa- rate corporation was formed. Another interest of Mr. Mc- Cormick is the National Investment Company, of Los Angeles, 44 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN California, which deals in farm and timber lands in Mexico. He is president of that company. The intense interest Mr. McCormick takes in matters per- taining to the Pacific Coast and the lumber industry resulted in his election in December, 1904, as president of the South- western Washington Lumber Manufacturers' Association, and at the expiration of his term he was unanimously reelected. His ability as an executive officer was well shown during his first term by a practical reorganization of the association, its ranks being strengthened and its usefulness and progressive- ness being demonstrated throughout. Mr. McCormick is an earnest and forcible speaker, is a man of literary tastes, and is one of the most popular of Washington lumbermen. Mr. McCormick married Miss Ida Mullen, of Curwensville, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1881. The couple has one child liv- ing — Augusta. Mr. McCormick and his wife, in 1905, bought a beautiful home in one of the fine residential sections of Port- land and took up their residence in that city, because of the better educational advantages it afforded for their daughter. R ' inman AH concern must stand or fall er of manufacture depend the business standing of any ins' n manufacture of er with its .hose to whom the ably have diligently made f^ necessity, havine an The ideal org tion pu; ^ ^ ^ combines those who have had cxpe .c in _ man who is a specialist in manufacture and who 1.. success with other specialists is Robert David Inman, . land, Oregon. He is president of Inman, Poulsen & Co., « v^-rpo- and has charge of its manufacturing operations, i ^^:r.../i .. : ? ^^,..,f ,;.v,n on the Pacific Coast as a le 1 ur thirty-five years Mr. I: ^ a id and busily at work in uic n ux whicii uiiit cii) is liie commercial center. t D. Inman is the son of Asa Inman and l. He was born in Miami County, Ohio, A ib^ 'er his birth his parents moved to ^> U Cou h of the f. ' the Civil V\ wj ncc (J him. one to gu^ of ad a boy of twelve emigrant^ __ ^9^|hc ?^., 46 ROBERT DAVID INMAN Robert D. Inman All departments of a lumber concern must stand or fall together, but upon the character of manufacture depend the reputation and continued business standing of any institution which combines the manufacture of lumber with its sale. In this industry those to whom the greatest success has come invari- ably have diligently made one branch a specialty, though, of necessity, having an intimate acquaintance with all branches. The ideal organization pursuing a manufacturing business combines those who have had experience in each line. A man who is a specialist in manufacture and who has won his success with other specialists is Robert David Inman, of Port- land, Oregon. He is president of Inman, Poulsen & Co., a corporation, and has charge of its manufacturing operations. He has gained a wide reputation on the Pacific Coast as a leader in lumber mechanics. For thirty-five years Mr, Inman has been a resident of Portland and busily at work in the section of which that city is the commercial center. Robert D. Inman is the son of Asa Inman and Lucindia Kendel. He was born in Miami County, Ohio, August ii, 1853. Shortly after his birth his parents moved to Marshall County, Iowa, and, through the death of the father in the Civil War, the family was disrupted and the boy Robert was thrown upon his own resources. Perhaps the fact that he had to make his own way in the world and fight his own battles against adversity has made him a stronger and better man. He had no opportunity of gaining an education; it is doubtful whether the importance of a mental training then occurred to him. With no one to guide him, young Inman, with the love of adventure of a boy of twelve years, in 1865 joined a party of emigrants bound for the Pacific Coast. The company left 45 46 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Marshalltown, Iowa, May 21, and began the long, weary jour- ney across the plains and mountains toward Portland, which was not reached until November i. He had a varied experi- ence on this trip, the emigrants being attacked several times by bands of Indians, and several of the outfitters belonging to the caravan were lost in the sanguinary fights. Little there was for a boy of Robert Inman's age to do in Oregon, then a land about which practically nothing was known. He managed to eke out an existence for himself for a year and a half and then began a nomadic life as a member of a circus. He followed this life for two years before he tired of it and realized that there was more in life than he had thought. His first knowledge of the sawmill business was acquired in connection with the Willamette steam sawmill in Portland, where he began his lumber career in 1868. Seven years he remained in the mill, rising from the position of a common laborer to the more responsible one of foreman of the planing mill department. All this time he studied the several phases of manufacture, never losing sight of the fact that he was there to learn. He was energetic, industrious and thrifty, so that in the years that he was with the Willamette mill he had saved a snug sum of money, which enabled him to assist, with L. Therkelsen, N. Vessteeg and L. P. W. Quinby, in the organization of the North Pacific Lumber Company, which built the North Pacific mill in Portland. Mr. Inman operated the mill until 1889, when he sold his interest in the company and joined fortunes with Johann Poulsen, with whom he is today associated. Mr. Poulsen had been a stockholder in the North Pacific Lumber Company and previously had been identified with the Willamette mill, acting in the capacity of secretary. Mr. Inman and Mr. Poulsen organized the business of Inman, Poulsen & Co. in 1889, and a year later it was incor- porated. A mill was built and operated successfully until fire swept the plant in November, 1896. The two partners were undaunted by the disaster and within ninety days the damaged ROBERT D. INMAN 47 mill had been replaced by a more modern plant and was run- ning and cutting 100,000 feet of lumber a day. Improvements have been made in the plant from time to time within the last ten years until today the capacity and output is 500,000 feet daily. Outside of the local business done by the company, the output is sold to the California trade, to the ever increasing number of eastern customers, as well as to the railroads and for export shipment. Mr. Inman is the mechanical head of the company's oper- ations, which he has brought up to a most successful point of effectiveness. The mill cuts practically nothing but fir timber, buying its logs delivered in the river. In the mill is a quad- ruple circular, a gang, two band resaws with special devices for running cants, a Pacific Coast edger, a flitch machine and the necessary complement of trimmers, slashers, cross trans- fers, live rollers and lumber sorters. The lath mill is consid- ered one of the best and most efficient upon the Pacific Coast, having specially heavy and fast machinery turning out 50,000 to 60,000 lath a day, with six men. The equipment of the planing department consists of a 20 by 30-inch timber planer with five fast feed matchers. There also are two special ceil- ing machines and one band resaw with an eight-inch saw. The filing room is complete, much of the machinery being auto- matic. Heavy exhaust fans carry away the shavings from the machinery. The present mill of Inman, Poulsen & Co. is erected upon the east bank of the Willamette River, in South Portland, across and farther up stream from the center of the city. Mr. Inman married Miss Frances L. Guild, a daughter of Peter Guild, one of the Portland pioneers, May 2, 1875. Of this union have been born two daughters, Minnie Myrtle and Ivy Frances. Mr. Inman is one of those self-sacrificing business men who will, in addition to giving perfectly faithful service to the individual interests of those of the company with which he is allied, devote careful attention to public matters. He has added 48 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN to the wealth of the State and Nation by his political work. He is a prominent Democrat and has been a standard bearer of the party. Recently he was spoken of for United States senator, though he declined to entertain the thought and wishes of his friends. He always has done herculean service for his party and when a choice of plums is to be had his ap- preciative friends mention his name for office. He has been a member of the water committee of the city council, a mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Board of Trade of Portland. He also has served as a member of the State Senate, having been elected on the Democratic ticket in a district which gave a large RepubHcan majority for congress- man. His first election to a State office was as a member of the Lower House of the Oregon Legislature eight years ago, being the only Democrat who had been elected from Multno- mah County in twenty years. Later, he served a term as State senator. In 1894 he was a candidate for the office of mayor of Portland. He is a director of the Merchants' National Bank, of Portland. Personally, Mr. Inman is one of the most unassuming of men. He always has been, and still is, a worker and he never has felt it beneath him to hammer a saw or set up a planer or do anything by which his hand might facilitate operations in an emergency. His position in the company keeps him closely in touch with every man in its employ, for he is practically his own superintendent; and, though he has risen above the rank and file, he is still a member of the industrial army and has per- mitted no diminution of his sympathy with the man who works by the day in the humblest capacity. Mr. Inman is a stalwart Hoo-Hoo and has shown an un- varying interest in the order since its inception. He was vice- gerent for his State, later a member of the supreme nine and in 1895, when the Hoo-Hoo annual was held in Portland, a graceful tribute was paid to the Coast and to the individual himself by the choice of Robert David Inman for snark of the universe. Ta' • It to g in so ^e the wealth .+ whose individual effort has had mu social and industrial development of t ritory is Henry L. Pittock, of Portland Henry L. Pittock was born in E to the United States with his parenre with whom he Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, until i^ lere he ^ printing t- Not finding ky City t I an !i in 1853, v\ ^ Oregon Ci Lhem je of aii. with the r s and C -gon. in 1837, a. >\ .1 3 11 '- ' 1 due t' nal and wa- s \ the DatlyU the country's grca; only was this advocated in and iuuiidcr of t^- isul to the F ir. nttock in ^• ' ' -1 was 3 I- >4 OOT— 1<^ -J VRU^BM HENRY U. PITTOCK Henry L. Pittock Taken as a whole the progress of civilization is due not so much to associated as to individual effort. Primarily, man builds for himself, the underlying principles of achievement being self-protection and individual well-being. But though man builds for the individual he does not build for that alone. The men who conceive a business enterprise, who establish it, nurture it and cause it to grow strong, enrich themselves, but, in so doing, enlarge the wealth and resource of all. One whose individual effort has had much to do with the political, social and industrial development of the Lewis and Clark ter- ritory is Henry L. Pittock, of Portland, Oregon. Henry L. Pittock was born in England in 1837, and came to the United States with his parents, with whom he lived in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, until 1852, and where he learned the printing trade. Not finding the Smoky City suited to his tastes, he joined an emigrant train in 1853, with which he crossed the great plains, reaching Oregon City, the then me- tropolis of the Oregon country, after a wearisome journey. Being unable to secure employment at that place, he went to the then little village of Portland, where he was given a posi- tion as printer on the Weekly Oregonian, from which has been evolved the present representative western daily newspaper. The newspaper business in that territory evidently was not a profitable vocation, for when the editor and founder of the paper secured the appointment of consul to the Hawaiian court he transferred the paper to Mr. Pittock in lieu of money due the printer. At this time the Oregonian was a weekly jour- nal and was continued as such until 1861, when Mr. Pittock started the Daily Oregonian. Through this paper was preached the country's greatness and the wealth of its resources. Not only was this advocated in principle, but also in practice. 49 50 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN One of the first departures made was the purchase of a modern paper machine, which was bought in 1867, and set up on the Clackamas River, near Oregon City, Oregon. This was the first paper mill established in the northwest territory. In this connection it may be said that Mr. Pittock did not make his first purchase of timber for the manufacture of paper, for at that time the possibilities of wood pulp were unknown. In 1880 it was decided to enlarge the paper plant and the orig- inal structure was dismantled and a new and larger mill was built on the Columbia River, at Camas, a few miles above Vancouver, Clarke County, Washington. Through his connection with the paper plant Mr. Pittock ultimately had forcibly directed to his attention the immense value of the timber of the Northwest, and it was at the Camas plant that he first became a factor in the timber market of the Pacific Coast. His keen foresight revealed to him that the timber of the Coast State was one of its principal resources and the one that would first be developed. He secured 4,000 acres of timber lands near Camas and built a sawmill on La Camas Lake, under the corporate title of the La Camas Mill Company. This mill was at first operated by water power. A railroad was built from La Camas Lake to the Columbia River to haul the lumber from the mill to a point accessible to ves- sels, which then afforded the best means of transportation. In furthering these enterprises Mr. Pittock invested about $250,- 000, at that time a relatively larger outlay than it would be in the present day of colossal combinations of capital. The launching of the La Camas mill enterprise marked Mr. Pittock's initiation into the lumber business and was the beginning of his timber holdings in Washington and Oregon, which today represent the title to or an interest in probably 40,000 acres of timber land. He has been a persistent and consistent buyer of timber land from that time to the present, and sincerely believes in the wealth-making future of the tim- ber of the Pacific Coast states. Mr. Pittock is president of the Washington & Oregon HENRY L. PITTOCK 51 Lumber Company, of Vancouver, Washington; vice presi- dent of the Willamette Valley Lumber Company, of Dallas, Oregon, the Skamania Logging Company, of Portland, Ore- gon, the Siletz Timber Company, of Dallas, Oregon, and the Salem, Falls City & Western Railway Company, and a direc- tor of the Charles K. Spaulding Logging Company, of New- berg, Oregon. His timber interests include a one-half inter- est in 300,000,000 feet of yellow fir held by the Skamania Log- ging Company; a one-fourth interest in 450,000,000 feet held by the Siletz Timber Company; a one-fifth interest in 750,- 000,000 feet held by the Charles K. Spaulding Logging Com- pany, and scattered holdings aggregating 50,000,000 feet. Mr. Pittock is a typical business man of the West whose in- terests are so intimately identified with it that it is difficult to segregate them. In addition to his timber holdings and log- ging interests he is a director in several representative banks; a vice president and heavy stockholder in the Columbia River & Northern Railway Company, which owns and operates a regular line of steamers plying between Portland and The Dalles; is president and half owner of the V/estern Transpor- tation & Towing Company, of Portland, a concern which tows logs for the different sawmills; owns timber, steamboats and barges on the Columbia River, and owns and controls large real estate interests in the Northwest, particularly in and around Portland. He has a substantial interest in mines, es- pecially those in the sections tributary to his field of active operations along other lines, notably in eastern and southern Oregon. Any enterprise looking to the development of the country where he has made his home so long has "open sesame" to Mr. Pittock's time and attention and enlists the sympathies of his paper and is freely supported. His business judgment and his sound, common sense have played an important part in times of political crises, or of great political upheavals. He frequently has been consulted on matters of great moment and his advice always has been accepted and acted upon. Perfect 52 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN harmony exists between Mr. Pittock and H. W. Scott, the chief editor of the Daily Oregonian, and, while the paper ex- presses the editorial views of the latter, the final judgment of the two men has made the paper arbitrator of great as well as minor questions and its dictum is practically a finality. Mr. Pittock's family life is one of the most pleasant. He married at Portland Miss Georgiana Burton, one of the adopted daughters of the West who reached it by the arduous and adventurous route across the plains, the daughter of a pioneer, who, as a leading architect, was exceedingly well and favorably known in Oregon's early history. A family of four daughters and one son has been reared by the couple. Mr. Pittock is a member of many clubs and a thirty-third degree Mason. The family are members of the Unitarian Church. Mr. Pittock finds rest and pleasure in traveling, and his trips have taken him all over the country. I ter \t on ■ is Free Oregon. Since Mr. Leadbctter has be. ing gone there as a young man- an acknowledged position of imi the lumber industry of the Pac that section of tb v. but i he has witness nti? r a V into the nse lent, the in har- ^ to do. n, as befits a t :;ressive men better, of P u of Oregon- idvanced rap> '^ respond was [ ss, lauiber in more tio his t tembei !!• T3aaA3-J MAI_J_JINA/ >J ,irrf?i^^^' FREDEIRICK WILLIAM LE A DB ETTE R Frederick W. Leadbetter Modern ideas and modern methods are woven into the whole commercial fabric of the Pacific Coast. In this immense territory, whose resources are only nearing development, the men in charge of lumber affairs are of large caliber, in har- mony with the works of nature with which they have to do. Besides, they are comparatively young men, as befits a new country. An example of the vigorous, aggressive men found on the Pacific Coast is Frederick W. Leadbetter, of Portland, Oregon. Since Mr. Leadbetter has been a resident of Oregon — hav- ing gone there as a young man — he has advanced rapidly to an acknowledged position of importance and responsibility in the lumber industry of the Pacific Coast. He was not born in that section of the country, but in the years he has lived there he has witnessed a tremendous growth in its lumber business, and today he is identified with some of its principal lumber enterprises. His first investments were in timber, but in more recent years he has invested heavily in manufacturing projects. By persistent, painstaking methods Mr. Leadbetter has gained an eminent position and is looked upon as one of the stanchly conservative men of the Coast. Frederick William Leadbetter comes of a family of lumber- men. His progenitors were residents of New England, where the lumber industry of the country had its inception. His grandfather, Horace Leadbetter, and the latter's brother, Lorenzo Leadbetter, were among the leading lumbermen on the famed Penobscot River, and later Lorenzo Leadbetter became one of the pioneers in the Michigan white pine sec- tion. Mr. Leadbetter's fatherwas Charles H. Leadbetter, and his mother Annie (Comings) Leadbetter. He was born Sep- tember 15, 1869, at Chnton, Iowa, where the family resided 53 54 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN at that time. Subsequently, his father and mother moved to New York, where the son made the acquaintance of mathe- matics, geography and Enghsh. He still was a youth when a move was made by the family from New York to San Jose, California, where he continued his studies at the normal school. Mr. Leadbetter first became interested in the lumber busi- ness while engaged in the manufacture of paper. His initial venture was as the proprietor of a sawmill at La Camas, Clarke County, Washington. The mill was not of large proportions, but it was an investment of considerable importance to Mr. Leadbetter. Though he was not familiar with the details of sawmilling, he had a good business training, and, with his tact and energy and by placing many of the responsible details in more experienced hands, the venture proved a successful one. Gradually, Mr. Leadbetter enlarged his interests and their scope so as to include timber propositions in Washington and Oregon. Then, as the production in those states increased, he became an investor in many producing plants. He early recognized the intrinsic value of the cedar, pine and larch forests of the Pacific Coast and secured holdings in various parts of Washington and Oregon. Later, he was drawn into other lumber manufacturing enterprises besides that at Camas, and today he is the owner of one comparatively small mill and has investments in many others. He is interested in the following mills, the daily capacity of each of which is given: Portland Lumber Company, Port- land, Oregon, 400,000 feet; Washington & Oregon Lumber Company, Vancouver, Washington, 300,000 feet; Charles K. Spaulding Logging Company, with mills at Newberg, Salem, Independence and McMinnville, Oregon, total 450,000 feet, and the Willamette Valley Lumber Company, Dallas, Oregon, 200,000 feet. He is vice president of the Washington & Oregon Lumber Company; treasurer of the Willamette Valley Lumber Company; the Siletz Timber Company and the Salem, Falls City & Western Railway Company, all of Dallas, Oregon; director of the Charles K. Spaulding Logging Company, FREDERICK W. LEADBETTER 55 Newberg and Salem, Oregon; vice president of the Skamania Logging Company, Portland, Oregon, and president of the Mountain Lumber Company, Camas, Washington. Among the mills named are several of the largest in that section of the country, w^here big mills are the rule. They all are of modern equipment and built in a substantial manner. All are backed by large timber holdings, sufficient to insure their operation for many years at the present volume of pro- duction. The largest of the mills make cargo shipments, and their product has been shipped to nearly every country on the globe. With the yearly increasing trade throughout the United States, particularly in the eastern section, a steadily widening business is assured. In addition to the manufacturing interests enumerated, Mr. Leadbetter has large timber interests. He owns, personally, 200,000,000 feet of yellow fir in Clarke County, Washington; a one-half interest in 300,000,000 feet of yellow fir in Skamania County, Washington; a one-fourth interest in 450,000,000 feet held by the Siletz Timber Company in Polk County, Oregon; a one-fifth interest in 750,000,000 feet held by the Charles K. Spaulding Logging Company in Polk and Lane counties, Oregon, and 100,000,000 feet in scattered holdings. These various interests of Mr. Leadbetter necessarily occupy much of his time, yet he is never too busy to consider any business matter which is laid before him. Though his main investments are in timber and lumber, he has others, being vice president of the Western Transportation & Towing Company, of Portland, Oregon, and first vice president and the largest holder of the stock and bonds of the Crown Columbia Pulp & Paper Company, of San Francisco, Cali- fornia. This concern operates mills at Camas, Washington, and Oregon City, Oregon, and has a daily capacity of seventy- five tons of finished paper. Mr. Leadbetter married Miss Caroline T. Pittock, a daughter of Henry L. Pittock and Georgia Burton Pittock, at Portland, Oregon. Of this union have been born one boy and 56 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN three girls— Henry P., Georgia C, Dorothy Vose and Eliza- beth Leadbetter. The family occupies a handsome home, beautifully appointed, in one of the delightful residential sec- tions of Portland. Mr. Leadbetter is president of the Portland Commercial Club and in that position he has worked faithfully to advance the development of the city. He is fond of social life and holds membership in the ArHngton, Multnomah Athletic, Waverly Golf, Portland Rowing and the Portland Hunt clubs. His chief recreation is riding; and in the saddle for a gallop over the beautiful roads and hills in and about Portland Mr. Leadbetter finds recreation and healthy exercise. He is a member of the Episcopal Church. In politics he is a Repub- lican, but has never taken more interest in campaigns and elections than any citizen who has the welfare of his city, state and country at heart. In h. - ; jour . " Oregon country, settlin^, A type of the suc- iia entcrpr.^.M^ exploiters of the wonderful forests of the Golden State is George Xavier Wendling, of San Fran- cisco, California. He is a man still comparatively youiJi already made his mark as a lumberman, f to the class which has recently engaged fornia, yet he is not one of the old time ver country I ut piuck and unt dmt of per c and careful atte; widely. une who has ' not h ' cr ess in v^aii- rig gone from dbout eighteen energy, and by his business has V York September i a trace of French yards at was manager. I three years and are - . :cc for ni thp retail o Hl_iai/I3\A/ F^3IVAX 3 georqe: xavier weindl-inq George X. Wendling In the newer lumber producing sections of the country that have been opened up in comparatively recent years, the younger generation of lumbermen has found the needed op- portunity for distinguishing itself. This is particularly true of the Pacific Coast, v^here there are many instances of young men, originally of moderate means, or none at all, who, by care- ful attention to business and by proper diligence, have pushed themselves to the front in a business way. A type of the suc- cessful and enterprising exploiters of the wonderful forests of the Golden State is George Xavier Wendling, of San Fran- cisco, California. He is a man still comparatively young, but one who has already made his mark as a lumberman. He does not belong to the class which has recently engaged in business in Cali- fornia, yet he is not one of the old timers, having gone from the middle West to the newer country only about eighteen years ago. He is full of pluck and untiring energy, and by dint of perseverance and careful attention to his business has extended his interests widely. George X. Wendling was born in New York September 12, 1861. Away back in his family tree is a trace of French blood, though it is so remote that Mr. Wendling rightly claims to be what is commonly termed a "Yankee." His parents moved to Keokuk, Iowa, in 1864, where he grew up and at- tended the common schools. His lumber experience dates from the time when he was fifteen years of age. He had not acquired much of an education when he entered the employ of the C. W. Goodlander Lumber Company in one of its retail yards at Weir City, eastern Kansas, of which George E. Ware was manager. He worked about the yard and in the office for three years and then became assistant manager of the retail 61 62 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN yard of the Long-Bell Lumber Company at Cherryvale, Kan- sas, where Mr. Ware was manager, remaining there less than a year. He then was made manager of the Long-Bell Lumber Company's yard at Walnut, Kansas, where he remained two years, being then transferred to another yard of the company at Caldwell, Kansas. His early experience was, therefore, along the lines of managing and conducting retail lumber yards in Kansas during the years when the Sunflower State was growing and consum- ing a vast amount of lumber. This experience proved very valuable to Mr. Wendling, so when in January, 1888, he went to California, it was but natural that he should engage in the retail lumber business, his first connection being with the firm of Prescott & Pierce, retail lumbermen at Fresno. After spending two and a half years with that firm Mr. WendHng decided to engage in business for himself, and his plans re- sulted in the formation of the WendHng Lumber Company, at Hanford, California. E. H. Cox, now manager of the Madera Sugar Pine Company, Madera, California, was president of the Wendling Lumber Company and Mr. Wendling was its vice president and manager. The concern had a capital of |ioo,ooo. Associated in this company were Messrs. Cross and Augsbury. The Wendling Lumber Company established yards at Han- ford, Armona, Bakersfield and Kern. These yards were situ- ated in central California in a great fruit growing region with a large market for fruit boxes, and the company supplied a large part of the demand for this material, becoming interested in the box business in this way. February 10, 1897, Mr. Wendling assumed the management of the Pine Box Manufacturers' Agency, which had just been organized by a large number of the pine box manufacturers of the State. His experience in handUng boxes was of great value to the new organization, which he had assisted in forming, and during the time he was manager he developed its business, worked out its tariffs and systematized its affairs so that when he resigned the manage- ment, November 4, 1899, in order to devote more of his time GEORGE X. WENDLING 63 to his own personal interests, the organization was in excellent running order. In May, 1904, the Pine Box Manufacturers' Agency was reorganized and formed into the California Pine Box & Lum- ber Company, of which Mr. Wendling was elected first vice president. Mr. Wendling is president of the Pacific Door Association, which was organized in November, 1905, for the purpose of taking the entire production of the manufacture of stock doors for eastern shipments. On leaving the box agency Mr. Wendling reorganized the Wendling Lumber Company and increased its capital to $500,000, of which $200,000 was issued and paid in. He and his associates, Messrs. Cross and Augsbury, bought the in- terest of Mr. Cox in the company and Mr. Wendling then became its president. Since the early part of 1900 the Wend- ling Lumber Company has paid particular attention to building up an extensive carload business in redwood, California pine and northern fir lumber and redwood shingles. Early in 1902 Mr. Wendling and C. M. Cross bought the interest of Mr. Augsbury, and sold to Mr. Augsbury the company's retail yards in Bakersfield and Kern. Mr. Wendling is president of the company and the other officers are C. M. Cross, vice president, and H. Nathan, secretary and treasurer. During the last two years Mr. Wendling has acquired several other lumber interests, among which is the Stearns Lumber Company, of which he is vice president. This concern was organized in May, 1905, with an authorized capital of $300,000, of which all the stock is paid in. The company has a saw and shingle mill at Wendling, Mendocino County, California, cut- ing 60,000 feet of redwood lumber and 200,000 shingles a day. In April, 1903, Mr. Wendling was instrumental in organ- izing the Weed Lumber Company, of which he is president. This company is capitalized at $2,000,000, of which $1,300,000 in stock has been issued. C. M. Cross is vice president of the company and H. Nathan, secretary and treasurer. The com- pany is the owner of 75,000 acres of timber land covered en- 64 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN tirely with white pine and having many miles of standard gauge logging railroad. The company's timber is free from fir, being probably the only tract of this size in the State which runs ex- clusively to white pine. The sawmills, with a capacity of 60,000,000 feet annually, are located at Weed, Siskiyou County, California, on the Southern Pacific Railway. The plant con- sists of two sawmills with a combined capacity of 250,000 feet of lumber a day. In addition the company has a box factory, with a daily capacity of 100,000 feet, and a sash and door factory with a daily output of 1,000 doors, 2,000 windows and 60,000 feet of boxes. Mr. Wendling has applied his forceful, energetic mind to a study of the lumber industry in all its ramifications. Nothing connected with any phase of it is too small or too large to escape his attention. His careful analysis of the conditions of the present and his thorough understanding of the contingen- cies or the possibilities of the future have contributed much toward his success. He is cautious in taking up any new en- terprise, but, once having consented to engage in any under- taking, is an indefatigable worker for its success. His knowl- edge of conditions is not based upon superficial observation but is the result of his acquaintance with the principles of the industry, and his varied personal experience covering every inch of the ground from the time the lumber is manufactured until it is sold to the consumer. > ^ Jacob \ In th 1 ^.c, was drawn i he operation over which he toiled and i he brought to the first stages of success, lives as a fitting monument to his achievements. This pioneer was Jacob Green Jackson, of San Francisco, Cali- fornia, who passed away April 17, 1901, at the ripe age of eighty-four years. He was one of the first to recognize the vast wealth in the redwood forests and was a^ : earliest to draw upon this • operations which he s i i ly which he later org. < arp ^ y under the competent m. r who has been able to bring to a su ns and purposes of h^r m'oneer p-.. ... was born March it, . .7, at E^m ^^ .nr? — irnc of Re' '-^"tionary stock. .. . I 1 mi >-vii.ii I whcrt and s charge of t being advar^^ JAOOB GREEN JACKSON Jacob G. Jackson In the pioneer days of California, with the gold seekers who were flocking to the newly discovered Eldorado went others who engaged in business in the new country between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the sea. Among these gold hunters was a man who, by untoward circumstance, was drawn into the lumber manufacturing business. The operation over which he toiled and which he brought to the first stages of success, lives as a fitting monument to his achievements. This pioneer was Jacob Green Jackson, of San Francisco, Cali- fornia, who passed away April 17, 1901, at the ripe age of eighty-four years. He was one of the first to recognize the vast wealth in the redwood forests and was among the earliest to draw upon this virgin resource of nature. The operations which he started forty-five years ago and the company which he later organized are carrying on business today under the competent manage- ment of his daughter, who has been able to bring to a success- ful conclusion the plans and purposes of her pioneer parent. Jacob G. Jackson was born March 16, 1817, at East St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and came of Revolutionary stock. His father was Elijah Jackson, and his grandfather Samuel Jackson, who fought bravely at the battle of Bunker Hill with the pa- triots. His father lived to be ninety-six years of age, and Jacob G. Jackson died at a younger age than any of his brothers. His people were farmers, but by the early death of his mother he was sent to live with an aunt in Maine, where he received some schooling. Later, he went to Providence, Rhode Island, where his brother, Samuel Jackson, was engaged in the coal and shipping business. At sixteen years of age he was in charge of the transportation end of the business, subsequently being advanced to the position of agent, buyer and shipper of 65 66 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN coal between Philadelphia and Providence. Mr. Jackson later became a resident of Salem, Massachusetts, where he was a manufacturer of rubber. After losing his plant by fire, he disposed of his patents and the secrets of his process of manufacture to the Goodyear interests, and, in December, 185 1, went to California, crossing the Isthmus of Panama. The responsibilities assumed so early in life formed a character at once enterprising and self-reliant, with a matured under- standing and judgment, which, though methodical and slow, was sure and safe in all business ventures. His brother, Samuel Randall Jackson, had preceded him to the Pacific Coast, and when Jacob G. Jackson arrived in California, intending to go into another business, he found that his brother, who had engaged in the lumber and shipping business with Asa M. Simpson, had been on a vessel which was wrecked along the northern coast, and was supposed to have lost his life. So Jacob G. Jackson took his brother's place in the business, and the firm remained Simpson & Jackson. Although Samuel R. Jackson subsequently returned alive, he soon left for his old home in the East and Jacob G. continued in the lumber business with Mr. Simpson. He made a voy- age to Australia with a cargo of lumber on one of the firm's vessels, and, losing the master there, Mr. Jackson sailed the vessel back to San Francisco in command. He thus acquired the title of captain, which was thereafter accorded him through life. He also shipped a cargo to British Columbia during the mining excitement on the Eraser River in the early days and there remained in business for a time. In 1861, Captain Jackson severed his connection with Mr. Simpson, and with two men, Messrs. Kelly and Rundell, entered into a partnership to manufacture lumber in Mendo- cino County, California, north of San Francisco, on Caspar Creek. A few months after this enterprise was inaugurated he bought the interests of his associates, and, in 1862, com- pleted the sawmill and began producing redwood lumber, the concern being known as the Caspar Lumber Company. The JACOB G. JACKSON 67 mill was located at a point on the Coast called Caspar, at the mouth of Caspar Creek. In November, 1881, the company was incorporated with a capitalization of $400,000, but Captain Jackson continued almost the sole owner until his death. Soon after the death of Captain Jackson, in 1901, the presi- dency of the company was assumed by his daughter, Mrs. Abbie E. Krebs, who is still the executive head of the con- cern. The Caspar Lumber Company, which Captain Jackson founded, has a double band mill at Caspar, with a daily capacity of 100,000 feet of redwood lumber, and a railroad about fifteen miles long connecting the plant with the 80,000 acres of redwood timber land owned by the company, and of which 30,000 acres have not yet been invaded by the logger. The railroad in recent years has been extended out on the south fork of the Noyo River, and, in order to reach timber that will last the mill forty years, it was found necessary to construct a tunnel 800 feet long, mostly through rock, at a cost of $80,000. The road is known as the Caspar, South Fork & Eastern Railway, of which Mrs. Krebs is president. The company owns two steam schooners — the South Coast and the Samoa — which are used in transporting lumber from Caspar to San Francisco Bay, a distance of 128 miles, and also to southern California ports. The lumber is loaded on the ves- sels by a wire chute from a cliff, the topography of the ground and harbor making this method the most practicable one. The company has two merchandise stores, and is well equip- ped in every way to manufacture lumber on a large scale. Since Mrs. Krebs has had the management of the company its timber land holdings have been greatly increased, thus bringing the Caspar Lumber Company to the front rank of producers. The business has been expanded commensurately by interests secured in allied capitalized companies, organized and conducted for the milling, manufacture and more ex- tended sale of redwood lumber and its kindred products in the California and eastern markets. A progressive and enter- prising spirit, combined with thorough business acumen, has 68 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN earned for Mrs. Krebs the approval and esteem of the oldest and ablest lumbermen on the Coast. She is credited with knowing the business and conducting it in a businesslike manner. She participates as a member of several boards of directors in the decisions of affairs involving large vested interests, to the marked satisfaction of her conferees and com- manding their respect as an entire equal in business ability and experience. This expansion of the field of distribution of redwood is a realization of Captain Jackson's earlier ideas, which naturally find an enthusiastic exponent in the daughter, who is en- dowed with so many of the personal qualities of her father. The offices of the Caspar Lumber Company are on the eighth floor of the Kohl Building, San Francisco, and the president's private office is always accessible to those having business. While a resident of Providence, Captain Jackson, in 1840, at the age of twenty-three years, married Miss Elvenia D. Durgin, of Sanbornton Bridge, New Hampshire. Daniel H \, wen Persf ^rtpnrr »* ».' I rv e it not for »w 1-5 ij.i> >| dominated c wrought immtiiat m -^es which iid.vc icauaauca to the benefit of mankiiiu. n. ii> the spirit that impels a man to push forward where ^^ -~s would hesitate at what appears to be a hopeless undcruKirig that eventually lifts him above the rank and file of ordinary thinkers and doers. Daniel H. McEwen, of San Francisco, California, belongs to this persevering class. His life has been one of earnestness of pi: and of unfailing will. H'^ < i 'y existence was a stru for he was i of the common nece of e 49, at Wellsboro, ing come from At tnw- in a giv Early in country, ne ciii -ai aiiuj auvj > umiC M3W3oM W _J3IUiAa DANIEL. H. McEW/EN Daniel H. McEwen Perseverance in the face of great obstacles Is the power that has turned the wheels of progress in science, art and industry. The world would be without the inestimable researches and discoveries in medicine, the invaluable work of inventors, engineers, painters and sculptors, were it not for perseverance ; and it is this quality which has dominated the men who have wrought immense industrial changes which have redounded to the benefit of mankind. It is the spirit that impels a man to push forward where others would hesitate at what appears to be a hopeless undertaking that eventually lifts him above the rank and file of ordinary thinkers and doers. Daniel H. McEwen, of San Francisco, California, belongs to this persevering class. His life has been one of earnestness of purpose and of unfailing will. His early existence was a struggle, for he was a poor lad deprived of the common necessities of education and sustenance, and the success which has attended his efforts is, therefore, all the more remarkable. Mr. McEwen was born February 22, 1849, at Wellsboro, Tioga County, Pennsylvania, his father having come from the north of Scotland and his mother, of English descent, being a native of Vermont. When his father enlisted in the Federal army, in 1861, Daniel, then twelve years of age and the eldest of six sons, became the breadwinner for the family. For a year he worked in a brickyard at thirty-five cents a day. At the age of thirteen he secured work driving mules on the tow- path of the Susquehanna Canal from Williamsport to Philadel- phia and Baltimore. He afterward secured a position as clerk in a grocery store at Williamsport. Early in 1865, believing his services were needed by his country, he enlisted in the Federal army and served nine 68 70 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN months, being mustered out at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the autumn of 1865. The following year his lumber experience began. For three years he worked in sawmills at Williamsport by day and attended night schools in the evening, thus concurrently securing both his lumber and his general education. During the winters he worked in the woods, scaling logs and keeping time. In 1870 he went to Annapolis, Maryland, where he managed a retail lumber yard for Smith & Phillips. In 1872 he returned to WilHamsport and entered the employ of Peter Herdic, the master mind of a dozen large enterprises, and was general superintendent of his manufacturing operations, look- ing after the business from the woods to the market. When Mr. Herdic failed, several years later, Mr. McEwen lost all his savings. He was bitterly disappointed, but not crushed, as he saw the careful accumulation of years swept away by a single blow. His inherent manliness and perseverance immediately asserted themselves and he turned his back upon the scene of the failure and set his eyes toward the more promising fields of the West. He went to Minnesota and became superintendent for the old C. N. Nelson Lumber Company, at Knife Falls, now Cloquet. Mr. McEwen built the first large mill of the company at that point, as well as the boom in the St. Louis River. He also laid out the lumber yard and town site, where fifty houses were built during the four years of his connection with the firm. In 1884 Mr. McEwen associated himself with Captain H. M. Paine and William McNair, of MinneapoHs, Minnesota, and built and operated the large water power mill of the Cloquet Lumber Company. In 1885 Mr. McEwen disposed of his interest to his associates and moved to Duluth. In the fall of 1886 he engaged in the wholesale lumber business and in the following year moved his headquarters to St. Paul, asso- ciating himself with J. E. Glass, the firm being Glass & McEwen. Four years later they moved to Minneapolis and a year later dissolved partnership. DANIEL H. McEWEN 71 Mr. McEwen then associated himself with W. P. Murray, of Minneapolis, and McEwen & Murray, Limited, built a large sawmill in Louisiana and engaged in the manufacture of cypress lumber. Mr. McEwen spent several years in the South in charge of these operations. During this time he bought for himself and his associates 36,000 acres of Louisiana cypress timber land, which has since then been sold. It is not unlikely that Mr. McEwen would have continued his operations in the South, and, in time, have become a leader in production in that section of the country, had not circum- stances ordained another move. The climate of the Gulf Coast did not agree with the health of his family, and, in 1895, rather than incur any risk, he gave up manufacturing and went to Chicago, where he engaged in the wholesale lumber business. But this change did not bring about the desired effect, and he took his family to southern California, where he enjoyed a rest of two years, and there he now owns one of the best producing orange groves in that section. During this period Mr. McEwen traveled through Califor- nia and became not only interested in the timber resources of the Coast, but impressed by the same, as well. Among his friends were several San Francisco and Sacramento capitalists who were alive to the possibilities of the future in the manu- facture of sugar pine and white pine. In 1900 Mr. McEwen became a prime mover in the organization of the Eldorado Lumber Company. This concern bought the sawmill, railroad and timber holdings of the American River & Lumber Com- pany, in Eldorado County, and Mr. McEwen was made vice president and general manager by reason of his experience in the manufacturing line. In improving the property and mod- ernizing the operation he built two sawmills, a large planing mill and constructed twelve miles of railroad, in addition to establishing a fine lumber storage yard. With the new equip- ment the capacity was increased so as to give a daily output of 100,000 feet of lumber. Mr. McEwen is the inventor and was the constructor of 72 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN the largest, highest and longest wire rope cable in the world. This gigantic undertaking has been a complete success. The aerial railway crosses the American River. The cable is 2,650 feet long and is operated at an elevation of 1,050 feet above the stream. A car crosses in two and a half minutes, and ten minutes is required for the round trip, transporting 6,000 feet of green lumber. It is possible, therefore, to shift 24,000 feet of lumber an hour from one side of the canyon to the other. In the first three years of its operation, 70,000,000 feet were thus transported across the chasm. In November, 1905, Mr. McEwen incorporated the D. H. McEwen Lumber Company, of San Francisco, of which he is the president, with mills in Sonoma County, to manufacture redwood and fir lumber. He bought, during 1905, 125,000,000 feet of redwood timber, which is the best and nearest body of first-class redwood timber to San Francisco, being only eighty miles distant from the Golden Gate. Eight miles of railroad permit of shipments being made by rail and water. Mr. McEwen married in 1875, in Pennsylvania, Miss Flora E. Else, and they have a family of three children, consisting of two daughters, Elsie and Josephine, and a son, Murray McEwen. Mr. McEwen retains his orange ranch in southern California, but decided, for business reasons, to make his per- manent home in San Francisco, and with this object in view built a beautiful homein Burlingame, a suburb and one of the fashionable residence sections of California. He is a great lover of his home and it is there, surrounded by his family, that he finds his greatest enjoyment in life. w >» < Althc national! ' of ? d pressure is it ■' renders it c >on, and, as tiinc i% worth more than i else on the market, he who can save any of this valuable adjunct to success finds those who recognize his worth and are willing to pay its equivalent. One who has recognized the value of time and who has prof- ited thereby is William Daniel Wadley of San Francisco, California. Although he is yet on the sunny side of the meridian of life, Mr. Wadley is a remarkable man in many respects. His has not been a life made easy by a rich, indulgent father. )n never has shed its baleful influ- g his efforts of their individuality; barefooted boy, driving a sawdust fnrrp in onp nf the largest lum- ber cen the archi- f iJCiUlC tilC ' part, hav- of the Con- f c of the war the c the senior men t in ire of lumber in coni the Allen WIL.l_«AM DANIEL. WADLEIY William D. Wadley Although all Americans, and the intelligent of most other nationalities, are willing to grant to the plodder the measure of success consistent with the effort put forth, still there is a disposition in the business world to demand immediate returns for expended energy. A decided pressure is felt in the mod- ern manner of doing business, which renders it difficult for the plodder to keep up with the procession, and, as time is worth more than anything else on the market, he who can save any of this valuable adjunct to success finds those who recognize his worth and are wiUing to pay its equivalent. One who has recognized the value of time and who has prof- ited thereby is WiUiam Daniel Wadley of San Francisco, California. Although he is yet on the sunny side of the meridian of life, Mr. Wadley is a remarkable man in many respects. His has not been a life made easy by a rich, indulgent father. The proverbial golden spoon never has shed its baleful influ- ences over his life, robbing his efforts of their individuality; but from the time he was a barefooted boy, driving a sawdust cart, until today, as the active force in one of the largest lum- bering enterprises in the Golden State, he has been the archi- tect as well as the builder of his own fortune. WilHam D. Wadley is a product of Arkansas. D. M. Wadley, the grandfather of W. D. Wadley, moved from Jackson, Tennessee, to Marshall, Texas, shortly before the Civil War, in which struggle he bore an important part, hav- ing been in charge of the gunpowder works of the Con- federates at Marshall. Shortly after the close of the war the Wadley family moved to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where the senior member of the house engaged in the manufacture of lumber in connection with several members of the Allen 73 74 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN family, among the latter being H. J. Allen, W. B. Allen, E. T. Allen and one or two others. W. D. Wadley's father, W. G. Wadley, the son of the powdermaker, assisted his father in the operation of the mill. The relations between the two families who owned and operated the mill were very close and became more intimate after the marriage of W. G. Wadley and Miss Emily Allen. Born to this couple, on August 30, 1872, was a son, WiUiam Daniel Wadley. The parents of the child resided at Arkadelphia at this time and continued to live there until the boy was a healthy lad of five summers. In 1877 Allen Bros, moved their planing mill to Texar- kana, and it was there that the Wadley family took up its residence and where young William laid the foundation for his education, passing creditable examinations in the grammar and high school of Texarkana. A few years later — 1885 — Allen Bros, built a sawmill and a planing mill at Queen City, Texas, about two miles northeast of Atlanta, Texas, on the Texas & Pacific Railway. Here began Mr. Wadley's first active connection with the production of lumber, and since then he has been steadily engaged in the industry. His services at the plants of Allen Bros, embraced labor in every department. After his gradu- ation from the station of a sawdust cart driver he was given a position as fireman on his father's locomotive, which pulled a train on one of the first logging roads built in that part of Texas. About this time, between 1885 and 1887, a partner- ship was entered into between the senior Wadley and Allen Bros., the firm taking the title of Allen Bros. & Wadley. Young Wadley continued in the employ of the firm and gradually worked his way up through the successive stages of lumber manufacture, serving as feeder of the planing machine, as a grader and in numerous other capacities. His work was interrupted in 1887 in order that he might take a course in methods of transacting business, which was studied at Draugh- ton's Business College, at Atlanta, Texas. After finishing this WILLIAM D. WADLEY 75 course he returned to Queen City, where he kept the books for the firm until the scarcity of its timber supply compelled the seeking of a new location to carry on operations. Allen- town, Louisiana, was decided upon, and in 1891 the firm was actively engaged in operating its plant at that place. The town is located on the Louisiana & Nickel Plate road, forming a line of communication from the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific, at Wadley Junction, to a point a few miles north of Allentown. Young Wadley's business education was supplemented by a special course at the Southeastern University, at Georgetown, Texas, which was completed in 1892. Upon his return to Allentown, although only twenty years of age, he assumed complete charge of the office of the firm, in which he had secured an interest several years before. No change in the personnel of the firm took place until 1894, when the style was changed to Allen Bros. & Wadley, Limited, which company was organized with W. D. Wadley as secretary and treasurer. Notwithstanding the demands on his time in consequence of his official position with the company, Mr. Wadley was able in the succeeding years to help organize and keep in operation two other companies as well. One of these was the Bienville Lumber Company, which was organized, in 1900, at Alberta, Louisiana, a town twenty-two miles southeast of Sibley, at the intersection of the Louisiana & Arkansas Railway with the tracks of the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific. Mr. Wadley was president of this company, which operated a mill with a capacity of 75,000 feet of lumber daily. In 1901 he was instrumental in organizing the Allen-Wadley Lumber Com- pany to do a wholesale business for the purpose of disposing of the cut of the mills at Alberta and Allentown. He was president of this concern also. The scene of Mr. Wadley's greatest success and also of his present activities is laid in California. The possibilities in the great redwood country attracted his attention and in 1903 he secured an interest in what is now the Empire Redwood Com- 76 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN pany. The officers of the concern are C. T. Crowell, president; E. W. Davies, vice president, and W. D. Wadley, secretary and treasurer. The mill plant of the company is located at Gualala, Mendocino County, California, the mills having a daily output of 100,000 feet. Mr. Wadley, as manager of the mill, has been responsible, in a large measure, for the heavy increase in the volume of business since he took hold of the operations. Mr. Wadley married Miss Mamie Rogers, of Queen City, Texas, the sweetheart of his boyhood, December 12, 1896. The couple has one child, a daughter, born November 6, 1898. He is a member of the Scottish Rite bodies and is a con- sistent Mason, is a member of the Albert Pike Cathedral, Little Rock, Arkansas, and of Sahara Temple, of the Mystic Shrine, at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Cha th The ■e. his li >n he gives u 'hin. As t^ by good ends accon.^ , .y its order ». tematic progress and, if it be a work which involves fin». matters, we judge of it by the profits accruing. A man w in his own personality and in the work he has done, is wor- of a place in this volume is Charles S. Keith, of Kansas Cit; Missouri. He is the executive head of one of the largest lumber . coal producing and distributing organizations in the Un; ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ al & Coke Company, a corpc Dusiness circles in nearly every state on of M las he b repres Ci City, wh' sessing t. ! to hardship, so t. was prepared to c ^ t encounter. The out^; ,ncl HTI3X HTIM8 e-^-^/iAHO ^ y CHARLEIS SMIXH KEITH Charles S. Keith The man and his work hang together. As Is the man, so is the thing he does or makes. That impression we get from observing the man and what he does, separately or in con- junction, constitutes our estimate of his character. As to the man, we find it in his face, his attitude, his manner and what expression he gives to that which Hes within. As to his work, we judge it by good ends accomphshed, by its order and sys- tematic progress and, if it be a work which involves financial matters, we judge of it by the profits accruing. A man who, in his own personality and in the work he has done, is worthy of a place in this volume is Charles S. Keith, of Kansas City, Missouri. He is the executive head of one of the largest lumber and coal producing and distributing organizations in the United States — the Central Coal & Coke Company, a corporation favorably known in business circles in nearly every state in the Union. This great company is not the creation of Mr. Keith, for it is older, in fact, than he is, but so long has he been at its head that what it is today very largely represents his con- structive and directive ability. Charles Smith Keith was born January 28, 1873, in Kansas City, Missouri, which city he has always made his home and whose welfare he has at heart. His father, the late Colonel Richard H. Keith, made Kansas City his home upon the close of the Civil War, in which he had served with honor in the army of the Confederacy. He had come out of the conflict a strong man, mentally and physically, and, in addition to pos- sessing the traits of industry and perseverance, he was inured to hardship, so that when he began a modest coal business he was prepared to carry it on despite any obstacles he might encounter. The outgrowth of the yard established by Colonel 77 78 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Keith on Buff Street, Kansas City, in 1871, is the now great Central Coal & Coke Company. In Charles S. Keith's boyhood days there was nothing par- ticularly to mark his individuality beyond that of other lads of his period, unless it might have been the special energy and enthusiasm with which he played the games of youth during the years he studied in the various grades of the public schools. Subsequently, he entered St. Mary's College, at St. Mary's, Kansas, and completed his education with a course at Fordham University, Fordham, New York. All these years his father had been planning for the young man's future, anxiously awaiting the day when he might begin his active training for a business career. Young Keith was ready to begin his commercial life at the age of eighteen years. In 1891 he entered the service of the Central Coal & Coke Company, of which concern his father was president, and was assigned to a clerkship in the auditor's office at Kansas City. He was accorded no privileges or shown any preference over his fellow employees, his father being determined that the young man should make his own way up the ladder of success by his own ability and pluckiness. Nine months' work in the Kansas City office qualified Mr. Keith for duty at the mines in Missouri and Kansas, where he devoted one year to studying mining and practicing engineering. While nominally a clerk, he took advantage of every oppor- tunity to learn the practical side of the business by entering the mines and studying every phase of the operations that came under his observation. All the time he was fitting him- self for more responsible duties which would devolve upon him when he should prove capable of discharging them. The first promotion came to Mr. Keith after he had spent a half year in Missouri. He was made traveling sales agent of the company, in which capacity he famiHarized himself with the industrial conditions of the Southwest. At the end of three years he was again advanced, this time to the position of general sales agent of the coal department. During this CHARLES S. KEITH 79 period the Central Coal & Coke Company had been acquiring title to thousands of acres of yellow pine timber lands in Arkansas and Texas. Mr. Keith took particular interest in this branch of the business. With his usual care he studied the field closely, learned the methods of milling and reached the conclusion that the lumber industry held almost unlimited possibilities of development. So thoroughly did he grasp the details of the lumber business that, in 1896, he was appointed general sales agent of the lumber department in addition to holding the same relative position in the coal department. Five years later Mr. Keith was made assistant general man- ager and general sales agent. He was well equipped to assume these duties, the eleven years spent in the service of the com- pany having given him ample experience. In 1902 the company lifted part of the load carried for so many years by Colonel Keith as general manager, by appointing his son to that position. Upon the death of his father, in 1906, Mr. Keith became vice president of the company, continuing in the capacity of general manager as well. Three sawmills are operated by the Central Coal & Coke Company, these being located respectively at Carson, Cal- casieu Parish, and Neame, formerly Keith, Vernon Parish, Louisiana, and at Kennard, Houston County, Texas. The latter mill is operated by the Louisiana & Texas Lumber Company, which is officered practically the same as is the Central Coal & Coke Company. It is on the Eastern Texas Railroad, thirty miles west of Lufkin, and in what is conceded to be the finest shortleaf yellow pine timber belt in the Lone Star State. The mill has a daily capacity of 250,000 feet, and is cutting on 170,000 acres of timber owned by the company. The two Louisiana plants are in the famous Calcasieu longleaf yellow pine district. The Carson mill is equipped with a band, circular and fifty-two-inch gang saws, giving a daily capacity of 180,000 feet. The mill is on the Missouri & Louisiana Railroad, which connects with the Kansas City Southern Railway. The other plant has the same railroad connections. 8o AMERICAN LUMBERMEN At Neame is operated a double band mill, with an output of 115,000 feet a day. Because of the character of the logs sup- plied that mill, most of the railroad timber produced by the company is cut there. It is a model plant in every way, as are the others, having every mechanical facility for the best service. In addition to the output of these mills the company buys heavily of stocks of other mills in the shortleaf and longleaf pine districts, which are disposed of through the sales depart- ment. Mr. Keith has been married twice. His first wife was Miss Jane Gregg, of Independence, Missouri, whom he wedded April 25, 1895. Sh^ ^^^^ January 18, 1897. ^is second wife before her marriage was Miss Lucile Hill, of Keytesville, Missouri, whom he married June 12, 1900. One child has been born to the couple — Richard William Keith, about three years of age. Mr. Keith is a member of the Kansas City Club, Country Club, Driving Club, Railroad Club and Elm Ridge Club, of Kansas City, and of the Mercantile Club, of St. Louis. He is a member of the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, also. His chief recreation is motoring and he takes much pleasure in driving an automobile over the fine boulevards of Kansas City. Mr. Keith is possessed of a pleasing manner, a native friendliness and has a winning manner which he has displayed to good advantage in association work. He has applied com- mon sense principles to the business of the company as well as to the organizations among the trade, and his personality and methods are reflected by the sales force of the company. Willi? In n politan n to wonder ...j s of that, to wonder ' 7 yn V a. s^\.i \^ L y L^^.vi_v .hat thci. . ^ ^^''Hding on stilts "r-TiCv^ ^.c about — a kind of electric' e. We know tiiat there is a man in there — sometuiits jusl one man and sometimes a man and a few deputies. We know that they reach out and pull levers; that they reach back and push levers; that from morning until night and from night until morning this man, or his deputy or deputies, is always playing with the levers. We give little thought to him either person- ally or col' ' n in our sub usness ertui the r \'e-cote. s, any ct, whether o > that \ the night, the > ■ .' ■ aS not a 7 industrv, but rather his conscrv- d. •«««««*- dccaciw. much to be ^ NA/IL-LIAM RUSSELL. PICKERINCB William R. Pickering In many of the great central railway stations in the metro- politan centers of the world, a thousand trains of cars daily rush in and out and round about in such an apparently pro- miscuous manner as to lead the layman to wonder how the trains ever get in, and, close upon the heels of that, to wonder how they ever get out. We know vaguely that there is a long building on stilts somewhere about — a kind of electrical dove-cote. We know that there is a man in there — sometimes just one man and sometimes a man and a few deputies. We know that they reach out and pull levers; that they reach back and push levers; that from morning until night and from night until morning this man, or his deputy or deputies, is always playing with the levers. We give little thought to him either person- ally or collectively; but away down in our sub-consciousness we do have a wonderful respect for the man in the dove-cote. The man behind any movement, any business, any great theory always has our wholesome respect, whether or not our surface consciousness recognizes that fact. The man who occupies the electrical dove-cote for the W. R. Pickering Lumber Company, of Kansas City, Missouri, and who looks out and ahead for that organization through the night, is probably as little known personally as any indi- vidual today connected with the yellow pine lumber trade of this country. It is not because William Russell Pickering has not attained success in that line of the industry, but rather because of his modest and retiring disposition and his conserv- ative and unobtrusive method of conducting his affairs. Withal, he has his friends, many of them, and, in the several decades that he has followed lumbering, he has accomplished much to be proud of. 81 82 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN William R. Pickering is of English ancestry. His father was brought up in Derbyshire, in the Midlands of England, but came to the United States and settled in Missouri, where he became a school teacher and later a county judge. His mother's maiden name was Ann Greenstreet. The son, William R. Pickering, was born December 31, 1849, in St. Louis County, Missouri. When he was a lad of ten years his parents moved to Waynesville, Missouri, where he spent his youth and gained the'best education afforded by the schools of that day. His first actual experience in business was in the mining of lead at JopHn, Missouri, where he went in 1872. Eight years later he entered into a partnership with Ellis Short, to do a merchandise business at Joplin, though this business was later extended to northern Arkansas, where the partners bought a tract of timber at Seligman, Missouri, on the southern border of that State. This timber business grew to such proportions as to overshadow the merchandising and by 1887 Short & Pickering extended their operations into Indian Territory, where they began the manufacture of lumber at Stanley. In 1894 Mr. Pickering organized the W. R. Pickering Lumber Company, establishing headquarters at Springfield, Missouri. Retail yards were put in at Springfield, Lebanon, Deepwater, Ozark and Pierce City, Missouri, and Fayetteville and Van- buren, Arkansas. A planing mill was run at Tuskahoma, Indian Territory. The retail business was continued until 1898, when it was closed out and the company engaged in the wholesale yellow pine lumber manufacturing business. With the growing scarcity of timber in Indian Territory, which precluded the possibiHty of the extension of the opera- tions of the W. R. Pickering Lumber Company, an investiga- tion of other localities for the continuance of the business of the W. R. Pickering Lumber Company was made. This work of investigation was intrusted to William Alfred Pick- ering, Mr. Pickering's son, and, after an examination of many bodies of land in Arkansas and Louisiana, resulted in the pur- WILLIAM R. PICKERING 83 chase of 30,000 acres of virgin longleaf yellow pine timber in Vernon Parish, Louisiana. This original tract was estimated to contain 300,000,000 feet of timber, and was the best virgin longleaf yellow pine for sale anywhere. A point on the main line of the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad (now the Kansas City Southern) , sixty-five miles from Lake Charles, Louisiana, was selected for a mill site. Ground was broken in March for the building of the mill, and operations were started in December, 1898. The enterprise was responsible for the growth of a considerable settlement and the place is known as Pickering, in honor of the founder. In the years that have passed since the company entered Louisiana, several large tracts of timber land have been bought in addition to the original property. In order to operate these tracts, another town, called Barham, in honor of T. M. Barham, the secretary of the company, was located in the southwestern section of Vernon Parish, on the Kansas City Southern Railroad. The Pickering plant is equipped with two bands and one pony circular. The output of this mill is 200,000 feet a day. In addition to the sawmill is operated a modern planing mill and a stock of 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 feet of lumber is carried. The logs for the mill are brought from the company's hold- ings over a standard gauge railroad seven miles long, built entirely of steel, and having a full equipment of cars and loco- motives. In 1905 a third mill was built by the company to increase the output and so care for the growing demand for yellow pine. This mill is at Cravens, about twenty miles southeast of Pickering, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. The plant is of the most modern type and as complete as any mill in the South. It has two fourteen-inch band saws, a Corliss engine and every up-to-date device for the quick and economical handling of the logs and the finished product. Steel and concrete entered largely into the construction of this mill, which insures greater permanency than is usually found in plants of the South. The timber from which the company 84 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN draws its logs for the three mills in Louisiana and eastern Texas aggregates 1,500,000,000 feet. The main offices of the W. R. Pickering Lumber Company are in the Keith & Perry Building, Kansas City. Mr. Picker- ing is president; his son, W. A. Pickering, is vice president and manager; T. M. Barham is secretary, and R. E. Browne is general sales agent. Mr. Pickering, Senior, devotes most of his time in the management of the company's affairs to looking after the financial end of the business and the buying of timber, leaving the actual operation of the mills and its detail work to W. A. Pickering and his efficient assistants. While, as has been said before, Mr. Pickering's chief interest has been as a lumberman since 1887, he has, never- theless, had experience in financiering. In 1893 he began a banking business at Marionville, Missouri, which he carried on until 1897. Among his financial interests is a large holding of stock in the Bank of Springfield, a state institution. Mr. Pickering married Miss Jane Coggburn, at Iberia, Missouri, February 13, 1870. Two sons were born to the couple, one of whom, W. A. Pickering, vice president and general manager of the W. R. Pickering Lumber Company, survives. Mr. Pickering is a member of the Masonic Order, though he is not an active Mason. In politics he is a supporter of the policies of the Republican party. He has few interests out- side of those of the company, and he devotes all of his atten- tion to the direction of the immense enterprises of the W. R. Pickering Lumber Company. William ^ -cy hat .i pr or a ..:;iiy af: jn of one g > lo a nal laurels have been won .e * alert- has 3 o! hrs lumberman parent is William Alfred Pickering, of Kansas Citv. Missouri. William A. '. ing and Jane (Coggburn) 26, 1870, at Springfield, uri. Hi> Englishman who came from the ^ America and settled in Missouri, the county courts. William \ ^ . .... aver- age experience of he was in as miif^ micrViirf a vicrnrr.nc H r V r C: I J v^ A va . i ^ In I Ellis Shui this busine&s cv tract of timber '^ ^ r bu: ns 01 :3iiori This was R. Pickering qu M. V and at tiic- age uf ninetee ■">ed a partnership with crmg, fresh Irom college ' upon applying his Ol^ I ^ ^ >J '">!'=• a3F1"^-IA rvi A I _] _l I NA/ WIL_L_IAM ALFRED PICKERING William A. Pickering Heredity has often played a prominent part in a man's choice of a career. In family after family it is found that a profession or vocation of one generation has been handed down to another, and additional laurels have been won by the younger generation through the display of a cumulative alert- ness, earnestness and persistence. A lumberman who has inherited all the excellent qualities of his lumberman parent is William Alfred Pickering, of Kansas City, Missouri. William A. Pickering is the son of William Russell Picker- ing and Jane (Coggburn) Pickering, and was born December 26, 1870, at Springfield, Missouri. His grandfather was an Englishman who came from the Midlands of England to America and settled in Missouri, where he became a judge of the county courts. William A. Pickering had about the aver- age experience of the healthy boy; he was in as much mischief as any one in his native town, with a vigorous constitution, wholesome ambition, an inquiring mind and a hopeful spirit. He gained his education through the ordinary channels with- out much effort in the way of conquering his studies, and concluded his education by a course at Drury College, Spring- field, Missouri. In 1880 W. R. Pickering had formed a partnership with Ellis Short to do a merchandise business at Joplin, Missouri, this business eventually being extended into Arkansas, and a tract of timber was bought at Seligman, Missouri. By 1887 the timber business had developed into manufacturing, and the operations of Short & Pickering were extended into Indian Territory. This was followed, in 1894, by the organi- zation of the W. R. Pickering Lumber Company, with head- quarters at Springfield. Young Pickering, fresh from college and at the age of nineteen years, insisted upon applying his 85 86 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN hand and all the industry of his nature to acquiring a knowledge of the lumber business. During his apprenticeship to the trade he was employed alternately in the yard and in the office, which had a wholesale department. The wholesale business was started to give an outlet for the product of three sawmills which were run in the Choctaw Nation and were handled in conjunction with the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad. The industry and tact displayed by W. A. Pickering soon placed him in the position of sales manager of the business of the firm of which his father was a member. He had handled lumber and kept books and dealt with customers and salesmen and fitted into the place as sales manager with an ease and grace that made him a prominent factor in the trade. When the W. R. Pickering Lumber Company was organized the sales manager secured an interest in the concern and became the active director of afifairs. The company started yards at Springfield, Lebanon, Deepwater, Ozark and Pierce City, Missouri, and Fayetteville and Vanburen, Arkansas, with a planing mill at Tuskahoma, Indian Territory. This business was closed out in 1898 and the company entered into a strictly wholesale yellow pine lumber manufacturing business. Mr. Pickering realized that the extent of the manufacturing operations in the Indian Territory were limited because of the growing scarcity of timber, and, therefore, besought some other opportunity to invest the capital of the W. R. Pickering Lumber Company, and to which to devote his energy. He chose a location in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, where was bought 30,000 acres of virgin longleaf yellow pine timber, upon which it was estimated there was 300,000,000 feet. The mill was built in 1898 at a point which has developed into the thriv- ing town of Pickering, on the main line of the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad, now the Kansas City Southern. The mill is equipped with two bands and one pony circular and has a daily output of 200,000 feet. A planing mill, with the most modern equipment, is operated in conjunction with the sawmill. The logs are brought to the mill over a standard WILLIAM A. PICKERING 87 gauge railroad seven miles long, laid entirely with steel rails, and with a full complement of cars and locomotives. A stock of 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 feet of lumber is carried at this plant. Shipments aggregate 50,000,000 feet annually. Since entering Louisiana the company has bought several large tracts of timber land in addition to the original purchase and established another town, called Barham, the name being the same as that of the secretary of the company, and given in honor of the man who was of assistance to Mr. Pickering in the organization and development of the business. The progress which marked this concern from its inception con- tinued, and the business grew rapidly in one phase after another. A third mill of 200,000 feet daily capacity was built in 1905 at Cravens, twenty miles southeast of Pickering, on a new branch of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. All the oper- ations of the company are conducted on the Kansas City Southern line, or close to it, and are connected with railroads projected, constructed or operated by the W. R. Pickering Lumber Company. The new mill has two fourteen-inch band saws, Corliss engine and every mechanical device, which gives it a place with any of the first-class plants in the South. The mill con- tains more steel and concrete than any of its predecessors, and this fact will tend to insure a permanence which has not always been possible with sawmills where wood has been the chief material of construction, and which frequently are sub- jected to fire hazard to which other materials are not amenable. It is estimated that the company has about 1,500,000,000 feet of timber in Louisiana and eastern Texas. The officers of the company are W. R. Pickering, presi- dent; W. A. Pickering, vice president and general manager, and T. M. Barham, secretary. R. E. Browne is general sales agent of the company. May i, 1899, the general offices were located in Kansas City, in the Keith & Perry Building. Mr. Pickering has a social as well as a commercial side to 88 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN his career. He has traveled as extensively as circumstances permitted, is a w^idely read man and, although he left school at an early age, he has employed desirable agencies and instru- mentalities to complete an equipment which, in connection with his commercial career, places him in the front rank of American business men. He is a member of several social clubs of Kansas City and devotes much of his leisure time, in the golf season, to the Evanston golf links, and frequently is found at the Railway Club and at the Commercial Club. His family is identified with the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Pickering married Miss Zoe Cravens, of Springfield, Missouri, Dec. ii, 1891. The couple has one son, Russell Cravens Pickering. i H. ' tcon Dom me p' I me united oi wmcn country cc inent men of ? Jing out conspicuously b c oi his a aeven s Samuel Holmes Fulierton, of St. Louis, Mis^ He has the traits of his race in full m •, shrewdness a^d foresight displayed in the m , commercial affairs, and the dire- of his pun gether with a certain moral , perhaps i 5, have put him ton ■ horn i 2. His parents v nel and Fme. ^^e ort. prO) the ) 5 OI . MOTJ=t3_l_IU"^ 83M_IOH -J3L SAMUEL. HOLMEIS FULL-EIRXON Samuel H. Fullerton Every nationality has its own peculiar characteristics, which impress themselves upon the civilization of every country where its representatives are to be found. The Scotch, whose distinguishing characteristics are thrift, enterprise and persist- ency, have had a notable share in both the political and industrial development of the United States, the lumber industry of which country contains the names of many prom- inent men of Scotch descent. Among them, standing out conspicuously because of his abilities and achievements, is Samuel Holmes Fullerton, of St. Louis, Missouri, He has the traits of his race in full measure, and the Scotch shrewdness and foresight displayed in the management of his commercial aflfairs, and the directness of his purpose, to- gether with a certain moral rigidity, perhaps inherited from his Covenanter ancestors, have put him where he is today. Although his ancestors came from Scotland, Mr. Fullerton was born near Belfast, Ireland, in 1852. His parents were Captain Samuel and Anna (Holmes) Fullerton. His youth was spent in the Emerald Isle and perhaps the first evidence of any qualities above the ordinary was in his determination, at the age of twenty years, to emigrate to the United States in search of broader opportunities than he found at home. In March, 1871, he reached Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and secured employment in the lumber business. This initial education was of great value to him in later years, for he acquainted himself thoroughly with methods of retailing lumber and welcomed every opportunity to study the business from the standpoint of the yardman, which later made him a capable salesman. The retail yard and its resources of supply were dif- ferent propositions at that time from what they are today, and the young man evolved ideas of buying and selling, which 88 90 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN formed themselves into a definite scheme and aroused an am- bition to put them into practice. The sought-for opening came rather unexpectedly to Mr. Fullerton after two years spent in Pittsburg. Through the influence of his brother Robert, who was associated with M. T. Greene, the founder of the Chicago Lumber Company, he was given charge of the company's yard at Tecumseh, Ne- braska. Mr. Fullerton did not hesitate about accepting the position, although he realized that his career would probably hinge on the ability he could show. In 1873 the Greene com- pany started a chain of retail yards throughout northeastern Kansas, and the Tecumseh yard was operated under the Fullerton name, the brothers having an interest in Mr. Greene's company. After two years in this location, Samuel H. Ful- lerton went to Kansas and took charge of another yard, giving this up to become a manager of the Chicago Lumber Com- pany. In the next few years he had much to do with the development of the Hne yard idea to meet a large and urgent call for lumber. Settlers were rushing in and occupying the Mississippi and Missouri River valleys, creating an unprece- dented demand for lumber. It was a period of activity and prosperity; but the pendulum of trade eventually swung back, following the crop failures of several seasons, and financial ruin faced many concerns. With a string of yards extending from Atchison to the Nebraska line in northeastern Kansas, the business managde by Mr. Fullerton did not meet disaster as did many other ventures, but actually prospered. Early in the '8o's the Chicago Lumber Company was incorporated and Mr. Fullerton was made a director. The operations of the company did not extend to the western retail field. The FuUertons remained as managers and owners of the yard business until 1891. Then they bought the interest of Mr. Greene and conducted a Hne of about fifty yards under the title of the Chicago Lumber Company, a partnership. For four years the retail business was successfully car- ried on, but changing conditions led to the organization of SAMUEL H. FULLERTON 91 the Chicago Lumber & Coal Company for the purpose of entering into other lumber lines. The business of the old company was absorbed by the corporation and wholesaling and manufacturing engaged in. By this time yellow pine had gained a stronghold on the consumers of Kansas, where once white pine alone had been demanded, and this feature of the trade had extended into Nebraska and Iowa. Among the first investments made by the corporation was one in a sawmill at Logansport, Louisiana, in 1894. This mill was situated in the shortleaf yellow pine belt and was equipped with circular and gang saws. Within a few years other mills had been acquired and an output of more than 500,000 feet a day of shortleaf and longleaf pine was controlled. Fully one- third of the total volume of yellow pine handled by the com- pany is distributed through the large territory served by its yards, though millions of feet of white pine and Pacific Coast woods are disposed of. The wholesale business is extensive, covering nearly all the northern portion of the country from the Rockies to the Atlantic. Mr. Fullerton has been president of the Chicago Lumber & Coal Company since its organization, and has as his executive assistants Robert Fullerton, his brother, as vice president; Clifford T. Millard, secretary, and Frank Goepel, treasurer. But Mr. Fullerton is not president in title only; he is the active head of the enterprise, a worker who knows not fatigue, and one who imbues every man under him with the spirit of performing each duty willingly and conscientiously. There is not an employee of the company, from the humblest laborer up, who does not respect the president of the concern for his honesty and fair dealing. Personally, he is a friend to them all, and their suggestions pertaining to the conduct of the business are welcomed and appreciated. Mr. Fullerton has the faculty of choosing the proper man for the position — one in whom can be placed the fullest confidence — and the results attained by this policy are beneficial beyond calculation. His ability to hold close connection with men is shown by the fact 92 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN that Mr. Goepel has been associated with him for more than thirty years, and Mr. Millard was interested with the Fuller- tons in the old Chicago Lumber Company. Mr. Fullerton identified himself with the Southern Lumber Manufacturers' Association when he entered the wholesale and manufacturing field, and he has had a strong influence in upbuilding the reputation of yellow pine. Naturally, his wide acquaintance with trade matters in a large section of the country was a valuable adjunct to his labors for the association, which he served as president for two terms — 1900 and 1901. In 1904 he was chairman of a committee appointed to make an exhibit of southern pine at the Louisiana Purchase Exposi- tion at St. Louis. He was largely responsible for the success of the exhibit, which received the grand prize, and he was awarded a special gold medal and a diploma as "collaborator." Mr. Fullerton, besides being president of the Chicago Lumber & Coal Company, which is shipping about 25,000,000 feet of lumber a month, is president of the William Farrell Lumber Company, manufacturing yellow pine and oak lumber at Hensley, Arkansas, and vice president of the Lee Lumber Company, Limited, which operates a yellow pine and hard- wood mill at Tioga, Louisiana. Both of these concerns are heavy timber owners. Mr. Fullerton married Miss Lucy Cook, of Clay Center, Kansas. They had three children — Robert, Ruby, a gradu- ate of the Ogontz School, Ogontz, Pennsylvania, and Samuel Baker Fullerton, a student at the Culver Military Academy. Robert is a graduate of Cornell. He is now in the office of the Chicago Lumber & Coal Company, learning the details of the various departments. He studied the Spanish language in Spain, and it is likely he will look after the export trade of the company to the Latin countries. Mr. Fullerton is a member of the Mercantile Club, the St. Louis and Glen Echo Country clubs and the Business Men's League, all of St. Louis. .^or-' o- i V to ascribe ncps thp r iiiC UC31 ^uv,v,c^t' >, t* Thus, & na^ uccii . J • - Roucii i^cs iviumca, i He comes oi oc " " " ' ' '''■"^'^ of uicu that has given much i me ac of orderly government and of inai; development. He is not a States, but his bv h Ro. ' Fullerton. His grandparents were ted t c Octf .' spcn ^ols of that li y of h; ewinto a strong and . P' the y ;U set TV ofJcft But the f^onc t'^ United e. II l_/ 1^ '' It o mincia try to ii.««.^ 08 ROBERX FULLERTON Robert Fullerton While the unthinking are prone to ascribe to chance many of the marked successes of life, it is not necessary to ascribe either to luck or to occult influences the position of the ordina- ry successful American. In most cases, a study of the career of such an individual reveals nothing more than the possession of an active mind and body, an unfaltering purpose, and, for the best successes, the possession of a rugged and direct type of honesty. Thus, simply, is explained the success which has been gained by Robert Fullerton, of Des Moines, Iowa. He comes of Scotch ancestry, of that sturdy type of men that has given much toward the development of civilization, of orderly government and of industrial and commercial development. He is not a native born citizen of the United States, but his business life has been spent in the country of his adoption. Robert Fullerton is the son of Captain Samuel and Anna (Holmes) Fullerton. His grandparents were natives of Scot- land who emigrated to Ireland. It was in Kilcown, Antrim County, in the Emerald Isle, that Robert Fullerton was born, October 3, 1845. There he spent his boyhood, gaining what education he could at the few schools of that locality and as the means of his parents would permit. He grewinto a strong youth, hopeful and ambitious, yet without prospect of accom- plishing anything that seemed to him likely to be really worth the while, for that country offered little of promise to one of his birth and station in life. But there was another land, a land of golden promise, whither had gone thousands of his fellow countrymen. From those who had gone to the United States came news of the position and fortune to be won there. It stirred the Scotch blood of young Fullerton and he deter- mined in that country to make his venture for fortune. 93 94 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Bidding good-by to the country of his birth, in July, 1867, Robert Fullerton crossed the ocean and reached America, going to Ottawa, IlUnois, where he had friends. For three months he worked on a farm, then returned to the city, gain- ing a knowledge of the carpenter's trade and followed this vocation for three years in the employ of Caldwell, Clark & Stebbins. He developed into a skillful worker, and with his unquestioned honesty and willingness he was soon on the road toward prosperity. For three years he remained in the vicin- ity of Ottawa and then went to Lacygne, Kansas, in the spring of 1870, where he followed the contracting and building busi- ness. While engaged in this pursuit he made the acquaintance of M. T. Greene, a Chicago lumberman. Mr. Greene took an interest in the young man, admired his thoroughness and respected his abihty, with the result that he offered the car- penter a position as manager of the Greene yard at Lacygne during Mr. Greene's absence on a wedding trip. Mr. Fullerton was not a novice at the lumber trade, for he had acquired a familiarity with lumber in doing carpentering, and he did not disappoint his employer in the display of executive force. So forcibly had he demonstrated his ability that he was transferred for a short time to Tecumseh, Nebraska, and sub- sequently to Clay Center, Kansas, and thence to Des Moines, where he had charge of the yard. In addition to this man- agership, he had general supervision of the other Greene yards in Iowa, operated by Mr. Greene as the Chicago Lum- ber Company. Gradually, his services with the company became so valuable that he was given an interest in the con- cern, as was his brother, Samuel H. Fullerton, who was in charge of a yard at Tecumseh, Nebraska, which was operated under the name of Fullerton Brothers. In 1873 the Chicago Lumber Company started a chain of retail yards in northeast- ern Kansas, and to Robert Fullerton was intrusted the labor of establishing these branches. With the opening of the first of these yards, conducted as the Chicago Lumber Company, in ROBERT FULLERTON 95 April of the same year, Mr. Fullerton moved to Clay Center. Yards were put in through the Mississippi and Missouri River valleys and with the inrush of immigration exceedingly heavy demand for lumber was created by the settlers. In 1875 Mr. Fullerton moved to Des Moines and was succeeded at Clay Centerby his brother as general manager at that point. Pros- perity, however, was not to continue, and a few years later the failure of successive crops resulted in a financial panic which brought ruin to many of the lumbermen who were unprepared to meet the disastrous business depression. Through the care- ful management of the Chicago Lumber Company by Mr. Greene, Mr. Fullerton and the latter's brother, the line yard business was not swept away. In 1891 Mr. Fullerton and his brother bought the interest of Mr. Greene in the business of the several yards operated by him and continued alone under the style of the Chicago Lum- ber Company, a partnership. This business was carried on until 1895 with much success, when the Chicago Lumber & Coal Company was incorporated by Robert Fullerton, Samuel H. Fullerton, Frank Goepel and C. I. Millard, for the pur- pose of engaging in the manufacture, as well as the distribution, of lumber. The partnership was taken over by the corpora- tion and Samuel H. Fullerton became president of the com- pany and Robert Fullerton vice president. The business was reorganized on more substantial grounds and extended so as to include yards in Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. One of the reasons for engaging in the sawmill business was the growing demand in Kansas and other western states for yellow pine to take the place of white pine, because of its increasing scarcity and rising value. A sawmill at Logansport, Louisiana, located in a shortleaf yellow pine belt, was bought by the company. This mill was equipped with circular and gang saws, and a ready market was found for its product. With the growth of the demand for longleaf pine, other mills were acquired from time to time, and of recent years the com- pany has controlled a daily output of more than 500,000 feet. 96 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN At least a third of the total output of the yellow pine of the company is distributed through the company's own yards, in addition to millions of feet of white pine and Pacific Coast woods. The company manufactures lumber in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and seventy retail yards are maintained. Besides the retail and manufac- turing, the company does a wholesale business extending into practically every northern state from one coast to the other. In an inventive way Mr. Fullerton has had much success and is stated to have devised the best lumber skidder ever erected. He has also invented a crosscut saw, operated by compressed air, for cutting down trees, and this device is now being developed. Mr. Fullerton married Miss Fannie Parsons, a daughter of Galacia Parsons, of Des Moines, Iowa, March lo, 1885. Of this union have been born three sons and a daughter — Robert, Junior, Lawrence, Philip and Catherine Fullerton. The eldest son has recently completed a course at a military academy and will probably follow in the footsteps of his father as a lumber- man. During the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, Mr. Fullerton was disbursing agent for the Government and $9,600,000 passed through his hands. Mr. Fullerton is a believer in the Presbyterian faith and has given generously to its charities. He is a writer of no mean ability and a frequent contributor to newspapers and other publications. He is a member of the Des Moines Country Club and is an enthusiastic golfer. He is president of the Civic League, of Des Moines, and his work in behalf of that organization is of the self-sacri- ficing kind, directed toward the well-being of the community, and an indication of his character and aspirations. Clifford I Aptitudp f- may ^f I , \_^ >. - -.,- - , New 1 r\H •ness at Fairhaven a..v. i. iQr - ' ^-^ ' *^ • distinctioii vm , ...^ ;. lumberman cu use . " '" '^e Pen -U for- ests. In 1858 the xviiiiara 1^ * led at Burlington, Iowa, Mr. Millard c. door business and, later, in the savvinii. line yard business, which he introduc Clifford Isaac Millard was born at li t r 6, 1861, and spent ■ --A exp ployee o th'« p 1 but a b - as a b«^ business. His hrst t service a rnts this capacity he be lerton. who were at that time nv's vard at Lcaven- r. thus f' HA- cage Lumber <^ij CLIFFORD ISAAC MIUi-ARD Clifford I. Millard Aptitude for the lumber business, as well as a liking for it, may be said to have been inherited by C. I. Millard, of St. Louis, Missouri. His father, George Millard, was a New Englander, who lived for many years at Fairhaven, Vermont, and his mother, Celestine (Baker) Millard, also was a native of the Fairhaven district. George Millard was engaged in the lumber business at Fairhaven and at Tioga, Pennsylvania, for several years, and had the distinction of being the first lumberman to use a pony circular saw in the Pennsylvania for- ests. In 1858 the Millard family went West, and settled at Burlington, Iowa, Mr. Millard engaging there in the sash and door business and, later, in the sawmill and ultimately in the line yard business, which he introduced into Iowa in the '6o's. Clifford Isaac Millard was born at Burlington, Iowa, Sep- tember 6, 1861, and spent his boyhood days in that city, attending the public schools and graduating from the Bur- lington high school in 1880. His training in the schools of Burlington was of such a character as to thoroughly equip him for his entry into the school of business. His first business experience was acquired in the Government service as an em- ployee of the United States collector at Burlington. He held this position but a short time, and in 1881 entered the employ of his father as a bookkeeper in the sawmill conducted by the senior Millard. In this position he served his apprenticeship and learned the elements of lumbering, finally becoming a salesman. While acting in this capacity he became acquainted with Robert and Samuel H. Fullerton, who were at that time managing the Chicago Lumber Company's yard at Leaven- worth, Kansas. The outcome of the acquaintance thus formed was that Mr. Millard in 1885 entered the employ of the Chi- cago Lumber Company as a traveling salesman, a responsible 97 98 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN position for a young man of twenty-four and an attractive one, too, his salary at the start being $ioo a month and expenses. The Chicago Lumber Company's wholesale yards at that time handled practically nothing but white pine, and along the Missouri River little attention was paid to grades. Prior to the adoption of the Interstate Commerce Law in 1887, lumber was chiefly shipped to dealers from large central points and but little business was done direct from the mills. The changes in transportation caused by the adoption of this law resulted in most of the concerns which had been doing busi- ness at the large shipping points removing their yards to the mills. The northern mills were slow in responding to orders for mixed cars, and the ultimate result of the new law was that the incipient yellow pine industry received a great stimulus. Mr. Millard had spent much of his time, after he entered the lumber field, in studying transportation matters, and he realized that as a result of the new law the South could develop its immense pine tracts with profit. He exerted such an in- fluence in this direction that he may well be considered one of the leaders in inaugurating competition between southern and northern pine. The Chicago Lumber Company, which was owned by M. T. Greene, of Chicago, had an immense line of yards through the West, and Mr. Greene, being convinced that Mr. Millard possessed unusual ability, in 1890 offered him the position of buyer at the company's Denver yard. He was so successful there that, on September i, 1 891, he was called to Chicago to fill a vacancy caused by the illness of the company's secretary. The Chicago Lumber Company at that time had about three hundred retail yards, besides vast manufacturing and distributing interests, and Mr. Millard successfully adapted himself to the new position, which he retained until 1892, when he succeeded N. W. McLeod as manager of the office and as second vice president of the St. Louis Refriger- ator & Wooden Gutter Company, a large yellow pine manu- facturing and distributing concern of St. Louis. CLIFFORD I. MILLARD 99 Mr. Millard, during his connection with the St. Louis Refrigerator & Wooden Gutter Company, increased that concern's monthly business from 115 cars of yellow pine to 780 cars. He retained his position with this concern until 1896, when he became secretary of the Chicago Lumber & Coal Company, which was managed and chiefly owned by Robert and Samuel H. Fullerton, who in 1891 had acquired the line yard business of the Chicago Lumber Company, and, later, organized the Chicago Lumber & Coal Company as the successor to the Chicago Lumber Company in its relations to the line yard business. Since that time the capital of the com- pany has been increased successively to $2,500,000 and $4,000,- 000. The growth of the company's business was nothing short of marvelous, the concern and its allied interests now doing a business amounting to about 40,000,000 feet of lumber a month. In 1900 the company entered the foreign field, taking contracts in that year for 17,000,000 feet of lumber for shipment to Europe. The Chicago Lumber & Coal Company now has eight sawmills, ninety yards and a dozen offices throughout the country, and is one of the great distributing concerns of the United States, its annual business approximating 500,000,000 feet. Through his knowledge of the details of transportation, Mr. Millard was able to take advantage of a great opportunity and to become a pioneer in the field of yellow pine distribu- tion. This knowledge has stood him in good stead ever since. His addresses and reports, delivered before the Yale Forestry School, the Yellow Pine Manufacturers' Association and the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, have stamped him as an authority on this subject and given him wide recog- nition among students of the economic relations of transporta- tion. He is also thoroughly conversant with foreign markets and the export trade, and has taken great interest in this feature of the company's business. Mr. Millard manages things with a grace and skill which loo AMERICAN LUMBERMEN would attract attention were it not for the fact that the work is done so quietly as to appear to be accomplished almost with- out effort. He is tall, of slight figure, and has the appearance of being in delicate health, but he actually performs more mental and physical work in the course of a year than most men are capable of. He is a great traveler and makes many trips each season to the big cities of the East, North and South, looking after the company's immense and widely scattered interests. At one time Mr. Millard conducted the sales department of his company, but he now exercises supervision over the entire business. He has adopted John D. Rocke- feller's idea of handling a corporation, saying that he has arrived at the point where he can allow himself to do nothing when everything goes right, but is able to do everything when things go wrong. Besides being secretary of the Chicago Lumber & Coal Company, Mr. Millard is secretary of the Gulf Land & Lum- ber Company, of Stables, Louisiana ; secretary of the Fuller- ton-Powell Hardwood Lumber Company, of South Bend, Indiana, and secretary of the Bradley Lumber Company, of Warren, Arkansas. Mr. Millard married Miss Nellie Drake, of Burlington, Iowa, June 14, 1888. Two children have been born to them — Louise Drake Millard, a promising daughter of fourteen years, and Lyman Clifford, a son eleven years old. The fam- ily attends the Congregational Church. Mr. Millard takes much interest in St. Louis club life and is a member of the Mercantile and Glen Echo clubs. His home, located since 1892 in Westminster Place, one of the most beautiful spots in St. Louis, is finely appointed, and Mr. Millard, who is a connoisseur, has filled it with works of art, books and relics, which, in their travels, he and Mrs. Millard have collected. He takes pride in possessing examples of some of the old masters, as well as of some of the more prom- inent artists of today, and it is among his books and pictures, with his family, that he prefers to spend his leisure hours. Fru*.^ H. Goi-n^' ^ 'ttgart, in the St^^'' '' ^ and December - ■ T-\o7 trn'-ic r\/ "nthusiasm, granaiatncr, i ^ A. Zeller, was a j. sity and private tutor to King William oi Goepel attended the public ' until he was old; then he decided to folk e sea. This was directly traceable to the " sailor's life painted by his cousin. 1 nesc young Goepel that, securing the ^ . boy on a sa India, China and the Philippmes, at $4 a r i tiie nated crnts, he to East from 1864 to 1867, would fill a Chinese pirates, sacked and I Hongkonc votinir C on a After a few - and the crew wore out the pu , \ round rohin was April 6, 1852. His father and mother were both origm "'ennsyl- vanians, but went to Ohio and settled there in i The elder Neimeyer was a farmer, and also operated a sash sawmill, which he erected on the home place about a year before the son^s birth. It was under his father's sup on that A. J. Neimever ■ ) his first efforts at sel rt, devotine hi9 lr< md earlier manhood yec culti- the winter r « he ? the oti- s began in the yard ^, , beinp- then ii h year, 1882, 1 '^ in 1883, opened FI3V3MI3I/I MOeMHOL NA/3*=iaJ/lA ) >->x ^ r ANDREW JOHNSON NEIMEYER Andrew J. Neimeyer The necessary quality in a man's mental make-up, if he would be sure of success in his business undertakings, is faith in his own ability. One who has had this confidence in him- self, and who has, in consequence, wrested his share of wealth from the forests, is Andrew Johnson Neimeyer, of St. Louis, Missouri, at the head of the A. J. Neimeyer Lumber Com- pany. He was born near Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio, April 6, 1852. His father and mother were both originally Pennsyl- vanians, but went to Ohio and settled there in 1834. The elder Neimeyer was a farmer, and also operated a small sash sawmill, which he erected on the home place about a year before the son's birth. It was under his father's supervision that A. J. Neimeyer began his first efforts at self-support, devoting his later boyhood and earlier manhood years to culti- vating the soil. During the winter months he attended the common schools of his neighborhood, which training consti- tuted the whole of his scholastic experience. His first practical experience in the lumber business began in a retail yard. In 1869 he was given employment in the yard of his brother, John Neimeyer, at Atlantic, Iowa, being then seventeen years of age. In 1878 he took charge as manager, at Atlantic, of a yard owned by his brother-in-law, Robert Major, which position he retained until 1880. In May of that year he opened a yard at Dorchester, Nebraska, and the pur- chase and sale of lumber yards followed each other rapidly from that time. He followed his Dorchester purchase by start- ing a yard at Odell, Nebraska, in 1881. Twelve months later he bought out E. M. Allen, at Juniata, Nebraska. In the same year, 1882, he sold out the yards at Dorchester and Odell, and, in 1883, opened yards at Kenesaw and Minden, Nebraska. no AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Athough already a busy man, from 1880 to 1883 he attended to the buying for the yard at Atlantic, Iowa. In 1883-6 he con- ducted his operations from headquarters at Minden, and, in 1885, established yards at Dorchester, Friend, Nelson and Edgar, Nebraska. This left him in active ownership of seven yards. In the following year he opened a yard at Hastings, Nebraska, and there he operated also in sash, doors and blinds. The manufacturing field was entered by Mr. Neimeyer in 1887, when he organized, with C. R. Jones, of Juniata, Ne- braska, the A. J. Neimeyer Lumber Company, and operations were started at New Lewisville, Lafayette County, Arkansas. He became president of the company, which opened an office at Texarkana, Arkansas. In 1888 the concern added a planing mill at Waldo, Arkansas, and moved its headquarters to St. Louis, Missouri, where a general wholesale business was car- ried on until 1890. Following Mr. Neimeyer's disposal of his retail yards in 1889, occurred his first and only financial reverse. In the year named he moved to Denver, Colorado, attracted by the possi- bilities of coal mining. He had charge of his Colorado inter- ests for one year, but, being outside of his natural element, the results were disastrous. He had retained, however, his interests in the South and after his coal experience he assumed charge of the plant at Waldo, Arkansas. In 1891 the sales offices of the Neimeyer company were reopened in St. Louis, having been abandoned in 1889, and Mr. Neimeyer has made his headquarters there ever since. In 1901 the company cut out at Waldo and the business was closed up, the concern hav- ing cut about 15,000,000 feet of lumber a year during its active operations. Subsequent to his disposition of his retail interests in 1889, Mr. Neimeyer again entered the retail field. In January, 1901, together with G. M. Maas, he organized the Maas- Neimeyer Lumber Company, of Indianapolis, Indiana, though in September, 1902, Mr. Neimeyer sold his interest in this business to his partner. ANDREW J. NEIMEYER m In 1895 Mr. Neimeyer and others organized the Saginaw Lumber Company, at Saginaw, Arkansas. The company, of which Mr. Neimeyer is president, is operating at that point, cutting yellow pine to the extent of about 15,000,000 feet annually and having, in connection, a logging road twenty- three miles long. It has several years' cut yet in sight and available timber back of that for further operations. One of the best-known organizations of which Mr. Neimeyer is the executive head is the Monarch Lumber Company, of St. Louis, a wholesale concern. It was organized February 15, 1898, as a selling agency for the A. J. Neimeyer Lumber Company, the Freeman Lumber Company, the Saginaw Lum- ber Company and the Bluff City Lumber Company. A reorganization of the selling concern was made January i, 1900, when the Saginaw company alone was retained as an affiliated company. Since then, however, two other concerns —the Bienville Lumber Company, of Alberta, Louisiana, and the Columbia Lumber Company, of Lumber, Arkansas — have been taken over. The Saginaw company's plant has an output of about 65,000 feet a day; the Bienville company, 125,000 feet daily, and the Columbia company, 60,000 feet a day. The Bienville company has timber holdings approximating 100,- 000,000 feet, having bought 40,000,000 feet of pine timber in Bienville and Red River parishes late in 1904. Mr. Neimeyer is president of the three companies named. One of the larger interests of Mr. Neimeyer is in 80,000 acres of mixed pine and hardwood timber lands in Pulaski, Saline and Perry counties, Arkansas. Mr. Neimeyer bought this timber and organized the A. J. Neimeyer Lumber Com- pany, of Little Rock, Arkansas, of which corporation he is president. Associated with him in the enterprise were W. A. Davenport, who became vice president; Frank Neimeyer, secretary and treasurer; Joseph Fuess and Charles Becker, the latter two of Belleville, Illinois. The company was incorpo- rated with an authorized capital of $750,000. An estimate of 69)979-91 acres of this land showed it contained 316,776,300 112 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN feet of pine and 81,961,190 feet of oak, a total of 398,737,490 feet, or an average of about 5,697 feet to the acre. While operations have not been started on the timber, plans have been drawn for the building of a modern mill and surveys made for a railroad. Mr. Neimeyer has been a strong association man. Upon the organization of the Arkansas & Missouri Yellow Pine Company, in 1895, he was made president and held that posi- tion until its disbandment in 1897. Since 1891 he has been treasurer or director of the Southern Lumber Manufacturers* Association. Mr. Neimeyer married Miss Salena M. Hollcroft, of Emporia, Kansas, March i, 1883. His immediate family con- sists of only himself and his wife and the couple make their home in St. Louis, enjoying the social life of that city. Mr. Neimeyer is a member of the Mercantile Club of St. Louis, and is a good and loyal Hoo-Hoo, having been among the earlier members of that fraternity. He is devoted to tennis and other outdoor sports and is an enthusiastic baseball sup- porter. He has surrounded himself in business with capable lieutenants, and, because of their able assistance, he impresses the casual observer as a man of unusual leisure, though he is, in business hours, one of the busiest of men in a busy community. ^rcss .^ in fhe vounp- Renublic and many of L 1 or three generations in tii- , ^ ..,..,.. .....d. In this country, i. they found chance for a free expansion of their cnergic. ere they shaped their careers and sought and found pos md fortune. One of these men who, in his place and tim^ ^ -"d the high esteem of his fellow citizens, and, in a moi , achieved a genuine success in the lumber business, was v . . les Frederich Luehrmann, of St. Louis, Missouri, who died u\ that cit ^ '^er 24, I- s of to When • parents Ic^ MMAMHH3U_J H O I f=l 3 a 3 J=» ■=! 83_IJ=iAHC> OHARL-ES FREDERICH L.U EI H R M A N N Charles F. Luehrmann Teuton blood, with its characteristics of stalwart intellect, courage, conservatism and fixity of purpose, has given to the United States many of its best and most public spirited and devoted citizens. The German race has been influential in furthering the progress of industry, commerce, science and art in the young Republic and many of the men most prominent during the last two or three generations in the United States were born in the fatherland. In this country, however, they found chance for a free expansion of their energies and here they shaped their careers and sought and found position and fortune. One of these men who, in his place and time, gained the high esteem of his fellow citizens, and, in a modest way, achieved a genuine success in the lumber business, was Charles Frederich Luehrmann, of St. Louis, Missouri, who died in that city on September 24, 1900. He lived an honorable and upright life in the metropolis of Missouri, where he built up a business structure that has sur- vived his passing and which for years, doubtless, will serve to commemorate his name. He was a man of mental force, strong, industrious, far-seeing and resourceful. He was a public-spirited man as well, and sought to give an uplifting hand to his city and State, his adopted country and his friends. He proved himself a brave soldier in the war between the Blue and the Gray and won promotion from the ranks by his ability to command men. Charles Frederich Luehrmann came of a fine old German ancestry. He was born in Wester, Olendorf, Amt Melle, Hanover, March 15, 1835. His father was Herman Luehr- mann, his mother Anna Mary (nee Meier). When the subject of this sketch was but three years old his parents left the land of their, and his, birth and came to 113 114 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN America. It is a somewhat curious fact that the son never returned to Germany and never again saw any of his relatives in the German Empire. His identity with the United States from early age was so complete that there was no call of hered- ity, and the opportunity did not arise for return as a tourist. The Luehrmann family, in 1839, settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, which, at that time, although fifth in population among the cities of the country, had only about 45,000 population. It was in that city that Mr. Luehrmann received his early training and schooHng along with his brothers, Chris, John H. and William Luehrmann, and a sister. In accordance with the custom in those days, which insisted that a suitable preparation for life consisted in an apprenticeship to some trade, which the youth of the period were expected to master and follow, Charles Luehrmann, at the age of twelve years, went to work with a carpenter under a contract made by his father. He was an apt lad and made considerable progress in mastering the use of the tools and lumber. In fact, the experience then gained was of great assistance to him later, in his career as a lumberman, as it gave him an insight into the various uses of the product of the saw and planing mill and was the foundation of his large knowl- edge of the demands of lumber consumers. Leaving Cincinnati at the age of nineteen years, Mr. Luehr- mann went to St. Louis in 1854, perhaps inspired by an inherent wanderlust ; certainly attracted by the growing prom- inence of St. Louis as the then time metropoHs of the Mississippi Valley, and, perhaps, with some definite purpose of widening his experience and knowledge. He found a position with the Mississippi Planing Mill Company, a concern which is still in existence, at the corner of Thirteenth and O'Fallon streets. For eleven years— from 1854 to 1865, with the excep- tion of the time he served in the Confederate army— he was with this concern. It was in May of the first year of the Civil War that Mr. Luehrmann enlisted in the Missouri Home Guards, to fight for the cause in which he sincerely believed and for which he CHARLES F. LUEHRMANN 115 was willing to make the greatest sacrifice demanded of men. Though he entered the regiment as a private, he was advanced in rank from time to time and when mustered out he was captain of the company. While most of his service was within the confines of the State, his record was no less full of valorous deeds. One of his brothers, Chris, was killed in the battle of Chickamauga. At the close of the war, with no business con- nections and with the future open before him, he cast about for employment of his talents and energies. Notwithstanding his previous experience, he did not at once engage in the lumber trade; instead, he became identified with the tobacco broker- age business. In 1866, however, he started a planing mill and box factory on Cass Avenue, St. Louis, under the firm name of Woerheide and Luehrmann, employing a force of 150 hands. This business prospered, but in 1875 ^^ ^^^ compelled to give it up because of a growing defect of his hearing. In this year, 1875, he became a commission lumberman, estab- lishing an office at 1526 Biddle Street, St. Louis, where he remained for fifteen years. The commission branch of the industry was one of particular distinction in those days and the methods in vogue differed somewhat from those of today. Mr. Luehrmann, during this time, handled a great deal of lumber by barge and was one of the first to introduce cotton- wood as a substitute for poplar in the St. Louis market, and was among the leaders in bringing this wood, which up to that time had been neglected, into general use. Mr. Luehrmann admitted his son, George E. W., into the business on October 21, 1890, and the institution was incorpo- rated as the Charles F. Luehrmann Hardwood Lumber Com- pany, which name it retains at the date of this publication. Offices were established at 148 Carroll Street, St. Louis, and yards near the freight station of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway. The officers of the company were Charles F. Luehrmann, president; G. E. W. Luehrmann, secretary and treasurer, and Edward H. Luehrmann, vice president. ii6 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Operations concerned with the supply of lumber for this business, which grew to large magnitude, were carried on at Avenue Landing, Missouri, and Metropolis, Illinois, and, later, at Luehrmann, Marianna, Luxora and Biggers, Arkansas. Mr. Luehrmann was twice married. His first wife was Miss Louise Kurtz, whom he wedded in 1855 and whose death occurred in 1864. By this marriage Mr. Luehrmann had two daughters, Mrs. Mamie Brueggeman and Mrs. Louise Boecker, of St. Louis. On November 13, 1865, he took as his second wife Miss Mary C. Welcker, by whom he had three sons, George Ernest William, Edward H. and Alfred Luehrmann. During the latter years of his Hfe Mr. Luehr- mann relaxed in his devotion to business pursuits and traveled extensively through the United States, adding to his experi- ence and mental equipment those acquirements which contact with different peoples will bring. He was fond of social life and of fiUing his home with friends. He was a lover of music and an earnest patron of the musical art. He was a lover of nature and animal life, also, and had a stable with blooded horses which he himself drove. Part of his recreation was in getting away from the cares of business. He was fond of hunting and fishing, to which he devoted frequent intervals in the midst of business cares. Mr. Luehrmann was a Republican in politics, but never took an active part in any political campaign, neither was he a member of any fraternal order. His religious affiliations were with the Evangelical Lutheran Church. to e: c It. Lite is s to do things and to ^ le main thing were to make the V opportunities. The the first promis- ing chance, without consideration of ss of the career involved in it, and who is willing to d per- sistently for all the advantage there is in his ai : pursuit, is sure to win at least a measure of success. Such a one has been George E. W. Luehrmann, of St. Louis, Missouri. George Ernest William Luehrmann is the son of Charles Frederuh Luehrmann a .Welcker) Luehrmann. He in fit Mqrch 25, 1868. St. Louis the head center of his " .!r%^ctacular or thrilling '""'■"' service in a as a lumber ilia arge fortune. graduated fr^ years o^ LumI ^ ot 6t. L( t ic rci chand of ha. HMAMRH3U-J MAl f cseorge: e:rne:sx vOilliam uuehrmann George E. W. Luehrmann Fortunate is the man who is born to good opportunity; more fortunate is the man who is born with a faculty to see an opportunity and with a will to embrace it. Life is full of op- portunities, or chances to do things and to acquire advantages, and sometimes it seems as if the main thing were to make the most desirable selection among the many opportunities. The boy or young man who is willing to embrace the first promis- ing chance, without consideration of the strenuousness of the career involved in it, and who is willing to work hard and per- sistently for all the advantage there is in his allotted pursuit, is sure to win at least a measure of success. Such a one has been George E. W. Luehrmann, of St. Louis, Missouri. George Ernest William Luehrmann is the son of Charles Frederich Luehrmann and Mary (Welcker) Luehrmann. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, March 25, 1868. St. Louis is still Mr. Luehrmann's home and the head center of his business affairs. There is nothing very spectacular or thrilling in the recital of his career from his boyhood service in a pioneer hardwood yard to his mature manhood as a lumber manufacturer, dealer and timber owner, with a large fortune. He began his schooling at an early age and graduated from high school in 1886, when he was eighteen years of age. His first employment was with the J. Verden Lumber Company, one of the pioneer hardwood concerns of St. Louis. Late in the same year that he left school he became engaged with the Barry Hardwood Lumber Company, where he remained about six months, in the meantime familiarizing himself with the rudiments of the business. In 1887 he became bookkeeper for the St. Louis Lumber Company. In these several connec- tions he received a general tuition in the handling and mer- chandising of hardwood lumber, which included various yard 117 ii8 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN and office details. It was not long before the young man's industry and intelligence commended him to his employers and he was made assistant manager of the business. He re- mained in this relation until October 21, 1890, when he formed, with his father, the Charles F. Luehrmann Hardwood Lumber Company. The officers of this organization were Charles F. Luehr- mann, president; George E. W. Luehrmann, secretary and treasurer, and Edward H. Luehrmann, a younger son, vice president. The capital of the company was $25,000, but this was increased to $120,000. With the growth of the business the capital was again increased to $200,000, in 1901. The death of the senior Luehrmann in 1900 left the sole control of the business in the hands of George E. W. Luehrmann. Upon the reorganization of the company George E. W. Luehr- mann became president; E. H. Luehrmann, vice president, and Thomas W. Fry became a director and also an officer. In the same year the Luehrmanns and Mr. Fry organized and incorporated the Indiana & Arkansas Lumber & Manu- facturing Company, with a mill plant at Marianna, Lee County, Arkansas, a situation in the midst of the richest and most extensive hardwood section of the State. Mr. Luehr- mann is president of this company; E. H. Luehrmann, vice president, and M. P. Fulton, secretary and general manager. As fast as the profits of the business accumulated a surplus it was invested in timber lands, mainly or altogether hardwoods. These purchases continued to be made until the company had acquired stumpage to the amount of 500,000,000 feet, which may be claimed as an extraordinarily large holding of standing hardwood. The company manufactures about 25,000,000 feet of lumber a year, consisting of oak, gum and a general Hne of southern hardwoods. Its methods of manufacture are as thorough as are those pertaining to the distributing business in St. Louis. From the time Mr. Luehrmann assumed the executive office in his company he has manifested a remarkable energy GEORGE E. W. LUEHRMANN 119 in pushing forward enterprises that would conduce to its prosperity and progress. While, without doubt, the other members of the Luehrmann company have contributed a large share of the success of their enterprises, it is plain that the executive and managerial functions, from the beginning to the present state of the distributive and manufacturing branches, have been performed by the president. One of Mr. Luehrmann's strong characteristics is his con- servativeness. It is his habit to be very careful about coming to a decision concerning any business proposition that may be made to him and to delay his conclusions until he has fully digested the merits of the case and weighed accurately all of its elements. After he has made up his mind that the propo- sition is a good one and has resolved to undertake carrying it into effect he proceeds at once and pushes it with all the means and power at his command, never doubting that it will be a success. Thus he evinces confidence in his own ability to arrive at safe conclusions and is ready to stake any reason- able amount on the result. The fact that the Luehrmann interests have within fifteen years developed from a capital of $25,000 to one of $1,000,000 and are backed by 500,000,000 feet of standing timber and a large sawmill industry, proves that he has not been a victim of misplaced confidence in himself. Mr. Luehrmann more than once has explained the reason for his early investments in timber lands. He has said that he had noticed that most lumbermen in Michigan who had bought stumpage became rich. It was his observation that the men who simply owned mills did not necessarily become rich, while others who were strictly dealers or yardmen did, in some instances, make money. He was not entirely satisfied until he had come into possession of timber, the advancing price of which annually added to his assets. Being accustomed to hardwoods and having a large trade in southern lumber, he naturally concluded that if there was profit to be had from the ownership of pine lands, which are of small value after the I20 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN timber shall have been removed, there certainly must be in the hardwood areas of the South, which are rich in agricultural possibilities that can be realized after the trees have been con- verted into lumber. As is the case with many other timber owners and lumber manufacturers, Mr. Luehrmann is a railroad man. He is president of the L'Anguille River Railroad, which extends into the forest from Marianna, primarily built for hauling logs, but which eventually will become a traffic line. He is presi- dent also, of the Wayne Manufacturing Company, of St. Louis, a prosperous concern that turns out washing machines. In a short time after he had taken hold of this business the product of the factory was increased 50 percent. Mr. Luehrmann is vice president of the Krimminger Saw Mill Company, of Big- gers, Arkansas, which is employed regularly in cutting hard- wood lumber. He is a director of the Lincoln Trust & Title Company, a banking institution of St. Louis, which has a capital of $1,500,000. He was for many years a director of the Hardwood Lumber Exchange, of St. Louis, and has served as vice president of the Hardwood Lumber Manufacturers' Association of the United States. Mr. Luehrmann is a member of the Union Club, of St. Louis, and is interested in social life, though in this respect he lacks the aid and prestige enjoyed by a married man, for he is a bachelor. He is a lover of music and dotes on the posses- sion of an ancient violin, which he received from an old steamboat captain. This instrument dates back to 1642. Mr. Luehrmann is a member of the Legion of Honor. He is a man of high character as well as ability. He has traveled extensively in the United States and in Europe, and, while his achievements each year have been remarkable, he has not failed to enjoy and profit by that education which comes from travel, and has enriched his life by participating in the refinements of social intercourse and literary culture. il in t ag t business houses. '^ce Clark, of St. Louis, In ;ri, is widely known as a r expert and has had considerable influence in the development of lumber manufacture in Arkansas and Louisiana. Mr. Clark served his apprenticeship in the lumber business as a yard hand at a mill belonging to his father, at Hunters Creek, Michigan. He was born in the Wolverine State, and in his earlier experience he learned much about the white pine production of the North ^s than two decades ago he left his native State to fr nber business in the Southwest, r nerp'ie? and p-ained an enviable - I, 1854, at Hunters Creek, on the Bay City division ut fifty-five miles north >ark, an Englishman, and xuwiisend Clark, who came of ry. The father was the o - ' lu and industry, made it ~ his mother was jl-hz o — -vlvania Dutch ;5 I * r \ lU li saw; of circular MRA-JO 33_i -iJiHU vas that period, URIEL LEE CLARK Uriel L. Clark A distinct line of the lumber industry which has grown to large proportions in recent years, more particularly in the Southwest, is the buying and selling of timber lands. This field has attracted from manufacturing itself many who, by their training and enterprise, have been successful in building up large and important business houses. Uriel Lee Clark, of St. Louis, Missouri, is widely known as a timber expert and has had considerable influence in the development of lumber manufacture in Arkansas and Louisiana. Mr. Clark served his apprenticeship in the lumber business as a yard hand at a mill belonging to his father, at Hunters Creek, Michigan. He was born in the Wolverine State, and in his earlier experience he learned much about the white pine production of the North. Less than two decades ago he left his native State to follow the lumber business in the Southwest, and it is there he devoted his energies and gained an enviable reputation among lumbermen. Uriel L. Clark was born October i, 1854, at Hunters Creek, a town in Lapeer County, Michigan, on the Bay City division of the Michigan Central Railroad, about fifty-five miles north of Detroit. His father was John Clark, an Englishman, and his mother was Elizabeth Townsend Clark, who came of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. The father was the owner of a farm, and, by his thrift and industry, made it a valuable property and saved sufficient money to enable him to engage in the manufacture of lumber. Young Clark spent his youth- ful days on the farm and in acquiring an education such as is afforded by the district school in a farming community. When Uriel Clark was eighteen years old his father built a sawmill and began the manufacture of lumber. The mill was of circular type and was a good-sized plant for that period, 121 122 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN having a capacity of from 40,000 to 50,000 feet a day. When the mill was put into operation young Clark entered the em- ploy of his father as a general hand in the yard, where he sorted and piled lumber, before going into the mill itself to study the details of manufacture. When winter came he went into the woods with the crews and took a hand in the cutting and skidding of logs. Five years spent about the mill and in the woods had well prepared him to take an interest in the business conducted by his father, so in 1877 he was taken into partnership and the firm continued as J. Clark & Son. Al- though the firm owned some timber the policy was followed of buying from various owners and conserving its own timber holdings as long as it was possible to secure a supply of logs for the mill from outside lumbermen. In the earlier stages logs were not hard to secure, but as white pine in that section began to be cut out, as much as $100 an acre was paid for timber lands. Mr. Clark disposed of his interest in the business in 1890 to his two younger brothers, Arthur J. and Ward B. Clark. By this time little in the way of white pine that was not held at an extremely high figure was to be found in the section of country familiar to Mr. Clark. Yellow pine was coming more to the fore, and he had considered the southern field and its opportunities. Going to Missouri, he examined some timber lands and bought a considerable acreage for himself. In the same year he went South he undertook a sawmill operation at Winona, Shannon County, Missouri. It was in that State he began on a larger scale the buying and selling of timber lands, and he remained there cleaning up several timber deals until 1893, when he commenced investing in timber lands in Ar- kansas. In the latter State he bought considerable timber. Early in 1897 he sold a tract of yellow pine timber in Arkansas for $8.25 an acre, the price named being thought to be the highest that ever had been paid for yellow pine timber in Arkansas up to that time. Later, Mr. Clark became interested in timber properties URIEL L. CLARK 123 in Louisiana and he bought and sold much land in Winn and Natchitoches parishes. As an illustration of the rapid growth in the value of timber lands, Mr. Clark in 1899 sold some land for $10.25 an acre for which he had paid but $3 an acre the year before. Invariably his investments in timber land have been profitable, though the success which has attended his efforts can be ascribed partly to the training which he has had in the value of timber. One large deal of Mr. Clark's was the sale of 40,000 acres to northern parties. He has been active in acquiring timber tracts involving from 5,000 to 50,000 acres and his company now has 75,000 acres in a solid body in south- western Arkansas. He owns other timber land and valuable mineral properties. For the purpose of dealing in timber lands Mr. Clark, in 1896, organized the Detroit Timber & Lumber Company, with a capital stock of f 10,000. Mr. Clark became president ; John G. Ferguson, secretary, and W. B. Clark, Mr. Clark's brother, vice president. In 1898 the capital stock of the com- pany was increased to $40,000. The business has grown steadily, so that, while several cash dividends have been paid to the stockholders, the company now has a paid-in capital of $500,000. Mr. Clark's career has not been all in the direction of success. He has met with reverses, as has nearly every other man of enterprise, and one of these losing ventures was in the operation of a sawmill at Rochelle, Louisiana. He had $10,000 which he invested in this plant in 1896, but the propo- sition did not prove profitable and his capital was wiped out. However, more capital was put in, which enabled Mr. Clark in the following year to recoup his losses, and then he moved to St. Louis to direct his timber operations in the Southwest from that city. One of the large deals made by Mr. Clark was consum- mated in 1901, when he bought the property of the Martin Alexander Lumber Company, which included 10,000 acres of timber, five miles of railroad, saw and planing mills. His 124 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN company purchased 20,000 acres more, making a 30,000-acre tract, and a few months later this property was sold to Wis- consin people. Mr. Clark has a beautiful home in St. Louis, at 4010 Lindell Avenue, where he resides with his wife and one daughter. He married, October 6,1879, Miss Lillie M. Lamb, daughter of a banker of Imlay City, Michigan. He has a sum- mer home near Detroit and a stock farm of 500 acres upon which is a herd of fine shorthorn cattle. Mr. Clark is a member of the Mercantile Club and the Glen Echo Club, in St. Louis. Among his outside interests is the Earl Mining Company, of Detroit, Michigan. P-i-rrr c tncir cii tnat detects oJ T arc accentuated, and the man who in o ^ life would have ?d becomes the victim oi his own magnified weakness. The more credit is due, therefore, to the man who, when honored with a high office as a reward for faithful service, is able to wear his laurels with grace and credit to himself. The subject of this sketch is one of the younger of the second generation of yellow pine lumbermen of the South. He is r rough lumberman, for experi- ence has f m the business in its different phases and he of interests for a man who has not yet leDost of his career. He was des- V. pOSifi'^n r. Oi 1 u ■; », . I i-f i_ . that has L.i.tii v_uijn.frcd \ and *■ * '■ H sey, was a . ted to m 1 t" Jiest k of loma ^turns 1 r ■ Knnor IS. n. ■" :. n y, and 11- .1 ing principles, four years ARTHUR CLARK RAMSEY Arthur C. Ramsey It is fortunate for most men that Fate moves them but little from the rut of their existence. Prosperity and success are adverse influences to some natures and many men can not en- dure an elevation to a position above their fellows. In that fierce light which beats upon a throne the defects of character are accentuated, and the man who in ordinary life would have passed unnoticed becomes the victim of his own magnified weakness. The more credit is due, therefore, to the man who, when honored with a high office as a reward for faithful service, is able to wear his laurels with grace and credit to himself. The subject of this sketch is one of the younger of the second generation of yellow pine lumbermen of the South. He is entitled to be called a thorough lumberman, for experi- ence has taught him the business in its different phases and he has a wide diversity of interests for a man who has not yet reached the thirty-second milepost of his career. He was des- tined to be a leader, rather than a plodder. When Arthur Clark Ramsey was selected to fill the highest position within the gift of the order of Hoo-Hoo — snark of the universe — at the annual concatenation held at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, September lo, 1906, he reaped the returns of his tireless work on behalf of the order, receiving an honor that has been conferred upon but fourteen men before him, and one that represents the hearty good-will of the 13,000 Hoo-Hoo of the United States. In the days before the Civil War Arthur Clark Ramsey, the grandfather of Mr. Ramsey, was a Methodist minister and a plantation owner in Alabama. His son, William King Ram- sey, brought up in the South and bred to southern principles, was a gallant soldier of the Confederacy, serving four years 125 126 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN under General Gordon and General Jackson. After the war he settled in Camden, Arkansas, where, three or four years later, he married Mary Vickers. To them, on December ii, 1874, was born a son, Arthur Clark Ramsey. When old enough the boy entered the public schools of Camden, continuing his studies there during his youth. He was industrious in his school work, and carried his industry outside of school. Not content to be unemployed during the long summer vacations at an early age he sought employment for his spare time. During successive summers he worked as a clerk, timekeeper for a contractor and rodman for a civil engineer, holding these positions only two or three months until time to return to his studies, and accepting whatever wages he could get. At the end of his junior year in the Camden high school he took a place as clerk in the post office at Camden, remaining there a year. He found, however, that he needed a broader general education to equip him for his life work, and with this end in view he spent a year at Hendrix College, at Conway, Arkansas, going to Searcy, Arkansas, the following year, where he took a business course at Searcy College. By making the best of these opportunities Mr. Ramsey found that he was well equipped for his entry into the business world. His first connection with the lumber business came about through his employment with the Camden Lumber Company, of Camden, Arkansas, as stenographer, July 5, 1891. This concern had several sawmills at various points between Camden and Eldorado, Arkansas, and a planing mill at Camden ; but a short time after he entered its service the plants were moved and the business was concentrated at Elliott, Arkansas. Steady promotion was the reward of Mr. Ramsey's diligence, and he filled successively the positions of stenographer, shipping clerk, traveling salesman and manager of the sales department. The last named position he held until 1896, when he severed his connection with the Camden Lumber Company, and, with H. C. McDaniel, formed the McDaniel-Ramsey Lumber Company, establishing headquar- ARTHUR C. RAMSEY 127 ters at Eldorado, Arkansas. The original plan of the pro- motors of this concern was to do a strictly wholesale business, specializing in implement stock and the factory trade. Within a short time, however, a mill to which the new company had made heavy advances found itself unable to pay, owing to the prevailing low prices and adverse market conditions, and it was taken over by the McDaniel-Ramsey concern, which now found itself with a fully equipped manufacturing plant. Mr. Ramsey was not sanguine of the success of this venture and gladly accepted Mr. McDaniel's offer to buy his interest in the business. Desiring to get into a broader field, Mr. Ramsey moved to St. Louis, where he became sales manager of the South Arkansas Lumber Company. Unvarying success met his efforts in this direction, but he was anxious to get into a busi- ness where he could hold an interest and in 1900 he purchased a block of stock in the George W. Miles Timber & Lumber Company, of St. Louis, and was elected vice president and manager of the sales department. He opened the company's sales office at St. Louis, and has held this position ever since. While Mr. Ramsey concentrates his time and attention upon the business of the George W. Miles Timber & Lumber Company, he has extensive outside lumber interests. He is president of the Arcadia Lumber Company, Limited, of Arcadia, Louisiana, which operates a mill cutting about 50,000 feet a day. He is one of the incorporators of the Iron Moun- tain Lumber Company, of Elliott, Arkansas, which is building a planing mill at that point and will handle the product of several neighboring sawmills, turning out from 40,000 to 50,000 feet a day. In these enterprises he is associated with W. W. Brown, J. C. Ritchie and John T. Burkett. In connection with C. C. Henderson, W. K. Ramsey, W. W. Brown and Charles Dodson, Mr. Ramsey recently in- corporated the Nashville Lumber Company, which will erect saw and planing mills at Nashville, Arkansas. This will be a modern plant, its equipment to consist of two single band 128 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN saws and a gang edger with a capacity of 80,000 feet a day, complete planing mill, brick dry kilns, etc. A very high grade of shortleaf yellow pine and white oak timber, of which the company now (September, 1906) owns about 250,000,000 feet, will keep this mill supplied for many years. To facilitate the logging operations a railroad has been incorporated under the name of the Memphis, Paris & Gulf Railway, and active work on the roadbed has begun. The road will be constructed from Nashville, on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway, to Ashdown, where it will connect with the Kansas City Southern and the St. Louis and San Francisco roads. While Mr. Ramsey's business career has been a brilliant one, his home life has been most happy. He married Miss Verna Sanderson, at Carrollton, Illinois, March 10, 1897. One son has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey — William Francis Ramsey, now eight years of age. In the field of politics Mr. Ramsey is not particularly active, but votes the Democratic national ticket. He is much inter- ested in lodge work and is a member of Pythagoras Lodge, No. 89, Knights of Pythias, of Eldorado, and of Rose Hill Lodge, No. 550, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, of St. Louis. He was one of the earliest members of the Concate- nated Order of Hoo-Hoo, having been initiated at Camden in January, 1893. ^^ g^^s by the number 233, which testifies to the antiquity of his membership. As steps to the high posi- tion which he now occupies, he was vicegerent of Missouri in 1902-3, was elected junior Hoo-Hoo in 1904 and senior Hoo- Hoo in 1905. He is a member of the Mercantile Club, of St. Louis. / purpose has been I by some great obstacle, or when some «^ ■ \t\' has wrecked his plans, it is then that the prit and resource man assert them. . -.. can accept ...^ tary defeat and take renewed encourj^^-.-.jnt from his store of mental and moral energy, he is doomed to fall back into the rank and file and to lead no more. Charles Henry Bradley, of Duluth, Minnesota, has shown the qualities of determination and integrity under all circumstances, and has accomplished much in his particular line. He ' 1^ ^ t' t-.y on the docks of Bay City, M' ' or assistance than his own ears from the time he ess for himself on a ) had been in b ss the V, y ar 4, ■■)art? was en, He was an V3_jaA«a VJ=>»/)3H 83_lf=«AMO ijfe IV CHARLES HENRV BRADLEY Charles H. Bradley A forceful character and unwavering integrity Is a com- bination of powerful attributes that has brought honor and a fair store of this world's goods to the man who has been so fortunately equipped. When his purpose has been thwarted for the moment by some great obstacle, or when some calam- ity has wrecked his plans, it is then that the grit and resource- fulness of the man assert themselves. Unless he can accept momentary defeat and take renewed encouragement from his store of mental and moral energy, he is doomed to fall back into the rank and file and to lead no more. Charles Henry Bradley, of Duluth, Minnesota, has shown the qualities of determination and integrity under all circumstances, and has accomplished much in his particular Hne. He began life as a tally boy on the docks of Bay City, Michigan, with no other backing or assistance than his own forceful characteristics. Within five years from the time he started to work he was engaged in business for himself on a scale that gave him rank with men who had been in business many years; and before he left Bay City he had become the largest individual shipper of white pine to the East. Today, while still engaged in the shipping business, he is considered a reliable timber expert, and is extensively engaged in the sale of timber lands. His long residence and experience in Bay City and his knowledge of the timber lands of Michigan, Wis- consin and Minnesota have particularly fitted him for the handling of large propositions such as he has been identified with in recent years. Charles H. Bradley is the second son of Henry M. Bradley and Mary E. (Cook) Bradley, and was born November 4, 1853, ^^ Sparta, Morrow County, Ohio, where his father was engaged in the woolen manufacturing business. He was an 129 I30 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN infant in arms when the family moved to Bay City, Michigan, in June, 1855. It was in this thriving lumbering town that Charles was brought up and that he gleaned his first knowledge of the lumber industry and became imbued with the idea of making it the means of his liveHhood. He attended the public schools of Bay City and completed a course in the high school, but many of his play hours were put in about the sawmill of H. M. Bradley & Co., which business his father founded. Young Bradley was seventeen years old when he finished his schooling and started to work. Instead of entering the sawmill of his father, as might have been expected, he secured a job as tally boy for G. K. Jackson, a prominent shipper of that period. He tallied for this employer during the years 1870 and 1871 and put in the following year with another shipper. He was an observant lad and quick to learn, and in the three years he thus spent he became qualified to act as an inspector, having acquired unusual expertness in the grading of lumber. He had nursed an ambition to engage in business for him- self from the first day he went on the docks for G. K. Jackson. This ambition was realized in 1873 when he began business under his own name as an inspector and shipper of lumber at Bay City. The term "shipper" is still applied to those engaged on the Lakes who buy and inspect lumber for shipment to par- ties in the East. The year he started in business he was offered what appeared to be an attractive salary to enter the employ of another concern. But he declined the ofTer in the belief that he could make more money as a shipper himself, and this belief was justified when, at the close of the year, he found that his business had returned him twice the amount of money he would have earned at the salary offered him. Each passing year saw an increase in the volume of busi- ness done by Mr. Bradley, coincident with the growing de- mand for lumber and the decline of Bay City as a point of production. Mr. Bradley, in 1882, started a branch of his business at Oscoda and Au Sable, Michigan, which was placed CHARLES H. BRADLEY 131 in charge of W. A. Rose. The latter was admitted as a part- ner, the firm being known as C. H. Bradley & Co. The trend of the shipping business of the firm necessitated the opening of still another branch, at Menominee, Michigan, in 1885. This office was put in charge of John S. Coman, who also was given an interest in the firm of C. H. Bradley & Co. Mr. Bradley was the first to go into the Green Bay district for the shipment of lumber to the East. At that time the timber lands of the northern and western sections of Wisconsin were being developed, while the Lake Huron shore of Michigan was being rapidly cut out. There- fore, the Au Sable business was closed in 1891, and Mr. Rose went to Ashland, Wisconsin, and P. M. Shaw, Junior, who had later become associated with Mr. Bradley, was transferred to Duluth. The Menominee branch of the business ended in 1889. The partnership existing between Mr. Bradley and Mr. Coman was dissolved January i, 1890, and since 1893, when the partnership with Mr. Rose and Mr. Shaw was ter- minated, Mr. Bradley has continued the business of C. H. Bradley & Co. alone. During the period from 1886 to 1889, inclusive, the firm averaged more than 125,000,000 feet of lumber a year in ship- ments, this being the largest business done by any one shipperof that period. The greatest volume of shipments made by C. H. Bradley & Co. in anyone year was in 1889, when they aggre- gated 160,000,000 feet. The large business done by Mr. Bradley led to his becom- ing interested in lumber vessels or tonnage, and he became a part owner in several vessels. One of these tonnage interests is in the steamer C. II. Bradley^ named after the shipper, which vessel has a carrying capacity of 900,000 feet. He never be- came financially interested in sawmills, although he has carried on many heavy transactions in timber, logs and lumber. In 1894 Mr. Bradley shifted the scene of his active opera- tions and his residence from Bay City to Duluth. Of recent years he has devoted himself somewhat to the buying and sell- 132 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN ing of timber lands, and is now giving his entire attention to timber investments. During the financial panic of 1893 Mr. Bradley had a bitter experience. Like many other men of extended business inter- ests, he v^as unable to meet his obligations promptly, but suffice it to say that the good faith and grit and determination of the man were proved when he paid every one of his creditors in full. Mr. Bradley married Miss Maggie G. Ten Eyck, a mem- ber'of the old and prominent Ten Eyck family, of Albany, New York, December i, 1875. Five children have been born to them— one daughter and four sons. The daughter, Mary Ten Eyck, is now the wife of Frank R. Leslie, manager of the Zenith Paper Company, of Duluth. Leonard G. Bradley, the eldest son, is a graduate of Lafayette College, of Easton, Penn- sylvania, and is engaged in developing mining interests for the United States Steel Corporation. Wilson, another son, is taking a course of civil engineering at Princeton University. The third son, Charles H. Bradley, Junior, is preparing to enter college. The fourth son, Harry G., died September 4, 1892, at about two and a half years of age. Mr. Bradley never took an active interest in politics, though he was urged during his long residence in Bay City to become a candidate for public office. He is a member of several fraternal organizations, and of the Commercial Club, of Duluth. He numbers among his business associates and friends some of the largest white pine handlers of the East, with many of whom he has carried on for many years transac- tions involving immense sums of money. His later operations in timber lands in many instances have been with these former associates, and several large deals have been satisfactorily con- summated. Th In thr e' 'Hist ^ in the mifr ^frha^. .^ssors. . ...^ > anger .^pneration \ -^ ..^^;i marked is Thomas P. »..c..iley, of Duluth, xt^... .. .. ., a stalwart son of a family long identified with the lumber business. Ability in the lumber business came by heredity to Mr. Bradley, although the school in which he was educated had much to do with the signal success which he has gained. His grandfather, H. M. Bradley, went to Duluth in the early '8o's from Bay City, Michigan, where he had been a pioneer lum- b' ), associated more or less ntmately with many of the It men of the vail ^' ' nberof the family I was but natural, there- when they arrived ird L. Br ai e of four c and T c p whic States V3_iaAFlQ 3JOI/1IS=1 \.. Clarke, was a resident of Andover, Massachusetts, a lawyer by profession and the first president of the Boston & Maine Railroad. Mr. Clarke's father was George Thomas Clarke and his mother Mary Elizabeth (Duxbury) Clarke. The senior Mr. Clarke was a civil engineer and had charge of the construction of parts of the Baltimore & O ,e Central, Pere Marquette, Ann Arbor » east of tl ppi River. family v d in railroad V V C. i born. He was he finished his H. Clai o. of the Imiilv^ < 3>^5^AJO 33-IS^AHO V3VOH HOVEIV CHARL-ES CLARKE Hovey C. Clarke As broad minded as the broad acres where his interests lie, and as straight and stalwart as the white pine growth of his native State, is Hovey C. Clarke, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. As one of the directing geniuses of the Shevlin-Carpenter Company, he has established a record that is widely known. Hovey Charles Clarke was born at Flint, Michigan, May 7, 1859. The Clarke ancestry has been traced to colonial days. Hobart Clarke, the grandfather of Hovey C. Clarke, was a resident of Andover, Massachusetts, a lawyer by profession and the first president of the Boston & Maine Railroad. Mr. Clarke's father was George Thomas Clarke and his mother Mary Elizabeth (Duxbury) Clarke. The senior Mr. Clarke was a civil engineer and had charge of the construction of parts of the Baltimore & Ohio, Maine Central, Pere Marquette, Ann Arbor and other railroads east of the Mississippi River. It was while the head of the family was engaged in railroad work in Michigan, that Hovey C. Clarke was born. He was sent to the common school at Flint and, later, he finished his studies at the Ann Arbor high school. Young Clarke, upon leaving school, entered the offices of the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad — now the Pere Mar- quette — at Muskegon, Michigan, in 1876. He began as a clerk in the auditor's office and as he showed his adaptability in this line he was promoted to more important positions, be- coming in turn purchasing agent, secretary to the general superintendent and chief clerk to the freight traffic and passen- ger agent. When, in the spring of 1886, the Hall & Ducey Lumber Company was organized in Minneapolis, by Thomas H. Shevlin, Patrick A. Ducey and Stephen C. Hall, Mr. Clarke abandoned the railroad business and became secretary of the lumber organization. 141 142 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN In caring for the affairs of the company, which were in- trusted to him, Mr. Clarke proved himself to be possessed of rare business judgment. He rapidly acquainted himself with the inner knowledge of the distribution and manufacture of lumber and became a worthy aid to his more experienced associates. On January i, 1893, E. L. Carpenter, formerly a wholesaler in Minneapolis, bought an interest in the Hall & Ducey Lumber Company and it was consolidated as the Shev- lin-Carpenter Company with the Hall & ShevHn Lumber Company, organized in 1887 to carry on a manufacturing busi- ness. Thomas H. Shevlin became president of the company ; E. L. Carpenter, secretary, and Mr. Clarke, treasurer. The Shevlin-Carpenter Company rapidly took position as one of the leading manufacturing concerns of that great pri- mary white pine lumber market — MinneapoHs. But, with the growth of the company's business to large proportions, still larger interests were secured and the company now is operat- ing extensively in timber in northwestern Minnesota in what is known as the Red River district. In 1895 Mr. Clarke and associates organized the J. Neils Lumber Company, which owns and operates a sawmill at Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, where about 15,000,000 feet of lumber is cut annually. In 1899 the company, of which Mr. Clarke is treasurer, bought another mill at Cass Lake, Minnesota, where a band and a band resaw mill was built, increasing the annual output to 40,000,000 feet. Another undertaking of considerable magnitude, in which Mr. Clarke is interested with Mr. Shevlin and Frank P. Hixon, was initiated in 1896, when a large amount of timber on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, tributary to the Clear Water River, was bought and the St. Hilaire Lumber Company was organized to operate this tract. A sawmill, with a capacity of 40,000,000 feet a year, was built at St. Hilaire, Minnesota. A year later the organizers of the St. Hilaire Lumber Company bought the sawmill and logs of the Red River Lumber Com- pany, at Crookston, Minnesota, and all its timber holdings tributary thereto, and organized the Crookston Lumber Com- HOVEY C. CLARKE 143 pany. The Crookston plant has a capacity of 40,000,000 feet of lumber a year. The St. Hilaire plant is twenty-eight miles northeast of Crookston and the sales of both plants are handled through the Crookston office. In connection with the manu- facturing plants twelve retail yards are operated under the name of the St. Hilaire Lumber Company, thus handling the lumber from the tree to the consumer. The Crookston Lumber Company and the St. Hilaire Lumber Company were subsequently consolidated under the name of the Crookston Lumber Company, of which Mr. Clarke continued as treasurer. A large mill was built at Bemidji, equipped with two band saws and a gang saw, with an annual capacity of 70,000,000 feet. Twelve miles of logging road was built through the timber, connecting with the Minnesota & International Railway at Hovey Junction, to afford logs for the mill by giving direct transportation and making available a large body of timber, up to that time difficult of access. The company owns approximately 400,000,000 feet of stumpage. The general offices of the Crookston Lumber Company were moved from Crookston to Bemidji, in January, 1904. In the fall of 1903, with Mr. Shevhn and others, Mr. Clarke organized the Shevlin-Clarke Company, Limited, of Ontario, and several timber berths, aggregating 225,000,000 feet of pine, were bought in Canada. Mr. Clarke's name long will be held in respect for the ad- mirable work he accomplished, under the infamous Ames administration, in assisting in cleansing Minneapolis of its municipal rottenness. Through the corruptnessof some of the principal municipal officials the Scandinavian metropolis of the United States was infested by criminals of every class, invited there by the officials themselves, who sought to increase their bank accounts by the graft which would follow. A most de- plorable condition existed when an ordinary grand jury was impaneled, in April, 1902, and went into session without special instructions. Mr. Clarke was a member of the jury, and he was cognizant, in a way, of the malfeasance of the city's 144 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN officers. As foreman of the jury he proposed to his fellow members an investigation, and, despite their protests, he won them over and the inquiry began. From the start he was ham- pered in every way by those likely to be exposed ; he was offered bribes to desist, and even his life was threatened. But Mr. Clarke persevered despite all obstacles set in his path; when he could not gain the support of the county attorney, he secured his assistant's services ; when he was denied evidence through ordinary channels, he hired local detectives and then employed outside sleuths to watch them. He paid the bills himself, the expenses of the grand jury for the summer cost- ing the county less than $300. Once the investigation was inaugurated the betterelement rallied to Mr. Clarke's standard. Within eight months the criminals had been routed; corrupt officials sent to prison, and the city cleansed and regulated as never before. Minneapolis offered Mr. Clarke political reward in recognition of his work, but, characteristically, he declined. Mr. Clarke is a director of the First National Bank of Minneapolis and is interested in several other financial insti- tutions of that section of the country. He is a director of the Minneapolis Club, a member of several golf and country clubs and a Knight of Pythias. Among his business associates, Mr. Clarke is highly re- garded for his sterling qualities. He has exceptional capacity for handling business negotiations, but always deals squarely, using direct methods and scorning subterfuge. With subor- dinates he is always firm but just, and generous when occasion arises. He possesses a tremendous amount of energy, which he displays in emergencies, and has a masterful manner that overcomes obstacles. In personal relations he is inclined to be reserved with mere acquaintances, but his friends are firm ones. Mr. Clarke has a handsome home in Minneapolis, where he resides with his wife, who was Miss Maggie L. Rice and whom he married, June 28, 1886. They have no children. For several years Mr. Clarke has been a vestryman of St. Mark's Episcopal Church. n. From this by unaided ability and tireless industry, t up to its present p< of the j , A door manufacturing f the head, and also a large s 150,000 feet. He was the founder and is n . the Lincoln County National Bank, and he was rcspnr the progress and success of the Badger Box & Lu' ... pany, a great industry at Grand Rapids, Wiscons,.., . v...Lrol of which he secured when its fortunes were "'^'^ ^' ' '^'•omis- ing stage, which he h^*^ f.^rr^f^ into prosperous ^^-vacion and of ■•^" '" ' he is tiiv rn near the ci*- t W^ t^ £^ mi^ wn, jenerson Co ■-' '^^e in a small sa i $100 for his first year's i in this fac wages paid a In his I 30MAT8 -H -raUOUA AUGUST H. SXANQE: August H. Stange Poverty and a small village in southern Wisconsin, the lat- ter offering but meager opportunities, were the condition and the site of his first efforts at self-support which confronted August H. Stange, of Merrill, Wisconsin. From this un- promising beginning, by unaided ability and tireless industry, he has built up to its present position one of the largest sash and door manufacturing plants in the world, of which he is the head, and also a large sawmill with a daily capacity of 150,000 feet. He was the founder and is now the president of the Lincoln County National Bank, and he was responsible for the progress and success of the Badger Box & Lumber Com- pany, a great industry at Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, control of which he secured when its fortunes were not at a promis- ing stage, which he has forced into prosperous operation and of which, also, he is the head. August H. Stange was born near the city of Stettin, Ger- many, October 10, 1853. When he was only about a year old his parents, Carl F. Stange and Fredericka (Boetcher) Stange, migrated to America. They settled at Watertown, Jefferson County, Wisconsm, in 1854, and here Mr. Stange spent the early days of his life. When he was only thirteen years old he was forced to leave school and help in the maintenance of the family. He had early shown an inclination toward wood- working, and secured a situation in a small sash and door fac- tory at Watertown, where he received $100 for his first year's work and $150 for the second. He labored in this factory five years, becoming proficient in all the details of woodworking then known at Watertown. At the end of that time, although only eighteen years old, he was receiving the highest wages paid any of the mechanics in the factory. In his nineteenth year Mr. Stange decided to learn still us 146 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN more about the woodworking industry. So, with only enough means to pay his railroad fare and a little besides for pocket money, he went to Racine. There he secured employment in a door and sash factory, and in four years acquired a valu- able knowledge of millwright work. At the end of that time the factory was burned. It was rebuilt and Mr. Stange's abilities were recognized in the rebuilding. The contracts which his firm had on hand when the factory was burned were given to H. W. Wright, who also had a sash and door factory at Racine, and Mr. Stange was sent over to that factory by his employers to look after the work. Later, Mr. Stange left their service entirely and became superintendent of Mr. Wright's factory. When the latter was appointed postmaster of Racine he gave Mr. Stange entire charge of the business. H. W. Wright and Mr. McCord established a sawmill and sash and door factory at Merrill in 1881, of which Mr. Stange was given the superintendency. Two years later Mr. Wright bought out Mr. McCord and formed the H. W. Wright Lum- ber Company, one of the constituent parts of which was Mr. Stange. With this corporation he continued until 1886, when an opportunity occurred for him to go into business on his own account. With his advancement in life Mr. Stange felt increasingly the necessity for a continuance of the education which had been abruptly broken in his fourteenth year — an education commensurate with the importance of the position in life which he had secured. This desire he mentioned to a princi- pal of one of the local schools, who suggested that he secure six other young men, similarly situated, and with them start a night school. Mr. Stange secured twelve others, with whom he studied to their mutual profit, an experience which he has followed, in effect, ever since, until today he is a well enlight- ened, thoroughly posted man and a "full" one in the sense voiced by Francis Bacon. Naturally of a sympathetic nature, his experience with his fellow students has directed his sym- pathies with struggling young men along practical lines. He AUGUST H. STANCE 147 takes a keen pleasure In indicating to others their proper course for advancement — a more or less constant but unosten- tatious practice with him. In 1886 Mr. Stange's ability as a manufacturer began to be demonstrated in a succession of forward movements. He first bought at sherifif's sale a plant in Merrill, consisting of a small sawmill and sash and door factory. This was the nucleus of the immense plant owned and operated today by the A. H. Stange Company. From year to year additions were built to the plant and buildings were erected, and thus it expanded until now it has the largest capacity for making stock doors and windows of any factory in the world. Later, in January, 1895, M^- Stange, who had conducted the business until then in his own name, incorporated the A. H. Stange Company. The sawmill is one of the largest In the Wisconsin Valley and of late years it has been operated day and night, winter and summer. The company owns timber sufficient for operating a number of years, and it is logged with the object of utilizing in the factory every possible inch of the product. Mr. Stange's business interests are largely confined to the A. H. Stange Company, but he also takes considerable interest in the Badger Box & Lumber Company, at Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, of which he is the head. It is doubtful if within the Badger State can be found one who has more thoroughly earned the title "public spirited citizen" or demonstrated his right to it In a more munificent and practical way. In all movements for the betterment of his home town he is prominent and in most of the more im- portant he has taken the Initiative with purse and Individual effort. Though, as a rule, taking no active part In politics beyond a stanch advocacy of Republican doctrines on national questions, he has served six terms in the city council of Mer- rill and four terms as mayor of the city. To him is due the erection of an opera house In that city, and also a hotel that Is a credit to It. This hotel, the Badger, built by him. Is one of the finest modern hostelries in the State. The erection of the 148 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN opera house was not designed as a commercial project; it was built with the expectation that it might afford opportunity for the recreation and enlightenment of the good people of Mer- rill. An incident that might appropriately be mentioned here, although the chronicling of it probably would not be in accord with Mr. Stange's wishes, was his donation of $10,000 for a parochial school building at Merrill, which was also to have rooms for a library which he equipped with books, one- half of which are printed in German and the other half in English. This donation was made as a memorial to his father. Another instance showing Mr. Stange's generosity was his gift to the city of Merrill of a piece of land, located right in the heart of the city, for park purposes. This land was pur- chased at a good price, with the intent of donating it for a public park. While located at Racine Mr. Stange happily married an acquaintance of his childhood days. Miss Emille Miller, whom he wedded on February 15, 1875. The fruit of this union is two sons and four daughters. One of the former is Charles H. Stange, vice president of the A. H. Stange Com- pany. August J. Stange, the other son, is secretary and treas- urer of the company. Of the daughters, Hattie is now the wife of C. J. Kinzel, cashier of the Lincoln County Bank, and Adele is the wife of E. W. Ellis, secretary and treasurer of the Badger Box & Lumber Company. The other two — Emille and Lydia — are still members of the parental home. in the true is Leonard >, for > a factor in in Valley. What he t today is the of the courage and per- erence that has been his heritage through hfe. He is truly a self-made man, without the arrogance of those who have fought their way in the world and won, but with all the polish and instincts of a gentleman. As a youth he earned money enough to pursue a course in a business college, and with this MD his business work. He idustry, to follow that busi- 5uccess that but few achieve. nr?ant of an old New En^^<>"'^ to pine 1 tlr H08MA 83_IIM aRAM03_l LEONARD NILES ANSON Leonard N. Anson A man who lives well in the popular sense may not live wisely, but the man who lives well in the true sense lives well indeed. His books are his friends; his home is his club, and his business is a means of living rather than a reason for living. One who has lived well in the true sense is Leonard Niles Anson, of Merrill, Wisconsin, for many years a factor in the lumber manufacturing industry of the Wisconsin Valley. What he enjoys today is the result of the courage and per- severence that has been his heritage through life. He is truly a self-made man, without the arrogance of those who have fought their way in the world and won, but with all the polish and instincts of a gentleman. As a youth he earned money enough to pursue a course in a business college, and with this educational equipment he took up his business work. He became interested in the lumber industry, to follow that busi- ness through his career with a success that but few achieve. Leonard N. Anson is a descendant of an old New England family, and comes from a section of the country that has given many stalwart sons to the lumber industry. His father, Jesse Anson, was a native of New York State, who, being left an orphan in youth, turned toward the West as holding the great- est possibilities for success. He migrated to Illinois, where he married Miss Maria Sands, whose parents were residents of the Empire State and who also came of a New England family of prominence. In 1843 the couple left the Sucker State to make their home in a new locality, at Plover, Portage County, Wisconsin, where the father resided until his death, in 1894. It was at Plover that Leonard N. Anson, one of four children, was born on July 3, 1848. In the little country town of Plover, its site cut out of the pine woods, Leonard Anson grew into boyhood, fond of the 149 150 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN games and pleasures of the youth of his period. He was not given to dreaming about his future, for he was too busy con- tributing his share to the support of the family, not then in prosperous circumstances. However, he was not denied the education afforded by the district school in Plover, and it was there that he received his early scholastic training, which he supplemented in later life by a study of the rudiments of busi- ness and for which he paid with money earned by labor in the woods as a logger. Upon the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion, when the enlistment of troops was taking place in Wisconsin as in all the other states, Jesse Anson, the father of the family, enlisted in the Fifth Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, and started for the front. Leonard Anson saw his father march away and became imbued with the spirit of becoming a soldier himself and fight- ing for the cause of the Union. But he was too young to be accepted for service in the first three years of the war, and it was not until early in 1865, when he was seventeen years old, that he succeeded in enlisting and was assigned to the Fifty- second Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry. He served until the close of hostilities and has the distinction of being one of the youngest men who participated in the War of the Rebellion. In 1866 young Anson returned to the scenes of his youth in Wisconsin to begin his business career. Not many avenues of employment were open to one of his limited education and he finally went to work as a woodsman for one of the large con- cerns then operating in that section. For several years he labored faithfully, though realizing that he was handicapped in his ambition to become a business man by his lack of educa- tion. He saw a way to gain this prized training by working and saving until he should have sufficient means to permit of his going to some college. He accumulated enough money to take him to Chicago, where he took a course at the business college of Bryant & Stratton. Returning to Wisconsin he was better equipped mentally to reahze his cherished idea of engaging in business for himself. He started as a contracting LEONARD N. ANSON 151 logger, and his knowledge of woods work and business methods enabled him to make a success on a small scale almost the first year he began operations. Subsequently, he became identified with the Meehan interests, through his m.arriage to a member of the family, and he largely extended his operations. Going to Merrill, Lincoln County, in 1883, Mr. Anson entered upon a new era in his career, and he has made that city his home and the headquarters of his business operations ever since. He became associated with G. F. Gilkey, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and John Landers, of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, the trio forming the firm of Gilkey, Anson & Co. to engage in the manufacture of lumber. Subsequently, the business was incorporated as the Gilkey & Anson Company, of which Mr. Anson became president; Mr. Landers, vice president, and Mr. Gilkey, secretary. The original firm bought a sawmill at Merrill and reequipped it, rendering it one of the most com- plete mills in the Northwest. Mr. Gilkey's health failed him in 1888 and the active duties of the company fell chiefly upon Mr. Anson. Mr. Landers looked after the woods end of the business and continued to do so until his removal to Malvern, Arkansas. Since then the woods work has been under the personal supervision of George M. Anson, Mr. Anson's son. The capacity of the company's sawmill is 150,000 feet a day. The mill plant always has included a planing mill and in recent years a large box factory has been operated in connection. The Gilkey & Anson Company is one of the leading manufac- turers of lumber in the Wisconsin Valley. Another corporation of which Mr. Anson is president is the Anson-Hixon Sash & Door Company, of Merrill. F. P. Hixon is vice president of the company; G. M. Anson, treas- urer, and SigHeineman, secretary. The plant of the concern at Merrill is complete in every detail and has a daily capacity of 1,500 doors, 3,000 window frames and 500 pairs of blinds. There is an extensive branch wholesale plant at Indian- apolis, Indiana, established in 1902, and another at Evansville, Indiana, which was established in April, 1906. 152 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Still another interest of Mr. Anson's is in the Arkansas Land & Lumber Company, which was formed and is controlled by Wisconsin Valley lumbermen. The company, which is capitalized at $1,250,000, owns and controls more than 1,000,- 000,000 feet of yellow pine timber near Malvern, Arkansas. Another interest of Mr. Anson's is the National Bank of Merrill, of which he is vice president. Mr. Anson married Miss Hannah A. Meehan, a native of Canada, whose family was heavily interested in lumbering, December 29, 1872. The couple has two children — Mae Teresa Anson and George Meehan Anson, the latter being associated with his father in business. The family occupies a beautiful home on West Main Street, Merrill. Mr, Anson's chief pleasure is derived from his home, and his well-filled and well-selected library is his hobby and recreation. He takes a keener pleasure in general reading than does the average busy man of aflFairs. He is somewhat catholic in his literary tastes, although if he has a special fondness it is for history. Mr. Anson has given to public life that share of his effort and energy demanded as the duty of good citizens. Twice he has served Merrill as mayor and he has been a member of the city council and the school board. He is an enthusiastic admirer of Theodore Roosevelt, and he was a delegate from the Tenth Congressional District of Wisconsin to the national Republican convention held in Chicago in 1904. He is a member of Lincoln Post No. 131, Grand Army of the Republic. d -aed to the ol . onnor. of cdd, Wisconsin, began life as a farmer lad, but to _^ i,.. ....^rest in hardwood production is among the largest in the Badger State. William D. Connor is of Scotch ancestry. He was born January 24, 1864, near Stratford, Province of Ontario, Canada. He was scarcely eight years old when his father and mother err ' ^ e border line with the former's two brothers and '' ' ' ' ' ' :^rn corner of Wood located on ' n vlarshfield * he of t ' a his St he went to d with tht 1 view sqOMMOO .a MAU-JINA/ x \ ti' \A/IL_I_IAM D. CONNOR William D. Connor Lumbering and farming have borne an intimate relation- ship to each other since the days of the pioneer, whose first work in many sections of the country was the clearing of the forest growth from the lands he purposed cultivating. Some- times these clearing operations became more profitable and interesting than farming, with the result that the agriculturist often turned to the other occupation. W. D. Connor, of Marshfield, Wisconsin, began life as a farmer lad, but today his interest in hardwood production is among the largest in the Badger State. William D. Connor is of Scotch ancestry. He was born January 24, 1864, near Stratford, Province of Ontario, Canada. He was scarcely eight years old when his father and mother crossed the border line with the former's two brothers and their families and settled in the northwestern corner of Wood County, Wisconsin. W. D. Connor's father located on a farm ten miles east of what is now the town of Marshfield. The tract that he chose was called a farm more by courtesy than for any practical reason, as it was little less than a rectangular patch of unbroken wilderness. But with that Scotch faith, pluck and perseverance, the senior Connor, aided by the boy of eight years, began improvement of the farm, cutting of? the timber and destroying the stumps that the soil might be cultivated. Those early settlers, thoughtful as to the future of their children, established schools where the boys and girls might be educated and prepared to make their way in life. It was to one of these district schools that young Connor was sent when his services upon the farm could be best spared. Later, he went to the city normal school at Oshkosh. He was imbued with the ambition to become a lawyer, and it was with a view 153 154 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN of studying to prepare himself for this profession that he en- tered Lake Forest University, Lake Forest, IlHnois, after two years at the normal school. But his ambition in this line was not to be gratified, owing to circumstances over which he had no control. His father's state of health and strength did not permit him to oversee the farm and a sawmill at Auburndale in which he had secured an interest in 1878, and W. D. Con- nor was called home to lighten the cares of his parent. He set about assisting his father by taking charge of the manufacturing operations at Auburndale, a settlement in Wood County, not a great distance from Marshifield. He had prac- tically no knowledge of the industry when he went to Auburn- dale, but he had the pluck of his ancestors, and, with the train- ing he had obtained in the normal school, he set about to make the operations profitable and to follow the vocation as his life work. He took hold of the work of handling the sawmill operations with all the enthusiasm of youth and a determination to conduct the business on a successful scale. While at the first he had the assistance of his father in the management of the mill, yet as time passed the entire work devolved upon him and he proved that he was capable of not only handling the business, but of extending it as well. The continued growth of the Connor lumber interests led to the establishment, in 1890, of the R. Connor Company. The energy and progressiveness displayed by Mr. Connor and his brother resulted in largely expanding the business of the company from year to year, and, by 1894, the R. Connor Com- pany was operating two mills in Clark County and seven other mills were cutting for it. The aggregate annual output of these operations was from 40,000,000 to 50,000,000 feet of lum- ber. When the general business depression of 1893 halted the prosperity of the country at large, hardwood lumber, like many other commodities, was hard to sell and even harder for many to hold, either because they were financially unable to carry it, or because where means were not lacking they did not have WILLIAM D. CONNOR 155 the necessary faith or foresight to anticipate the coming of the upward turn. When a sharp advance in hardwood values came in 1896 and 1897 three concerns in Wisconsin held the bulk of the hardwood stocks in that State, and one of those concerns was the R. Connor Company. Besides the mill at Auburndale, which is on the Wisconsin Central Railway, the R. Connor Company operates a mill at Stratford, Marathon County, on the Chicago & North-West- ern Railway, this plant having a capacity of 20,000,000 feet a year. The timber supply for this operation is sufficient to keep the mill running for about twelve years. The largest interests of the Connor's are located in the northern part of Wisconsin and are of a comparatively late origin. At Laona, on a branch of the Peshtigo River, in Forest County, Mr. Connor and his brother conduct a large operation under the style of the Connor Lumber & Land Company. The Laona plant, which is on the Chicago & North-Western Railway, consists of a double band mill with a band resaw, a shingle and lath mill and a planing mill. To reach the tracts of timber owned by the company a logging road twenty miles in length is operated and over this road is brought the supply of logs for the mill. The mill has an out- put of 20,000,000 feet a year, and, operating at the existing volume of production, the plant has sufficient timber to back it for nearly or quite thirty years. In 1896 the headquarters of the R. Connor Company and the Connor Lumber & Land Company were established at Marshfield, where a conveniently arranged office building was erected. Mr. Connor, with his brother, Robert Connor, has large lumber interests in Ashland, Iron and Oneida counties, Wis- consin, and about 20,000 acres in the northern peninsula of Michigan. These holdings have not been denuded of any of the timber, but are being held for later operations. Outside of the Connor Lumber & Land Company and the R. Connor Company, Mr. Connor has few commercial inter- ests to occupy his attention. He is president of the American 156 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN National Bank, of Marshfield, and is interested in the Consoli- dated Water Power & Paper Company, of Grand Rapids, Wisconsin. Mr. Connor married Miss May Bell Witter, a daughter ol G. F. Witter, of Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, August 12, 1888. The couple resided at the Connor homestead until 1896 when, following the concentration of the business at Marshfield, Mr. Connor built a home there. Mr. and Mrs. Connor are the parents of three sons and two daughters. Mr. Connor's public life has been a most interesting one, and forms a chapter in the political history of Wisconsin. In Wood County he served upon the county board and acted as president of that body. He has been a councilman of Marsh- field and was president of the council, and, while occupying the latter position, he succeeded, where previous attempts had failed, in organizing and securing for Marshfield a fine, free public library. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Wood County Training School for Teachers and one of the trustees of Carroll College, at Waukesha. He is a Republican of a stalwart type and is an ally of Sen- ator Robert M. La Follette. In one of the fiercest political campaigns ever waged in Wisconsin, or any other state, he was chairman of the RepubHcan State Central Committee. In the distinguished service which he has rendered to the State and its citizens he has been dominated by devotion to principles rather than to any individual and has not been mere plastic clay in the hands of the leader of the movement. For twenty years he has been active as a champion of good government and an active figure in Republican politics ; and although he has not shrunk from the larger opportunities for public service which have come to him unsought, in all that time never was a seeker for public office. In September, 1906, however, as the outcome of a hotly fought campaign, he became the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor. ag me wiiice pine or ;i ;;r gr< ' were all but oven :crof hardwooda, and o. the e u rt Connor, of Marshficici, vVis- 1 hough comparatively a young man, Mr. Connor has been a lumberman of prominence during his entire career. He has had a practical experience in manufacturing, having arisen from the position of a handler in the yard up through the mill until he re the post of superintendent and part owner of the c R. Connor Company and the '.ny, both having headquarters ' on the farm of his parents at onsin, February 27, 1878. o settled in the year 1872 in ■■' was an unsettled and unc fr f Indiana, reinaiaiajg yiOMMOO TS=l3aO<=» ROBERT CONNOR Robert Connor Wisconsin, long noted in the annals of the lumber indus- try for its white pine production, has yet to have written a concluding chapter on a product almost as important— hard- woods. In cutting the white pine of that State in the earlier years, the other growths were all but overlooked. Today the Badger State is a large producer of hardwoods, and one of the factors in this trade is Robert Connor, of Marshfield, Wis- consin. Though comparatively a young man, Mr. Connor has been a lumberman of prominence during his entire career. He has had a practical experience in manufacturing, having arisen from the position of a handler in the yard up through the mill until he reached the post of superintendent and part owner of the extensive business of the R. Connor Company and the Connor Lumber & Land Company, both having headquarters at Marshfield, Wisconsin. Robert Connor was born on the farm of his parents at Auburndale, Wood County, Wisconsin, February 27, 1878. His parents were Canadians who settled in the year 1872 in Wood County, which at that time was an unsettled and uncul- tivated frontier country. The farm, at the time of Mr. Con- nor's birth, was a well-paying one and a good example of what Scotch persistence could accomplish. His father had also become interested in a sawmill located at Auburndale. Fol- lowing in the steps of his older brother, William D. Connor, Robert as a boy went to the district school provided by the progressive community, and outside of school hours and school terms did his share of work on the farm, and in the winter took a hand in the logging and lumbering operations. At the age of fourteen years he entered Hanover College, at Hanover, Indiana, remaining there for three years. U7 158 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN When out of college young Connor set about with a will to learn the lumber business. His first experience was in piling lumber in the yard at Auburndale, and, later, he studied and became proficient in inspection. When the snow came he went into the woods with the crews to acquaint himself with woods work. He followed this up with work in and about the saw and planing mill and within two years he became superin- tendent of the mill and had general charge of the Connor farm, which had grown to be a profitable enterprise. When the R. Connor Company was organized, in 1890, Robert Connor became vice president of that concern, his brother, W. D. Connor, being president. The company was formed to care for an expanding business, as the brothers real- ized the great importance of the hardwood industry and the promising future before it. Extending its operations during the next two or three years, the R. Connor Company in 1894 was operating two mills in Clark County, Wisconsin, and, at the same time, seven other mills were sawing for the company. The combined output of the mills owned and controlled by the company was between 40,000,000 and 50,000,000 feet a year. Despite the policy of retrenchment followed by a large majority of operators during the industrial depression that halted the progress of the country in 1893, the Connors were confident of the ultimate value and prices of hardwood. In- stead of shutting down their plant they continued to manufac- ture, and, in addition, invested in timber lands when oppor- tunity was afforded. The wisdom of their course was demonstrated in 1896 and 1897, when resumption of general business activity resulted in a decided advance in hardwood values, and the R. Connor Company was one of the three concerns holding the bulk of the hardwood stocks in Wis- consin. The mill at Auburndale, on the Wisconsin Central Rail- way, is supplemented by another mill at Stratford, Marathon County, on the Chicago & North-Western Railway. The ROBERT CONNOR 159 Stratford plant has a capacity of 20,000,000 feet a year and is backed by sufficient timber to keep the mill running for about twelve years. One of the principal interests of Mr. Connor is the Connor Lumber & Land Company, which was organized to operate on a large scale in Wisconsin. Mr. Connor and his brother, in seeking further timber holdings, started by rail for northern Wisconsin, and when the end of the line was reached they tramped sixty miles through timber that had not been touched with an ax, except in a few places along streams where pine had been cut and driven out on the freshets. For two weeks they lived in the woods on provisions they had packed and on such game as they were able to kill. The result of this ex- pedition was the purchase of considerable tracts of timber in Forest County and the formation of the Connor Lumber & Land Company. A site for the mill was picked out on Rat River, a branch of the Peshtigo River, at a point on the Chi- cago & North-Western Railway, which is known as Laona. The plant at Laona is a modern one in every respect, the sawmill being equipped with a double band and a band resaw, and a shingle and lath mill and planing mill being operated, in addition. The mill has an output of 20,000,000 feet a year and its product is distributed in the East and middle West. To tap the timber and furnish an adequate and unfailing sup- ply of logs for the mill, a logging road was built which is now twenty miles long and has a complete equipment of motive power and cars. The timber owned, it is estimated, will fur- nish logs for the mill for more than twenty years at its present cutting capacity. The headquarters of the R. Connor Com- pany and the Connor Lumber & Land Company were moved to Marshfield in 1896, where the affairs of the two concerns are directed by Mr. Connor and his brother. Besides these interests already enumerated, Mr. Connor, with his brother, has large holdings of timber land in Oneida, Iron and Ashland counties, Wisconsin, though operations on these tracts have not been started. Mr. Connor is also inter- i6o AMERICAN LUMBERMEN ested in about 20,000 acres of land in the northern peninsula of Michigan. Like his Scotch ancestors, Mr. Connor has shown a genius for good government and a capacity for helping rightly to shape the social life and relationships of the community. Al- though a young man, he was of much service as a resident of Marathon County, on its board of supervisors, and also did valuable service with the State militia, from which he received an honorable discharge. He is a member of the Business Men's Club of Wausau and a charter member of the local lodge of Elks at Marshfield. Mr. Connor married Miss Florence Glazer, a daughter of Mrs. Louise M. Glazer, of Madison, Indiana. The wedding took place October 29, 1902. G T' largely men of the at the head of the '^ as their vocation.^ ed in a c --g - aff' .1- - iong apprr for 1 nn^'fion nf , - of ..-., oin, i« a splendid type of the.younger gen- eration successfully shouldering an enterprise of magnitude. He did not start on the upper round of the ladder, but began his practical education in the woods — the beginning of lumber knowledge. After thoroughly acquainting himself with a specific end of the business he turned to the next step of production, to that at the conclusion of his training along ' ' ' '"' fitted for the responsible duties tary and treasurer of the Page & Landeck is the active genius i 18 held at his true worth by t of the business to -If ting the office of ber business in Mil- wauk was chiefly in the han- dling of white pine. i. in i88c. by the estab- ><03aMA_l MHOL 3VATeU£) 1 CBUSTAVE JOHN LANDEO K Gustave J. Landeck In business, politics, science or art it is largely men of the younger generation who today are found at the head of the industry or profession which they follow as their vocation. By education they are prepared in a comparatively few years to take up the serious affairs of life, while in former genera- tions a long apprenticeship was necessary to qualify a man for a position of trust and responsibility. G. J. Landeck, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a splendid type of the younger gen- eration successfully shouldering an enterprise of magnitude. He did not start on the upper round of the ladder, but began his practical education in the woods — the beginning of lumber knowledge. After thoroughly acquainting himself with a specific end of the business he turned to the next step of production, so that at the conclusion of his training along these lines he was peculiarly fitted for the responsible duties he was to assume. As secretary and treasurer of the Page & Landeck Lumber Company, Mr. Landeck is the active genius in the affairs of the concern and is held at his true worth by those who have entrusted the management of the business to him. Gustave John Landeck is the eldest son of William Landeck and Theresa Kaliebe Landeck, and was born in Milwaukee, April 14, 1870. His father was a native of Stettin, Prussia, who came to the Wisconsin city to follow his trade as a car- penter. The lad pursued his studies in the public schools of the city, supplementing this education with a course at an academy and university. Even as a schoolboy he was familiar with lumber nomenclature through frequenting the office of his father, who had embarked in the lumber business in Mil- waukee, in 1878. This early business was chiefly in the han- dling of white pine, which was followed, in 1885, by the estab- 161 i62 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN lishment of a yard for the sale of northern hardwoods. Sub- sequently, William Landeck became the junior member of the firm of Page & Landeck, which carried on the manufacturing business at Marion, Waupaca County, Wisconsin. In the face of these facts it seems but natural that the junior Landeck should have engaged in the same line of business as his father. Leaving the academy where he was studying, in 1889 young Landeck, who was then nineteen years old, expressed his wiUingness to follow the plans mapped out by his father for his practical training in the lumber business. These plans were carefully studied by the parent, for he was anxious to see his son take up the reins of business and manipulate them well by the time he himself should wish to give up active life. Unlike other young men of his acquaintance, young Landeck gave up willingly the pleasures of urban life to go up into the woods of Waupaca County at the scene of the operations of Page & Landeck, where there was nothing to distract his attention from the serious affairs ahead of him. He studied closely the various stages of lumber manufacture from the felHng of the timber to its sawing and grading. This course was not one of a few months or a year; he was in the woods and at Marion for a period of six years. For nearly two years he graded and inspected the lumber shipped from the mill, so that at the end of his apprenticeship he had a knowledge of manufacturing such as is possessed by few men who are en- gaged in the wholesaling of lumber. In 1895 Mr. Landeck left the mill at Marion to return to Milwaukee, where he entered the ofRce of Page & Landeck to take charge of the sales department of the business. In this department he gave evidence of ability by his skillful handhng of the matters which came before him. Several years later the firm acquired timber lands and a mill at Deer Brook, Lang- lade County, Wisconsin, where operations were carried on under the name of the Deer Brook Lumber Company. In 1899 the plant was moved to Crandon, Forest County, Wis- consin, where the Page & Landeck Lumber Company, which GUSTAVE J. LANDECK 163 meanwhile had been incorporated, began the manufacture of hardwoods, pine and hemlock on a more extensive scale than ever before attempted by the concern. The Page & Landeck Lumber Company's plant at Crandon comprises a band sawmill, with an annual capacity of 15,000,- 000 feet of lumber; a general store carrying a large stock of merchandise, and a logging road, nine miles long, stretching into the timber property of the company. The railroad, which is equipped with two locomotives and about thirty cars, is of standard gauge and connects at Crandon with the Chicago & North-Western Railway. The mill plant is lighted by elec- tricity and is operated with a day and night shift. The timber owned by the company in Forest County is unique in the northern country in the feature that no railroad traverses the land, the property being the largest tract of timber in Wiscon- sin having that distinction. On the 25,000 acres to which the company holds title is estimated to be approximately 200,000,- 000 feet of oak, basswood, birch, elm, hemlock and pine timber, a supply sufficient to last the company at the present rate of cutting for fifteen years. A railroad through the company's property, known as the Madison & Northern Railroad, was started in 1906 by owners of stumpage in the Fox River Valley and paper-making concerns. Until 1902 the Page & Landeck Lumber Company oper- ated a sales yard in Milwaukee, where large stocks were carried for the convenience of shipping to the trade. The business is now handled through the main office, shipments being made direct from the mills. Besides the output of the Crandon mill sold by the company, large cuts of other mills are bought, and the aggregate amount of lumber handled is 30,000,000 feet a year. Mr. Landeck always has taken an active part in association work. He is a veteran member of the Wisconsin Hardwood Lumbermen's Association and has been active in its affairs. At the 1906 annual meeting of the National Hardwood Lum- ber Association, held at Memphis, Tennessee, Mr. Landeck i64 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN was elected a director of the association in recognition of his eminence in the trade of the Badger State, which is largely represented in the organization. Mr. Landeck is a member of the Deutscher Club, an influ- ential organization of Milwaukee, and of the Milwaukee Athletic Club. He is an enthusiastic member of the Concat- enated Order of Hoo-Hoo. The Page & Landeck Lumber Company is a member of the Merchants' & Manufacturers' Association of Milwaukee, which comprises all the leading business concerns of that city. Mr. Landeck well knows the art of hospitality, hundreds of lumbermen who have visited the Cream City as members of the lumbermen's associations having enjoyed his amiable resourcefulness along these lines. Mr. Landeck has been content to remain a bachelor. Though a hard worker and devoted to his business, he finds time to mingle with the society of his native city and has a wide circle of friends. r-) ., , it is only tho-. rprising who have been I resources of this vast J 1? a,. . .ement of success not to >uu wiiuc iu iinportant standard for the measure- iiiciu ui uusiness men is that of wealth, nevertheless the char- acter of a man is even more to be considered than what he accomplishes. Measured in either way David Joyce, of Lyons, Iowa, who died December 4, 1904, was a remarkable man. He was one of the captains of industry, able to command men, things and events to the accomplishment of his purpose. }' * n and far-reaching. He saw the and 1 with a i^ '1 predic- t ! its enter- i to •i \- books. : . vvas Lniriy \v.t»ia vf« ,<, t'^'aauviu 1119 ^vu^uiva 30V0L aiVAQ ^m"^-' DAVID JOYCI David Joyce Men who have won success in the lumber industry have not been speculators in the ordinary sense of that term. They have been speculators only in the sense that they have dared to back their judgment by investment; and it is only those who have been strong, brave and enterprising who have been able to draw riches from the natural resources of this vast country. While such ability is an element of success not to be ignored, and while an important standard for the measure- ment of business men is that of wealth, nevertheless the char- acter of a man is even more to be considered than what he accomplishes. Measured in either way David Joyce, of Lyons, Iowa, who died December 4, 1904, was a remarkable man. He was one of the captains of industry, able to command men, things and events to the accomplishment of his purpose. His mental vision was keen and far-reaching. He saw the possibilities in the lumber business and grasped them with a strong hand. He believed in the fulfillment of his own predic- tions regarding the industry and in the success of its enter- prises; and where indifferent fate moved but slowly to the accomplishment of his ends he forced a compliance with his will. David Joyce came of old New England Puritan stock — strong, bold and resourceful. He was born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, February 26, 1826. He received a common school education, but added to it, in the intervals of his employment as a youth, the training of a civil engineer. At the age of twelve years he entered the ofBce of his father, who conducted a blast furnace and foundry and machine shop, and when only fifteen years old assumed entire charge of the books. His connection with his father was continued until he was thirty years old. During this time he pursued his studies 165 i66 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN in mathematics and engineering until he was master of all the more important branches of those sciences. In 1848 Mr. Joyce opened a mercantile business in connec- tion with other enterprises and assumed active charge of two general stores. It was in 1857 that he really began the career which placed him well to the front among the practical busi- ness men of the country. In that year he purchased his father's entire business, uniting all the departments under one head and continued in charge of them until i860. During this time, however, he had made investments in the West, and in the fall of i860 he departed for Lyons, Iowa, with the in- tention of closing up some investments which he had made there. His plans in this particular were never carried out. Instead of closing his investments at Lyons he increased them and made that city his residence for the remainder of his life. His initial venture in the lumber business was in the sum- mer of 1861, when he secured the property known as the "Stumbaugh mill." Here he served his self-appointed ap- prenticeship in the business which thereafter constituted the chief pursuit of his life, and in which he was so eminently successful. In 1864 he became associated with S. I. Smith under the title of Joyce & Smith, but this firm was dissolved about twelve years later. As opportunities were offered for investment in outside properties Mr. Joyce became interested in many important business enterprises. He was, at the close of his career, a stockholder in twelve different sawmill plants located in all sections of the country, one within eighteen miles of Lake Superior at the North and another within eighty miles of the Gulf of Mexico in the South, while still another was on Puget Sound. His mills at and opposite Lyons cut 30,000,000 feet of lumber a year and gave employment to about three hundred men. He had large investments, also, in pine land in Minne- sota, Wisconsin and Texas. He was one of the organizers and at his death president of the First National Bank of Lyons, which was one of the first chartered under the national bank- DAVID JOYCE 167 ing law. He projected and was one of the principal owners of the street railway running through the cities of Lyons and CUnton. He had the gift of industry and economy, but it was not by the exercise of these traits exclusively that Mr. Joyce attained his position in the commercial world. Few men showed more shrewdness than he or a clearer comprehension of the possi- bilities of the industry. Reinvestment of profits gave him the ownership of several plants, until he had twelve sawmills in all and became an enormous producer of boards, sash, doors, blinds and other forms of lumber, which he marketed in various local lumber yards scattered through Iowa. Among his many enterprises was the Trinity County Lumber Com- pany, of Groveton, Texas, one of the largest institutions in eastern Texas in the longleaf pine belt, of which he was presi- dent; he was secretary and treasurer of the Barronett Lumber Company, of Barronett, Wisconsin ; secretary and manager of the Shell Lake Lumber Company, of Shell Lake, Wisconsin; a heavy stockholder in the White River Lumber Company, of Mason, Wisconsin; a director of the Mississippi River Log- ging Company, of CHnton, Iowa ; president of theXangford & Hall Lumber Company, of Fulton, Illinois, and president of the Benjamin Machine Company, of South Evanston, Illi- nois. He was president also of the Crescent Springs Railroad Company and was connected with the Park Hotel, at Hot Springs, Arkansas. This diversity of interests demanded care- ful oversight and skillful management, but the wonderful energy of Mr. Joyce was fully equal to all requirements. In addition to his manufacturing and wholesaling business he was a retailer as well, having a line of prosperous yards in Iowa. His timber holdings were very extensive and formed a substantial basis for his manufacturing operations. It is said that he had business interests in twenty-two different locali- ties, and his careful personal supervision of them was well known to all acquainted with him. He was prominent in pubHc enterprises and contributed i68 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN large amounts to various religious institutions and was a sub- scriber to society and educational work. Mr. Joyce was a stanch Republican, though not a poli- tician in the ordinary acceptance of that term. He sought no public office, but when the mayoralty of Lyons was pressed upon him, in 1872, he filled that position with marked ability and success. The confidence of the people in his integrity and in his ability to manage the municipal affairs was well shown in that election. The city finances were in a low con- dition, city bonds selling for forty-five cents on the dollar. He was the nominee of the business men of Lyons for the office and was elected by a very substantial majority ; a second time was he nominated and was elected by the entire vote of the city, the only vote not cast for him being his own. The con- fidence which the people placed in him was well justified, for when, after four years, he retired, at the end of his second term, the city's credit was reestablished and there was suffi- cient money in the treasury to pay all its obligations in full. In 1858 Mr. Joyce married Miss Elizabeth F. Thomas, of Leroy, New York. The couple is survived by one son, William T. Joyce, who has inherited much of his father's ability and energy and who promises to carry forward with success and distinction the vast enterprises committed to his care. It was while Mr. Joyce was in the North looking after his interests, which were affected by the forest fires of the summer of 1904, that he was stricken with paralysis in Minneapolis. He never rallied from the blow, though for a time it was hoped that his strong constitution and vigorous will would bring him up from the shadow, but a second stroke came, and, three weeks from the time of the first, he was claimed by death. \A tr\ !'• ^'t of by its founder, requires not merely the .urance of the pioneer but, in these days of B..cii cuciuiitiuial competition, a breadth of view and mastery of control that is, perhaps, best supplied by the man whose natural abilities are amplified and clarified by the most thorough training — the intellectual training afforded by the schools and the business training afforded by practical experi- Not a few of the northwestern pioneers have left their and among them was David Joyce, this sketch, William T. Joyce, of Chicago, is as striking a hgure in the lumber stry of was his father in his time. is the s of old ry, c VI! He V. industry upc ^e, in 30V0L 8AMOHT MAIJ_il\A/ child. He was educated in the schools i this training by a course at the , Minnesota. anW an academic her ediication with a senior c '"T^ .^" \A/I1-L.IAM THOMAS JOVCE William T. Joyce With the'passing of the older generation in the white pine industry of the Northwest, who, in many cases, left large enterprises under way and great plans uncompleted, heavy responsibilities fell upon their successors. To take up the direction of a great and growing business, to enlarge its scope and successfully to give it a breadth and diversity of interests perhaps unthought of by its founder, requires not merely the courage and endurance of the pioneer but, in these days of keen commercial competition, a breadth of view and mastery of control that is, perhaps, best supplied by the man whose natural abilities are amplified and clarified by the most thorough training — the intellectual training afforded by the schools and the business training afforded by practical experi- ence. Not a few of the northwestern pioneers have left their affairs in such capable hands, and among them was David Joyce, whose son, the subject of this sketch, William T. Joyce, of Chicago, is as striking a figure in the lumber industry of today as was his father in his time. William Thomas Joyce is the son of the late David Joyce, of Lyons, Iowa, and Elizabeth F. (Thomas) Joyce. He comes of old New England Puritan stock, and was born January 3, i860, at Salisbury, Connecticut. Though an easterner born he was reared in Iowa, his parents having taken up their abode there when he was a child. He was educated in the schools at Lyons, and supplemented this training by a course at the Shattuck School, Faribault, Minnesota, and an academic training in Chicago. His father directed his education with a view to having him engage in the lumber business, the senior Mr. Joyce being interested in the manufacture of lumber. He was well prepared to undergo a practical course in the industry upon his leaving college, in 1880. He began his 169 I70 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN career in the office of the sawmill of his father at Lyons, remaining in a clerical position until he had gained a knowl- edge of the basis of office methods and financing. The next step in his training was in the practical side of the manufac- turing business. Young Joyce was sent into the woods that he might study logging operations and woods work generally, and so equip himself to direct such affairs if it should become necessary. Next he was placed in a retail yard that he might learn something of the consuming trade and how it was catered to. When he had mastered the details of these several ends of the business he was sent out on the road as a salesman. To the credit of the care exercised in his training, Mr. Joyce developed into a broad-minded, resourceful man, ambitious and determined. When David Joyce, respected and admired by hundreds of lumbermen, was called from this life, Decem- ber 4, 1904, William T. Joyce was capable of taking over his immense interests and managing them in a creditable manner. Even before his father's death, Mr. Joyce had assumed prac- tical and intelligent command of the diversified interests of the family, extending into many states and lumber fields. Among the lumber interests of Mr. Joyce in the North is the Joyce Lumber Company, operating mills at Clinton, Iowa; the W. T. Joyce Lumber Company, of Chicago, operating a line of retail yards in western Iowa; the Itasca Lumber Com- pany, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, an Illinois corporation operating a mill at Minneapolis; the Deer River Lumber Company, of Deer River, Minnesota; the Joyce-Watkins Company, a wholesale concern with headquarters at Chicago; the MinneapoHs & Rainy River Railway, extending from Bass Lake thirty-five miles south to Deer River, where connection is made with the Great Northern Railway, which road is used as an adjunct to the Itasca Lumber Company in its operations; the Chippewa Lumber &c Boom Company; the Mississippi River Logging Company, and the St. Paul Boom Company. The Deer River Lumber Company is a subsidiary interest of the Itasca company and manufactures the by-products — hard- WILLIAM T. JOYCE 171 woods, principally — of the latter. The Itasca company has large holdings of timber and does a general manufacturing and logging business. Of the interests above enumerated Mr. Joyce is president of the Joyce Lumber Company, the W. T. Joyce Lumber Company, the Minneapolis & Rainy River Railway Company and the Joyce-Watkins Company, and the heaviest stockholder in the Itasca Lumber Company and the Deer River Lumber Company. He is a director of the St. Paul Boom Company and a stockholder in the Mississippi River and the Chippewa Boom companies. He is one of the owners and a director of the Manistee & Grand Rapids Railroad, which operates sixty- one miles of road between Manistee and Dighton, Michigan, and connects with several other roads. With him in this en- terprise are John Crocker and other Chicago capitalists. Mr. Joyce has also large interests in the yellow pine field in the South. He was the moving spirit in the purchase, in 1906, by Chicago and New Orleans capitalists of the timber holdings and plants of the Winn Parish Lumber Company, the South Arkansas Lumber Company and the Tremont Lumber Company. The timber holdings thus secured are estimated at 1,300,000,000 feet, situated in Winn, Jackson, Lincoln, Ouachita and Union parishes, Louisiana. The mills formerly operated by the Winn Parish Lumber Company are at Pyburn, about two miles from Dodson, a station on the Arkan- sas Southern Railroad; that of the South Arkansas Lumber Company is at Jonesboro, Jackson Parish, on the same rail- road, and that of the Tremont Lumber Company is at Tremont, or Averill Station, Lincoln Parish, on the Vicksburg- Shreveport branch of the Queen & Crescent Route. The plants of those three concerns have a combined output of approximately 80,000,000 feet of lumber annually. Mr. Joyce is a director of the Tremont & Gulf Railroad, which extends fifty miles from Tremont to Winnfield. Another company of which Mr. Joyce is president is the Trinity County Lumber Company, of Groveton, Texas, which 172 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN operates one of the most modern sawmills of that section and has timber holdings aggregating 500,000,000 feet of yellow pine. Associated with him in this enterprise is W. F. N. Davis, formerly of Menominee, Michigan, an expert timber man and manufacturer. Mr. Joyce is president also of the Southern Investment Company, and holds the same executive position in the First National Bank, of Lyons, Iowa, the Lyons Savings Bank and in the Merchants' National Bank, of Clinton, Iowa. He is interested as a stockholder in the Illinois Trust & Savings Bank, and the Corn Exchange National Bank, both of Chicago ; the First National Bank of Minne- apolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota; the Interstate Trust & Bank- ing Company, of New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Union Bank & Trust Company, of Houston, Texas. He is a stock- holder in the Victoria Lumber & Manufacturing Company, of Victoria, British Columbia, and is president of the Park Hotel Company, which owns and operates the Park Hotel, at Hot Springs, Arkansas. In 1897 Mr- Joyce established his general headquarters in Chicago, and occupies a handsomely furnished suite of offices in the center of the financial district of the city. An insight into his domestic inclination is revealed in the decoration of his office, the walls being graced with portraits of his family and his homes. One of these homes is the old family residence at Chapinville, Connecticut, and another is the Joyce mansion at Lyons, Iowa. He has a fine residence in Chicago, also. Mr. Joyce has the happiest of domestic relations, being devoted to his wife and two sons. His wife was Miss Clotilde Gage, of a well-known Lyons family, whom he married in 1884. One of the sons — David G. — is about starting in busi- ness. The other son — ^James Stanley — is attending Yale. The social side of life has some attraction for Mr. Joyce, and he holds membership in the Chicago Club, the Union League, the Chicago Athletic and the Chicago Yacht clubs and in the Midlothian Country Club. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the B. P. O. Elks. Edward I ^^K... T 'I>^ ^ v>A.«» t . cr. Edward Lazarus Roberts was born January 3, 1849, in Ruabon, Wales, the son of Edward L. Roberts and Mary A. (Jones) Roberts. Mr. Roberts first engaged in the sash and door business at Davenport, Iowa, more than thirty years ago. The city was CO il in size ired with its magnitude of t ^.ancial resources were s ^t both ^ to reach the goal of 8urr<»?s. Rnhprff?. For two years of the manu- to he of oi i^ studc Two y< s uusmcbb iuiicu diwujiv 8TJ=l3aOR 8URASA_I a F« A W a 3 ^ w EDWARD LAZARUS ROBERTS Edward L. Roberts Like a host of other substantial business men, Edward L. Roberts started at the foot of the ladder. His capital when he began business consisted principally of youth, energy and an ambition to make a place for himself in the world of aflfairs. From a small beginning he has built two of the largest whole- sale jobbing houses in the West. And among those who are exclusively jobbers no one will question that Mr. Roberts is premier. Edward Lazarus Roberts was born January 3, 1849, in Ruabon, Wales, the son of Edward L. Roberts and Mary A. (Jones) Roberts. Mr. Roberts first engaged in the sash and door business at Davenport, Iowa, more than thirty years ago. The city was comparatively small in size compared with its magnitude of today, yet it offered an opening for the business that he estab- lished. With his brother, U. N. Roberts, since deceased, he entered into a partnership and began to soHcit the trade of that section. Their combined financial resources were small, but both men were fired with an ambition to reach the goal of success. But Mr. Roberts did not remain long at Davenport, as he desired to put forth his energy in a broader and more fertile field. Moving to Muscatine, Iowa, he entered the sawmill business, the firm being Burdick & Roberts. For two years he remained in Muscatine, learning the details of the manu- facture of lumber and gaining experience that was to be of lasting value to him throughout his career. While he watched the business grow he also studied the methods of distribution of lumber as carried on in those days, and, in fact, was a student of the lumber business as a whole. Two years in the manufacturing business rolled around and 173 174 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Mr. Roberts found himself with a desire to penetrate farther into the West, whither the tide of immigration was setting and where greater and more profitable returns were promised. Selling out his interest in the firm of Burdick & Roberts, at Muscatine, he started for the Sunflower State. He eventually reached Wakeeney, Kansas, where he opened a retail yard. As it was at the height of the boom period, this undertaking was more or less of an experiment for him. He acquired a vast amount of experience in conducting this retail business that was not without profit to him in his subsequent under- takings. From Kansas Mr. Roberts went to Chicago, and in May, 1880, he started the first wholesale sash and door business in the city, and his competitors in the trade were some of the largest manufacturing jobbers in the country, houses with unlimited capital. Mr. Roberts was a young man, possessed of but moderate financial resources and his failure was freely predicted by more than one lumberman who could not under- stand how this beginner could succeed in a line where compe- tition was keen to the death. Even his brother, with whom he had been associated at Davenport, advised against his locating in Chicago. But E. L. Roberts knew what he wanted and he had the pluck and self-confidence to carry out his determination. He was not a plunger and never has been, but has confined his operations within the scope of his capital, and by so doing is often enabled to take advantages that are available only to the cash buyer. Mr. Roberts studied the wants of the trade to which he catered and sought to shape his stock of goods to meet those wants. He realized that the manufacturing jobbers adjusted the products of the factories they represented to the demands of their trade, and it was only natural that they should endeavor to dispose of the products in which they were directly inter- ested in preference to those of any other manufacturer. Mr. Roberts' buying market was not bound by any particular fac- tory connection, but was restricted only by his ability to com- EDWARD L. ROBERTS 175 mand capital. Chicago, then even more than now, the natural distributing center of the great West, was the center of the jobbing industry and distributed goods in practically every section of the country, save the eastern and New England states. Villages, towns, cities that sprung from the bosom of the broad prairies almost in a day kept the carpenter and con- tractor busy, while the architect lingered behind to plan the mansions of the older East. Those were the days when stock goods ruled ; the home of the pioneer did not call for original designs nor ornate finish; the retail dealer bought doors and sash in straight carloads, and sold both his town and farmer customers from stock carried in his own yard. The wholesale factory made no pretense of manufacturing anything but regu- lar stock, and that was about all the wholesaler sold. Varied by the changing currents of trade as have been the conditions in recent years, Mr. Roberts has been able to com- bat them all successfully. The field of disposition for regular stock has been curtailed because the average home builder of today wants something different from his neighbor, and the architect is called upon to furnish it. The wholesale jobber by no means has been eliminated, though in some instances he has become a manufacturer of special work, or, perhaps, the sales medium of a manufacturing institution producing both special and stock goods ; in other cases he has remained in the jobbing business exclusively, buying both regular and stock goods where they can be obtained to the best advantage. Yet through it all the wholesale handling of sash and doors has re- mained a distinctive branch of the industry. In his business the methods followed by Mr. Roberts have ever been those of the merchant. Although there is nothing of aggression in either his manner or appearance, his commer- cial policy has been decidedly in that direction. A close student of business conditions and their particular effect on the sash and door trade; a shrewd buyer and one who could drive a sharp bargain on occasion, yet against whom there has never been a charge of dishonest or disreputable methods; a 176 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN man of broad mind and sterling character in private life, he fittingly illustrates the better type of the American business man. Worldly success has not changed his kindly nature in the least ; there is no doubt but that he enjoys wealth for the comforts that it brings to himself and family, but money is not a god that he worships, nor a master that claims him as its servant. During his entire career Mr. Roberts has shown the faculty of surrounding himself with assistants who were in per- fect accord with the management, and much of his success is undoubtedly due to this fact. Several years ago, when the business had become too large to allow of one man giving his personal attention to all the details, William L. Sharp was taken into partnership and the firm became E. L. Roberts & Co. Since that time Mr. Sharp has relieved Mr. Roberts in many ways, acting in the capacity of executive officer. Mr. Roberts has never been addicted to side issues in busi- ness, though for several years he has held an interest in McGregor Bros. & Co., of Granite Falls, Minnesota, a firm operating several retail yards in that neighborhood. To this business, however, he gives little personal attention. Mr. Roberts married Miss Nellie Roraback, a daughter of Isaac Roraback, of South Bend, Indiana, in 1873. Five children have been born to the couple — Hugh, Rhoda, Kath- arine, Ruth and Edward L. Roberts, Junior. The handsome home of the family is at Tracy, west of Morgan Park, Illinois. Mr. Roberts has at times taken much interest in poHtics and his name was once prominently mentioned in connection with the nomination for mayor of Chicago. He is a member of the Union League Club, a former director of the Hamilton Club, a member of the Ridge Country Club and president of the Thirty-second Ward Republican Club. Hci 1 P eke gciy to the prosperity and sta- in every line of commerce and in abtfal of the pos- sibility of success in other ciimcs, own industry gained positions of eminence in the land of their adoption. Of this type of citizen is Herman Paepcke, of Chicago, Illinois. As the head of six large corporations doing an enormous volume of business, he is a prominent figure in the lumber trade and an example of what intelligently directed effort can accomplish. Besides, he is a stalwart American in sympathy and IP ' , ,iit\i- , Germany, Feb- ru "^ obtained in the ex '^^r^nts lived h"t hii vie V.J ■' ^^'" *t Wisma " a studeiii < for i. '- dt Paepcke ' a of Indianc ''* was in the v cf products of Tc »n ihii trade, but his acti' HERMAN PAEPCKE: Herman Paepcke America has been the Mecca of millions of ambitious young men who have left their homes in other countries to come to the New World in search of the opportunities that await the earnest worker in the United States. This element of the population has added largely to the prosperity and sta- bility of this country, and in every line of commerce and in the professions are to be found men who, doubtful of the pos- sibiHty of success in other climes, have by their own industry gained positions of eminence in the land of their adoption. Of this type of citizen is Herman Paepcke, of Chicago, Illinois. As the head of six large corporations doing an enormous volume of business, he is a prominent figure in the lumber trade and an example of what intelligently directed effort can accomplish. Besides, he is a stalwart American in sympathy and in practice and a strong supporter of the country's institu- tions and government. Mr. Paepcke was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, Feb- ruary 12, 185 1. His early education was obtained in the excellent schools in the city where his parents lived, but his views were broadened by a course finished at the college at Wismar, in Mecklenburg. Even as a young man he had been a student of commerce, and as he looked about him in the fatherland he could see nothing ahead of him but a struggle for existence. The prospect was not a pleasing one, so he determined to seek in the United States his fortune. Crossing the Atlantic at the age of twenty-one years, Mr. Paepcke came to America and chose the then thriving town of Indianola, Texas, in which to cast his lot. His first venture was in the way of shipping cotton, wool, hides and other products of Texas to New York. He was successful in this trade, but his activities were interrupted when a cyclone swept 177 178 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN the Texas Coast, a storm such as destroyed the city of Galves- ton in recent years, and left death and destruction in the growing city of Indianola. This was in 1875, and when, a few years later, another cyclone caused a further great loss the young shipper, with others, sought a different location. It was in 1881 that Mr. Paepcke appeared in Chicago, the scene of his future success in the business world. He em- barked in the planing mill and box manufacturing business, a plant being started at Fifth Avenue and Harrison Street. For four years this plant was operated successfully, the business being extended during that time, and then a new site for manufacturing had to be selected, as the property was taken for the Grand Central station. A new plant of greater capacity than the old one was built at the foot of Carpenter Street and the business continued under the title of H. Paepcke & Co. The growth of its trade was remarkable, and in 1887 a retail yard was opened in connection with the planing mill and box factory. In two years the facilities of the plant became too limited and a move was made to the east end of IlHnois Street, near the north pier. Later, Mr. Paepcke bought the yard and stock of the Peshtigo Lumber Company, at that location, and the business expanded rapidly; but in 1902, owing to the extensive interests acquired in the South, the wholesale pine yard was disposed of. The formation and extension of the business of the Paepcke- Leicht Lumber Company is as interesting a page in the history of commercial enterprise as can be found anywhere. A large part of the credit for the results obtained is due to Mr. Paepcke's management of affairs. He is a believer in organ- ization and system, and every detail of the corporations he controls is familiar to him. He is courteous to friend and stranger alike, direct in his speech and quick of decision. Mr. Paepcke's entire time is given to the direction of the affairs of the company, which, with its correlative concerns, is the largest box manufacturing concern in the world, and m 1905 and 1906 was known as the heaviest individual owner of HERMAN PAEPCKE 179 Cottonwood stumpage in America. There are six distinct corporations: The Paepcke-Leicht Lumber Company, the Chicago Packing Box Company, the American Box Company, all of Chicago; the Chicago Mill & Lumber Company, of Cairo, lUinois; the Marked Tree Lumber Company, of Marked Tree, Arkansas, and the Cairo, Memphis & Southern Railroad & Transportation Company, operating a line of steamers and barges on the Mississippi. Four extensive box- making plants are operated and the raw material, chiefly Cot- tonwood and red gum, is obtained from seventeen sawmills, several of them owned by the underlying corporations. The officers of the several corporations are: Paepcke- Leicht Lumber Company — H. Paepcke, president; William Wilms, vice president; E. A. Leicht, treasurer, and J. P. Hankey, secretary. Chicago Packing Box Company — H. Paepcke, president; C. H. Limbach, vice president and treas- urer, and M. J. Bosen, secretary. Chicago Mill & Lumber Company — H. Paepcke, president; William Wilms, vice president; E. A. Leicht, treasurer; C. F. Yegge, secretary, and S. Wagner, assistant treasurer. The other companies have substantially the same officers. With a view to obtaining the best results in the conduct of the business as a whole, and to avoid the friction accompany- ing the division of responsibility, Mr. Paepcke evolved the scheme of an executive board. This body is composed of directors of each corporation and represents each department, Mr. Paepcke assuming the chairmanship. At the meetings of the board the policy of each company is mapped out and a satisfactory arrangement of the workings of each plant secured. The executive board has its own committees, to which are re- ferred all questions that may come up for determination. At the American Box Company plant from 50,000 to 75,000 feet of lumber is manufactured into boxes daily by a force of 300 men. At the factory of the Chicago Packing Box Company, about 125,000 feet of lumber is cut up and made into boxes daily, and a stock of 15,000,000 feet is in pile. i8o AMERICAN LUMBERMEN The largest and most complete establishment of the enter- prise is that of the Chicago Mill & Lumber Company, at Cairo, Illinois, where sixty acres of ground is occupied by the plant. Located there is a sawmill with a band and a band resaw with a capacity of about 85,000 feet of lumber a day. The box factory has a capacity of seven cars of shooks each day, and veneers are manufactured for egg cases, furniture work and drawer bottoms. Employment is given to 600 men. The box factory of the Three States Lumber Company was bought in 1900. Fifteen auxiliary mills in Missouri, Missis- sippi and Arkansas act as feeders to the four factories in Chi- cago and Cairo, and nearly all these mills are sawing on timber owned by the company. In 1906 the Chicago Mill & Lumber Company erected a double band sawmill at Chickasawba, Arkansas, having a capacity of 100,000 feet a day of ten hours. It adds largely to the company's facilities which, in 1906, were capable of producing about 500,000 feet a day. In addition to these interests the Paepcke-Leicht Lumber Company controls the Cairo, Memphis & Southern Railroad & Transportation Company, which operates 117 miles of standard gauge railroad and a line of steamers, tow boats and barges on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and their tributaries. Through his frequent trips to Europe Mr. Paepcke is familiar with the export trade, which forms a large part of the business of the Paepcke-Leicht Lumber Company. The for- eign department handles considerable cottonwood and other hardwoods through the Chicago headquarters, though a southern office is maintained at Knoxville, Tennessee. Mr. Paepcke married Miss Paula Wagner, of Indianola, Texas, July 27, 1878. Four children — three girls and one boy — have come of this union. The eldest daughter, Sophie, is the wife of Professor Alexander Pflueger, of the University of Bonn, Germany. Another daughter, Lydia, is the wife of William Wilms, of the Paepcke-Leicht company. The family occupies a beautiful home in Glencoe, a suburb of Chicago. \r cy of The trade is j- ior attractions over all -, in the second, and, ding generations, of men who hewed their fortunes from the forest. Charles A. Goodyear, of Chicago, IlHnois, is one of those whose ancestors for four generations were lumbermen. The first of the Goodyear family in America was Stephen Goodyear, a London merchant, who associated himself with other merchants in chartering the ship Hector, which sailed from E"'^^'^nd in 1637 and whose passengers founded the col- — ' -^ iT.,,.^o ;n what is now Connecticut. Stephen V >.^n;r,,.nt men of his day and took a irs of the colony, serving as uum his death, in 1658. Of the A or Goodyear, the records give a n; gleaned from them to establish the ' ' ' ^- W^'' - ■ .d- cr >3- rd , DC- IC near Carlisle, oncd nnals appear to - >n of land. Charles o, is the great-great- great-grandson, in c \ Goodyear, the New j=IA3VaOOO SMAQA a3-JHAHO CHARL_E:S ADAMS GOODYEIAR Charles A. Goodyear Of the hundreds of men who are today successfully follow- ing the lumber business, many of them, perhaps a majority of them, are descendants of lumbermen. The trade is conspicu- ously one that appears to ofTer superior attractions over all other commercial lines to the descendants, in the second, and, in many instances, the third and succeeding generations, of men who hewed their fortunes from the forest. Charles A. Goodyear, of Chicago, Illinois, is one of those whose ancestors for four generations were lumbermen. The first of the Goodyear family in America was Stephen Goodyear, a London merchant, who associated himself with other merchants in chartering the ship Hector^ which sailed from England in 1637 and whose passengers founded the col- ony of New Haven, in what is now Connecticut. Stephen Goodyear was one of the eminent men of his day and took a prominent part in the civic aflfairs of the colony, serving as deputy governor from 1643 until his death, in 1658. Of the ancestry of Deputy Governor Goodyear, the records give a meager account, but enough is gleaned from them to estabUsh the fact that he was a lineal descendant of Sir William Good- ere, who was knighted by James I, at Whitehall, July 23, 1603. The earliest ancestor of which there is record was Richard Goodere, Lord of Poynton, in Cheshire, who died, it is be- lieved, while on an expedition with King Edward I, in 1307. The King was preparing to invade Scotland at the time and it is inferred that Lord Poynton was a member of his forces. Richard, the son, built a house at Monckinge Hadley, near Carlisle, and all of the Gooderes mentioned in the early annals appear to have originated in that section of Cumberland. Charles Adams Goodyear, of Chicago, is the great-great- great-grandson, in direct line, of Stephen Goodyear, the New 181 i82 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Haven colonist. He is one of those to whom the lumber business comes by inheritance, and the fact that he is so well qualified and so uniformly successful in his chosen occupa- tion is attributable to his forbears on both sides of the house who were lumbermen. His maternal grandfather, Charles C. Waterhouse was a lumberman of Havana, New York, and after- ward engaged in the California lumber trade with headquarters at Brooklyn, New York, shipping lumber around the Horn during the gold fever years, between 1849 and 1852. Two younger members of the Goodyear family are today among the heaviest operators in the trade, Charles Waterhouse Good- year and Frank Henry Goodyear, of Buffalo, New York, who comprise the widely known firm of F. H. & C. W. Good- year, owning, besides large lumber and railroad interests in Pennsylvania, some of the most extensive tracts of timber and manufacturing interests in yellow pine in the southern states. One of the noted members of the family was Charles Good- year, the celebrated inventor of vulcanized rubber, who died in i860, and who in his three-score years accomplished won- derful results in the advancement of science and commerce. Darius Adams Goodyear, father of Charles A. Goodyear, married Mary Ann Waterhouse on May 25, 1848. Two years before that he engaged with his future wife's father, C. C. Waterhouse, in the lumber business in Brooklyn. The son was born to the couple, September 22, 1849. The family remained in Brooklyn until 1858, when the senior Mr. Good- year sold his interests and moved to Portage, Wisconsin, where he again embarked in the lumber business, the firm being Mann & Goodyear. Young Goodyear was educated in Portage and graduated from the high school at the age of sixteen years. When out of school he entered the business of his father, and, though but a youth, he quickly familiarized himself with its details. Mann & Goodyear floated lumber down the Wisconsin River to Portage, from which point it was distributed to yards of their own and to various dealers along the Mississippi River. CHARLES A. GOODYEAR 183 In 1876 Mr. Goodyear's father took him into partnership, the firm becoming D. A. & C. A. Goodyear, the center of their operations then being at Mather, Wisconsin. In 1883 the yard and office were moved to Tomah, where, in 1888, one of the largest and most modern sawmills in the Northwest was built. The mill has been remodeled several times and its present equipment comprises two bands and a band resaw, with a daily capacity of 100,000 feet. At the outset the firm owned timber adjacent to Tomah, but as this was cut out other acreage was bought in the northern part of Wisconsin and the logs brought to the mill by rail, a haul of 200 miles, in some instances. In 1906 the supply of logs came from Vilas County, where the company owns a tract of 35,000,000 feet of pine. When that timber is cut out the operations will be started on a tract of approximately 300,000,000 feet in Gogebic County, Michigan. Mr. Goodyear bought the latter property in 1905 and has further provided for his manu- facturing operations by securing about 1,000,000,000 feet of fir, spruce and cedar on Puget Sound, Washington. Mr. Goodyear bought the interest of his father in the firm of D. A. & C. A. Goodyear, at Tomah, in 1899, and continu- ed the business under his own name until January i, 1906, when it was incorporated under the laws of Wisconsin as the C. A. Goodyear Lumber Company, with a capital of $500,000. The officers are Charles A. Goodyear, president; Lamont Rowlands, vice president and general manager, and Miles A. Goodyear, secretary. D. A. Goodyear died August 20, 1905. Mr. Goodyear married Miss Fannie Stewart, daughter of Judge Alva Stewart, of Portage, Wisconsin, September 11, 1872. Five children, three sons and two daughters, were born to the couple. Miles A. Goodyear, the surviving son, is secretary of the C. A. Goodyear company. Charles McPher- son Goodyear, another son, died in 1895. ^^^ o^ ^he daugh- ters, Ellen Josephine, is the wife of Lamont Rowlands, vice president and general manager of the Goodyear company, and the other one, Mary Belle, is the wife of George C. i84 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Hodges, of Chicago. Alva Stewart Goodyear, Mr. Good- year's oldest son, who had risen to the position of manager of the operations of the concern at Tomah, died May 13, 1904, at the age of twenty-nine years. He served as acting captain of Company K, Third Wisconsin Regiment, during the Span- ish-American War, and during the campaign in Porto Rico he contracted malarial fever, which was primarily responsible for his death five years later. To add to Mr. Goodyear's grief, Mrs. Goodyear, who had been ill for several months previous to Alva's death, suffered such a shock that she, too, suc- cumbed, her death occurring twelve days after that of her son. Although Mr. Goodyear always has been a consistent sup- porter of the policies of the Republican party, he never has sought nor has he held public office. At one time he was nominated for Congress, but withdrew. At another time he was nominated for the Wisconsin State Senate, but declined the honor. Mr. Goodyear is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Union League Club and the Ken- wood Club, of Chicago. In 1903 he built a handsome resi- dence at 4840 Greenwood Avenue, Chicago. The architec- ture is of early English style. Valuable assistance in formulat- ing the plans was given by Mrs. Rowlands, and many of the attractive features of the home are due to her intimate knowl- edge of old English country houses. Mr. Goodyear possesses democratic manners and has never been accused of regarding himself as being in any sense above the common level of humanity. Having led a busy life and in his youth encountered hardships and endured priva- tions in the endeavor to establish a business, he is prone to carry himself, in years of maturity and affluence, as simply and as far removed from ostentation as any of his several hundred employees. Frills of any sort are not to his liking and he cordially detests many of the so-called regulations of a social order with which he neither sympathizes nor affiliates. None the less does he conduct himself at all times as becoming one who is the descendant of generations of gentlemen. Williar-i W. Schultz r*»n ^ arns ■ most -s. Such a - IV. V^^ ^«, \_/ 4 .,,. .. of Alsacc- , iiav.wg been born in ^^...cttstadt in 1827. He im- iiii^iaicd to the United States in 1845 and settled in western New York, near Rochester, where he engaged in farming for a short period and then in the building and contracting busi- ness. He married, in 1850, Catherine McArthur, and William W. Schultz was one of four sons born of this union. The lad IS reared in Rochester, where he received his education in hing with a course in the academy at the aj^c ui the study of civil engineering, aural fondness, but, having a severe forced to drop his studies and secure Hex i \. McArthur, were & ' in K was he cruised helping on the drives nseful at all Tn • SA ft A * ft.- - and L :T_JUH03 aRANA/ MAI_J-JI\A/ 9 1 r \A/ll_l_IAM WARD SCHULTZ William W. Schultz No better foundation for a life work can be laid than the study of an industry from its beginning; and he who learns thoroughly the rudiments of his occupation becomes the most efficient and is, therefore, the most likely of success. Such a man is William Ward Schultz, of Chicago, Illinois. He was born August 15, 1851, at Rochester, New York. His father, Xavier George Schultz, was a native of Alsace- Lorraine, having been born in Schlettstadt in 1827. He im- migrated to the United States in 1845 and settled in western New York, near Rochester, where he engaged in farming for a short period and then in the building and contracting busi- ness. He married, in 1850, Catherine McArthur, and William W. Schultz was one of four sons born of this union. The lad was reared in Rochester, where he received his education in the public schools, finishing with a course in the academy at the age of nineteen. Young Schultz had taken up the study of civil engineering, for which he showed a natural fondness, but, having a severe attack of asthma, he was forced to drop his studies and secure open air employment at once. He went to the pine woods of Michigan, where his uncles, W. and A. McArthur, were then, as now, engaged extensively in lumber manufacturing. Secur- ing a position with McArthur, Smith & Co., under which style the business was conducted, he started in to learn the manufacture of lumber. During his first season he was em- ployed in scaling logs, the following summer he cruised timber, and for several years divided about half of each year between these two occupations, besides helping on the drives during the spring and making himself generally useful at all times. In 1873 McArthur, Smith & Co. started a wholesale lumber yard at Twenty-second and Laflin streets, Chicago, 185 i86 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN and in the following year Mr. Schultz was placed in charge of the business, conducting it in the capacity of manager until the spring of 1883, when McArthur, Smith & Co., retired from the Chicago market. The firm of Crandall, Schultz & Co. was organized May i, 1883, by James N. Crandall, William W. Schultz and R. B. Miller, and a wholesale yard was established at Thirty-fifth Street and Centre Avenue, Chicago. The business was prose- cuted actively during the ensuing seven years, the first year its handlings amounting to about 8,000,000 feet, and the volume of its transactions steadily grew until during the last four years of its existence the sales averaged more than 25,000,000 feet annually. In 1890 Mr. Miller retired from the firm and the two remaining partners conducted the business with equally good success until May i, 1894. In 1890 Mr. Schultz, with several others, organized the lUinois & Wisconsin Lumber Company, of Merrill, Wisconsin. A sawmill at Merrill and a tract of timber adjacent to the site were bought and operations carried on actively for several years. In 1896 Mr. Schultz sold his interest in the mill and timber to C. B. Flinn, the mill having sawed in the five years preceding about 150,000,000 feet. The wholesale firm of Schultz Bros, was organized in Chi- cago in 1892 by James N. and Alexander J. Schultz. W. W. Schultz was admitted as a partner in 1894, after he had dis- posed of his interest in Crandall, Schultz & Co. Schultz Bros, did a steadily increasing business during several years until the results of the panic of 1893 were more clearly developed. In December, 1896, through the failures of several concerns owing the firm large amounts of money, a temporary suspen- sion of the business was deemed advisable. To the credit of W. W. Schultz and his brothers, in less than thirty days the firm again was in active operation, and, within a few months, without legal obligation but with a full appreciation of its moral obligation, had paid every debt in full. The firm has steadily increased its volume of business as WILLIAM W. SCHULTZ 187 well as its scope in the lumber field and it is now a large and increasingly important factor in the wholesale trade of the country. One of its principal departments is that of long piling for foundations, in which line it may be said to outrank any concern in the country. One of the first and most im- portant contracts obtained by the firm for piHng was in 1897, when between 5,000 and 6,000 pieces of fifty-foot piling for the Federal Building in Chicago were furnished. Other houses in the same line had declined the business, but Mr. Schultz completed the contract satisfactorily, having discovered a forest of norway trees of unusual quality and size in northern Wisconsin. The firm also held a contract extending over three years for 100,000 pieces of piling from forty-five to sev- enty-five feet in length, which was completed recently. Schultz Bros, are getting out piling in eleven states and in Canada and their market embraces the entire eastern half of the country. While the business of Schultz Bros, was originally confined almost exclusively to northern pine, it gradually shifted during succeeding years to southern pine, and in October, 1902, Charles D. Benedict was admitted to the firm for the purpose of taking charge of the yellow pine department, and a separate partnership, Schultz Bros. & Benedict, was formed. In 1904 750,000,000 feet of yellow pine was handled by the concern. Also in that year a cypress department was organized and since then many millions of feet have been handled. Schultz Bros, have been extensively engaged in the maple flooring business, also. In 1900 the Kerry & Schultz Manufacturing Company was organized at Bay City, Michigan. Operations were car- ried on there for a year and a half until the mill was destroyed by fire, when the company, in September, 1901, bought the old sawmill and site of the A. W. Wright Lumber Company, at Saginaw, Michigan. The mill plant was rebuilt into a flooring factory and operated actively until the spring of 1905, when it was destroyed by fire. In January, 1905, a poplar and hardwood department was started, in charge of James C. i88 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Cowen. In June of 1906 Mr. Benedict withdrew from Schultz Bros. & Benedict and that firm was succeeded by Schultz Bros. & Cowen. With ail these various and diversified interests Mr. Schultz keeps in close touch, but gives his personal attention mainly to the piling department. The great success scored by that branch of the business has been largely due to his indefatigable energy and competent direction. Not only has Mr. Schultz been prominent as a lumberman in the Chicago market for thirty-two years, but he has been prominent among those who have contributed to the wonder- ful increase in importance of that market, having been for many years interested in the various lumber organizations which have contributed to the standing of the lumber trade and the growth of the city, and also actively identified with them. For seven years he was a director of the Lumbermen's Exchange, and became a director of the Lumbermen's Asso- ciation of Chicago when it was organized. He served a term as vice president and in 1891 was elected president, serving so well in that capacity that he was reelected for another term in 1892. During his first term his office was one of unusual re- sponsibility, owing to its being the first time for many years that all the lumbermen of the city had been gathered into a single organization. Mr. Schultz married Miss Lizzie E. Leavitt, a daughter of Jerome A. Leavitt, at Cheboygan, Michigan, November i, 1876. One son has been born to the couple— Jerome A. Schultz, who is in the insurance business in Chicago and dis- plays much of the energy and capability of his father. Mr. Schultz is fond of home life and has an especial liking for literature, spending much of his time in his library at home. Ed i E. Moberlv ^ y in ' its es v -. - ..or .^. He did not begin the manufacture of cypress as a .... .ce, for in his long experience as a lumberman in the met- ropolitan field he became thoroughly conversant with southern lumber of every description, and with southern life and methods as well. For years he was heavily interested in the production and sale of yellow pine lumber before he turned his attention to its companion wood — cypress. Edward Everett Moberly was born at Duquoin, Perry C' " s October 20, 1859. His father was John H. N^' ' er Hester J. Moberly. He was edu- • m )1 at Duquoin and later took up a e, at Upper Alton, Illinois. Imme- ege in 1880 he began his business , where he secured a position in I retail lumber firm of Street, C \e present firm of Street, r, though responsi- . he f in 9 of He ncss, d him- bent up .. . ... in order that he rr; ^ t a businesi of his own, to which laudablr .^d. At the time that Street, '9 Y-IFiaaOM TT3H3V3 Q SR A W Q 3 ED WARD EVERETT MOBERLV Edward E. Moberly With the growth and expansion of the cypress industry in comparatively recent years, many have been drawn into its manufacture who had previously gained success in other lines of the lumber business. One of the men to enter the industry recently and almost immediately to become an important factor in the production of this wood is E. E. Moberly, of Chicago, Illinois. He did not begin the manufacture of cypress as a novice, for in his long experience as a lumberman in the met- ropolitan field he became thoroughly conversant with southern lumber of every description, and with southern life and methods as well. For years he was heavily interested in the production and sale of yellow pine lumber before he turned his attention to its companion wood — cypress. Edward Everett Moberly was born at Duquoin, Perry County, Illinois, October 20, 1859. His father was John H. Moberly and his mother Hester J. Moberly. He was edu- cated in the public school at Duquoin and later took up a course at Shurtleff College, at Upper Alton, Illinois. Imme- diately upon leaving college in 1880 he began his business career by going to Chicago, where he secured a position in the office of the wholesale and retail lumber firm of Street, Chatfield & Keep, predecessors of the present firm of Street, Chatfield & Co. His first work was as a bookkeeper, though it was not long before he was given more important responsi- bilities, and during the ten years he was with the firm he acquired a valuable practical experience in the details of handling and shipping lumber in the Chicago market. He developed a liking for the lumber business, and applied him- self assiduously to the duties incumbent upon him in order that he might qualify to conduct a business of his own, to which laudable ambition he aspired. At the time that Street, 189 190 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Chatfield & Keep closed out their Twenty-second Street yard Mr. Moberly opened a lumber commission office on his own account, embarking in the trade of white pine, in 1890, with his father-in-law, C. H. Blair, under the firm name of C. H. Blair & Co. The jobber of lumber, at the time Mr. Moberly opened his office, was considered an unimportant factor in the trade of Chicago, where business was largely done direct from exten- sive and well-stocked yards, then regarded as a necessary adjunct to the proper transaction of a lumber business. Mr. Moberly was convinced that it would be possible to do a profitable trade in direct shipments from the mills, a proposi- tion which he proceeded to demonstrate; and, as a result of that demonstration, he became one of the pioneers of the now influential colony of office lumbermen in the downtown dis- trict of Chicago. The limited competition and the oppor- tunities for profit in this line were greater in those days than they now are, and the business of C. H. Blair & Co. grew and prospered under the capable management of the young lum- berman. Mr. Moberly continued actively in the wholesale lumber business from 1890 until 1903, meanwhile, in 1893, changing the name of the firm to E. E. Moberly & Co. While carrying on a wholesale business the decreasing supply of white pine gradually diverted Mr. Moberly's atten- tion to the yellow pine field, and in the later years of his activity in Chicago he directed his efforts chiefly to southern products. While thus engaged he organized and financed the H. M. Nixon Lumber Company for the purpose of oper- ating in hardwoods. Closing out all his other wholesale inter- ests in 1903, Mr. Moberly aided in the organization of the Anguera Lumber Company, which conducts a wholesale yellow pine and hardwood business, with offices in the Mo- nadnock Building, Chicago, and of which concern he became vice president and the principal stockholder. While operating in yellow pine lumber Mr. Moberly studied the field closely and recognized the possibilities of EDWARD E. MOBERLY 191 manufacturing in that line, and in 1898 he bought a one-half interest in the Amos Kent Lumber & Brick Company, Lim- ited, of Kentwood, Louisiana. This company at that time was a comparatively small institution, operating a mill of limited capacity and backed by meager timber holdings. The manu- facturing facihties and timber resources of the company were largely expanded, and when the company disposed of its holdings in March, 1906, it had accumulated stumpage to the extent of 250,000,000 feet, and timber lands comprising an area of 23,000 acres, besides a modern mill plant. Late in 1905 Mr. Moberly, in company with J. N. Cum- mings, formerly secretary of the Louisiana Cypress Company, Limited, of Harvey, Louisiana, and an old time Chicago lum- berman, organized the Cummings & Moberly Cypress Com- pany, with a paid in capital of $125,000. Mr. Moberly is president of the company and Mr. Cummings secretary- treasurer and general manager. The company owns an ex- tensive tract of cypress land in St. Charles Parish, in the south- eastern part of Louisiana. At Taft, a new settlement located on the Texas & Pacific Railway, over which the product of the mill finds an outlet, has been built a modern sawmill plant, planing mill, dry kilns and all accessories of a well organized and efficient manufacturing plant for catering to northern markets, and a logging road furnishes the supply of logs for the mill. The mill is of a band type with a capacity of 60,000 feet a day. Neither pains nor expense was spared by Mr. Moberly or his associates in making the Cummings & Moberly Cypress Com- pany one of the most effective manufacturing institutions in the cypress belt, special attention having been paid to the utilization of methods that have proved, by long practical experience, to be conducive to economy of manufacture and excellence of production. The plant is supplemented with some of the most improved labor saving mechanical devices that the inventive genius of the day has as yet been able to produce. The logs are loaded on cars in the woods by steam skidders and delivered directly into the log pond at the mill, 192 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN and mechanical contrivances of the latest pattern handle them and their product through each stage of the operation up to the putting in pile of lumber, lath and shingles in the mill yard. Mr. Moberly is still a young man, energetic, strong of purpose and resourceful in methods. He has earned the con- fidence of those with whom he has had business dealings, and has commanded the respect of his confreres. But, best of all, there are no rankHng resentments, due to unfair methods, to be overcome, no hostile sentiments to be placated. He is plain speaking, fair minded and honorable with all with whom he comes in contact. To no man in the lumber trade is tendered a greater measure of unselfish good wishes by his fellows for his continued prosperity; and this fact tells more forcibly than could any words of the character of his dealings with others. Mr. Moberly married Miss Jennie Blair, a daughter of Charles H. Blair, of Chicago, who later became his partner, April 28, 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Moberly reside during the greater part of the year in a beautiful home in Chicago and spend the summer months on the New England Coast. They have four children — a son and three daughters. ^ f if m W' of uent of an ass : semi-public character with which he n d. John William Embree, of Chicago, Illinois, cnt of one of the most prominent wholesale con- ; West, served with unusual ability his fellow lum- bermen of his adopted city in a crisis and displayed excellent judgment, fearlessness and determination in defending his own rights and the rights of others. The Embree family is descended from French Huguenots, thousands of whom came to America from France in the Seventeenth Century to gain religious freedom. Among them ,...,. . f^..,,K. ^f ^'^ibrees who were Quakers and who picked e in the Colony of Virginia. A succeeding ^ ' the sparsely settled Muskingum River ^* -.- r- Ohio, and took up t William Embree, 1 and there that he a m ■T t Strait; villc. Until nbrce never had seen a railroad. worked for a year in a company store ng concern, when the family again moved, .a, Kansas. John W. 335=iaM3 MAUJIlM/ MHOL JOHN WILLIAM EMBREZE John W. Embree When a man exhibits rare executive force in the conduct of an extensive business he can generally be relied upon to dis- play a similar strength in the management of an association or any other affair of a semi-public character with which he may be intrusted. John William Embree, of Chicago, Illinois, vice president of one of the most prominent wholesale con- cerns in the West, served with unusual ability his fellow lum- bermen of his adopted city in a crisis and displayed excellent judgment, fearlessness and determination in defending his own rights and the rights of others. The Embree family is descended from French Huguenots, thousands of whom came to America from France in the Seventeenth Century to gain religious freedom. Among them was a family of Embrees who were Quakers and who picked out an abiding place in the Colony of Virginia. A succeeding generation moved to the sparsely settled Muskingum River Valley, near Pennsville, Morgan County, Ohio, and took up agriculture as a vocation. It was there that William Embree, father of John William Embree, was born and there that he married Mary Jane Dunn, the daughter of a minister. John William Embree was born to this couple at Pennsville, Novem- ber 15, i860. What education the boy was able to obtain was secured in the village school before he was thirteen years old. At this tender age he became a clerk in a general store at Pennsville, where he remained three years, until the family moved to New Straitsville, Perry County, about twenty miles from Penns- ville. Until he reached this place young Embree never had seen a railroad. At New Straitsville he worked for a year in a company store operated by a coal mining concern, when the family again moved, locating at Topeka, Kansas. John W. 193 194 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Embree's commercial training was such as to enable him to enter one of the large business houses of Topeka, where his faithful services earned for him advancement in responsibility and increased salary. Mr. Embree's entrance into the lumber field, in which he has attained considerable distinction, was in January, 1884. His cousin, the late Jesse R. Embree, had, in May, 1883, started in the lumber trade with M. F. Rittenhouse in Chi- cago. Correspondence passed between the cousins and John Embree was solicited to go to the western metropolis and learn the lumber business under the tutelage of his cousin. He considered the matter carefully because it meant to him a sacrifice in salary and the abandonment of a purely mercan- tile career. His decision to accept his relative's offer was hastened, however, by the advice of a physician, who announced that the young man's health would be benefited by a position where he could be in the open air most of the time. So, in January, 1884, he left Topeka for Chicago and entered the employ of Rittenhouse & Embree at a salary of $40 a month. His first work was tallying lumber in the yard of the firm, and gradually he became thoroughly familiar with grading and in- specting. A year spent in the yard was sufficient to qualify him for assuming the position of city salesman and in the two years he followed this line of activity he gained a wide acquaintance with the personnel of the retail trade and a knowledge of the requirements of consumers. The ability he had demonstrated all along led to his being given full charge of the selHng end of the business and of the supervision of credits in 1887. Upon the incorporation of the Rittenhouse & Embree Company in May, 1892, M. F. Rittenhouse became president, Jesse R. Embree, vice president and John W. Embree, secre- tary, the latter holding a one-fifth interest in the corporation. Two years later Jesse R. Embree sold his interest in the busi- ness to the other partners and Mr. Rittenhouse then became JOHN W. EMBREE 195 president and treasurer and John W. Embree vice president and secretary. During the last twelve years the company, in which Mr. Embree takes an active and important part, has come into the front rank of the Chicago trade, not only in the volume of business transacted, but as a representative house as well. Outside of the wholesale and retail business carried on, Mr. Embree and his partner have extensive interests in lum- ber operations in the North and South. One of the oper- ations in which Mr. Embree is interested is the Arkansas Lumber Company, manufacturer of yellow pine, at Warren, Bradley County, Arkansas. The plant is one of the best equipped and largest in the South, with a capacity of 150,000 feet of lumber a day. The company owns approximately 700,000,000 feet of yellow pine and hardwood timber, short- leaf pine forming the greater percentage of these holdings. Little of the output of this company is sold in the Chicago market, the larger portion of the sales being made in territory tributary to St. Louis. Mr. Embree is vice president of the Arkansas Lumber Company. Mr. Embree is president of the Chandler Lumber Com- pany, which concern was organized following the purchase, in October, 1902, by Mr. Embree and Mr. Rittenhouse, of the Dean interests in the Central Lumber Company, of Chicago. The Chandler company does an exclusively retail business and handles about 30,000,000 feet of lumber a year. Another retail lumber company of which Mr. Embree is president is the Sixty-third Street Lumber Company, of Chicago, which was organized in 1904 to operate a retail yard at Sixty-third and La Salle streets. This yard has a large trade with the con- tracting and building interests of the South Side section of Chicago. Mr. Embree's executive ability was given a severe test in 1905, in which year he was chosen president of the Lumber- men's Association of Chicago. When he took the office the association was confronted by the most unusual situation in 196 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN regard to labor it had ever known. The hundreds of teamsters in the employ of the various lumber yards of the city were on a sympathetic strike and Mr. Embree, as president of the association was placed in a most trying position in conserving the interests of the lumbermen. With the support of the asso- ciation members he proceeded to bring order out of chaos and was successful in bringing the strike to a close with satisfaction to both sides. All the way through he demonstrated strength, endurance, power to originate and the executive ability to carry plans to their fruition. He neglected no detail either in association matters or of private interests, and his administra- tion of both was exceptional. Mr. Embree's home life is a happy one. He married Miss Carrie A. Stevens, a daughter of Thomas H. Stevens, a member of the Chicago Board of Trade, December i, 1888. Of this union one son has been born — ^John WilHam Embree II, who is now in his eighth year. Mr. Embree was born with an incentive to work. In his case it has developed all the better qualities of the man, made him a master of himself and equipped him to become a ruler over many. He started his commercial career at the bottom, worked zealously at whatever was before him and steadily widened his sphere of usefulness as he climbed toward the goal of success. In doing so he sought neither honors nor prefer- ment, merely endeavoring to do his duty to the best of his ability; but preferment came to him unsolicited and honors have been extended to him without stint. v^ I V4 1 tA V *: I- A I \^ . The same ...... ^v.vv\, ..«,v .^v.i brought into play, the same energy has been necessary to the attainment of the end desired. In brief, the kind of a man qualified to reach the goal in one department of the business is the man who inevi- tably would have secured a success in the other. If anything, however, it has required a greater amount of labor to earn a reward in the retail business. The profits arc not as large and petition appears in a greater nu- d with j pro hern.. ^^\J< t3 i/'^o Michigan. iTi oun, JOHN EDMUND BURNS John E. Burns While, perhaps, the greater number of successes, from a financial standpoint, in connection with the lumber industry have been men who have chosen the manufacturing end of the business as the field of their operations, there have been a number of substantial fortunes made in the retail ranks. As a rule it has taken longer, but success has followed endeavor just as surely in the retailing of lumber as in its manufacture. The same attributes have been brought into play, the same energy has been necessary to the attainment of the end desired. In brief, the kind of a man qualified to reach the goal in one department of the business is the man who inevi- tably would have secured a success in the other. If anything, however, it has required a greater amount of labor to earn a reward in the retail business. The profits are not as large and competition appears in a greater number of guises and with more insistence. Therefore, it appears that to attain promi- nence in the retail trade is more difficult than is the case when engaged in the larger field of manufacturing operations. An example of rapid and permanent advancement in the business of retailing lumber is afforded by a perusal of the his- tory of John Edmund Burns, president of the John E. Burns Lumber Company, of Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Burns says that no one ever put a dollar into his pocket when he was not looking, but that he has had to work for every penny he pos- sesses ; nevertheless, it does not seem to have soured his dis- position and he has no regrets. John Edmund Burns was born at Natick, Massachusetts, March 20, 1867, and was the child of Lawrence and Ellen Burns, the former a native of Ireland and the latter, who before her marriage was Ellen Dalton, having been born in Detroit, Michigan. Young Burns did not have an inherited predilec- 197 198 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN tion for the lumber business, his father having been a whole- sale grocer at Natick. John Burns had no liking for the grocery business. He graduated from the grammar school at Natick, attended the high school, and, after leaving that insti- tution, spent over a year at Comer's Commercial College, in Boston. When he left college young Burns returned to Natick and entered the employ of W. D. Parlin, a hardware dealer of that city. He was then about sixteen years of age, and was practically dependent upon his own resources, his father having died when he was about seven years of age. Mr. Burns remained in the hardware store about a year and a half and then migrated west to Chicago, reaching that city in 1884. Here he held several positions for brief periods and then connected himself with McCauley & Elliott, real estate dealers, with whom he remained in the capacity of book- keeper for four or five years. In 1894 Mr. Burns made his first venture in the lumber business, the scene of his operations being at Lowell, Indiana, where he purchased the yard of the Lowell Lumber Company, and engaged in the retailing of lumber for three years. At the end of that period— to be specific, in 1897— Mr. Burns, wishing to give more scope to his energy, sold out his Lowell yard to the Wilbur Lumber Company and returned to Chi- cago. Here he incorporated the John E. Burns Lumber Company and started in business at Halsted and Kingsley streets, that city, having bought out Albert Russell, an old time Chicago lumberman, who since has passed away. This business he conducted for about two years. The John E. Burns Lumber Company of 1897-9, while operated under the same caption, was not the John E. Burns Lumber Company of the present day, however. It was a modest business, run- ning in sales from $5,000 to $8,000 a month. The present headquarters of the company at 40 West Chicago Avenue were secured November 15, 1899; but Mr. Burns continued to run the old Russell yard until February of 1906, when the property was disposed of and the yard was permanently closed. JOHN E. BURNS 199 In addition to the big lumber yard at 40 West Chicago Avenue, the John E. Burns Lumber Company operates the Morton Grove Lumber Company, at Morton grove, Illinois, and the North Side Lumber & Timber Company, at Lincoln Avenue and Grace Street, Chicago, the latter having been conducted since 1893. Thus in about nine years John Edmund Burns has been able to build up in Chicago one of the most successful and extensive retail lumber operations in that city. The company now does a business aggregating considerably over $1,000,000 a year, although it is capitalized at only $100,000, and is well known to all lumbermen of Chicago and the middle West. The officers of the present organization are John E. Burns, president and general manager; Frank J. Burns, secretary; Albert P. Hawley, treasurer. Frank J. Kronmaker is manager of the North Side yard. In the two yards there are employed about sixty men. At the Chicago Avenue yard fourteen double teams and eighteen single teams are constantly em- ployed in delivering the lumber, while at the North Side yard four double teams and six single are correspondingly busy. The John E. Burns Lumber Company enjoys the distinc- tion of being the most centrally located of any of the large retail lumber distributing yards in Chicago. It is less than a mile and a quarter from the City Hall, on an air line, and it is probably this proximity to the central life of the city which has caused the company's lumber to be employed in a greater variety of uses than that of any other lumber-handling concern in Chicago. Mr. Burns says that he is too busy to devote any time to society or travel and very little to recreation, yet he speaks of trips to Milwaukee, Lowell and other points in his big Erocar and his eyes light up as he talks of struggles with the game denizens of lake and stream. And as he is a member of the Illinois Club, the Edgewater Golf Club, the Knights of Columbus and the Knights of Pythias, his modest disclaimer to social prominence can not be allowed. 200 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Mr. Burns married Agnes Hines, sister of Edward Hines, of the Edward Hines Lumber Company, Chicago, on January 23, 1894. Three children have been born to them — Dalton Frances Burns, nine years old; Dorothy L. Burns, six years old, and Ruth, the baby, four years old— and all are sturdy and healthy. Mr. Burns' three-story residence is at 1676 Kenmore Avenue, Chicago. Entering the office of the Burns Lumber Company, one is not at all in doubt as to its head, but there is nothing of blus- tering domination in Mr. Burns' makeup. His voice is low pitched and he extends the same courtesy he exacts. It is a policy which bears unmistakable evidence of being a paying one, for the office machinery of the company runs noiselessly and without friction. Mr. Burns is a Catholic in religion and belongs to St. Mary's of the Lake Church. He is a type of the courte- ous, affable, modern American business man, a type of the man who succeeds. Willis H. Gilbert The average man t ' the path is plain i> prcaccessors. who d n path or, if he id /-^» ' get full reward in hey have done, and sometimes the risks they take prevent large success, but, in any event, they are in the advance guard in the industry, and so the story of what they have accomplished and how they did their work is usually worth the telling. Of such sort is Willis H. Gilbert, now of Chicago, but whose chief work was, until recently, done at and around Ashland, Wisconsin. Willis H. Gilbert is a native of Syracuse, New York, where he was born April i8, 1855. At the age of sixteen he left hijrh school in to make a connection with a large busi- •npH fnr nine years, during ^raining. In ' , formerly a icai estate trans- d of — '^1. r )f ;c ; them y City. Ihis product, iry trade, but was very d was maintained at Ton- earned a specialized stock for • iVVCQ • la. ot a special l awanda, New York, ]M»1 xs=i3 p? J r p^ M yv \A/ll_UIS H. GIL-BEZRX Willis H. Gilbert The average man travels a beaten path or, if he go beyond where the path is plainly blazed, it is in the general Hne of his predecessors. Once in a while, however, there appears a man who does new things, or does the old things in an entirely different way — a man who appreciates the opportunities which others neglect, and in the lumber trade finds new uses for old woods or new woods for old uses. Such men sometimes get full reward in riches for what they have done, and sometimes the risks they take prevent large success, but, in any event, they are in the advance guard in the industry, and so the story of what they have accomplished and how they did their work is usually worth the telling. Of such sort is Willis H. Gilbert, now of Chicago, but whose chief work was, until recently, done at and around Ashland, Wisconsin. Willis H. Gilbert is a native of Syracuse, New York, where he was born April i8, 1855. At the age of sixteen he left high school in order to make a connection with a large busi- ness house, with which he remained for nine years, during which time he secured a thorough mercantile training. In addition to this, he was associated with his father, formerly a leading farmer of the section, in several large real estate trans- actions and in this way acquired a fair command of capital. At the age of twenty-five Mr. Gilbert left Syracuse and went to Saginaw, Michigan, where he engaged in the lumber business with Elijah Hallenbeck, under the firm name of Hallenbeck & Gilbert. The firm owned timber stumpage and bought logs, chiefly hardwood and norway, having them sawed on contract in Saginaw and Bay City. This product, however, did not come into the ordinary trade, but was very largely of a special character. A yard was maintained at Ton- awanda, New York, where was carried a specialized stock for 201 202 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN railroad supply, as well as stock of the usual assortment for wholesale pine and hardwood yards. By 1897 opportunities in the lumber business of Michigan began to be somewhat circumscribed by the exhaustion of the timber supply. Mr. Gilbert looked about for other fields and visited Ashland, Wisconsin, where he made a study of the conditions. At that time norway pine, in the eyes of the average Ashland man, was norway pine — simply that and nothing more. It was a cheap product, something to be hur- ried through the mill and hurried to the market. It came out from the gang mill as common bill stuff, an article which, owing to the diversion of most of the norway in almost every mill to this particular product, was in large supply and com- manded a low price. Mr. Gilbert looked at the lumber piles, went out and examined the timber and his experience sug- gested to him what he thought would be a better use for these norway trees. He purchased 15,000,000 feet of norway logs, delivered in towing booms on Chaquamegon Bay, and then contracted with a first-class band mill to saw them. It soon became an open secret that he had paid $6 a thousand for these logs and that his towing and sawing bill would amount to $2.15 a thousand feet. The Ashland lumber trade laughed quietly at the tenderfoot from the banks of the Saginaw who had paid that amount for norway log run, which would bring on the Ashland market only $6.50 to $y a thousand feet. Mr. Gilbert kept his own counsel and managed the task which he had undertaken in his own way. He put an expert man into the woods, and, before an ax had touched a tree, it had been destined for a particular purpose. The large, sound, coarse trees were cut into logs up to sixty feet in length for timber bills; the smaller logs, with sound knots, were cut thirty to forty feet in length for car sills. Hundreds of thou- sands of feet were cut up for car decking and telegraph pole arms. Mr. Gilbert then turned his eloquence and his en- thusiasm to the matter of placing his specialized products on the market. Soon, while various other timber buyers WILLIS H. GILBERT 203 were haggling indifferently over the price of the norway bill stuff with which the market was flooded, other buyers, not accustomed to be seen in the Ashland market, found their way there to look at what Mr. Gilbert had to offer. They came, they approved, they purchased; and the profits on his manipulation of this norway were soon seen to be as great as it had been expected, by those bound up to previous method of manufacture, the losses would be. Thus Mr. Gilbert built up a magnificent trade, varying his operations by including in them white pine. He was known in those days as the "Norway King," and what he did for his subjects was of note, for more to him than to anyone else, and, perhaps, to all other men, was due the greater recognition of the merits of norway pine, enhanced prices for norway stump- age and the better values reahzed for its product. At one time he owned about 500,000,000 feet of standing norway, as well as large quantities of other woods. As his Wisconsin operations became limited by the lack of timber supply, he turned his attention in other directions and purchased about 500,000,000 feet of stumpage in the timber districts of California, Oregon and Washington. That ven- ture, however, was what others were making, and, with his disposition to depart from precedent, he gave ear to a rumor that reached him that there were extensive timber limits on the Bahama Islands, which could be purchased at a remark- ably low price and on exceedingly favorable terms. Anything new aroused Mr. Gilbert's curiosity, and so he went to the Bahamas, looked over the islands casually and left estimators to explore them thoroughly. The result was that he bought these limits which had been going begging, and found him- self in possession of probably 5,000,000,000 feet of yellow pine, of rather small average growth, but magnificent in its sound- ness and adaptability to structural and railway tie purposes. The Bahama group lies off the coast of Florida, which it approaches at the nearest point within about seventy-five miles. The principal islands are Great Bahama, Great Abaco and the 204 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Andros Islands. The latter, in particular, are heavily wooded, and the timber of all the western Bahama Islands is similar to that growing in Florida, but with a heavier mixture of tropical species than is found in that State. This venture of Mr. Gil- bert's was looked upon with suspicion by his conservative lumber contemporaries. It was a "dream," though, as his dreams had always come true, it might have been assumed that this one also was prophetic. At about this time — 1903 — through the failure of a house very heavily indebted to him, Mr. Gilbert's affairs became somewhat involved, but it was realized that no one could so well handle the situation as he himself and so, under a friendly arrangement of the creditors, he went about liquidating his indebtedness, selling some property and eventually, within less than two years, being on his feet again in possession of an independent fortune. During this time it was discovered that, with all his enthusiasms and his liking for new things, he had, after all, been conservative in his judgment of timber values. The estate as a whole realized more than the esti- mates. Of it all, strangely enough, the most important part was that same timber in the Bahamas, bought for a song and so lightly regarded by the timber trade generally. Of this property Mr. Gilbert is the chief and practically controlling owner. Sawmills have been erected, railroads built into the country, docks constructed, and manufacture is rapidly being engaged in, so that the company bids fair to be one of the great producing timber companies tributary to the trade of the Atlantic. Having curtailed his northern manufacturing operations, Mr. Gilbert has turned to account his knowledge of timber values, the scope and accuracy of which have been so amply demonstrated, and is at the date of this writing devoting part of his time to the investigation of timber properties, with the view to purchasing for himself and in connection with his associates. His operations are now conducted from Chicago, to which city he removed in September, 1905. Love the C iation with nature, nor n n blunted his appreciation of her benefactions. He comes of a distinguished line of ancestry, the name of Thrane being known to every Scandinavian. Marcus Thrane, his grandfather, accomplished for the Scandinavians what Garibaldi did for his Italian compatriots. He was a member of one of the oldest and most aristocratic families of Norway. Born in 1817, he was highly educated and devoted his talents to espousing the cause of reform in the educational, religious and commer^* ^^ systems of the land that gave him birth. He tp u..i ._:».»:.., jjy( j^g suffered the penalty of into prison, in 1851, where he ' i he consented, )r of Norway. * 1 poet- tlut ^1 a^ e, d g' hris- tiania. \ the King of Den their oath of alle- 3MARHT FIOTOIV VICTOR THRANE Victor Thrane Love of nature, as typified by the fields, the streams and the woods, is compatible with the character of a lumberman. Communion with the physical beauties of the earth seemingly inspires courage and confidence and brings out all the finer qualities of a man's being. Victor Thrane, of Chicago, Illi- nois, has enjoyed this association with nature, nor has com- mercialism blunted his appreciation of her benefactions. He comes of a distinguished line of ancestry, the name of Thrane being known to every Scandinavian. Marcus Thrane, his grandfather, accomplished for the Scandinavians what Garibaldi did for his Italian compatriots. He was a member of one of the oldest and most aristocratic families of Norway. Born in 1817, he was highly educated and devoted his talents to espousing the cause of reform in the educational, religious and commercial systems of the land that gave him birth. He triumphed in his agitation, but he suflPered the penalty of many patriots and was thrown into prison, in 1851, where he languished for several years. It is said that, had he consented, his followers would have named him dictator of Norway. The name of Henrik Ibsen, the famous Norwegian poet- dramatist, is connected with that of Marcus Thrane in a story that has escaped the Ibsen enthusiasts. The poet was Thrane's associate on the Arbeiderforeningernes Blad^ published in Chris- tiania, and, when the newspaper office was searched and con- fiscated, a compositor had the presence of mind to conceal Ibsen's manuscripts in his pocket, and to this act was due the fact that the poet escaped the fate of the patriot. Another distinguished member of the Thrane family was Paul Thrane, grandfather of Marcus Thrane, who was a merchant of Chris- tiania. He was extremely popular, and at the time the King of Denmark absolved the Norwegians from their oath of alle- 205 2o6 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN giance and it was proposed to elect Prince Christian as King of Norway, the population was determined to put Paul Thrane, popularly known as "Old Paul," on the throne. Victor Thrane's father. Doctor Arthur D. H. Thrane, a prominent resident and physician of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, received his early education in the cell of his father, Marcus Thrane, while the latter was undergoing political imprison- ment. Though but seven years old he was taught, in addition to his mother tongue, the French language, and in later years he became a compositor in French, assisting in the support of his mother and sisters until the expiration of his father's sen- tence, in 1858. He migrated to America and, after a short stay in New York, went to Chicago and took up the study of medicine at the Rush Medical College, from which institution he graduated in 1868. In 1889 Doctor Thrane was appointed a member of the Wisconsin State Board of Health by Gover- nor W. D. Hoard. It was on March 12, 1868, that a son, Victor Thrane, was born to Doctor Thrane and his wife, Amalie Henriette Marie (Struck) Thrane. In the early '70's the family moved to Eau Claire, and in the public schools of that city the boy gained his mental training. In 1885 he com- pleted a scientific course at St. John's University, at College- ville, Minnesota, and followed this with a course at the Chi- cago Opthalmic College, receiving his diploma in 1890. As soon as he was out of college the young man went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he established himself in the optical business, but its scope proved too narrow for one of Mr. Thrane's ambitions. He was artistically inclined and the optical business, while not actually distasteful to him, was not entirely to his liking, so he conceived the idea of arranging and conducting a tour of an artist. For two seasons he toured Ellen Beach Yaw, the highest soprano in the world, who, up until that time, was practically unknown to the concert goers of the country. Not only did he establish a reputation for the singer, but he gained an enviable reputation as an impresario. Going to New York, in 1894, Mr. Thrane interested himself VICTOR THRANE 207 in the musical profession and in the following seasons he brought out or starred such artists as Ysaye, Pugno, Gerardy, Hambourg, Lachaume, Verlet, Marteau, Petschnikoff, Sauer, Paur, Maurel, Elsa Ruegger and lesser lights of the musical world, besides forming and managing such an organization as the Paur Symphony Orchestra, of ninety musicians. Among the greatest artistic successes of his managerial career were the concerts of the quintet composed of Ysaye, Marteau, Bendix, Gerardy and Lachaume, a decided triumph. From a modest beginning, in 1893, Mr. Thrane gained international promi- nence and a reputation enjoyed by but few men in that field. It was with considerable regret that Mr. Thrane decided to sever his connection with the concert world and engage in the timber land business. In 1900 he became junior member of the firm of J. D. Lacey & Co., a concern whose name is known throughout lumberdom. He proved as enterprising and capable in the new connection as in the business he deserted. He displayed his executive ability in the conduct of the firm's affairs and quickly assumed a leading part in its management. Within the last few years the estimating and cruising of timber lands has been largely in Mr. Thrane's hands. In 1905 the firm estimated practically 5,500,000 acres, and in the same year did a business in volume approximating $10,000,000. With the immense growth in the lumber indus- try on the Pacific Coast Mr. Thrane will devote much of his time to looking after the interests of the firm in that section. Mr. Thrane married Miss Lotta Louise Lacey, only daugh- ter of J. D. Lacey, October 26, 1898, at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Thrane make their home in the summer at Chicago, and in the winter at New Orleans, Loui- siana. Their home in the South is most attractive, and the artistic tastes of both are expressed in the paintings, library and furnishings. Mr. Thrane has a decidedly catholic literary taste and spends much of his leisure time in reading. While he cannot be said to have any hobbies, he is fond of commun- ion with nature, and with his gun and dogs, or rod and fly, or 2o8 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN kodak, he finds health-giving pleasure. His companion in these pastimes is his wife, who enjoys the delights of open air freedom with all the zest of a true sportswoman. The artistic temperament of Mr. Thrane was undoubtedly inherited from Waldemar Thrane (1790- 1828) , the noted Nor- wegian composer of dramatic music, violinist and conductor, who was Marcus Thrane's uncle. Mr. Thrane is a vioHnist of some skill and prizes very highly a Guarnerius, 1734, instru- ment in his possession. Mrs. Thrane has a fine soprano voice, and they are frequent attendants to higher class theatrical and musical productions. Mr. Thrane's whole family is musical. A brother, Marcus, a prominent surgeon of Madison, Minne- sota, plays the flute; Robert Thrane is a 'cellist widely known in musical circles, and Lucile Thrane, a sister, is studying the violin under Old World masters. Two other sisters are Irma, wife of August Schmetz, of Aix la Chapelle, Germany, an excellent pianist, and Ella, wife of Eduard Vacquary, of Vienna, Austria, a vocalist. A younger brother, Arthur, a cruiser for J. D. Lacey & Co., is gifted musically. Mr. Thrane holds membership in the Country Club, Pick- wick Club and Louisiana Club, of New Orleans, and the Chicago Athletic Association, Midlothian Country Club, Mu- nicipal Art League, Art Institute of Chicago, South Shore Country Club and the Chicago Fly Casting Club, of Chicago. He is a member of the famous Lotos Club of New York, also of the Blue Andalusian Club of America, and conducts a poultry farm near New Orleans, where he has bred many prize- winning Andalusians and other varieties of poultry. He is a Knight of Pythias, a Republican in politics and takes a deep interest in better government movements. More than ordinarily observant, Mr. Thrane gets more out of his travels than the average man. In the woods, afield, or in the streets of a city he mentally pictures the ever chang- ing scenes for the delectation of friends. He has traveled extensively, both at home and abroad, and as a clever amateur photographer he has many remembrances of these trips. William H A J un oi li lumber in- V, his first venture b getting out nwood stave bolts for a Bu. a. It v< t a profit- able venture, for when he had completed the contract for 7,000 cords, he found himself $2,000 in debt. He then worked as woods and mill foreman for three years, in the autumn of each year running a steam thresher, and, by dint of hard labor, he f .11. lournevinff to > A.rm, Michigan, in i88i.he i< d nherino' onerat' n ..-t .:ich he workv- .... earnings. He Bprnrpr? tirn . ;tg general store -^"'^ . in charge of th'* ' ic affairs of the co j III landise out of str- e '^r the ' ana, >m ha nandicapp ot c business. in tj " his partner p tract from f hard 'S£]£S9Mui~^. tBSa;. \A/II_L.IAM H. NA/HITE I William H. White A remarkable example of the power of fixed purpose and untiring perseverance is found in the life of William H. White, of Boyne, commonly known as Boyne City, Michigan. He was born at Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, April 12, 1859, of Scotch Irish parents. It was there that he secured his educa- tion in the public schools, and grew to manhood. Mr. White has always been identified with the lumber in- dustry, his first venture being in Essex, Ontario, getting out Cottonwood stave bolts for a Buffalo firm. It was not a profit- able venture, for when he had completed the contract for 7,000 cords, he found himself $2,000 in debt. He then worked as woods and mill foreman for three years, in the autumn of each year running a steam thresher, and, by dint of hard labor, he paid his creditors in full. Journeying to South Arm, Michigan, in 1881, he assumed charge of a sawmill and lumbering operations for John Monroe, Senior, and in the fall of the following year he met another reverse by the failure of the company for which he worked and which owed him about $600 in earnings. He secured $450 worth of merchandise from its general store and put it in a warehouse. He was placed in charge of the busi- ness by the assignee and wound up the affairs of the company in January, 1883. Taking the merchandise out of storage, he shipped it to Boyne City and formed a partnership with R. E. Newdille, who had been bookkeeper for the South Arm con- cern. The merchandise was disposed of and, with a capital of about $900, the firm started in the broom handle business. Later, it began manufacturing lumber, handicapped by a debt of $600 acquired in the broom handle business. In the fall of 1884 Mr. White and his partner got a con- tract from a Detroit firm for 500,000 feet of hardwood lumber, 209 2IO AMERICAN LUMBERMEN all firsts and seconds, for low grades were of difHcult sale in those days. C. J. Lloyd, of Detroit, furnished the money to fill the contract for $2 a thousand feet, and, convinced that Mr. White could make lumber, he gave the partners, in 1885, a better contract for 1,000,000 feet. Mr. White bought the interest of Mr. Newdille and continued the business alone. He next entered into partnership with Robert R. Perkins and they cut 2,800,000 feet of different woods. In the fall Mr. White secured the interest of his partner and during the next year cut 2,300,000 feet. It was in the autumn of 1886 that Mr. White began in good earnest to manufacture lumber, having bought what was then known as the Sheboygan mill, owned by the Bank of Sheboygan, Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He paid $6,000 for the mill and 240 acres of timbered land, paying $250 down and getting two years' time on the balance. He received a contract from the Sheboygan Chair Company to furnish 2,000,000 feet of hardwoods for two years, the company to have a control- ling interest in the factory. Mr. White paid for the mill and land out of the profit of the contract and brought the deed home the second year. He continued the mill another year alone and then sold a quarter interest to his brother, James A. White, the firm being known as William H. White & Co. Two years later a quarter interest in the business was sold to two other brothers, Thomas and George W. White. When Mr. White and his brothers began to experience difficulty in getting logs from the farmers they organized the Boyne City & Southeastern Railroad Company and built eight miles of railroad during the summer of 1893. Since then the road has been extended fifty miles into the forest. In 1894 the steamer Desmond was bought to carry the lumber from the mill to market, though this vessel subsequently was sold and the steamer M. C, Neffwzs secured and kept in the trade for about three years. With the increase in the volume of busi- ness the carrying capacity of the Neff became too small and she was replaced by the steamer John S. Spry^ which was re- WILLIAM H. WHITE 211 named the Three Brothers and put into service between Boyne City and the yard at Tonawanda, New York, which was estab- lished in 1901. The Three Brothers was remodeled in 1903 and her capacity increased, so that she now carries from 560,- 000 to 600,000 feet of maple, or 850,000 to 900,000 feet of hemlock. The business has been growing steadily in one direction for twenty years. None other than the Whites has invested a dollar in the enterprise. The concern started in 1885 cutting 500,000 feet of lumber a year, and in 1905 its output had reached 30,000,000 feet of lumber, 25,000,000 shingles and 100,000 railroad ties. The Boyne City Chemical Company takes all the cordwood from the White lands, and after the logs are cut the wood is sold. In July, 1902, Mr. White and his brothers organized the Boyne City Lumber Company, a corporation capitalized at $500,000. Fifteen thousand acres of hardwood timber lands were bought from the Ward estate, east of the White holdings between the Grand Rapids & Indiana and Michigan Cen- tral railroads. Two double cutting band mills and a resaw were put in the new mill, which has an annual capacity of about 20,000,000 feet. The White concern has a two-thirds interest in the Elm Cooperage Company's plant, which cuts about 6,000,000 feet of logs into hoops and staves each year. The output of lum- ber of the White mill plants at Boyne City is 30,000,000 feet of hardwood and hemlock lumber from the W. H. White Company mill, 20,000,000 feet of hardwood and hemlock from the Boyne City Lumber Company mill and 5,000,000 feet of hardwood logs from the Elm Cooperage Company plant, besides 50,000,000 shingles. The company owns 50,000 acres of hardwood timber lands, and that stumpage, together with what it is buying each year, will make about thirty years' cutting. The firm of William H. White & Co. was incorporated as the W. H. White Company, December i, 1905, with a capital of $1,200,000, all paid in. The stockholders of the company 212 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN are mainly the brothers, who were copartners in the old firm, the exceptions being some of the old employees who were presented with stock. The officers of the company are William H. White, president; James A. White, first vice president; Thomas White, second vice president and treasurer, and William L. Martin, secretary. Mr. White, besides being president and general manager of the W. H. White Company, is president and general man- ager of the Boyne City Lumber Company; president and general manager of the Boyne City & Southeastern Railroad Company; president of the Boyne City State Bank; first vice president of the Boyne City Chemical Company ; secretary of the Elm Cooperage Company; treasurer of the Michigan Maple Company, which enterprise was started March 14, 1901 ; president of the Boyne City Board of Trade, and president of the Beulah Farm for Boys, at Boyne City. Mr. White married Miss Abigail Wigle, of Kingsville, Ontario, June 23, 1879. Two children were born to them. Pearl E. White and Lysle H. White. Mrs. White died in 1889, and in 1899 ^^ married Miss M. Louise Reeder, of Lake City, Michigan. Mr. White is a member of the Boyne City Methodist Episcopal Church, being one of the official board and active in planning its business affairs; but he finds his greatest enjoy- ment in life with his home and his family after business hours. all the written autb res in his hosom a patriotic devo- te te. And that is how A , of Saginaw, s his c State of n. For seven years, as a landlooker, he tramped thi 'ic timbered counties of Michigan, much more n'irrs days than now. He If^rnpd not only the i^. native Stater ^'* ^^'^'^ ^ f.w.nA^t^r^nc r^f v, r- r r> 5 ' c -v.^ wiuwi iiiig secure jacking logs influence of his t he has since perp _I_IIH J=IUHT5=I A ARTHUR HILL. Arthur Hill If any man truthfully may claim to know his native state it is the man who has learned that state "by heart" — who has tramped through her forests, slept under her skies and drunk from the sources of her rivers. Such a contact with his com- monwealth gives a man knowledge of her resources and beau- ties and characteristics that all the written authorities never could afford him, and inspires in his bosom a patriotic devo- tion that mere residence never could create. And that is how Arthur Hill, of Saginaw, knows his native State of Michigan. For seven years, as a landlooker, he tramped through the timbered counties of Michigan, much more numerous in those days than now. He learned not only the typography of his native State ; he also laid the foundations of his character and his career, the one as high as the other has been conspicuously successful. Arthur Hill was born at St. Clair, Michigan, in 1848. His grandfather was Daniel Hill, a soldier in the American army that General Hull surrendered to the British at Detroit in 1812, but who escaped in time to join Commodore Perry's fleet. His widow, after his death in 1826, secured 160 acres near St. Clair on a military land warrant, of which forty acres was later inherited by her son, James H. Hill. He traded it for a lumber scow and moved to St. Clair, where Arthur Hill was born. After sailing a number of summers and lumbering the accompanying winters, the elder Hill was attracted to Saginaw by its great resources, and moved there in 1856. He began the operation of a small sawmill, and there Arthur Hill secured his first hard training as a lumberman, sorting and jacking logs and later measuring the lumber. Through the influence of his teacher at the Union School, whose memory he has since perpetuated with a scholarship at the great State 213 214 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN university, his father was induced to give him a college edu- cation, and he graduated from the University of Michigan as a civil engineer. After a year of railroad surveying in Minnesota, following his graduation, he returned to Michigan and became a land- looker, estimating forties on fees or shares. In this capacity he tramped over a large part of the State with his pack on his back, fording rivers and enduring all the hardships and priva- tions that such a life entails. For seven years he followed this work, and nothing but a strong physique and an indomitable spirit carried him through. It was a hard training, but a good one, for it not only helped to shape his character, but to equip him with knowledge which proved useful in after years. After this experience the firm of Hill Bros, was formed, with Wilbur H. Hill as the senior member. It continued in the lumber business until its holdings on the Saginaw River were exhausted and its operations had been extended to Chip- pewa, Delta, Marquette, Mackinac and Menominee counties in the upper peninsula of Michigan. In the meantime, on the death of the senior member, the firm name was changed to Arthur Hill & Co., Limited. Mr. Hill was interested in the Cranberry Lumber Com- pany, which operated at Duluth, Minnesota, for a number of years. Arthur Hill & Co. also bought on Georgian Bay 300,- 000,000 feet of timber, a part of which was manufactured into lumber at Midland, Ontario, and the rest sold later to resident purchasers. With the late Eldridge M. Fowler and Edwin C. Whitney, now of Ottawa, Ontario, Mr. Hill organized the St. Anthony Lumber Company in Minnesota, a concern which operated there for several years, cutting 30,000,000 to 40,000,000 feet a year. This company secured control of the booms on the Mississippi River at Minneapolis and St. Paul, and sold out its holdings there to the Weyerhaeuser syndicate for over $2,000,000 in 1893. I^ ^^^ meantime it had purchased a tract of about 600,000,000 feet of timber 145 miles northwest of ARTHUR HILL 215 Ottawa, where the company erected a large sawmill plant which is still operating. Mr. Hill is president of the company. Mr. E. C. Whitney, the resident partner and manager, is a brother of the Hon. J. P. Whitney, premier of Ontario. During this time the company had been securing timber on the Pacific Coast, and, in connection with his associate, Mr. Fowler, and others, Mr. Hill organized a company known as the Madera Sugar Pine Company, of which he is president. A large sawmill plant was erected, with a flume nearly sixty miles long, which conveys the cut of the mill to Madera, Cali- fornia, on the Southern Pacific Railroad. This plant has an output of between 30,000,000 and 40,000,000 feet a year. In 1904, together with the Blodgetts, the Danahers and others, Mr. Hill purchased an interest in the Booth-Kelly Lumber Company, of Eugene, Oregon. This is said to be the largest operating plant in Oregon, and the company is estimated to hold not less than 4,000,000,000 feet of timber. About 1890 the Saginaw Steel Steamship Company was formed, and built at the Wheeler shipyards at Bay City, Michigan, two ships, the Mackinac and Keweenaw^ which were taken to the seaboard and engaged in ocean commerce. Arthur Hill & Co. owned the majority of the stock in this line, Mr. Hill being president and James Jerome, general manager. The Keweenaw was lost at sea with all on board. Meantime, there had been additions to the fleet — the ships LeelenaWy Mattewan and Argyle — which ships were later turned over with others to the Michigan Steamship Company, a new corporation, which is still engaged in the shipping busi- ness under the same officers and management. There was also merged into the Michigan Steamship Company the Prog- reso Steamship Company, which Mr. Hill and his associates controlled. The ships of the line have run to Alaska on the north and Panama on the south, and, during the Spanish War and the "Boxer" troubles, to the Philippines and to China, carrying horses and supplies for the Government. Four of them were transformed into oil carriers, three being engaged 2i6 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN in transporting oil from Texas to New York and Philadelphia and one from San Francisco to Honolulu. The Michigan Steamship Company in 1906 sold a portion of its fleet to the Union Oil Company, of California, and with that company organized the United Steamship Company, to engage in the oil-carrying business. The United Steamship Company, of which Mr. Hill is president, bought the steamers Minnetonka and Minnewaska from the American Shipbuilding Company early in 1906, and they were converted at the Newport News shipyards into oil carriers. Each of these steamers cost the American Shipbuilding Company $400,000 and each has a dead weight capacity of over 7,000 tons. The Union Oil Company is constructing a pipe line across the Isthmus of Panama for the transportation of oil from California to New York by steamers. Mr. Hill has various interests in the Saginaw Valley, as well as mining interests in the West and timber holdings in various parts of the country. He has never aspired to possess an enormous fortune, but has always given himself leisure to travel, to study and to discharge such public duties as came to him. He served three years as mayor of old Saginaw prior to the consohdation of Saginaw City and East Saginaw, and per- formed the duties with fidelity. He holds the office of regent of the University of Michigan, to which he was appointed by former Governor A. T. BHss, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Regent Crocker in 1901. Mr. Hill was reelected to a full term of eight years in April, 1905. He feels a just pride in his alma mater and has rarely missed one of her commencements. He has given the university and its needs careful attention as regent and is regarded as one of the most useful members of the board of regents. It will thus be seen that Mr. Hill's career has been one of activity from the time that he first associated himself with the lumber business as a sawmill hand. All of his energies, how- ever, have not been confined to his own interests and many others have profited by his ability. The pubHc also has had his services in high office, which have ever been satisfactory. I A In a north s were contined to ' , as the fame of the wh the scenes of forti ii the Wolverine State, cut short his career as he neared the zenith of his suc- cess, but the family name is given additional luster by a mem- ber of another generation, who is widely known by reason of his operations on the Pacific Coast. Lorenzo Leadbetter possessed many of the sterling virtues of his Puritan forbears, though he was not of the forbidding, r-' -Tiinded type. Huge of frame, made strong in body ^ -^ent in '^'-^ '^'^en air, he had a smiling, hospitable -stances his friends; yet, withal, he will that brooked no interference. ' survive him, but scores of the aaw Valley recall his name and the son of Samuel Leadbetter and He was born in the home made , March 8, 1809. His ancestors s of Dorchester, >' i is f ;i in tiiC ' ad- j during the R. ment an . il7 \g an engage- tress at Hahfax for 5R3TT3 aa A 3_l 0SM3F«0_J m LORENZO LEADBEITTER Lorenzo Leadbetter In a modest dwelling in Leeds, Maine, standing on the north bank of the Androscoggin River, a stream famous in the lumber annals of the Border State, Lorenzo Leadbetter, a pioneer of two great lumbering sections of the United States, was born. His early activities were confined to the spruce forests of his native State, but, as the fame of the white pine of Michigan grew apace, he forsook the scenes of his first efforts to win a name and fortune in the Wolverine State. Death cut short his career as he neared the zenith of his suc- cess, but the family name is given additional luster by a mem- ber of another generation, who is widely known by reason of his operations on the Pacific Coast. Lorenzo Leadbetter possessed many of the sterhng virtues of his Puritan forbears, though he was not of the forbidding, narrow-minded type. Huge of frame, made strong in body by a life spent in the open air, he had a smiling, hospitable manner that made acquaintances his friends; yet, withal, he had a masterful mind and a will that brooked no interference. Few who knew him in Maine survive him, but scores of the early lumbermen in the Saginaw Valley recall his name and enterprise. Lorenzo Leadbetter was the son of Samuel Leadbetter and Betsy (Parcher) Leadbetter. He was born in the home made by his father at Leeds, Maine, March 8, 1809. His ancestors were among the early settlers of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and the name of Leadbetter is frequently met with in the New England states. Increase Leadbetter, Lorenzo Lead- better's grandfather, was a resident of Vinal Haven, Maine, who carried his flint-lock in the ranks of the patriots during the Revolutionary War. He was captured during an engage- ment and suffered imprisonment in the fortress at Halifax for 217 2i8 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN more than a year. Some of his martial spirit was inherited by Lorenzo Leadbetter, who in his later career proved a disci- plinarian with his employees and demanded punctuality and exactness from those with whom he had business dealings. At Leeds, at the period of Mr. Leadbetter's boyhood, was a common school supported by the community and conduct- ed with the purpose of instilling in the minds of the young the rudiments of an education within the shortest possible time. In those days it was the custom to put the sons of a family to work almost before they were youths, a brief school- ing, three or four short winter terms, being considered suf- ficient for a pupil to acquire enough learning to carry him successfully through life's battles to the goal of success. Young Leadbetter was sent to this common school by his par- ents and he was no better equipped mentally than were the sons of other families of the neighborhood. The poorly-educated, youthful Leadbetter started in to earn his own living at the age of fourteen years. He had little choice in the matter of a vocation because of the few indus- tries which thrived in that section. From babyhood he had been familiar with the rafting of sawlogs down the Andros- coggin River, whose waters were plainly visible from the house in which he was born. Perhaps it was this oft-repeated picture that led him to seek work in a sawmill located a short distance from Leeds on the Androscoggin River. He was given employment hustling slabs, wheeling sawdust and other duties of a humble nature for which he was paid an insignifi- cant sum of money. It was in this old mill that he got his first taste of sawmilling and formed the decision to engage in the business for himself. From a helper about the mill the youth developed into a raftsman and, with his brother, Horace Leadbetter, began driving logs from the upper waters of the Androscoggin to the mills situated along its banks toward the mouth of the river. He followed this occupation for several years before he determined to venture farther north to the Penobscot LORENZO LEADBETTER 219 River, where vast forests of pine and spruce were being open- ed up. He was about eighteen years of age when he and his brother went to Oldtown, Penobscot County, where he took up rafting. He was shrewd beyond his years and it was not long before he engaged in logging and driving on his own account. Before he had reached manhood Lorenzo Leadbet- ter and his brother had extended their operations widely. They built up an extensive business, Lorenzo Leadbetter look- ing more after the driving and its details while Horace Lead- better, known throughout the section as one of the strongest and hardiest of men, took charge of the various camps estab- lished by the enterprising partners. In the early '50's tidings of the immense extent of valuable timber lands to be found in Michigan excited the curiosity of Mr. Leadbetter. He was justly proud of what he had accom- plished in his native State, but he longed to begin anew on a larger scale where existed the chance of making a success such as seemed impracticable in the narrow confines of the lumber industry of Maine. He had been thrifty during his career and had saved a considerable sum of money. Leaving his brother to carry on the business at Oldtown, Mr. Leadbet- ter started West for the new lumber country. He had closed out all his interests in Maine and he had this money to invest in timber. He reached East Saginaw in 1856 and determined to make his headquarters there. From the time of his arrival in Michigan Mr. Leadbetter began the investment of his capital in white pine timber lands. His experience in Maine had fitted him well to select good timber and he acquired title to some of the best. By i860 these holdings reached a total of 10,000 acres, principally located in Saginaw and Gladwin counties. He built a saw- mill on the Saginaw River within a couple of years after reach- ing that region and this was supplemented in later years by another mill, the two plants representing a large investment. The business was carried on under his own name, and, gradu- ally, he became a factor in the production of white pine lum- 220 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN ber in the Saginaw district. He also owned salt wells, in which industry many other lumbermen had engaged. Un- fortunately, just as all his interests were at the stage of their highest development and he was apparently destined to win a fortune as the result of his energy and enterprise, Mr. Lead- better was stricken with an illness, in 1865, from which he never recovered. His large holdings of timber and his manu- facturing business were dissipated in the litigation of his chil- dren. The shattered business was continued by his eldest son, Alvah Leadbetter, until he, also, was called to an early death. Mr. Leadbetter was twice married, his first wife was Mary Shaw, of Oldtown, Maine, whom he married in 1835. Two children, Alvah J. and Laura Leadbetter, both of whom are deceased, were born of this marriage. His second wife was Rebecca H. Robinson, their wedding having occurred at Detroit, Michigan, in 1858. Two children came of this latter union — Herbert and Lorena Leadbetter. The widow and Herbert Leadbetter reside in Boston, Massachusetts, where the son holds a position of trust. The grandson of Horace Leadbetter, the brother and early business associate of Lorenzo Leadbetter, is F. W. Leadbetter, of Portland, Oregon, who is one of the largest operators on the Coast. Mr. Leadbetter was affiliated with the Congregational Church. In politics he was a Whig, joining the Republican party upon its birth. He took an interest in the politics of the Wolverine State and served as an alderman of East Saginaw, declining higher offices tendered him. TF The titl in the larger at He be familiar \ \] workings of his f?' service of cari MAH3J/^U .L H«=J380L JOSEPH J. LINEMAN Joseph J. Linehan Although the Emerald Isle herself is not conspicuous as an independent nation in the modern history of the world, the names of her sons are emblazoned upon the records of achievements of all the countries which stand in the forefront of civilization. There is not one of the great countries of the western world whose history does not disclose the name of an Irishman who was a notable factor in her martial or commer- cial advancement, while they have been notable warriors and administrators in the Orient. The history of the United States, in particular, is filled with the names of the sons of Erin who cast their lots in the new land to their own and this country's lasting good. Among the inhabitants of the United States the Irish-American citizens figure conspicuously, and in his cosmopolitan population there is no element upon whose loyalty Uncle Sam relies more confidently, either in peace or in war, than that consisting of the descendants of the warm blooded Celts who have enlisted under his banner. Joseph J. Linehan, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, is a typical example of the Irish-American man of business. Mr. Linehan is proud of his Irish lineage and of his ability to trace it back to some of the first families of the land of the shamrock. His father was James Linehan, of Cumberland, Maryland, and his mother, before her marriage, was Anna Hollern. The senior Linehan was a manufacturer of iron and steel rails in the early days of their production, and, after a good education in one of Cumberland's private schools, young Linehan entered his father's employ. There he displayed an aptitude for and mastery of detail work, which has been of immense value to him in the larger activities of later years. He became familiar with the practical workings of his father's business, but, not caring for the steel and iron industry, entered the service of 237 238 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN the West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railway Company. This was about the year 1890. Young Linehan worked in nearly all the departments of the railway company, but the greater portion of the period of his employment was spent in the capacity of assistant auditor. Mr. Linehan's connection with the lumber industry dates from 1895, when he became interested in the Randolph Lum- ber Company, of Elkins, West Virginia, which at that time was operating extensively in the hardwood timber of the Pan- handle State. Mr. Linehan was actively engaged in the lum- ber business in West Virginia for six years, during which time he thoroughly familiarized himself with the manufacture and distribution of hardwoods and southern pine. It was during this period, also, that he acquired an extensive acquaintance among the southern mill owners — an acquaintance which has proved a valuable asset in his late lumber operations. Every one in the South and Southeast knows "J^^" Linehan, and when *'Joe" wants a carload of stock shipped into the Pitts- burg market in twelve days the millmen will attempt to move heaven and earth and the Southeastern Car Service Associa- tion to get it there on time. In 1901 Joseph J. Linehan moved to Pittsburg, where he connected himself with Willson Bros., lumbermen operating in that city. A year later he accepted a position as manager of the Pittsburg office of the Cherry River Boom & Lumber Company, a concern which is an extensive operator in cherry, maple, spruce and other Virginia woods. This position brought him into direct contact with the consuming trade and completed the circle of his acquaintance, which had begun with the millmen of the South. January 16, 1905, Mr. Linehan, in partnership with his brother, James C. Linehan, formed a corporation known as the Linehan Lumber Company, which bought out the Pitts- burg branch of the Cherry River Boom & Lumber Company and established its head office on the twenty-fourth floor of the Farmer's National Bank Building, the suite formerly occu- JOSEPH J. LINEHAN 239 pied by the branch of the Cherry River Boom & Lumber Company, under the management of J. J. Linehan. The Linehan Lumber Company began its commercial career upon an excellent foundation, as the Cherry River Boom & Lumber Company enjoyed a good business in the Pittsburg territory. The company was incorporated to do a general wholesale lumber business and is known as a hardwood company, but it makes specialties of spruce, hemlock and yellow pine. Of the hardwoods it devotes special attention to oak and poplar. Mr. Linehan operates upon the principle that lumber well bought is half sold and his experience in direct contact with sawmill men and their manufacturing plants has made it an easy matter for him to ofYer his customers the best stock obtainable from the southern field. The business has grown rapidly under the energetic man- agement of the Linehan brothers and it is now one of the im- portant distributing factors in the Pittsburg market. It is to the ability and the pleasing personality of Joseph J. Linehan that the success of the Linehan Lumber Company is largely due. He is the kind of man whose rapidly widening circle of acquaintances shows no breaks. He makes friends readily and they remain true to him for all time. Mr. Linehan, while conserving and advancing his whole- sale interests, has been providing for the future by laying in a supply of timber. He has examined the resources of the southeastern territory and is thoroughly acquainted with the location and value of the hardwoods which are found there. As a result of these investigations the Linehan Lumber Com- pany has acquired large interests in hardwood timber lands in several states, and it is in this timber that the profits of the company have been invested. While Mr. Linehan has devoted his energies to the further- ing of the business of the Linehan Lumber Company in a manner which has elicited commendation from all who have watched his advancement in the trade, he has found time to cultivate the social side of his nature, which is a large one. 240 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN He is a member of the fraternal order of the Knights of Col- umbus and is a prominent member of the Monongahela, Columbus and Fort Henry clubs and is also interested in out- door sports of all kinds. Mr. Linehan is a genial and wholesouled man, the possessor of a winning personality, whose friends are limited only by the number of those who know him, and, while comparatively young to the trade, there are few lumbermen in the East better or more favorably known. This personal popularity, made permanent by respect, is an important factor in the growing business of the Linehan Lumber Company, which seems likely to be a permanent factor in the trade of the East. 1- n h y rests up i of »c contrary, Mr. Linehan has jd present position in the trade by a of the y in all its branches and by a practical experi- ng over a period of more than a decade. As far as can be learned, Mr. Linehan did not inherit his predilection for the lumber business, his father, James C. Line- han, having been engaged in the manufacture of iron and steel rails at the time when young James C. Linehan was arriving at *y>f^ 'fY^r ^^rJcmn which would govem his future busi- ^r viK-rKf-r inherited or acquired, in the prosecution of his luiiiut. v-d and has shown itself in the firm t i id^ia growth of the young corpo- ration whiLii L;cu.ii> iiiit lidtnc. James C. Linehan was born in Cumberland, Maryland, and »n in that city, attending a private school. and began his b the ', now the W; cr and paymaster^ MAH3k^ii_ :vi M.L JAMEIS C. LINEHAN James C. Linehan Among the lumbermen of the East James C. Linehan is con- spicuous as a man who has obtained success in his chosen vocation within a remarkably short time. This does not mean that the commercial status of the junior partner in the Line- han Lumber Company rests upon a mushroom growth of chance; to the contrary, Mr. Linehan has thoroughly qualified himself for his present position in the trade by a study of the lumber industry in all its branches and by a practical experi- ence extending over a period of more than a decade. As far as can be learned, Mr. Linehan did not inherit his predilection for the lumber business, his father, James C. Line- han, having been engaged in the manufacture of iron and steel rails at the time when young James C. Linehan was arriving at the important decision which would govern his future busi- ness operations. However, whether inherited or acquired, the ability exhibited by Mr. Linehan in the prosecution of his lumber enterprises has been marked and has shown itself in the firm establishment and rapid growth of the young corpo- ration which bears his name. James C. Linehan was born in Cumberland, Maryland, and received his education in that city, attending a private school. He had natural abihty in mechanical lines and began his busi- ness career in the employ of his father, who, as above stated, was a manufacturer of rails. This business of the elder Line- han naturally brought him and his sons into contact with rail- roads operating in that territory, and in 1890 James C. Line- han entered the freight and traffic department of the Balti- more & Ohio Railroad. Later, he transferred his services to the West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railway Company, now the Western Maryland Railroad, entering the cashier and paymaster's department. 241 242 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Believing that the lumber industry offered a more attract- ive field for a profitable exploitation of his energy, Mr. Line- han in 1895 resigned his position with the West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railway Company and engaged his serv- ices with the Randolph Lumber Company, a manufacturer of West Virginia hardwoods and located at Elkins, Randolph County, in the eastern part of West Virginia. Mr. Linehan did not begin his lumber career as an employee, as he had purchased an interest in the company. He found the new work to his liking and adapted to his ability, and he therefore remained at the West Virginia plant until 1902, in which year he moved to Pittsburg, and, with his brother, Joseph J. Line- han, assumed charge of that end of the business of the Cherry River Boom & Lumber Company. Mr. Linehan was in personal charge of the office, while his brother was on the outside working directly with the trade. So successful was the Pittsburg business that the two Line- hans decided to enter the field on their own account. With this purpose in view, in January, 1905, they organized the Linehan Lumber Company, which in effect took over the business of the Cherry River Boom & Lumber Company in and about Pittsburg. This corporation, while new under its present name, began with an established business and with the full confidence and approval of the Smoky City market. It was able to retain the business formerly controlled by the Pittsburg office of the Cherry River Boom & Lumber Company and constantly acquired new customers. At pres- ent the Linehan Lumber Company has an output of about 60,000 feet a day of hardwoods, in addition to a quantity of spruce, hemlock and yellow pine. In the company's opera- tions Mr. Linehan figures as the financial man and office man- ager and keeps as well a supervising eye on the sales depart- ment. Mr. Linehan is a thorough believer in the value of south- ern stumpage, and the profits from the Pittsburg business are being invested in hardwood stumpage in various sections JAMES C. LINEHAN 243 south of the Mason and Dixon line. While the Linehan Lumber Company has been in business less than two years, it has already secured a number of hardwood timber properties and undoubtedly will acquire others as favorable opportunities may be presented. In connection with its timber holdings the company has acquired considerable coal lands, also. Mr. Linehan is as well known in the social life of Pittsburg as he is in that city's business circles. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, of the Columbus Club and of the Pitts- burg Club, and while he says that his favorite recreation is hard work, he finds time for the social duties which his posi- tion entails. In religion Mr. Linehan is a Roman Catholic. While one of the younger lumbermen of the eastern states, James C. Linehan has proved himself an aggressive and force- ful factor in the trade east and west of the Allegheny Range. His experience in connection with the industry has been especially fortunate for the conduct of his present operations. His connection with the Randolph Lumber Company gave him a good insight into the workings of the hardwood mills of West Virginia and he thereby also acquired a thorough knowledge of the lumber manufacturing business of the South- east. This experience included a complete mastery of various methods of manufacture, the result of which is that he is thoroughly competent to judge the products the mills have to offer to his concern for distribution to the Pittsburg trade. Since 1902 his business has enabled him to accurately gauge the requirements of the consuming trade of the East and thus he is in excellent position to discriminate among manufac- turers and select stock which will be acceptable to the trade in his territory. The Linehan brothers are admirably suited to each other In the conduct of the business of their corporation. James C. Linehan has always favored the office end of the business and has proved himself conservative yet accurate In judging the financial standing of those with whom the Linehan Lumber Company has had occasion to do business. Joseph J. Linehan, 244 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN on the contrary, has devoted himself to the trade and does not care for the routine of the office. The combination is a happy one and its results are shown in the rapid development of the business of the Linehan Lumber Company. Lh Enochs IICVC has done and is are the results of e and persistence, guided by a mind of remarkably A quality — a mind which is content with no half knowl- edge or half statement, but which insists upon knowledge as complete as can be secured as the basis from which a policy may develop with logical accuracy. These qualities have given Mr. Enochs much success in a business way and an in- fluence among his fellows which is equaled by but few. He is not an nmfnr for his voice does not carry far and his speech v>vi n hr tnlks in pubUc on any subject, no one in y is listened to with closer attention, ^^'ith thoughtful care and his counsel >crience. ; of \Iis<~*' '■'•^•■'* l'^»■^^• iro {he f^niiW ic c Lilt i_»aj(v^<. vy genera- tion, IS an tudc, but in m i, 'O ^ ot the men t y IS this true in the longleaf yeiiow pmc c in the field has ot ) is Herbert A. p, of Lumberton, iV ppi, a pioneer in its general tion. He is a southerner of the distinctive type, having been born in the Cracker State, where he was reared, and for two decades identified with the lumber industry of Mississippi. When he began his experience as a producer of yellow pine, the intrinsic merits of that wood had not been accorded just recognition in thp markers of the country, and Mr. Camp is one of the manu- h credit is due for widening its sphere • vpars he has been operating in v-hnno-es in the lumber in- nm<-e values and the Fit a direct i ^>i»o : was ...1 u VY xiiLc, wjiu came J P to attord that section ot i nil ut irciaiid. H. A. Camp was ' '•m of his father, at Mulberry, 1 he head of the family was a and operator, so that he was able icational advantages offered in ung Herbert learned his earlier ciMAO Y>-nJa8A TH3aFI3H f HERBERT ASBURY CAMP Herbert A. Camp The manufacture of lumber, as carried on In this genera- tion, is an evolution not alone in methods and magnitude, but in men as well. As the volume of business has expanded, making heavier demands on producers and on facilities, so have the capabilities and resources of the men in control broadened. Particularly is this true in the longleaf yellow pine industry. One of the men whose prominence in the field has increased with the exploitation of yellow pine is Herbert A. Camp, of Lumberton, Mississippi, a pioneer in its general distribution. He is a southerner of the distinctive type, having been born in the Cracker State, where he was reared, and for two decades identified with the lumber industry of Mississippi. When he began his experience as a producer of yellow pine, the intrinsic merits of that wood had not been accorded just recognition in the markets of the country, and Mr. Camp is one of the manu- facturers to whom much credit is due for widening its sphere of usefulness. In the many years he has been operating in the South he has witnessed great changes in the lumber in- dustry, including the advancement of stumpage values and the elevation of yellow pine to a position of indisputable stability. Herbert Asbury Camp is the son of D. A. Camp, who was a direct descendant of a Virginia family of twenty-one sons who settled in nearly as many states of the Union. His mother was Anna (White) Camp, a daughter of Robert White, who came to the Republic from the north of Ireland. H. A. Camp was born June lo, 1859, on the farm of his father, at Mulberry, Jackson County, Georgia. The head of the family was a prosperous plantation owner and operator, so that he was able to afford his son the best educational advantages offered in that section of the country. Young Herbert learned his earlier 263 254 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN lessons at the knee of his mother, later being sent to the com- mon schools of the county. He grew into a strong, healthy lad full of the fun and spirit of the country youth. His father was bent on having him become a farmer on a scientific scale and follow that as his life's work. Accordingly, when the youth had gained an elementary education in the public schools he was sent to the North Georgia Agricultural Col- lege, a branch of the State University, at Dahlonega, Lumpkin County, Georgia, where he pursued a course of studies for several years and then returned to the old homestead at Mul- berry. In the territory adjacent to the acres owned by the senior Camp was considerable yellow pine timber that was being operated in a primitive manner. In those early days the hundreds of improved appliances of the woods and mill in use today were unknown and unthought of, the timber being felled, sawed into logs and cut into lumber by small circular mills. Young Camp became interested in a small operation in which his father had an investment, and from this beginning he undoubtedly acquired a liking for the lumber business and gained an incentive to engage in the production of lumber on a larger scale. Going to Lumberton, Mississippi, where an awakening in the lumber field was under way, Mr. Camp, with J. H. Hinton and R. W. Hinton, began investing in longleaf timbered lands, which were then to be obtained at a low price. The Hintons were north Georgians themselves and were of the same rugged, forceful, industrious nature as Mr. Camp. The firm of Camp & Hinton Bros, was organized for the purpose of carrying on a milling business. One of their first purchases of timber was a tract of 1,200 acres located near Lumberton, this small acreage forming the nucleus of the immense stump- age to be controlled later by the same interests. The original tract of 1,200 acres was bought from the Government at the low price of $1.25 an acre. For the purpose of operating on the timber secured, Mr. HERBERT A. CAMP 255 Camp and his associates built a small Lane & Bodley mill in the woods about a mile west and north of the railroad station at Lumberton, where they proceeded to manufacture lumber of more or less uncertain grades. The mill, which was com- pleted and put into operation in 1886, when run to its capacity cut about 15,000 feet of lumber a day, and the plant might aptly be termed a toy in comparison with the immense and modernly equipped plants operated by the same men in later years. The Lumberton mill and that small tract of timber marked the beginning of Mr. Camp's activity in the lumber industry of Mississippi. Within a few years the firm of Camp & Hinton Bros, had added largely to the holdings of timber, increased the milling facilities and begun to reach out for wider markets than those afforded in the South. Northern markets were sought and much of the product of the firm was diverted to other points. In 1892 the small mill at Lumberton was replaced by a modern plant, and in subsequent years mills were acquired at Garri- sons, another one in Marion County and a fourth at Elder, all in Mississippi. The firm of Camp & Hinton Bros, was suc- ceeded by Camp & Hinton, and, finally, by the Camp & Hin- ton Company, June 10, 1899, a forward step that marked a new era in the career of the progressive concern. Mr. Camp continued active with the Camp & Hinton Company in the manufacture of longleaf yellow pine until 1902, when he disposed of his interest in that concern and was one of the organizers of the Pole Stock Lumber Company, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Mr. Camp was elected president of the company. The other officers are W. Edmiston, vice president; E. A. Sanford, treasurer; P. C. Edmiston, secre- tary, and W. E. Herren, general manager. The company is capitalized at $100,000, all of which is paid in. The Pole Stock Lumber Company bought 40,000 acres of yellow pine timbered land in the Lumberton district, where is found some of the finest timber in Mississippi. Additional tracts have been bought by the company until it holds title to 256 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN 50,000 acres. In 1903 the company absorbed the Hattiesburg Lumber Company, whose officers were substantially the same as those of the Pole Stock Lumber Company. The concern's name is illustrative of the nature of the business originally undertaken. This was the cutting of rough material, dry kilning it and cutting and working it into poles, shafts and frames for agricultural implements of every pattern. It was demonstrated that yellow pine was an excellent substitute for ash, which, up to the time of the organization of the company, had been used almost exclusively for such stock. The company has contracts with about twenty different mills to manufacture their timber into agricultural implement stock, which it is shipping to practically all the manufacturers of agricultural implements in the United States, and it is also shipping quite a quantity of this material to Europe to various manufacturers there. The volume of business transacted monthly aggregates about $100,000. Mr. Camp is interested in several financial institutions of the Magnolia State, being president of the First National Bank of Lumberton and president of the Hattiesburg Trust & Banking Company. His long residence in the State and his intimate association with the lumber industry has resulted in his becoming interested in numerous enterprises. He is a liberal supporter of any movement looking toward the better- ment of industrial conditions. Mr. Camp married Miss Maxcy Field, at Cartersville, Georgia, February 5, 1885. To the couple have been born eight children — five boys and three girls — Alleen, Herbert A., Junior, Richard F., Anna Maxcy, Lidie Belle, Chauncey D., Pierpont M. and Howard. Mr. Camp is affiliated with the Methodist Church, and is a member of the Masonic order and the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo. If Mr. Camp has a fad it truly may be said it is a liking for a horse fast enough to surpass the speed of any other animal it may meet on the road. John H. Hinton •_ .t ' - ---il being lO s and body, is one by whom glected, and who has fitted I to resist and to achieve in the battle of life. n H. Hinton is a descendant of two distinguished southern families. Wood Hinton, his paternal grandfather, was a Virginian by birth who settled in the north of Georgia, where Mansfield Hinton, John's father, was born and reared. His mother, Elizabeth (White) Hinton, was the daughter of an Irishman who, after being educated in Scotland, came to the United States and, with relatives, built the first cotton mill .7. John Hammond Hinton ■. nine miles from JeflFerson, the ( GeortTJa. March 25, 1857. i' - r^hntiition dotted with t' ew Jersey, apart .. - »ct'^^d and ....wvi possessions of Mr. Hinton and his ui^i...Ci, — "y seat, with its courthouse and stores, 5 as young Hinton was to know for iiidiiy s birth. It was in the school at this quaint oxa i >t his early training, though it was not much of an ' war had brought its privations and the services 01 inc i»< ' -thy lad were needed to cul- tivate the plantation, i I not smile brightly upon 3&V MOTMIH aHOMMAH HHOU JOHN HAMMOND HINTON John H. Hinton To the man who cultivates both brain and physical being to such a high state of perfection that he may seize every op- portunity and, unflinchingly and unembarassed, develop their possibilities to the highest point, the w^orld owes much for its commercial advancement. John Hammond Hinton, of Lum- berton, Mississippi, stalwart in mind and body, is one by whom opportunity never has been neglected, and who has fitted himself well to resist and to achieve in the battle of life. John H. Hinton is a descendant of two distinguished southern families. Wood Hinton, his paternal grandfather, was a Virginian by birth who settled in the north of Georgia, where Mansfield Hinton, John's father, was born and reared. His mother, Elizabeth (White) Hinton, was the daughter of an Irishman who, after being educated in Scotland, came to the United States and, with relatives, built the first cotton mill in Georgia, near Athens, in 1827. John Hammond Hinton was born on the old homestead, nine miles from Jefferson, the county seat of Jackson County, Georgia, March 25, 1857. One of his earliest recollections is of that plantation dotted with the white tents pitched by a regiment from New Jersey, a part of General Sherman's command. The homestead and its 300 acres, forty of which are covered with virgin timber, is one of the cherished possessions of Mr. Hinton and his brother, R. W. Hinton. Jefferson, the county seat, with its courthouse and stores, was as near a metropolis as young Hinton was to know for many years following his birth. It was in the school at this quaint old town that he got his early training, though it was not much of an education, for war had brought its privations and the services of the strong, healthy lad were needed to cul- tivate the plantation. Fortune did not smile brightly upon 257 2s8 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN the lad in his early days, and he knew what it was to struggle for a living even after he had reached manhood. Texas, about which little was known in those days, ap- pealed to the youth as affording an opportunity for one of his brawn and ambition. His choice was determined when he was told a man could earn $20 a month there for the poor- est sort of labor. So, at the age of eighteen years, young Hinton started for the land of promise to the westward. His first experience was as a farm hand at St. Charles, Missouri, and, later, he reached Sherman, Texas, then a boom town, only to move on to Melissa, twenty-six miles from Sherman. He spent three years in Texas before he drifted to McComb City, Mississippi, where the now venerable John J. White was conducting a sawmill operation. The young man went to work rolling slabs for fifty cents a day ; it was his introduction to the lumber business, and in that mill he learned the lessons he never has forgotten. From the White mill, at McComb, is believed to have been shipped the first carload of yellow pine lumber that ever reached Chicago. The shipment, recalled by Mr. Hinton, was made in the early part of 1878 to P. G. Dodge & Co. and consisted of three cars of one-inch and two-inch finish. From a mere laborer about this mill, Mr. Hinton was advanced to more important posts as he demonstrated his ability, and, finally, he became general superintendent of the plant. As early as 1883 Mr. Hinton began investing in timber lands. In that year he bought 2,700 acres of timber near Lumberton, Mississippi, on his own account, and this tract was the nucleus of the large holdings of the Camp & Hinton Company of today. In 1886, Mr. Hinton joined with H. A. Camp, R. W. Hinton and H. P. Hinton in the formation of the firm of Camp & Hinton Bros, to carry on a small manufac- turing operation. The men were possessed of but modest capital and a Lane & Bodley mill was bought on credit, set up and put into operation, sawing on the timber originally bought by Mr. Hinton and added to by additional purchases of the JOHN H. HINTON 259 firm. The operation proved a satisfactory and paying invest- ment and gradually the operations of the firm were extended. In 1890 R. W. Hinton and H. P. Hinton retired from the business and the firm became Camp & Hinton, v^^hich firm, in 1899, incorporated the Camp & Hinton Company. J. J. White became president of the corporation; Mr. Hinton, vice president, and H. A. Camp, secretary and treasurer. A few years later Mr. Hinton bought the interests of his associates in the company and practically became the proprietor of the business. The present officers of the Camp & Hinton Com- pany are J. H. Hinton, president; A. S. Hinton, vice presi- dent; T. L. Venable, secretary, and H. H. Hinton, treasurer. In addition to his large lumber interests Mr. Hinton has in- vestments in other enterprises. He is a director of the First National Bank of Lumberton, and a half owner of the sawmill business of J. C. Pearson, two miles north of Lumberton, on the New Orleans & North-eastern Railroad. He has an interest in the sawmill business of A. S. Hinton & Co., at Hinton Spur, eight miles east of Lumberton, on the Gulf & Ship Island Railroad. He is vice president of the Ewing- Young Turpentine Company, of Baxterville, Mississippi, and has interests in lumber yards in Tennessee and Kentucky. He is president of the Panama Lumber & Trading Company, which was organized to do an export lumber business with Europe, Central America and South America and which oper- ates its own line of steamers. Mr. Hinton has offices on the tenth floor of the Hibernia Bank Building, in New Orleans, as well as in Lumberton, between which two cities he divides his time. Mr. Hinton has general supervision of the sales of the output of the main mill at Lumberton and of several smaller mills, approximating 60,000,000 feet annually. He has always taken a vitalizing interest in association matters and his strength in this line has been given recognition by his fellow workers. He is one of the men to whom credit is given for the organization of the Southern Lumber Manu- facturers' Association, the predecessor of the Yellow Pine 26o AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Manufacturers' Association, and has since served continuously as either a director or vice president for his State in that body. He is vice president of the Central Yellow Pine Association, an organization of recent years of manufacturers in Mississippi and Alabama to control local issues in those two states. Mr. Hinton has held one political office during his career, serving as postmaster of Lumberton under Grover Cleveland's admin- istration. Mr. Hinton married Miss Emmet Roberta White, eldest daughterof J. J. White, of McComb City, Mississippi, April 12, 1881. The couple has six children — John White, Herbert Hammond, Bonita, Helen, Irene and Emmet Grace Hinton. John W. Hinton and Herbert H. Hinton, both of whom are graduates of Cornell University, are associated with their father in the management of the affairs of the Camp & Hinton Company. The family occupies a handsome residence in New Orleans during the winter and a country home near Lumberton in the summer. Mr. Hinton is a Mason, being a member of Lumberton Lodge No. 417, the Meridian Consistory and Hamasa Temple of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He took the thirty-third degree in 1906. In New Orleans he holds membership in the Pickwick, Round Table and several carnival clubs. Robert '^ "" ^ In cor states action, which I i the An early invader of the .N jippi lumber industry was Robert Wood Hinton, of Lumberton, a figure prominent in the trade for many years. He 18 not a Mississippian by birth, having been reared in Georgia, but he has so long followed his fortunes there that no son could be more loyal to her. In 1886, when Mr. Hinton first became identified with the lumber business at Lumberton and cn^^'^'^d with others in the manufacture of yellow pine, '^ - - >^ ^^^ r^Mic ^f f^e section had a restricted sale, \\/r>cf M.»»>r»i I^1'lrL'^^e vet tO De ^*.^r, not uulg of y o liiLcrests of H Ot i J came to ii cotton rr" of his Chr ot 1 i Hinton, a V who settled II '^ of whose sons was M m early life married Elizabeth White, a j born Robert Wood MOTHIM aOOW TH^fcJOi^ ROBERT NA/OOD HINXON Robert W. Hinton In comparison with the industrial growth of other southern states Mississippi was slow to respond to the call of progress, but within the last two decades that Commonwealth has largely augmented its activity in manufacturing and mechanical fields. Contributive in the greatest degree to this progress have been the exploitation of the immense forest wealth of the State and the continued railroad construction, which has afforded the necessary arteries to commerce. An early invader of the Mississippi lumber industry was Robert Wood Hinton, of Lumberton, a figure prominent in the trade for many years. He is not a Mississippian by birth, having been reared in Georgia, but he has so long followed his fortunes there that no son could be more loyal to her. In 1886, when Mr. Hinton first became identified with the lumber business at Lumberton and engaged with others in the manufacture of yellow pine, the product of the mills of the section had a restricted sale. The North, the East and the West were markets yet to be developed. In subsequent years Mr. Hinton has been not only a witness but a participant as well in the opening of profitable fields for yellow pine, and today he has interests of an extensive character. Robert W. Hinton comes of an old southern family on the paternal side, the early members having been colonists in Virginia. On his maternal side is a strain of Irish ancestry, the original member of that family who came to America hav- ing built and operated the initial cotton mill in Georgia, in 1827. Mr. Hinton bears as part of his Christian name that of his paternal grandfather. Wood Hinton, a Virginian who settled in the northern portion of Georgia and one of whose sons was Mansfield Hinton. The latter in early life married Elizabeth White, and of this union was born Robert Wood 261 262 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Hinton, December 28, 1854. The scene of his birth was on the plantation owned by his father at Winder, Jackson County, Georgia, and it was there he spent his boyhood days. Mansfield Hinton, father of R. W. Hinton, was a prosper- ous planter when the people of the North and the people of the South were arrayed against each other. Mr. Hinton was old enough to realize the horrors of war when the conflict be- tween the sections opened in 1861. Almost from the first year of that memorable struggle the plantation declined, through the negroes taking flight and the able bodied men of the com- munity bearing arms. Upon the plantation was camped at one time a northern regiment which formed part of the Fed- eral army under General Sherman. Even during the war days young Hinton was sent to the district school near his home and he picked up a fair education, though he was deprived of a college education because of the depressed conditions which existed for many years after the cessation of hostilities and which necessitated his assuming much of the responsibility of conducting the plantation. The work of conserving the estate was a hard task, but the young man was equal to it and he remained on the plantation until long after he had reached his majority. The plantation, consisting of 260 acres of fertile farming land and forty acres of virgin timber, remains in the possession of Mr. Hinton and his brother, J. H. Hinton. They prize the property far beyond its intrinsic value and it is doubtful if it would be sold at any price if by such a transfer it would pass out of the hands of the family. It was not until 1886 that Mr. Hinton became interested in lumbering, though he was famiHar with its details through the operations carried on in the section of Georgia where he lived. Several years prior to that period his brother had gone to Mississippi and invested in timber lands owned by the Gov- ernment, from whom title was obtained. Mr. Hinton, when it was decided to develop these lands, went to Lumberton, Mississippi, where he joined his brother, H. A. Camp and H. P. Hinton in forming the firm of Camp & Hinton Bros. A ROBERT W. HINTON 263 mill of small capacity was set up on a tract of timber owned by the firm near Lumberton and active operations were started. It was an auspicious time for the inauguration of such an enterprise, with the result that the business grew and pros- pered. The individual members of the firm were alive to the situation, and as a demand was created for lumber they in- creased the milling facilities and invested in more timber. In 1890 Mr. Hinton disposed of his interest in the firm of Camp & Hinton Bros, to carry on a commission business for himself. He succeeded well in this venture and gradually built up a good business, though in doing so he became in- volved in the handling of turpentine and in that way again became interested in sawmilling. In 1899 Mr. Hinton formed the R. W. Hinton Company for the purpose of carrying on a general merchandise business and the manufacture of naval stores. Lumberton is well located for the conduct of such an enterprise, being in Lamar County, almost on the dividing line of that county and Pearl River County, and at the junc- tion of the New Orleans & North-eastern Railroad, a part of the Queen & Crescent Route, and the Gulf & Ship Island Railroad. The large amount of territory tributary to Lum- berton permitted of an excellent business being built up, and it now forms Mr. Hinton's chief interest and occupies most of his attention and time. The officers of the R. W. Hinton Company are R. W. Hinton, president; A. S. Hinton, vice president, and H. C. Yawn, secretary and treasurer. The sawmill department of the R. W. Hinton Company grew at an astounding pace, and it became expedient to sep- arate this interest from that of general merchandising. This was accomplished in 1903, when Mr. Hinton organized the Hinton Bros. Lumber Company. The concern operates a modern sawmill plant at Lumberton with an output of about 16,000,000 feet of yellow pine lumber a year. Mr. Hinton had early provided a supply of timber which has been in- creased instead of diminished in recent years. The holdings of the company are estimated at approximately 135,000,000 264 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN feet of yellow pine stumpage. Mr. Hinton Is president of the company; A. S. Hinton, vice president; H. C. Yawn, secre- tary and treasurer, and W. P. Haynes, manager. Other lumber manufacturing concerns in which Mr. Hin- ton is interested are the Camp & Hinton Company, of Lum- berton, and the W. B. Leeke Company, of Baxterville, Marion County, Mississippi. He is vice president of the Lumberton Drug Company and a director and member of the finance committee of the First National Bank of Lumberton. Mr. Hinton has an interesting family of six children. Mrs. Hinton was Miss Mary Etta Haynes before her marriage to Mr. Hinton at Newton, North Carolina, May 31, 1880. The children are Robert Wood, Junior, Dayle, Ruth, Jerrlne, Daniel Pitts and Sarah Elizabeth Hinton. The eldest son in- herited many of the sterhng qualities of his father and he undoubtedly will prove a worthy successor to his father when the latter shall choose to lay down his burdens. The members of the family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Hinton is a Scottish Rite and a York Rite Mason, and - . a member of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a Republican in politics and though active he never has sought office. He is fond of driving and he gets more real pleasure in handling the reins over a blooded animal than in any other form of recreation. Thee education c*l a i b ide of theimmeu deserved recognj ler woods long con- ineqt e of the nnen — and a comparatively man, at that — who has contributed much to the ad- ..inent of yellow pine as a commodity is John Lanzel Kaul, of Birmingham, Alabama. A half century ago members of the Kaul family became identified with lumbering operations in Pennsylvania, and the younger generation has carried on the business in later years in the South country. John L. Kaul's father, Andrew Kaul, was a conspicuous and successful figure in lumber operations in the Keystone State, where he began in the in- dustry as a woodsman shor'^^ ' Ve outbreak of the Civil V ^' '' ■^^ near St. Marys, and near t her was \^^ near n t >d- he V : father gratified li n he was but fifteen years c sociation with men of affairs bi ition of his lack of education. ther, who was ambitious _IUA>I _I3SHA_I MHOU 0M JOHN LANZEL. KAUL_ John L. Kaul The exploitation of a certain wood, or, in other words, the education of a greater number of consumers to its uses, has been the means of bringing honor and reward to many lum- bermen. Within the last generation yellow pine, once neg- lected in the domestic trade, outside of the immediate territory in which it grows, has been given deserved recognition for its utility and has been classed with other woods long con- sidered unequaled. One of the men — and a comparatively young man, at that — who has contributed much to the ad- vancement of yellow pine as a commodity is John Lanzel Kaul, of Birmingham, Alabama. A half century ago members of the Kaul family became identified with lumbering operations in Pennsylvania, and the younger generation has carried on the business in later years in the South country. John L. Kaul's father, Andrew Kaul, was a conspicuous and successful figure in lumber operations in the Keystone State, where he began in the in- dustry as a woodsman shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War. The son was born October 9, 1866, near St. Marys, Elk County, at the headwaters of the Allegheny River and near the summit of the Allegheny Mountains. His mother was Walburga (Lanzel) Kaul. The home of the family was near a small mill operated by the senior Kaul, its equipment consisting of an old fashioned gang and mulay saw. In this atmosphere of lumbering John L. Kaul was reared, a God- fearing, conscientious and ambitious youth. Like all boys he was eager to take up life's active work, so his father gratified his desire by placing him in the mill when he was but fifteen years old. But a year of work and his association with men of affairs brought home to the boy the realization of his lack of education. With the consent of his father, who was ambitious 265 266 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN for the future of his son, young Kaul went to Rock Hill Col- lege, at Baltimore, where he studied for four years and sup- plemented this with a business course at a Poughkeepsie col- lege. Although scarcely of manhood's estate, Mr. Kaul was given a position in the office of Kaul & Hall, of which firm his father was a member. His college course had prepared him for a quick mastery of the details of the accounting end of the business. He essayed larger responsibilities and more active work in the conduct of the manufacturing business as then carried on. About 1888 he was placed in charge of the lumbering operations of a hardwood mill owned by his father in the vicinity of St. Marys. For a year he managed this work with credit to himself, but even wider opportunities for the exercise of his abilities were to be presented. The timber supply in the western part of Pennsylvania was diminishing to such an extent that another location for the carrying on of the business had to be found. In 1889 Mr. Kaul started on a prospecting trip through the southern coast states for the pur- pose of finding a suitable tract of timber for investment and development. Several available tracts were found, but it was not until 1890 that Mr. Kaul secured the desired opportunity for an operative investment. It was in this year that he bought a one-fourth interest in the Sample Lumber Company, at Hollins, Alabama, becom- ing secretary and treasurer of the concern. The mill operated had an annual capacity of about 12,000,000 feet, while approxi- mately 150,000,000 feet of timber was owned. Here it was that Mr. Kaul received his training in the southern lumber business and realized the possibilities and future of yellow pine. In 1891, after Mr. Kaul had become identified with the Sample Lumber Company, the holdings of Blanchard, Hum- ber & Co., of Columbus, Georgia, in the Sample company were bought by him in connection with A. Truman, which gave each of them a one-half interest in the stock. A year JOHN L. KAUL 267 later Mr. Truman's interest was bought by Mr. Kaul and the concern was renamed the Kaul Lumber Company, three- fourths of the stock of which is held by Mr. Kaul. Following the reorganization of the company the plant was modernized by the installation of new and additional machin- ery, increasing the capacity so that by 1900 it was 40,000,000 feet annually. Standing timber aggregating 350,000,000 feet already was owned, and additional investments were made in yellow pine stumpage for the purpose of ensuring a longer life for the mill. Altogether, 800,000,000 additional feet of timber was bought in the name of the Kaul Land & Lumber Company, of which Mr. Kaul is president. This timber is located on the Black Warrior River, in Bibb, Perry and Tus- caloosa counties, Alabama. The timber holdings now exceed 1,000,000,000 feet. With the Kaul Lumber Company running in good shape, Mr. Kaul, with other well-informed men, began missionary work in the interest of yellow pine lumber in the North. The purpose was to set forth the great value of yellow pine for all uses and to establish a firmer reputation for it than it had ever before enjoyed. At the time this work was started, more than a decade ago, longleaf pine lumber had a comparatively limit- ed field. By persistent efforts along educational lines, sug- gested by Mr. Kaul and the others interested, many prejudices existing in the northern markets against this wood were elim- inated. Mr. Kaul became one of the warmest supporters of the work of the Southern Lumber Manufacturers' Associa- tion, serving for several years as vice president for Alabama, and also as a member of the board of directors. He not only gave his moral support to the organization, but aided it finan- cially. That his efforts were appreciated and his ability ad- mitted was acknowledged in his selection for president of the association at the annual meeting held in New Orleans, Louisiana, in January, 1906, at which meeting the organization was given the more distinctive title of the "Yellow Pine Man- ufacturers' Association." 268 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN One of Mr. Kaul's ability and progressiveness was bound to make his mark in the commercial world of the South. He has become interested in many business enterprises apart from his lumber manufacturing and timber holding operations. He is prominently connected with coal mining interests in Alabama and with other operations of a miscellaneous nature. He is a stockholder and director of the First National Bank of Birmingham, one of the leading financial institutions of the South with a capital of $1,000,000 and a surplus of $500,000. With all his aggressiveness, Mr. Kaul's moves have much of the conservativeness of the North about them, and he is of that type of men to whom the South owes much of its recent prosperity and development. Mr. Kaul married Miss Virginia Roy Head, a daughter of Judge Head, of Birmingham, a member of the State Supreme Court, on June 18, 1901. Two children have been born of this union, one of whom, a daughter, is living. Mr. Kaul is of a social disposition. He is a member of many clubs, among them being the Country and the Southern clubs. He is a Hoo-Hoo, having been initiated in the order at a time when its membership was less than 1,000. Everything pertaining to the welfare of lumbermen and the upbuilding of lumbering has the interest and support of Mr. Kaul. In consideration of his valuable services in other lines he was chosen a member of the executive committee entrusted with the task of raising a fund for the endowment of a chair of applied forestry and practical lumbering in Yale University. Another honor which came to him unsolicited, marking an- other tribute to his interest in such matters, was his election as vice president of the American Forest Congress. Mr. Kaul himself is a practical lumberman, but the theoretical side ap- peals to him as well, and anything that tends to conserve the timber of this country enlists his ready sympathy and support. Wi N ■! V s . rs of active \ « „^ one of the mo<;t successful enterprises u. j territory, rrurrA m the fruits of his labors, i g t^-"* ->i^ • •..^ of the company in which he was He was the executive head of the Bradley- Ramsay Lumber Company, a pioneer concern in longleaf pine manufacturing, which, in March, 1906, was sold to the Long-Bell Lumber Company, of Kansas City, Missouri. For nearly two decades the Bradley-Ramsay Lumber Company operated extensively in Lf ' • superior quality of longleaf pine ,s that placed it in the front rs. This eminent position in a d many edited to 9 e of the t n )n in the lool and se- Jesuit colleges, world was gained as a clerk ty when he was fifteen years oH o^ business for five years, YAeMAH ai/iuMa3 MAI-I_JINA/ \A/IL.L.IAM EDMUND RAMSAY William E. Ramsay Nearly twenty years ago a group of northern lumbermen turned their attention from the somewhat depleted white pine forests of the North to the more promising South country where grows the longleaf yellow pine. One of this group was WilHam Edmund Ramsay, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, who, after nineteen years of active work, during which time was built up one of the most successful enterprises in the Calcasieu territory, retired to enjoy the fruits of his labors, following the sale of the property of the company in which he was interested. He was the executive head of the Bradley- Ramsay Lumber Company, a pioneer concern in longleaf pine manufacturing, which, in March, 1906, was sold to the Long-Bell Lumber Company, of Kansas City, Missouri. For nearly two decades the Bradley-Ramsay Lumber Company operated extensively in Louisiana, exploiting a superior quality of longleaf pine and building up a business that placed it in the front rank of southern lumber producers. This eminent position of the company was secured not in a day, but after many years, and much of its success must honestly be credited to the active man in its affairs — William E. Ramsay. William E. Ramsay is a Canadian by birth, having been born at St. Johns, Province of Quebec, July 9, 1855. His parents, S. P. Ramsay and Jessie (McKay) Ramsay, were of the true Scotch blood, having migrated to Canada from Perth, Scotland. The son began his early education in the schools of the Province, later attending high school and se- curing a higher mental training at one of the Jesuit colleges. His first experience in the business world was gained as a clerk in a grocery store in his native city when he was fifteen years old. He followed this line of business for five years, 269 270 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN developing good qualities as a salesman, which were evidenced in later years when he broadened his career in the white pine country. In 1876 he became connected with a New York mercantile house for which he traveled about one year, resigning his position to enter the employ of Wells, Stone & Co., a firm dealing extensively in lumbermen's supplies at Saginaw, Michigan. This was his introduction to the white pine country. The partners in this business were Ammi W. Wright, Charles W. Wells and Farnham C. Stone. Mr. Ramsay quickly made his services valuable to his employers, and within five years had been advanced to the head of the office force of the firm, and later, when the business was reorganized under the name of the Wells-Stone Mercantile Company, he assumed the treasurership of the concern. In 1887 Mr. Ramsay severed his connection with the Wells- Stone Mercantile Company to organize the Bradley-Ramsay Lumber Company, in connection with Nathan B. Bradley, Lewis Penoyer, Robert H. Nason and Benton Hanchett. As early as 1880 these men had begun the investment of money in timber lands in Louisiana. At this early date it was evident that the white pine production of the North was nearing its highest mark and a few years more would witness its decline ; therefore, newer fields for the carrying on of lumber opera- tions would be necessary. Following the organization of the Bradley-Ramsay Lumber Company a large sawmill was built at Lake Charles, Louisiana. Mr. Ramsay was placed in charge of the operations, and he took the novel method of shipping sample carload lots to the northern and western states, where it was found the lumber could readily be used for sash, door and blind pur- poses as well as for other finishing material. It did not take long to get a foothold in this trade and the company soon became a heavy shipper to the sections mentioned and gained an enviable reputation for making high grades of lumber. It shipped even into Michigan, then in its zenith of prosperity as a white pine producing state, and succeeded in holding WILLIAM E. RAMSAY 271 nearly all the trade thus originally secured. Mr. Ramsay's attention was directed toward the possibilities of longleaf yellow pine for railroad material, and for many years large contracts were handled for ties, bridge timbers and other railroad material, much of this demand coming from Texas. This feature of the business became so important that much time was devoted to it and the mill was kept sawing regularly on heavy orders for the railroad companies. An extensive trade was built up also in decking for Government vessels and ships of the merchant marine. The timber holdings of the company exceeded 150,000 acres, these holdings being added to annually in order to replace the timber cut at the Lake Charles mill. The timber was conceded to be the finest in the Calcasieu Valley. The company was one of the first in the field and went over the ground, employing the most expert estimators and woodsmen, and practically had its choice of the now famous Calcasieu pine. The mill properties operated included the Mt. Hope mill, acquired by purchase, and a big plant about one mile above on the banks of the Calcasieu River. The upper or main mill was called the Gossport mill and was situated about two miles from the center of Lake Charles. The general offices of the company were located at this point and were models in their way. The Gossport mill itself was equipped with a circular and a band mill. A stock of about 10,000,000 feet was carried at the Gossport yard and about 5,000,000 feet at the Mt. Hope plant. The dry kiln facilities were not excelled by any in the Southwest and the planing mill equipment was modern and complete. Every known appliance for fighting any possible conflagration was put into operation and the insurance risk was reduced to a minimum. Besides depending on the river for a supply of logs, the company operated the Lake Charles & Leesville Railroad, a standard gauge road laid with heavy steel rails and having a full complement of rolling stock. The road extends thirty- 272 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN eight miles into and through the timber holdings of the company. Through his connection and interests in the Bradley- Ramsay Lumber Company Mr. Ramsay acquired other interests and became a director of the W. H. Norris Lumr ber Company, of Houston, Texas, and interested in the Gebert Shingle Company, Limited, of New Iberia, Loui- siana. He is a director in the following enterprises: The Murray-Brooks Hardware Company, Limited, Interstate Oil & Land Company, Lake Charles Chemical Company, Majestic Hotel Company, First National Bank of Lake Charles, Lake Charles National Bank, Calcasieu National Bank, all of Lake Charles, and the Ramey-Hutchins' Rubber Company, of Los Angeles, California. Mr. Ramsay married Miss Katherine M. Penoyer, a daughter of Lewis Penoyer, at Saginaw, Michigan, June 28, 1882. Residing in the beautiful home at Lake Charles with their parents are the four children of Mr. and Mrs Ramsay- Lewis P. Ramsay, who recently attained his majority, Herbert H. Ramsay, Katherine Ramsay and Marjorie Ramsay. The family attends the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Ramsay is a Republican but never has sought prom- inence in politics. He is a Mason and a Knight Templar. He is a member of the Pickwick Club, of New Orleans, and made the club his headquarters during his frequent visits to that city. His favorite recreation is yachting, though the demands of the business he directed permitted, formerly, of his giving but little time to this form of rest. he IS "to of the patriareliji oi n transmitted in Ambrose Frost was born in > ity, Arkan- sas, October 25, 1869. The lad grew up into a youth of more than average intelligence, attending the public school near his home and working on the farm during the vacation period until he was fourteen years old. The next two winter seasons he was a stuHpnt at the College Hill school, Columbia County, /^r\^^r.MI_IOa ^f=M<^3M aRO"^MAe SANFORD HEINRY BOLINQEIR Sanford H. Bolinger Left to their own guidance young men, at the outset of their careers, rarely select that line of industry or that profes- sion to which they are best adapted. Others fail after consci- entious effort, because of insufficient understanding of their own limitations and the natural trend of their particular tem- peraments and abilities. But the wiser of them usually find their proper level, perhaps after many experiments and vicis- situdes, and, once finding it, show in the particular plane in which they are settled the best that is in them. One who found his natural sphere after many efforts is Sanford Henry Bolinger, of Shreveport, Louisiana. He was born at Mt. Carroll, Carroll County, Illinois, Janu- ary 5, 1855. His father, John B. Bolinger, was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and his mother, Sophia Corbin, at Huntingdon, in the same State. They migrated to Carroll County in 1853, where the father followed the vocation of contractor and builder, which, perhaps, gave the son his first taste for the business which he now follows. One of six children, when only nine years old Sanford H. Bolinger real- ized something of the burden of the support of such a number on the little forty-acre farm which was the home of the family. During the troublous times of 1864 the family journeyed cautiously and circuitously through Iowa and Nebraska, avoid- ing the unrest in Missouri, and reached Kansas a week after the celebrated Price's raid. A wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen, a large lumber wagon and a one-horse wagon carried the family and all its possessions. Young Bolinger had gone to school while in Illinois and in Kansas he had the same restricted educational advantages, attending a little school fourteen miles west of Fort Scott, the location of his father's farm, a tract which is still owned by 277 278 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Mr. Bolinger's mother. When eighteen years of age he taught school for a short period. Realizing his mental limita- tions, however, he went to Bloomington, Illinois, where he attended the normal school in 1874 and 1875. Following this course he taught school in Oakville, a small Scotch village near where he was born; but, being the oldest son, he re- turned to the farm in Kansas at his father's request. In 1877 he started to work the farm on shares, but quit after getting a crop started and began teaching at Godfrey, Kansas, a coal mining town five miles from Fort Scott. After teaching one term he represented a nursery company for a year, on a salary, in western Kansas. The succeeding year he carried on a nursery business for himself, but the third year a crop shortage left him practically without means and he returned to Bourbon County, Kansas, near his home, where he taught school to earn sufficient money to pay board bills he had contracted. At the end of a year he went to Nevada, Missouri, where he became proficient in penmanship, and, returning to Fort Scott, became assistant superintendent and teacher of drawing and penmanship in the public schools. It was not until Mr. Bolinger was twenty-seven years old that he entered the lumber business. He began in the Fort Scott yard of S. A. Brown & Co., of which Thomas Brown was manager. He received a salary of $35 a month and con- tinued at that wage for a period of four or five months. Then he went to Cherryvale and engaged with G. B. Shaw & Co., as assistant yardman. The company operated a large line of yards and grain elevators in Kansas, the head of the concern now being a successful Chicago banker, while M. R. Grant, the manager of the yard, is now a lumberman at Meridian, Mississippi. Two months after Mr. Bolinger had gone to Cherryvale he was given charge of the yard and the local office, handling both lumber and grain. At the expira- tion of a year he associated himself with John B. Carey in a concern known as the Wolf River Lumber Company, putting in a yard and running it for several years at Grenola, Kansas. SANFORD H. BOLINGER 279 This yard subsequently was bought by the Rock Island Lum- ber & Manufacturing Company, business having become dull and the two yards being merged under the ownership of the Rock Island concern. At this juncture Mr. Bolinger joined E. H. Anawalt, who was manager of the Rock Island company's line of yards, in the buying of a yard at Fort Scott. This venture proved un- remunerative in a short time and the business was sold to the other yards. In 1889 Mr. Bolinger opened an office at Fort Scott for the wholesaling of yellow pine lumber for the Southern Pine Lumber Company, at the head of which con- cern was T. L. L. Temple, now of Texarkana, Arkansas. Fort Scott did not prove to be the proper location for that enterprise, and Mr. Bolinger opened an office at Texarkana, Texas, under the style of S. H. Bolinger & Co., the other interest being that of the Southern Pine Lumber Company, composed of Benjamin Whitaker, T. L. L. Temple and C. M. Putman. He also held a working interest in the Southern Pine Lumber Company. Later, Mr. Bolinger bought out Messrs. Whitaker, Putman and Temple, and Max I. Mosher, his stenographer, was given a share in the business. Prior to this Mr. Bolinger had backed a sawmill concern with some of his own capital, and upon the failure of this enterprise, he assumed possession of the plant and began its operation. The mill was located at a point then known as Martin's Switch, near Lewisville, Arkansas, on the Shreveport branch of the Cotton Belt Route. The mill business was organized under the name of the Martin Lumber Company, and Martin's Switch subsequently was given the name of Bolinger. While this plant was running the company leased a mill at Alden Bridge, Louisiana, and operated it in connec- tion with the other plant. A tract of timber was secured near Plain Dealing, Louisiana, and the plant of the Bolinger (Ark- ansas) concern was moved to the new location, which was named Bolinger, Louisiana. Adversity as well as prosperity has fallen to the lot of Mr. 28o AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Bolinger, and during the commercial panic of 1893 he and his associates were financially embarrassed, though the plant was kept in operation until July, 1896. The trouble was due to the prevailing business depression and the expenditure of much money in the construction of a new mill and a railroad. The property again passed into the control of Mr. Bolinger who, with W. B. Boggs, formed S. H. Bolinger & Co., Lim- ited. Timber tributary to the mill was bought at intervals and eighteen miles of logging railroad with spurs and a full equip- ment of motive power and cars is operated. The plant is a modern one and a planing mill, waterworks, electric light plant, machine shop and general store form part of the invest- ment. While Mr. Bolinger directs the operations of the Bolinger, Louisiana, plant, he is a stockholder and director in the E. W. Gates Lumber Company, of Yellowpine, Alabama; the prin- cipal owner in a lumber yard at Redfield, Kansas; a stock- holder and director in the Continental Bank & Trust Company, of Shreveport, Louisiana, and owner of more than 40,000 acres of pine timbered lands in Alabama. He owns a farm and some property near Fort Scott and a beautiful home and other property at Shreveport. He is also a stockholder in and vice president of the Shreveport Creosoting Company, Limited, of Shreveport, Louisiana, organized in 1906 with a paid in capital of $150,000. He stands high in the order of Odd Fellows, and was one of the earliest to join the order of Hoo-Hoo. He is a stock- holder and a prominent member of the Athletic Club of Shreveport. Mr. Bolinger married Miss Florence Green, a daughter of Rev. J. H. Green, of Redfield, Kansas, at Wyandotte, Kansas, June 9, 1883. Of this marriage have been born two sons and two daughters — Bannas Hudson, John Harvey, Minta Ursie and Isa Nancy Sophia Bolinger. Bannas Hudson, the eldest son, who recently has come of age, is a stockholder in the company and its assistant manager. Th r Risinr '- yard ' ot commercial creation ".the Dermen, n prominent m the indus- try for many years, while several brothers are today engaged in manufacturing lumber in the southwestern section of the country. He came by his predilection for lumbering natur- ally, though his advancement was not made by one jump, but has been step by step, from a comparatively simple and unim- j Seen spent in the lumber i he now is ha« mnre or less artivf: nrirt fn nlav. He is ^ r anH T his . ( ■• . » • AT i ;e was b^^^' v^. v.... ^ vhere his .f ti ^ In this u '•^^red Willi u ^ " reachcu vn^ "1 roved Wli' Mr. ! lumber bu^ stully. RBTBOT H08«=lMAe aAMOHT m -THOMAS SAMPSON FOSTER Thomas S. Foster Rising from an unimportant position in a retail lumber yard to the active management of one of the largest manu- facturing yellow pine concerns in the Southwest is, in brief, the career of Thomas S. Foster, of Houston, Texas. His success has come through his power of commercial creation and his executive ability, combined with the foresight which has enabled him to take advantage of opportunities. Thomas Sampson Foster comes of a family of lumbermen, his father, John Foster, having been prominent in the indus- try for many years, while several brothers are today engaged in manufacturing lumber in the southwestern section of the country. He came by his predilection for lumbering natur- ally, though his advancement was not made by one jump, but has been step by step, from a comparatively simple and unim- portant position. His whole life has been spent in the lumber business and his efforts have not been in vain, for he now is vice president of the Foster Lumber Company, of Kansas City, Missouri, and has interests in two score other operations, in all of which he has a more or less active part to play. He is the oldest son of John Foster and Letitia L. (Sampson) Foster, his brothers being Ben B. Foster, Samuel A. Foster, James N. Foster and George W. Foster. He was born February i6, 1861, at Leavenworth, Kansas, where his father at that time was running a lumber business. In this thriving and prosperous city, even at that day, he was reared with all pos- sible care and attention by his parents. When he reached the age at which he could enter the public schools he proved himself a willing pupil, so that he had an excellent education when he left school at the age of eighteen years. Mr. Foster, Senior, was anxious to have his son learn the lugiber business, which he himself followed so successfully. 281 282 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN His wish was to have the young man lighten some of his bur- dens in the management of his business. So young Thomas was sent to Irving, Kansas, in 1880, to begin his training in the yard of John Foster & Son, located at that point. The retail business was but a step in his training, yet it was one that Mr. Foster looks upon as being of considerable importance in the shaping of his career. The Irving yard was a busy one, catering to the needs of a large agricultural community. The young employee, despite his family connection with the owners of the yard, was given no privileges not enjoyed by his co- workers. He tallied lumber, learned to grade and inspect, entered the office and mastered its details and, lastly, looked after the trade, as a salesman. After a residence at Irving of several years Mr. Foster was transferred by his father, John Foster, head of the household and pioneer in the business, to Randolph and subsequently to Leonardville, both in Kansas, in each instance taking charge of the yards at those points. All the while he was gaining in experience and demonstrating his capabilities of managing a business of greater magnitude than those with which he thus far had been entrusted. As Kansas was becoming more set- tled each year, the prospects of doing a larger volume of busi- ness became evident and Mr. Foster began the establishment of yards in some of the growing pioneer towns in western Kansas, for John Foster & Son. He put in yards at Almena, Norton, Colby, Goodland, Oberlin, Scott City, Leoti and Manchester. Placing efficient and trusted men in charge of these yards, Mr. Foster became auditor for the entire system of yards conducted by the concern, and looked after the busi- ness of all of them, about fifteen in number at that time. About 1890 Mr. Foster was sent into the South country by his father to look after the interests of John Foster & Son and to give special attention to the firm's growing business. Up to this time his experience had been mainly that of retailing, though on a broad scale, but in the South he had much to do with the buying of lumber for the yards of the concern and THOMAS S. FOSTER 283 was brought in contact with the mills, which gave him an opportunity to study manufacturing methods. Nine years after his entry into the South he began the buying of timber, and his purchases, up to January i, 1906, had reached a total of 140,000 acres of yellow pine, all of which, with the excep- tion of 18,000 acres, was virgin timber. These timber purchases were made for the Foster Lumber Company, which was organized in 1896, as the successor to the firm of John Foster & Son. A mill was built at Clines- burg, Texas, in 1894, which has a daily cutting capacity of 150,000 feet, dry kiln capacity for the mill cut, and a shed that will hold 600,000 feet of lumber. Backing up this mill is a timber supply of approximately 500,000,000 feet. When the Walker County Lumber Company was organ- ized in July, 1902, Mr. Foster was chosen president of the concern, the other officers being M. L. Womack, Junior, vice president, and W. B. Clint, secretary, treasurer and gen- eral manager. A mill with a daily capacity of 80,000 feet was built at Elmina, Texas, the company taking its name from the county in which the plant is located. The mill is connected by a railroad with tracts of timber, owned by the company and estimated to contain 350,000,000 feet. This road is owned by the Elmina & Eastern Transportation Company, which in 1906 had about twenty-four miles of road already laid and four miles under construction. Mr. Foster is president of the Elmina & Eastern company, which has a separate organization from the lumber business. Another large manufacturing operation with which Mr. Foster is connected is the Thomp- son & Tucker Lumber Company, of Willard, Texas, of which he is vice president. He is interested, as well, in the Gebert Shingle Company, Limited, of New Iberia, Louisiana, which turns out 250,000 cypress shingles a day, and of which W. H. Norris, of Houston, is president. The Foster Lumber Com- pany owns a one-half interest in the shingle concern. In addition to the concerns already enumerated, Mr. Foster has oth^r interests. He is a director of the American National 284 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Bank, of Houston; vice president of the Clarendon Lumber Company, of Clarendon, Texas; vice president of the Fraser- Johnson Brick Company, of Emory, Texas, and a director of the Fort Worth Telegram^ a daily newspaper published at Fort Worth. Mr. Foster has never interested himself in politics, for the reason that he has been busily engaged in managing the afTairs of the various enterprises with which he is connected, and his diversified interests are widely scattered. He has been enthu- siastic in the work of the Yellow Pine Manufacturers' Asso- ciation, as all of his direct interests are in wood represented by that body. He is an Elk and a member of the Thalian Club and the Houston Golf Club, of Houston. It can hardly be said that Mr. Foster has any recreation which may be called a hobby with him. He has busied himself in the buying of timber lands and has found health and pleasure in going through the woods and estimating and examining these tracts. Mr. Foster was twice married, his first wife having been Miss Addie Miller, of Leonardville, Kansas, whom he married November 17, 1889, and who left a daughter, Letitia J. Foster. The second wife was Mrs. Florence Wilson, formerly of Min- neapolis, whom he married December 22, 1897. Mr. Foster and Mrs. Wilson had been sweethearts during their school days, but had separated and both had married. Will' r% ^^-^ If Side by -' out the <■ ed by tc man ot northern nativity who has ct commercial development of the South is William of Houston, Texas. Lumbering came by i '». I eat-grandfather, grandfather and were sawmill men and it is, therefore, but a r ! sequence that he, too, should engage in this industry. William Henry Norris was born in Nottingham, New Hampshire, April lo, 1868, the fourth of that name, with but one break in four generations, who first saw light in the same m in the d. He is the son of !c) Norris. The first William ne from Warwickshire, Eng- d at Nottinp-- Norru . r] """ - attri*^"^"'^ '^f cend. ai -uuca- -led vjwea iiic L mation for the menting his study by a c 10 i. aiFIROM VFIM3H MAI_I_IIW VS/IL.L.IAM HENRV NORRIS William H. Norris Side by side have the northerner and the southerner worked out the development of the industrial South. To neither one alone can be given the credit, but to the combination of the energy and sturdiness of the one with the thorough knowl- edge of sectional conditions and needs possessed by the other. A fine type of the man of northern nativity who has aided in the commercial development of the South is William H. Norris, of Houston, Texas. Lumbering came by inheri- tance to Mr. Norris. His great-grandfather, grandfather and uncle were sawmill men and it is, therefore, but a natural sequence that he, too, should engage in this industry. William Henry Norris was born in Nottingham, New Hampshire, April lo, 1868, the fourth of that name, with but one break in four generations, who first saw light in the same room in the same old family homestead. He is the son of Abbott and Caroline (Hoague) Norris. The first William Norris and his brother Sias came from Warwickshire, Eng- land, early in the Eighteenth Century and settled at Notting- ham. Sias went to Canada, where a branch of the family still flourishes. The great-grandfather and grandfather of Mr. Norris remained in New Hampshire and ran an ''up and down" water sawmill that was still operating in 1876. Its capacity was about 2,000 feet a day. The best attributes of these ancestors are combined in their Texas descendant. Abbott Norris, the father, was a general merchant at Nottingham. The boy obtained the rudiments of an educa- tion at the public schools near his home and then attended Putnam Academy, at Newburyport, Massachusetts, where he followed the general line of instruction and passed an exam- ination for the Institute of Technology, of Boston, supple- menting his study by a course in mechanical engineering. 285 286 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN But before he could enter the technical school it became necessary for him to go to work, and he accepted the conditions with characteristic cheerfulness. His first work was in the wholesale grocery house of Boyd, Leeds & Co., of Boston, where he remained until the latter part of 1889. In this, his first connection with the business world, Mr. Norris began at the very bottom and rose by gradual stages to the position of traveling representative. In the cold and wet of that rigorous clime, however, he contracted successive colds which finally resulted in a severe attack of rheumatic fever, compeUing him to retire from business for a time and eventually to seek a warmer climate. Mr. Norris' entry into the lumber business was largely accidental. In going South he had no distinct purpose in view other than to avoid for a season the cold of northern winters; but he turned instinctively to his uncle, W. B. Norris, who was, and is still, a yellow pine manufacturer at Westlake, Louisiana. He was immediately attracted by the lumber business and soon joined his uncle in the management of his properties. W. B. Norris had erected at Westlake, just after the close of the Civil War, a sawmill which is still running. It was about this mill that the nephew gained his knowledge of the manufacturing end of the business. He stayed at Westlake until 1893, when he went to Houston, Texas, and entered the employ of the T. M. Richardson Lumber Com- pany, of Oklahoma City, as traveling salesman for its Houston office, remaining with that concern nearly a year and until its Houston business was sold to the late J. I. Campbell, who afterward formed the J. I. Campbell Company, of which Mr. Norris is now the receiver. On leaving the Richardson company Mr. Norris deter- mined to have done with inferior positions forever, and he immediately formed a copartnership with J. B. Beatty, a man well known to the trade, under the firm name of Norris & Beatty. This firm continued in business in Houston until 1896, when it dissolved and Mr. Norris formed the W. H. WILLIAM H. NORRIS 287 Norris Lumber Co., not incorporated. In this venture Mr. Norris had for his backer an old schoolmate and boyhood friend, W. A. Russell, of Boston, now president of the Chandler Steel Company, of Ayer, Massachusetts. Mr. Russell became the silent partner of the company and so remained for several years. On January 2, 1902, the W. H. Norris Lumber Company W2LS incorporated under the laws of the State of Texas, by W. H. Norris and William E. Ramsay and C. W. Penoyer, the two last named being respectively president and vice presi- dent of the Bradley-Ramsay Lumber Company, of Lake Charles, Louisiana. The capital stock of the company was fixed at $100,000 and the following officers were elected and still hold office: President, W. H. Norris; vice president, C. W. Penoyer; secretary, N. C. Hoyt. The Norris company is classed as both a manufacturer and wholesaler. It has a half interest in the famous Gebert Shingle Company, Limited, of New Iberia, Louisiana, and has large interests in pine and cypress mills at various places. It has large timber holdings in Louisiana for future operations. Since the date of its incorporation the company has con- tinually strengthened its resources and increased its business until it is now recognized as one of the most important factors in the southern lumber market. Mr. Norris is the receiver of the great properties of the J. I. Campbell Company, under the appointment of the State courts, as well as of the properties of the Warren & Corsi- cana Pacific Railway, and the Tyler County Land & Lumber Company. His work is so systematized and regulated that he is able to attend to these varied interests without trouble. Mr. Norris, although of northern birth and education, has won his success in life in the South, where the best oppor- tunities are offered to the enterprising young men of the country. He is a distinct type of the advanced business man, and, although not "to the manner born," he is bound indis- solubly to the fortunes of his adopted section. His record 288 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN shows his indomitable nerve and energy and his honesty of purpose and character. His energy is not of that aggressive sort that seeks to impress itself upon others — rather he accom- plishes things while others, perhaps, are dreaming. Although modest and retiring in disposition, he is a born leader and takes first rank in any enterprise — business, political or social — in which he may be engaged. Mr. Norris is a member of the Houston, Thalian and Elks clubs of his home city, as well as of the Houston Turn Verien. He is an Odd Fellow, a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner. He has been the snark of the universe of the Concat- enated Order of Hoo-Hoo, and is an honorary member of the great electrical order, The Sons of Jove. He has always been an active worker in the Lumbermen's Association of Texas. He is a member of the Cypress Manufacturers' As- sociation of Louisiana and the Southern Lumber Manufac- turers' Association. His election to the supreme head of Hoo-Hoo was accomplished at the Milwaukee annual in 1902, upon which occasion he was the unanimous choice of the membership assembled from every State in the Union. And thereby hangs a tale. There was but one objection to Mr. Norris in the minds of those staid business men of the North, and that was his status as a probably confirmed bachelor. While the convention did not suspect that he had a matri- monial plan afoot, he was given warning, and readily promised to appear at the next annual with a bride, or not at all. How well he kept his word those Hoo-Hoo who attended the Buffalo annual know. When Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Norris appeared on the scene it was the occasion of a demonstration which they must long remember. Mr. Norris wedded Miss Martha Cloman at El Paso, Texas, August 25, 1903, and the happy couple now possess a daughter, Lucile. Lynch • tuson Where a s to men who arc willing to > igc of them. Lynch Davidson, of Houston, I . be cited as an c of what a n lines. 1 Davidson was born January 3, 1873, at Cotile Land- ing, near Boyce, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, the son of Neal Davidson and Laura (Lynch) Davidson, the former of Scotch and the latter of Irish extraction. Bequests of prosperous plantations made to Neal Davidson had been swept away dur- incr the reconstruction oeriod in Louisiana and the young T -^ ^T^f* anpw In 1874 the family I /»VOC vjl'li/>r^ the "'son i irte prac- .t :„._ _ I u meaiu -n necessity that n of his birth and apply tor ity County Lumber Com- pany, at c - was scarce in that section in those days, t seemed eager to do any- thing, he was mill handling lumber and L.VNCH DAVIDSON Lynch Davidson Where hundreds of manufacturers are following but one avenue for the distribution of the product of their mills, the man who can open up and develop a practically new line and cater to it successfully is an individual to whom success is bound to come. The lumber industry in all its complexity affords such opportunities to men who are willing to find and take advantage of them. Lynch Davidson, of Houston, Texas, may be cited as an example of what a manufacturer and dis- tributor of lumber may accomplish along special lines. Lynch Davidson was born January 3, 1873, at Cotile Land- ing, near Boyce, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, the son of Neal Davidson and Laura (Lynch) Davidson, the former of Scotch and the latter of Irish extraction. Bequests of prosperous plantations made to Neal Davidson had been swept away dur- ing the reconstruction period in Louisiana and the young planter was forced to begin life anew. In 1874 the family located at Groesbeck, Liestone County, Texas, where the husband and father lived but a few years. Lynch Davidson had nothing to boast of in the way of early educational advan- tages, most of his education having been obtained in the prac- tical school of life in his later years. He did attend the winter sessions at the little district school at Groesbeck until he had reached the age of fourteen years, but long before his school days had ended he knew full well what it meant to work, and work hard, for a living. It was no boyish fancy but rather stern necessity that led him, at the age of fourteen, to leave the town of his birth and apply for work at the office of the Trinity County Lumber Com- pany, at Groveton, Texas. Labor was scarce in that section in those days, and, as the boy applicant seemed eager to do any- thing, he was set to work about the mill handling lumber and 289 290 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN finish. He did not balk at the hard tasks he was put to and earned the pay of a man. As he grew in years and strength he worked about the machines, and finally qualified for posi- tions at other mills and secured employment. He operated planing machines successively for the Trinity County Lum- ber Company; William Cameron & Co., at Saron, and the Lutcher & Moore Lumber Company, at Orange, Texas. Young Davidson was not a robust youth and the heavy labor involved in the handling of lumber about the mills was sap- ping his strength. Besides, he had gained a knowledge of the manufacture of lumber which he thought could be put to better use than in manual labor at a mill. Reaching the point where his health was failing to such an extent as to demand his taking up some other occupation, Mr. Davidson, in 1891, entered the office of the M. T. Jones Lum- ber Company, at Laredo, Texas. He had a valuable knowledge of grading and mill work, and he used this training to excel- lent advantage in looking after the retail trade for the concern whose employ he had entered. It was not long before he had demonstrated his worth and given indication of his ability to handle a wider and greater range of business. The M. T. Jones Lumber Company was doing an extensive business in Mexico and it was into this country that the young and am- bitious salesman was sent. Mr. Davidson was alive to the chance afforded him and during the three years he remained on the road for the Laredo house he gained an enviable repu- tation as a salesman. His next venture was as manager of the Monterey Sash & Door Company, at Monterey, in the State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. But Mr. Davidson tired of Mexican life and the sash and door business, and a desire again to handle lumber possessed him. So in May, 1897, he moved to Houston, Texas, with which city and various of its great lumbering concerns he since has been identified. His first efforts were directed to the transaction of a lumber business on his own account, but he abandoned this field to become secretary and sales manager LYNCH DAVIDSON 291 of the Emporia Lumber Company. It was during his five years' connection with this company, of which S. F. Carter is general manager, that he established a reputation as a business getter, for he was most successful in securing large contracts for the company. He put much energy into the affairs en- trusted to him, more, perhaps, than the average sales agent is wont to do, and made himself familiar with the sources of demand, the kind of material desired by each particular buyer and the purposes to which the lumber was put. Mr. Davidson determined to undertake a specialty business — the catering to railroad companies and other large con- sumers by furnishing them material upon their own specifica- tions. With this purpose in view he organized the Continen- tal Lumber Company, with a capital of $100,000, in January, 1903. The Continental company was essentially a wholesale concern, and, to provide for adequate supplies of stock, he associated himself with J. M. West in organizing the West Lumber Company, at Westville, Texas, which concern now operates three sawmills having a combined annual capacity of about 40,000,000 feet of yellow pine lumber. Having established mill connections with the West Lum- ber Company and made arrangements for stocks of other mills, Mr. Davidson sought business with his accustomed energy. He made a specialty of that class of trade which does not ap- peal to the manufacturer of yard stock or structural timbers. The business established in 1903 has been a success from its inception. In 1904 Ben S. Woodhead became associated with Mr. Davidson and has proved an extremely valuable lieutenant. The Continental Lumber Company probably handles more tie contracts than any other concern of like cap- ital. It furnishes any kind of tie that may be desired and in almost any quantity. The company also handles more treated ties than any other lumber institution. Approximately 70,- 000,000 feet of lumber is distributed each year by the com- pany. Besides being the executive head of the Continental Lum- 292 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN ber Company, Mr. Davidson is vice president of the West Lumber Company, which has a paid-in capital of $200,000, and holds the same relative position in the Mutual Lumber Com- pany, of Austin, Texas, a comparatively new concern organ- ized for the purpose of putting in retail line yards throughout Texas. Mr. Davidson is a stockholder in the National City Bank of Houston. Undue self-esteem never has marred Mr. Davidson^s char- acter. He is as pleasant and afTable today as he was when he held the humble position of mill hand at Groveton. He be- lieves in living up to a contract even if its performance costs more money than is to be received. He has exemplified his belief to his own loss ; but he expects the same faithfulness to contract on the part of others, and in one case he carried the matter to the highest court to enforce his rights. Mr. Davidson married Miss Katie H. Calvit, of Houston, June 26, 1897. Three daughters have been born to the couple — Marion, Lois and Katie Lynch Davidson. Mr. David- son is a member of the Elks, Houston Golf and Z. Z. clubs, and is a progressive and useful citizen. 1 charge kept pace and i ship. A general in c; a F. Bonner, of Houston, .nan and as a man. _, ^ ps, best known by reason of his par- ,^ .i in the direction of the affairs of the Kirby Lumber Company, of Houston, but his training in the industry has been from boyhood, as he was born and reared within sound of the woodsman's ax. His earlier commercial career, after leaving the piny woods of eastern Texas, was devoted for seve-^^ - -' *' *^^- ^'"^'^uction of oil and the development of *^ * "T*ive of that Commonwealth, lu uie Lone Star State, and he uer was born April 14, '^^~ at ^exas. His father was ^m T, vv c ot a 1 . Star Ben; la and miles west of 1 ler i hi It a rough home of in that It was a restricted life, for nts was slow and awkward, the 1. ^' Crockett, Texas, fifty miles away, 100 miles away. 9,3i^MOa I^IJ>viiu utts utniuiitLiaicu i»j a ».- abic manner the possession of this talent is Rufus H. Vaiii>unt, of Ashland, Kentucky. Rufus Humphrey Vansant was born in Martinsburg, north- eastern Kentucky, September 8, 1852. His ancestry upon the paternal side is traced back to Holland, while his mother be- longed to a well known Scotch-Irish family of the name of Hunter. When but a more than seventeen years of age, P of his parents, became the and a girl. He mg d t' ri- ence it Duririj, — :it was also engaged in ... « on the Little Sandy River in k...... -...^h began in a TMA3I/1AV Y3FIHCIMUH eU^UR RUFUS HUMPHREY VANSANX Rufus H. Vansant Talent for organization, whether it be along the lines of commercial enterprise orinthecombinationof various interests to work together toward a common goal, is a faculty possessed by but few men. A man may have the ability successfully to organize and carry on his own business and yet, when it comes to the harmonizing of an entire branch of one of the country's great industries, he may entirely fail. The power to effect successful organization is a natural gift rather than an acquired ability, and a lumberman who has demonstrated in a remark- able manner the possession of this talent is Rufus H. Vansant, of Ashland, Kentucky. Rufus Humphrey Vansant was born in Martinsburg, north- eastern Kentucky, September 8, 1852. His ancestry upon the paternal side is traced back to Holland, while his mother be- longed to a well known Scotch-Irish family of the name of Hunter. When but a little more than seventeen years of age, Rufus H. Vansant, by the death of his parents, became the head of the family, consisting of younger boys and a girl. He rose to the emergency and supported not only himself but his brothers and sister, completing his own education and teach- ing school until 1879. In the following year he was appointed deputy clerk of the circuit court of Elliott County, at Mar- tinsburg, acting in this capacity for six years, at the end of which time, in 1886, he was elected clerk of the court. These positions brought him into touch with public affairs, and also gave him opportunity for a very good insight into human nature, for which reason he now looks back upon this experi- ence as one of the most valuable in his whole career. During the period from 1880 to 1886 Mr. Vansant was also engaged in the timber and lumber business on the Little Sandy River in Kentucky. This business, which began in a 301 302 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN small way but which was enlarged from year to year, included buying standing timber, putting it in the river and floating it to Leon, Carter County, Kentucky. In 1881 Mr. Vansant began business as a lumber manufacturer and wholesaler, serving also in the capacity of his own traveling representative to sell the lumber which he produced. In 1894 Mr. Vansant moved to Ashland, Boyd County, Kentucky, and formed the firm of R. H. Vansant & Co. Ashland is admirably located with relation to the hardwood and poplar timber of eastern Kentucky and of West Virginia, as it is on the Ohio River not far below the mouths of the Big Sandy and the Guyandotte. At this point R. H. Vansant & Co. did business and had their logs sawed by contract at local mills, Mr. Vansant still continuing to pay much of his atten- tion to the sales department, and, in fact, practically embody- ing that department in his own person. Still the business grew, and in January, 1899, ^^^ corporation of Vansant, Kitchen & Co. was organized, with R. H. Vansant, president; D. J. Taft, vice president; Charles Kitchen, secretary, and John W. Kitchen, treasurer. J. B. Hannah, a brother-in-law of Mr. Vansant, was a stockholder and director in the com- pany, which still continues in its original form. During the year preceding the organization of Vansant, Kitchen & Co., the gentlemen contemplating incorporating in that form took a very important step by becoming holders of standing timber, as well as buyers of logs and manufacturers and wholesalers of lumber. In that year, 1898, they bought of George & Albert Pack & Co. timber holdings which that concern had owned at the head of the Big Sandy River, the stream which forms the boundary line between Kentucky and West Virginia. This original purchase has since been con- siderably increased by local purchases of smaller or larger tracts, so that, while manufacturing continually from its own timber, the company has either annually increased its holdings or held them at a level, notwithstanding the amount it has logged. This was true up to the year 1905 when the stump- RUFUS H. VANSANT 303 age holdings were cut into slightly in order to produce a log crop for 1905, which was said to have been larger in that year than that of any other concern operating upon the Ohio River or any of its tributaries. At the time of the incorporation of Vansant, Kitchen & Co. it acquired its present sawmill, advantageously located upon the Ohio River about two miles above Ashland and hav- ing ample yard space and excellent shipping facilities. The concern has come into considerable prominence in the lum- ber world by the manufacture, in the most modern way from a high grade of logs, of specially high grade lines of poplar lumber. Mr. Vansant is no longer, as he once was, the entire sales department of the institution, although he still visits important buyers and maintains his acquaintance with the old friends that he made when upon the road, and probably he has today a wider personal acquaintance among the heavy yellow poplar consumers of the entire country, with the possible exception of those of New England, than any other man engaged in the business. In the Hardwood Manufacturers' Association of the United States Mr. Vansant has taken a very active interest. During the early portion of its existence he was a member of its board of directors and also of its executive board. In all this work he took a leading part, and the value of his services was fittingly recognized when, at the meeting of January, 1904, he was elected president of the association, a position which he filled with distinguished credit. In 1905 he was unanimously reelected, but in 1906 he declined the honor that was prof- fered, and even urged upon him, of a continuance in that office. Although his company is one of the largest holders of poplar stumpage and is a conspicuous factor in supplying the demand for poplar lumber, Mr. Vansant has not forgotten the time when he himself was a small manufacturer and, therefore, early in his association work, he became impressed with the idea that one of its chief objects must be to assist the 304 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN smaller manufacturers to grade their lumber so as to secure the full value of the stock, which they have for sale, and to educate them to the point where they will ask such values and be able to secure them. He is recognized as an authority upon these points, and has been the chairman both of the com- mittee on inspection and on values. Mr. Vansant is an eminently practical lumberman, who learned his business in the hard school of experience in which he was an apt scholar. As a self-made man he need not be ashamed of his work. Since engaging in the lumber busi- ness he has devoted his entire time to it, having no other com- mercial interests except some real estate investments. As a good, loyal citizen he is interested in the affairs of the city, State and country, but has not played the game of politics since the years of his younger manhood. He married Miss Anna V. Hannah, a daughter of James W. Hannah, a prominent lawyer of Martinsburg, Elliott County, Kentucky, December 3, 1879. Their family com- prises two girls and two boys. Mr. Vansant is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He belongs to the Ashland Commandery Knights Templar, and is also a Shriner. John L. .as chose iber frop^ .3 ui ujc con*"" grades and qualitit5, competitive wn " knowledge ^ F ' b >, i>c an approacnaDie, iiiweaDie n d talker. i\ man so equipped should achieve s. it he undertake a lumber business on his own account, and he usually does. Prominent among successful salesmen who have built up successful businesses for themselves is John I ago. in Dayton, Ohio, November 27, 1859, the , an Englishman, and Mary Anne Lane, irnev and also a 'Z ■%9 sional ^^ ^ . i a position with liic a- tion owned by kjul «. wv. j^juu whe 3MA_J ei\A/3_J MHOt \ JOHN LEWIS L_AN John L. Lane The traveling lumber salesman, if he would become successful in his chosen line, must possess a thorough knowl- edge of lumber from the stump to its final disposition in the hands of the consumer. He must be well acquainted with grades and qualities, not only of his own wood, but also of competitive woods. In fact, he must have a good, working knowledge of every commercial wood of the United States. Besides, he must understand lumber transportation problems, be conversant with freight rates, be an approachable, likeable man and a good talker. A man so equipped should achieve success if he undertake a lumber business on his own account, and he usually does. Prominent among successful salesmen who have built up successful businesses for themselves is John Lewis Lane, of Chicago. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, November 27, 1859, the son of George H. Lane, an Englishman, and Mary Anne Lane, a native of Ireland. The elder Lane was an attorney and also a politician of local and State fame. He moved his family to Burlington, Iowa, later famous as a lumber center, when his son John was still a child. In accordance with the wishes of his father, John took up the study of law when he was seventeen years of age, having attended the public schools prior to that time. For two years he remained in his father's ofBce, absorbing knowledge of the law. Although he has never been accused of being a lawless man, Mr. Lane did not take kindly to the assimilation of the precepts laid down by Blackstone and other legal luminaries, and at the age of nineteen he decided to forsake his profes- sional career and enter the lumber business. He secured a position with the Cascade Lumber Company, a sawmill opera- tion owned by Gilbert Hedge & Co. John Berry, the 305 3o6 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN superintendent of the company's mill, was known as one of the most thoroughgoing river lumbermen on the Mississippi, and, under his tutorage, Mr. Lane made rapid advancement in gaining a knowledge of lumber manufacturing during the year he was employed by that company. During his stay with the Cascade concern, Mr. Lane was nursing an ambition to become a lumber salesman, and in 1880 he went to Chicago and secured such a position with the Soper Lumber Company, remaining with that company for seven years. In those days Mr. Lane's range was from Philadelphia to Denver, his best territory being Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado. Chicago at that time was just beginning to take its now acknowledged place at the head of lumber distributing points, and Mr. Lane often found himself at a hotel dining table surrounded by a score of lumber sales- men, two-thirds of whom represented houses of that city. Those were boom days for Kansas, and that State had facilities grossly inadequate for handling the great amount of business. Only two railroads crossed that territory, smaller cities having to be reached by horse and buggy. Hotels were over-crowded, and travehng in that section was a hardship. Mr. Lane once paid $2 an hour for the privilege of sleeping on a billiard table. Frequently, on account of the high expenses, traveling men would work in the interests of all and divide an order among those who found themselves together in one town. In 1887 Mr. Lane became general salesman for the Western Sash & Door Company, at Kansas City, Missouri, but later in the same year met with a serious accident, dis- locating his knee and being obliged to remain in bed for four months. During this time he decided to forsake the selling end of the business, and, after his recovery, he joined with J. H. Tschudy, March 17, 1888, in establishing the Lane & Tschudy Hardwood Lumber Company, of Kansas City. The business prospered to such an extent that independent mill connections had to be secured, and, consequently, Mr. Lane JOHN L. LANE 307 organized the Greenway Company, in 1890, for manufac- turing purposes, at Hammett, Clay County, Arkansas. The following year he disposed of his interest in the Lane & Tschudy Hardwood Lumber Company and secured entire control of the Greenway Company, established headquarters at Kansas City and began the wholesaling of hardwoods. After the financial panic of 1893 the demand for hard- woods decreased, and the product of the two circular mills and the stock on hand could not be disposed of to advantage at wholesale, so a retail yard was opened in Kansas City. A. H. Connelly became associated with Mr. Lane in 1895 and the business was known as the Lane & Connelly Hardwood Lumber Company, afterward succeeded by the present A. H. Connelly Hardwood Lumber Company. On account of ill health, in 1899 Mr. Lane disposed of his interest in the Lane & Connelly Hardwood Lumber Company and traveled abroad and in this country for two years, then taking up his residence in Chicago. He associated himself with the Penrod, Prouty & Abbott concerns, manufacturers of black walnut, forming an affiliation through which he built and put into operation the plant of the East St. Louis Walnut Com- pany, at East St. Louis, Illinois, of which enterprise he became resident manager. This business was inaugurated in 1902. Three years later Mr. Lane sold his interest and returned to Chicago, establishing the commission brokerage firm of J. L. Lane & Co. This business still continues successfully under the management of his partner. Forming an alliance, in 1905, at Fort Smith, Arkansas, under the name of the Lane- White Lumber Company, he engaged for a time in the manufacture of hardwoods. Mr. Lane was vice president and manager of this company which took over, under bankruptcy proceedings, a large plant, including a sawmill and handle fac- tory. He retired from this concern late in September, 1906, to give his entire time to his other interests. Mr. Lane is a pioneer in association work, and was one of the organizers and for years the secretary of the Southwestern 3o8 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Lumber Dealers' Association, one of the oldest and the second largest retail association in the United States. Mr. Lane is now honorary secretary of that association, and was also secre- tary of the national association for several years. In June, 1896, he was elected president of the Hardwood Manufac- turers' Association of Arkansas, and is a member of several of the grading rule committees of the Hardwood Manufacturers' Association of the United States, in connection with which work he was instrumental in formulating the grading rules on logs, which were adopted by the national association. Mr. Lane was one of the early members of Hoo-Hoo. He was first vicegerent snark of Missouri, and, later, vicegerent snark of northern Illinois. In 1895, in Minneapolis, he originated an offshoot of Hoo-Hoo, later known as the Osirian Cloister. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar and a Shriner, and takes great interest in all Masonic work. When a salesman he was an Elk, a Knight of Pythias and a member of other orders, but has since dropped out of most of them. His favorite recreation is golf and he belongs to several golf clubs. In politics, Mr. Lane is a Republican, but he stands more firmly for the man than for his party. On December 18, 1888, Mr. Lane married Miss Myrtie M. Ruggles, of Chicago. Their children are Louise, aged sixteen; Marjorie, aged fourteen, and Constant, aged twelve. Mr. Lane is now permanently located in Chicago. He had intended to direct his various interests from Fort Smith, Arkansas, but as the climate there did not agree with him, he returned to Chicago, which, he declares, shall be his home. Although John is the name given Mr. Lane in baptism, he is better known as "Ji"^" *o his numerous friends, and as "Jim" he is welcomed wherever he goes. William 1 in an injudicious manner, golden harvest so dear to the heart of the Jer. Especially in this day gcr things, capital and cof s than ever to secure the _ i of a When expenses arc cut to the mini- mum and business operations are put on a close margin, it is a necessity that men of judgment shall be in control. The country surrounding the places where big enterprises are conducted is eap^erlv scanned for bright young men; men not nnlv of ir c. but of regular habits, men who can hp V an aptitude and a liking for their h- vr.nnr>^r f^^neration in the lumber . ^•-•— n Smith, of u i;tneral man- ' ' holding the -i- company, an 1 c M. a idhood was much the same as th;: of a Wisconsin sawmill town of i ■ c I " >^ remembrances are of the old ^ n that he and some of his NA/II_L.IAM EIMEIRSON SMITH William E. Smith Manufacturing interests in this, as in all other countries, have always been on the lookout for young men of brains. Finding them is one of the essentials of their successful opera- tion. It means better dividends. Capital, no matter how vast, if wrongly invested or handled in an injudicious manner, does not make the golden harvest so dear to the heart of the stockholder. Especially in this day of larger things, capital and corporations are more anxious than ever to secure the young man of ability. When expenses are cut to the mini- mum and business operations are put on a close margin, it is a necessity that men of judgment shall be in control. The country surrounding the places where big enterprises are conducted is eagerly scanned for bright young men; men not only of intelligence, but of regular habits, men who can be trusted and who show an aptitude and a liking for their work. Such a man of the younger generation in the lumber business of the United States is William Emerson Smith, of Memphis, Tennessee, secretary, treasurer and general man- ager of the Three States Lumber Company, and holding the same positions with the W. E. Smith Lumber Company, an independent concern. He was born in Wisconsin, one of the principal lumber producing states of the Union, and in the city of Eau Claire, which was, and is still, essentially a lumber manufacturing community. With such influences surrounding him, it was only natural that William E. Smith should be a lumberman. He is the son of William H. Smith and Kate M. (Fox) Smith, and was born October 4, 1869. His childhood was much the same as that of any other healthy boy of a Wisconsin sawmill town of the period. His most pleasant remembrances are of the old swimming hole and the fun that he and some of his ao9 3IO AMERICAN LUMBERMEN companions had in riding sawlogs. His scholastic training ended with his graduation from the high school at Eau Claire, and in 1887 he found himself in Chicago, where he entered the services of the Electrical Supply Company. He occupied himself with office work during the two years he was with this concern, and so thoroughly did he pursue this work that, when he returned to Eau Claire, which he did after severing his connection with the Electrical Supply Company, he was, even at that early age, a competent office man, although not yet twenty-one years old. About that time there had been completed in the city of Eau Claire a large plant by the National Electric Manufac- turing Company, and Mr. Smith was given a minor position in the office of the concern. During his service with the company, which extended over a period of three or four years, he was gradually advanced until he was given entire charge of the office, together with the position of auditor. While he was with the National Electric Manufacturing Company, Mr. Smith had attracted the attention of the late William A. Rust, who, when the opportunity came, placed him for a short time in the office of the Rust-Owen Lumber Company. The company was acquiring immense tracts of Cottonwood stumpage in Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee, and had organized, with headquarters at Cairo, Illinois, the Three States Lumber Company, which is today one of the largest Cottonwood producers in the country. The manage- ment of the affairs of the Three States company had been growing unsatisfactory to the northern owners, and, in Octo- ber, 1895, M^- Smith was sent to Cairo as accountant and bookkeeper, and, in July of the following year, he was made secretary of the company. In February, 1897, he was made manager, with full power, although he was then but twenty- eight years of age. Since then Mr. Smith has had unlimited charge of the Three States company's affairs, and that without bond of any kind or any restraint whatsoever in regard to the conduct of the business. The head offices of this concern WILLIAM E. SMITH 311 are now maintained at Memphis, Tennessee, to which place they were removed on January i, 1905, where the company's principal yards are located, and in the district tributary to which are extensive mills belonging to the company. In October, 1900, Mr. Smith assisted in the organization of the W. E. Smith Lumber Company, being one of the incorporators. The original capitalization of the company was $25,000, afterward increased to $100,000. Mr. Smith is secretary, treasurer and general manager of the company, and F. R. Gilchrist is vice president. Business was conducted from Cairo until January i, 1905, when the offices were moved to Memphis, where Mr. Smith now resides. The company operates principally in hardwoods, and markets its products through Memphis, Cairo and other points along the river. Mr. Smith is an ardent association man, having been either an officer or having served in some official capacity in the National Hardwood Lumber Association since its inception. One of the secrets of his success is his fidelity and deter- mined perseverance. His tenacity of purpose is shown by the manner in which he went after the matter of cottonwood inspection law, which is remembered by the members of the National Hardwood Lumber Association. When the associa- tion was organized, in May, 1896, in Chicago, Mr. Smith was on hand as a charter member and was one of the incorpo- rators. He introduced a proposition to make the first and second grade of cottonwood six inches and up in width. It was taken, at the time, to have all the earmarks of a joke, but it was a serious matter with Mr. Smith. He accepted defeat gracefully, but came forward at the next meeting with the same request, only to meet defeat again. At the Cincinnati meeting, in 1900, he rallied his forces and succeeded for a time in drawing the battle, it being a tie vote, but again was forced to succumb. But he was not disheartened, and in the year following appeared at the Chicago meeting full of fight and proxies, and, in spite of the strenuous opposition of the 312 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN president and many prominent members of the association and even in the face of opposition from the newly organized Cottonwood association, he carried his point, and since that time Cottonwood firsts and seconds have been six inches and over in width. Mr. Smith is a member of the Alexander Club, of Cairo, the business and athletic organization of the prominent young men of the city, and was on the governing board as well as being on the house committee of the Elks Club. He was the first exalted ruler of Cairo Lodge No. 651, B. P. O. Elks, and, on retiring from office, was the recipient of a magnificent diamond jewel. He is a Hoo-Hoo also. His abilities as a presiding officer and parliamentarian are often called into play at the various meetings he attends; and, with his prominence and a host of friends, he was one of the social lights of the city where he made his home. Since his removal to Memphis his health has not permitted the expenditure of much time and strength outside of his business duties. Ma nd> n *'• ivfy or 1. ui mi acciuciii, uut wdicated Uj.M^u a. ttiniii uiictini^ iurce which is equipped lormulate a plan and to carry it to a successful termination after it has been mapped out. This directing force is charac- teristic of Maxwell Sondheimer, of Memphis, Tennessee. He is the directing head of one of the largest manufactur- ed wholesale hardwood lumber concerns in the United ^ r^ ' ^ decade ago the operations of the com- :ts were cr ' to local deliveries ceding year after ed more widely " ar to and -. o^rn is the °^ i^manuel Sonu.. ^^, ^n the mcr- *\ MAX\A/E:I_L SOtsJDHEIMER Maxwell Sondhelmer A thoroughly practical knowledge of the lumber Industry, combined with a conservative judgment, is one of the main attributes of success, few failures having been scored by those who are so endowed. Contributing to a well-rounded busi- ness equipment must needs be an ability to solve the complex questions that arise and upon the correct solution of which may depend heavy losses or great gains. Business men well know that the building up of an extensive trade in any branch of industry or commerce is not the result of an accident, but is predicated upon a central directing force which is equipped to formulate a plan and to carry it to a successful termination after it has been mapped out. This directing force is charac- teristic of Maxwell Sondheimer, of Memphis, Tennessee. He is the directing head of one of the largest manufactur- ing and wholesale hardwood lumber concerns in the United States. Only about a decade ago the operations of the com- pany which he now directs were confined to local deliveries in a metropolitan market. With each succeeding year after he took the management the operations extended more widely north and south; the name rapidly became more familiar to hardwood buyers and users throughout this country and abroad, until now none is better known or stands higher in the estimation of the lumber public; nor is there a house in the country dealing exclusively in hardwoods which enjoys a more extended distribution or handles a larger volume of lumber. Maxwell Sondheimer is a product of a section of the coun- try where nature has produced big things. He was born September 30, 1859, in Healdsburg, California, and is the oldest of a family of seven children. His father, Emanuel Sondheimer, who died December 25, 1901, was in the mer- 313 314 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN candle business at Healdsburg, but in 1865 moved with his family to Cincinnati. The mother of Mr. Sondheimer was Sali (Lowy) Sondheimer. Max went to the public schools in Cincinnati until his parents took up their residence in Chicago in 1875. Here he resumed his studies and graduated from the South Division High School in 1877. During his last year in school he developed a pronounced literary inclination and with a classmate, the late lamented Justice W. T. Hall, he edited and published a weekly paper which attracted much attention, especially from the school professors, who seriously objected to the too pungent articles. After getting his sheepskin young Sondheimer, in July, 1877, essayed the hardwood lumber business, his father having begun operations and handling walnut lumber exclusively. With the exception of a year or so, when he was engaged in the coal business, he has followed this honorable vocation ever since. In May, 1881, he accepted a position with a Govern- ment surveying party and for some time thereafter he traveled through the West, leading the life of a plainsman on the frontier and otherwise enjoying the open air life and gaining health and strength. In the fall of 1885, his father having meanwhile formed a partnership with W. O. King, Mr. Sondheimer assumed a connection with this firm and devoted himself to the buying of walnut. Upon the dissolution of the firm, in 1886, he acquired an interest in the business, which was thereafter con- ducted under the style of E. Sondheimer & Co. The yard was then located on Loomis Street, but in 1891 was moved to Blue Island Avenue, near Wood Street. The same year Moses Katz, who was then engaged in the lumber business at Wausau, Wisconsin, was admitted to partnership, and, until the removal of the headquarters of the concern to Memphis, in 1905, he looked after the northern buying, making his headquarters at Wausau. Mr. Sondheimer, Senior, was in charge of the financial end of the business, while the son assumed the office and sales management. In 1893 the firm MAXWELL SONDHEIMER 315 secured a new yard occupying the entire block between Wood and Lincoln streets, north of the Burlington tracks. Late in 1902 another yard and several hundred feet of dockage were secured at the foot of Robey Street. For a year or two both yards were operated, but in 1904 the Wood Street yard was vacated and the offices of the company located in a downtown office building. In May, 1900, the partnership of E. Sondheimer & Co. was changed to a corporation and capitalized at $150,000, with E. Sondheimer as president and treasurer; Moses Katz, vice president, and Max Sondheimer, secretary and manager. Other stockholders and directors included Henry and Rudolph Sondheimer, younger brothers of Mr. Sondheimer. After the death of the senior Sondheimer, the company was reor- ganized and a considerable quantity of stock owned by the deceased was acquired by a son-in-law, Moritz Glauber, of Cripple Creek, Colorado, and the following officers were elected: President and general manager. Maxwell Sond- heimer; vice president, Moses Katz; secretary and treasurer, Moritz Glauber; assistant managers, Henry Sondheimer and Rudolph Sondheimer. An important step in the company's progress was taken May I, 1905, when the main offices were moved from Chicago to Memphis. This project had been in contemplation for some time, and the decision was reached only after the most careful investigation of the situation, especially from a hard- wood manufacturing standpoint. The primary reason for this step was the decadence of northern hardwood operations and the corresponding enhancement of the southern fields. With its large interests wholly concentrated in the South, the change of location was the logical outcome of the altered conditions. A Chicago office is maintained in the Stock Exchange Build- ing and is in charge of Henry Sondheimer. The company operates large yards at Memphis, Tennessee ; Cairo, Illinois, and Caruthersville, Missouri, assembling at those points southern hardwoods of all kinds, which are re- 3i6 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN ceived by rail and water for distribution over the country by rail. The company has extensive manufacturing interests at Cairo and other points in neighboring states. Mr. Sondheimer has always been an active participant in the affairs of the National Hardwood Lumber Association, and for several years served as one of its vice presidents. At the annual meeting of the association at Indianapolis, in 1903, he came within one vote of being chosen its president. He was a pillar of the Chicago Hardwood Lumber Exchange and held the office of treasurer for two terms. He is a veteran Hoo- Hoo and has served as vicegerent snark for Illinois. In the station of junior Hoo-Hoo he has a reputation for unique and interesting work that extends all over the country and is said to have no equal in this position. He is a good speaker, witty and resourceful, and is the life of association meetings and other gatherings which he attends. Among clubs and societies he is a member of the Chicago Press Club, the Standard Club, the Masonic order, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. Since taking up his residence in Memphis he has taken much interest in the social and com- mercial life of that city, and is interested in several enterprises. In politics he is a RepubHcan. Mr. Sondheimer married Miss Josephine Levy, of New York City, in 1897. T T r> ot his fellows have failed. land, Ohio, is of that type of ci sc h has wrought wonders in the commercial world. t the head of more varied enterprises would be to discover, and in the lead of these are his lumber *. Mr. Christy is ncaring the three-score mark in years, but time has dealt Ici him and his forceful movements are those of a i i. He is exceptionally alert mentallv and era^of ag his deci- re strangers -s phase of ir intprP5f^d of It th<-' A. vTeiRHt, -^Hki HENRY CLAY CHRISTY Henry C. Christy Difficulty Is encountered in analyzing the elements of suc- cess that go to make up the character of some men. They may be endowed with ability, energy, will power and actual physical strength; yet these do not altogether reveal the secret of an individual's eminence above his associates, and of his success where scores of his fellows have failed. Henry Clay Christy, of Cleveland, Ohio, is of that type of citizen whose very touch has wrought wonders in the commercial world. An individual at the head of more varied enterprises would be hard to discover, and in the lead of these are his lumber interests. Mr. Christy is nearing the three-score mark in years, but time has dealt leniently with him and his forceful movements are those of a much younger man. He is exceptionally alert mentally and grasps a situation quickly, rendering his deci- sions in such short order as to surprise those who are strangers to his business methods. A story illustrative of this phase of his character is told of the way in which he became interested in a hardware store in his native State — Ohio. As a youth he was living at Warren, and one day he heard of an opportunity of securing a half interest in the business mentioned. Al- though his knowledge of hardware was extremely limited, he did not hesitate about inquiring Into the proposition. Within fifteen minutes after he had opened negotiations with the pro- prietor of the place, Mr. Christy was a half owner in the premises and stock. This stroke of enterprise proved a suc- cess and Is but one of a long line of similar investments that quickly brought substantial returns. Not all judgments are given with as great rapidity as was this one, as he is a thorough business man, with whom overconfidence is not a falling. It was after Henry C. Christy had formed a partnership 317 3i8 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN with Isaac Kirk, to engage in the hardware business in War- ren, Ohio, in 1867, that the advantage of deahng in lumber as a side line was developed. It was apparent that the two could be worked together successfully, because many of the firm's customers were builders and used a large amount of lumber. Kirk & Christy, the title under which the two men traded, immediately began the purchase of timber in Ohio and the production of ties and lumber. A ready market for the out- put of the firm was found and the business prospered from the start. Mr. Christy paid considerable attention to the lumber interests and acquired an intimate knowledge of the details of manufacturing. For ten years the hardware and lumber business thrived under the direction of the two partners, who labored in entire harmony. Then it was decided to extend the firm's affairs, and Howard C. Bradley, of Cleveland, Ohio, was taken into partnership and the name changed to Kirk, Christy & Co. Subsequently, it was determined to add to its resources, and the business of the firm was incorporated as the Kirk-Christy Com- pany, with a paid-in capital of $200,000. Executive offices were established in Cleveland and a large wholesale yard was stocked. This business increased in volume each year of its existence. But Mr. Christy discovered greater opportunities in the lumber industry. Large timber acreages could be purchased and developed and a wider scope of markets found. With the object of still further enlarging the business upon the plan he mapped out, the Kirk-Christy Company was, on June 2, 1902, merged into the Advance Lumber Company, a newly incor- porated concern, with a capital of $250,000. Mr. Christy was made general manager, the other officers being Howard C. Bradley, president; Isaac Kirk and G. E. Breece, vice presi- dents; A. G.Webb, secretary, and F. T. Peitch, assistant gen- eral manager. In the new company Mr. Christy displayed his talents to greater advantage than ever before and the concern, under HENRY C. CHRISTY 319 his able and intelligent management, was a success from its inception. The Advance Lumber Company took over the mills and timber holdings of the Kirk-Christy Company, in addition to a stock of 35,000,000 feet of dry hardwoods and white and norway pine ready for shipment. The business was divided into several departments, though Mr. Christy remained directly in charge of each one. Another enterprise which Mr. Christy was instrumental in launching is the Empire Lumber Company, of Buffalo, New York. That company was organized January i, 1892, with a capital of $50,000, which was later increased to $200,000. He became president of the company and F. W. Vetter was made general manager. Offices are maintained in Buffalo, where a large stock of hardwoods is carried in the yard. Through this company Mr. Christy made a purchase of a tract of 20,000 acres of timber, mostly oak, in Chicot County, Arkansas. In the center of the tract has sprung up the town of Empire, which is connected with the outside world at Portland, Arkan- sas, by a standard gauge railroad twelve miles in length. A mill was operated by the company on the tract until the plant was destroyed by fire, when the sawing was given to another mill on contract. The Kentucky Lumber & Veneer Company, of Jackson, Kentucky, is another concern of which Mr. Christy is the directing power. The company was organized September i, 1901, with a capital of $150,000. It owns 8,000 acres of poplar and oak timber lands and operates a modern sawmill. A standard gauge railroad, eleven miles long, connects the mill with the Lexington & Eastern Railway, at Jackson, Kentucky, over which road the product of the mill is shipped. Mr. Christy was president of the Cuyahoga Lumber Com- pany, of Cleveland, capitalized at $75,000, which handles white and norway pine exclusively. He still retains his interest in the company, but has retired from the active management of its affairs. He is vice president of the Mud Lake Lumber Company, of Raber, Michigan. This company, which has a 320 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN capital of $50,000, owns a large tract of timber land in the upper peninsula of Michigan, in connection with which a mill is operated at Raber. Mr. Christy is a director in the Cleve- land Land & Timber Company, the Northern Ohio Lumber Company and the Worden Lumber & Manufacturing Com- pany, of Cleveland, and of the West Virginia Timber Corn- puny, of Charleston, West Virginia. But the interests already enumerated do not by any means comprise the whole of Mr. Christy's enterprises. He is presi- dent of the McCart-Christy Company, of Cleveland, one of the largest wholesale grocery houses in the country, doing a yearly business of approximately $3,000,000. The company was in- corporated January i, 1900. He is president of the Warren Hardware Company, of Warren, Ohio, which concern manu- factures steel ranges that have a sale all over the country. He is also a director of the Standard Brick Company, of Cleve- land, which has one of the most complete plants in the United States, with an output of 100,000 bricks a day. In financial affairs Mr. Christy has made a success, as he has in every business with which he has connected himself. When the Colonial National Bank of Cleveland was organized in 1898, Mr. Christy became its president, and on its consolida- tion with the Union National Bank he became vice president of the latter institution and chairman of its discount committee. The bank was established by the late Senator M. A. Hanna and is one of the foremost commercial banks of the country. The only relaxation from business cares Mr. Christy enjoys is with his family, all his leisure hours being spent with them. He is an enthusiastic automobilist and can often be seen in the evening enjoying a run in his touring car through the parks and boulevards of Cleveland. Rnrnes O 'I auu liit: iiicti V rt t ^ ' 1 1 1. 1 »» 1 ? uiufacturcr. Oht wuo apprenuijc&inp in the retail yard to good advantage 18 L^nanes I. Barnes, of Toledo, Ohio. He took up his lumber career in 1883, at the age of twenty- one years, by engaging in a clerical position with a retail yard in Toledo, Ohio. He spent five years with this employer in that thriving city, where he has since become a prominent ng lumbermen. In 1889 he entered mto ii Clinton A. Mauk, as Barnes & Mauk, hat been successful in building up an immense ites from the Atlantic to the Pacific. of George G. Barnes and , 1862, at : ^ae operation of the farm until 1883, when he uau . 'ood. CHARUES I. BARNES Charles I. Barnes One of the best schools in the lumber industry, and one that has turned out hundreds of well-equipped pupils who have given creditable exhibition of their training, is the retail lumber yard. It is in the dingy office or among the piles of a small yard that the student comes into contact with the con- suming class and gains intimate knowledge of its needs, and acquires at least a superficial acquaintance with the business of the wholesale distributor and the manufacturer. One who served his apprenticeship in the retail yard to good advantage is Charles I. Barnes, of Toledo, Ohio. He took up his lumber career in 1883, at the age of twenty- one years, by engaging in a clerical position with a retail yard in Toledo, Ohio. He spent five years with this employer in that thriving city, where he has since become a prominent figure among its enterprising lumbermen. In 1889 he entered into partnership with Clinton A. Mauk, as Barnes & Mauk, and the firm has been successful in building up an immense trade in the northern states from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Charles I. Barnes is the son of George G. Barnes and Elizabeth (Miller) Barnes and was born June 23, 1862, at Dundee, Monroe County, Michigan. His father and his grandparents on both the paternal and maternal side were agriculturists, the early members of the family having migrated to Michigan from the Empire State. That he did not adopt the vocation of his father was due to the ambition of his parents to have him follow a commercial life, and they edu- cated him for that purpose. His scholastic training was in the public schools of Dundee, through the various grades of which he passed, from the lowest to the highest. Having finished school young Barnes assisted in the operation of the farm until 1883, when he had reached manhood. 321 322 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Mr. Barnes himself is not able to give a reason for his being drawn to the lumber industry as an attractive field in which to labor. Suffice it to say that he sought and obtained a position in the office of James Mason, who at that time con- ducted a retail yard at Toledo, Ohio. As a clerk or book- keeper the young man paid strict attention to his duties and quickly absorbed the methods of doing business. He availed himself of every opportunity to get out into the yard so that he could handle lumber, familiarized himself with grading and prices and stored up a fund of information to be drawn upon when a chance offered. As Mr. Barnes showed he could handle customers and make sales, additional duties besides keeping accounts were put upon him by his employer, and during his later service he was intrusted with much of the buying of stock for the yard. In 1888, after Mr. Barnes had been associated with Mr. Mason for five years, the yard business at Toledo was sold to Chesbrough Bros., who later were succeeded by the Ches- brough Lumber Company. Mr. Barnes continued with the new owners of the business, who were pleased with the record of the young man as an executive head. He was given a larger share of the active management of the business as he demonstrated his worth, and from 1888 until 1897 he dealt with the customers of the house and had much to do with the buying of lumber for the yard. In this period of ten years he observed closely the trade in general, and the announce- ment that he was going to resign to go into business for him- self was received with regret by the company. After fifteen years spent in the retail lumber business Mr. Barnes was well equipped to engage in the wholesale trade. It was with this purpose in view that he resigned his position with the Chesbrough Lumber Company, in 1897, to begin a few months later, in 1898, a distributing business under his own name. He established his headquarters in Toledo, taking a step that has since proved to have been well advised. He was acquainted with the personnel of the trade CHARLES I. BARNES 323 tributary to the Maumee River district, so that he had little difficulty in getting a large volume of business from the start. He continued this business until May 4, 1899, when he became associated with a personal and business friend — Clinton A. Mauk — and the firm of Barnes & Mauk was launched to con- duct a wholesale business. Mr. Mauk himself was an experi- enced lumberman, so that the combination was an effective one. Experience had taught both Mr. Barnes and Mr. Mauk that dependable mill connections were of as great importance in the making of a profitable business as were grades and prices. When planning for stocks of white pine, hemlock, yellow pine and the hardwoods of Michigan the firm sought the most reputable producers, with whom contracts were made. The theory was that, while the best manufactured lumber was the most acceptable, it also was necessary to have mills from which the needs of the customers of the house could be supplied promptly. Satisfactory connections were made by Mr. Barnes and his partner, the good results of which are shown in the ever increasing volume of business handled. In the first year of the partnership the trade sought was restricted to a comparatively small territory, but today the business transacted is with concerns in at least half of the United States. The value of Pacific Coast products early impressed itself upon Mr. Barnes and his associate. It was evident that a sub- stitute for white pine and hemlock would be demanded be- cause of the growing scarcity of these woods. The situation was gone over carefully and the firm undertook the work of introducing to its eastern trade the sugar and white pine of California, and the cedar, fir and red cedar shingles of Wash- ington. In 1902 arrangements were concluded for the han- dling of Pacific Coast woods in an intelligent and modern manner, a direct representative being placed on the Coast and the output of two California mills contracted for. The firm, better to conserve this trade, built three large storage ware- houses at Toledo, two of the buildings being 50 by 350 feet 324 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN and the third 50 by 4CX) feet. These warehouses permit of the shipment and storage of several million feet of Coast woods, from which mixed carloads can be shipped promptly to any point in the East. By this arrangement the firm overcame the objection of many dealers to having to accept full carloads of Coast products which could not be disposed of quickly, and at the same time obviated the delay incident to shipments from the Pacific territory. The main offices of Barnes & Mauk are in the Gardner Building, Toledo. A branch office is located in the Lumber Exchange, Seattle, Washington, where Henry S. Stine, who has been connected with the firm since 1903, is in charge. The latter has charge of the shipments and business on the Coast and looks after the customers of the house in the middle West. In the New England states the business of Barnes & Mauk is cared for by the Harlow Lumber Company, of Hartford, Connecticut. Mr. Barnes married Miss Jennie Van Pelt, of Sylvania, Ohio, November 9, 1886. One child, a boy— George Thomas Barnes — was born of this union. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes are members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Barnes is a Mason and is a member of the Blue Lodge, the Commandery, the Consistory and the Mystic Shrine, all of Toledo. He is a Republican in politics, though he has never essayed to become a politician. He has no fads, and is satisfied, after a day of business, to enjoy his family and the comforts of his home. Cli 1 ikc t the or t r may relax his vigilencc until the jT is reached. Clinton A. Mauk, of Toledo, s steered his %h'\p of ' g a successful ii to have made a profit- able vv; ^ he been successful in a business way, but he has gained the enviable position he holds today as a member of the progressive firm of Barnes & Mauk without having sacrificed friends or made enemies. His training in the lum^'^'' tr-if^p ^pfore he ventured to engage in business ^^r^^^r vvas thorough, as he was associated with —^•"t of a retail yard before going to tU^ { .r ... ,^( ^ leading wholesale lii the employ of this ro study the industry auended his 1869, at i vV '' k, .nng VV. Mauk was a first lieu- g in sixteen e: rt of the army in the fa i. Going to Lima ., the soldier made his home there a retail lumber yard in >4UAM HAVJA MOTHlJO % CLINTON AL.VAH MAUK Clinton A. Mauk Like the mariner who guides his ship according to the chart and compass, on an ocean voyage, so must the man who pursues a commercial career outline a safe course to be followed unerringly. Rocks and shoals are to be found by the commander of a cargo carrier or the captain of a business enterprise, so that neither may relax his vigilence until the destined harbor is reached. Clinton A. Mauk, of Toledo, Ohio, has steered his ship of business along a successful industrial course and well can be said to have made a profit- able voyage. Not only has he been successful in a business way, but he has gained the enviable position he holds today as a member of the progressive firm of Barnes & Mauk without having sacrificed friends or made enemies. His training in the lumber trade before he ventured to engage in business under his own name was thorough, as he was associated with his father in the conduct of a retail yard before going to Toledo, where he joined the forces of a leading wholesale house. In the ten years he remained in the employ of this one concern he had ample opportunity to study the industry in all its phases, and what attentiveness he displayed as an employee is reflected in the success which has attended his career as a wholesaler. Clinton Alvah Mauk was born September 15, 1869, at Lima, Allen County, Ohio. His father was Alvah W. Mauk, and his mother Winifred N. (McMillan) Mauk. During the conflict of the Civil War Alvah W. Mauk was a first lieu- tenant in the Thirty-third Ohio Infantry, serving in sixteen engagements. His regiment formed part of the army in the famous march of General Sherman through Georgia. Going to Lima upon the close of hostilities, the soldier made his home there and, in 1870, opened a retail lumber yard in 325 326 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN partnership with B. F. Dunan, as Mauk & Dunan. That business was continued until 1887, when Mr. Mauk sold his interest to his partner and moved to Spencerville, Ohio, where he opened a yard and remained in control until fire destroyed it in 1897. Because of his advanced age Mr. Mauk retired. It was in the Spencerville yard that Clinton A. Mauk had his introduction to the lumber business, and where the principles of honesty and integrity were instilled in his mind by his father, to be followed throughout his life unvaryingly. It was in the public schools of Lima that Mr. Mauk began his education, which was amplified by a course at the Ohio Northern University, at Ada. He graduated from this insti- tution in 1887, and a short time thereafter decided to learn the lumber business, entering the yard of his father at Spencerville. The parent had a watchful eye over his son, and placed him at the beginning in a humble position where he might learn the work of handling lumber before being put in the office. The college man had gained a fair knowl- edge of the business when he moved to Toledo in January, 1889, to enter the employ, as bookkeeper, of the wholesale lumber firm of Kelsey & Freeman. For ten years Mr. Mauk was connected with the Toledo firm, where he obtained a schooling in the business such as would have been almost impossible to secure anywhere else. From bookkeeper he was advanced to the position of chief accountant, and, in time, practically took charge of all the office work for his employers. In less than two years he was made one of their force of traveling salesmen, in which capacity he served during the remainder of the time he was in their employ. The knowledge of marketing stocks and the acquaintance he formed during that period formed a valuable asset of his later career. The wholesale business was much to his liking, and he gained a thorough understanding of the buying of stocks and their distribution to the trade. It was such a schooling as Mr. Mauk desired, for he was planning CLINTON A. MAUK 327 the day when he might engage in the wholesale business himself. The longed-for opportunity to gratify this ambition came in 1899. At that time Charles I. Barnes had been engaged in the wholesale business in Toledo for about a year, and Mr. Mauk had met him frequently. The two men determined to establish themselves as wholesalers, and, on May 4, 1899, the firm of Barnes & Mauk made its initial bow to the trade. The success which has attended this combination of forces is httle less than remarkable. Mr. Mauk had formed high principles of what a business should be, which were, for- tunately, shared by his partner. The long acquaintance of both men with the producers of the North and South per- mitted of their forming the best mill connections for stocks of white pine, hemlock, Michigan hardwoods and yellow pine. The firm was not hampered by a lack of capital at the outset, and within a year the energy and ability of Mr. Mauk and his associate resulted in the building up of a large chentele in the middle West and North. With the passing of time Barnes & Mauk extended their trade into the East and the New England states. The busi- ness for the firm in the latter section later was turned over to the Harlow Lumber Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, the orders being handled direct from the Toledo ofHces, located in the Gardner Building. The attention of Mr. Mauk and Mr. Barnes was attracted to the possibilities of Pacific Coast woods for consumption. The situation was considered care- fully before the conclusion was reached that a steady demand for Coast lumber could be created, provided the trade was cared for in a proper manner so that stock in any quantity, from a mixed carload to any number of carloads, could be delivered promptly. It meant the formation of close mill connections with California and Washington manufacturers and the arrangement of adequate storage facilities at Toledo as a central point from which shipments could be made direct to the trade east of the Mississippi River. 328 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN In 1903 agreements were completed with mills on the Pacific Coast for stocks of red cedar shingles and lumber and California white pine and sugar pine. The output of two mills in the Golden State are controlled, and large stocks are bought elsewhere. Three large sheds— two 50 by 350 feet each, and the third 50 by 400 feet— were built at Toledo. In these sheds are carried millions of feet of Pacific Coast woods to fill orders without delay for the customers of the firm. Further to provide for and improve the service of this depart- ment of the business an office was established in the Lumber Exchange, Seattle, Washington, which is in the charge of Henry S. Stine. The latter looks after the business of the firm in the western states, besides having supervision of the purchase and shipment of stocks from the mills on the Coast destined for the Toledo warehouses of the firm. A strict adherence to approved business ethics has contrib- uted largely to the success attained by Mr. Mauk. In all of his deaHngs are noticeable evidences of integrity and an insistence upon justice for both parties to an agreement. Success has in no way detracted from his ideals of com- mercial and social life and each day, seemingly, adds to his circle of friends. Mr. Mauk has a delightful home in Toledo, graced by a wife and three children. Mrs. Mauk, before her marriage, December 15, 1896, was Miss Mable B. Scraflford. She is the daughter of the late Everett D. Scraflford, of Toledo, a wholesale lumberman, and the granddaughter of Daniel ScraflPord, who was for many years a wholesaler of West Troy, New York. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Mauk are Stanley M., John S. and Catherine A. Mauk. The family attends the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Mauk is a Republican, though far from being active or ambitious in that line. He is not a club man, but spends all his leisure with his family. Wiiiia A r L^lCWtJli i. AC -io^iv-i luiiitss liii^iiL ld.ii. lU aC- liield, of Boston, Massachusetts, .lOiTi the control of r^ * "' ' ' arc. was born and brought up m uie community where he chose to enter business and where he is recognized as a lead- ing factor in the lumber industry and a citizen of high ideals. In that section of the country, where Puritanism has left its mark in the conservatism which enters largely into the man- agement of every enterprise, Mr. Litchfield has advanced to ness men. Through his efforts he has of stability and permanency and IRC who arc engaged in the minent of the foot -; the ^^n one of A i U<^ 8. tic mothc a Woman o he 3 U 5^ ' ^^ qeorge: ivers tru George I. True Sincerity needs no badge, to be worn like the emblem of an organization, to show that the wearer belongs to that great body of men who do nothing except with a conscientious effort toward righteousness. It is a virtue not lightly acquired, nor can it be cast aside or assumed as occasion may demand; it is a trait that its possessor stamps on each individual act in work or recreation. One whose every act has been dominated by sincerity is George Ivers True, of Addison, New York. His career is significant of what can be accomplished by a strong body, a stronger heart and a fixity and honesty of pur- pose. He began in the thrifty community, where he long has been an honored and respected citizen, without a dollar of capital, and, by his own perseverance and industry, has amassed a competency. But while he has devoted himself all these years to the upbuilding of a business that is a success, in the fullest degree, he yet has found time to participate as a public officer in the affairs of his community and to interest himself, both by his wise counsel and material aid, in every cause tending toward the advancement of religion and educa- tion. He has erected a monument, more enduring than one of stone, in the good deeds he has performed as a citizen. George I. True is the son of Jairus True and Jane (Kim- ball) True, and was born at Owego, Tioga County, New York, June 12, 1847. He and his cousin, Charles H. True, of Gal- veston, Texas, are the only living male descendants of their line of Henry True, an immigrant who settled in the Colony of Massachusetts in 1659. In many ways has Mr. True shown the sturdiness and stalwartness of his New England ancestors. He was about five years old when his father died, and later his mother married Philander C. Daniels. His mother was a woman of education and it was at her knee that he learned the 333 334 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN alphabet and multiplication tables before entering the district school, where he acquired the rudiments of the English language. Subsequently, he was sent to the Owego Academy, where he was a pupil until the family moved, in April, 1863, to Addison, Steuben County, New York, where Mr. True ever since has made his home. For a year he followed a course in the select school of the town, but at the end of that period he was called upon to provide for himself and to make a choice of his own career. The pluckiness and determination of the youth was dem- onstrated by his requesting one of the leading business men of the town, Thomas Paxton, to set him to work, asking no remuneration for his services until he could prove to the mer- chant that he was worthy of consideration. When he was granted this request he showed his appreciation of the confi- dence imposed in him by his employer by taking a deep interest in what transpired about him and by giving all his energy to every task assigned him. It was not long before he was paid fifty cents a day, only to receive later $20 a month and then $1 a day. To the youthful True his salary was a large sum of money and he managed to save a considerable amount to provide a home for his mother and foster father, wherein they lived until their deaths many years later. Faith- fully and sincerely did Mr. True serve Mr. Paxton until 1868, when he was taken into partnership by his employer and the firm of Paxton & True continued the business of general dealers in boots, shoes and groceries for twenty-five years, when the partnership was dissolved. From an enthusiastic young clerk and partner Mr. True developed into a progress- ive yet conservative business man and a citizen who was ever ready to respond to the call of duty. On January i, 1893, Mr. True became associated with James H. Park and Burton G. Winton in the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds at Addison, under the firm name of Park, Winton & True. The firm succeeded Park & Winton and controlled a factory which had been established in Addi- GEORGE I. TRUE 335 son in 1855, and continued the business, which has widened in its scope each succeeding year. Mr. True from the start took charge of the financial and office end of the business, for which he was fully equipped by reason of his previous experi- ence ; Mr. Park attended to the buying of lumber and super- intending the operation of the factory and Mr. Winton looked after the sales. For five years no change in the personnel of the firm took place, though the business was largely extended in that time. In 1898, Mr. Winton sold his interest in the business, a part of it being taken by his brother, Maynard Winton, and the remainder by his partners. In May, 1900, Mr. Park was forced to relinquish active interest in the firm because of ill health, and, following his death, in February, 1901, Burton G. Winton again secured an interest in the busi- ness, with which he was identified until his death, in Febru- ary, 1906. During the long illness of each of his partners Mr. True shouldered their labors in the management of the busi- ness and carried it on successfully without interruption. Ac- tively associated in the business today with Mr. True are William R. and Charles F. Park, sons of the late James H. Park, one of the original members of the firm. They are energetic young business men who are apparently destined to add to the strength and character of the enterprise. Outside of his interest in the manufacturing business of Park, Winton & True, Mr. True is a stockholder in several other lumber enterprises. Among these may be mentioned the Painted Post Lumber Company, of Painted Post, New York; the Yadkin Lumber Company, of Yadkin, North Caro- lina, which owns 55,000 acres of timber lands in the western part of the State, and the Embreeville Timber Company, of Embreeville, Tennessee, which holds title to 30,000 acres of timber in the eastern part of Tennessee. Of the latter con- cern Mr. True is vice president. He is a stockholder in and one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Addison, of which institution he has been a director most of the time since its formation. He has taken a deep interest in associa- 336 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN tion matters and is vice president of the Veneered Door Man- ufacturers' Association. In each of these concerns he has taken a conspicuous part by reason of his mature experience, and his advice is eagerly sought by his associates before any serious step is taken. Mr. True married Miss Louise M. Turner, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John F. Turner, of Addison, June 19, 1872. They have no children, but their comfortable home has been cheered and brightened by Miss Jessica K. Turner, a sister of Mrs. Turner, since her childhood. Mrs. True is a Daughter of the American Revolution, and has given much time and money to charitable work. Mr. True is devoted to a sister, Mrs. C. C. Dawson, of Toledo, Ohio, a daughter of Mr. Daniels by his first marriage, and between the two a deep affection exists. Mr. True, as becomes a man of the highest type of citizen- ship, has taken a vital interest in the municipal affairs of Addi- son. He is especially interested in the schools and has served several terms as a member of the board of education. He has been a trustee, director and treasurer of the Addison branch of the Young Men's Christian Association since he assisted in its organization in 1888. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and has given liberally to its support and to its chari- ties. In March, 1906, pressure of private business led Mr. True to decHne reelection as village treasurer, a position he had held for twenty-two years. In all the offices he has held and in all the work he has undertaken Mr. True has exempli- fied that sincerity which has marked his whole course in life. Mr. True never has affiliated with secret organizations. He is a member of the City Club of Addison, but practically all his leisure time is spent at home or in such recreation as he and his wife can enjoy together. He has a fondness for a good horse and finds much of his recreation in driving. > I,' ■v I ^ .._ of the * . — ...^ ..J .-- ; . j.^o'-T'v but it outlines the career of ' ^^ .,v.,, York City. All his business life has .wi,. »Miat is known as North Carolina pine, which ■" pine lumber manufactured in southern Maryland, rginia and eastern North Carolina, north of the -" territory. It consists of timber species which ^ ninctive names, but this territory is so indi- viauai 1 ' "s timber growth and its production is ^ of this district has come the State which .. li ^ the Wiley, p. Of this i to his 8 If < s of V3_II\A/ MOT_IIM T$=13a_J3 ^!xf EIl-BER-r MILTON Vs/IL-CV Elbert M. Wiley From the humble position of a boy holding a tally sheet on a wharf in his native city, working from early morn to sun- down for a mere pittance, through the various stages of sales- man, manager, commissioner, wholesaler and manufacturer to the position of the most prominent factor in one of the leading departments of the lumber industry of the United States is a far journey, but it outlines the career of Elbert Milton Wiley, of New York City. All his business life has had to do with what is known as North Carolina pine, which means the pine lumber manufactured in southern Maryland, eastern Virginia and eastern North Carolina, north of the longleaf pine territory. It consists of timber species which elsewhere have distinctive names, but this territory is so indi- vidual in the character of its timber growth and its production is so centered that the entire product of this district has come to be known as North Carolina pine, from the State which produces the greatest log supply. In this business the Wiley, Harker & Camp Company is accorded premiership. Of this company the subject of this sketch is the head, and to his am- bition, integrity, industry and forcefulness is largely due its Dosition. The strong, fighting blood of the Irish race flows in Mr. Wiley's veins, combined with the energetic and artistic nature of the French. His father, Alexander Wiley, was of Irish ancestry, while his mother, Annie Welles Wiley, was of French descent. The names of both families are distinguish- ed in the history of revolutionary times. It was in Baltimore, Maryland, that the subject of this sketch was born January 5, 1870. An education such as the excellent schools of the city of Baltimore could furnish is all that Mr. Wiley can boast of. 887 338 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN He was naturally bright and an apt scholar, so that he quickly passed through the lower grades and entered the high school, finishing this course of study at the unusual age of twelve years. It was after he had left school, at the close of the term in the summer of 1882, that the lad made up his mind to start making his own living. He was industrious and was encour- aged in his ambitions by his parents, though necessity did not compel him to seek employment. But he did not want to spend the summer in idleness and sought and obtained a posi- tion as boy of all work on the wharf of Brown, Graves & Co., lumber commission merchants. He worked hard, not only for the reward that was held out to him by his employers, but for the knowledge he was storing up for his future career. For six years he remained with Brown, Graves & Co. and then became a local salesman for Stran Bros., who at that time were large handlers of North Carolina pine. Two years in this capacity fitted him for more responsible duties and, in 1890, he went to Norfork to surpervise for the firm the manu- facture of lumber and to assume charge of the southern interests. Another two years saw Mr. Wiley in New York City as a lumber commission salesman. His ability as a salesman was marked, and with the happy faculty of making and retaining friendships he soon controlled an enviable trade. In the first year of his venture he carried on a business aggregating $200,- 000. In 1893 John Harker, of Norfork, Virginia, became in- terested with Mr. Wiley in business, and the firm of Wiley, Harker & Co. was organized. The two men were ambitious, and worked hard for an increase in the business. Their joint efforts were of the telling kind, and in a few years the firm was handling 100,000,000 feet of lumber annually. While distributing the product of several representative North Carolina houses, Mr. Wiley and his partner, as well as the firm of Wiley, Harker & Co., became interested finan- cially in North Carolina sawmills. Their activity in the trade and the position they had gained in the East led to an alliance ELBERT M. WILEY 339 with the Camp Manufacturing Company, of FrankHn, Vir- ginia, one of the largest producers in the North Carolina pine belt. On May i, 1903, the Wiley, Harker & Camp Company was instituted and the entire sales of the Camp interests, as well as those of Mr. Wiley and Mr. Harker, were combined in the new corporation. This aggregation of capital and interests was but the be- ginning of more extensive operations and greater success for Mr. Wiley and the gentlemen with whom he was associated. Mr. Wiley was made president of the Wiley, Harker & Camp Company, which has become the foremost North Carolina pine producing and handling concern. The company handles the output of the Camp Manufacturing Company's mills at Franklin, Dewitt, and Arringdale, Virginia; of the Cape Fear Lumber Company and the Angola Lumber Company at Wil- mington, North Carolina; of the Marion County Lumber Company, Marion, South Carolina, and of several smaller mills in various parts of North Carolina and Virginia. The output of these mills aggregates 200,000,000 feet annually. Mr. Wiley is one who looks well into the future of the North Carolina pine industry. He is no mean judge of tim- ber and in 1904 he purchased, with his associates, a large tract of timber in Marion County, South CaroHna, from which it is estimated 300,000,000 feet of lumber will be cut. To develop this tract will require the building of logging railroads, saw- mills, dry kilns and planing mills. Plans for the operations have been prepared and headquarters will be made at Marion, South Carolina. Mr. Wiley is president of the Wiley, Harker & Camp Company, of New York City; Cape Fear Lumber Company, of Wilmington, North Carolina; Marion County Lumber Company, of Marion, South Carolina; Mount Airy & Eastern Railway Company, of North Carolina, and the Dan Valley Lumber Company; vice president of the Carolina Timber Company, of Norfork, Virginia, and of the Charles T. Stran Company, of Baltimore, Maryland, a large wholesale distrib- 340 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN uting house. He is a director of the Angola Lumber Com- pany, of Wilmington, North CaroHna. Much interest is evinced in organization work by Mr. Wiley, who has taken an active part in the affairs of the North Carolina Pine Association, Incorporated. He is a director of the association and has given liberally of his time and counsel to the work accomplished by the organization since its incep- tion. The association work, in addition to the duties imposed upon him as president of the concerns already enumerated, permits of only the minimum amount of time being given to social functions and the pleasures of life. Mr. Wiley is of the kind that knows no tiring and his ca- pacity for work is unlimited. He is full of energy and goes through the details of his immense business with a dispatch and directness that is amazing to those who are unacquainted with his force. Withal, he has a smile and a pleasant word of greeting for all with whom he may come in contact, and his circle of friends throughout the eastern states is a wide one. Mr. Wiley occupies a prominent place in the social life of the metropolis and is a member of several nautical and frater- nal organizations. He is an enthusiastic yachtsman and as such is identified with the New York Yacht Club and the Columbia Yacht Club, of New York, and the Stamford Yacht Club, of Stamford, Connecticut. He is also a member of the New York Athletic Club and the Republican Club of New York. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and is past master of York lodge 197, of New York City, and is also a member of Palestine Commandery No. 18, Knights Templar, and Mecca Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In October, 1893, Mr. Wiley married Miss Mabel Water- bury, of Stamford, Connecticut. Two boys have been born of this union— one now being ten years old and the other six. A beautiful home is maintained by Mr. Wiley, where he spends much of his time that is not occupied by business, and entertains his many friends. John Har 2JC of their si v- . successes have re the result of not withstand c. I: has ly for a hrm la- o build a career. Science is able to estimate with exactness the pressure which a given quantity of brick, stone, wood, or steel will bring to bear upon its foundation, but in the rapidly ch^n cri nor conditions affecting the modern businp«« TTiTn :» iv > fn fpll today just what pressure ^'- ^^ , work of tomorrow. The '*^ in life, therefore, particular 'ition of is. He will fall vay the I iY ^MY 1 ,U, tr York John 18- ,ly .n- a striking one retary and mpany, of New who have achieved «3> >"• ^^ '=■'■"' ^ ' ' ^ ' - JOHN JAOOB RUMBARQER John J. Rumbarger To persevere in a course that is known to be right, to show sympathy with men and their poHcies and to adhere to a high standard of morals in commercial and social life are steps that ultimately lead to the goal of sound business success and of respected citizenship. Philadelphia has a citizen of this cali- ber in John Jacob Rumbarger, one of the younger genera- tion who has qualified to bear the family name, and one promi- nent in the lumber industry. It may be said that Mr. Rumbarger was reared in the at- mosphere of the woods and the sawmill. His father and his grandfather were lumbermen of the pioneer type, and the son and grandson has added to the luster of their name. What he has accomplished in building up a concern whose operations extend over a large portion of the East is worth chronicling. For more than a century the family name of Rumbarger has figured in the annals of Pennsylvania, the early settlers having come from Germany. John Rumbarger, the grand- father of John J. Rumbarger, rafted logs in the western streams when the country was young, as did Jacob L. Rumbarger, the father, before he migrated to Kingston, Decatur County, In- diana. It was in this village that John Jacob Rumbarger was born, October 19, 1865. His mother was Margaret A. Rum- barger, nee Jones. The head of the family had snaked logs until he had accumulated enough to invest in a small sawmill and begin manufacturing for himself. The family moved from Kingston to Greensburg and subsequently to Beanblossom Township, Monroe County, Indiana, where a home was built. The son, John J., the third boy in the family, was brought up in all strictness by his God-fearing and loving parents. It was a backwoods country, and even as a youth he learned much of the lore of the woodsman. By day he attended the sessions 349 350 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN of the district school, necessitating a six-mile walk to and from his home, and morning and evening he helped with the chores that fell to his lot about the farm. When he was fifteen years old the family again moved, this time to Gosport, Owen County, Indiana, where a sawmill was built by the senior Rumbarger. Young Rumbarger continued his studies in the village school and, when vacation time came, worked about the mill handling slabs and wheeling sawdust like any laborer. Before he grad- uated from the Gosport high school, in 1883, he was familiar with the multitudinous details of manufacturing lumber, a part of his education which he never forgot. He entered DePauw University, at Greencastle, Indiana, but his college career was cut short in his junior year by an attack of typhoid fever. While he was in college the young man's parents had gone to Dobbin, Grant County, West Virginia, a town in name only, as but three houses and a water tank marked the end of a rail- road. The father organized the J. L. Rumbarger Company, a sawmill was built and operations were started. The enter- prise was managed by the father and his three sons — Frank T., Robert R. and John J. Rumbarger. The last named had a varied experience about the plant between running the lath mill and planing mill, filing saws and doing the other odd labors of a jack of all trades as occasion arose. The year 1887 was spent by him in managing the general store of the com- pany operated in connection with the mill. Another year saw John Rumbarger in the role of traveling salesman for the company, whose business was being largely extended. He put in his time journeying about the eastern section of the country from St. Louis east and north to Port- land, Maine, selling the hardwoods, spruce, hemlock and cherry lumber of the company. For seven years he looked after the trade, becoming in that time a decidedly clever and successful salesman and building up a line of customers that augured well for his future success. Then it was decided to open a selling office in Philadelphia and the chief salesman of the company was selected to take charge. JOHN J. RUMBARGER 351 In 1897 the sawmill of the J. L. Rumbarger Company was sold, and later the Rumbarger Lumber Company was organ- ized and incorporated for the purpose of carrying on a whole- sale business. John Rumbarger was made treasurer of the company, the other officers being Jacob L. Rumbarger, presi- dent; Frank T. Rumbarger, vice president, and Robert R. Rumbarger, secretary. The name of Rumbarger was already well known to the trade and the business of the concern pros- pered accordingly. With the growth of the business it soon became necessary to have an independent supply of lumber to meet the demands of the buyers and, in 1900, the plant of the Coketon Lumber Company, at Coketon, West Virginia, was purchased and op- erations there were continued. This mill is still running and recent acquisitions of timber in Randolph County give the company an aggregate of 9,000 acres. Besides the main plant at Fishinghawk, where a modern band mill with a band resaw and planing mill is operated, four portable mills are running on the tract. Mr. Rumbarger, with the progressive spirit of youth, not only devotes much of his time to the management of the affairs at the main office in Philadelphia, but makes frequent trips to keep himself in touch with the other interests of the company farther south. One of these interests is a mill at Skidmore Crossing, Webster County, West Virginia, where poplar and hardwoods are manufactured. Another interest is that of the Snow-Bird Lumber Company, which has 22,000 acres of timber land, thickly covered with hardwoods and hemlock, in Graham County, North Carolina. While the ag- gregate cut of these mills is large, it does not represent the amount of lumber marketed by the company. A force of buyers and inspectors is kept in the field continuously, pur- chasing and shipping stocks of lumber from small manufac- turers, several million feet being distributed in this way every year. Force and character are written in every line of Mr. Rum- 352 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN barger's face. He is strongly insistent upon business integrity in each deal, and cherishes the good name which he won for himself in his days on the road. With the confidence and support given him by his father and brothers he has kept forg- ing ahead year by year until today the company holds an im- portant position in the distribution of lumber in the East. That he is possessed of the Dutch persistence of his forefath- ers is shown by his work for the Concatenated Order of Hoo- Hoo. After interest in the organization had been dormant in the Keystone and adjacent states for years he was appointed vicegerent snark for the eastern district of Pennsylvania and in the course of a few months instilled new life into the order. Though a Mason, an Odd Fellow and a Pythian, Mr. Rum- barger is more wrapped up in his home life than in that of the secret societies. Sixteen years ago he joined Potomac Lodge, No. io8, L O. O. F., at Dobbin, West Virginia. He is a member of Shekinah Lodge, No. 246, A. F. & A. M., and is a Knight of Pythias. He is a fraternity man, also, having been initiated in the Lamda Chapter, Phi Gamma Delta, during his college days. Through two marriages Mr. Rumbarger has five children. His first wife was Mattie A. Williard, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, whom he married in 1888 and to whom two sons were born — John and Bradley. The wife died in 1894. Mr. Rumbarger three years later wedded Virginia A. Ryan, of Philadelphia, and three children have been born to the couple — Dorothy, Joseph and Virginia Rose. Frank K In the Si in I VA.VWV-V'KJ >y niembers of the L .ccnth Century and the name was . ^^ ;d between thr vrar? To9r ind '^"lo as many as variations ^*n its ( ^ i .• , .inge in pronunciation i,.....-g been found by the genealogists. John Whiting, the head of a particular branch of the family, was born in Boston, England, in the latter half of the Sixteenth Century. He became a membtr of the Common Council of Boston, in 1590, its mayor in 1600 and vice admiral ' ^ " oinshirc in 1602. Samuel Wh' "^ the son of John ' ' *' • • Of the tenth ' eage is la, )p (Rice) 13, 1864. es •I of V. He was ct . . cd ^ . * riess on the Pine River at • CT he owned was cut out, he lich is in existence today. iy of eleven children. Like that of s secured in the common schools ot • om the high school. The first : was in the mercan- tile business c ^ „ & Son, the firm OHITIMVy QUO fJ^ A F1 X M A 5=1 "=? r FRANK RAYMOND \A/HITINC3 Frank R. Whiting In the Sixteenth Century there lived, in the city of Boston, in Lincolnshire, England, a family of Whitings. This city had been the principal place of residence of the Whiting ancestors since the sixth year of the reign of Edward III, and the home of many of the family who came to America. Records furnish the names of many members of the family antedating the Fourteenth Century and the name was variously spelled between the years 1085 and 1630, as many as sixteen variations in its orthography without any change in pronunciation having been found by the genealogists. John Whiting, the head of a particular branch of the family, was born in Boston, England, in the latter half of the Sixteenth Century. He became a member of the Common Council of Boston, in 1590, its mayor in 1600 and vice admiral of Lincolnshire in 1602. Samuel Whiting, the son of John Whiting, joined the Puritan colony in America. Of the tenth generation, in America, of this family of ancient lineage is Frank Raymond Whiting, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Henry Whiting and Mary Troop (Rice) Whiting and was born at St. Clair, Michigan, June 13, 1864. The senior Whiting was a graduate of the United States military academy and during the Civil War was colonel of the Second Vermont Regiment of Infantry. He was engaged in the '50's in the lumber business on the Pine River at St. Clair, and, when the timber he owned was cut out, he established a mercantile business which is in existence today. Frank Whiting was one of a family of eleven children. Like that of the others, his education was secured in the common schools of St. Clair and he graduated from the high school. The first employment of Mr. Whiting was in the mercan- tile business conducted by Henry Whiting & Son, the firm 353 354 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN being composed of his father and an older brother. This was in 1882, and subsequently he was given a partnership interest in the business. He had the opportunity of studying the lumber business as then carried on in Michigan and he deter- mined to engage in this line himself. Going to Hickory, Catawba County, North Carolina, he organized, with H. C. Park, of Detroit, Michigan, and W. E. Burtless, of St. Clair, Michigan, the Catawba Lumber Company, in 1890. The company carried on a manufacturing business in a limited way and was dissolved in 1895. The next venture of Mr. Whiting in the lumber business was in the organization, with his brother, William S. Whiting, of the Whiting Lumber Company, for the purpose of con- ducting a wholesale business. An office was opened in the Girard Building, Philadelphia, and a specialty made of han- dling hardwoods and white pine. Both brothers were ener- getic and capable and a satisfactory trade was quickly built up. Because of the operations carried on by them in North Carolina, the Whitings were not unknown to the lumbermen of the Quaker City. The growth of the wholesale business demanded the company's getting independent lines of supply, and, in the spring of 1897, ^^- Whiting and his brother formed the Whiting Lumber Co., a partnership, and began a manufacturing business at Elizabethton, Tennessee. William S. Whiting took charge of the mill business, while Frank R. Whiting remained in active control of the wholesale office. He closed the wholesale office in 1900 and joined in the management of the operations at Elizabethton. In August, 1903, Mr. Whiting went to Philadelphia again, where, with Joseph W. Janney, a wholesale yard lumberman, he organized the Janney-Whiting Lumber Company. Mr. Janney is president and treasurer of the company and Mr. Whiting is secretary. A wholesale business is carried on, a specialty being made of hardwoods and white pine, the con- suming trade of the Quaker City and surrounding territory demanding much of this lumber. The office of the company FRANK R. WHITING 355 is located at 1151 Beach Street, Pier 52 North, along the Delaware River front. On the wharf is carried in stock an ample assortment of hardwoods for the trade, and the best facilities are at hand for shipping by either water or rail. In the last two years the volume of business transacted by the company has been largely increased through the efforts made by Mr. Whiting in covering the trade of the territory. Considerable of the stock handled by the Janney- Whiting Lumber Company comes from the mill of the Whiting Manu- facturing Company, at Abingdon, Virginia, of which Mr. Whiting is president and W. S. Whiting, secretary, treasurer and general manager. The Whiting Manufacturing Company was organized in April, 1904, by Mr. Whiting and his brother, following the reorganization of the former Whiting concern as the Bradley Lumber Company. A tract of standing timber in Carter and Johnson counties, Tennessee, south of Abingdon and across the State line, was secured upon which to operate. On this tract is estimated to be 75,000,000 feet of hardwoods, white pine and hemlock. Another small tract was acquired in Mit- chell County, North Carolina, which contains oak, ash and poplar. Abingdon was selected as the site for the mill be- cause of the unusual shipping facilities afforded by the rail- roads and their connecting lines. The plant itself is located directly on the Virginia-Carolina Railway, over which ship- ments can be made to all points of the compass through connections with the Southern Railway, the Norfolk & Western and the Virginia & Southwestern roads. The mill is of a single band type and was formerly operated at Elizabeth- ton. The sawmill has a capacity of 50,000 feet of lumber a day, and the plant includes a thoroughly equipped planing mill The entire product of the Whiting Manufacturing Com- pany is handled by the Janney- Whiting Lumber Company, of Philadelphia. So great has been the demand for hardwood lumber throughout the East for more than a year that the capacities of the Whiting Manufacturing Company and the 356 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Janney- Whiting Lumber Company have been taxed to the utmost. Mr. Whiting has been always a close student of market conditions and is most successful in taking advantage of them. Besides the stock of the Abingdon'mill Mr. Whiting has bought additional stock of other hardv^ood plants in order to meet the heavy demands of the trade to which he caters. Another lumber enterprise in which Mr. Whiting is inter- ested is the Buchanan Lumber Company, of Judson, North Carolina. The company operates at this point a band mill with a capacity of 30,000 feet of lumber a day. The mill is cutting on timber owned by the company, located in Swain and Graham counties, North Carohna, on the Asheville and Murphy branch of the Southern Railway. This tract of tim- ber consists of poplar, oak and chestnut and is estimated to contain 60,000,000 feet. Mr. Whiting married Miss Abbie Alice Irwin, at the home of the bride in Boston, Massachusetts, September 15, 1887. One son— Frank Rice Whiting— who is now in his fourteenth year, has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Whiting. The couple resides in Philadelphia. Because of his interests in Virginia and the necessity for making frequent trips to other cities, Mr. Whiting has been satisfied to spend what leisure time he may have with his family and has never become identified with any social or fraternal organizations. He is a Republican in politics, but his activities as a business man have precluded the possibitity of his interesting himself in affairs political. T ? acc muse Dc piacca s, iiiG d.a i ' dc aid in c > »s ' i vv :, of Abingdon, he i- ' at manhood, in trie vN > oi the mountains of Tennessee and Virginia and has gained much of the strength of character of the pioneer. But he is not a rough, unlettered woodsman or mill operator, for he is a college man and has the polish of the f n resident. He v and reared in a lumber igan, but his indus- of lumber .h hai : efforts, Iv name. *!and. . ,cw -.i.v-. »crvcd . in the Civil i^w vo Mary Troop e began lumbering oii He owned cr- sidc if had been « out aiiu mercantile business OMITIHNA/ TT008 MAIJJINA/ NA/ILl-IAM SCOTT NA/HITINQ William S. Whiting A life spent on the wide plains of the West gives a man a certain independence, strength and resourcefulness that are unknown to the urban dweller. The same traits are devel- oped to a large degree in a man who has spent many years in the forests or in sawmills in the mountains of the South, re- moved somewhat from the busier marts of commerce. In a backwoods district greater reliance must be placed in one's own powers, and an independence of outside aid in emergen- cies is developed. William Scott Whiting, of Abingdon, Virginia, has put in his years, since he arrived at manhood, in the wilderness of the mountains of Tennessee and Virginia and has gained much of the strength of character of the pioneer. But he is not a rough, unlettered woodsman or mill operator, for he is a college man and has the polish of the metropolitan resident. He was born and reared in a lumber country, in the white pine section of Michigan, but his indus- try has been devoted to the successful operation of lumber plants in the Atlantic Coast states. The success which has come to him in recent years is due wholly to his own efforts, keyed up by an ambition to add to an illustrious family name. The Whitings are a family of ancient lineage in England, an early ancestor having been a member of the Puritan sect which established the Colony of Massachusetts. William S. Whiting's father, Henry Whiting, was a native of Bath, New York, who secured a military training at West Point and served as a colonel of the Second Vermont Regiment in the Civil War. The senior Whiting, after his marriage to Mary Troop Rice, went to Michigan, where, in 1851, he began lumbering on Pine River, making his home at St. Clair. He owned con- siderable timber along the river and when this had been cut out and turned into lumber he founded a mercantile business 857 358 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN that is still carried on. William S. Whiting was the eleventh of a family of eleven children born to Henry Whiting. His birth occurred September 2, 1872. His mother, a woman of refinement and education, was the boy's first instructor. Pass- ing through the lower grades of the public schools of St. Clair, he graduated from high school and in 1889 matriculated in the University of Michigan. Without finishing the course which he had entered upon at college, Mr. Whiting, in the fall of 1890, gave up the idea of a professional career and turned his attention to lumbering, a vocation followed by his father. An older brother, Frank R. Whiting, in 1890 had organized the Catawba Lumber Company and begun operations at Hickory, North Carolina. No better opening to learn the lumber business could have been presented than at this operation in the South country. Mr. Whiting went to Hickory where he went into the woods and studied the methods of logging, gaining a knowledge of lumbering which he has enlarged from year to year. Subse- quently, he entered the mill to familiarize himself with the manufacture of lumber. The operation was in hardwoods, and, in addition to becoming acquainted with all the details of logging and manufacturing, Mr. Whiting had some experience in selling the product of the mill. The operations of the Ca- tawba Lumber Company were closed in 1895. An opportunity for building up a wholesale business in the eastern markets appeared to Mr. Whiting when he left the South, and, in 1895, with his brother, Frank R. Whiting, he organized the Whiting Lumber Company, to do a wholesale business. Philadelphia was selected as a promising field for the energies of the two men, and offices were opened in the Girard Building. The hardwoods of the South, including much oak, chestnut and poplar, formed the bulk of the busi- ness done, though considerable northern white pine was secured. The growth of the business was satisfactory from the start, and, because of the increasing difficulty experienced in securing adequate stocks to fill orders, the Whitings deter- WILLIAM S. WHITING 359 mined to engage in manufacturing. Under the name of the Whiting Lumber Co., a partnership, Mr. Whiting went to Elizabethton, Tennessee, in the spring of 1897 and started operations there. About 1900 the Philadelphia office was closed and Mr. Whiting was joined by his brother at Eliza- bethton. The life of this organization was ended in August, 1903, when Frank R. Whiting returned to Philadelphia, where, with Joseph W. Janney, he organized the Janney- Whiting Lumber Company, to do a wholesale business. William S. Whiting remained in Elizabethton to operate on a tract of oak and poplar bought by the Whiting Manufacturing Company, which had been organized in 1904 by the Whitings. A band mill was built to carry on this operation, and, when the timber was entirely cut out in 1905, the mill was moved to Abingdon, Washington County, Virginia. Of this concern Mr. Whiting became secretary, treasurer and general manager, with his brother, Frank R. Whiting, as president. The company secured a tract of rich timber lands south of Abingdon, in Carter and Johnson counties, Tennessee, upon which it is conservatively estimated is standing 75,000,000 feet of merchantable white pine, hemlock and hardwood timber. Another tract in Mitchell County, North Carolina, is com- posed of oak, ash and poplar. The mill at Abingdon is equipped with a single band saw and the sawmill and all the appurtenances are of a modern type, giving a capacity of 50,- 000 feet of lumber a day. A planing mill is modernly equipped in proportion to the business done. The plant is located on the Virginia-Carolina Railway and connection is made with the Norfolk & Western, the Southern Railway, the Virginia & Southwestern and other lines. The product of the company is marketed by the Janney-Whiting Lumber Company, of Philadelphia, which has a large storage capacity at Pier 52, North Wharves. The company may be said to be the creation of Mr. Whit- ing alone, and in the building of the plant he has embodied the knowledge gained from years of experience in sawmilling. 36o AMERICAN LUMBERMEN As general manager of the concern he mapped out a plan of operations that already has begun to show in substantial re- turns the skill of its originator. Mr. Whiting is secretary and treasurer of the Buchanan Lumber Company, of Judson, North Carolina. This concern operates a band mill with a capacity of 30,000 feet daily, and owns, in Swain and Graham counties, on the Asheville and Murphy branch of the Southern Railway, about 60,000,000 feet of standing timber, consisting of poplar, oak and chestnut. While at Hickory, North Carolina, in his earlier experi- ence, Mr. Whiting met his choice for a life partner. She was Miss Caroline Loretz Link, whom he wedded October 19, 1898. A son and two daughters brighten the family home at Abingdon. The children are Henry, aged six years, Anna Belle and Caroline Loretz. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Whiting has been so devoted to his business affairs that he has not sought membership in social or fraternal organizations, except that while at college he was initiated in the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and has always maintained an interest in the organization. F. Bl : .^ _ Tb forced ' in ' re is oitcri lumberman, v .ges to make for Andrew F. P' ictcher Blc oomcr, who w was the pro| J was a nail-makt went to London, wh»^ i and taken to Boston, Massachuse irried Elizabeth Bullis and a little latr lie, Westchester County, New York . d at the advanced age of 102 years, leaving t and John, from whom have sprung prac- all the Bloomers in the United Staffs. Andrew F. a representative of the sixth p- He was C. Aup-llSt TO, -h lU 1644, 8( ving to i\cw- at L .n s le death ot the •cii !i»ed to a son, J. 5=l3MOO_ia R3HOX3_J-^ W3f=)ak1A ANDREW/ FLETOHEIR BLOOMER Andrew F. Bloomer The enterprise and forcefulness of the successful pioneer in lumber manufacture is often matched by corresponding qualities in the retail lumberman, who, in these days of intense competition, manages to make for himself a place and a repu- tation. Such is Andrew F. Bloomer, of York, Nebraska. Andrew Fletcher Bloomer comes of a distinguished family. Robert Bloomer, who was born in Birmingham, England, in 1628, was the progenitor of the Bloomer family in America. He was a nail-maker, and, having reached his maturity, went to London, where he was kidnaped and taken to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1649. ^^ married Elizabeth Bullis and a little later moved to New Rochelle, Westchester County, New York, where he died at the advanced age of 102 years, leaving two sons, Robert and John, from whom have sprung prac- tically all the Bloomers in the United States. Andrew F. Bloomer is a representative of the sixth generation. He was born at Newburgh, Orange County, New York, August 19, 1851. His father, Reuben H. Bloomer, was for many years a Methodist minister, but failing health compelled him to re- tire from the pulpit in 1855, and he established the Newburgh Times, which, at the outbreak of the Civil War, became a strong advocate of the Union cause. He continued the editorship of the paper until his death in 1866. Almira Chase Bloomer, mother of Andrew F. Bloomer, was descended from Thomas Chase, who came from England to America in 1644, settling at first in New Hampshire and afterward removing to New- buryport, Massachusetts. The son received his education in the public schools of his native city, supplemented by a business course at Eastman's College, at Poughkeepsle, New York. Upon the death of the senior Bloomer the conduct of the paper passed to a son, J. 361 362 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Watson Bloomer, a brother of Andrew, and the latter served an apprenticeship on the paper for two years. In 1869, at the age of eighteen years, Andrew F. Bloomer determined to move West, and went to Chicago. It was in that growing city of the middle West that he had his first experience in the lumber business, entering the em- ploy of D. F. Chase & Bro., which firm included David F. Chase, Horace W. Chase (both uncles of Mr. Bloomer) and Davey S. Pate, the last named being still prominent as a Chi- cago lumberman. Young Bloomer was given a training in the various departments of the business and proved a bright, ener- getic business man. When the three members of the firm of D. F. Chase & Bro., together with W. M. Miner, a few years afterward opened a lumber yard in Wyoming, Illinois, under the name of W. M. Miner & Co., Mr. Bloomer was placed in charge. Mr. Miner later bought the interests of his partners and conducted the business under his individual name, retain- ing Mr. Bloomer as manager. The latter was anxious to con- duct a yard himself and, in 1877, became owner of the busi- ness and conducted it with much success until 1884, when he sold it to G. V. Anderson, of New Boston, Illinois. Mr. Bloomer saw greater opportunities farther west and he migrated from Illinois to York, Nebraska, after he disposed of his interests in Wyoming. He began a lumber business there which he continued for more than twenty years, until, on December i, 1904, he sold the yard to the C. N. Dietz Lumber Company, of Omaha, and retired from business to devote his time to well-earned rest and travel and to the over- sight of the real estate and other properties in which he had invested his surplus capital. Mr. Bloomer's conduct of the lumber business at York was marked by industry and close personal application, which, however, are by no means exceptional characteristics of a man engaged in the retail lumber yard business. The one thing in which he showed a particularly marked talent was the very im- portant one of keeping himself and his business constantly and ANDREW F. BLOOMER 363 prominently in the public eye. He was a most liberal patron of every form of advertising, employing every legitimate de- vice for that purpose. His advertising was distinctive, not by the amount of money expended upon it, but by the original ideas with which it was infused throughout. Much of the ad- vertising was done in rhyme of somewhat homely character, but which, however much it might violate the rules of poetic composition, did not allow the reader in any instance to lose sight of the advantage of buying his lumber of Bloomer. A personal element, also, entered into this campaign to a remarkable extent. Mr. Bloomer is a man of magnetic indi- viduality, courteous and affable, and he made it his rule to foster social relations in every possible way with all actual or possible customers in his community and also with those from whom his lumber supplies were secured. No traveling man ever came to his office without a cordial reception, and, if the stock of lumber did not need replenishing at that particular time, the salesman, probably, was called upon to contribute some item of current interest or information to the stock of trade knowledge, which was one of the assets of the Bloomer yard. Customers, somehow, carried away the impression that they had secured a peculiar advantage in placing their order. Complaints were adjusted in some manner which, while not too expensive to Mr. Bloomer, left with the customers a sense of full reparation and, perhaps, some feeling of compunction that they had created a disturbance over too unimportant a detail. Besides being so persistent an advertiser and so excel- lent a salesman Mr. Bloomer has been one of the shrewdest and most experienced of lumbermen, an omniverous reader, a close observer while traveling, in touch with general market conditions and always ready to take advantage of new ideas or new trade opportunities. Mr. Bloomer in politics always has been a Republican and has taken a prominent part in local political affairs. He has endeavored to do his part in the building up of business enter- prises in his section, having been identified with a number of 364 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN local manufacturing industries of different kinds. He has in- vested his surplus earnings in the development of his adopted State, Nebraska, very largely in city and farm real estate, and the growing agricultural prominence of the State has rendered these investments profitable and certified to his wisdom in se- lecting them. During the year after entering the lumber business in Ne- braska, on March 18, 1884, Mr. Bloomer married Miss Eliza T. Miner, daughter of his former employer. Mr. Bloomer and his wife have always been fond of traveling and have vis- ited nearly every important section of the United States at one time or another. In December, 1905, they took an extended trip to Hawaii, the Philippines, China and Japan, returning to the States the following May. Mr. Bloomer is a large stockholder in the York Foundry & Engine Works, one of the first directors and a stockholder in the York Gas & Electric Light Company, a stockholder and director in the York Building & Loan Association, the York Creamery, the Nebraska Telephone Company, and is liberally interested in the beet sugar industry. He was one of the sub- scribers to a street railway project and a prime mover in the York County Agricultural Society and the Farmers' Grain Association, of York. Thus he has identified himself with every phase of life in the community and section in which he lived. Thomas A. Moore While butyr^^-" ^ "...:_ .- who, at the same liuic, fortunate j- - ' friends ; fr ward. 1 both if he i not buy. cr generation of lumbermen of ih who have forged ahead to positions of trust and responsibility in the business world by their own fighting and winning abilities alone. He began his lumber career as a wholesaler — not the wholesaler with a luxurious office and » ' credit, but rather amid humble surroundings and with I to the comparativelv - nt he and his ( this unosten- • 1 he had no p- part of '■V on "•r of his of i, lenn- the taa)c ,, was ^ TH OMAS ANTHONY MOORE Thomas A. Moore While busy making dollars in the commercial world a man who, at the same time, has not neglected to make friends is a fortunate individual. No knack exists in the making of real friends ; friendships spring from the seeds of kindness and courteousness sown without a mercenary expectation of re- ward. Thomas A. Moore, of St. Louis, Missouri, has acquired both wealth and friendship in his business career, but if he were given his choice as to which he would keep he would choose friendship — the one thing money will not buy. He belongs to the younger generation of lumbermen of the South who have forged ahead to positions of trust and responsibility in the business world by their own fighting and winning abilities alone. He began his lumber career as a wholesaler — not the wholesaler with a luxurious office and strong credit, but rather amid humble surroundings and with capital limited to the comparatively small amount he and his partner had been able to save as employees. In this unosten- tatious manner he began following a trade of which he had no practical knowledge, this essential training being part of the assets of his partner. But Mr. Moore seized every opportu- nity to acquaint himself with the practical side of the business and within a few years he had acquired a substantial knowl- edge of the manufacture and distribution of lumber. Thomas Anthony Moore comes of a distinguished line of ancestors. In the latter part of the Eighteenth Century his great-grandfather, EH Moore, left his home in the north of Ireland and came to America, settling at Beaver Falls, Penn- sylvania, where he married Deborah UpdegrafT. His wife was of the old Knickerbocker stock that settled in New York, and she was related to the Van Rensselaers. T. A. Moore, Senior, the father of T. A. Moore the present day lumberman, was ses 366 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN born in Harrison County, Ohio, in 1838. On his mother's side, Mr. Moore, Junior, traces his lineage to Sir Archibald Mossman, of Berwick, England, who married Margaret Young, of that place. The Mossmans had one child, a daughter, Lady Eleanor Mossman, who married Anthony Ballard after the family had migrated to America and settled in Virginia. Their daughter, Louise Ballard, the grandmother of Thomas Anthony Moore, Junior, married Ezekiel Pilcher, at Springfield, Illinois. Clarissa V. Pilcher, a daughter, married Thomas A. Moore, Senior, October 7, 1862, and to this couple was born in St. Louis, Missouri, a son, Thomas Anthony Moore, October 15, 1867. What education Mr. Moore recalls was obtained in the public schools of St. Louis. His. school days were not many, for a combination of adverse circumstances compelled him to begin the serious work of life when he was thirteen years old. In 1880 he began his business career as a cash boy in the store of the Barr's Dry Goods Company, at wages of $2 a week. A year had not elapsed before he secured a position with Wood- ward, Tiernan & Hale, now the Woodward & Tiernan Print- ing Company. He began as a ^'printer's devil," and he was scarce more than that when two years later he sought another position with more pay. Work was not readily obtainable and the lad walked the streets for a week before he found a posi- tion as office boy with Fullerton & Post, a firm of lawyers, where he was paid $2.75 a week for his services. A few months later he became collector and office boy for A. Judlin & Co., real estate agents, for which he received $5 a week. Young Moore constantly was looking for an opening where he was sure merit would be rewarded. In the spring of 1885 he became a messenger for the Wiggins Ferry Company, and in the nine years he remained with that concern he was pro- moted successively to the positions of collector, assistant cashier, secretary to the general manager, chief clerk and assistant general freight agent of the company. When a change in the management of the company was made in 1893 Mr. Moore THOMAS A. MOORE 367 resigned to become connected with the St. Louis South-western Railway, now a part of the Cotton Belt Route. In the railroad work he handled freight claims, overcharges on rates and loss and damage claims. He was with the company but a few months when a retrenchment order reduced the force and Mr. Moore found himself without a position. But a man of his energy and capability was not long without a connection, and, in the fall of 1893, ^^ became bookkeeper and accountant for Swift & Co., at St. Louis, but later was transferred to Chicago. Subsequently, Mr. Moore returned to St. Louis as city agent for the JEtns. Life Insurance Company and remained in that line until the spring of 1899. At that time he came into business contact with George T. Mickle, now a prosperous wholesale lumberman of Chicago, whom he had known socially as well. Mr. Mickle was then traveling for J. C. McLachlin, manager of the Big Four Lumber Company. The two men determined to engage in the lumber business for themselves, and, with a small amount of capital, they rented a little back office in the FuUerton Building and began business as the Mickle-Moore Lumber Company. Mr. Moore did the book- keeping and typewriting and Mr. Mickle attended to the buy- ing and selling. The combination proved an effective one and the business prospered from the outset. Buying his partner's interest in the Mickle-Moore Lumber Company in the spring of 1901, Mr. Moore changed the style of the business to the Moore Lumber & Mill Company. In the meantime Mr. Mickle went into business with B. H. Pollock and M. L. Fleishel, organizing the Colonial Lumber & Timber Company. The interests of Mr. Pollock and Mr. Mickle in this concern were bought by Mr. Moore in 1902, and he became vice president of the company, retaining the office until December, 1904. At the end of that period Mr. Moore took a well earned rest, spending most of his time in outdoor games at the Glen Echo Country Club, at Normandy, Missouri. The Moore Company, which comprises Mr. Moore's sole 368 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN lumber interests today, was organized in October, 1905, for the purpose of handling yellow pine, hardwoods. Pacific Coast lumber and shingles at wholesale. The offices of the company are located in the Fullerton Building, St. Louis, the scene of his initial appearance in the lumber field. With his character- istic energy and showing of ability Mr. Moore made excellent mill connections in each line and proceeded to build up a business that has long passed the experimental stage and which attests his experience and popularity. Mr. Moore is a member of the Glen Echo Country Club and the Mercantile Club, of St. Louis. He is secretary of the Yellow Piners, a purely social organization which he assisted in organizing and which has a wide reputation among lumber- men. In September, 1903, Mr. Moore was appointed vice- gerent snark of the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo for the southern district of Missouri, and was nicknamed the ''World's Fair Snark." He earned the title by his activity in behalf of the order during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, at St. Louis, where he probably met more Hoo-Hoo than any other person. Mr. Moore has all the vigor and ambition of a young man. He is an optimist in all matters and decidedly genial in his manner, as becomes a man of his physique. He has a smile and a hearty handshake for all with whom he comes in contact, giving a lasting impression of the wholesouled, earnest man whom it is a delight to know. Mr. Moore married Miss Rebecca Homer Tebbetts, at St. Louis, April 27, 1895, ^"^ ^^^Y ^"^ much enjoyment in the social life of the city in which they make their home. It is '^as :< m which nc iina^ to his self-improvement; but when to place him in an atmosphere which is not hos- 1 with ample potential and 2 of his opportunity., a, to an ordinary man would be fatal, to reach the goal of his ambition. Many of the prom- inent lumbermen of the United States have been sons of lum- bermen, but still more have been reared in a lumber atmos- l 'ter cU^^ Tohn B. Nalty, of Brookhavcn, Miss- "*ivc of uuuin, be- all others ic met and Til id, to al ed from t n made 1 • JOHN BERNARD NAL-TY John B. Nalty It is a trite and hackneyed saying that environment has much to do with the character and success of an individual. Nevertheless, nature frequently fails to accustom a man to his environment, and the surroundings in which he finds himself in early life are detrimental to his self-improvement; but when nature sees fit to place him in an atmosphere which is not hos- tile to his character and endows him with ample potential and latent energy, he may be said to enjoy a capital of greater value than money, and he has only to make use of his opportunities and surmount obstacles, which, to an ordinary man would be fatal, to reach the goal of his ambition. Many of the prom- inent lumbermen of the United States have been sons of lum- bermen, but still more have been reared in a lumber atmos- phere. Of the latter class John B. Nalty, of Brookhaven, Miss- issippi, may be considered an example. In the years before the Civil War, Patrick Nalty, a native of Ireland, came to the United States and settled in the South, be- coming the owner of a large plantation, which, like all others in the far South, was worked entirely by slaves. He met and married Bridget Hyland, who had also migrated from Ireland, and at their home in Copiah County, Mississippi, their son, John Bernard Nalty, was born May 23, 1857. Giving up his plantation in 1864, Patrick Nalty moved to Brookhaven, Mississippi, where he engaged in mercantile business, becoming one of the first merchants in the town. As soon as the son, John Bernard, was old enough he was sent to a private school at Brookhaven where he received his general education, and, after finishing his course there, he entered the Soul€ Commercial College, in New Orleans. He graduated from that institution in 1878, and, returning to Brookhaven, made his first business venture the following year, operating a 369 370 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN store which catered to the sawmill trade. Brookhaven was then an important lumber town and his constant association and contact with people engaged in the lumber business necessarily yielded him a generous fund of information regarding the in- dustry. He continued in the mercantile business for ten years, but, tiring of the restrictions it imposed upon him, he aban- doned it and bought the East Union Mills, a small sawmill located four miles east of Brookhaven. The plant at that time was sawing car sills and railroad timbers to the exclusion of everything else, and Mr. Nalty carried on the operation along the same lines for about seven years. The timber available for the East Union Mills having been cut out, in 189s Mr. Nalty moved to Hyde, Tangipahoa Par- ish, Louisiana, where he operated a sawmill until 1903, when his timber supply was again exhausted. In 1900 he had bought a planing mill in Brookhaven, which he operated in connec- tion with the sawmill at Hyde, also buying stocks from other mills along the Illinois Central Railroad. At the time of pur- chase this planing mill had a capacity of 10,000 feet daily, but it since has been improved and modernized and its capacity increased to 75,000 feet a day, this having been accomplished by the installation of the most modern machinery and by sys- tematizing its operation. In connection with this plant he in- augurated a city retail trade, which has grown to large propor- tions and has become a prominent factor in the lumber indus- try of Brookhaven. Seeking another plant to take the place of the Hyde mill, in 1903 Mr. Nalty bought a controlling interest in the Hani- mond Lumber Company, Limited, located at Hammond, Loui- siana. A new sawmill had just been constructed at that point, and, finding the plant to be all that he desired, the following year he purchased all of the remaining stock of the company. The Hammond plant, which has been in operation since that time, has a daily capacity of 60,000 feet and the stock is shipped to the Brookhaven planing mill for dressing. Mr. Nalty ex- ercises direct supervision over both the saw and planing mill JOHN B. NALTY 371 plants and spends much of his time in the personal direction of these operations, over which he has placed the very best superintendents he has been able to employ. The total invest- ment in the two plants is about $150,000. While much of his time has been occupied with his exten- sive operations at Brookhaven, Mississippi, and Hammond, Louisiana, Mr. Nalty has found time to interest himself in several other concerns. He is president of the Empire Lum- ber & Manufacturing Company, of Jackson, Mississippi, and of the Jackson Lumber Company, located in the same city, the latter being the largest retail yard in the State. He is presi- dent also of the Grenada Lumber Company, which operates a large retail yard at Grenada, Mississippi, and has several in- vestments in other industries in Brookhaven and throughout the State. Mr. Nalty married Miss Mamie Halpin, of St. Louis, Mis- souri, in 1885, and the couple has reared five sons and one daughter. The sons are Louis D., Willie H., Eugene, Ray and J. B. Nalty, Junior, and the daughter is Naoma. Mr. Nalty and his family attend the Roman Catholic Church at Brookhaven. In politics he has no party affiliations and has no ambition to enter the political world. He is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and of the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo. In the latter order he was vicegerent for the State of Mississippi, in 1897. He is also a member of the Osirian Cloister. He was elected High Priest of Isis in 1904, and of Anubis in 1905. Mr. Nalty has been highly honored by his fellow citizens of Brookhaven, who have shown their esteem for him by mak- ing him president of the school board of that city, which office he has held for the last five years. He belongs to no clubs and finds that his unoccupied time can most profitably be spent with his family. If he may be said to have any fads, his inclinations are for fishing and traveling, and he has, in a meas- ure, gratified his desire for travel by visiting practically every part of the United States. 372 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Desire for great wealth, or craving for an uneasy eminence in the world of affairs, finds little place in Mr. Nalty's tem- peramental makeup. Consequently, he is not and does not care to be one of the great lumber operators of the South ; but he is content, and that is better. He wants enough work healthfully to engage his abilities, but he also wants that measure of leisure which will allow him to enjoy the company of his family and friends, and quietly to repossess himself. Busy he is, yet with time for other than business. And so, as a useful citizen and a good friend, he is living a sane and pleasant life. 5 to an uncle, who gave him the advan- - example and a solid business training and sym- ..c has come to be widely known in the hardwood ...crnity, not on^' ^^ f^*^ ^mtr but of the country, and, while achieving only ... . ,^.....n, as riches go in these days, c,.^,r,5 (Q have esi«> .Loned himself on a solid foundation in wiirt 4Cter and methods. Jacob VanSickle Stimson was born on a farm near Martins- ville, Indiana, April 28, 1861. His father, Erastus F. Stimson, belonged to an old North Carolina family, removing from ^ ' ' na about 1852, and his m* ' was Mercy 'er line ot an old f four sons. t out in the rk during that in Martinsville as a de, Andrew R. Van- ; hit uncle. The firm was a stave and having heavy contracts with the Stan- i other institutions. Young Stimson about seven years, until its dissolution, ^ an inspector and years, he attended school. When Mr Stimson con- tinued --.ory. To JACOB VamSIOKL-E: sximson Jacob V. Stimson Among the comparatively young hardwood lumbermen of Indiana who, within the last decade, have made names and places for themselves is Jacob V. Stimson, of Huntingburg. Solely by his own merits and ability and without assistance — save that which he owes to an uncle, who gave him the advan- tage of a good example and a solid business training and sym- pathy — he has come to be widely known in the hardwood fraternity, not only of the State but of the country, and, while achieving only moderate wealth, as riches go in these days, seems to have established himself on a solid foundation in character and methods. Jacob VanSickle Stimson was born on a farm near Martins- ville, Indiana, April 28, 1861. His father, Erastus F. Stimson, belonged to an old North Carolina family, removing from that State to Indiana about 1852, and his mother was Mercy A. (VanSickle) Stimson, who was born on the border line between New York and New Jersey and came of an old Knickerbocker family. Jacob V. was the oldest of four sons. When sixteen years old he left the farm to start out in the world for himself. He engaged in farm work during that summer and in the fall secured a position in Martinsville as a "stave bucker" with McGregor & VanSickle, Andrew R. Van- Sickle of the firm being his uncle. The firm was a stave and cooperage supply house having heavy contracts with the Stan- dard Oil Company and other institutions. Young Stimson remained with this firm about seven years, until its dissolution, running a machine and, later, becoming an inspector and buyer. Each winter, for several years, he attended school, and also taught two or three terms. When the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Stimson con- tinued with his uncle as superintendent of his factory. To 873 374 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN this uncle he owes a greater debt of gratitude than to any other man in the world, for he was a man of the highest honor, from whom a young man of sensibility was bound to absorb some- thing of his character. He was, also, a man of warm sym- pathies, and to young Stimson he extended what opportunities he could. In 1890 he took him into partnership in a small sawmill at Heltonville, Lawrence County, on what is now the Southern Indiana Railroad. That section of country was once noted for the quantity and quality of its hardwood lumber, and this first venture of Mr. Stimson's was profitable, from a modest standpoint, but was overtaken by misfortune in the shape of a bank failure in 1893 ^^^j i" ^^^ following year, by a fire which destroyed the entire plant, on which there was no insurance. Mr. Stimson then sold his interest to Mr. VanSickle, and, with less than $5,000, began business on his own account, in 1 895, at Huntingburg, where he has since made his headquarters and also his home. He leased a site for his sawmill, bought a second-hand band mill, and when his plant was ready to run his capital was exhausted and the mill was not entirely paid for. But he borrowed money with which to buy timber and oper- ate, and, by the hardest kind of both mental and physical labor, struggled toward success. Oftentimes he would fall asleep from sheer exhaustion at his desk at night. So necessary was it to turn over his product rapidly that for three years he sold it green from the saw to dealers who would make advances ; but at the end of that time he had enough capital ahead to dry and handle his own lumber. Two years of prosperous business, though still not on a large scale, brought him to the year 1900, when he felt at liberty to expand his operations. He bought a circular mill in Owensboro, Kentucky, built by Nathan Thayer, and operated it for two years, when it was burned. Mr. Stimson replaced it with a modern band mill, which is operated under the name of J. V. Stimson & Co., Mr. Stimson's partner being his brother, Dayton C. Stimson, who has a third interest in the JACOB V. STIMSON 375 business. In 1903 Mr. Stimson bought a tract of timber at Earl, Arkansas, on which he put two portable circular mills. Later, he bought timber in Mississippi, and in the winter of 1905-6 sold one of the Arkansas portables and moved the other to Mississippi, enlarging it and operating it as the J. V. Stim- son Lumber Company. Mr. Stimson's brother Harry is the partner in this firm, having a third interest. Mr. Stimson still takes the product of the mill in Arkansas, and has purchased about 5,000 acres of fine hardwood timber near Bearden, in the same State. In addition, he is connected with his younger brother, Anson R. Stimson, in the Stimson Lumber Company, at Penrose, North Carolina. The daily output of hardwood of Mr. Stimson's concerns is nearly 100,000 feet, while, in addition, more or less coarse lumber is bought, chiefly from parties who sell to him their good logs for manufacture at his band mills, but who them- selves cut their coarser logs. In 1905 Mr, Stimson bought another band mill in Owensboro, making three band mills owned and operated by the Stimson interests. Mr. Stimson's specialty is high grade quartered oak for the furniture and interior finish trade ; but this is accompanied with an output of all varieties of commercial hardwoods to be found upon the lands he occupies, the coarse oak logs being largely cut into car and structural timbers, switch ties, fence posts, piling, etc., while considerable quantities of other hardwoods are manufactured. Mr. Stimson's policy has been to buy stumpage rather than land, although, in some cases, the latter has been necessary. He believes in the value of hardwood lumber, and carries always from 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 feet on sticks, and has the reputation of being an excellent judge of values and of the future trend of the market. He has confined himself strictly to the hardwood lumber business, his only other outside interest being a 250-acre farm near Huntingburg, the management of which gives relaxation from the steady grind of business. In 1902 he helped organize the Huntingburg Wagon Works, but sold his interest in 1904. 376 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Mr. Stimson is unusually clean-cut and independent in his business methods. He has always avoided hampering indebt- edness. It was necessary at the beginning to borrow money, but he did so on his own name and credit, and he has never given a mortgage or asked any one to indorse his paper. He ascribes what business success he has achieved to the fact that, from the beginning, he deliberately sought to earn more than he received — to make his employer's interests his own and to spare nothing of labor or mental effort. Thus, making money for his employers, he learned to make it for himself, and ac- quired the habit of profitable employment. Being a believer in cooperation, at the first opportunity Mr. Stimson associated himself with other manufacturers in lumber organizations. He attended the meeting in St. Louis in 1897, when the Mississippi Valley Hardwood Lumber Asso- ciation was formed, with the late C. A. Ward, of Chicago, as president. Later, he helped organize the Indiana Hardwood Lumber Association, of which he was the second president. He is a member of the National Hardwood Lumber Associa- tion and of the National Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Associa- tion, in both of which he has done much effective work. He is recognized as one of the clearest thinkers and best debaters in the National Hardwood Lumber Association, and, although he represents the manufacturing rather than the lumber-han- dling element in that body, his influence is strong. Mr. Stimson married, in 1882, Miss Eva Davis, of Colum- bus, Indiana. They have three children — Robert, nineteen years of age, a junior in the Indiana State University at Bloomington ; Fred, fifteen years old, attending the Hunting- burg high school, and Helen, eleven years old. Mr. Stimson is a member of the Methodist Church. In national politics he is a Republican. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Lavelette Commandery, of Evansville, Indiana, Knights Templar, and of Murat Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Indianapolis, Indiana. ^^*^' atiuii in the xxii- xia,5 ucen located at is.ush r*~ 111 uic iiiaauiatture of sash, doors and uiiicr r IK., Qia not begin his connection with the lumber industry iii that capacity. He was first engaged in the business of m lumber itself. After this came the manufac- >rs and blinds, with which he has been so His ability and natural aptitude for others in his lent of g stand- r of sawmills be simply a led this title as The institution to iOn is one of t gcst , and generally is accredited The economy of production, aipment and design and construc- at this mill have made a reputation ft is thp modest boast of tb'* R^d- •'«» cKinped their f^ f^ ifi- ivlr. Radfo: VI ^. < .IV VI cally ..». 1 jWA'M-isn one of the prime CHARLES WILLIAM RAD.FORD Charles W. Radford Many figures in the lumber history of this country stand out in bold relief, just as a commander and his aides are sil- houetted against the dark background of the rank and file. In that department of the industry which is devoted to the manufacture of sash, doors, blinds, etc., one of the most prom- inent is Charles William Radford, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. ''Radford," "Oshkosh" and "millwork" are closely related terms and bear something of a synonymous relation in the minds of many buyers and users of millwork. Mr. Radford, who, as is well known, has been located at Oshkosh and engaged in the manufacture of sash, doors and other millwork, did not begin his connection with the lumber industry in that capacity. He was first engaged in the business of manufacturing lumber itself. After this came the manufac- ture of sash, doors and blinds, with which he has been so prominently identified. His ability and natural aptitude for business were recognized by others in his management of milling operations, as was also his judgment in buying stand- ing timber and in the location and management of sawmills and logging operations. He himself claims to be simply a sash and door maker. He has, perhaps, earned this title as has no other man engaged in the business. The institution to which he has given his especial attention is one of the largest and best managed in the country, and generally is accredited with being a profitable one. The economy of production, perfection in mechanical equipment and design and construc- tion of the stock turned out at this mill have made a reputation in all parts of the country. It is the modest boast of the Rad- ford associated interests that they have shipped their products into every state and territory in the Union. Mr. Radford practi- cally has created this business and has been one of the prime 377 378 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN movers in bringing Oshkosh prominently before the trade as the originating point of all kinds of high class millwork. He has achieved this success almost exclusively by his own efforts, controlled by a resourceful mind. As the name signifies, Mr. Radford is of English parentage. He was born in 1853 in Oneida County, New York. His parents, William and Elizabeth Radford, reached this country in 1852, making Prospect, New York, their home. There the elder Radford engaged in lumbering. In 1855 he moved to Wisconsin, where for sixteen years he worked for others at logging and lumbering. At the end of that time, or in 1871, a modest sum had been saved and, with his brother Stephen, he formed the firm of S. Radford & Bro. and bought an in- terest in a sawmill. This mill had a capacity of about 40,000 feet a day, and is still in operation, though many changes have been made in it since then and it is now considered one of the best milling plants in that city. A complete sash, door, bUnd and moulding factory was added to this mill in 1879, which, also, has been operating successfully ever since. Its early output was 150,000 doors, 200,000 sash and 25,000 pairs of blinds a year. Later, in 1890, a branch office was established in Chicago, of which William A. Radford, a brother of Charles W. Radford, has charge. In such surroundings as those above described, Charles Radford began his life, and, it might be said, absorbed much of the information that has later been of such use and value to him, and his early life amid these surroundings gave him a working knowledge that came not only from hearsay but from actual inspection of and connection with the indus- try. His education was obtained in the public schools of Oshkosh. His vacations and spare time were employed in work in practically every part of the sawmill, and in this way he added to his knowledge of the business and became thor- oughly familiar with it. When his father and uncle bought the mill in 1871, Charles was put in command of nearly every department successively, and continued in the employ of his CHARLES W. RADFORD 379 father's firm until 1881, when he was given a partnership in the business and the firm name was changed to Radford Bros. &Co. His influence upon the business thus established increased as the years passed by, and he is today, and has been for many years, the controlling spirit. He has been engaged in numer- ous timber and lumber operations in northern Wisconsin, and in all these matters has shown his ability, which has been the predominating trait in his character since his boyhood. An instance showing one of his characteristics is the fact that the Radford company's plant has never been operated at night. It runs twelve months in the year and turns out a tremendous amount of work, but Mr. Radford is of the opinion that the day is the time in which to work and night should be used for recuperation alone. While all manner of products that are manufactured by similar concerns are produced at this plant, Mr. Radford makes a specialty of doors, and particularly front doors. These are made up in special designs drawn by experts for the com- pany. They are Mr. Radford's pets, and as such have been given names embracing persons and events of world-wide im- port. During the Spanish-American War such names as Lu- zon, Ponce, Admiral, Teddy, etc., were used, and these names, being on the lips of every one, attracted to the doors attention that, perhaps, they would not have achieved in any other way. While a public-spirited man in every sense of that term, Mr. Radford has not sought political recognition as a reward for his counsels or the support that he has given. Several positions of a political nature have been forced upon him, but they have not been of a very remunerative character. He has been a member of the park, police and fire boards and is a trustee of the public library of Oshkosh. He has been a con- sistent Republican and has done much to promote the success of his party in his State. Some idea of Mr. Radford's business interests may be gleaned from a list of the offices he holds. He is president of 380 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN the Radford Sash & Door Company, of Chicago; president of the Western Manufacturing Company, of Chicago ; president of the Berlin Gas Company, Berlin, Wisconsin; president of the Wilkin-Challoner Company, of Oshkosh, which manufac- tures the Wilkin steam gang and nigger, steam set works and all kinds of sawmill machinery; vice president and director of the new German-American Bank, of Oshkosh; vice president of the Radford Architectural Company, of Chicago, and vice president of the American Carpenter & Builder Publishing Company, of Chicago. In September, 1905, Mr. Radford opened at Duluth, Minnesota, a jobbing house under the style of the Radford Company, and of this he is the chief owner. He belongs to all of the Masonic bodies, including Knights Templar, and for many years has been an enthusiastic Mason. Mr. Radford married, in 1882, Miss Nettie J. HaflF, the daughter of Rev. Franklin R. HafJ, who was for many years rector of Trinity Church, Oshkosh. Four boys — Frank W., Charles Weston, Daniel H. and Edward P. Radford — of all of whom the father is justly proud, comprise their interesting family. > tn .... 1 arc -. These .-.i 8uct ^.d have no np It xxrhirh hr [ nOt OF did HOt win. •"CSS field which has ^ ''m is in winning or numerous — I) c inisunder- lence in Ic of the siun, he ta samr cs or QCTO^aAH noaiaoA mai_i-iiw VVIl_L.IAM ADDISON RADFORD William A. Radford A type of restless mentality, ambition and physical vigor, coupled with a thoughtful and sound judgment which makes enterprise safe and effort consecutive, is William A. Radford, of Chicago. His vocation is the wholesaling of sash and doors, in which he has attained no small degree of success and achieved more than local reputation, but he has numerous avocations. Some of them are altruistic, as when he accepts local office, to which, for the benefit of the community, he devotes the same intelligence and energy he displays in his own business. Some of them are of a business sort. These latter he directs to financial success. He would have no patience with a game at which he could not or did not win. If the game be a venture into some business field which has attracted his attention, the charm of it for him is in winning success against obstacles, however formidable or numerous — and win he must. The phrase, restless mentality, should not be misunder- stood. There is nothing of fickleness or inconsequence in Mr. Radford's makeup. On the contrary, he is capable of the most intense and continued application. Indeed, having once taken up a subject, he is compelled by his very nature to think it out in all its phases and ramifications. But, having worked out a subject to a conclusion, he turns at once to some other, which is followed with the same pertinacity and mental con- centration. There are no mental loafing spells with him. While ambitious, the objects of his ambition are not all of a mercenary sort. He seems to have no desire for great wealth. In a matter where financial profit is the necessary token of suc- cess, he insists on a money return ; but he will devote the same energy and enthusiasm to an enterprise the nature of which is not reached along the ordinary business path. That he has 881 382 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN other interests than those of a purely business character is still further evidenced by his private library. He has a fondness for rare and old books, as well as for the standard works of literature, and many curious old volumes, yellow with age, are to be found in his home. WilHam Addison Radford was born in Oshkosh, Wiscon- sin, September 14, 1865. His father and mother, William and EHzabeth Radford, came to the United States from England in 1852, setthng first at Prospect, New York, where his father engaged in lumbering. Three years later William Radford moved with his family to Wisconsin, where he engaged in logging and lumbering operations on behalf of others until 1871. In that year he and his brother, Stephen Radford, formed the firm of S. Radford & Bro., and purchased an in- terest in a sawmill in Oshkosh, which afterward became widely known especially for the prominent share it took in the devel- opment of the band saw as a tool for cutting logs. Since then many changes have been made in the equipment, and the mill, still in operation, is now one of the best modern sawmill plants in that city. A son of William Radford, Charles W. Radford, was taken into partnership in 1881 and the firm name changed to Radford Bros. & Co., which is still the title under which a vastly larger business is now conducted. Previous to that date —in 1879— a complete sash, door, blind and moulding factory was added to the plant, and today the products of this factory have a wide reputation. WiUiam A. Radford attended the public schools until he was fifteen years old, graduating at that age from the magnifi- cent high school of Oshkosh. As was natural for a youth born and reared in a lumber town and having a father and brother in the lumber business, he immediately turned to the lumber industry for occupation. His first employment was with Rad- ford Bros. & Co., of Oshkosh, as clerk in their office. He remained with this firm six years, and in 1886 accepted a position with a Wichita sash and door company, of Wichita, Kansas, as the secretary. This was a concern affiliated with WILLIAM A. RADFORD 383 Radford Bros. & Co. He remained in this capacity until 1889, when he severed his connection with this company to enter a larger field in Chicago. It was at about this time that sash and door factory owners awoke to a realization of the special advantages enjoyed by the jobbing houses located at central points where they had better shipping facilities, lower freight rates and stood better chances of getting cars than at the factories located at lumber produc- ing points. These jobbing houses bought in bulk lots from the factories, and from their stocks at central points thus se- cured redistributed goods in carload lots or less to the retail trade throughout the country. Many of the manufacturers wished to share this advantage, and among them were Radford Bros. & Co. For the purpose, therefore, of having a centrally located warehouse and business organization from and through which to ship their product more quickly and to better advan- tage and to be relieved from the almost entire dependance upon jobbers, Radford Bros. & Co. established the Radford Sash & Door Company in Chicago, in June, 1890. The officers of the company were as follows : Charles W. Radford, president ; Stephen Radford, vice president; William A. Radford, secre- tary and treasurer. William A. Radford is still occupying these offices. He is also president of the William A. Radford Company, of Chicago, organized early in the summer of 1906. He was the principal incorporator of this concern, which does busi- ness as a wholesaler of sash and doors. The above includes Mr. Radford's direct connection with the sash and door trade, but his business interests do not end here, for he is at the head of the affairs of three other companies also located in Chicago. He is president of the Radford Architectural Company, presi- dent and treasurer of the American Carpenter and Builder, a publication whose field is indicated by its name, and president of the Farm Press Publishing Company. The Radford home was for thirteen years at Riverside, a beautiful southwestern suburb of Chicago, but in 1905 the 384 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN family residence was changed to 5006 Drexel Boulevard, Chicago. Mr. Radford takes no active interest in politics, but has been ready to serve his neighbors on demand, and so during his residence in Riverside he was president and trustee of the village. He is a stockholder in the Riverside State Bank and in the American Trust & Savings Bank, of Chicago. Mr. Radford's secret society affiliations are confined to Masonry, in which he has taken the thirty-second degree. He was one of the organizers, in 1901, of Riverside Lodge No. 862, A. F. & A. M., at Riverside, where he then resided. He was made the first Master of the lodge under dispensation until the charter was obtained, when he was regularly elected to the office and served as Master. He is now Past Master of this lodge. In his religious affiliations Mr. Radford inclines toward the Presbyterian faith and is an attendant of that church. He is a member of the Union League, the leading social-business club of Chicago. He cannot be said to have any particular fad or recreation unless it be found in his variety of interests and work. He is a sash and door man by inheritance, breed- ing and taste and finds his greatest pleasure in that business, but he is also much interested in the publishing business, which may be considered his avocation. He takes a justifiable pride in the success of the American Carpenter and Builder, which he established in 1904, but which already has a circulation run- ning high into the thousands. This is an achievement some- what remarkable, for it points out one of the great successes in class journalism achieved by a man whose chief experience had been in entirely different channels. It is a demonstration, however, of Mr. Radford's energy and mental versatility. Mr. Radford married, on June 17, 1890, Miss Helen M. Manuel, at Wichita, Kansas. Two sons have been born to them — Roland Dickerman, aged fourteen, and William A. Radford, Junior, aged twelve years. William is attending a private school in Chicago and Roland is a student at the Mili- tary Academy at Highland Park, Illinois. Thomas Munroc a man a AAa t. a. ss history oi inai ciiy ana on ihc ot tliat section of his State a record of achievc- wiii long survive. Thomas Munroe was born at KushviJie, Schuyler County, Illinois, October 26, 1844. One branch of his ancestors had come to this country in 1650. They and their descendants settled in Connecticut, New York, Maryland and Virginia. T oe, Senior, his father, was a physician and sur- geon who, after a few years of practice in his profession at Bal- in 1834 to Jacksonville. Illinois, and )i. c, the rn m ..,xt to the cld- .ided the district w.^cred the Illinois Wes- ' "^ where he remained ' '^ years as a clerk III 4 -esigned that p -ntcrcd the ofncc 01 - rt, with v^ ' '^^^^ ^^ ^^^ books I OH i' ^,^ 3AM^w-r THOMAS MUNROE Thomas Munroe When a man adds to a life of activity a clean record as a public servant, he leaves behind him a biography almost ideal. Such a life v^as terminated at Muskegon, Michigan, October 17, 1906, w^hen Thomas Munroe, superintendent, secretary and treasurer of the Thayer Lumber Company, passed away after a brave fight against an illness of several months' duration. He left engraved on the business history of that city and on the political history of that section of his State a record of achieve- ment that v^ill long survive. Thomas Munroe was born at Rushville, Schuyler County, Illinois, October 26, 1844. ^^^ branch of his ancestors had come to this country in 1650. They and their descendants settled in Connecticut, New York, Maryland and Virginia. Thomas Munroe, Senior, his father, was a physician and sur- geon who, after a few years of practice in his profession at Bal- timore, Maryland, moved in 1834 ^^ Jacksonville, Illinois, and in 1843 to Rushville in the same State. He died April 23,1891. Thomas Munroe's mother, Mrs. Annis (Hinman) Munroe, was the only daughter of Benjamin Hinman, who held the rank of major in the Revolutionary army. Mrs. Munroe, born in 1815, passed away February 6, 1905. To this excellent couple were born seven children, of whom Thomas Munroe, the future lumberman, was next to the eld- est, who died in infancy. As a boy he attended the district schools, and at the age of eighteen entered the Illinois Wes- leyan College at Bloomington, Illinois, where he remained about two years. Subsequently, he spent six years as a clerk in a general store at Rushville, but in 1870 he resigned that position and went to Muskegon. He immediately entered the office of L. G. Mason & Co., lumber manufacturers, with whom he remained eight years, at first in charge of the books 385 386 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN and other office affairs and later as manager of the outside work. In February, 1878, Nathaniel Thayer, of Boston, succeeded to the ownership of the manufacturing plant and property of L. G. Mason & Co., and Mr. Munroe was placed in charge as superintendent. At first the mill was operated as a custom mill, but gradually the business was enlarged by the purchase of logs and timber under Mr. Munroe's management. In 1881 Mr. Thayer organized the Thayer Lumber Company, a corporation, to which he conveyed the property formerly owned by L. G. Mason & Co. The history of the Thayer Lumber Company under Mr. Munroe's management consti- tutes one of the most remarkable records to be found in the annals of the lumber industry of the United States. The com- pany has been one of the most successful that has ever engaged in the manufacture of lumber in Michigan, and this result was due wholly to the intelligent management and indomitable energy of the company's superintendent, who gave it his most faithful service. The company operates at Muskegon two mills, one of which was built by L. G. Mason & Co. in 1864, and the other pur- chased from Bigelow & Co. in the winter of 1887. These two mills have a combined annual capacity of approximately 50,000,000 feet of lumber. The company has been a very large shipper by rail, the product going chiefly to the East and Southeast. It was one of the pioneers in building logging railroads for carrying logs to the river or mills. The company originally had large holdings of timber in Newaygo and Missaukee counties. This source of supply became exhausted and, in the fall of 1896, the mills blew a final blast which was supposed to signify the termination of the company's operations. Mr. Munroe, however, had been ad- vising the company to acquire more timber. He went to Bos- ton in 1896 to urge the officers in that behalf, but political and industrial conditions were such that the stockholders were re- luctant to engage in further investments. The most notable achievement of the company, however, occurred in the year THOMAS MUNROE 387 following, when Mr. Munroe induced the Boston people to make a purchase of the famous Canfield tract in Kalkaska County. In January, 1897, the purchase was made, the price paid being $1,250,000, at that time one of the largest transac- tions in the history of the lumber industry in Michigan. These holdings were augmented by subsequent purchases in the same territory. The wisdom of Mr. Munroe's recommendation has long been demonstrated, for the profits estimated by him have been exceeded many times by the actual results. Logs are brought from these tracts of timber by rail a distance of 200 miles, and are manufactured by the company's mills in Muskegon. The interests of the Thayer Lumber Company were han- dled by Mr. Munroe with absorbing intensity and success, notwithstanding which he had become prominent in other lines of business and in the shaping of public policies in his city and state. He was for many years a stockholder and direc- tor of the Muskegon Booming Company, its treasurer for four years, and in 1888 was elected its secretary. Mr. Munroe was one of the incorporators, in 1880, of the Munroe Manufac- turing Company; he was one of its principal stockholders and its president and general manager. This company oper- ated a planing mill during a successful career of more than twenty years, and at the height of its activity it ranked as one of the largest concerns of its kind in the United States. Mr. Munroe was a member of the firm of Munroe & Bri- nen, dealers in logs and lumber, and was interested in vessel property also. He was interested in many other prominent business institutions, having been president of the Hackley National Bank, vice president of the Grand Rapids-Muskegon Power Company, president of the Newcastle Box Company, vice president of the Indiana Box Company, president of the Michigan Washing Machine Company and a director of the Muskegon Valley Furniture Company, Sargent Manufactur- ing Company, Grand Rapids Desk Company, Quinn Supply Company, Muskegon Traction & Lighting Company and Citi- 388 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN zens' Telephone Company. He was for more than eight years a member of the Board of Education of the City of Muskegon, serving a greater part of that time as its secretary. Mr. Munroe was made a Mason in Rushville Lodge No. 9, Illinois, May 29, 1869. After his removal to Muskegon he affiliated with Lovell Moore Lodge No. 182, February 21, 1877. He held the office of Senior Warden in 1880 and 1881 and that of Worshipful Master in 1882, 1883, 1884 and 1888. He was a member of Muskegon Chapter No. 47, Royal Arch Masons, and its Excellent High Priest from 1892 to 1895 i"" elusive ; he was also a member of Muskegon Council No. 54, Royal and Select Masters. He became a Knight Templar in 1878 and was a member of Muskegon Commandery No. 22. He was its eminent Commander in 1889 and 1891. He also received all the degrees of the Ancient Accepted & Scottish Rite, and held the office of Illustrious Commander-in-Chief of Dewitt Clinton Consistory in 1903, 1904 and 1905. Septem- ber 20, 1898, he received the thirty-third degree and was made an honorary member of the Supreme Council at Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Munroe married, June 19, 1872, Miss Kathrine A. Jones, daughter of John R. Jones, of Remsen, Oneida County, New York. They had no children. He had one sister — Miss Mary A. Munroe, of Rushville, Illinois — and four brothers — James E. Munroe, of Chicago, Illinois; Hinman Munroe and Charles G. Munroe, of Rushville, Illinois, and William Mun- roe, of Muskegon, Michigan. In politics Mr. Munroe was an active, uncompromising, influential Republican. As a citizen he stood high in the esteem of his fellow men as a sagacious, far-sighted business man, broad-minded and progressive in everything that con- cerns the public welfare, liberal and generous in his charities, fair and discriminating in his counsel. The intelligent, unre- lenting performance of duty was ever his most prominent char- acteristic. His loyalty to his friends challenged admiration equal to that inspired by his devotion to duty. -^ ^ . :h loc irgc ted horizon is thCj_^ _.,.uy of Maryland. three-quarters of a century it has furnished m^ 'r^'-^''^-*^ -ind in public life. It has furnished •v ^u.. c,,k;*>^f ^f this sketch, a ^-""'""^ssional family 3 name I. A' no n 'C It it >f v r- r d HOe>c of the mo*» ivir. ribciicr, ana no a or misunderstood. He was a i n^a to DC taken as a whole to receive full appre- c a well-cut d* ' ^'' . ^j^q j^^^ him only to keep the c were iikeiy to regard him simply as a c<: 1, mathematically exact and unsympathetic en- tity, havmg a mind only for precise results. But from a point of view that took in different sides of his character until he was viewed as a whole, f ing the simile, the presentation V ^ crystallization and faultless -' ^ age . sent to the 1 .-ia, at m that State, bu ...e when, ^^ily moved t'^ ' a. There sition as b- m of Lay & 5=1 3Hoen j5qAO anAHiayia^ FERDINAND CARL. FISCHER Ferdinand C. Fischer One of the most unique and admirable characters identified with the lumber industry was Ferdinand C. Fischer, of Coal Grove, Ohio, who died September lo, 1906. Few men con- nected with the lumber industry have established so individual a place for themselves as had Mr. Fischer, and no one was more variously understood or misunderstood. He was a many- sided man who had to be taken as a whole to receive full appre- ciation. Like a well-cut diamond he was. Those who met him only under circumstances that required him to keep the cutting point in evidence were likely to regard him simply as a coldly logical, mathematically exact and unsympathetic en- tity, having a mind only for precise results. But from a point of view that took in different sides of his character until he was viewed as a whole, following the simile, the presentation was as splendid a one as flawless crystallization and faultless cutting could produce. Ferdinand Carl Fischer was a son of Herman Fischer, who was born in Hanover, Germany, and came to this country practically a political exile in the early '40's. His mother was Sarah Sophia (Turner) Fischer, a descendant of a celebrated Maryland family which had migrated to Ohio at an early date. The young couple settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, and there on February 2, 1857, Ferdinand C. Fischer was born. At the age of fifteen he was sent to the University of West Virginia, at Morgantown, in that State, but gave up his college life when, in 1876, the family moved to Oil City, Pennsylvania. There he secured a position as bookkeeper for the firm of Lay & Moore, lumber dealers, with whom he remained for three years, all the while cherishing the idea of going West, where he believed the opportunities for a young man were much greater than in the more conventional and conservative East. 393 394 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Through correspondence he secured a position as manager of a yard operated by the Leidigh & Schullenberger Lumber Company, of Osborne, Kansas. In this new position, for which his former experience had well qualified him, he devel- oped marked executive ability, and it was not long before he attracted the attention of associates of the late M. T. Greene, of the Chicago Lumber Company. Mr. Greene offered him the position of bookkeeper at the Des Moines (Iowa) yard of the Chicago Lumber Company. In 1883 he was made man- ager of this yard, which position he retained for five years, largely increasing the volume of the business of the company in that city, and adding greatly to his experience. In 1888 Mr. Fischer was placed in charge of the Chicago Lumber Company of Denver, Colorado, becoming vice president and general manager and acquiring a considerable amount of stock in the company. Mr. Fischer's duties gave him general super- vision of the numerous yards in Colorado and New Mexico then owned and operated by the company. During the next few years Mr. Greene's business became somewhat involved, and Mr. Fischer and his associates took over his Denver interest. Finally, Mr. Greene's affairs led to a trusteeship by the First National Bank of Chicago, among the institutions taken over being the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company, of Coal Grove, Ohio. This company had incurred a heavy indebtedness and its affairs were in a badly tangled condition. Mr. Fischer was made manager and treasurer of the company and to him was given the task of bringing order out of chaos. In a short time, by his sound judgment, re- markable executive ability and quiet diplomacy, he had made a settlement of the company's indebtedness to the bank, put it again on a sound basis, and taken the company over himself, becoming president and chief owner of the stock, and for years this company has been one of the strongest and most re- liable concerns in the country. But while Mr. Fischer was giving his attention to untan- gling the aflfairs of the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company, his FERDINAND C. FISCHER 395 Denver business, to which he had been unable to devote any time and which had been left in charge of subordinates, had been steadily retrograding. Finally, the concern was forced to retire, but this experience only served to emphasize the sterling qualities of Mr. Fischer's character. In a few years he had paid every dollar of its indebtedness and vindicated his reputation for scrupulous integrity. After Mr. Fischer secured control of the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company its operations were widened and diversified and its business and timber holdings were largely increased. One of the more recent deals involved 29,000 acres rich in poplar. As a commercial genius and business executive, Mr. Fischer had few equals in the business world, and his ability was exemplified in the perfect business organization which has so efficiently conducted the affairs of the Yellow Poplar Lum- ber Company and its other interests in the mountain districts. Leon Isaacson, vice president, is in charge of the timber and logging operations of the company, while C. M. Crawford, secretary and treasurer, gives his attention to the manufacture and sale of the lumber. These two gentlemen, with Mr. Fischer as the company's head, for many years controlled the business of the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company, one of the most successful manufacturing concerns in the United States, and, perhaps, the largest of its kind. Mr. Fischer's own business ventures were partly in connec- tion with those of the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company and partly independent, and among other carefully thought-out in- vestments was one in the Guerrero Iron & Timber Company, with extensive and valuable land holdings in the State of Guer- rero, Mexico. In this company he was associated with a num- ber of leading lumbermen and capitalists of the eastern part of the United States. Mr. Fischer was largely instrumental in organizing the Hardwood Manufacturers' Association of the United States, and also occupied a prominent place, though not officially, in the councils of other lumber associations, particularly the Na- 396 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN tional Lumber Manufacturers' Association. His time and money were freely expended in their behalf, and his counsel was potent with them. He was a believer in the broad prin- ciple that he could best serve his own interests by promoting the welfare of his associates and competitors in business. Mr. Fischer was married at Ashland, Kentucky, June 30, 1896, to Miss Elizabeth Ringo, a daughter of Willis L. Ringo, who was Secretary of State at the time Governor Bucknow was in office. Two children were born to the couple — Sarah Elizabeth, now nine years of age, and Ferdinand Carl, Junior, seven years old. Mr. Fischer had his warm friends and, perhaps, his ene- mies, but it is doubtful if he was an enemy to any man, for his mind was too logical and his self-control too great to allow him to cherish antagonisms. He was a genial companion and a most loyal friend, and yet was intrinsically reticent. He made acquaintance readily, but was slow to give his friendship ; but once given, that friendship was not to be turned aside. His reticence arose from the very analytical quality of his mind. He would express no opinion until he had one, and formed no opinion until he had studied a subject in all its bearings. Added to his remarkable intellectual qualities — to that hon- esty with himself which was one of his chief characteristics and which permitted him to cherish no illusions and admit no delu- sions — was his honesty with others. His word was given no more readily than his bond, but once given it was as good as his bond and, perhaps, a little better. With a mind so consti- tuted as was his, good faith was inevitable. With his friends he was unswervingly loyal and unselfishly generous. Ed iity he .) lan- .a me longue is tapaDie vviii not create a dollar ot income in any commercial pursuit ; will not grow a blade of grass, win a battle, or fell a tree. The men who talk about doing things are well enough in their way, as Shakespeare intimates, but the men who do and act arc the ones whom the time IS Li necessary ^ — ^ in work as -.n to demand f^'- «:oon. ^^f prominence •" *^' "th who \. r ' neSa, ' .c diiiuuiiL oi i, 3 EDMOND FAIRFIE:1_D DODGE! Edmond F. Dodge 'Tls a kind of good deed to say well ; And yet words are no deeds. So wrote, more than two centuries ago, the most dis- tinguished playwright of any age. Human nature has always been the same since the creation, and yet so far as is known no man had so cleverly and suc- cinctly expressed one of the most common foibles of humanity — which is for a man to set forth in pompous phrase what he intends to do, and then do nothing. All the high-flown lan- guage of which the tongue is capable will not create a dollar of income in any commercial pursuit ; will not grow a blade of grass, win a battle, or fell a tree. The men who talk about doing things are well enough in their way, as Shakespeare intimates, but the men who do and act are the ones whom the world most delights to honor. When a man is found who displays an absorbing enthusiasm in his business he may as well at once be accorded the laurels, for he is bound to secure them. His work hours are never broken in upon by distracting engagements, while his play time is used merely as a means for recuperating the strength necessary for a renewal of the work habit. Frequently, this absorption in business matters is carried to an extreme, and while the extremist may profit the more financially, he loses something in breadth of mind and in physical well-being. There can be excess in work as in eating or drinking, and nature is certain to demand the penalty sooner or later — usually all too soon. A gentleman of prominence in the hardwood lumber trade of the North and South who commendably exemplifies a maximum of enthusiasm in the promotion of his lumber busi- ness, combined with an adequate amount of recuperation, is 397 398 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN Edmond Fairfield Dodge, central figure in the P. G. Dodge Lumber Company, of Chicago. Mr. Dodge was born at the old Dodge homestead in New Lyme, Ashtabula County, Ohio, November 30, 1866. His father, the late Philo G. Dodge, was born in the same house November 18, 1840. His great- grandfather, Jeremiah Dodge, was one of the Connecticut pioneers who went west of the Allegheny Mountains in the early part of 1800 and settled in what was then known as the ''Western Reserve," comprising about a dozen counties in the northeastern section of Ohio. The members of the party were mostly from Lyme, Connecticut, and hence they named their new settlement New Lyme. The Dodge family is of Puritan origin ; and while the American branch did not come over in the Mayflower^ members of the family came over a few years afterward and were prominent in the government and up- building of the new colony. The family is traced back to 1307, during the reign of Edward I, who conferred the order of knighthood upon a distinguished member of the family at that day and which was regranted to another member of the family by Henry VIIL Philo G. Dodge in 1864 married Lovisa L. Jones, daughter of Silas Jones, of Lenox, Ashtabula County, Ohio. Their son and only child was less than a year old when the family moved to Chicago in 1867. Shortly after his arrival P. G. Dodge started a hardwood lumber yard at Twelfth and Canal streets, taking as a partner his older brother, E. J. Dodge, who was previously engaged in manufacturing lumber at Ligonier, Indiana, and the firm name was E. J. Dodge & Bro. Three years later P. G. Dodge purchased the interest of his brother, and for several years conducted the yard under his individual name. In 1876 the yard was removed to Bunker and Canal streets and in 1878 to Polk Street and Fifth Avenue, where the business was conducted until 1886, when it was removed to its present location, 21 16 Lumber Street. Edmond F. Dodge had a great thirst for knowledge when he was a youth, and studied with the same enthusiasm which EDMOND F. DODGE 399 he later displayed in conducting his business. He attended the public schools and high school, leaving in 1881 to take the preparatory course at the Chicago University, where he re- mained two years. He then went to Oberlin College, Ober- lin, Ohio, for two years. In 1887 he entered Lake Forest University, Lake Forest, Illinois, from which he graduated in 1891. After his graduation his father gave him a one-third interest in the lumber firm. In the fall of 1891 he began the study of law at the Northwestern University, but the death of his father in 1892 necessitated his taking his father's place in the lumber business. He was given valuable assistance by his uncle, E. J. Dodge, who looked after the buying for several years. He conducted the business successfully for three years, when he sold practically the entire stock upon the yard and went into the wholesale car trade, with offices in the Fisher Building, but continued to carry a small stock at 21 16 Lumber Street. After a year of the car business he decided that a combination of the wholesale and retail trade was the ideal method of handling the hardwood lumber trade in Chicago, and, accordingly, in 1896 he moved his office back to the lum- ber district. The business flourished greatly from that time on, and in 1903 it was incorporated as the P. G. Dodge Lumber Com- pany, with a paid-in capital of $70,000 and the following offi- cers: Edmond F. Dodge, president and general manager; Charles A. Marsh, vice president; W. Treese Smith, secretary and treasurer. In September, 1905, Mr. Smith sold his stock to Charles E. Randall, of Chicago. The stock was afterward increased to $100,000 and B. F. Bush was elected vice presi- dent and Charles E. Randall, secretary and treasurer. The company is now doing a business of $800,000 a year, and its development has been so rapid that its volume of trade in 1906 was approximately ten times as great as it was in 1895. When the business was established in 1867 Ohio and Indiana hard- woods only were handled. In 1883 northern hardwoods were introduced and a specialty made of maple, birch and elm. 400 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN About 1888 oak, poplar and ash from the Tennessee River district were added. In 1894 P. G. Dodge & Co. began to make contracts for complete sawmill cuts, shipping the lumber to the yard in Chicago and from thence distributing to the trade. In 1904, while still doing a large retail business, the company began to devote more attention to the shipment of carloads direct from mill points, which business has so increased that the company is now shipping in direct carload lots from forty-three different assembling points in the middle South, and fully two-thirds of its business is now handled direct from the mills. The southern operations are in charge of John T. Crane, of Dickson, Ten- nessee, who is also a stockholder in the company. He has ten men under him engaged in inspecting and shipping. Mr. Dodge makes a trip among the southern points of distribution about twice a month. Mr. Dodge's favorite forms of recreation, were, formerly, tennis and golf playing, but within the last few years he has given more attention to the automobile. He brought to Chicago the first French car of Decauville make. He is a Mason, being a member of Kenwood Lodge No. 800, Chicago Chapter No. 127, Chevalier Bayard Commandery of Knights Templar No. 52, of which he is Junior Warden, and Oriental Consistory of the Valley of Chicago. Mr. Dodge joined the Hoo-Hoo in 1896. He is a member of the Union League Club, the new South Shore Country Club, the Colonial Club and the Kenwood Country Club. He is also an active mem- ber of the Lake Forest University Alumni Association. Mr. Dodge married, on June 16, 1894, Miss Louise Belle Baker, daughter of Edward B. Baker, a former prominent business man of Chicago, now of Paris, France. Mr. and Mrs. Dodge have two children — Edmond F., Junior, born in 1898, and Dorothy, born in 1900. \ !^L Tl a it was at the gr( )d fo licago at that time and to have t cd that market through all its changes to the present time, when one may visit the Chicago trade and purchase practically any wood of commercial use. Thf ry»^n wh'> have iified I. fact thv trade as has A.^...- with his brother-in lumber operator of a continiv •' period ""^ain iii mt same ui u ^'dger ^ 1 m * . 1 I I .1 went grandt 5=1300 Aa -3V3«>-«^ ®*-' 3HC1_»A AL-PHEUS SHREVEi^BADQER Alpheus S. Badger The lumber market of Chicago has witnessed many changes in the last thirty years — not merely changes in personnel and methods, but marked alterations in the woods which Chicago lumbermen are called upon to handle. Once a distinctively white pine market, Chicago has become, instead, a point of distribution for the woods of the Gulf and the Coast, as well as those of the forests of the North. It was the good fortune of some men to know Chicago when it was at the height of its white pine glory, and it has been the greater good fortune of some men to have known Chicago at that time and to have followed that market through all its changes to the present time, when one may visit the Chicago trade and purchase practically any wood of commercial use. The men who have kept pace with the more diversified market have had to be active and progressive, and the fact that they have followed it through all its development is proof of their ability and devotion to the industry. Few men of cor- responding age have had so extended an experience in the trade as has Alpheus Shreve Badger, of Chicago. Starting with his brother-in-law, Turlington W. Harvey, the heaviest lumber operator of that day, he has followed the business for a continuous period of more than thirty years, and promises to remain in the same line of trade for as long a period of the future. Mr. Badger was born in Chicago, February i6, 1862, at which time the family residence was on Michigan Avenue, be- tween Madison and Monroe streets, on the site now occupied by the Chicago Athletic Club. The Badger family is of Eng- lish descent. Mr. Badger's father, Alpheus Camillus Badger, went to Chicago in 1861 from Louisville, Kentucky. His grandfather, Leonidas Virgil Badger, of Dover, New Hamp- 401 402 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN shire, was engaged in the foundry business at Portsmouth in the early part of the last century, and to him is assigned the credit of having made some of the first iron stoves ever used in this country. When Mr. Badger's father was sixteen years old he resolved to try his fortune in the growing West. His objective point was Louisville, Kentucky. For many years he was engaged in the banking business there, but the Civil War unsettled commercial matters along the border to such an extent that the business was moved to Chicago. Mr. Badger's mother was Elvira Cecilia Sheridan, daughter of John Joseph Sheridan and Martha Washington (Moore) Sheridan, of Charleston, South Carolina. Mr. Sheridan came from London, England, and was of the family of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the distinguished statesman and playwright. Mrs. Sheridan was the daughter of Stephen W. Moore and Ann (Bommer) Moore, a famous beauty of; her day. One of the heirlooms of the Badger family is an embroidered white silk sash that was worn by Ann Bommer when she danced with General George Washington at a ball given in his honor dur- ing a visit to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1790. Mr. Badger's ambition to start upon a business career was gratified when, in July, 1876, at the age of fourteen years, he entered the office of the T. W. Harvey Lumber Company as office boy at the extremely moderate salary of $4.50 a week. He worked hard and faithfully and his advancement was rapid, so that within ten years he was promoted to the positions of manager and treasurer of the seventy retail yards operated by the company in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and the Dakotas, and went to Lincoln, Nebraska, where western head- quarters were established. There he remained until 1890, when he returned to Chicago and started in business on his own account, doing a wholesale trade in northern white pine and also operating sawmills at several points, during the first year shipping 30,000,000 feet of lumber to the retail trade, with correspondingly large quantities of shingles and lath. In 1896 he was associated with Arthur S. Jackson in the ALPHEUS S. BADGER 403 formation of the Badger & Jackson Company, of which he was president. This company had among its other lumber resources a contract to handle the entire output of the mills of the Diamond Match Company, at Ontonagon, Michigan, and Green Bay, Wisconsin, which, in its entirety, mounted into the hundreds of millions of feet, and which was terminated only by the exhaustion of the Diamond Match Company's timber supply in that section in 1905. Aside from that source of supply, however, the company bought cuts of various mills in northern Wisconsin, notably at Rhinelander, where large stocks were acquired during a series of years. In September, 1906, Mr. Badger changed the style of the concern to the Badger-Pomeroy Company, Mr. Jackson hav- ing retired from the corporation in 1905. Mr. Badger's present associate is Eugene C. Pomeroy, of New York City. The Badger-Pomeroy Company at once secured valuable manufacturing connections in both the South and West, and, with ample capital at its disposal, started out in its new field of operation with all the prestige of a successful past and the as- surance of an equally prosperous future. Mr. Badger married Miss Frances Cowles, daughter of the late Judge Samuel Cowles, of San Francisco, California, and niece of the late Alfred Cowles, of the Chicago Tribune^ and of the late Edwin Cowles, founder of the Cleveland (Ohio) Leader. Three children have been born of this union — Edwin Hunt Badger, born in 1892; Shreve Cowles Badger, born in 1897, and Frances Stewart Badger, born in 1904. Mr. Badger rightfully can lay claim to Chicago as his abid- ing place by virtue of that city having been his birthplace and his residence during a period of thirty-six years. His four years' sojourn in Nebraska made the only break in this interval until 1900, when he erected a home in one of the city's most beautiful northern suburbs, Kenilworth, fifteen miles from the city and lying along the shore of Lake Michigan. His home is of colonial design, commodious and handsome in architec- tural effect, and is surrounded by large and well-kept grounds. 404 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN For many years he was a member of the Calumet Club, at Twentieth Street and Michigan Avenue. He is fond of his home and his family and finds in them all the diversion and pleasure which most men seek in membership in popular clubs. Shortly after his removal to Kenilworth he aided in the organization of its first Protestant Episcopal congregation and the erection of its church edifice. For several years he served as a church official, and he has given at all times much material aid in furthering the upbuilding of the parish. Mr. Badger's ancestry was of a character to instill in him principles of patriotism, and none can lay claim to greater de- votion to his country. Like that of other men of sense, this interest in the welfare of his country takes the form of a keen interest in the conduct of its affairs. Mr. Badger has never been a politician or participated in the upbuilding of any political creed which he did not think subject to criticism and improvement. His activity in a political way has been rather the keen interest of a private citizen in all political movements. He has never been a candidate for office, though always ag- gressive in his endeavors to see that the public offices are properly filled. It is fortunate for Mr. Badger that he has seen the value of first selecting his life work and then giving it his undivided attention. His experience of thirty years or more in the lum- ber industry — a record remarkable for a man of his age — has been due entirely to his policy of continued devotion to a single business, and the success that he has achieved in a com- mercial way has been due entirely to this same close attention to the particular line of enterprise to which he dedicated him- self early in life. One may look in vain through the story of Mr. Badger's career for evidence that his increasing prosperity has been due to any fortuitous accident or to the particular assistance of any person besides himself. While actuated by purely commercial motives, his devotion to his chosen work has been sincere and his success, therefore, deserved. w r of : IS as his t. n, "'^ h and made for civic influence, uion that will norous is best the president w Mills, >rgia, and also of the Saw vjiUs, of Fivay ' re generally he is known as a er in the e ow pine to theWr rnf! the South. " ms—that of ^nd on his '^e Irish. his nily, ^ oiiii ircuna. Mathias chat made frequent ie trips he touched at J met Miss Sawney Mc- in Georgia some years ■ship and a happy mar- band closed out hit :r hit n- rc d .1 rr ^ MARTIN FORD AMOROUS Martin F. Amorous So much as any one quality is responsible for a man's suc- cess, diligence, which is a combination of energy and enthus- iasm, has been the keynote of the career of Martin Ford Amorous, of Atlanta, Georgia. With this as his talisman, Mr. Amorous won in the struggles of youth and made for himself a place of commercial importance and civic influence, acquiring in the meantime a fortune and a reputation that will survive when his work is finished. Martin Amorous is best known to the world of industrial enterprise as the president of the Union-Pinopolis Saw Mills, of Atlanta, Georgia, and also of the Aripeka Saw Mills, of Fivay, Florida. More generally he is known as a pioneer in the exportation of yellow pine to the West and a great organizer of lumber interests in the South. The blood of two nations is blended in his veins — that of the proud, keen Spaniard on his father's side, and on his mother's the energy and constructive imagination of the Irish. His father was Mathias Amorous, of Barcelona, Spain ; his mother a direct descendant of the renowned McDonald family, whose names are illustrious in the history of Ireland. Mathias Amorous was captain of a merchantman that made frequent voyages to America. On one of these trips he touched at Savannah, Georgia, and while there met Miss Sawney Mc- Donald, whose parents had settled in Georgia some years before. There followed a brief courtship and a happy mar- riage. Shortly afterward the young husband closed out his business in Spain and settled in the adopted land of his wife. Their first child, Martin Ford Amorous, was born October 23, 1858. Scarcely had he passed his fourth year when his father died, leaving him and his mother in moderate circum- stances. Young Martin attended the public and private schools of Savannah until the age of seventeen, when he found 405 4o6 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN it necessary to begin work for his own and his mother's sup- port. During the school days of his youth the boy's unusual alertness in his studies attracted the notice of J. H. Grimsley, a lumberman of Eastman, Georgia, and when Martin was cast- ing about for employment it was but natural that he should find it with his old friend, Mr. Grimsley. Whatever there was to be done about a sawmill he did. He rolled logs, drove a log team, shoveled sawdust, had charge of the commissary and familiarized himself with every detail of the industry. When Anthony Murphey, proprietor of a large retail lumber yard and planing mill in Atlanta, needed a confidental clerk he en- gaged Martin Amorous, the young man remaining with Mr. Murphey for five years. In 1882 he entered the lumber brokerage business, acting as sales agent for a number of sawmills. It was at that time, when he was only twenty-four years old, that he conceived the idea of shipping yellow pine to the West. To this idea and to his subsequent efforts, the great line of trade now open to southern lumbermen is primarily due. Pursuant to this plan, which had grown with the years, Mr. Amorous in 1885 organized the Atlanta Lumber Company, interesting in its stock several owners of large sawmills and in- ducing them to erect dry kilns and planing mills for the pur- pose of preparing boards for sale in the West. From the outset the Atlanta Lumber Company was a success. Shortly after that he acquired an interest in several sawmills, the entire output of which he handled. Among them were the Amos- keag Lumber Company, that being the first, and later on, the merged interests of the Amoskeag company and the Pinopolis Saw Mill Company, of Colquitt County, Georgia. Of that firm Mr. Amorous was made the active manager and after- wards its president. In May, 1902, the stockholders sold out their business and Mr. Amorous himself, having an ample in- come, retired to the quietude of home life. The talents of so able a manager, however, were not to remain passive. Just seven months after his retirement he was MARTIN F. AMOROUS 407 induced to reenter the business as president of the Union- Pinopolis Saw Mills, a company which was a combination of four independent enterprises. In addition to his connection with that company, Mr. Amorous is interested in the Aripeka Saw Mills, of Fivay, Florida, which company was organized by himself, H. M. Atkinson and P. S. Arkwright, all capitalists of Atlanta. This concern owns over 250,000 acres of timber land in Hernando, Pasco and Hillsboro counties, on the west coast of Florida, and also possesses considerable property in railroads and sawmills. Mr. Amorous has found time to take an active part in his city's political life. During 1888 and 1889, and also 1903 and 1904, he was a member of the Atlanta City Council. During his first term he was the youngest councilman whom the people of Atlanta had ever chosen up to that time to look after their interests. As a councilman, Mr. Amorous promoted the first electric light company in Atlanta, and was also the author of the saloon regulations which fixed the liquor license at $1,000 and made ten o'clock the hour for closing saloons. In 1888 he was made chairman of the police committee of the council, in which capacity he pushed to successful conclusion an ordi- nance circumscribing the city's liquor limits. His work in this particular attracted widespread attention and was the subject of a most complimentary review by Mayor Hewitt, of New York City. In November, 1904, during his second term as a council- man, Mr. Amorous acted as arbitrator between the Atlantic Freight Bureau and the railroads that enter Atlanta, between which a bitter dispute had arisen over a question of freight rates. In a short time he had brought the two to an under- standing and good feeling was restored. For this service the city council presented him with resolutions of thanks inscribed on parchment. The purchase of 185 acres in north Atlanta, which has since been formed into Piedmont Park, handsome exposition grounds, was largely the work of Martin F. Amorous, who, 4o8 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN with other citizens of Atlanta, furnished $98,000, purchased the land and relied upon the city for repayment. As presi- dent of the Atlanta Street Railway Company, until its consoli- dation with competing lines into the Georgia Railway & Electric Company, Martin Amorous made a record of one of the most satisfactory administrations, both to the company and to the public, that has ever been known. If diligence may be called the keynote of Mr. Amorous' business life and enterprise that of his civic career,^;broad sym- pathy and congeniality are the terms which describe his social side. He is a member of the Capital City Club, the Piedmont Driving Club, the Atlanta Athletic Club and the Transporta- tion Club. He is on the official staff of Governor Joseph M. Terrell with the title of " Colonel." No man in the State has a warmer handshake or a wider acquaintance. Mr.^Amorous married in November, 1887, in his thirtieth year, Miss Emma Kate Williams, of Montgomery, Alabama. Of this marriage seven children were born — Clinton, sixteen years old; Emma Kape, thirteen; Martin Amorous, Junior, nine; Isabel, eight; Roselyn, six; Janice, four, and William, two. The death of Mrs. Amorous in the early spring of 1906 has been the deepest sorrow of the husband's life. Their devotion was a perpetual romance. When viewed as an entirety, the life of Martin Amorous is singularly broad and composite. With all his devotion to duty, he has a keen, even hearty zest for life itself and appears to enjoy every hour of existence. He is active in business, cordial among his friends and eager for the upbuilding of his city and the South. Al Xs r »u. br 'f «c^ '" ,gt and >^ a cuviaoic distinction in :e as w arts of war — many today occupying prominent posn the army, in the national guard and in the great enterprises ' -ies of the c /. In direct line of mas dis- rvell, nate h h -fsity e — the 'ghtcr, f^ « in- • ^•1 TTiiich cfxort JJ3^ '^® •" ^w \A/II_L.IAM B. STIL.L.WE:L.I_ William B. Stillwell A lumberman of note, a prince of good fellows and, above all, a man among men — neither spoiled by the smiles nor dis- mayed by the frowns of the fickle Goddess of Fortune, the subject of this sketch stands today a forceful factor in the lum- ber trade, the delight of a host of friends and a worthy ex- ponent of American manhood. Nicholas Stillwell, the first of the name to land in America, brought to the aid of the infant colonies an iron will and mighty arm, and his descendants, settling North, South, East and West, have won enviable distinction in the pursuits of peace as well as in the arts of war — many today occupying prominent positions in the army, in the national guard and in the great enterprises and industries of the country. In direct line of descent from Nicholas and from his grandson, Major Thomas Stillwell, and his great grandson, John Stillwell, who won dis- tinction during the Revolution, came Charles H. Stillwell, who, in addition to the spirit of his forefathers, was fortunate enough to inherit from his mother, a Huguenot of the South Carolina Colony, the spirit which animated the French martyrs. To him, though always beset by difficulties and adversity and though twice made a cripple — the last time for life — the State of Georgia is indebted for nine sons and one daughter, who have worthily illustrated in their various vocations the in- domitable energy, peerless courage and Christian faith which characterized their sire. William, one of the sons thus endowed, though starting without a dollar amid the confusion which follows in the wake of civil strife, has won both means and position, even in a business which requires as much capital and individual effort for its successful prosecution as does the lumber trade. 409 410 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN He was born in Rome, Georgia, March ii, 185 1, and his name is not quite half way down the official register of family births which must have overflowed the record pages in the old family Bible, for there were sixteen children. At the close of the Civil War ten of these were still living— nine boys and one girl— four boys older than William having seen service under the Confederate flag. The family, which during the war had ''refugeed" pretty much all over the State, moved back to Rome at the close of the war, and William got his first experience in sawmill oper- ations in an upright saw water mill operated by his father, whom he assisted as yardman and general utility man. In February, 1866, he entered the employ of Millen & Wadley, at Savannah, Georgia, which afterward became Millen, Wad- ley & Co., by the admission of D. C. Bacon as junior partner. In 1876 Messrs. Bacon and Stillwell formed the firm of D. C. Bacon & Co., H. P. Smart being afterward admitted to the firm. The firm formed and operated a number of other companies, including the Vale Royal Manufacturing Com- pany, the Atlanta Lumber Company, Central Georgia Lum- ber Company, Screven County Lumber Company, andAmos- keag Lumber Company, Mr. Stillwell being for several years president of the last named company, as well as an officer in all of the others. While with this firm Mr. Stillwell served also as director of the Savannah Board of Trade for several years, and for two years was its vice president ; he was for several years a director and vice president of the Citizens' Bank, a member of the cotton exchange and a director in the Savannah Construction Company, which built the road from Columbia to Savannah, afterwards operated by the Florida Central & Peninsular Rail- road, and now part of the Seaboard Air Line. In 1887 the firm of D. C. Bacon & Co. was dissolved and the firm of Stillwell, Millen & Co. was established, with head- quarters at Savannah, Georgia, and L. R. Millen & Co., of New York City, consisting of W. B. Stillwell, Loring R. WILLIAM B. STILLWELL 411 Millen and L.Johnson, and R. H. and W. R. Bewick were admitted several years later. The firm owned and operated the Screven County Lumber Company, Central Georgia Lum- ber Company, and Augusta Lumber Company, and built and operated the Waycross Air Line Railroad, now the Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic, and the Millen & Southern Rail- road, now the Millen & South-western. In all these compan- ies Mr. Stillwell held official positions and, in addition, was president of the Waycross Lumber Company. In 1895 the lumber businesses of Stillwell, Millen & Co., L. R. Millen & Co., McDonough & Co., the James K. Clarke Lumber Com- pany, Henry P. Talmadge, and C. C. Southard were consoli- dated into the Southern Pine Company of Georgia, of which Mr. Stillwell became secretary and treasurer, which position he still holds. He is also director of the purchasing and ship- ping department. So much for the business career, but this sketch would be incomplete without some reference to other lines in which Mr. Stillwell has been preeminent, and to the social side of his nature, as well. In 1875 Mr. Stillwell was united in marriage with Mary Reily Royall, of the well-known CaroHna family of that name. Of this union there have been born three daughters — Edith (now Mrs. W. F. Train), Mamie R. and Laleah P., and three sons— William H., Herbert L. and Walter B., who, with their mother and father, constitute an unbroken family circle. Early in life Mr. Stillwell joined the Baptist Church, of which he has ever since been a regular attendant. He holds membership in many social and fraternal orders, among which are the Masons, Knights Templar, the Mystic Shrine, Elks and Hoo-Hoo. In mihtary circles he is also well known, hav- ing served as an active member for twenty years in the Chatham Artillery, and being now an honorary member of that historic corps. He is also a life member of the Savannah Volunteer Guards and a pay member of the Savannah Cadets. As early as the '70's Mr. Stillwell was a moving spirit in 412 AMERICAN LUMBERMEN organizing lumbermen on lines tending towards the preserva- tion of their business interests and the promotion of good fel- lowship and social intercourse. In 1879 ^^ was active in the formation of the Southern Lumber and Timber Association, and was its secretary when it gave to the lumber world its classification and inspection rules of 1883, which have ever since been the basis of the operation of the southeastern yel- low pine and cypress trade. Later, he was a useful member and has been now for two years vice president of the Georgia Interstate Saw Mill Association, and is also a director in the Southern Lumber Manufacturers' Association. The Material Men's Association of Georgia owed its exist- ence largely to his efforts, and, during his incumbency as its first president, an important amendment to the lien laws of Georgia was made and is still in force. From its inception the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, which is destined to accomplish much for the lumber trade, has been the object of his zeal and of his untiring efforts. He has been the chairman of its transportation committee and now repre- sents the Georgia Interstate Saw Mill Association as its mem- ber on the board of governors. It is, however, as a Hoo-Hoo that Mr. Stillwell became most widely known to the lumbermen of recent years, his zeal and untiring work for that order, together with his personal popularity, having won for him four years ago the highest position within its gift. How well he filled the office of snark of the universe contemporary criticism fully testified. The Savannah Board of Trade has had no more devoted member than Mr. Stillwell, and testified its appreciation by electing him its president in 1906. Through these various channels and the medium of an ex- tensive and thriving business Mr. Stillwell is well and favor- ably known to the lumbermen and business communities of the entire United States. But after all, it is when, man to man, the heart's fires are focused that the true metal or the dross is most clearly revealed, and the highest tribute that can WILLIAM B. STILLWELL 413 be paid to a man — as it can to Mr. Stillwell — is to say that his Hfe as it is known in his home, as well as to the outermost circle of individual friendship, shows but pure gold. Never too absorbed in business or so taken up by the attractions of social life as to be unmindful of the claims of a loved one or of a friend, the crown of his achievements is, and ever will be, the high place he holds in the hearts of those whose affection and regard he has won by his bright, unselfish nature. ■ » ■ • » COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is due on the date indicated below, or at the expiration of a definite period after the date of borrowing, as provided by the rules of the Library or by special ar- rangement with the Librarian in charge. DATE BORROWED DATE DUE DATE BORROWED DATE DUE 1 cae(ss6)Mioo COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 0315023222 sav. 3