Commemorative biographical record of New Haven county, Connecticut, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families, V. I, Pt 1, Part 78

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1040

USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Commemorative biographical record of New Haven county, Connecticut, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families, V. I, Pt 1 > Part 78

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For a generation the name of Hubinger has been one of distinct prominence in New Haven, where the brothers have achieved an almost phe- nomenal success in the industrial world, the time element being considered. Theirs has been a straightforward' and legitimate business undertak- ing, and the name which they bear has ever stood for the highest honor and integrity, while the prod- uct of their great factories has become probably

as well known as any other household commodity which has ever been placed on the market in the United States. Elsewhere in this work individual mention is made of the senior member of the firm, Nicholas W. Hubinger, and to the same it will be proper to refer in this connection, as the two narratives will be found to be closely interwoven, the one complementing the other.

In the year 1880 the three Hubinger brothers, John C., Nicholas W. and Joseph E., founded the Elastic Starch Co. in New Haven, under the firm name of J. C. Hubinger & Brothers, and this as- sociation remained thus until June, 1899, when J. C. Hubinger's interests were accumulated by his two brothers and the business was reorganized and incorporated, under the title of the J. C. Hubinger Brothers Co., of which Nicholas W. is president and Joseph E. secretary and treasurer. It may be said without fear of contradiction that the Hubin- ger brothers were the originators and first manu- facturers of elastic starch, and the product bear- ing their name has always maintained its precedence over others of imitative order, and has always main- tained its priority in a class by itself, its superiority being unmistakable, and the demand for the same being steady and cumulative in character. This firm, while now the foremost of its kind in Amer- ica, had its inception under circumstances that of- fered very slight earnest of the magnificent future of the industry involved. The enterprise was born in all modesty and the early difficulties and strug- gles encountered seem almost like a romance when we take cognizance of the financial position of the brothers to-day and the magnificent scope of their business. While the promoters had implicit con- fidence in the value of their product, they wrought out their success through energy, consecutive ap- plication and direction of every available means to the securing of the desired ends. That they have reaped nothing more than a just reward for their earnest and indefatigable efforts is the verdict pro- nounced by all who have been familiar with the history of their enterprise. Had the brothers been men of but the average persistency and determina- tion, or of but average business acumen, they would have abandoned the business which has brought them not only great wealth but also a national rep- utation, placing them in the very foremost ranks of the successful manufacturers of New England.

The Hubinger brothers are sons of John F. and Catharine (Girard) Hubinger, the former of whom was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, and the latter in Metz, France. They were reared to lives of frugality, and that in their characters abide those deep attributes of integrity and inflex- ible honesty of purpose that make for strong man- hood and noble womanhood cannot be doubted by anyone who has known them at any period in their lives. They are of the stern stuff which stands for true values in life, and it is fitting that their sons, deeply appreciative of their sterling worth

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portions, where millions of dollars take the place of hundreds, and where men are required to handle such millions as coolly and carefully and as success- fully as their grandfathers handled the hundreds. The entire history of the world shows that to grap- ple with all new conditions, to fill breaches in all great crises, men have been developed and have stood ready to assume new and great responsibil- ities, and have discharged the duties involved with ability and profit. It is ever the enterprise and character of the citizen that enrich and ennoble the commonwealth. From individual enterprise has been evolved all the splendor and importance of our great industrial communities. America is a self-made country, and here is found the highest type of the self-made man. No influence of birth or fortune has favored the architects of her glory. Among those who have achieved prominence as men of marked ability and substantial worth are the Hubinger brothers, of New Haven, who now control an industry of magnificent scope and im- portance, which they have developed from the most modest inception, gaining standing among the in- fluential men of the industrial world. For all they have accomplished in the face of seemingly in- superable obstacles and against odds that would have baffled the courage and determination of the average man, they merit the maximum of credit and praise, while their course in all the relations of life has been such as to retain for them the utmost confidence and esteem. They have wrought along the lines of the greatest good, have observed the most strenuous ethics of business life, and have gained an unassailable reputation in the great field of manufacturing enterprise, their products and name being familiarly known in all sections of the Union. The history of mankind is replete with il- lustrations of the fact that it is only under the pressure of adversity and the stimulus of opposi- tion that the best and strongest potentials of the individual are brought out, making the life prolific in fullest measure. It is a far cry from peddling the product of a modest little factory about the streets of a city from a handcart to the manipulation of an enterprise involving the transaction of mil- lions of dollars' worth of business annually, and yet this is what the course of a few years, com- paratively, has brought about in the careers of the Hubinger brothers. If anything can inspire the youth of our country to persistent, honest and laud- able effort it should be such life records as the one which we are now permitted to touch.

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

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The Hubinger brothers are sons of John F. and Catharine (Girard) Hubinger, the former of whom was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, and the latter in Metz, France. They were reared to lives of frugality, and that in their characters abide those deep attributes of integrity and inflex- ible honesty of purpose that make for strong man- hood and noble womanhood cannot be doubted by anyone who has known them at any period in their lives. They are of the stern stuff which stands for true values in life. and it is fitting that their sons, deeply appreciative of their sterling worth

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and of all the fostering influences which emanated from them during their childhood days, should yield to them so deep a solicitude and veneration as they begin to pass onward to where the sunset gates of life open wide in the crimson west. The venerable and devoted couple now maintain their home at Keokuk, Iowa, where, in December, 1900, they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, surrounded by their children and by a goodly com- pany of warm and cherished friends. That city is likewise the home of their son, Jolin C. Hubinger, formerly a member of the firm in New Haven, who is known as one of Keokuk's most prominent citi- zens and influential business men. John F. Hubin- ger is a worthy type of the thrifty, intelligent, in- dustrious German element which has ever repre- sented a most valuable constituent in the civic life of our great American republic, for it cannot be doubted that the nation has gained much and lost nothing through the incorporation of this virile and strength-giving element, standing for profound judgment, inflexible integrity and the truest man- hood and womanhood. Mr. Hubinger was for a number of years identified with mercantile pursuits, and at one time successfully conducted a brewing business in Ripley, Ohio. Through exigencies which were beyond his guidance or control he met with financial reverses, the result being that his sons were constrained to assume personal respon- sibilities early in life, and to become reliant upon their own resources. Theirs was the legacy of that liberal endowment of pluck and persistency without which no definite and worthy success in life is pos- sible of attainment, and in view of the develop- ments of the years past it can scarcely be doubted that the reverses of the father proved the making of the sons, since necessity prompted them to the fullest exercise of their powers and abilities and lifted them high above the plane of mediocrity, revealing the resplendent virtues of self-respecting, potent and exalted manhood, and resulting in lives of most prolific and beneficent order, the public good being enhanced through their private enter- prise. The venerable parents share the comforts and luxuries which wealth grants, and their sons find particular satisfaction in providing them with every possible accessory which will brighten their declining days with the evidences of love and ap- preciation, though, mindful of the frugality of their early days, they sometimes are led to gently pro- test against what seems to them a prodigality shown by their sons in thus providing for their welfare. The attitude is one which is most grateful to note in this connection, and offers assurance that the sons have never been unmindful of the teachings and worthy example of their venerable parents, and that they appreciate the true values in life and the responsibilities which wealth involves, while they have an intrinsic loyalty to self that holds them aside from ostentatious personal exhibitions and to show a detestation of the pretentious show affected

hy many who have acquired great wealth in so brief an interval of time.

To render in detail the history of the inchoation and rise of the now immense industrial enterprise conducted by the J. C. Hubinger Brothers Co. would far transcend the prescribed limitations of a publication of this nature, and still consistency demands that an epitome of this history be in- corporated, for it bears both lesson and incentive as involving strenuous insistency of purpose and consecutive application of great energies and abil- ities until the mark of so high a success has been at- tained. Starting in so modest and unpretentious a way, no concern in New Haven has had a more herculean struggle in the securing of a definite foot- hold; no such demonstration of pluck and deter- minate effort; and no such rapid rise from the point of the most meagre facilities and accessories to a position at the forefront of the ranks of commercial enterprise. The present generation has witnessed the wonderful transition, and who can doubt that there has been a lesson in the great prosperity which it represents? To one thinking of the concern to- day and realizing that the transactions now involve millions of dollars annually, the thought must come that here has been brought to bear a wonderful energy, a transcendent executive and administrative ability, and a singleness of purpose which had no cognizance of the word failure.

The idea of an elastic starch was suggested to the Hubinger brothers while they were acting as salesmen for the old-fashioned kind of starch. The housewives, ever the best judges of domestic econ- omies, entered frequent complaints to the effect that the starch would stick to the irons, and with a view of remedying this difficulty the idea of an elastic starch was conceived. After careful and well directed experimentation an article was pro- duced which effectually obviated the trouble thus made the subject of complaint. . Lack of capital, and the difficulties to be encountered in the intro- duction of a distinctive innovation, constituted a problem and a handicap which would have dis- couraged men of less determination and persistency, and the early difficulties experienced by the broth- ers in the establishing of their business upon a profitable basis can scarcely be imagined by those not familiar with the inception of the business. They were practically strangers in New Haven, therefore their credit had not yet been established. and among the incidents of their early struggle, amusing in a retrospective way, was that involved in their being refused credit for a barrel of starch, worth less than four dollars, this small sum being later raised only by strenuous effort. while they were also obliged to pay on delivery for the paste- board containers in which was placed their mann- factured product. Their difficulties but served to increase their determination and augment their en- ergies, and the eventual reward was not denied them in the controlling of a business which is of

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great importance as bearing upon the industrial life of the city of New Haven, where they are known and honored for their sterling worth of character and their high standing in the commercial world. In the early days dealers refused to handle their goods while they were still in the experimental stage, and their first customers were secured by a house to house canvass, in which they personally took part, and in which connection they were fre- quently called upon to demonstrate the efficacy and superiority of their starch. One secret of their suc- cess has been that they have never been afraid to work, and that they have always maintained the same deep appreciation of the dignity of honest labor in whatever form, lacking in their composi- tion any element of snobbishness or false pride. No part of the details of their business was too un- pleasant or too difficult for them to personally un- dertake, and through all the years of magnificent growth they have thus retained the confidence and respect of their large corps of employes, who re- alize that the mark of appreciation is placed on character and faithful service, which command the respect, in turn, of the generous employers.

Many who watched the early struggles of the Hubinger brothers predicted failure, but few prob- ably felt that any distinctive success would crown their efforts, and it is doubtful whether anyone, not even excepting the brothers themselves, ever thought the future had in store the magnificent prosperity which it records. The reward, however, is on every hand considered not the less in justice due. The business soon began to expand in scope and importance, the products of the little factory falling into the hands of the best judges of a household utility, the housewives themselves, as has been previously noted, and the merits of the elastic starch did not long fail of recognition. Notwith- standing the unmistakable superiority of the prod- uct, its introduction and the expansion of the en- terprise to the point of definite success called for the exercise of rare business acumen, and in the administration of a business of so great magnitude there have been demanded individual powers of transcendent quality, as is evident from even a cursory glance. That the brothers have been equal to every problem presented in a technical or ex- ecutive way bespeaks the possession of the powers demanded, and places them in the ranks of those great spirits who have made the nation famous for its magnificent industrial accomplishments. The Hubinger brothers have made the starch busi- ness their vocation in life, devoting their energies to the development of a great enterprise, and some years after the establishment of the original factory in New Haven they also erected a large factory at Keokuk, for the better accommodation of their ever increasing business through the West, and this por- tion of the property was likewise retained by the J. C. Hubinger Brothers Co. upon the reorganiza- tion of the business, in June, 1899. The business

assuredly, at its inception, came under the categor- ical list of "infant industries," but it soon leaped forward from its swaddling clothes to the vigor and pretentiousness of sturdy manhood and has grown to immense proportions, both in the East and the West, involving the disposition of more than twen- ty-five million packages of the elastic starch an- nually, while their transactions in this and other lines reach an annual aggregate of several millions of dollars. Success of this magnitude has not seemed to change those to whom it has fallen. The sande democratic attitude is in evidence in their in- tercourse with all sorts and conditions of men, and they never seem to wish to give any personal man- ifestation of the possession of great wealth save through normal lines of unostentatious expenditure and the providing of their families with those ele- gant and refined surroundings which affluence ever justifies.

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Commemorative biographical record of New Haven county, Connecticut, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families, V. I, Pt 1, Part 78

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1040

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1040