USA > Indiana > Howard County > History of Howard County, Indiana, Vol II > Part 23
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MORROW'S HISTORY
W. W. KELVIE.
Without searching for lineage in musty tomes or the less satis- factory authority of tradition it suffices to state in writing this brief sketch of a practical man and master of his craft, that his progen- itors were in the broadest sense high, their influence salutary and whose characters and sterling worth have been reproduced on their descendants.
W. W. Kelvie, superintendent of the Kokomo Steel & Wire Company, and one of the leaders of industry in his adopted city, is a native of New York, and first saw the light of day on the banks of the Hudson with which beautiful and classic stream his earliest recollections are closely interwoven. He spent his boyhood on a farm near Caldwell, in the state of New Jersey, President Cleve- land's birthplace, and early became proficient in tilling the soil, but when a mere youth abandoned agriculture for a vocation more to his inclinations and tastes. Leaving home at the age of seventeen, young Kelvie entered a wire mill at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, for the purpose of learning the trade of wiredrawing and after becon- ing efficient and master of every detail of the business he soon found remunerative employment, the demand for skilled artisans in the wire industry at that time being far in excess of the supply. His first position was that of foreman of a department in an establish- ment at Anderson and he later filled similar places in other fac- tories, the meanwhile adding to his technical knowledge until he be- came an expert whose services were always in demand, and he al- ways commanded the highest wages paid for such work.
Mr. Kelvie came to Kokomo, Indiana, in 1900 and started what has since become one of the largest and most important in- dustries in the city, planning and superintending the erection of the plant, purchasing and placing the machinery and giving personal
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attention to every detail of an establishment which under his man- agement. is now considered one of the most successful of the kind in the West. Upon its completion he became superintendent of the plant and as such brought the industry to the highest possible effi- ciency and earned for himself much more than local repute as a skill- ful mechanic and successful manager. In addition to this connec- tion with the wire business in Kokomo, Mr. Kelvie has also been superintendent of a similar plant in Donora, Pennsylvania, besides managing for some time the Steel & Wire Company at Muncie, In- diana, to say nothing of the frequent calls for his services from other larger establishments in the leading industrial centers, all of which he was obliged to decline to build up and extend the business in his present field of operations.
In July. 1907. he resigned the superintendency of the Indiana Steel & Wire Company at Muncie to accept a similar position with the Kokomo Steel & Wire Company, which operates what is known as the North Mill Steel & Wire Works of Kokomo, and since that time he has been largely instrumental in building up the enterprise and extending the scope of its operations. This establishment em- ploys on an average of two hundred workmen, whose payroll amounts to a large sum. From the beginning the business has grown in magnitude and importance until the name of the firm has become widely known among the leading manufacturing interests of the United States.
At this time Mr. Kelvie is not only superintendent of the large and growing plant with which he is identified but is also a stockhold- er in the company, as he was in the former firm also. He attends strictly to his business, discharges the duties of his responsible posi- tion with conscientious fidelity and by making the company's inter- ests his own, has earned the unbounded confidence of the officials and stockholders, besides gaining for himself a place of influence
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among the manufacturers of the city as well as with the general public.
The story of Mr. Kelvie's career is interesting and instructive from almost any view and it is of little use to say that his life thus far has been signally successful and useful and that the future awaits with still greater rewards. During the twenty consecutive years which he has devoted to his trade he has met and overcome diffi- culties and embarrassments with undaunted heart, and moving steadily and bravely forward to a large place among the successful artisans of his craft, he has reached the reward which is sure, or al- most sure to crown those who are fit and worthy to be crowned. Since becoming a resident of Kokomo, he has been not only a con- spicuous figure in the industrial circles, but also in the affairs that concern the city's welfare, being interested in all lines of material advancement and an advocate and patron of enterprises that effect the social and moral good of his fellow men.
Mr. Kelvie is happily married and the father of two children. a son, Russell N .. and a daughter by the name of Kathryne Eliza- beth. Mrs. Kelvie was formerly Mary Braskett. of Anderson. In- (liana, in which city her marriage took place.
WILLIAM C. MCCUNE.
The subject of this review takes high rank among the leading business men of Kokomo, and to him as much perhaps as to any other, is the city indebted for its material growth and expansion during the past two decades. In an important and far-reaching enterprise he has been instrumental in very materially extending the territorial limits of the city and by being the means of procuring homes within the easy reach of those of moderate means, has con-
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ferred favors and blessings upon a class of people who will always hold his name in the highest possible esteem. William C. MeCine. dealer in real estate, loans, etc., and the head of one of the largest business enterprises of the kind in northern Indiana, was born February 11, 1858, in Warren county, Ohio, but when quite young was taken by his parents to Clinton county, that state, where he grew to maturity amid the bracing airs and rugged discipline of farm life. After completing the common school curriculum he en- tered the National Normal School at Lebanon, where he prose- cuted his studies for one year. Afterwards he entered the Univer- sity of Michigan where he finished an elective course of two years in the literary department, following which he took up the study of law in the same institution, receiving the degree of Doctor of Laws in 1863. The same year in which he finished the latter course. Mr. McCune was admitted to the bar but instead of engaging in the practice of the profession he went to Kansas during the business boom and in that state opened a real estate office in the city of Wich- ita, where in due time he achieved marked success in the buying. selling and trading of lands, city lots and other kinds of property.
In 1887. in partnership with other Ohio parties, he purchased several tracts of land adjoining the limits of Kokomo, Indiana, and the following year came to this city for the purpose of platting the same and putting it on the market. The company by which this enterprise was inaugurated to successful issue was known as the John Sherman Syndicate, so called in compliment to the distin- guished statesman, who was a member of the concern and interested in the financial outcome of the same.
Taking personal charge of the business Mr. McCune had the land surveyed and platted as the Oakland and Mansfield! additions to Kokomo, which, with several smaller additions represented an investment of thirty-five thousand dollars. In due time the lots
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were disposed of at a reasonable profit and the lands originally pur- chased by the syndicate now afford homes for over a thousand peo- ple, all of whom were enabled to obtain their lots on easy terms and to improve them in a like manner. In winding up the interests of the syndicate Mr. McCune took over all the unsold real estate amounting to twelve thousand dollars, which he placed on the war- ket at especially favorable advantage to purchasers, thus enabling a number of people of limited means to procure lots and erect houses thereon by loans, which he also advanced at the lowest possible rate of interest, in this way proving not only a promoter of the city's material prosperity, but a true benefactor as well. But for his inter- est in forwarding the enterprise of the syndicate and managing it with such signal success, many families today, who are in comfort- able circumstances, would in all probability have been homeless, while others who looked upon his efforts as a shrewd scheme for his own enrichment are now lamenting the prejudice and folly which blinded them to opportunities which if grasped in time, would have enabled them to obtain a fair start in life and prepare for the exi- gencies of the future.
Since disposing of the various interests of the Sherman Syndi- cate, Mr. McCune has devoted his time and energies to the real es- tate business, loaning money, etc., in which he now has an extensive and lucrative patronage, not only in Kokomo and Howard county. but in many parts of Indiana, and other states. During the boom in Kansas he invested quite heavily in, land, much of which was left upon his hands when the temporary business inflation collapsed, but which has since increased in value until it is now worth far more than the original fancy figures at which it was purchased, this with his other interests in different states making him one of the finan- cially solid and reliable men of the city in which he resides.
Mr. McCune has been active in promoting the material advance-
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ment of Kokomo in other than extending its territorial area, having taken an active and influential part in locating factories and other industries, advertising the advantages of the city as a favorable place for the investment of capital and inducing an intelligent and enter- prising class of citizens to make it their permanent place of abode. His public spirit has been displayed in the interests he has always taken in measures and movements having for their object the social, intellectual and moral advancement of the community and as a member of the city council from 1898 to 1902 he was instrumental in bringing about much important municipal legislation. For ser- eral years prior to his election to the council he served as city com- missioner and in various other capacities rendered valuable assist- ance in furthering the interests of the body politic and attracting attention to a live and enterprising city whose growth and pros- perity during the last quarter of a century have been greater and more substantial perhaps than that of any other place of its size in the state.
Mr. McCune is a Democrat in politics and an influential worker in the ranks in both of which capacities he has contributed much to the strength of the ticket in the city and throughout the county be- sides his full share in matters pertaining to district and state. In all of his relations with his fellow men his conduct has been above reproach and it is scarcely necessary to say that one of his sterling business qualifications and substantial worth has gained the un- bounded esteem of those with whom he comes into contact and that he is numbered today among the influential citizens of the com- munity honored by his presence.
While engaged in business at Wichita, Kansas, in 1887, Mr. McCune was married to Jennie Smith, a native of Clinton county. Ohio, and daughter of Hon. J. L. Smith, ex-member of congress from the latter state, at one time under the intelligent and cu !-
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tured home influences and is a lady of pleasing presence and marked individuality, who has ever made her husband's interests her own, and whose sympathies and assistance are always enlisted in whatever he undertakes. Their union has been blessed with one child, a daughter. Virginia, who is now pursuing her studies in the city schools and whose presence in the home adds much to the comfort and delight of the little family circle.
Mr. McCune, although a business man in all the term implies and successful beyond the majority of his fellows, is not so im- mersed in his affairs as to lose sight of those higher and more pleas- ing concerns in the way of rest and recreation which give so much zest and relish to life and make it an agreeable experience. Two months of every year he leaves his office and its cares and goes back to the old Ohio neighborhood, where his childhood and youth were passed and where he still owns a valuable farm, to which he devotes his attention during the period indicated. This active outdoor life in close touch with nature, amid the rugged duties of agriculture, af- fords him an ample and pleasing means of recreation and at the close of his vacation he returns, fresh and invigorated and better fitted for the arduous duties of the large and growing business which he commands.
D. C. JENKINS GLASS COMPANY.
Among the leading enterprises of Kokomo that have contrib- uted to the solidity of the city and added to its reputation as one of the most important industrial centers of the West is the D. C. Jen- kins Glass Company, the record of which, covering a period of about eighteen years, presents a series of continued successes and the high standard of whose product has won for it prestige in the domain of
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OF HOWARD COUNTY.
manufacture. D. C. Jenkins, the president of this concern, a glass manufacturer of wide experience, comes of a family of glass makers. his father, David Jenkins, now a man of seventy-six years of age, having devoted much more than average lifetime to the industry, as has also Thomas Jenkins, an uncle of the subject, who is seventy- four years of age. During the past forty-five years our subject has been identified with the business in its every department and now stands confessedly among the most skilled and successful artisans known to the trade.
Entering a factory at the age of eleven he early became familiar with every phase of the business and after working at different places he erected in 1866, a factory at Findlay, Ohio, which in due time became one of the leading industrial enterprises of that city, and which he continued to operate until 1893. when he disposed of the business and engaged with the United States Glass Company to superintend the erection of a large plant at Gas City, Indiana. When the plant was completed and equipped he took charge of the work and continued as manager until the year following when he re- signed his position and again embarked in the business upon his own responsibility, erecting in 1894 a factory at Greentown, known as the Goblet Company, which he operated with encouraging re- sults until 1900, when he sold the plant and within a short time thereafter established at Kokomo, the company of which he is now president and manager.
Inaugurated under favorable auspices the business in this city proved successful from the beginning and continued to grow and expand until the patronage took a very extensive range and gained for the establishment much more than local repute. The superior grade of the product which consisted of a full line of table glass- ware, created a wide demand among the dealers in Indiana and other states and to meet the same, a large number of workmen were
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employed, all selected with special reference to efficiency and skill as artisans. The growth and prosperity of the company continued without interruption until 1905, at which time the first serious mis- fortune was experienced in the complete destruction of the plant by fire, entailing not only the loss of the buildings and equipment but also a heavy damage to the business in many ways, not the least of which was the time required to recover from the disaster. the inter- ferences with trade, and the heavy expense entailed by the erection of the new and more commodious structure, which was completed and ready for operation in June of the following year. when the enterprise was re-organized as the Jenkins Company with greatly enlarged facilities and more encouraging prospects than it had hith- erto enjoyed.
Since the latter year the progress of the company has fully real- ized the expectation of the promoters and as already indicated. it now occupies a prominent place among the industrial enterprises that have given Kokomo its high reputation as an industrial center, and under the able management of the efficient and public-spirited president. The company now represents a large investment of cap- ital and bids fair to grow to still greater proportions and to become in the no distant future, the leading glass works in the northern part of the state. The company represents a large investment of capital and with its one hundred and fifty employes, and an annual payroll of over one hundred thousand dollars, the greater part of which is circulated locally, its benefit to the general business interests of the city can hardly be estimated. The out-put which, as stated in a pre- ceding paragraph, includes the articles of glassware in general use together with milk bottles, fish globes and full line of machine-made goods, all of which finds ready sale, and at certain seasons the de- mand is so great as to require large additions to the working force. Primarily it was the intention to use natural gas exclusively, and the
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plant was constructed with this object in view, but with the gradual diminishing in the volume of that fuel, it was found necessary to resort to other means of supplying fuel. Accordingly a large gas plant was recently erected. the resulting gas from which is now amply sufficient to operate the plant at its full capacity. The stock of the company is all owned by the Jenkins family, who also hold its several offices and look after its management and general inter- ests. The personnel of the company at this time is as follows : D. C. Jenkins, president ; Addison Jenkins, secretary and treasurer : David. Thomas, Addison and David C. Jenkins, and D. C. Davies, direc- tors, and Howard A. Jenkins, salesman.
Since coming to Howard county the life of D. C. Jenkins and the history of the important enterprise with which he is so closely identified have been pretty much one and the same thing. \ master of his craft and a man of sound judgment, rare foresight and su- perior executive ability, he has taken advantage of opportunities and when circumstances appeared discouraging his tact and forti- tude have enabled him to bend them to suit his purposes with the re- sult that he gradually overcame every obstacle in his way to success and moved steadily forward to the influential position which he now occupies in the industrial world. From the beginning of his career to the present time he has been actuated by the laudable motive of making his work worthy of patronage and to meet this end no ef- forts were considered too great and no expense too heavy. That he has fully realized his expectations as a manufacturer is amply attested by the rapid growth of his business, and the high reputation of his brand of goods wherever sold, the local patronage being very satisfactory, while large quantities are consigned to many different points where they easily hold their own in competition with the product of the factories of the land. As already indicated. Mr. Jenkins' close personal attention to the management of the com-
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pany whose honorable career in the past and present and creditable standing in industrial and business circles afford sufficient assur- ance of its permanency and future prosperity as one of Kokomo's most prosperous and remunerative enterprises.
J. W. LEARNER.
Representing one of the oldest and best known families of Howard county, and a man of enterprise and sterling worth. J. W. Learner is well entitled to notice among the substantial business men of Kokomo and it is with much satisfaction that the story of his life is accorded a place in these pages.
Bernhart Learner, his father, a native of Bavaria, Germany. came to the United States when a young man and lived for some time in Pennsylvania, where he met and married Catherine Heater. who was born and reared in that state. Subsequently, in 1841. he mi- grated to the new and undeveloped territory of Howard county, In- ‹liana. entered land in Howard township and in due time became one of the successful farmers and public-spirited citizens of the com- munity, which he assisted to establish. In company with several of his neighbors and friends he made the long overland trip to Cali- fornia during the gold excitement of 1849 and 1850, and remained in the west two years, meeting with fair success in his search for wealth. While absent a distressing accident occurred at home, in which his wife was killed by the falling of a burning chimney. Some time after his retrun from California he married Mrs. Bates, the widow of one of his companions on his trip to the West, and spent the remainder of his life on the farm, which he had redeemed from the wilderness. At one time he was a large land owner, his
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real estate in lloward township alone amounting to six hundred and forty acres, and his high standing as a neighbor and citizen, won for him the confidence and esteem of all with whom he associated. An active and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church and an enterprising man of affairs he left the impress of his indi- viduality upon the community in which he lived and to his descend- ents the memory of a good name which they prize as a grateful heritage. Of the five children of Bernhart and Catherine Learner that survived the period of infancy, three are still living. J. W., of this review ; B. F. and Mrs. Mary Templin, the sons being residents of Howard county, but the daughter for some years past has been living in the West.
J. W. Learner was born in Howard county in the year of 1848 and spent the greater part of his minority on the family homestead in Howard township, where he early became familiar with the pur- suit of agriculture and received, under excellent home influence. the discipline and training which so well fitted him for the duties of subsequent life. While assisting to clear and cultivate the farm, he attended school for a brief period only, eighteen months covering his early educational experiences, notwithstanding which he made rapid progress, the knowledge thus gained with information de- rived from study and reading during his leisure hours enabling him, when a young man, to enter the school work and teach successfully several terms in his native township. Meantime he devoted his at- tention to various enterprises, chief among which was the manu- facture of drain tile, in which he was associated for some time with his brother-in-law. James Miller, the business proving remunerative and giving him his first real start in life. During the years, 1881-2. he served as deputy sheriff under J. W. DeHaven and later turned his attention to merchandising, in which his success was fairly satis- factory. Without following his business career in detail, suffice it
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to state that the last enterprise to which he addressed himself and in which he is still engaged, was the purchase in partnership with P. E. Hoss and W. E. Blacklidge of the Opalescent Glass Works at Ko- komo, the establishment being disposed of at a receiver's sale in the year 1891. Since becoming identified with this large and promis- ing interest, Mr. Learner has given personal attention to the office work and management of the concern, which is now one of the lead- ing manufacturing establishments of the city. Under the present company the plant has been enlarged and otherwise improved and from a modest beginning the business has steadily grown in magni- tude and importance until the demand for the product is so great that the factory is taxed to its utmost capacity, thus rendering an additional increase of facilities, a matter of the near future. The high grade of the out-put of the Kokomo Opalescent Glass Works has given the plant wide reputation and it stands today among the leading enterprises of the city with a promise of still larger growth in the future. Mr. Learner possesses business abilities of a high order, and to him largely is the enterprise indebted for the series of advancements which have characterized its progress since he became a member of the firm. Aside from his business affairs he manifests a lively interest in the material development of Kokomo, lending his encouragement and influence to all worthy measures and movements to this end, and he is also an earnest advocate and liberal patron of everything calculated to promote the social advancement of the city and the moral good of the people.
Mr. Learner is a married man and the father of one child. a daughter by the name of Grace, a young lady of uncommon intelli- gence and culture, a graduate of the Kokomo high school and for two years a student of De Pauw University. Recently she com- pleted the full course in kindergarten work in a professional college at Indianapolis and now holds a remunerative position in the public
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