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Thos. P. Egan |
THOMAS P. EGAN.
Some men may rise by the force that is iu them, and several
of this class are residents of Cincinnati, one of the most
prominent being Thomas P. Egan, president of the
J. A. Fay & Egan Company, manufacturers of woodworking
machinery.
Mr. Egan was born in Ireland—just where
he does not recollect, as his father and mother crossed the
Atlantic when the now millionaire was a mere infant of nine
months. The father, who was a farmer of limited means,
located near Hamilton, Canada, where he died at the age of
eighty-four years.
Thomas P. Egan was born Nov. 20, 1847, and was
precocious and energetic from the first. He received a
common-school education at the Canadian schools, and at the
age of fourteen graduated from the Central Public High
School of Hamilton, Canada. On the evening of the
graduating exercises he was employed by D. Smith, a
dry-goods merchant, still living in Hamilton, to work at two
dollars per week. This position the youth kept for two
years, and then he turned his eyes toward the United States.
The “Stars and Stripes,’’ with the universal freedom and
liberty it guaranteed, inspired the youthful employe, and he
determined to try his fortunes in the South. He had a
sister living in Cincinnati, and here was his objective
point; and, having a few dollars saved up, with a stout
heart he bid good-bye to home and friends and took the train
for Detroit. There he tried to find work, but failing
hurried on to Cincinnati that he might arrive before his
limited purse was exhausted. He came and found his
sister, and in casting about discovered that it would not
take him long to get work. Had he remained at the
little dry-goods store he would at the end of ten years have
received the highest wages paid, which was seven dollars per
week; before ten years had passed he was receiving in
Cincinnati a salary of thirty-five dollars per week.
Thus it will be seen that two dollars per week was not wages
enough for a youth of sixteen, and he determined when he
secured a new position that he would get more money.
He did; for William Kirkup, the brass worker
and manufacturer, took the ambitious boy in, and paid him at
the rate of three dollars per week. His duties were
chiefly confined to running a lathe; but tiring of this
monotonous work at the end of three months, he looked around
for another position. He had received no increase in
wages, and he thought he should take a step forward.
The desire was then to get $3.50 per week and to go to work
on iron. One evening, dressed in his working clothes,
he made the rounds of the various machine shops in the city,
and at last walked into the office of Steptoe,
McFarlan and Company, one of the earliest manufacturers
of wood-working machinery in the United States, and at that
time contemporaries of the J. A. Fay & Company, which
was beginning to rise in the mercantile world. “What
do you want a week?” asked John Steptoe.
“I am receiving three dollars per week now, and I want fifty
cents more.” That was about all the conversation held,
and in a few moments the sturdy boy was told to come
prepared to take a position the next week. He did
come, and remained with the firm twelve years, or till his
twenty-eighth year. Mr. Egan had been
working but two weeks when an accident happened to impair
his physical powers to a certain extent, though it did not
cause him to stop work. The loss was that of the left
arm. While many people deliberately take advantage of
such an accident to lie down and mourn, Mr. Egan
did not pause, though the loss of the arm rendered it
impossible for him to do hard manual labor as heretofore.
The firm gave him an office position, and here came in the
high-school training. He had studied bookkeeping for
awhile, and now that he could not labor he determined to fit
himself for his new life. To this end he entered the
commercial college kept by a Mr. Gundry.
The school was at night, and during the day the books of the
firm were kept. This process was kept up for several months
till every point in bookkeeping was mastered, and still the
salary remained the same, three dollars and fifty cents per
week. About the time a new suit of office clothes had
been worn out Mr. Steptoe suggested that
Thomas’ salary be raised to five dollars per week.
The move was made, and with the five dollars the young man
was content for over a year. Matters ran on, and when
he arrived at the age of manhood his name was down on the
books as drawing eighteen dollars per week. One day a
member of the firm made the remark to the young bookkeeper,
“I think you need a rest.” ‘‘Well,” was the reply,
‘‘let me try my hand at selling on the road.” “So far as I
am concerned you can try it,” was the answer.
The members of the firm held a consultation, and only
Mr. Steptoe was in favor of letting an
inexperienced man go out. The heads of the firm had to
that time done most of the traveling, and they did not see
how a young man who had never even traveled for pleasure,
and who they thought knew nothing of the country, could do
any good on the road. Finally, to carry his point,
Mr. Steptoe agreed to guarantee the firm any loss
they might sustain by putting Mr. Egan
forward. With this understanding the young man went to
work on a new line. The fact that his expenses were
guaranteed by an individual member of the firm encouraged
him to get about and sell. He worked harder than he
otherwise would have done, visiting Chicago, Indianapolis
and Lafayette. He sent his orders in, not knowing just
what was expected of him, but confident that he was doing
the best he could. When he came home he found that his
sales exceeded those of every other salesman, and, in fact,
were the largest in the history of the firm. He was
now sent out on the road, and stayed there seven years, his
salary being raised to thirty-five dollars per week.
In his twenty- eighth year, being tired of traveling,
and though offered forty dollars per week to remain, he
resigned, and determined to start in business for himself.
He had saved $5,000, and with $1,500 of this he commenced
housekeeping, having married Miss Alma E., a daughter
of Rev. Dr. Frederick Haase,
pastor of an Evangelical church at Chillicothe, Ohio.
Mrs. Haase, nee Miss Theresa Von Bedenstadt,
was a daughter of Gen. Von Bedenstadt, who was one of
the German allies of England in the war with Spain during
the reign of George III. With the $3,500
remaining he and two other men started to work, entering as
equal partners, and renting one room of Steptoe,
McFarlan & Company, together with power. The room
was 50 x 30; and the three partners did all the work.
This was in the latter part of 1874, just when the country
was recovering from the great financial panic, and, though
it was hard work, the young firm kept their heads above
water, and after running six months rented a warehouse
across the street. Each man drew $20 per week, and it
will be seen that Mr. Egan sacrificed nearly
half his income for the pleasure of being his own boss.
He declared, and does to this day, that no man can get rich
on a salary, and he wanted to be rich. Though drawing
but limited salaries the firm, known as the Egan
Company, found that at the end of the year they had made
the Dutchman’s one per cent—that is, their profits were ten
thousand five hundred dollars, or, in common parlance, one
hundred per cent on the investment. This was so
encouraging that Mr. Egan and his partners
determined to branch out on a larger scale, and so in 1881
was incorporated the Egan Company, with a
capital stock of $150,000. The incorporators were:
Florence Marmet, Samuel C. Tatem, Frederick
Danner, Edwin Buthven and T. P. Egan.
The last named was made president at once, and practically
conducted the affairs of the company. Meantime,
however, the one room occupied for a year and a half had
been abandoned, and the firm removed to Front street,
between Central avenue and John, where they rented an
old mill 30x80, three stories high. As business
progressed an addition to this was built. It was
40x80, four stories. On more business coming along a
second addition, 40x80, same height, was erected. Then
came a destructive fire that leveled to the ground the old
mill. This was rebuilt, and later a lot 180 x 100 was
secured from Robert Mitchell and built upon.
This gave the firm all the square on Front street between
Central avenue and John, with the exception of thirty
feet. The building now is reputed one of the best
equipped and most expensive factories in the bottoms, and,
in fact, in the United States. From employing
themselves the three partners, all members now of the
Egan Company and associated with the J. A. Fay
Company, on the 1st of January last had on the pay roll
four hundred men, and from a weekly stipend of $20 as his
own master and thirty-five dollars as an employe, Mr.
Egan now counts his weekly income by the thousands.
From a small firm doing almost local business the Egan
Company worked up a trade that is world-renowned.
Contracts are being made constantly in South America, Europe
and Africa, while some of the sales have been of great
amounts.
Across the street from the Egan Company
was the J. A. Fay & Company, the rivals. From
the first the Fay Company, established for
years in a profitable business, tried to squeeze out the
young but ambitious rival. Lawsuits sprang up almost
from the start over certain patents to such an extent that
the two firms’ representatives were scarcely on speaking
terms, and would not think of doing business with each
other. Suits after suits had been brought, and each
firm spent in the neighborhood of twenty thousand dollars
trying to break each other up. The Egan
Company took one case and carried it successfully
through all the courts of Ohio, and finally won in the
United States Supreme Court in 1889. This demonstrated
to the firm that they were amply able to take care of
themselves, and they became more and more aggressive.
Mr. Egan was in the thick of the tight, and
was determined that his firm should have a fair show at the
world’s trade if it took every dollar he was worth. He
and others of the firm had 175 patents, but still the Fay
Company held 200, and while the two firms separately
controlled nearly all the wood-working patents in the
country they were fighting each other. Finally in
February, 1893, David Jones and H. B.
Morehead laid their plans to capture both belligerents.
They secured an option on the majority of the stock of both
companies, and especially of the Fay Company,
and theu informed both managements that if a consolidation
took place both businesses could be run on a more economical
scale than formerly, and all litigation could be stopped.
The arguments prevailed and articles of incorporation were
taken out with a capital stock of two million live hundred
thousand dollars. The officers of the Company are:
Thomas P. Egan, president; Frederick Danner,
first vice-president; A. N. Spencer, second
vice-president; Edwin Ruthven, secretary; A. F.
Herbaleb, assistant secretary; L. W. Anderson,
treasurer; George W. Bugbee, master mechanic; S.
P. Egan, general superintendent; L. G. Robinson,
assistant superintendent, and George W. Passell,
assistant superintendent. The directors are: W. H.
Doane, W. P. Anderson, Joseph Rawson,
David Jones and William A. Procter.
Mr. Egan controlled two-thirds of the stock of
the old company, while most of his investments were in Fay
stock, and when the management was organized he was chosen
president of both concerns. Thus while the companies
are under one management they work separately and
distinctly, and make and sell their own brands.
Recently at the World’s Fair both made exhibits, and each
took nine awards and one special grand medal, or, in all,
eighteen awards and two special grand medals—more than any
other firm in the world. The stock of the company is
held by the best business men in the city, and with
continued prosperity, that, now seems assured, it will soon
take considerable figuring to calculate Mr. Egan’s
wealth. It might be stated that the Mitchell annex, spoken
of above, cost $40,000, and the tools to work with in it
$235,000. One engine and boiler cost alone fifteen
thousand dollars.
Taking Mr. Egan from his business and
looking at him as a private individual, he is extremely
interesting. He is not a politician, neither a club
man nor a society man, but he is one of the best examples of
a home man that can be found in the city. Every
evening he can be located at his pleasant home, No. 8 Wesley
avenue. There he sips his sherry, smokes his one “
Slim Jim,” and chats with his family and friends.
His amiable wife seems the counterpart of the husband, or,
rather, each acts as a counterpart to the other. It is
hard to say which has the better temper or the better
nature. Both are running over with good humor, and
both find the greatest pleasure in life in the enjoyment of
each other’s company. “Why does a man marry,” asks
Mr. Egan, ‘‘if he does not stay at home with his
wife. I belong to no club, no political organization,
no secret order. I do not patronize the barroom nor
the hotel. If I should go out at night, where would I
go?” It can be stated, however, that Mr. and
Mrs. Egan are steady theater-goers, and they
are also lovers of the fine arts, every display of note
finding them in attendance. A Republican, Mr.
Egan has twice thought he would join the Lincoln
Club, but the pleasures of club life and the excitement of
political strife have not yet been strong enough to lure him
from his home. He is surrounded by a family of seven
children, three of whom are boys, all anxious to get to
work. One daughter, Miss Alma E., is at
Bartholomew’s College; Fred is a student at the Ohio
Military School, College Hill; Clifford, Christine
and Edna are in the intermediate school, and
Raymond and Virginia are still at home.
Mr. Egan’s business and family engross all his
time, and the outside world scarcely knows him.
Recently the fire commissionership was tendered him, but
refused. Independent and manly, self reliant and judicious,
he goes his way and cares not for the side issues that
usually engross the minds of men. Mr. Egan
has never been out of the country since his first arrival,
but in May he leaves for Antwerp, Belgium, where he acts as
a representative of the United States at the local World’s
Fair.
One incident is worthy of note, showing as it does the
principal characteristic of the man. When John
Steptoe, his old employer, was on his deathbed, he
sent for an attorney, and also for Mr. Egan.
Both sat in the sick room as the will was being made out,
and Mr. Steptoe had determined that Mr. Egan
should be executor. Mr. Egan, however,
had determined that he would not be executor, for he did not
want to be put under bond. He was debating in his mind
what he should do to get out of the difficulty while the
attorney was slowly drawing up the legal document. In
the midst of his thoughts the attorney spoke up, “What bond
shall I require?” The sick man raised his eyes to the
attorney and said, sternly, ‘‘Thomas shall give no
bond.” This display of confidence so converted Mr.
Egan that he at once decided to acquiesce and act as
executor. He did, and, as the will recorded, turned
over to the aged widow every cent, and he was discharged by
the court with a high compliment.
Source: History of
Cincinnati and Hamilton Co., Ohio, Past & Present -
Illustrated - Publ. Cincinnati, Ohio - S. B. Nelson & Co.,
Publishers - 1894 - Page 802 - 810 |
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SAMUEL
EDWARDS was born July 5, 1811, in Anderson township,
Hamilton Co., Ohio, son of Isaac and Hannah (Martin)
Edwards, both natives of New Jersey. His father's
residence in this county after his emigration from New
Jersey was at Newberry, but he became dissatisfied with his
prospects there and in 1809 removed to the vicinity of
Newtown. He was the first purchaser in the Anderson
survey. He reared eight children to maturity, three of
whom are yet living: Samuel; Edward, who
resides on the old homestead; and Mrs. Elizabeth Day,
of Van Buren county, Iowa. Samuel Edwards
was fourteen years old when his father died, and although
young and inexperienced, he assumed the management of the
home farm, conducting it successfully until his nineteenth
year. In 1830 he married Almira, daughter of
Timothy and Sarah Day; she died four years later,
leaving one child, Serena. In 1836 he married
Mary Sutton, and to hits union eight children were
born: Isaac, George, Samuel, Nancy, Elmira,
Selina, Laura and Timothy. For his third
wife he married Mrs. Catherine (Jones) Edwards, and
they were the parents of two children: Mary and
Helen. Mr. Edwards is one of the oldest
native-born residents of Hamilton county. In politics
he is a Democrat.
Source: History of
Cincinnati and Hamilton Co., Ohio, Past & Present -
Illustrated - Publ. Cincinnati, Ohio - S. B. Nelson & Co.,
Publishers - 1894 - Page 933 |
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