Towner Keeney Webster (1849–1922) was an American industrialist and business leader who started several businesses, including Webster Manufacturing and Webster Electric.

Early years

Webster was born in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County, New York, Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca m ...

. His father, Dr. Henry Keeney Webster (1800–1857), died when he was eight years old. His mother, Sarah Haviland (1811–1885), was left with little money and three children to raise. By age 12, Webster had a full-time job and never achieved more than a grade school education. When he turned 18, he traveled alone to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and began work at a dry goods store. Within a year or two, his mother and two older sisters followed. All settled in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, Downtown Chicago, ...

. Webster's first business, a drug and grocery store on Davis Street in Evanston, was a success. He sold his interest in the grocery to his partner, so he could start a clothing store. The clothing store failed. Shortly thereafter, in 1874, he married Emma Josephine Kitchell (1850–1937). Webster needed to find a new way to make a living.

Webster Manufacturing

Webster became intrigued with an invention called the "'Common-sense' elevator bucket." These buckets were easily manufactured, and when attached to a continuous belt could carry large amounts of grain to the tops of grain elevators. Because of developments like

Cyrus McCormick Cyrus Hall McCormick (February 15, 1809 – May 13, 1884) was an American inventor and businessman who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which later became part of the International Harvester Company in 1902. Originally from the ...

's reaper, elevators were springing up all over the Midwest. In 1876, he began making common-sense buckets in a small shop on Kinzie Street in Chicago. His company grew quickly as he developed machinery for handling grain. He acquired partners and built his first factory in 1882. It doubled and then redoubled in size, and in 1889 Webster moved to a new plant on Western Avenue and Fifteenth Street. His partners dropped out, the firm became the Webster Manufacturing Company. In the early 1890s a group of investors, one of whom was

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

, gave Webster Manufacturing the contract to make the Paige Compositor. The device, which set type, was a complicated mechanical marvel with 18,000 parts. Webster built a new five-story building at the Western Avenue plant to deliver 3000 compositors under the contract. Unfortunately, the compositor was expensive to manufacture and when it broke down only the inventor's chief engineer, Charles Davis, could fix it. The rival

linotype machine The Linotype machine ( ) is a "line casting" machine used in printing; manufactured and sold by the former Mergenthaler Linotype Company and related It was a hot metal typesetting system that cast lines of metal type for individual uses. Li ...

soon came to dominate the typesetting market. What had seemed like a profitable business venture, cost Mark Twain a fortune and almost bankrupt Webster Manufacturing. Fewer than half-a-dozen machines were actually built. The sole remaining Paige compositor is housed at the

Mark Twain House and Museum The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, was the home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) and his family from 1874 to 1891. It was designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter and built in the American High Gothic style. Clemens b ...

in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1897, having returned to his core business, Webster built a two-million-bushel grain elevator on the newly opened

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follow ...

in England. That project provided the inspiration for one of

Henry Kitchell Webster Henry Kitchell Webster (September 7, 1875 – December 8, 1932) was an American who was one of the most popular serial writers in the country during the early twentieth century. He wrote novels and short stories on themes ranging from mystery to ...

's early novels. In 1907, Webster moved his firm to

Tiffin, Ohio Tiffin is a city in and the county seat of Seneca County, Ohio, United States. Developed along the Sandusky River, which flows to Lake Erie, Tiffin is about 55 miles southeast of Toledo. The population was 17,963 at the 2010 census.

Webster Electric

During his tenure in Tiffin, Webster became interested in a new invention, the Milton magneto. The

magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

could start gasoline engines without cranking. After refining the device into what he thought to be a workable ignition system, Webster signed a contract with the

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Automobile company which intended to make it standard on their cars. But the magneto proved to be unreliable and the contract was canceled. Webster's son, Towner K. Webster Jr., was an engineer who eventually perfected the magneto as an ignition system for farm engines. In 1913, Webster Sr. opened a new company in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

named Webster Electric. The magneto was a profitable product, but it was gradually supplanted by other ignition systems. After Webster's death, the company struggled until the 1930s, when it introduced a popular intercom called the Teletalk. Then, in 1946, Webster Electric debuted the Ekotape recorder, and was for a time a pioneer in magnetic recording. The company was eventually sold to Sta-Rite Industries.

Business and civic leadership

In 1903, Webster helped found the

City Club of Chicago The City Club of Chicago is a 501 (c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization intended to foster civic responsibility, promote public issues, and provide Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois with a forum for open political debate. T ...

, a social club whose object was “the investigation and improvement of the city of Chicago.” Webster served as the club's second president and was an occasional speaker. The City Club is today the longest-running civic forum in Chicago. As Webster Manufacturing grew, he became increasingly involved with labor unions. Unlike many manufacturers, however, Webster believed workers had a right to a decent living wage. While he opposed union attempts to limit output, he defended their right to organize. In a speech on open versus closed shops, he argued “I think the union stands as a great middle wall between the small manufacturer and the great overwhelming power of organized capital.” His straightforward solution to labor unions was to “grant a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.” As a result of his position, Webster enjoyed a level of trust with both management and labor. He served on numerous arbitration boards. In 1907, when the contract between the Chicago newspaper publishers and the Typographical Union expired, they were unable to come to terms. Webster was selected as the sole arbitrator and found a solution acceptable to both parties. As

Walter A. Strong Walter Ansel Strong (1883–1931) was the publisher of the ''Chicago Daily News'' during Prohibition and the early days of the Great Depression. He was an innovator in business and a prominent civic leader. Early years Walter Strong was born in ...

noted, "His decision at so critical a stage in the development of relations between capital and labor and in union practice attracted the attention of many industries in addition to newspapers."

Personal life

Webster and Emma Kitchell had six children who survived to adulthood: Henry Kitchell (1875), Henrietta Seymour (1877), Towner Keeney Jr. (1881), Josephine Haviland (1883), Ronald (1890), and Maurice (1892). All were raised in Evanston, Illinois.

Henry Henry may refer to: People * Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

became a well-known early twentieth century novelist. Maurice became a notable Chicago architect. In 1913, Josephine married Walter Strong, who would later become publisher of the ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...

''. It was not uncommon for well-to-do Chicagoans to have summer homes. After starting Webster Electric, he bought farmland north of

Oregon, Illinois Oregon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ogle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,721 in 2010.U.S. Census BureaPopulation, Age, Sex, Race, Households/ref> History The land Oregon, Illinois was founded on was previously hel ...

. His declared intention was to create a place “to alienate the affections of his grandchildren from their parents.” In 1917, he commissioned Maurice, who had just been licensed to practice architecture in Illinois, to build a large wood frame summer house. A year later, he had Towner Jr. oversee construction of a swimming pool. The family named it Bee Tree Farm. His grandchild,

Stokely Webster Stokely Webster (1912–2001) was best known as an American impressionist painter who studied in Paris. His paintings can be found in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Mu ...

, would later describe it as a "magical place" that would shape his approach to art. In 1922, Webster was admitted to

Evanston Hospital NorthShore University HealthSystem (formerly Evanston Northwestern Healthcare or ENH) is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving patients throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. NorthShore encompasses six hospitals, as of late 2021 — ...

with

acute appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...

. He died there on October 11. Emma and the family continued to use Bee Tree Farm. In 1928, Walter Strong bought 360 acres of woodlands just south of the farm. There, he and Josephine built their own summer home, which came to be known as Stronghold Castle.

Notable descendants

(1875-1932) - Novelist * Josephine Webster Strong (1883-1961) * Maurice Webster (1892-1982) - Architect *

(1912-2001) - Artist * Jonathan Strong (1944–present) - Novelist *

James G. Webster James G. Webster (born 1951) is a professor and audience researcher at Northwestern University. Webster's publications have documented patterns of audience behavior, sometimes challenging widely held misconceptions. He has also made foundational ...

(1951–present) - Professor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Towner 1849 births 1922 deaths American company founders People from Ithaca, New York