LOUDEN, William - 1912 Bio (1841-1931)

LOUDEN, SPEER, DILL, PATTISON, CRAIG, FRY

Posted By: Debbie Nash (email)
Date: 1/13/2005 at 15:49:39

From the “History of Jefferson County, Iowa” – 1912, Volume II, Pages 343-348

WILLIAM LOUDEN.

“There is perhaps in all this history no better example of what determination, ability and industry can accomplish than is to be found in the life history of William LOUDEN, now vice president and superintendent of the Louden Machinery Company, of Fairfield. Today he is one of the owners of a splendidly developed plant for the manufacture of barn equipments and has become a recognized authority upon this subject, his counsel being sought in national consideration of this question. Jefferson county has every reason to be proud of his record, for it is here that he has overcome the almost insurmountable difficulties and obstacles that have confronted him and worked his way upward until he stands among the most enterprising and prosperous men of this section of the state. Moreover, he has been a resident of the county for sixty-nine years and at all times has been interested in its progress and has cooperated in its public projects to the extent of his ability.

Mr. LOUDEN was born October 16, 1841, in Cassville, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, a son of Andrew and Jane (SPEER) LOUDEN, both of whom were natives of County Antrim, Ireland, having been born about seven miles north of Belfast. The father’s birth occurred May 4, 1811, and the mother’s on the 18th of April, 1813. The LOUDEN family originated in Scotland, where the clan became well known and representatives of the name emigrated to Ireland during the time of the religious persecution of the Presbyterians. Members of the SPEER family intermarried with the English, so that that strain was also introduced. Andrew LOUDEN and Jane SPEER were married on the Emerald isle, January 6, 1840, and in the spring of the following year as passengers on a sailing vessel reached the new world. They made their way to Pennsylvania to join Mrs. LOUDEN’s brother, Robert SPEER, and in the spring of 1842 came to Jefferson county, Iowa, arriving on the 1st of May. The family made the journey by river from Pennsylvania to Burlington and the men walked the entire distance from that city to Fairfield. The father worked the first winter in a mill and the next spring purchased land in Cedar township, seven miles southeast of Fairfield. He became the owner of about five hundred acres and later secured an additional tract of school land. He resided thereon throughout the remainder of his days and converted the tract of wild prairie into richly cultivated fields. He was a hard working pioneer farmer and his labor constituted an important element in the early development of this section of the county. His death occurred February 28, 1884, and his wife passed away February 24, 1878. Their children were nine in number: John, who died in infancy in Ireland; William; Agnes, the deceased wife of John DILL; Mary, who passed away at the age of three years; John Speer, who died on a farm in this county, March 7, 1911; Andrew, living at Vallejo, California; James and Thomas, residents of Fairfield; and Robert B., who is a partner of his brother William in the Louden Machinery Company.

William LOUDEN has been a resident of Jefferson county from the age of six months, or for sixty-nine years. He resided upon the home farm until 1870 and since that time has lived in Fairfield. His youthful days were divided between the work of the fields and the attainment of an education in the country schools. He also became a student in Axline’s University, at Fairfield, and prior to his marriage engaged in teaching school for three terms. He afterward concentrated his energies upon farm work and as he busied himself with the duties incident to that occupation he began to feel that methods might be improved and brought his mechanical skill and inventive ingenuity to bear upon the questions that continually arose before him. At length he worked out some of his plans for the improvement of barn fixtures and in 1870 and 1871 built his first factory for the manufacture of barn equipment and farm machinery. He has since figured in the business circles of Jefferson county as an inventor and manufacturer and of him it has been written: “His first patent for a hay carrier was dated September 24, 1867, and his last patent for a cattle stanchion was dated April 25, 1911. What a tale of trials and tribulations and final triumph is contained in these eventful forty-four years! When he began his work he was a farmer boy with a rather frail constitution, and the hard work on a pioneer farm caused him to study how it might be made easier as well as more effective. It was a serious undertaking for a green country boy in a pioneer community where there were no manufacturing facilities, and where the thought of the people ran in an entirely different direction. In these old pioneer days brawn and muscle were relied upon to win, and one who tried to find an easier way to do things was not generally considered with favor. He was most frequently looked upon as lazy or trifling, and as trying to shirk his part of the work. Consequently, not one in a hundred who made attempts along this line ever succeeded; nor was it any better in manufacturing. Many manufacturing attempts were made in Fairfield before any proved successful. A number of efforts were made in the early days to make standard goods, such as the Manny reaper, the Weir cultivator, the separating threshing machine, and also wagons, plows, furniture, woolen goods, etc., all of which had to be discontinued. Manufacturing facilities, as well as the manufacturing spirit, were then undeveloped, and available capital could be more profitably employed in farming and selling the natural fertility of the soil without any regard to questions of conservation. These were the conditions under which William LOUDEN undertook to establish his business, and he was destined to have no easy time. In those days no one would think of buying anything for the protection or comfort of a cow. The sheltered side of a strawstack was good enough for her, and she was fortunate, indeed, if she could secure this shelter. No money could be made in selling milk or butter because everybody ‘kept a cow.’ The ‘town cows’ got much of their living by ‘hopping farmers’ wagons’ and filching the feed for the horses, and sometimes the cow paid dearly for her dinner in the beating given her by the enraged farmer. The hay fork and carrier were at first the chief reliance of the business, and even that was exceedingly slim compared with what it became in later years. Barns were few, and were generally built low and full of timbers, so that a hay fork and carrier could not be used to much advantage. Occasionally, a sturdy farmhand would offer to bet that he could pitch more hay than any ‘patent hay fork’ and sometimes he could, for in many cases all he had to do was to roll the hay down off the load into the mow on the floor below. In time, farmers saw the advantage of the hay carrier, and began to build barns accordingly – thus more than doubling the storage capacity. This, however, had to be waited for, and the prospects ahead did not supply present needs. Notwithstanding all these obstacles and discouragements, the business grew and increased until it has finally become world wide.”

Between the years 1871 and 1876, Mr. LOUDEN engaged in the general manufacture of farm machinery but the hard times came on and the hour did not seem ripe for an industry of that character, so that he at length failed, finding himself not only penniless but in debt and with a family to support. He procured on credit a span of horses and an old wagon, all worth not exceeding seventy-five dollars, and proceeded to canvass the country and put up hay carriers and other equipments in the barns of his farmer friends. Seven years passed in this way, during which time he made enough to support his family and keep his business going. More than that, he gained knowledge from this experience that has been of inestimable value to him in his later work. After the seven years’ test period had passed he concentrated his energies upon the development of manufactury and prior to 1889 conducted the business alone with such assistance as was given him by his faithful wife. In that year his brother R. B. LOUDEN was induced to become a member of the company and three years later J. C. Fulton acquired an interest in the business which has been organized and incorporated under the name of the Louden Machinery Company, with R. B. LOUDEN president, William LOUDEN, vice president and superintendent, and Mr. Fulton, as secretary-treasurer. William LOUDEN looks after the development of the goods and all three of the partners participate in the general management of the business. The quality of the products has received recognition throughout the country, as is manifest in the fact that the facilities of manufacture have been constantly extended and increased until the plant in Fairfield is now a very large one, covering a great amount of ground. It is splendidly equipped with machinery necessary for manufacture in every line and everything in barn equipment is here made, every modern appliance being approved by the best authorities for scientific and practical dairy farming. Moreover, they have a second factory of almost equal size to supply the trade of Canada and the British empire. The trade through other foreign countries is also rapidly increasing with every promise of continued growth and expansion in the future.

William LOUDEN has come to be a recognized authority throughout the country on the subject of barn equipment and the care of cattle and other stock, and his methods have shown that the value of a milk-producing animal may be greatly enhanced by proper care. In 1908 he was appointed by Governor Cummins to the White House conference for the conservation of natural resources, one of three appointed in Iowa. In 1907 at a meeting of the Manufacturers Association in Iowa at Council Bluffs, he read a paper on the agricultural schools of Iowa. This so extended his reputation that the appointment to the White House conference was made. The factories of the Louden Machinery Company have been for the past two years profitable enterprises and in Fairfield alone employment is furnished to one hundred workmen. Mr. LOUDEN has also been largely responsible for the organization and development of the Iowa Malleable Iron Company, which now employs one hundred and twenty-five workmen, and of which he is also president. He is likewise a stockholder in the Hawkeye Pump Company, a director in the Manufacturers Insurance Company, at Waterloo, Iowa, and a director of the Chautauqua Association at Fairfield.

On the 2nd of January, 1868, Mr. LOUDEN was married to Miss Mary Jane PATTISON, who was born in Cedar township, January 2, 1849, and has always resided within the borders of this county. Her parents, Alexander and Elizabeth (CRAIG) PATTISON, were natives of Ireland, where they were reared. They were married, however, in New York, and in 1840 came to Jefferson county, Iowa, Mr. PATTISON having previously visited the county and entered land from the government in Cedar township. Subsequently their entire lives were passed in this district, the death of Mrs. Pattison occurring on the old home farm, while Mr. PATTISON passed away in Fairfield, where he had lived retired for about a year. Mrs. LOUDEN is the only one of their five children who reached adult age, and by her marriage she has become the mother of four children: Helen Craig, who died November 7, 1901, at the age of thirty years; Agnes Mary, the wife of A. A. FRY, manager of the St. Paul branch of the Louden Machinery Company, who have a son William Louden FRY; Arthur Clare, who resides at home, and is married; and Robert Bruce, of Fairfield, who is married and has a son, Robert William. The family residence is one of the beautiful homes of Fairfield, at No. 501 West Washington street, and was built by Mr. LOUDEN in 1896-7.

The record of Mr. LOUDEN as made in the business world is indeed an enviable one and yet it does not comprise the extent of his activity, for in many public connections his work and worth have been felt. He votes with the democracy and has been an earnest advocate of Bryan but is not a politician in the sense of office seeking. He holds membership with the Knights of Pythias and with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is a director of the Jefferson County Old Settlers Park Association and a member of the Old Settlers Association. He was appointed in connection with A. W. McElroy, editor of the Tribune, and of J. S. McKinney a member of the committee, to lay the proposition of building the new court house before the people. They succeeded in the task which they undertook, presenting the matter in such an advantageous way that the campaign in support of the project was successful, although the question had previously been voted down several times. Mr. LOUDEN was largely instrumental in having extended the former short courses in agriculture and has done much to further the interests of agricultural education in the state, knowing how valuable is scientific training for the farmer that he may extend the possibilities that lay before him in the cultivation of the soil and the raising of stock. While his own labors have been crowned with substantial success, his life has also been one of intense usefulness to the community and to the country at large. He has contributed much to the world’s work and may well be termed a benefactor by the agricultural community, yet he remains today the same genial gentleman, whose simplicity of manner and unfeigned cordiality gained him friendship and high regard wherever he is known.”

I am copying this for genealogical purposes and am not related to said individuals.