History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

1702

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

Potter, the foreman, has been connected with the factory continuously
since I870. The present officers of the company are: Alfred E. Bousfield, president; Charles J. Bousfield, vice-president; and R. E. Bousfield, secretary.
John Bousfield, the father of these brothers, came as a young man
to America from England, where he was born, and settled at Kirkland,
Lake county, Ohio, where he learned the pail-making and engaged in
the manufacture of that article by hand. He! afterwards put in waterpower machinery, and later moved to Cleveland, where he was the first
manufacturer of pails in the west, gradually increasing his business until
he was the largest manufacturer in his line in the country, a reputation
which his sons have since maintained. The father was associated for
some time with John Pool, under the firm name of Bousfield & Pool,
Manufacturing Company. In 1875 they met with reverses and dissolved
partnership. Subsequently Mr. Bousfield became the organizer of the
Ohio Woodenware Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, which was
operated until I88I. John Bousfield continued his relations with the
business until his death in I888, at the age of sixty-nine years, although
his home remained in Cleveland. He possessed, along with great organizing and executive capacity, a mechanical genius and was the inventor
of numerous machines and appliances which are still used in the business. Besides his connection with the line of manufacturing which
brought him his original success, he was one of the founders of the Gas
Company in Cleveland, and assisted in the organization of two financial institutions, being for some years president of the People's Savings
& Loan Bank of that city. A stanch Republican, he was a man of eminent public spirit, and was regarded as a pillar in the Congregational
church. John Bousfield married Miss Sarah Featherstone, who was
born in England and came to America with her parents, who were farming people of Kirkland, Ohio. Of the ten children born to their union,
six are still living: Charlotta A., who is now Mrs. Hannum of Cleveland; Emma L., who is Mrs. Darby, of St. Louis, Missouri; Edward
F., formerly connected with the active management of the plant at Bay
City and still a stockholder in the Bousfield Woodenware Company;
and the three brothers who have already been mentioned as officers of
the firm.
Alfred E. Bousfield was born at Fairport, Ohio, January 28, 1855,
but was reared and educated in the city of Cleveland, attending the public schools. At the age of fifteen he entered the Mount Pleasant Military
Academy at Sing Sing, New York, and two years later entered upon his
business career as bookkeeper for a coal company at Cleveland. His
first year's experience was followed by his being taken into his father's
factory, where he learned every detail from that of the humblest workman to the highest executive position. In March, I875, in company
with his brother Edward, Mr. Bousfield came to Bay City and bought
the factory belonging to the Bay City Woodenware Company. It was
a small industry, with a good product but with little distribution beyond local limits. The new owners increased the plant five times in
capacity and introduced the progressive methods which have always
characterized this important industry. In I89O the entire establishment
was destroyed by fire, resulting in the loss of the new buildings and all
the stock, representing a financial loss of sixty thousand dollars above
insurance. No time was lost in rebuilding, two hundred men were set
to work in replacing the plant, and in a short time the site was covered
with larger and still more substantial buildings. Business was in operation by October of the same year, and since then has continued without
interruption, constantly growing in strength, scope and importance. The