Henry Garsson was a true Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Recognized as a brilant metailurgical engineer, he claimed degrees from both St. Lawrence and New York universities. But he had a seamy side; earlier bribery allegations and a brother with whom he worked closely, Murray Garsson, who had a long record of arrests and reported association with such gangsters as Dutch Schultz and Al Capone. He was described as tough, crude and with­out manners.

---

 

U.S. Wind Engine Factory that became Batavia Metal Products

 

In 1940 Louis Segal, of the Segal Lock & Hardware Company, employed Dr. Garsson as a consulting engineer, specializing in manufacturing set-up and reorganization. Although the em­ployment contract specifically forbade his negotiation of contracts on Segal Lock's behalf, shortly before the bombing of Pearl Harbor Garsson wrote the Chemical Warfare Service in Washing­ton, requesting a contract to manufac­ture 300,000 4.2 inch chemical mortar shells. He wrote the letter on Segal Lock's letterhead, and the facilities he described for manufacturing the shells were those of Segal Lock. The com­pany bidding for the contract, he iden­tified as Erie Basin Metal Products, a Segal Lock subsidiary organized un­der the laws of the State of New York.

 

The Machine Shop was located in the lower level of the building adjoin­ing to the south, and was somewhat below ground level. Emil Kalis was foreman of the Machine Shop, where machining of the castings for use in the windmills was done. Windmill heads were also assembled here, and windmill towers were made here. Also, the Paint Department was located here. The Machine Shop was large, though not as large as the Foundry. I remember Luke Montgomery and his brother, Del Montgomery, worked here. At the time I thought they were in their 80s, but though they were old, they were probably not that old. They performed relatively simple tasks. I always thought that they were prob­ably kept on because of their years of service. This was probably true, Social Security was only a year or two old. I believe the old companies had hearts. In their dealing with their employees - they sure didn't have much money.

The second floor above the Machine Shop was not as large an area as the lower floor. J. August Lund was Mas­ter Mechanic (Chief Engineer) and his office was here, together with toolrnak-ers Arvid Soderhoim, Henry Senft and Axel Anderson. Werner "Pickles" Phanenbecker worked here also and was the pattern maker for the patterns used in the Foundry. Al Hermes was the Superintendent of the plant and had his office here, and Electrician Ture Andrews and Maintenance Man Arvid Johnson also worked out of here.

The Stockroom was located on the north side of the second floor, and Frank Anderson was the man here, where parts of all kinds were kept, in­cluding parts and supplies for dealer and farmer customers.

The third floor of this building con­tained the Office, which was just as old fashioned as the rest of the plant. En­trance from the street to the office was from a doorway on River Street, a stair­way to a walkway which crossed over the Yard to reach the Office.

There was a small glassed-in waiting area with a bench. Hazel O'Boyle was the receptionist and telephone operator, as well as having other duties. Frank Snow, the President, had a private office in the northwest corner, and there were two glassed-in offices, one of which Alan Larson used. The rest of the of­fice force had desks throughout the room. It was a good group of people and it was really a wonderful experi­ence to have worked with these men, many of them 30 or 40 years older than I was.

The next building to the south of the Machine Shop was a somewhat newer building in which were the Shipping Department, the Foreign Packing De­partment and some warehousing, all on the first floor. Ray Feldman was the Shipping Clerk, aided by Howard Engstrorn. Hal Miller was the foreman of the Foreign Packing. Asher High, father of Fern Anderson, worked here - a different name.

Lest it be thought that the many Swedes predominated, though there were many, there were quite a few oth­ers. Al Herrnes was Superintendent, brother Nick was foreman of the Core  Room, brother Joe was Yard foreman, brother Matt worked in the Steel Tank Room and brother Joe also worked in the Core Room. Hal Miller was fore­man of the Foreign Packing, brother Ed was foreman of the Pump Room and brother Bill was truck driver. Then there were Phanenbecker, Maves, Kielion, Kline, Stroebel, Thrun, Kalis, Doty, Hambel, Danielak, Schielke, Miller, Krause, Cronk, Seeiey, Uberle, Stone, Bortner, McCurdy, Kouzes, Nurnberg, Rasimaucus, Regelbrugge, Milroy, Hansford, Tornberg, Gebes, Shipman, Schroeder, Brookings, Chapps, Hoovey, Treest, Batey, Read, Cook, Ahrens, Rudd, Bricher, Cleland, Krieger, Fry, Ernzen, Harker, Buckner, Thomle, Hall, Lewis, and others. Come to think of it, maybe there weren't so many Swedes. Perhaps I should list all the Swedes.

On the second floor above the Ship­ping was the Gas Engine Room of which Walter Stone was the foreman, a real fine man. There were probably half a dozen employees, and at this i time I don't believe they were still manufacturing gas engines. This was another machine shop, but I don't re­member exactly what parts they ma­chined.

The Hoop Room was located in the building at the south end of the west side buildings. Adolph "Snus" Erickson was the foreman and had a small force. In addition to the hoops for the wood tanks I believe they also made the steel towers which were used to support the wood water tanks.

The steel lowers and the wood tanks were erected on location. The parts were shipped to the location, and con­struction crews from the Challenge were sent to erect the tanks and tow­ers. Harry "Pawnee" Redborg, David "Gam" Anderson and Eric Coleman were the erectors in the early 40s. Another building was the wooden warehouse built on piers over the river. This building burned down a number of years ago as noted below, but the piers are still there (1996).

I'm sure there were plenty of problems among employees at the Challenge Company before the war as with any company. However, I remember it as one of the best places I ever worked as far as the people and their helpfulness and trying to get along with each other and make the best of some tough times.

After the war I went back to work at the Challenge Company, which had been acquired by the infamous Garsson brothers. In early 1946 Art Swanson, then manager of the Chal­lenge Company, announced that ac­cumulated back orders from the war years were to be canceled. The pow­ers that be had decided to go into mass production of the windmill for sale in foreign countries where demand would be great in the aftermath of World War II. When I left the company shortly after this, the old warehouse over the river, which later burned, was full of assembled windmill heads awaiting completion of the wheels and vanes. To my knowledge none of these were ever shipped as the United Stales Gov­ernment closed down the Batavia Metal Products and the Challenge Company and brought an end to the Garssons' enterprise and windmills in Batavia.

With the great built-up demand for products of all kinds after the end of World War II and the Depression, I of­ten wonder what the impact of the clos­ing of the U.S. (Batavia Metal Products) and the Challenge in 1946 was on Batavia. To remove two factories with 400 or more employees from the city at a time when they could hardly have helped but prosper certainly hurt the local economy.

Depot Museum Happenings

The fall has been a very busy time at the museum. We have started to see some of the third grade classes as they start the Batavia History unit, and a couple of scout groups that are work­ing on their "community badges."

The fall museum volunteer trip, on October 23, to the Lee Rollo museum in Shabbona and the Elwood House in DeKalb was well attended, and ev­eryone had a good time despite the weather.

All of the painting is now complete with the exception of the caboose. A new roof and a few other minor repairs on the caboose have been finished in anticipation of the final work and paint that will be done in the spring.

The museum volunteer Christmas party was held on December 5, and was a great success with 56 volunteers in attendance - again despite the bad weather. (There must be something about the volunteer events that causes a weather change!) A catered lunch was was served, and the participants were entertained by "Regis and Ms.T," a lo­cal duet that put on a wonderful Christ­mas show. All of the volunteers re­ceived the 1996 Christmas ornament as a gift for their dedication to the mu­seum.

We now have a new alarm system installed at the museum, which in­cludes badly needed smoke and heat detectors. The safety of our collection, which continues to grow in size and value, is very important.

While the museum is closed for the winter season, Chris Winter and I hope to continue working on the upstairs storage area, and we will be making some additions and repairs to our ex­hibit areas.

As I close, I want to thank all of the dedicated volunteers and Society Board members for their continued support in 1996 and look forward to another successful year in 1997.

United Methodist Church of Batavia Its First 16O Years

This is the second in a series of histo­ries of Batavia's churches. For the United Methodist church of Batavia's sesquicentennial celebration in 1986, Lydia Jeane Stafney prepared a fas­cinating 46-page history. That history provides most of the information that appears in this article about happen­ings prior to 1986, Anyone who has an opportunity would find it worthwhile and enjoyable to read the entire his­tory, which mentions names of many persons who are an important part of Batavia's history.

In 1836, newly arrived Methodists in the Fox River Valley organized a church in the home of William Van Nortwick - the first religious organi­zation within the present city limits. It continued to meet in the Van Nortwick home until 1852 when the growing congregation built its first church. Al­though there have been several changes over the past 160 years in the name of the church now located a 7 North Batavia Avenue, and of the de-lomination to which it belongs, the Methodist Church of Batavia is a direct descendant of that simple be­ginning.

Although knowledge about develop­ments in the church to 1844 is limited, some of the Quarterly Conference record books make interesting read­ing. Misdemeanors within a congre­gation were quickly and severely pun­ished by the local church, with the Quarterly Conference as the final judge of the accusation and the pun­ishment. In 1844, for example, Lucy Sibly was charged with two counts: first, "Evil Speaking," and second, "Im­morality" in making false statements. Mr. Sibly was called and agreed that his wife talked too much, for which he had reprimanded her but to no avail -- but he said she was not the only tat­tler. Be that as it may, the church Council agreed that Mrs, Sibly was a troublemaker and expelled her. The Quarterly Conference failed to act upon the appeal.

The first Board of Trustees in the 1850s included C. H. Brown, William Van Nortwick, Benjamin Smith, F .H. Warner, and H. Hoyt. Lev! Newlon, fa­ther of Don Carlos Newlon, was a steward, and James Rockwell served as Sunday School Superintendent. The Sunday School, which seemed to be the center of the church work, re­ported an average attendance of 85.

In 1852 the congregation erected its first church building, a native lime­stone, two-story, Greek Revival struc­ture¹, at a cost of $5,141. This sum was partially raised by subscription, but an indebtedness of $1,700 that had not been provided for reportedly caused the trustees considerable con­cern for a number of years. Soon after the building's completion the congre­gation, which had been served by a series of itinerant and part-time minis­ters, was eager to have a full-time pas­tor. The Rev. E. H. Gammon was ap­pointed, with an annual salary of $560.90 (it is not evident how this odd amount came into being). He served for only one year before being ap­pointed presiding elder (a position now known as district superintendent) - but more about him later when he played an even larger part in the life of the Batavia church.

The church, which has been main­tained in essentially its initial form (ex­cept for the compatible addition at the rear discussed later), was entered in the National Register of Historic Places on July 28, 1983. Architect Michael A. Dixon, who helped gain its nomination to the National Register, wrote that it "is characterized by a grand scale, intricate massing, dy­namic contrasts, complicated three di­mensionality, a richness of texture and opulent detail. The integrity of total design, from overall concept to the in­tricate details of the stained glass win­dows, pews and selection of materi­als can be seen at the United Meth­odist Church of Batavia."

The pipe organ that had been given to the old church by Mrs. Gammon and Mrs. Newton was moved to the new church. At that time it was pow­ered by the pumping of a young boy. In 1909 the board voted to purchase a rotary water motor; eight years later, an electric motor was installed. This organ served until 1952 when it became too difficult and expensive to repair, and the church purchased an electric Kimball organ.

In 1906 Batavia had no gymna­sium, and the church's board voted to build one behind the church. Al­though people laughingly referred to this as the "cracker box gym" (the balcony was too narrow to accommo­date many spectators), it was home to the 1912 Batavia High School bas­ketball team that won the state cham­pionship. When the new high school was built in 1915, it included a gym­nasium, and the church gave the equipment to the new high school. Two years later, Hubbard and Johnson's bought the old gym for $450 and attached it to their store. Under the carpeting of the northwest corner of Hubbard's store today, all the old basketball markings are still on the floor.

From its prosperous position up through the 1920s, Batavia Method­ist fell on extremely hard times when the Great Depression of the 1930s - struck.Yearbyyearthesituation grew worse. The endowment funds left to the church were shortly cut in half and later became worthless. The estimated cost of operating the church was $64.44 per week while pledges received were about $50 per week. Large sums were owed to Kahlke Lumber and Coal Co., but fortunately Henry Kahlke was both a generous and a patient man. After 1933 the church decided to have a student from Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston serve as pastor.

With the 1940 union of three princi­pal branches of Methodism in this country, the combined denomination shortened its name, and what had been known locally as the First Meth­odist Episcopal church became First Methodist Church. In that same year, board minutes mention the arrival of numerous newcomers, three of whom soon became particularly active in the church's affairs: Carl Furnas, J. Maynard Dixon, and George Erdman. Carl and Leto Furnas had moved the Furnas Electric Company from Wis­consin to Batavia and brought with them a number of families who were also Methodist. Coming as they did when the war was about to start and the Depression was ending, they gave the church a needed financial stabil­ity and a renewed involvement in many activities. One direct result was the decision to employ a full-time min­ister rather than relying on a student pastor as had been the case since 1933.

In 1969 came another change in the name of the church. When the Evan­gelical United Brethren Church in this country united with the Methodist Church, the word "United" was added, and the name of the Batavia church became the First United Methodist Church. Although the local E.U.B, Church did not join the First Method­ist church in Batavia, several families came from that church to join the United Methodist Church. Then, two years later came another name change when the McKee Street United Methodist Church, originally or­ganized by Swedish immigrants in 1971, and the First United Methodist Church united; with only one Method­ist church in Batavia, the "First" in its name was no longer necessary. The McKee Street church building is now the home of the New Life Assembly of God in Batavia.

In 1985, looking toward the next year's sequicentennial celebration of the church's founding, the trustees borrowed $45,000 to improve the ex­terior of the church and the grounds. After the exterior walls were spray cleaned with an acid and tuck point­ing had been completed, everyone was amazed to notice the various col­ors of the boulders - something to which the builder had given special attention when he carefully selected them, mainly from his own farm, in 1887,This, in addition to landscaping and floodlighting, greatly enhanced the church's outside appearance.

By this time, the church was facing a growing need for expanded facilities. Michael Dixon, the architect who had earlier assisted with obtaining the church's National Registry listing, de­signed a 13,000 square foot addition at the rear that would be architectur­ally compatible with the existing struc­ture and almost double the usable space. Ground was broken for this ad­dition on June 25,1989, but problems including the discovery of a buried oil tank under the proposed building site delayed completion. The new space, which provided for a large meeting hall, kitchen, and classroom and of­fice facilities at a cost of approximately $1,200,000, was dedicated on Eas­ter Sunday in 1992.

With this addition, the United Meth­odist Church of Batavia is well posi­tioned to continue serving the religious needs of its growing membership for the foreseeable future.

¹When the present church was built in 1887/8, the old church became a school and continued as such until 1975. In 1977, the Board of Education sold it to an insurance agency, which tastefully renovated it to serve as office space. The building is located at the intersection of First Street and Lincoln Avenue.

'Beman is best known for his work as commissioned by George M. Pullman in 1879 for designing the complete in­dustrial town of Pullman, 14 miles south of the heart of Chicago, Other Beman designed structures include Chicago's 1889 Grand Central Station (demol­ished) and the 1884 Studebaker Build­ing at 410 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

My Biography - Mary B. Chapman

"Always a Batavia Girl in My Heart"

1906 - 1996

Mary B. Chapman, a descendant of the Batavia pioneer Van Nortwick and Burton families, died September 29,1996, leaving the Batavia Historical Society nine paintings and a music box with an appraisal value of $17,000. Among her papers, Robert O. and Lucy Anderson found the following autobi­ography that Mrs. Chapman had written not long before her death.The Andersons, who made this available to The Batavia Histo­rian for publication, surmised that she may have even had the Historian in rnind when she wrote this brief story of her life.

I attended the Grace McWayne school and middle westside school. My first year of high school was in the then new building on the corner of Wilson Street and Batavia Avenue. At that time I was fifteen years old and, because I was an only child, my parents decided to send me to boarding school where! would have the experience of sharing with children my own age. ! was sent to The Principia in St. Louis, Missouri.

I won a music scholarship and gradu­ated at seventeen. The next two years I studied the organ at the Sherwood Music School in Chicago. I played the organ in the Congregational Church of Batavia and gave piano lessons. Mrs. Raftery invited me to work for The Little Traveler shop in Geneva. It was a thrilling experience because I bought for the shop in Chicago and New York and went to Europe with Mrs. Raftery.

In 1936 I married Reginald B. Chapman of Aurora. He was a chemi­cal engineer and worked forthe Ameri­can Well Works. In 1937, the depth of the depression, rny father died leaving me a farm on west Main Street. My husband lost his job when the Well Works went bank­rupt and closed. He had spend sum­mers on farms as a teenager. There­fore, we decided to become farmers on my farm. It was quite a job for both of us. With the help of friends and neighbors, we made a go of it. After ten years it was time to retire. I let the county have my thirty-nine acres of woods next to Nelson Lake. We named it "The Burton Wildlife Preserve" in memory of my father. People may study birds and plant life, but no par­ties or picnics are allowed.

After thirty happy years, I lost my husband. He died in 1966. I am a widow and still live in the house we bought at 717 Peck Road in Geneva. However, I shall always remain a Batavia girl in my heart.

BATAVIANS 1 HAVE KNOWN - Stanley A. Johnson

by Elliott Lundberg

Not long after the TITANIC was sunk on April 14, 1912, 15-year old Stanley Johnson sailed for the United States, accompanied by his grandfather.

When the ship arrived at a point near where the TITANIC had sunk, it slowed. Ail passengers had been in­vited to be on deck for a memorial ser­vice during which Mrs. John Jacob Astor, who had survived the sinking, threw a wreath of flowers on the ocean in memory of her husband. After the service, Mrs. Astor greeted passengers and kissed the young children. Stanley thereafter pro­claimed with pride that he had been kissed by Mrs. Astor, one of the wealthiest women in the country at the time.

Stanley was born February 18, 1897, in Yorkshire, England. When he arrived in Batavia, he resided with his uncle, Edouard Coreay. Mr. Coreay found a job for Stanley as an office boy at his place of employment, the Appleton Manufacturing Company. Stanley started at the salary of 5 cents an hour, $2.00 a week for a 40 hour week, although at that time he prob­ably worked longer than 40 hours.

It didn't take Stanley long to find out his salary was not sufficient to support much of a lifestyle. He approached Mr. Hobler, the office manager, and ad­vised that he just couldn't get along on 5 cents an hour. Mr. Hobler took this request under advisement. In Stanley's next pay envelope, he found that his salary had been increased to 8 cents an hour, $3.20 for a 40 hour week, or a 60 percent increase. Stanley often referred to this as the biggest raise he ever received.

Including his time of service in the U.S. Army during World War!, Stanley worked at the Appleton for 25 years or more. He then worked at the Burgess Norton Manufacturing Company in Geneva until retirement. He was fi­nance officer of the Batavia Post #504, American Legion, for over 50 years. He was married to Hattie Swan for many years, and he nursed Hattie at home for some years before her death.

After her death, he lived a number of years at their house at 720 Houston Street, where he escorted neighbor­hood children to school and generally managed the affairs of the neighbor­hood.

Stanley A. Johnson died July 5, 1989, at the age of 92.

More New Members

Since the July issue, we have added a number of new Society members. We welcome the following persons (all from Batavia unless otherwise noted) who took out annual individual or family memberships through the end of the year:

Barbara C. Balfour

Jeanne E. Bernhardt

Gust and Mary Flodstrom

Arn and Susan Johnson

Melvin Johnson

Janet R McGurn

Mary F. Muntz

M.S. Pierson

Ed Reeder (Aurora)

Gerald Schramer (Bellingham, WA)

Jacqueline Shanahan (Sugar Grove)

Dick Shewalter (St. Charles)

Nancy E. Springborn Randak (Thousand Oaks, CA)

JoAnn Stevens

William F. Springborn (Leland)

Duane & Ellen Stone

Clayton Totz (Geneva)

and Joyce M. Zahay.

In addition, the following persons, all from Batavia, have become Life Members:

Robert B. O'Connor

Michael A. Krischler

and Mrs. Robert Wormwood.

In recent months, several persons have given memberships to their children or friends who no longer live in Batavia. This is a thoughtful, and inexpensive, way to help these persons maintain old ties. You might want to consider doing this for someone you know.

Pot-Luck, Entertainment and Election of Officers at Christmas General Meeting

Patricia Will Vice-President and Program Chair

Our general meeting and pot-luck dinner was held on Sunday, December 1, at Bethany Lutheran Church. Even though Old Man Winter had reared his ugly head, close to 90 members turned out for this annual event.

Following dinner the follow­ing members were elected to office at the business meeting:

Bert and Ruth Johnson   Co-Presidents
Kathryn Fairbairn  Recording Secretary
Jerry Harris   Treasurer

Bill Hall and Marilyn Robinson    Directors

Continuing their terms in office were:

Patty Will   Vice-President
Georgene Kauth   Corresponding Secretary
Carole Dunn, Tim Mair and Bill Wood  Directors

Special thanks are due Bob and Francine Popeck and Ray Anderson for their years of commitment and service.

Roger Dayton of Pedals, Pumpers & Rolls, Ltd. provided our entertainment. Along with music boxes donated to the Society by the Van Nortwick and Chapman estates, Mr. Dayton brought a few from his personal collection. Each had its unique history, but what beautiful music came from these fascinating pieces.

We wish you all a wondrous New Year.

Society Loses Members Through Death

Since the issuance of the July 1996 newsletter, the Society has lost the fol­lowing members through death (date of initial membership and any offices held shown in parentheses):

Herbert Carlson (1968; Treasurer);

Mary (Mrs. R.B.) Chapman (Life mem­ber) - see her brief story of her life in this issue;

Pauline Faeth (1981);

Helen (Giff) Johnson (1961);

Miriam Johnson (Charter/Life member, first Secretary, Vice President, and long-timeTrustee) -- a story about her when she moved to her niece's home ap­peared in the last issue;

and Carl Wicklund (Honorary member).

We may occasionally miss learning of a member's death and would ap­preciate having any omissions called to our attention so that we can make corrections.

This information is par­ticularly important for our many out-of-town members.