Lewis A. Werry

Lewis A. Werry, who is now president of The James Bayne Company, one of the important commercial printing concerns in the city of Grand Rapids, was born on a farm forty miles to the east of the city of Toronto, Canada, November 12, 1870, and is a son of Thomas and Eliza Werry, both of whom were born in England, and both of whom were children at the time of the removal of the respective families to Canada. Lewis A. Werry was reared on the home farm and profited by the advantages of the excellent public schools of his native province. His ambition as a boy and youth was to fit himself for business life rather than that of the farm, and thus he spared no effort in advancing his education. He worked on the farm during his school vacations and while still identified with the basic industry of agriculture he was informed that a newspaper editor and publisher in a nearby town was in need of a boy to assist in the establishment. Mr. Werry presented himself, made application for the position, and was duly accepted. In this printing office he served an apprenticeship of four years, and it has consistently been said that the discipline of a printing and newspaper office is the equivalent of a liberal education. Mr. Werry became a skilled compositor and learned also other details of the printing business. At the age of twenty years he found employment in a large catalogue printing establishment in the city of Toronto, where he greatly amplified his experience and where he remained from 1890 to 1892. Thereafter, as a journeyman at his trade, he was employed in printing establishments in Buffalo, Detroit, and Cincinnati, and in 1895 he came to Grand Rapids and took a position with the James Bayne Company, which was then a small concern here engaged in commercial photography and engraving and at that time just establishing a printing department as an addition to its business. Of this new department Mr. Werry eventually became the superintendent, after having served as compositor and foreman, and his ability and vigorous and effective management not only brought substantial success to the business but also proved a medium for his advancement. In 1900 he became a stockholder of the company, in 1905 he was chosen a member of its board of directors, in 1913 he became vice-president of the company, the year 1915 having been marked by his assumption of the dual office of secretary and treasurer, the while he retained also the office of vice-president, and upon the death of James Bayne, in 1924, Mr. Werry succeeded the latter as president of the company, the position of which he is now the resourceful and progressive incumbent. He has had a large part in the upbuilding of the large and prosperous business of this corporation and in giving to it much of leadership among similar concerns in western Michigan.