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Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 99 - 100 |
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LEWIS J. TRIPP
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The complexity of business life is continually increasing and those who are found capable of controlling successfully important business interests are well worthy of being termed "captains of industry." Such a man is Lewis J. Tripp, who stands at the head of one of the leading industrial interests of Wexford county, being the proprietor of the Mesick Turning Works, of Mesick, in which he employs forty workmen in the manufacture of broom handles. Mr. Tripp is a native son of Michigan, his birth having occurred in Kalamazoo county, on the 26th day of March, 1867. His parents are Allen C. and Sarah A. (Kilgore) Tripp, the former a native of Onondaga county, New York, and the latter of Kalamazoo county, Michigan. They are still residing in the latter county and their two sons, Joseph S. and Lewis J., are also living, so that the family circle yet remains unbroken by the hand of death. Reared under the parental roof, Lewis J. Tripp pursued his education in the schools of Kalamazoo and in Parsons Business College, of which he is a graduate. On putting aside his text-books he entered upon his business career, being at that time seventeen years of age. He began bee culture in Pavilion township, Kalamazoo county, having then but one swarm, but within seven years he had increased his apiary to one hundred and forty colonies and his annual sales of honey brought to him a good financial return. At the end of that time he sold his apiary for nine hundred dollars and with the proceeds of the business he went to Jackson, Michigan, where he purchased an interest in the bee hive and box factory of W. D. Soper, the firm name of W. D. Soper & Company being adopted. Mr. Tripp was connected with that business until a year and a half had passed, when he sold his interest and came to Wexford county, arriving here in the spring of 1892. Here he began the manufacture of coiled elm barrel hoops and soon afterward added another department to his businessthe manufacture of broom handles. Subsequently he discontinued the manufacture of barrel hoops and now gives his entire attention to making broom handles, his industry being conducted under the name of the Mesick Turning Works. This has grown to large proportions, necessitating the employment of forty men in the factory and he annually turns out six million broom handles, his product finding a ready sale on the market. He has equipped his factory with the latest improved machinery needed in his line and now has a large and profitable business which adds not a little to the commercial activity of the town. In Jackson, Michigan, on the 16th of September, 1891, Mr. Tripp was united in marriage to Miss Esther Gee, who was born in Monroe county, this state, July 14, 1868, a daughter of Luman and Maggie A. Gee. Two children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Tripp: Oliver A. and Leo C. Mr. Tripp is one of the leading Republicans of Springville township, believing firmly in the principles of his party and doing everything in his power to promote its growth and insure its success. Fraternally he is prominent, being a valued member of Sherman Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Sherman Camp No. 2240, Modern Woodmen of America, and Cadillac Lodge No. 680, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. A man of great natural ability, his success in business from the beginning of his residence in Wexford county has been uniform and rapid. As has been truly remarked, after all that may be done for a man in the way of giving him early opportunities, he must nevertheless essentially formulate, determine and give shape to his own character, and. this is what Mr. Tripp has done. He has persevered in the pursuit of a persistent purpose and has gained a most satisfactory reward, and his business methods, being in strict conformity to the highest commercial ethics, have gained him uniform confidence and regard. |