Short Biography of Elwood W. McGuire

Elwood Whitney McGuire was born at Eaton, Preble county, Ohio, May 5, 1854, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ezekiel Whitney McGuire, the former born in the Empire State, Dec. 25, 1813, and the latter in Lawrenceburg, Ind. The ancestors of Ezekiel Whitney McGuire on both sides were of Plymouth Rock stock and several of his uncles were with Washington at Valley Forge, being officers in the Continental army. His father died in 1822, leaving him, at the age of nine years, to make his own way in the world. At this early age he began his business career as a clerk in his uncle's general store and remained there until twenty-one years of age, when he left home to seek his fortune in the West. He landed in Cincinnati, Ohio, and being a good accountant had no trouble in finding employment. He finally settled in Lawrenceburg, Ind., where he married Eliza Amanda Hunt, daughter of Jesse Hunt, and after a time removed to Eaton, Ohio, to assume the secretaryship of the Eaton & Hamilton railroad. He remained in the employ of that corporation and the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railway, as an official and director, about fifty years, or until a few years of his death. He was a staunch supporter of the Federal government during the Civil war, devoting his energy and a large amount of his personal property to assist the government during those times. He died at the age of eighty-six years and is buried in Earlham Cemetery, in Richmond, Ind. Of his wife's family little is known except that her parents and grandparents came to Ohio from Maryland at an early day. There was a large family and they took up land close to Cincinnati and about the mouth of the Great Miami river. They became prosperous farmers, and Jesse Hunt, the maternal grandfather of Elwood W. McGuire, was a carpenter and builder and assisted in laying out and building the town of Lawrenceburg, Ind., living there and raising a large family. Elwood Whitney McGuire was orphaned when nine years old by the death of his mother, and was educated in the grammar schools at Eaton, Ohio, with one year at Whitewater College, at Centerville, Ind.; and finished his school days in the high school at Lawrenceburg, Ind. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed by his father to learn the trade of a wood patter maker, with the Quaker City Machine Works, at Richmond, and in this vocation was employed until nineteen years of age. Then, after spending a year in travel, he returned to Richmond and worked at his trade until the spring of 1875, when he formed a partnership with Henry H. Dille, a machinist and model maker. They opened a small machine shop on Fort Wayne avenue, with a modest sign above the door reading "Dille & McGuire, Machine Shop." Mr. Dille had a few tools and Mr. McGuire supplied from his savings several hundred dollars, which was used to purchase additional tools and machinery. For quite a while they did what work came to them without the assistance of additional help, but were finally compelled to employ several workmen. While the business appeared to be good it was hard sailing, and it was a question with them whether they would succeed or not. Competition was keen and prices for work low. They tried to make a clean-up each Saturday night, paying all employes and bills due, and what was left they divided between themselves, but frequently this did not amount to half of what their wages would have been had they been working as employes at their trade. However, they were building up a business, and with this in mind worked on. One day, in the spring of 1876, there came to their little shop a clumsy little machine to be repaired. It was called a lawn mower. The proprietors of the shop had never seen such a thing before and afterwards learned there were but two in the county, of which one had been brought to them for repairs. Having repaired cutter boxes and fodder cutters, they had no trouble in putting this machine in first-class condition, and at the same time, the idea struck Mr. McGuire that they could improve upon the machine and make it a lighter and better mower. The partners were so impressed with this idea that drawings were made for a new mower, patterns were gotten out, and the first lawn mower ever made in this part of the country was soon on exhibition in their shop. They applied for and obtained United States patents for their improved lawn mower and began at once the manufacture of them; but on account of the almost prohibitive price at which the machines had to be sold, they could only dispose of a few of them at first. A small twelve-inch machine was sold at $12, or $1 per inch for the length of cut. However, the business soon began to grow, more room was required in their shop, as well as capital to carry on the manufacture of the machines. In 1880 a company was incorporated and new quarters were obtained. At first the company was known as the Richmond Lawn Mower Company, but owing to several suits that threatened on account of the Eastern Manufacturers' Association, it was thought best to change the name of the firm to "Dille & McGuire Manufacturing Company," and from that day to this the name has not been changed. At the present time Elwood W. McGuire is the only surviving member of the original firm, he having purchased the interests of the other partners in 1890, since which time he and his family have carried on the business under the old firm name, as the name and the mowers are well and favorably known the world over. At the time Mr. McGuire purchased the interests of his partners the company was almost hopelessly in debt, having been defendants in a number of suits brought by a combination of Eastern manufacturers, who endeavored to put the Richmond plant out of business. Having this to contend with and without any financial backing except his own credit, Mr. McGuire succeeded, by close attention to business and hard work, in building up the largest and most successful lawn mower manufacturing company in the world. To-day the Dille & McGuire Manufacturing Company, of which he is the president and general manager, enjoys the highest financial standing and credit, with a capacity of turning out a lawn mower, box branded and ready for shipment, each minute of the working day. In addition to the Dille & McGuire Manufacturing Company, Mr. McGuire has interests in several other prosperous manufacturing and mercantile institutions of the city. He is a director in the Union National Bank and a stockholder in the Union and Second National Banks, as well as the Dickinson Trust Company. He has given thousand of dollars to charitable institutions, never allowing a worthy cause to go unaided. In politics he gives allegiance to the Republican party, but has no political ambitions, devoting his energies to the many business enterprises in which he is interested. Fraternally, he is a member of the Cour de Lion Lodge, Knights of Pythias, having joined the order in 1877, and he is a Past Chancellor and member of the Grand Lodge. He is also a charter member of the Richmond lodge of Elks. He was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian church. Mr. McGuire was marred in Richmond, Ind., June 15, 1874, to Miss Esther Elderkin, and of this union were born the following named children: Charles A., Clem (deceased), Edna A., and Mary Florence. Charles A. McGuire is married to Blanche O. Scott, and they have two children—Whitney Scott and Scott Charles.

Source: "Memoirs of Wayne County and the city of Richmond, Indiana; from the earliest historical times down to the present, including a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in Wayne County" ⁶⁶⁹