Louis Cassius Upton (October 10, 1886 – October 9, 1952) was an American entrepreneur best known for co-founding the Whirlpool Corporation (originally known as Upton Machine Company) with his uncle Emory Upton and investor Lowell Bassford in 1911.The Herald Press,"Upton Machine Co. – Benton Harbor and Chicago Concern Take Out Articles of Association", St. Joseph Evening Herald, November 7, 1911.
Early life Louis Cassius Upton was born in Fredonia, New York on October 10, 1886, and was the first of four children of Carrie Upton (née Blogett) and Cassius Marcelus Upton. His father, Cassius was a lawyer by training who founded a publishing business in the late 1890s. Louis had one younger brother, Frederick, and three younger sisters.
In 1903, when Louis was 17 and a junior in high school, his father was killed in a streetcar accident in Chicago. Louis got a job selling insurance to help support the family at the same time that he was completing high school.Herald Palladium,"The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, June 5, 2011
Business career Louis Upton graduated in 1908 from Lake Forest Academy in Lake Forest, Illinois.Lake Forest Academy and Ferry Hall Archives,, Louis Cassius Upton Senior Yearbook Portrait, 1908
Early career Upon graduation, Upton attempted to sell insurance to W.S. Klein, the secretary-treasurer of the Commonwealth Edison company. Although Klein did not buy insurance, he was impressed by Upton and offered him a job, which Upton accepted. At Edison, Upton was introduced to the fast-developing field of electricity, and he became obsessed with the idea of making an electric washing machine. In 1908, Upton was approached by E.C. Williams, a hardware merchant in South Bend, Indiana, who wanted to organize a company to manufacture home washers. Williams planned to open a factory in South Bend, and asked Upton to handle the sales department. Williams needed capital, and Upton offered the $500 he had saved. When the firm almost immediately went bankrupt. The owner, E.C. Williams, felt responsible for Louis' loss and told him he could take a patent of his choosing as compensation for his loss. Upton chose a patent on a hand-powered washing machine. He believed the washer could someday have an electric motor attached to it.Herald Palladium,"The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, June 5, 2011
Fabrication of the electric washer
Upton was not deterred by the E.C. Williams Manufacturing Co. failure. He took the hand washer patent to his uncle, Emory Upton, a mechanic in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and asked him to motorize it to be powered by electricity.Herald Palladium,"The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, June 5, 2011 He also returned to his job at Commonwealth Edison. This was not to be the first electric washing machine. Although the first electric washing machine is credited to A.J. Fisher in 1907, there were patents filed for such machines before Fisher's application.Lee Maxwell,"Who Invented the Electric Washing Machine? An Example of how Patents are Misused by Historians", Lee Maxwell, February 19, 2009
Eventually, Emory Upton built a transmission that worked. Louis Upton took the electric washer to Federal Electric Company, a company affiliated with Commonwealth Edison, and talked them into ordering 100 washers to be sold on the retail market for $85 each. He set up a shop in Benton Harbor where, with the help of his brother Frederick, he built the electric washers while commuting to his job at Commonwealth Edison in Chicago, approximately 100 miles away. It was said that Louis painted the washers by hand, and Frederick crated them and took them by horse-drawn cart to the shipping point.Herald Palladium,"Louis C. Upton's Determination And Vision Overcame All Obstacles", Herald Palladium, October 10, 1952
Louis and Frederick Upton delivered the 100 washing machines. However, a major problem arose: with daily use, the gears of every washer broke down. Federal Electric's president, John F. Gilchrist, summoned the 25-year-old Upton to his office and demanded the money back saying, “Your product is a failure and money must be refunded to purchasers”. Upton replied that he would refund the money but did not have it at the time. He went on to explain that he had already spoken to Federal's master mechanic about a fix, and, with some time, could solve the problem. Federal agreed, and the master mechanic, Gustav B. Keil, who later came to work for Upton, solved the problem by using steel rather than cast iron in the gears. Describing the new gears, he told Upton, "They're O.K. I've used everything on them but an axe”. In the end, Federal Electric agreed with Keil and Upton emerged from disgrace with an order of 200 washers – but with new gears.Herald Palladium,"Louis C. Upton's Determination And Vision Overcame All Obstacles", Herald Palladium, October 10, 1952
Upton Machine Company Louis Upton got the 200 washers turned out as he promised, but the costs proved to be excessive. This time he was really broke, but production was on the way up – producing 10 machines a day. He looked around for a financial backer, and he found one in a LaGrange friend and banker, Lowell C. Bassford. Bassford agreed to supply $5000 on the condition that Louis work for the company full-time, quitting his job at Commonwealth Edison. Thus was formed the Upton Machine Company on November 11, 1911, by Louis Upton, his uncle Emory Upton and Lowell Bassford. Louis took on the role as president, while Emory was Secretary and Treasurer. Louis’ brother Frederick joined the company a few months later in 1912 as office manager. The company soon moved to a small building in the Edgewater area of St. Joseph, Michigan. In the beginning, Louis paid himself a salary of $10 a week while Fred received $8. Emory Upton was the high salaried man at $30 a week. Bassford had received 500 shares of stock in return for his capital, while Emory received 1,265 shares and Louis 1,000 shares in the new company.Herald Palladium,"Louis C. Upton's Determination And Vision Overcame All Obstacles", Herald Palladium, October 10, 1952St. Joseph Daily Press,"Files Articles of Association", St. Joseph Daily Press, November 7, 1911
Meager consumer demand While it is true that the early 1900s was a time of numerous electricity-driven home inventions, Upton's customers, the women who washed the clothes, did not immediately embrace the electric washer. One reason may have been the experience involved in using the machine, which a newspaper described this way; "The hand washers of those days enabled a woman to rock back and forth in a chair as she pulled the handle which operated the rocking action of the washer. The electrified version of this washer was a fearful and wonderful object. It was a hand washer with a motor added, and power transmitted to the washing mechanism by means of a belt drive and cast iron gears. All the mechanism was exposed; all of it could get wet, and often did. The possibility of electrocution went practically hand-in-hand with the down payment. But it was electric. And it did work." Weak initial demand for the electric washer may also have been due to a simple reluctance to change. The local newspaper summarized: “The company did not flourish as well as was expected, for there was but a meager demand for those hazardous contraptions, electric washing machines, and many women of the era felt that if wash tubs were good enough for grandma, they were good enough for them.”Herald Palladium,"Louis C. Upton's Determination And Vision Overcame All Obstacles", Herald Palladium, October 10, 1952
On October 1, 1912, to run the company leaner, the board decided to lower executive salaries. Emory Upton's pay was lowered to $0.50/hour for all time put into the business. Louis was to receive salary not to exceed $15 per week as president. None of the workers' pay was affected.The Herald Press,"Whirlpool Corporation", The Herald Press, December 30, 1957
Another blow struck in early 1913 when the Federal Electric Company, foreseeing wider acceptance for electric washers, decided to begin manufacturing the machines itself. The Upton Machine Company had lost its best customer at the exact moment when its washer production was beginning to increase.Herald Palladium,"The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, June 5, 2011
Boy scout kits and air rifles Facing the problem of insufficient demand, Louis Upton improvised. The American Tool Works, located across the street from the Upton Machine Company, had run into financial difficulties after a fire destroyed their factory on October 29, 1909.St. Joseph Saturday Herald,"Toolworks Burns", St. Joseph Saturday Herald, October 30, 1909 In 1914, Upton Machine Co. took over the plant, which made the Sterling air rifle, camp kits and lithograph toys. A deal was made with owner Frank Graves for Upton Machine Co. to take over the $25,000 mortgage and paid out another $25,000 in Upton Machine Co. stock. The deal came with fresh capital from Lowell C. Bassford who put in another $2,500 and another LaGrange man, Chas. F. Braffett who invested $10,000. The board of directors grew to five men; Braffett's investment made him president of the company. Louis Upton was vice president and general manager, E.A. Blakeslee who was the President of the St. Joseph's chamber of commerce became treasurer, Emory Upton was secretary and Louis's brother Frederick Upton joined the board and was given the title of Assistant Manager, he was also awarded 235 stock shares in lieu of back salary due him and services rendered.The Herald Press,"Whirlpool Corporation", The Herald Press, December 30, 1957 After restructuring, the company was employing about 40 mechanics and combining the two industries under one mutual sales team.St. Joseph Saturday Herald,"Upton Machine Company and American Tool Works Combine", St. Joseph Saturday Herald, November 7, 1914Herald Palladium,"The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, June 5, 2011
During 1914, the Upton Machine Co. worked to improve the air rifle and since the Sterling name had a poor reputation, renamed the product The Upton. Temporarily, washers became a sidelight while air rifles kept the company afloat. In 1915, washing machine sales were only $18,000, while the rifle business totalled $62,000 in sales.Herald Palladium,"The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, June 5, 2011
Things finally turned around for the washing machine business when in April 1916, Louis got a meeting at the Sears, Roebuck and Company, which at that point had sold only hand washers, mistrusting the electric contrivances. But at his first sales meeting with Sears, armed with an electric washer, Louis Upton came away with an order for 25 machines monthly, but sales were by catalog only. The business relationship with Sears planted a seed for its growth to the top of laundry manufacturers in the United States.Herald Palladium,"The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, June 5, 2011
On October 19, 1917, Chas. F. Braffett, president of Upton Machine Co. was found dead on his kitchen floor by a member of his family. An opened gas line in the kitchen was put forth as conclusive evidence that the cause of his death was suicide. According to the St. Joseph Herald-Press, Braffett left no word of explanation, but it was known he had been despondent about his ill health.Herald Press,"C.F Braffett Takes Life", Herald Press – Front Page, October 20, 1917
At the following shareholder meeting, the company announced the new corporate structure. Lowell C. Bassford was to take over as president. Louis stayed on as vice president and general manager, his new brother-in-law H.T. Campbell became secretary, and Frederick Upton as superintendent.Herald Press,"A Look Back – Items of Interest Taken from the Daily Press' Files 20 or 10 Years Ago", Herald Press – January 12, 1929