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- Birth:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FC4G-YM1
Marriage to Ann:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N4M5-JZB
Marriage to Leora:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XD4D-XYN
Death:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8V4-CLN
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:enn-wmO6YkMJ:www.heritagepursuit.com/Summit/Summit1928VIIP450.htm+&cd=22&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
FRANCIS HENRY HOLTON (with photo)
It is hardly possible to realize what would be the business status and condition of Akron without the rubber interests here. For a considerable period Francis Henry Holton, who passed away January 19, 1918, at the venerable age of eighty-six years, was closely associated with the rubber industry in this city but was even more broadly connected with the rubber industry of the country, having been a pioneer in this field of development. His contribution to progress along this line was notable and his inventive genius brought out many valuable devices.
Francis H. Holton was born in Northfield, Massachusetts, November 17, 1831, a son of Luther and Marcia (Mixer) Holton. The family was founded in America by one of the name who emigrated from Ipswich, England, in 1630 and settled near Hartford, Connecticut, whence more immediate ancestors of Francis H. Holton removed to Northfield in 1735. Only limited educational opportunities came to Mr. Holton inasmuch as he began earning his living when a youth of fourteen years. He was employed in the shoe and rubber store of his uncle, Samuel Holton, in finishing for the market the crude rubber shoes imported for the American trade before these were superseded by the kind made under the Goodyear patents. From that time forward Mr. Holton was continuously associated as dealer, inventor and manufacturer with the rubber interests of the United States. In 1856 he removed to New York, where he was employed as a clerk by a Broadway firm dealing in rubber goods, but soon resigned that position to engage in the manufacture of druggists' and stationers' specialties in rubber, opening a factory on Broadway, near Thirty-seventh street. In 1856 he took up his residence in Brooklyn and removed his business to that city four years later. The enterprise prospered from the beginning and in 1868 William Gray was admitted to a partnership, remaining with the firm until 1870, when he sold his interest in the business to Charles B. Dickinson, who in 1874 acquired sole ownership by purchasing the interest of Mr. Holton. At that time the latter established a factory in New York but in 1877 again moved his business to Brooklyn at the foot of Adams street. He began his rubber manufacturing with only five or six employes and the business had grown to such proportions that in 1883 he was giving employment to from eighty to one hundred people. The demand for his output, however, far exceeded the capacity of the plant and it was this that led him to seek larger quarters, but through the influence of Dr. B. F. Goodrich he was induced to close out his interests in Brooklyn and remove to Akron. In the meantime he was closely studying the needs of the trade as well as the processes of manufacture and his initiative resulted in various inventions of note. One of these, seemingly small in itself but regarded as an absolutely indispensable adjunct of every home and business house of the world, was the rubber eraser. He was also the inventor of coil pads for guns. Mr. Holton was himself a good marksman, very fond of shooting, and it was this experience that led to his study resulting eventually in the production of the coil pads. To him belonged the distinction of having received Patent No. 1,000,000 from the patent office in Washington. There were many others who sought to obtain this, and although Mr. Holton did not have it in mind, it was accorded him on his invention of an automobile tire. He was also the first man to make rubber sponges in this country, prior to which time sponges of that character had been imported from Russia. Others had attempted the manufacture, but without success, and to Mr. Holton came the distinction of producing a marketable article of value. It was while conducting his own manufacturing plant in Brooklyn that he was induced to come to Akron as superintendent of the rubber specialty department of the Goodrich Company, which profited greatly by his work, and he remained with that corporation until 1898, when he retired, after which he spent the next three years in travel and recreation. At the end of that time he answered the call of the rubber business by going back to work. His contribution to the trade is inestimable and as a pioneer he aided in establishing the rubber industry upon a broad and substantial basis in America. He entered the field at a time when practically all rubber goods in the United States were manufactured in New York, New Jersey and New England, with New York as the leading center of production, and Mr. Holton's plant there was the principal one of a dozen or more located in the Empire state. He was always recognized as the pioneer of the rubber industry in the east and Akron felt that she had gained a valuable addition to her ranks when he decided to become actively allied with rubber production in this city. He introduced many new and useful products while he was connected with the Goodrich Company and a most substantial trade was developed in connection with his department.
In young manhood Mr. Holton was united in marriage to Miss Anna M. Blake, who passed away in Akron in 1894. Two years later, in 1896, he wedded Leora L. Hodgeman of Akron. There were four children by the first marriage, but Mr. Holton outlived all of his descendants save one granddaughter, Florence Holton, now a resident of Brooklyn, New York. He is survived by his wife, who is most highly esteemed in Akron, where she has long occupied an enviable position in social circles. In 1924 there was a family reunion held at the old Holton homestead in Northfield, Massachusetts, which has been in possession of the family since 1737, the grant thereto being received from the king of England, while the property has been handed down from father to son through many generations. There was at the same time a Holton reunion held in Pasadena, California, for members of the family who were too far away to attend the Northfield celebration.
Mr. Holton won fame through his marksmanship, which gained for him many medals and prizes. He was a veteran of the Twenty-third Regiment of the old New York National Guard and also of Company G, Thirteenth Regiment of the National Guard of New York, usually called the Brooklyn City Guard. While a member of those organizations he became recognized as an expert shot and received many tangible tokens of his skill.
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 495
He belonged to the famous Creedmore Rifle Club of New York and to the Rifle Association of America and in both organizations was recognized as one of America's best marksmen. His life was also rich in its social contacts, for he had the ability to win and retain friendships. He was intimately acquainted with Ralph Waldo Emerson and many other distinguished men who cherished his companionship and felt honored by his friendship. There are few men who have so adequately expressed in their lives the principles and qualities which are embodied in the term gentleman. Throughout his entire career he held to high ideals and one of his marked characteristics was his consideration for and courtesy to others. He was charitable in his opinions, benevolent in his relations to those who needed assistance and at all times he not only practiced but advocated right living, his conscience being his strong guide. He knew what sacrifice and adversity were, having experienced both, but he never allowed them to embitted him nor did he allow his successes to dwarf his kindly nature. He was a lover of clean wit and humor and both enriched his conversation. He found great pleasure in reading history, with which he was widely familiar, and he also enjoyed literature of a scientific and educational nature but cared nothing for fiction. He thought broadly and his opinions were the result of careful consideration guided by his conscience. Loyalty in friendship was one of his marked traits and if at any time a friend abused his confidence his attitude was one of forgiveness. His entire life was the expression of high ideals of service and of devotion to his opportunities to contribute to the material, intellectual and moral progress of the world. He reached the age of eighty-six and his were "the blest accompaniments of age? honor, riches, troops of friends."
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The H600 Project Genealogy DB
1831 - 1918 (86 years)