HARDWOOD RECORD 



*7 



Makers of Machinery History. 



NUM 



Nelson Augustus Gladding. 

 (.Sec portrait supplement.) 



( hie of the most energetic, popular and 

 successful young business men known to 

 the lumber and hardware trades of the 

 country is Nelson Augustus Gladding of 

 Indianapolis, Ind., whose portrait appears 

 as a supplement to this issue of the Hard- 

 wood Eecord. 



Mr. Gladding was horn in Providence, R. 

 ]., July 8, 1S63, and is of English descent, 

 his paternal ancestors having settled at 

 Bristol, E. I., as early as 1640. The genealogy 

 of his family can be traced back to the 

 eleventh century. 



His father died in 1870, leaving t lie 

 mother ami five sons in somewhat straight- 

 e I circumstances. At the age of nine the 



FOLIAGE AND FRUIT SLIPPERY. ELM. 



boy Kelson showed his desire to help in a 

 practical way. Although so young, he was 

 able to add materially to the income of the 

 family by selling newspapers, which work 

 he carried on in connection with his regular 

 school duties. Mr. Cladding's determina- 

 tion and tenacity, always dominant traits in 

 his character, were evinced even at this 

 early ago in his earnest efforts each night to 

 sell all his papers before going home. To 

 this day he remembers distinctly what 

 anxious moments came to him when his 

 stock commenced to dwindle, lest he would 

 not be able to dispose of the remaining few; 

 and the fraternal feeling which these youth- 

 ful experiences engendered remains with 

 him still and causes keen interest in the 

 welfare of each newsboy he meets. 



In 1S74 the family removed to Cham- 

 paign, 111., where the boys attended public 

 school and worked during vacations and 

 leisure time. Two years later N. A. Glad- 

 ding took a position in a store at Paxton, 



HER VI. 



111., the balance of the family having moved 

 to Indianapolis. lie retained this position 

 for a year or more, when lie rejoined them 

 there. 



He was continually reading and studying 

 in order to enlarge his capacity for future 

 work and to tit himself for the right oppor- 

 tunity when it came. He studied book- 

 keeping ami steongraphy at night schools, 

 and in 1883, owing to ill health, left Indian- 

 apolis to take a position as private secre- 

 tary to one of the officers of a large tele- 

 phone company in Kansas City, Mo. The 

 young man was soon made special traveling 

 auditor of the company, covering territory 

 in contiguous states and doing a small 

 brokerage business in telephone stocks. That 

 same year while on a visit to Providence he 

 became corresponding clerk for the large 

 mill supply house of Brown Brothers & Co., 

 where he gained his first experience in the 

 business in which he has achieved his pres- 

 ent great success. 



In 1886 Mr. Gladding entered the personal 

 employ of E. C. Atkins of Indianapolis, 

 head of the saw manufacturing Ionise 

 which hears his name. In this capacity he 

 came in dose touch with Mr. Atkins and, 

 having proved himself fully capable in 

 every way, was tendered the management of 

 E. ( '. Atkins & Co.'s branch house at Mem- 

 phis, Tenn. At this time the office there 

 had been in existence only a few months. 

 It employed three people aside from a saw- 

 maker required for repairing old saws. At 

 the end of three years more roomy quarters 

 had to be secured ami a much larger stock 

 was carried, the business having made most 

 gratifying progress. He devoted consid- 

 erable time to traveling in the interests of 

 the house, covering territory from Missouri 

 to southern Texas, through Louisiana and 

 hack to Ohio river points. This traveling 

 experience gave him a wide acquaintance 

 throughout the South, which has been main- 

 la ine.l up to the present time. The lumber 

 industry of that section was then in its 

 infancy and he has carefully studied and 

 kept pace with its rapid development. 



In 1897 Mr. Gladding left the Mem], his 

 office in a flourishing condition; there were 

 twenty people on the pay roll and the vol- 

 ume of business had increased correspond- 

 ingly. He returned to Indianapolis, having 

 been elected secretary and sales manager 

 of the corporation. By dint of his bound- 

 less energy and ambition he has built up 

 this department of the great industry until 



the fame of the Atkins product has pe 



trated to all parts of the world. 



Some idea of the magnitude of the busi- 

 ness may be gained when it is known that 

 there are over twelve hundred employees 

 in the Indianapolis factory alone. This en- 

 tire force is engaged in the exclusive manu- 

 facture of saws, saw tools and mill special- 



ties, making it easily the largest .exclusive 

 saw manufactory in the world. 



Mr. Gladding nas established seven branch 

 offices, in Port land, Ore.; Seattle, San Fran- 

 cisco, \eu fork City, Chicago, New Orleans 

 and Toronto, Can., which, witli the three 

 older offices at Memphis, Atlanta and Min- 

 neapolis, ei\,. tin- company ten branch 

 houses. A complete stock of standard saws 

 is kept at each of these places, and repair 

 shops are maintained at most of them, en- 

 abling the company to meet all ordinary 

 needs. 



In 1901 Mr. Gladding was elected Nice- 

 president of E. ('. Atkins i- Co., so that he 

 is now the incumbent of three important 

 posts in the management of its affairs. 



In reviewing what Nelson A. Gladding 

 has accomplished in a business way it would 

 seem that he must have had but little time 

 to devote to outside interests. This, how- 

 ever, is far from the case. In 1903 the 

 governor appointed him a member of the 

 Indiana Commission to the Louisiana Pur- 

 chase Exposition at St. Louis, which body 

 was continued for two years. He has been 

 very active in association ami club work 

 ami lias served long on the executive and 

 oilier committees of the American Hard- 

 ware Manufacturers' Association, one of 

 the largest business organizations in the 

 country, ami file American Supply aud 

 Machinery Manufacturers' Association. He 

 is also vice-president of the American Motor 

 Car Company of Indianapolis. 



Mr. Gladding is a Mason, a member of 

 the Columbia, Commercial, Country, Ger- 

 man, University anil Dramatic elubs of 

 Indianapolis; of the Lotus ami Hardware 

 clubs of New York City, ami of the Ten- 

 nessee anil Business Men's chilis of Mem- 

 phis. 



His travels in establishing ami supervis- 

 ing the conduct of the various branch 

 I ses have taken him from Maine to Cali- 

 fornia ami into Canada, so that his ac- 

 quaintance in this field is perhaps as broad 

 as among hardware and lumbermen of the 

 South. In 1898 he was elected Snark of the 

 Universe, the highest office within the gift 

 of Hoo Hoo, and he has always been promi- 

 nent in tiie affairs of that order, taking part 

 in concatenations from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific. 



In 1S8S Mr. Gladding married Aliss Mary 

 -D. Atkins of Indianapolis; they have two 

 daughters. 



Nelson A. Gladding is a man who by dint 

 of great capacity for work, unlimited en- 

 ergy ami exceeding thoroughness is bound 

 to make his influence felt in whatever line 

 he undertakes. His is a. personality which 

 never fails lo stand out boldly, whether en- 

 cm nt erod in business or social life, lie is 

 a lover of the esthetic, ami versatili — an 

 interesting writer, a brilliant after-dinner 

 speaker, a clever amateur actor, a deep 

 student of men ami affairs, a clean-cut 

 twentieth century business man. More than 

 this, he is an optimist who has faith in his 

 fellow man ami the future of his countrv. 



