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Builders of Lumber History 



NUMBER CXVI 

 BENJAMIN BRUCE BURNS 



(See Portrait 



Environment is a strong influencing factor in tlie life of any 

 man. It is a fair assumption that a man born and brought up 

 amid certain surroundings will have ideals, ambitions and capa- 

 bilities in accordance with those surroundings. In the lumber 

 business it is not often that a man is born and raised, and spends 

 his entire lifetime operating in one state, particularly if that state 

 is as small as West Virginia. But such is the case of Benjamin 

 Bruce Burns of the Tug Eiver Lumber Company, the Eock Castle 

 Lumber Company and the C. L. Hitter Lumber Company of Hunt- 

 ington, W. Va., whose portrait forms the supplement to this issue 

 of Hakdwood Record. 



Mr. Burns was born in the woods in that state December 1, 

 1S69, and ever since has been associated intimately with every 

 phase of the life in the woods, at the mill, and in the yard and 

 office. His instinct toward the sawmill and the lumber pile is the 

 natural heritage from a family that has always been associated 

 with lumber, and principally with West Virginia operations. 



The first operation of the Burns family was at Burnsville, Brax- 

 ton county, W. Va. His father and uncle established themselves in 

 that place directly after the Civil war, and erected a circular mill. 

 Five jears after their advent in that section of the country, they 

 were joined in partnership by J. R. Hoilman, known as the inventor 

 of the band mill. It was at this mill site at Burnsville that the 

 fifth band mill ever erected was installed by the partners about 

 1875. Mr. Burns says it is a curious fact that only a few years 

 ago he actually saw certain parts of this original band mill still 

 running in the vicinity of the location of the old mill. The style 

 under which the partners first operated was Burns Brothers & 

 Hoffman, which style was later changed to Burns Brothers. Facili- 

 ties for the transportation of logs at this time were confined 

 entirely to skidding with animals to rollways on the streams, and 

 from there floating to the mill. The principal cut at this mill was 

 poplar and walnut. 



The business of Burns Brothers was eminently successful. The 

 partners from the beginning followed a policy of gradual enlarge- 

 ment of the extent and variety of operations with the result that 

 when the B. B. Burns made his active advent into the business at 

 the age of sixteen, he was entering a well-founded organization. 

 Mr. Burns' father had died when the son was but eight 3'ears old, 

 and as a consequence his responsibilities began earlj- in life. But 

 there was always a close tie between its members, and as a conse- 

 quence by co-operation and holding together, they were brought 

 successfully through difficult stages. 



When Mr. Burns entered the employ of his uncles, he was not 

 stepping into a bed of roses, but was working with men who were 

 strict believers in the merit system. His early and rapid advance- 

 ment, therefore, was in no part due to any preferment on their 

 part, as progress with them was an impossibility without having 

 proven abilitj'. As a consequence his time with his uncles was 

 well invested, his advancement coming only when deserved. Vested 

 gradually with added responsibilities, as he proved his capabilities, 

 his schooling in every capacity in woods, yard, mill and office was 

 such as to fit him for the successful solution of any problem or 

 emergency which he has had to meet during his career as a lum- 

 berman. 



Mr. Burns was first located at Elizabeth, W. Va., when in his 

 uncles' employ. Here the company had two band mills. He later 

 moved to Sattes, W. Va. He devoted his entire energy to the 

 work at hand during his employment with Burns Brothers, and as 

 a consequence at the time of his retirement from that connection 

 in 1899, had the entire active charge of the management of the 

 "company 's large interests. 



In 1899 Mr. Burns became one of the active organizers of the 



SttppJemcnt ) 



Tug River Lumber Company, with him being associated M. N. 

 Offutt and C. L. Rltter. The three joined forces as equal partners. 

 The headquarters of the company were at Welch, W. Va. The 

 original policy was to run the business strictly on a wholesale 

 basis, handling all kinds of hardwoods, and working along these 

 lines, the progress was rapid and consistent. The company's suc- 

 cess probably was due as much as anything to a close and intimate 

 touch with the small mills of that country, enabling it to effect 

 excellent buying arrangements. The office at Welch was main- 

 tained until 1901 when it was moved to Bluefield, W. Va. From 

 Bluefield the headquarters were moved to Bristol, where they were 

 maintained until 1910. Since that date the interests which Mr. 

 Burns represents have been located at their present offices in Hunt- 

 ington, W. Va. 



The first digression from a purely wholesale business came in 

 1902 when a circular mill was started near Appalachia, Va. A year 

 later a band mill was installed in Scott county, Virginia, and sub- 

 sequently a second one in that county, and an additional one in 

 Wise county. Thus the policy has been gradually reversed . While 

 originally entirely wholesalers, Mr. Burns' interests are now con- 

 sidered among the most important hardwood manufacturing con- 

 cerns in the country, and a large bulk of the stock sold is cut at 

 the companies' own mills, although considerable quantities of oak 

 and poplar are handled on a wholesale basis. 



While the Tug River Lumber Company was the original incor- 

 poration, there are now closely associated with it, and conducted 

 from the same offices the RoQk Castle Lumber Company and the 

 C. L. Ritter Lumber Company. The former was established origin- 

 ally in Martin county, Kentucky, and the latter at Whitewood, Va. 

 The same interests control all three companies, and Mr. Burns 

 devotes himself to marketing the product of all the mills. 



Ten years ago Mr. Burns married the daughter of a prominent 

 Texas banker, and the couple are blessed with two girls and a boy, 

 whose ages are respectively seven, five and three years. Mr. Burns' 

 personal life revolves closely and exclusively around his home, and 

 the things which go with an ideal home life. Being brought up in 

 the woods, he is a great lover of the open, and considerable of a 

 sportsman. In his home life he is far from being actively inter- 

 ested in the formal social functions of his towny and gets his chief 

 pleasure from a close association with his family. It is probably 

 this home loving characteristic which gives him a certain gentle- 

 ness of nature not at all common with modern business men, but 

 one which, in this case, one cannot help but remember as a strong 

 contributing element to an engaging personality. A perfect 

 stranger will feel with Mr. Burns that there is no barrier of 

 formality to be worn away before gaining access to his close atten- 

 tion. He is possessed of a singularly keen judgment and insight, 

 and a directness of thought that has been one of the features in 

 his remarkable progress. 



While always widely known and respected in the trade, it has 

 only been during the last few years that Mr. Burns has taken an 

 active interest in lumber association work. His activities have 

 been mainly in connection with the Hardwood Manufacturers' 

 Association of the United States, and at the last meeting of that 

 organization he was elected second vice-president and a member 

 of the executive board. 



He has never been conspicuous in reciting arguments at 

 the conferences of his associates in the hardwood industry, but 

 when he has anything to say it is put forth in such a logical and 

 convincing manner as to carry conviction with it. He has strong 

 beliefs, which, when expressed, are most heartily respected by 

 his confreres. Although Mr. Burns is still a young man, the im- 

 press of his work on the trade is most strongly felt. 



