November i, 1901.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



47 



DEATH OF CHARLES L. JOHNSON. 



CHARLES L. JOHNSON, general manager and director 

 in the United States Rubber Co., director and treasurer 

 of The L. Candee & Co., and director in the Boston 

 Rubber Shoe Co., American Rubber Co., (joodyear's 

 India Rubber Glove Manufacturing Co., and Glenark Knitting 

 Co., died at his home in New Rochelle, New York, on the 

 afternoon of Tuesday, October 8. His death, which was ex- 

 ceedingly sudden, was due to an apoplectic stroke, a slight fore- 

 runner of which manifested itself in an attack of vertigo and a 

 fall a few days previously, and to which he attached but little 

 importance. A second and more serious attack on the follow- 

 ing Monday morning resulted in his death on the next after- 

 noon. The end came peacefully 

 and painlessly, with only a brief 

 interval of consciousness after 

 the second stroke. 



Almost from his entrance into 

 the rubber business in May, 1873, 

 Mr. Johnson was a prominent 

 figure in the rubber shoe trade. 

 It is, therefore, interesting to re- 

 view briefly the record of a life 

 that has so suddenly terminated. 

 Mr. Johnson was born at An- 

 sonia, Connecticut, one of the 

 most thriving places in the Nau- 

 gatuck valley, on March 15, 1850. 

 His father, David T. Johnson, was 

 a well known constructor and 

 builder, his reputation extending 

 throughout the state. He was 

 also a volunteer in the civil war, 

 and at its close returned home a 

 captain. Naturally the son, at 

 that time fifteen years of age, 

 sought a military career, and ap- 

 plied for appointment to West 

 Point. In that, however, he was 

 unsuccessful, but it is interesting 

 to note that all through his life 



Mr. Johnson kept up an interest in the army, and thought a 

 military career an ideal one. At the age of 18 he entered the 

 Sheffield Scientific School at Yale College, and was graduated 

 in 1872 with high honors. That he was not only a brilliant 

 scholar, but an exceedingly popular and entertaining young 

 man, is proved by the fact that, for years after his graduation, 

 when ever there was a class or society dinner. " Charlie " John- 

 son was always in demand to make the best and wittiest speech 

 and to arrange in making the occasion in every way enjoyable. 

 After his graduation, he served for a very short time as clerk in 

 the Ansonia posloffice, in the meantime looking for something 

 better, which came in the oflfer of a clerkship in the office of 

 the Candee Rubber Co., in New Haven. Almost instantly Mr. 

 Johnson made his mark in the Candee company. It seems that 

 his rare business instinct grasped the details of the factory 

 records so thoroughly, that he was able to inaugurate a new 

 system that did away with a great amount of detail work. The 

 company appreciating this, and other practical suggestions, 

 elected him as secretary after he had been but one short year 

 'n their employ. Four years later he became treasurer of the 



CHARLES LEWIS JOHNSON. 



company, which office he held up to the day of his death. While 

 residing in New Haven and filling the offices mentioned, Mr. 

 Johnson familiarized himself with the manufacture of rubber 

 shoes, and it therefore happened that when, in 1887, he assumed 

 the general oversight of the selling of the Candee output and 

 visited the general trade, he was remarkably fitted to under- 

 stand and suit the wants of their customers. When, in 1892, 

 the Candee company entered the United States Rubber Co., 

 Mr. Johnson was elected a director in the larger company, and 

 was also made its secretary and placed over the selling depart- 

 ment, with the official title " Director in Charge of Sales." In 

 1898, feeling the strain of long continued work, he resigned, 



and took an extended trip abroad. 

 His resignation as " Director in 

 Charge of Sales," however, was 

 not accepted, and he continued in 

 charge of the selling department 

 until the May election of the pres- 

 ent year, when he was made gen- 

 eral manager of the company. 



Mr. Johnson's funeral was held 

 at the Johnson homestead in An- 

 sonia, on Saturday, October 12, 

 at I P. M. The services were held 

 in Christ (Episcopal) Church, 

 preceded by a brief service at the 

 home of his sister. The L. Can- 

 dee & Co. closed its mills on the 

 day of the funeral, and the New 

 York and Boston offices of the 

 United States Rubber Co. were 

 open only for the transaction of 

 necessary business. Prominent 

 members of the rubber trade from 

 all over the country attended the 

 funeral, among them being all of 

 the officers of the United States 

 Rubber Co., the members of the 

 executive committee, and many 

 the directors. The honorary pall- 

 bearers were: President Samuel P. Colt, Vice President Lester 

 Leland, Treasurer James B. Ford, Director Henry L. Hotchkiss, 

 ex- Postmaster General Gary, George A. Lewis, ex-Secretary 

 F. W. Holden, and A. H. Bartholomew. The acting pall-bear- 

 ers were : H. M. Sadler, H. E. Sawyer, E. H. Paine, C. J. Pike, 

 A. C. Coe, and J. M. Gallaway. Many other representative rub- 

 ber men were there, among them being. President Walter S. 

 Ballou, and E. R. Rice and C. W. Linthicum.of the Joseph Banl- 

 gan Rubber Co. ; Messrs. Bliss and Hoadley of the Farrel Foun- 

 dry and Machine Co. ; Clinton Van Vliet, F. F. SchafFer, and 

 W. T. Rodenbach of the Goodyear 's India Rubber Glove Manu- 

 facturing Co. ; Charles A. Coe, of Charles Coe & Co.; C. G. Ames, 

 of The L. Candee & Co. ; A. L. Comstock, of the American Rub- 

 ber Co. ; W. F. Mayo, of Mayo Brothers; H. H. Perrin. of the 

 Tremont Rubber Co. ; F. T. Comae, of the Woonsocket Rubber 

 Co.; George C. Wetmore, W. C. McEnroe, John P. Lyons , G. 

 S. Miller, and Henry C. Pearson, who attended as representa- 

 tive of the New England Rubber Club. The floral tokens 

 arriving from all over the country, filled the house and church 

 with a wealth of fragrance and blossom. 



