Who Am I?

I was born in Sidney, Ohio, and worked as a salesman after graduating from high school. In 1897, my brother-in-law and I purchased a running glass factory for $10,000 and gave the new company our names. We continued to make some fruit jars that the original owner had patented. I was president, but my brother-in-law ran the factory. I was busy with another partner in another business - automobile parts. When our glass factory burned down on April 26, 1918 with a loss of $35,000, we never reopened it. Meanwhile, my auto parts business was going strong. In 1919 we sold out to a Detroit company called General Motors, and I became general manager of the new GM subsidiary. Later, I rose to be a vice-president of GM. Who am I?

Answer

Written by Richard H. Cole, Jr.

© 2002 Minnetrista Cultural Center

First Published in the April/May 2003 Glass Chatter