My Genealogy Hound

EDWARD K. WARREN, President of the Warren Featherbone Company, is a native of Vermont, having been born in the village of Ludlow, Windsor County, April 7, 1847. His paternal grandfather, John Warren, was born in Goffstown, N. M., and removed thence to Ludlow, Vt., where Water Warren, the father of our subject, was born in 1800. The latter was married in Massachusetts to Miss Caroline, daughter of Frederick Parsons, a farmer of Sandisfield, Mass. He was a minister in the Congregational Church, holding pastorates principally in Vermont, NewYork and other Eastern States.

In the parental family there were four children, two of whom are now living, Albert L. and Edward K. The two that died were Charles H., an artist, and Frederick P., who engaged in the jewelry business and was a young man of exceptional abilities. A natural inventor, he invented a calculating engine, which is a wonderful piece of mechanism.

The subject of this sketch was reared in Vermont, whence he accompanied his parents to Michigan in 1858, his father becoming a home missionary in this State. His education is that which is gained by experience, his schooling having been limited. In 1864 he secured a position as clerk in the employ of Henry Chamberlain in the general mercantile business, and after remaining with that gentleman for five years, he formed a partnership with J. L. McKie in the dry-goods business. Nine years were thus spent, after which Mr. Warren again engaged in merchandising, and soon afterward bought out the stock of Henry Chamberlain and continued thus engaged for five years. He then embarked in the manufacturing business, becoming the head of the Featherbone Manufacturing Company.

As a retail dry-goods merchant, Mr. Warren naturally handled large quantities of whalebone, and, realizing that the supply of this commodity was constantly decreasing, he often wondered what would be used when the whalebone could no longer be obtained. Noticing in the manufacture of feather dusters that a great many quills were thrown away, he conceived the idea that from this could be made a substitute for whalebone, He began experimenting in 1882, with what results the world knows. The business has increased so rapidly that it now gives steady work to a force of two hundred and twenty-five employes. The European headquarters are at Paris, France. From this brief description of the business some idea may be gained of the position now occupied by Mr. Warren.

The rapid development of the industry since its inception has not exceeded, indeed cannot keep pace with, the steadily increasing demand for featherbone for use in dress stays and corsets, and there is no doubt that it will eventually be employed in scores of widely diverse articles requiring a reliable, elastic material.

Politically a Republican, Mr. Warren has served as Supervisor of his township, but in the main has preferred to devote his attention exclusively to the details of his business. A member of the Congregational Church, he has been especially interested in Sunday-school work.