A. C. WILLIAMS HISTORY
Early History
The A. C. Williams Company started in business in Chagrin Falls, Ohio in 1844. It was founded by John Wesley Williams, the father of A. C. Williams. The Williams' family came to Chagrin Falls in 1840 with Reverend Benajah and his eight sons, including John W., coming from western New York state. The Williams family, represented by Robert Williams, came to this country from Norwich, England in 1693.
The original foundry building was located on an old sawmill and furnace property just above the dam on the Chagrin River. John W. Williams, using the old furnace building, not operating for several years, started with a small cupola of one-ton capacity and one molder and a few helpers. This energetic group produced chain pump reels, spouts, and plow points. Only an occasional heat or melt was run off about once or twice a week. When a wagon load of pump reels, spouts, and plow points was finished, John Williams would drive through the country trading his products for scrap iron and farm produce. Some of the farm produce was given to his few employees as pay and the balance placed with local merchants against which he would draw orders for the balance of his payroll. There was practically no money in existence and the majority of business was done in trading.
After a few years, John Williams managed to trade for a set of patterns for an elevated oven, wood burning stove called "The Empire." The foundry needed pig iron in order to produce the thin section castings for the manufacture of stoves, so John Williams mortgaged his factory to Governor Tod of Youngstown and from that time until Governor Tod's death, John Williams bought all of his pig iron from the Governor and formed a lasting friendship.
A few years later, the J. W. Williams Company started to produce old-style, short wagon boxes used on wagon axles and in the wheel hubs and also boxes for wrought iron axles and a few old-style polished flat irons. The business grew in spite of lack of money and a larger cupola was installed. A trip hammer was purchased to forge wrought iron axles and a Contract was obtained by John Williams for cannon carriages used by the Government during the Civil War. Other castings were produced for the machinery used in the Pennsylvania oil fields. At about this same time, John Williams obtained a permit to manufacture seamless wagon skeins and from that time on, skeins and bolster plates for wagons were the principal products of this Company.
During 1865, John Williams' son, Adam Clark Williams, started working at the foundry on a full-time basis and the name was soon changed to J.W. Williams & Son. In 1870, a line of pruning tools was added. At about this same time, coke came into use as the fuel for melting iron instead of wood and charcoal. The coke was hauled to Chagrin Falls by team from Bedford, Ohio and the pig iron was hauled by team from Solon, Ohio.
In 1886, Adam Clark Williams bought the business from his father and with five molders and a total of fifteen employees, he expanded the Company by adding a line of sad irons with wood handles. A narrow gauge railroad had been built by ten of the leading citizens of Chagrin Falls, A.C. Williams being one of these, and later, the railroad was sold to the Connolton Railroad Company and changed to a standard gauge; this provided a means of transportation and greatly increased the business activity in the area.
In the fall of 1889, A.C. Williams was on his way home from a business trip to Detroit and was unable to make railroad connections in Cleveland. He, therefore, remained overnight. He went to the Park Theatre and during the performance, a man came on stage and announced that if A.C. Williams was in the audience, he should call at the box office immediately. There he was told that his plant was burning and there appeared little hope of saving it. On arrival home the next morning, he found the plant completely destroyed.
A.C. Williams was undecided about the future as he had not recovered from the financial depression and was deeply in debt. Citizens of Chagrin Falls urged him to rebuild and employees offered to work on the building without pay. The railroad offered to haul all building materials and machinery from Cleveland without charge. Owners of teams offered to haul the material and machinery from the depot free of charge. With this cooperative spirit, there was no choice but to rebuild.
Mr. Williams borrowed from about a dozen friends and from the local bank and on a Sunday morning, two weeks after the fire, work started on the new building. One hundred men were working at the site without any thought of pay whatsoever. The plant was completed and production started. Business prospered and the number of employees increased. Then, on Thanksgiving night of 1892, the factory was again completely destroyed by fire. Due to lack of fire protection in Chagrin Falls, and the relatively poor shipping facilities, A.C. Williams decided to rebuild in a more favorable location.
The Move to Ravenna, World Wars I & II & Korean War
A.C. Williams visited many towns and cities in northeastern Ohio and finally selected Ravenna. Until his death, he felt he had made no mistake as he was delighted with the town and its people. His business and the city of Ravenna grew and prospered. Erection of the plant was started in mid-winter, 1892-1893. The panic of September, 1893 struck the country and it was necessary to shut the plant down for several months. On resuming operation, Mr. Williams found the demand for sad irons diminishing and realized that a change of product was necessary. He finished up some sad irons by nickel plating and also produced some small models for his traveling salesmen. These small irons, a convenience for the salesmen, were the start of the toy business for The A.C. Williams Company.
There followed over the next thirty years, horse-drawn, then wheel toys, automobiles, tractors, and finally airplanes. At the same time and extending through this period were the various Cast Iron banks, including house banks, animal banks, several hundred different types and styles that have all become collectors items over the last twenty-five years. Through the 1920's, The A.C. Williams Company was recognized as the largest Cast Iron toy manufacturer in the world. In 1905, the business was incorporated as The A.C. Williams Company and Mr. Williams' son-in-law, J.H. Bigalow, moved to Ravenna from Cleveland, Ohio and became active in the business. The first Officers of the incorporated A.C. Williams Company were: A.C. Williams, President; his son, John W. Williams, Vice President; and his son-in-law, J.H. Bigalow, Secretary and Treasurer.
During the first World War, production of toys and banks decreased and the hardware line was expanded. At this time, the Company produced first castings for other companies to use in their product and most of these were related to war production items through 1916, 1917, and 1918. Immediately after the first World War, A.C. Williams, prompted by the illness of his wife and the decision of his son, John, and family to move to California, sold his interest in the business and moved to California. His son-in-law, J.H. Bigalow, became President of the Company and Clyde A. Heisler, son-in-law of Bigalow, became an Officer of the Company.
Gradual change was taking place in the toy and hardware business over the next few years. Stampings, plastics, and rubber toys were making inroads into the Iron toy line, which was sold principally through outlets like S.S. Kresge, F.W. Woolworth, and others. Stamped, and particularly, able foundry capacity unused, and with an excellent work force trained in small, thin-section castings with fine finish and a machineable Iron, C.A. Heisler, now Vice President, pushed the jobbing foundry business--the production of castings for other manufacturers. These requirements gradually utilized the entire foundry capacity and the last toys and hardware items were produced in 1937-1938.
By the late 1930's, White Sewing Machine Corporation had emerged as the largest customer of The A.C. Williams Company and more than one-half of the foundry's capacity was devoted to this one customer who required free machining, smooth surfaced, and very uniform castings. In 1940, with a definite trend toward light-weight castings and because the portable sewing machine was an excellent application for castings lighter than Iron, a pilot, or experimental plant was started in Magnesium by J.B. Heisler, who joined the Company in mid-1936 and was in charge of production. This occupied one small corner of what was known as Plant II on North Walnut Street, which served as additional foundry capacity primarily for uncored or plain work like sewing machine beds and motor ends. At about this time, a fine relationship started with Warner & Swasey Company on machine tool castings, first with the very smallest parts used on their various turret lathes and other machine tools, finally developing into the largest customer through World War II. To produce these castings and many others of heavier sections, it was necessary to make radical changes in the type of metal poured, and a laboratory was added to help control the metallurgy. It was not unusual to run two and even three types of Iron in one day to produce the wide range of castings now a part of The A.C. Williams Company.
Pearl Harbor and World War II changed the foundry operation from sewing machines, stoves, and other appliance parts, and lighting fixtures to machine tool castings, bomb plugs, grenades, half-trac castings and in the newly developed Magnesium Division, a variety of aircraft castings, including many kinds of wheels, structural castings and many radar parts. Manpower for all industries was under very rigid control. Women took over more of the production at A.C. Williams. More than half of the employees in the Core Departments were women and they replaced many men in Cleaning, Inspection, Painting and Finishing.
Victory in Europe and then V-J Day, brought about a rapid conversion to civilian production and the pent-up demand for sewing machines meant full employment and full production for A.C. Williams Company for the next five-year period. The Magnesium Division expanded into Aluminum and for a period of several years, additional Aluminum molding capacity was provided by a plant at Jones Brothers Structural Steel Company.
The Korean War again changed business conditions and while civilian items were not stopped, war-related casting requirements received preference and the production facilities at the Aluminum and magnesium Division were expanded to meet the increased aircraft casting requirements and to provide space for the Aluminum foundry that was brought back from the Jones building.
The Modern?? Era
In 1954, Directors of the Company approved of plans for a new Iron foundry called the West Foundry, principally to take care of the demand for sewing machine castings for White Sewing and their principal customer, Sears, Roebuck & Company. This was the largest expansion ever undertaken and the West Foundry was the most modern facility in the area with overhead sand system and pallet line for molds. Operation started in the fall of 1956. Ownership of the White Sewing Machine Corporation changed and resulted in the decision of Sears, Roebuck & Company to purchase their sewing machines from Japan.
The A.C. Williams Company lost its largest customer, which represented about 75% of the Company's total business. The last sewing machine castings in Iron, Aluminum, and Magnesium were shipped in mid-1957. At this same time, foundries all over the country were closing down due to a severe business recession. The Company was heavily in debt as a result of expansion and modernization. J.B. Heisler, with his brothers, Robert and Bruce, and other Officers and Directors, made the decision to expand sales efforts and rebuild the Company on the basis of a wide range of customers rather than one or two large ones. For the last half of 1957, the remaining work was shared as equally as possible among the employees so that very few lost their jobs. Special effort was made to keep skilled molders and core makers busy at some task, even painting the plants. An extensive sales effort over the entire eastern half of the country on Iron and over the entire country in Aluminum and Magnesium resulted in all plants being back in full production by January of 1958. With relatively few exceptions, the Plants worked a full schedule over the next nine or ten years.
Changes were taking place in the foundry industry and it was necessary to update and modernize, so in 1965, a large program was undertaken by the Company. At the Iron and Semi-Steel Division, the Grinding, Cleaning and Inspection Departments were expanded and revised and a new Shipping Room was added with more loading dock space. Core facilities were improved and the first shell core machines were incorporated in that department, plus a new shell molding machine. The Melting Department was completely changed over with the installation of two new cupolas and a charger, which eliminated the hand charging and provided an excellent facility for the Company and its customers. Part of the old, original foundry, built in the winter of 1892-1893, was rebuilt and a sand system was installed to furnish properly mixed sand to two new automatic molding machines. The Aluminum and Magnesium Division was involved in the program; a new Core Department and new core making machines were provided. At this same time, temporary quarters were provided for the start of an Aluminum Permanent Mold Department and shortly thereafter in November, 1967, an entire new Aluminum Permanent Mold foundry was completed. This Plant on North Walnut Street was called, by knowledgeable foundrymen, the finest Permanent Mold foundry to date and it incorporated many new features for ventilation and improved working conditions. After the startup of the new Aluminum Permanent Mold foundry, a die casting machine was installed in the vacated, temporary Permanent Mold Department of the Aluminum and Magnesium Division. Many of the sand casting customers were using die castings and they seemed pleased with the first production efforts. Additional business was received and in late 1970 it was decided to change the Monarch building on Cleveland Road from an Iron plug machining facility to a Die Casting foundry. This would give the Company a wide range of castings to offer; Iron, Aluminum and Magnesium sand castings, Aluminum Permanent Mold castings, and Aluminum Die castings.
Problems, Closing, and a New A.C.Williams Company
There were signs of problems at The A.C. Williams Company beyond those normally associated with a growing and expanding company in the very competitive foundry business. The 125th Anniversary year, 1969, had been successful in sales volume only, not in profit. Scrap was at an all time high and production per employee had decreased in spite of some large expenditures for improved production equipment. There was some improvement during 1970 when Management was reshuffled and Profit Sharing was started for the first time with production employees. In fact, a substantial Profit Sharing bonus was shared with these employees for the year 1970. However, the production at the new Aluminum Permanent Mold foundry and the new Die Casting plant never approached anticipated rates of production; therefore, these two operations were not competitive. To further complicate the situation, new Federal and State laws had gone into effect covering Air Pollution Control, Environmental Control and Occupational, Safety and Health requirements, or OSHA, and all of these were particularly severe in the foundry industry. Melting metal, transporting molten metal to mold areas, pouring sand and metal molds, the cleanup work, removal of burned sand and excess metal from the castings, all generated severe problems for the foundry industry as far as the new codes were concerned. It made the cost of compliance very, very high. More than two years of effort went into the study and the basic engineering of the equipment necessary to handle the Pollution, Environmental, and OSHA problems for the Iron Division alone. It was very apparent that, while the problems could be solved, the Company could not afford to handle these in all five operations. The decision was made to concentrate on the two largest and potentially the most profitable, the Iron Division and the Magnesium Division. Through the years of 1972 and 1973, the Die Casting plant was closed down, then the new Aluminum Permanent Mold foundry was closed. After a short period of time, the Aluminum Sand foundry was shut down, leaving only the Magnesium operation of the entire Aluminum and Magnesium Division.
The Board of Directors and the Shareholders were then confronted with a major decision, perhaps the most important ever made at The A.C. Williams Company--should the new equipment on order for an Iron foundry be placed in the present plant in Ravenna??--this new equipment included electric melting equipment to replace relatively new cupolas and additional automatic molding equipment that would eventually replace the jolt-squeeze machines that had been the heart of the Iron Division for many years--or, should the Company move to a new location, build a new and much smaller plant around this new production equipment and utilize low-cost financing available in these communities who were eager to attract industry and generate jobs for their area residents. The new equipment was very costly and changes to a relatively old plant would be more expensive and less efficient than a completely new plant. Several communities in Ohio and others in the South had indicated their interest in A. C Williams Company by providing a location and giving financial assistance to build a modern Iron facility. The most important answer had to come from the production employees, the Officers of the local Union, and the International through some means of long-range stability that would assure the Company there would be no interruption of production and that a cooperative attitude would prevail in attaining production rates from the new equipment at a time when the Company was carrying a large debt load. Fortunately, for all concerned; the employees, the Company and the community, a long-term Labor Agreement was negotiated through July and August and signed in September of 1974, assuring the Company of genuine labor stability to 1980. Because of the Agreement, the decision was made to place the equipment, on order for a year, in the Iron Division in Ravenna.
A new President, Robert E. McCoy, took over the top Management position at the A.C. Williams Company. Work on the new installation went ahead full speed and by the summer of 1975, the electric melting equipment was installed and Iron was being melted in a completely different manner than in the previous 131 years. The majority of the automatic molding equipment was also installed and by Labor Day of 1975, the Iron Division was ready for the "New Era" of the foundry business and another chapter of A. C. Williams' history. The Heisler brothers, Jim, Bob, and Bruce sold their interest in 1977 to Robert E. McCoy and seven other management employees because a seventh generation was not available to continue the management by J.W. Williams' descendents.
Business was very strong and profitable. The new management group embarked upon a plan to supply its customers with aluminum, large iron, steel and short run products. Tri-Cast, a small iron plant in Akron was purchased in 1978, followed by a large iron foundry in Delaware, Ohio and a steel foundry in Barberton, Ohio in 1979. The Company was now capable of expanding it customer base while increasing sales to its existing customers. The aluminum foundry was started again in 1978 and a centrifugal foundry and machine shop were moved into the North Walnut plant. Sales grew from $6 million in 1977 to $36 million in 1980 but some large customers suddenly went bankrupt and could not pay their bills forcing the Company to cut back its operations, move through Chapter 11, coming out of it in January of 1983 with a plan to pay its creditors 100%. The Company sold off all operating plants except the magnesium and Tri-Cast operations before coming out of Chapter 11. A nail gun plant was started in Tallmadge but only lasted three years. The bulk of the pneumatic guns were designed into die castings eliminating the need for the operation. The unsecured creditors were paid off in 1993.
Dale E. McCoy succeeded his father as President January 1, 1994. The Company name is no longer used as the marketer. Two separate corporations operated independently of each other. Lite Metals Company, selling magnesium and aluminum castings nationwide from Ravenna, Ohio and Tri-Cast, Inc. of Akron, Ohio selling iron and ductile iron castings, also nationwide. The A.C. Williams Company, Inc. of Ravenna, Ohio still owns Lite Metals, Tri-Cast was sold in April of 2000.
Lite Metals employs less than fifty employees and plans to continue doing so in order to maintain better service to customers. Satisfied customers will help the company to survive in the future. Another 150 years is our goal.