Part of the Indiana Biographies Project
John M. Westcott
The pioneers of a country, the founders of a business, the originators of any undertaking that will promote the material welfare or advance the educational, social and moral influence of a community, deserve the gratitude of humanity. One of the most important factors in the upbuilding of Richmond is the Hoosier Drill Works, an extensive enterprise that has brought success not alone to the stockholders, but has also added to the general prosperity by furnishing employment to many workmen and thus promoting commercial activity. The man who stands at the head of this concern, John M. Westcott, is also connected with other leading enterprises of Richmond, and at all times is a public-spirited, progressive citizen whose support is never withheld from measures that tend to advance the public good.
Mr. Westcott is a native of Indiana, his birth having occurred in Union county in 1834. His parents were Henry and Sarah (Dyche) Westcott, the former a native of New Jersey, of English descent, and the latter a native of Kentucky, of German descent. Their marriage was celebrated in Warren county, Ohio, and in 1832 they became residents of Union county, Indiana. Their family numbered four children, Ruth E., George H., John M. and Jennie M.
At his parental home the subject of this review was reared to manhood and in the public schools near his home he acquired his education. His early experiences were those common to frontier settlements, and with the progress and development of Indiana he has long been actively identified. In the early part of his business career he was engaged in the dry-goods trade, and on abandoning merchandising he dealt in grain and feed, his capable management and well directed energies bringing him desirable success. In 1862 Mr. Westcott removed to Richmond, where he engaged in the grain and feed trade until he became identified with the industrial interests of the city in 1872. In that year he became a stockholder in the Hoosier Drill Works, then located in Milton, Indiana, and for some time thereafter devoted his entire attention to that business. Believing that it could be made a very paying investment, he secured a controlling interest by purchasing the stock of Isaac Kinsey, and since that time, by his business and executive ability, his keen discrimination and unflagging industry, he has made the Hoosier Drill Works a most paying enterprise. In the spring of 1878 the company purchased the ground on which the present works are located and erected the buildings the following summer. About the time Mr. Westcott became the heaviest stockholder of the concern, Omar Hollingsworth also became a partner, and since that time J. A. Carr and F. A. Wilke, his other sons-in-law, have become partners, and the entire business is now in control of the family, with John M. Westcott as its president; Omar Hollingsworth, treasurer; James A. Carr, vice-president, and Burton J. Westcott, secretary. They have the largest plant in the world manufacturing exclusively seeding machines, and the annual output is worth one million dollars. The seeders are sold all over the world, and in the works four hundred men are employed.
John M. Westcott is a man of resourceful ability, whose energies have by no means been confined to one line. In the spring of 1883 he purchased forty feet of ground on Main street, between Seventh and Eighth streets, and erected thereon a four-story brick business block, with a stone front. It is finished in modern style, heated with steam and supplied with all accessories and conveniences that are found in first-class business houses. He is the chief owner of the Westcott Hotel, of Richmond, which was projected in 1892 by the Commercial Club, of which J. M. Westcott was then president, and in whose honor it was named. To his public spirit, enterprise and liberality is due the fact that Richmond now has the finest hotel in the state. The amount originally subscribed was one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, of which one hundred and ten thousand was subscribed by Mr. Westcott. He is at all times most liberal in support of any movement which will benefit the city, and with most generous hand gives of his means for the promotion of a worthy cause. He is the owner of some valuable real estate, including a fine stock farm of five thousand acres in Dickinson county, Kansas, the greater part of the land being under a high method of cultivation. His farm of two hundred and twenty-five acres, located in Center township, Wayne county, is devoted to the raising of fine-bred horses and imported Shetland ponies.
In 1855 Mr. Westcott was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Mitchell, a native of Warren county, Ohio, and at that time a resident of Wayne county, Indiana. They are now the parents of seven children: Alice C., wife of Omar Hollingsworth; Lucilla B., wife of J. A. Carr; Jennie M., wife of F. A. Wilke; Charles G., Burton J., Harry M. and Maude Evelyn. In 1880 Mr. Westcott purchased an entire block, bounded by Main, South A, Fourteenth and Sixteenth streets, which had already been laid out with walks and drives, and immediately began the improvement of the property. The second year he erected a large brick residence, and since then three other residences have been added, one for each son-in-law. The grounds are spacious and well kept, adorned with shrubs and flowering plants and shaded by beautiful trees. Hospitality characterizes the Westcott home, and the household is the center of a cultured society circle.
Socially, Mr. Westcott is connected with Whitewater Lodge, No. 4 1, I. O. O. F. Since 1849 he has held membership relations with the Methodist Episcopal church, and to all moral, educational and social interests he is a liberal contributor, doing all in his power to benefit and elevate humanity. He feels a personal interest in the men in his employ and in times of sickness or trouble they find in him a faithful friend. His business career has been crowned with a well merited success. He has made good use of his opportunities and has prospered from year to year, conducting all business matters carefully and systematically, and in all his ads displaying an aptitude for successful management. He has not permitted the accumulation of a fortune to affect in any way his actions toward those less fortunate than he, and has always a cheerful word and a pleasant smile for those with whom he comes in contact.
Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana, Volume 1, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1899