Kempsmith Machine Tool Co. was formed in 1888 by highly respected machinst and toolmaker Frank Kempsmith, who only a year previous had co-founded Springfield Machine Tool Co., formed to make lathes under contract to Lodge & Davis. Kempsmith's new firm made milling machines, which early on were marketed by Lodge & Davis.

By 1901 Kempsmith had lost a son to a railroad accident and then lost an eye to cancer. He was going blind in his other eye as well and so the business was sold to the newly formed Kempsmith Manufacturing Co., with Howard L. Browning as president and Franz Wollaeger as secretary and treasurer. Kempsmith would die of cancer in 1904. His former business operated under the Kempsmith Mfg. Co. name until about the end of World War II when the name became Kempsmith Machine Co. They continued manufacturing machine tools for decades until they completely switched their focus to another line of business, paper-cutting machinery.

Ad from August 1902 "Machinery".

Information Sources

• 1901-03-14 American Machinist.

  The Kempsmith Manufacturing Company has by purchase succeeded the Kempsmith Machine Tool Company, of Milwaukee, Wis. Howard L. Browning is president of the new company, and Franz Wollaeger, secretary and treasurer.

• 1901-03-21 American Machinist.

  We have referred to the change that has taken place in the business of the Kempsmith Company, of Milwaukee, and learn that this change has been made necessary by the fact that Frank Kempsmith is now nearly blind. He first lost the sight of one eye entirely, and it had to be removed. The remaining eye is so weak as to be of no service to him in the conduct of business, and it is believed by Mr. Kempsmith and his friends as well, that his days of active work are over, although he is at the present time only fifty-three years old. At about the same time that his eye was removed, his boy was killed by a railroad train, so that he seems to have had more than his share of troubles. On the other hand, he retires with an excellent record as a mechanic and a manufacturer. He works at one time at Brown & Sharpe's, and was for some time superintendent of the shops of Warner & Swasey at Cleveland. Afterwards he went into business in Springfield, Ohio, where he had formerly been employed as a toolmaker. He removed to Milwaukee about thirteen years ago, and had built there an excellent shop, exceptionally well equipped and arranged for the production of milling machines, which were his specialty, although he occasionally did some other work. While by no means rich, in the modern meaning of the term, Mr. Kempsmith, we are glad to say, has enough of this world's goods to make him comfortable, and he speaks very highly of those who succeed him in the conduct of the business he has built up. He believes they "will be heard from in a very creditable way." Mr. Kempsmith's success has been founded chiefly, perhaps, upon his superlative skill as a mechanic. The superintendent of one of our most prominent tool-building concerns once remarked to the writer: "I consider Frank Kempsmith the best mechanic that ever worked in our place. He had the skill and the nerve to make a job exquisitely fine when it was required to be so, and at the same time he had the good judgment to stop work on a job as soon as it was good enough for the purpose it was to serve."

• 1904-04-21 American Machinist.

  Frank Kempsmith

  The death of Frank Kempsmith, of Milwaukee, which, as noted last week, occurred April 10, comes to the editor of this journal as a personal affliction. To have known him intimately and for many years and to have been a shopmate of his was a rare privilege. Kempsmith was the kind of man whom the world never can have enough; quiet, unassuming, clean-minded, honorable and true. He played life's game to the end through all manner of vicissitudes, bearing manfully the most trying bereavement and in the end grimly facing a death which for years he knew to be inevitable. The cause of death was sarcoma, on account of which one of his eyes had to be removed some years ago. At thirteen years of age he began his mechanical career, and as a workman at the bench gained an enviable standing as a highly skilled machinist and toolmaker. He worked in various Eastern shops, including Garvin's, in New York, and Brown & Sharpe's, being noted for his high skill, good judgment and conscientious work. Finally he went West and was for a time a toolmaker in Springfield, Ohio. Afterward he became superintendent of the shops of Warner & Swasey at Cleveland, the Lick telescope being constructed their during that time. From there he returned to Springfield, and with two partners started in business building machine tools and sixteen years ago moved to Milwaukee, where by himself he built up the business now known as the Kempsmith Manufacturing Company, originating the milling machines which are known by his name. His shop was a good one; he took great pride in it, and every piece of work turned out of it had to be up to his high standard of workmanship. A young son who was especially dear to him and upon whom his hopes were largely centered fell a victim to Milwaukee's railway grade crossings, and about the same time the malady of which we have spoken manifested itself. Broken in spirit, he sold out his business and retired. Afterward and for a time he seemed better, gained hope and expressed a desire to be at work again, but for some time past his health had been again declining. At the time of his death he was nearly fifty-six years old. He leaves a wife and one son.

• 1904 Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, in a column of "Members Deceased During the Year".

  Frank Kempsmith

  Mr. Frank Kempsmith began his mechanical career at the age of thirteen and became a highly-skilled machinist and tool-maker. He worked in various Eastern ships, including Garvin's in New York and Brown & Sharpe's, being noted for his skill, good judgment and conscientious work.

  Later he went West, and was for a time a tool-maker in Springfield, Ohio. Afterwards he beame Superintendent of the shops of Warner & Swasey, of Cleveland, the Lick Telescope being constructed there at the time. From there he returned to Springfield, where with two partners he started in business, building machine tools, and about sixteen before his death moved to Milwaukee, where by himself he built up a business now known as the Kempsmith Manufacturing Company. Owing to ill health he finally retired from business. His death occurred on April 10, 1904. He became a member of the Society in May, 1886.

• May 1921 The Church Times of Milwaukee has a text ad: "Kempsmith Machine Tools (Milling Machines) / Officers of the Company / Paul E. Thomas, President and Treasurer / John Goetz, Vice Pres. & Works Manager / E. E. Leason, Asst. Treasurer / Frank Wollaeger, Jr., Secretary / Peter Lowe, Asst. Secretary / The Kempsmith Manufacturing Co. / Milwaukee, Wis."
• American Milling Machine Builders: 1820-1920, by Kenneth L. Cope, 2007.
• A correspondent advised us in 2020 that "Kempsmith Machine Company no longer produces or supports a line of milling machines. However, they remain in business as a leader and innovator in the production of folding carton die cutters and paper converting machinery since 1888." Kempsmith Machine Co.