From January 1917 Industrial Arts

In 1880 J. J. Wheeler and A. A. De Lisle formed the partnership of Wheeler & De Lisle. They began making clamps, and in 1887 organized as the Grand Rapids Hand Screw Co., along with Fred Denny and W. B. Bennett. At this time they had a half dozen employees. In 1889 the business re-incorporated under the same name, at which time they had a dozen employees. In 1890 Oscar B. Wilmarth purchased part ownership of the company and became treasurer and general manager. Under Wilmarth's leadership the company's growth accelerated.

Sometime between 1895 and 1900 the company began making store show cases and related hardware. A subsidiary was created, the Grand Rapids Fixture Co., to make the store show cases and hardware. By 1906 the combined company employed over 100 workers.

The details are fuzzy but it appears that in 1908, Wilmarth sold off the hand-screw portion of the business, including the "Grand Rapids Hand Screw Co." name, perhaps to De Lisle and others. Wilmarth renamed the Grand Rapids Fixture Co. to the Wilmarth Show Case Co., and continued running that business to great success.

Meanwhile, the newly constituted Grand Rapids Hand Screw Company introduced a line of school work benches. At that time, many schools were introducing manual training programs to teach woodworking, metalworking and related crafts, and Grand Rapids Hand Screw seems to have been a successful competitor in a crowded marketplace.

In 1913 the Grand Rapids Hand Screw Company was purchased by Peter B. Schravesande, William B. S. Matheson, George W. Fortier, and Bert M. Fox, and re-incorporated under the same name, with the four men as president, secretary, treasurer, and superintendent, respectively. Under the new ownership the company specialized in school furniture and supplies. They introduced a line of woodworking and metalworking machines aimed at school shops. The machines had the "Grand Rapids" model name and "G.R.H.S." cast into the frames. We speculate that these machines were made under contract by one of the many Grand Rapids woodworking machinery makers.

In 1915 the company name was changed to Grand Rapids School Equipment Co. During the war years the company pursued any manner of government contracts in order to keep its workers employed. After the war the old business remained stagnant and the company continued to pursue business where it could; meanwhile, the machinery lineup seems to have disappeared, never to return. In 1920 the company went into receivership: it had ample business booked, but lacked the cash flow to buy the large amount of materials required to fulfill its contracts. The company survived into the early 1920s but never seems to have regained its footing.

Our interest in this company is due to their woodworking and metalworking machinery and vises. Clamps, benches, etc,. are outside the scope of our site and we do not attempt to document these products beyond what you see here.

Information Sources

• A lawsuit between a salesman and the company sheds light on the founding of the Grand Rapids School Equipment Co., the owners, and their activities during World War I.
• The Clamp Guy's page on Grand Rapids Hand Screw Co. has a good overview of history plus links to pictures of some of their clamps.
• Dwight Goss's 1906 book, History of Grand Rapids and Its Industries has an <"https://books.google.com/books?id=mRsVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1091">article on Grand Rapids Hand Screw Co.
• 1907-1908 Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory: "GRAND RAPIDS HAND SCREW CO. W C Winchester Pres, A A De Lisle Vice-Pres. O B Wilmarth Sec and Treas. Hand Screws, Furniture, Clamps, Trucks and Cabinet Benches. Jefferson and Cottage Grove avs."
• July 1912 School Board Journal has an article on school work benches that includes an example from Grand Rapids Hand Screw Co.
• Workbench ads in 1909-1914 issues of Popular Mechanics: April 1909, Dec. 1909, April 1912, Dec. 1913, April 1914, May 1914.
• 1914-02-05 The Iron Age: "The Grand Rapids Hand Screw Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., has been incorporated with $200,000 capital stock to manufacture a line of manual training school equipment. A large factory has been acquired. George W. Fortier, P. B. Schravesande and W. B. Matheson are among those interested."
• A listing of Michigan incorporations for the week ending October 22, 1915, includes "Grand Rapids Hand Screw Company, (Name changed to Grand Rapids School Equipment Company), Grand Rapids 250,000”.
• R. L. Polk & Co.'s 1916 Grand Rapids City Directory lists Grand Rapids School Equipment Co.: "Peter ? Schravesande pres, Bertram M Fox v-pres, Wm -B S Matheson sec, Geo W Fortier treas, 1430 Front av NW".
• September 1916 School Board Journal carries an ad that says at the bottom, "Grand Rapids School Equipment Co. / Grand Rapids, Mich. / Formerly Grand Rapids Hand Screw Co.”
• The 1918 book, Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan, has a biography of Oscar B. Wilmarth.
• 1920-08-21 Michigan Manufacturer & Financial Record has an article on Grand Rapids School Equipment Co. going into receivership. "Although the Grand Rapids School Equipment Company, of Grand Rapids, has assets said to total $1,000,000 and is in good financial condition, the board of directors has decided to dissolve the concern. ... The company, which was organized In 1914 to manufacture school equipment, has been making automobile bodies for Dodge Brothers, commercial cars and phonograph boxes for an eastern concern, and it is said that contracts booked amount to from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000. ...it is admitted that the company was short of actual working capital due to freight congestion and the extraordinary large amount of materials and supplies to keep on hand."
• 1920 Poik's Grand Rapids City Directory lists Grand Rapids School Equipment Co., 1430-1580 Front av NW. George W. Fortier was treasurer, Wm. B. S. Matheson was secretary and Bertram M. Fox was vice president, John Bouwer was a clerk, John Lobbezoo, Daniel Ferney, Charles A. Anderson and Henry R. Rypkema were foremen, Matthew Van Poort and Simon Meinardi were assistant foremen, Bertha F. Schmidt was a stenographer, Alan E. Leiby was a repairman, and Elfon A. Starr was a traffic manager. The Grand Rapids Phonograph Co. was a subsidiary of the School Equipment Co. and operating out of the same premises.
• The 1924 book, Arthur S. White's Personal Sketches—History of Kent County, has a section on Wilmarth Show Case Company that helps explain the timing of the split between Grand Rapids Hand Screw Co. and Grand Rapids Fixture Co.