This firm was established by Clifford F. Kern, with the articles of incorporation filed on January 1, 1907. In 1914 Kern reportedly left the firm and bought the engine lathe patterns of the Von Wyck Machine Tool Co. By 1915 the Kern Machine Tool Company owned the patterns. This story seems a bit unlikely and we wonder if perhaps Mr. Kern never left the firm, and the patterns were purchased by Kern Machine Tool Company in 1914 or '15.

From an article in the April 1910 issue of "Modern Machinery". The drilling machine shown is just one of many types manufactured by Kern.

In early 1916, the Cleveland Machinery & Supply Co. organized a new company called the Simplex Machine Tool Company of Hamilton, Ohio. In March of that year they acquired Kern Machine Tool Company, and immediately expanded its operations to increase capacity for the war effort. They also bought the American Lathe & Press Co., of Hamilton. In January 1917 these business were all formally incorporated under the name of the Simplex Machine Tool Company.

Information Sources

• From the 1910-01-20 edition of The Iron Trade Review

  The Kern Machine Tool Co. is building a new shop adjoining the plant now occupied on Spring Grove avenue. The new shop will contain about 15,000 square feet of floor space and will be used in building the new ball-bearing multiple spindle drills, which the company is to put on the market. The present plant is working full time and full force on upright drills and the demand for these machines continues active.

• From the April 1910 edition of Modern Machinery.

  The Kern Machine Tool Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. A four page illustrated circular which describes a new 24 in. high speed upright drill press that has recently been placed upon the market by the Kern Machine Tool Company.

• From the 1912 book, Cincinnati, the Queen City, 1788-1912, by S. J. Clarke, comes the following biographies.

  Clifford F. Kern, a successful representative of industrial interests in Cincinnati, is the president of the Kern Machine Tool Company, which was organized on the 1st of January, 1907. He was born in this city in 1872, his father being Albert P. Kern. As a boy he entered the shops of the firm of Lodge & Davis, first working as an apprentice and later as a machinist for five years. On the expiration of that period he secured employment with the Uihlein Company, a steel jobbing house of Cincinnati, remaining with that concern until he embarked in business on his own account in 1906. In September of that year he established the Kern Machine Tool Company, organizing the firm on the 1st of January, 1907. The concern occupies two buildings at Nos. 4657-4659 Spring Grove avenue, the dimensions of the main structure being two hundred and forty by fifty feet, while those of the other building are fifty by one hundred and twenty feet. The officers of the company are as follows: Clifford F. Kern, president; and Arthur T. Letherby, vice president and treasurer. Both gentlemen are practical mechanics and employ one hundred skilled workmen in the conduct of their business. They are successfully engaged in the manufacture of machine tools, making a specialty of upright drilling machinery.

  Arthur T. Letherby was born at Plymouth, England, in 1861, and when about thirteen years of age emigrated to Canada, where he completed his education, attending the Mechanics Institute at London, Ontario. He learned the machinist's trade in the employ of the Stevens, Turner & Burns Company of London, Ontario. In 1881 he crossed the border into the United States and soon afterward entered the service of the Niles Tool Works at Hamilton, Ohio, remaining with that concern as a machinist for fifteen years. On the expiration of that period he became superintendent for the Hamilton Machine Tool Company of Hamilton, Ohio, acting in that capacity for about ten years. On the 1st of January, 1909, he came to Cincinnati and has since been prominently identified with industrial interests here, as the vice president and treasurer of the Kern Machine Tool Company.

• From the May 1914 edition of Machinery.

  Drilling Machine: Kern Machine Tool Co., Hamilton, Ohio. Two types of drilling machines. One of these is a tilting table machine on which the table may be swung to any angle. The table is rigidly held on the saddle by four bolts. The second machine is a heavy-duty drilling machine, the design of which combines a number of interesting features. There are nine changes of speed and eight changes of feed. Double back gearing is provided through gears which may be slid into engagement without stopping the machine. A feature of the machine is a ball thrust bearing under the bevel gear which is used to elevate the table arm.

• The 1915-08-19 edition of The Iron Age had this news item.

  The Kern Machine Tool Company, Hamilton, Ohio has acquired the lathe patterns of the Von Wyck Machine Tool Company, Cincinnati, and is now engaged in the manufacture of lathes. Later on the company expects to put out a new lathe under its own name.

• Advertisement in the August 1915 edition of American Machine and Tool Record, for "The Kern 20, 21 & 26 inch high speed drilling machines." The company address was 1003 Cornell Ave., Hamilton, Ohio. The November 1915 edition carried an ad for single and multi-spindle drilling machines.
• From the 1916-03-30 issue of The Iron Age.

  The Cleveland Machinery & Supply Company, Cleveland, Ohio, has obtained control of the Kern Machine Tool Company, Hamilton, Ohio, and will operate this plant in the future. No changes have yet been made in the personnel of the officers, and it is not yet known whether or not the name of the company purchased will be changed.

• From the 1916-05-18 issue of The Iron Age.

  H. L. Beeler, general superintendent, Cleveland Machinery & Supply Company, Cleveland, Is in Cincinnati buying equipment for the Simplex Machine Tool Company, Hamilton, Ohio. The Simplex Company was recently organized to take over the plant of the Kern Machine Tool Company at Hamilton, and is closely affiliated with the Cleveland Company. Its officers are as follows: President, Stanley Sparks; general manager, Charles D. Gibson; treasurer, John O'Brien, and secretary, W. B. McNaughton.

• The 1918 book A History of Cleveland and Its Environs: Biography, by Alroy McKendree Avery, has a biography of Stanley W. Sparks, from which the following is extracted.

  At that date [March, 1915], with other associates, he organized the Cleveland Machinery & Supply Company, of which he is president and treasurer, with C. D. Gibson, vice president, John O'Brien, treasurer, and W. E. McNaughton, secretary. This company devised a special lathe for the manufacture of shell machinery. This lathe met with universal favor and in less than a year the company had sold the machines to an aggregate value of over two million dollars. At one time they had twenty-eight plants in Ohio engaged in turning out these machines. In March, 1916, the company bought the Kern Machine Tool Company at Hamilton, Ohio. This plant was equipped for manufacturing a line of high speed ball bearing drill presses, and also upright drilling machinery. After improving the plant and adding to its equipment they gave it greatly increased capacity. Among other improvements they installed a complete tool room employing 150 men. This business has grown so rapidly that the plant was soon inadequate to fill orders and they then bought the American Lathe and Press Company at Hamilton, employing 220 men. This plant is used for manufacture of a complete line of heavy duty engine lathes.

  In January, 1917, the business was reincorporated under the name Simplex Machine Tool Company. This company controls all the manufacturing plants owned by Mr. Sparks and his associates, while the Cleveland Machinery and Supply Company has the exclusive selling agency for the different plants. Phenomenal increases in industries of this kind are the order of the day, and in February, 1917, another great increase was justified. At that time they bought the Richmond Adding and Listing Company of Columbus, employing 125 men. That plant was well adapted for light manufacturing, and is now used for the manufacture of light tool machinery, especially 12-inch lathes and universal tool room grinders. At the present time the organization of which Mr. Sparks is at the head is approximately five months behind in its orders.