Information Sheet

 

 

R         Ashcroft, Joseph, 1874‑1961.

281                  Papers, 1897‑1947.

                                    One folder, photocopies.

 

 

 

These are papers of a manufacturer of wooden spokes for wheels at Poplar Bluff, Butler County, Missouri.  Included are a letter from the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Com­pany con­cerning the spoke business, 1909; letters from R. M. Good of the School of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, Missouri, 1947; and an address delivered to a trade association meeting in Memphis, Tennessee, 1942.

 

Joseph Ashcroft was born in Pittstown, New Jersey, in 1874, the son of William and Mary Ash­croft.  He was educated at rural schools and attended the Stewart Business College in Tren­ton, New Jersey, 1891‑1892.  Ashcroft managed the office of the Lambertville (N.J.) Spoke Com­pany for five years, and then became a partner in the Bimel Manufacturing Company of Portland, In­di­ana, also engaged in the spoke business.  In 1902 Ashcroft organized the Bimel Ash­croft Com­pany, con­tinuing his association with Fred Bimel.  Located at Poplar Bluff in Butler County, Mis­souri, the firm was in good position to utilize the ash and hickory hardwoods coming from the Bootheel.  The Bimel Ashcroft Company produced millions of spokes at Poplar Bluff, with a sub­stantial number going to the armies during World War I.  As steel wheels re­placed wooden prod­ucts following the war, the company expanded its foreign exporting and marketing and con­tinued to thrive.  As its peak, the Bimel Ashcroft Company operated eight­een factories in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Arkansas, and Missouri. Ashcroft re­mained active in the com­pany until his retirement in 1942.  He lived in Poplar Bluff until his death on 30 November 1961.

 

This small collection of Ashcroft’s papers includes eight pieces of incoming corre­spondence and an address delivered upon his retirement in 1942.  Several of the letters con­cern the wood­working industry.  Two letters from Thomas J. Stewart of the Stewart Business College, 1897‑1898, refer to the rivalry between the Bimel Manufacturing Company and the Lambertville Spoke Company.  The demand for spokes which existed before World War I is evident in a letter to Ashcroft from the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company of South Bend, Indiana, 1909.  The Studebakers offered to advance the money for a new, larger fac­tory at Poplar Bluff in ex­change for a constant supply of spokes at South Bend.  Ashcroft’s brief reminiscences on the in­dustry may be found in a retirement address delivered to a trade association at Memphis in 1942.  He noted advancements in the industry and his role in estab­lishing standard grading and pricing practices.

 

The remainder of the collection consists of letters to Ashcroft by President R. M. Good of the School of The Ozarks, 1947.  A benefactor of the school, Ashcroft intended to visit the insti­tution at Point Lookout, Missouri.  The letters concern arrangements for his visit.

 

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