Funeral services for Frank S. Betz, 78 years old, retired manufacturer, will be held at 2 p.m. today in the First Presbyterian church of Hammond, Ind., with burial there in Oak Hill cemetery. Mr. Betz died Tuesday night in his home at 5746 Hohman Av., Hammond. His company was one of the larges manufacturers of surgical, dental, and hospital equipment in the world until he sold out in 1937. Two sons Frank and Lyman, survive.
Chicago Tribune - 3/1/1940 Frank S. Betz. Abstract
WIFE OF FORMER RESIDENT DIES AT HOME IN HAMMOND
"Mrs. Alice May Robertson Betz, 72, wife of Frank S. Betz, retired Hammond,
Ind., manufacturer, philanthropist, and conservation advocate died at her
home in Hammond Saturday, December 12. Mr. Betz, who founded the Frank S.
Betz company at Hammond in 1909, is a former resident of Eau Claire, and has
relatives here, including a sister, Mrs. Mary Helwig, Second Crossing, who
returned Friday after attending the funeral of Mrs. Betz.
Mrs. Betz is survived by her husband, two sons, Frank R. and Lyman R. and
four grandchildren. The funeral was held Monday from the home with the Rev.
T. J. Simpson, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, officiating. Mrs.
Betz was an active clubwoman and was also prominent in charitable activities
of Hammond. In 1916 Mr. Betz purchased a large building and remodeled it as
a home for 32 working girls. This home, named the "Alice Club" after Mrs.
Betz, later was moved to more substantial quarters and a few years ago was
taken over by the Y.W.C.A."
Obituary of Mrs. Alice May (Robertson) Betz in Monday, December 14, 1936
Hammond Times (Hammond, IN)
FINAL TRIBUTE PAID AT BIER OF MRS. BETZ, Burial Services for Well Known
Hammond Woman Are Held Today
"In simplicity, as she lived and died. Mrs. Alice May Robertson Betz was
buried this afternoon in Oak Hill cemetery. Funeral services were held from
the family residence at 5746 Hohman avenue.
In his eulogy before the bier of the dead woman, the Rev. T. J. Simpson,
pastor of teh First Presbyterian church to which Mrs. Betz belonged, said:
'We come with sorrow and regret, of course, at this earthly separation.
Not only will her family miss the love and strong leadership of Mrs. Betz, but
her church will feel the same loss as keenly, the loss of her encouragement and
leadership.
But our faith leads us to believe that somehow God will work out for us all
some good from this experience, and that for her loved ones and her church he
will find new compensation that will prove a blessing for us all.'
The pall bearers were Wasson Wilson, Mac McClay, Julius Meyn, Kenneth Steward,
Walter Mott and James Dickson. All were boyhood chums of Mrs. Betz' surviving
sons, Lyman and Frank R., and of her deceased son, Irving S. Betz.
She is survived by her husband, Frank S. Betz, retired manufacturer,
philanthropist and conservation advocate.
Her death thus marked the passing of one of Hammond's most useful citizens.
Most of the 31 years she had resided here had been dedicated to her family and
to the service of homeless young women. Indeed, scores of women, some now with
families of their own and others successful in professional and business ventures,
to whom Mrs. Betz had given helping hands, wiped away tears as her remains were
lowered into the grave.
In 1916, Mrs. Betz purchased the Jackson homestead and donated it as a home
for working girls. Those young women were so appreciative that they named it
the "Alice Club" in her honor."
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown
Date of Birth: Dec 1864 (Canada)
Date of Death: Dec 12, 1936 (Indiana)
Google Frank S. Betz Pharmaceutical Division to find great photos of the company and of the million dollar buisiness that employed so many in Hammond and beyond.
Google the beginning formation of Betz Air lines INC in Hammond, IN, another great discovery by Frank Betz circa 1928
Photos and designs of Hammond's first car, the Betzmobile can also be found online. Needless to say he was a very inventive man!
Frank S. Betz is one of Hammond's celebrity historical people. He is credited with being the first millionaire in Hammond.
Biography from "History of Lake and Calument Region of Indiana," pub. 1927 by Western Historical, p. 753.
FRANK S. BETZ - Mr. Betz was born and reared on a farm nine miles from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. His early lessons were learned in the little red schoolhouse, and the arduous duties of the farm gave him not only muscle but that strength of character which has lifted so many farm boys to a place of eminence. At eighteen he found employment in a saw mill where men up to fifty years of age were working twelve hours a day for from $16 to $30 per month. He saw that the men who were engaged in this work were no further ahead at fifty than were those of twenty, and he decided the thing to do was to learn a trade so that he might eventually start in business for himself. He decided on the blacksmith trade. His salary the first year while serving his apprenticeship was to be $50 per year and board. He performed themany duties that fell to his lot, such as shoeing horses, sharpening tools, doing the iron work required for new wagons, buggies, bob sleighs, etc.. His next position was that of blacksmith helper with N. Shaw & Company, a large concern making saw and grist mill machinery, engines, etc. It was while working as a blacksmith's helper that he decided to learn the machinist trade, and was transferred to this department and although he had to accept a cut in wages he cheerfully did this in order to master the trade. He then secured employment with the Union Iron Works Company of Minneapolis, manufacturers of flourmill machinery. At that time there were thousands of men in the Northwest in boarding houses who had no place to go and no one to care for them while sick or injured. An agent for a hospital company called at the plant every week selling certificates entitling single men to board, lodging and medical treatment in case of sickness or accident. When Betz saw how easy this agent was making $3 to his $1, he decided to quit the shop and become an agent for the hospital company. At the end of the first year he was made assistant to the president and placed in charge of all outside territory. His duties required him to look after the agents covering the saw mills, railroad construction work mines, etc., in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin during the summer months, and from October to March his duties were to personally visit all of the lumber, mining and other camps north of the Northern Pacific Railroad between the Hudson Bay Trail on the west and Duluth on the east. The stopping places on the trails leading to the camps, which were often one hundred fifty miles from a railroad, were from twenty to thirty miles apart without a white settler. The only method of reaching these camps was by walking. In addition to the unique and somewhat hazardous experience, he gained the education that comes from "roughing it." These travels were along wild trails where deer, bear, wolf, lynx and other animals abounded. In December, 1884, while attempting to make a short cut of seventeen miles through the woods instead of walking sixty five miles, he lost his way and was startled to hear the hungry cry of the wolves. He realized there was no time to be lost so he commenced to gather all the wood he could before darkness, when he started a fire which kept the pack trotting around until daylight, when he was compelled to retrace his steps to the camp he left the day before. He was then offered a position as general agent with the National Benefit Company, which issued the same kind of certificates good at hospitals in all of the principle cities in the United States and Canada. In 1899 while in Kansas City opening up the southwestern territory, the president of the company died and Mr. Betz came to Chicago, where he engaged in the real estate business. Shortly afterward it was decided to locate the World's Fair in Jackson Park, and he started in the business of organizing hotel companies. When the fair was over he was loaded with vacant real estate in the vicinity of Jackson Park that could not be given away, and he was "broke." At this time the National Bank of Illinois had taken over the Colonial Club on Oglesby Avenue south of Sixty-third Street which they turned over to him to operate on a commission basis. At the end of sixty days every room was taken. Four months later the old hospital company he had been with for years offered him the position as manager of the Grand Rapids Hospital, and superintendent of the agents of that district. It was this position that resulted in the founding of the Frank S. Betz Company. In his official capacity he purchased the surgical instruments and supplies required by the hospital. Amazed at the prices asked, he realized these instruments and appliances could be duplicated and sold for 50 per cent less and still make a good profit. Therefore he determined to start in the business as soon as his contract expired. To make sure that he would have the money he drew only part of his salary. You can imagine his surprise when he appeared in the general office of the company to collect his back salary, to learn that they were bankrupt and he was broke again. However, as he had made up his mind to start in business he borrowed $25 with which to buy raw material to work with. During the lean years and vicissitudes his wife stood nobly by him, ever an inspiration to his efforts. The second year he invented a steel dry hot air apparatus for treating patients with dry hot air up to 450 degrees Farenheit which he sold for $24. The cheapest one on the market at the time cost $350. His outfits were a success from the start. Over 1,200 pages of clinical reports were published in the medical journals, and the New York Herald showed the apparatus in operation and also a large loaf of br ead that was baked in New York City with a man in the apparatus. He began to make steel hospital furniture, X-ray machines and surgical instruments, which he sold directly to the doctor. To Mr. Betz perhaps belongs the credit for revolutionizing the attitude of the profession toward the use of the apparatus. Prior to his advent into the field doctors could not afford to own more than a stethoscope, a few forceps, and a thermometer. Few had an amputating case, and not many had an instrument case. His low prices and liberal offers to the profession to try any device sixty days compelled him to rent one building after another at Grand Crossing until he was making goods in five different places. In 1900 he built his first factory unit, one hundred foot front and two stories high, at Summerdale, just above Ravenswood, Chicago. He built an addition every year until the plant was a block long. While he could have purchased more ground he realized that to do business he had to be located on a railroad to bring in raw material and carry away finished goods without using drays, so in 1904 he purchased twelve acres in Hammond, installed switching facilities, gave an order for one million brick, and thus the first sections 836x100 feet of the Betz plant was soon a reality. Each year during his administration he added a wing to the plant, and so consistently did the business grow and so consistently was he in expanding that he had the foundation completed for another building, 165x100 and three stories high, that he intended to build the year he retired. Mr. Betz gives credit for his wonderful success to the loyalty of his employees, who were always on the job and who always tried to turn out more goods and work harder when he away on his European buying trips every year than they did when he was around the plant. When he retired in 1914 the Betz plant was the largest and most modern of its kind in the world for manufacturing hospital and office furniture, surgical, dental, veterinary, and embalmers instruments, orthopedic appliances, drugs, pharmaceuticals, glassware, etc. The assets were over $2,000,000 without a dollar of indebtedness except daily current bills. He always gives of his time and means to all movements for the general good of the Calumet district. Mr. Betz has many business affiliations among which are directorates of the First Trust and Savings Bank, Metal Refining Company, Gostlin Meyn and Weiss Company. He will always be remembered for his outstanding beneficence in purchasing the camp in Michigan for the local council of Boy Scouts. The committee had seleted the site at Berrien Springs, with almost one mile of river frontage, and had hoped to raise the money for it. With this end in view they approached Mr. Betz, who gave them his check for the entire amount. The creation of the Alice Club, a home for working girls, was made possible through his beneficence. He was one of fifteen who joined Mr. A.M. Turner in the purchase of The Wicker Park property on Ridge Road, which is to be turned over to North Township. Many other philanthropic works have claimed his generosity. Mr. Betz is somewhat of a globe-trotter, having crossed the Atlantic Ocean forty-one times and the Pacific five times. He has taken almost every country in the world, and has sought out of the way places. His study of life has been one of continuous absorption and he still finds the proper study of mankind is man. Mr. Betz is a member of the Masonic Order of Elks and other bodies. He was married in Bay City, Michigan, in 1888, to Alice M. Robertson, daughter of Mathilda Robertson. To this union were born three sons, Irving K., Frank L. and Lyman B., all of whom are in business in Hammond and Gary."
Obituary for Frank S. Betz from Feb 28, 1940 Hammond Times:
Headline: FIFTH STROKE PROVES FATAL; FAMILY AT BED Hammond Philanthropist Retired as Manufacturer During World War.
"Ill for more than two years, Frank S. Betz, retired manufacturer, philanthropist, conservationist and world traveler, died last night in his home at 5746 Hohman avenue, following his fifth paralytic stroke. He was 78 years old.
Members of his family who were present at Betz' bedside said that death occurred at 6:15 o'clock. He had been unconscious since Monday when he suffered his last stroke.
Dr. Stanley Brown, Betz' physician, virtually abandoned all hope for the aged man yesterday morning. Since he became ill on Feb. 1, 1938, Betz had made two partial recoveries, fighting off almost certain death. His first stroke occurred while he was in the office of Betz Investment company in downtown Hammond. In January, 1939, he contracted double pneumonia and was near death for several days.
Survivors include two sons, Frank R. and Lyman, of Hammond; six grandchildren, one great grandchild: three sisters, Mrs. John Helwig of Eau Claire [Mary], Wis., Mrs. Emma Drake, and Mrs. Grace Frye, of Oakland, Calif. and one brother, George H. Betz of Eau Claire.
Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. from the First Presbyterian church with Garfield lodge conducting Masonic rites. Rev. T.J. Simpson, pastor, will deliver the funeral eulogy. Interment will be held at Oak Hill cemetery.
Betz was born June 11, 1861, in Eau Claire, Wis., the son of an officer in the Union army. At the age of 12, he was doing a man's work in a sawmill and blacksmith shop in Eau Claire. When he was 20 years old, Betz went to Minneapolis, where he became employed as a blacksmith's helper. Shortly after this, he took a position selling hospital insurance for a Minneapolis firm and inside of a year he had become assistant tot he president of the company.
In 1889, Betz moved to Chicago and entered the real estate business. The panic of the 90's cracked his bankroll, but not his spirit, and Betz took a position as manager of the Grand Rapids hospital and superintendent of agents in the district for the firm he had been with formerly.
In was this position that resulted in the founding of the Frank S. Betz company, which was later to become the largest manufacturer of surgical, dental and hospital supplies and apparatus in the world.
As manager of the hospital Betz was aghast at the prices charged for surgical instruments and he realized that they could be made and sold at prices 25 to 50 per cent lower. Suddenly the hospital company went bankrupt and young Betz was without a job or money.
Betz built his first equipment, a Turkish bath cabinet, on $25 he borrowed in Chicago. Business prospered and he moved into a building on 75th street.
In 1904, Betz came to Hammond and during the next 10 years his was a most active life. His business grew to its greatest proportions under his direct supervision. Betz retired from the active management of the Frank S. Betz company in 1914. However, he maintained an interest in the firm and was the largest stockholder at the time the company was sold in 1937.
After his retirement, Betz' interests were varied, but his principle activities were the Boy Scouts and reforestation. He maintained an active interest in the latter up to a year ago when his health forced him to turn over management of this forestry business to his son, Frank.
During his life, he sold articles on reforestation to American magazine and other publications. Like his wife, who preceded him in death several years ago, Betz was a charitable man and he manifested that charity in numerous philanthropies.
His desire to aid youth, together with his love of the outdoors, resulted in the establishment of Camp Betz, Hammond Boy Scout camp at Berrien Springs, Mich. Hundreds of Hammond Boy Scouts visit this camp every summer.
Betz was a member of Garfield Lodge No. 569 F & A.M., a life member of the Oriental Consistory of Chicago and the Hammond Kiwanis club. He had been a national representative of the Boy Scouts and at one time was a member of the executive board. Betz was the last surviving member of the original Hammond Manufacturers' association. He also belonged to the Illinois Manufacturers' association and the First Presbyterian church.
Betz was perhaps the most widely traveled man in the Calumet region. He crossed the Atlantic ocean 41 times and the Pacific seven, he once told a biographer.
Pallbearers at the service will be Peter W. Meyn; William Hastings, Charles Surprise, Dr. Brown, Samuel Greenwald, Dr. G.L. Smith, David Emery and James O. Dickson.
His body will lie at the funeral home at 5322 Hohman avenue until time for the services, a member of the family announced."
From "Flashback," monthly newsleter published by the Hammond Historical Society (Sept 2003). ]
Frank S. Betz
World Traveler
Mr. Frank S. Betz, one of the city's early industrialists, was also one of Hammond's first globe trotting citizens. As he worked to expand his business,his travels took him to nearly every corner of the globe. In this illustration at the right, we see Frank on one of his many world wind tours. This postcard shows Betz on the road in Rome, Italy while attending the International Congress of Physical Therapeutics.
Betz journeys took him to nearly every far flung corner of the world in his pursuit to reach as many potential customers as possible for his ever expanding wholesale supply business for doctors and dentists. Later on as he and his company matured, Frank Betz stayed closer to home. He even wrote a series of articles about his many journeys and life's experiences along the way for the Hammond Times newspapers.
Mr. Betz traveled with his wife and family on some trips as he mixed business with pleasure. Frank Betz wasn't shy about touring the United States either. He took many excursions in the states, making him quite the domestic traveler as well.
Source: Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011
Father: George M. Betz b. Germany
Mother: Unknown
Spouse: Alice Robertson
Chicago Tribune - 3/1/1940 Frank S. Betz. Abstract
WIFE OF FORMER RESIDENT DIES AT HOME IN HAMMOND
"Mrs. Alice May Robertson Betz, 72, wife of Frank S. Betz, retired Hammond,
Ind., manufacturer, philanthropist, and conservation advocate died at her
home in Hammond Saturday, December 12. Mr. Betz, who founded the Frank S.
Betz company at Hammond in 1909, is a former resident of Eau Claire, and has
relatives here, including a sister, Mrs. Mary Helwig, Second Crossing, who
returned Friday after attending the funeral of Mrs. Betz.
Mrs. Betz is survived by her husband, two sons, Frank R. and Lyman R. and
four grandchildren. The funeral was held Monday from the home with the Rev.
T. J. Simpson, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, officiating. Mrs.
Betz was an active clubwoman and was also prominent in charitable activities
of Hammond. In 1916 Mr. Betz purchased a large building and remodeled it as
a home for 32 working girls. This home, named the "Alice Club" after Mrs.
Betz, later was moved to more substantial quarters and a few years ago was
taken over by the Y.W.C.A."
Obituary of Mrs. Alice May (Robertson) Betz in Monday, December 14, 1936
Hammond Times (Hammond, IN)
FINAL TRIBUTE PAID AT BIER OF MRS. BETZ, Burial Services for Well Known
Hammond Woman Are Held Today
"In simplicity, as she lived and died. Mrs. Alice May Robertson Betz was
buried this afternoon in Oak Hill cemetery. Funeral services were held from
the family residence at 5746 Hohman avenue.
In his eulogy before the bier of the dead woman, the Rev. T. J. Simpson,
pastor of teh First Presbyterian church to which Mrs. Betz belonged, said:
'We come with sorrow and regret, of course, at this earthly separation.
Not only will her family miss the love and strong leadership of Mrs. Betz, but
her church will feel the same loss as keenly, the loss of her encouragement and
leadership.
But our faith leads us to believe that somehow God will work out for us all
some good from this experience, and that for her loved ones and her church he
will find new compensation that will prove a blessing for us all.'
The pall bearers were Wasson Wilson, Mac McClay, Julius Meyn, Kenneth Steward,
Walter Mott and James Dickson. All were boyhood chums of Mrs. Betz' surviving
sons, Lyman and Frank R., and of her deceased son, Irving S. Betz.
She is survived by her husband, Frank S. Betz, retired manufacturer,
philanthropist and conservation advocate.
Her death thus marked the passing of one of Hammond's most useful citizens.
Most of the 31 years she had resided here had been dedicated to her family and
to the service of homeless young women. Indeed, scores of women, some now with
families of their own and others successful in professional and business ventures,
to whom Mrs. Betz had given helping hands, wiped away tears as her remains were
lowered into the grave.
In 1916, Mrs. Betz purchased the Jackson homestead and donated it as a home
for working girls. Those young women were so appreciative that they named it
the "Alice Club" in her honor."
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown
Date of Birth: Dec 1864 (Canada)
Date of Death: Dec 12, 1936 (Indiana)
Google Frank S. Betz Pharmaceutical Division to find great photos of the company and of the million dollar buisiness that employed so many in Hammond and beyond.
Google the beginning formation of Betz Air lines INC in Hammond, IN, another great discovery by Frank Betz circa 1928
Photos and designs of Hammond's first car, the Betzmobile can also be found online. Needless to say he was a very inventive man!
Frank S. Betz is one of Hammond's celebrity historical people. He is credited with being the first millionaire in Hammond.
Biography from "History of Lake and Calument Region of Indiana," pub. 1927 by Western Historical, p. 753.
FRANK S. BETZ - Mr. Betz was born and reared on a farm nine miles from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. His early lessons were learned in the little red schoolhouse, and the arduous duties of the farm gave him not only muscle but that strength of character which has lifted so many farm boys to a place of eminence. At eighteen he found employment in a saw mill where men up to fifty years of age were working twelve hours a day for from $16 to $30 per month. He saw that the men who were engaged in this work were no further ahead at fifty than were those of twenty, and he decided the thing to do was to learn a trade so that he might eventually start in business for himself. He decided on the blacksmith trade. His salary the first year while serving his apprenticeship was to be $50 per year and board. He performed themany duties that fell to his lot, such as shoeing horses, sharpening tools, doing the iron work required for new wagons, buggies, bob sleighs, etc.. His next position was that of blacksmith helper with N. Shaw & Company, a large concern making saw and grist mill machinery, engines, etc. It was while working as a blacksmith's helper that he decided to learn the machinist trade, and was transferred to this department and although he had to accept a cut in wages he cheerfully did this in order to master the trade. He then secured employment with the Union Iron Works Company of Minneapolis, manufacturers of flourmill machinery. At that time there were thousands of men in the Northwest in boarding houses who had no place to go and no one to care for them while sick or injured. An agent for a hospital company called at the plant every week selling certificates entitling single men to board, lodging and medical treatment in case of sickness or accident. When Betz saw how easy this agent was making $3 to his $1, he decided to quit the shop and become an agent for the hospital company. At the end of the first year he was made assistant to the president and placed in charge of all outside territory. His duties required him to look after the agents covering the saw mills, railroad construction work mines, etc., in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin during the summer months, and from October to March his duties were to personally visit all of the lumber, mining and other camps north of the Northern Pacific Railroad between the Hudson Bay Trail on the west and Duluth on the east. The stopping places on the trails leading to the camps, which were often one hundred fifty miles from a railroad, were from twenty to thirty miles apart without a white settler. The only method of reaching these camps was by walking. In addition to the unique and somewhat hazardous experience, he gained the education that comes from "roughing it." These travels were along wild trails where deer, bear, wolf, lynx and other animals abounded. In December, 1884, while attempting to make a short cut of seventeen miles through the woods instead of walking sixty five miles, he lost his way and was startled to hear the hungry cry of the wolves. He realized there was no time to be lost so he commenced to gather all the wood he could before darkness, when he started a fire which kept the pack trotting around until daylight, when he was compelled to retrace his steps to the camp he left the day before. He was then offered a position as general agent with the National Benefit Company, which issued the same kind of certificates good at hospitals in all of the principle cities in the United States and Canada. In 1899 while in Kansas City opening up the southwestern territory, the president of the company died and Mr. Betz came to Chicago, where he engaged in the real estate business. Shortly afterward it was decided to locate the World's Fair in Jackson Park, and he started in the business of organizing hotel companies. When the fair was over he was loaded with vacant real estate in the vicinity of Jackson Park that could not be given away, and he was "broke." At this time the National Bank of Illinois had taken over the Colonial Club on Oglesby Avenue south of Sixty-third Street which they turned over to him to operate on a commission basis. At the end of sixty days every room was taken. Four months later the old hospital company he had been with for years offered him the position as manager of the Grand Rapids Hospital, and superintendent of the agents of that district. It was this position that resulted in the founding of the Frank S. Betz Company. In his official capacity he purchased the surgical instruments and supplies required by the hospital. Amazed at the prices asked, he realized these instruments and appliances could be duplicated and sold for 50 per cent less and still make a good profit. Therefore he determined to start in the business as soon as his contract expired. To make sure that he would have the money he drew only part of his salary. You can imagine his surprise when he appeared in the general office of the company to collect his back salary, to learn that they were bankrupt and he was broke again. However, as he had made up his mind to start in business he borrowed $25 with which to buy raw material to work with. During the lean years and vicissitudes his wife stood nobly by him, ever an inspiration to his efforts. The second year he invented a steel dry hot air apparatus for treating patients with dry hot air up to 450 degrees Farenheit which he sold for $24. The cheapest one on the market at the time cost $350. His outfits were a success from the start. Over 1,200 pages of clinical reports were published in the medical journals, and the New York Herald showed the apparatus in operation and also a large loaf of br ead that was baked in New York City with a man in the apparatus. He began to make steel hospital furniture, X-ray machines and surgical instruments, which he sold directly to the doctor. To Mr. Betz perhaps belongs the credit for revolutionizing the attitude of the profession toward the use of the apparatus. Prior to his advent into the field doctors could not afford to own more than a stethoscope, a few forceps, and a thermometer. Few had an amputating case, and not many had an instrument case. His low prices and liberal offers to the profession to try any device sixty days compelled him to rent one building after another at Grand Crossing until he was making goods in five different places. In 1900 he built his first factory unit, one hundred foot front and two stories high, at Summerdale, just above Ravenswood, Chicago. He built an addition every year until the plant was a block long. While he could have purchased more ground he realized that to do business he had to be located on a railroad to bring in raw material and carry away finished goods without using drays, so in 1904 he purchased twelve acres in Hammond, installed switching facilities, gave an order for one million brick, and thus the first sections 836x100 feet of the Betz plant was soon a reality. Each year during his administration he added a wing to the plant, and so consistently did the business grow and so consistently was he in expanding that he had the foundation completed for another building, 165x100 and three stories high, that he intended to build the year he retired. Mr. Betz gives credit for his wonderful success to the loyalty of his employees, who were always on the job and who always tried to turn out more goods and work harder when he away on his European buying trips every year than they did when he was around the plant. When he retired in 1914 the Betz plant was the largest and most modern of its kind in the world for manufacturing hospital and office furniture, surgical, dental, veterinary, and embalmers instruments, orthopedic appliances, drugs, pharmaceuticals, glassware, etc. The assets were over $2,000,000 without a dollar of indebtedness except daily current bills. He always gives of his time and means to all movements for the general good of the Calumet district. Mr. Betz has many business affiliations among which are directorates of the First Trust and Savings Bank, Metal Refining Company, Gostlin Meyn and Weiss Company. He will always be remembered for his outstanding beneficence in purchasing the camp in Michigan for the local council of Boy Scouts. The committee had seleted the site at Berrien Springs, with almost one mile of river frontage, and had hoped to raise the money for it. With this end in view they approached Mr. Betz, who gave them his check for the entire amount. The creation of the Alice Club, a home for working girls, was made possible through his beneficence. He was one of fifteen who joined Mr. A.M. Turner in the purchase of The Wicker Park property on Ridge Road, which is to be turned over to North Township. Many other philanthropic works have claimed his generosity. Mr. Betz is somewhat of a globe-trotter, having crossed the Atlantic Ocean forty-one times and the Pacific five times. He has taken almost every country in the world, and has sought out of the way places. His study of life has been one of continuous absorption and he still finds the proper study of mankind is man. Mr. Betz is a member of the Masonic Order of Elks and other bodies. He was married in Bay City, Michigan, in 1888, to Alice M. Robertson, daughter of Mathilda Robertson. To this union were born three sons, Irving K., Frank L. and Lyman B., all of whom are in business in Hammond and Gary."
Obituary for Frank S. Betz from Feb 28, 1940 Hammond Times:
Headline: FIFTH STROKE PROVES FATAL; FAMILY AT BED Hammond Philanthropist Retired as Manufacturer During World War.
"Ill for more than two years, Frank S. Betz, retired manufacturer, philanthropist, conservationist and world traveler, died last night in his home at 5746 Hohman avenue, following his fifth paralytic stroke. He was 78 years old.
Members of his family who were present at Betz' bedside said that death occurred at 6:15 o'clock. He had been unconscious since Monday when he suffered his last stroke.
Dr. Stanley Brown, Betz' physician, virtually abandoned all hope for the aged man yesterday morning. Since he became ill on Feb. 1, 1938, Betz had made two partial recoveries, fighting off almost certain death. His first stroke occurred while he was in the office of Betz Investment company in downtown Hammond. In January, 1939, he contracted double pneumonia and was near death for several days.
Survivors include two sons, Frank R. and Lyman, of Hammond; six grandchildren, one great grandchild: three sisters, Mrs. John Helwig of Eau Claire [Mary], Wis., Mrs. Emma Drake, and Mrs. Grace Frye, of Oakland, Calif. and one brother, George H. Betz of Eau Claire.
Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. from the First Presbyterian church with Garfield lodge conducting Masonic rites. Rev. T.J. Simpson, pastor, will deliver the funeral eulogy. Interment will be held at Oak Hill cemetery.
Betz was born June 11, 1861, in Eau Claire, Wis., the son of an officer in the Union army. At the age of 12, he was doing a man's work in a sawmill and blacksmith shop in Eau Claire. When he was 20 years old, Betz went to Minneapolis, where he became employed as a blacksmith's helper. Shortly after this, he took a position selling hospital insurance for a Minneapolis firm and inside of a year he had become assistant tot he president of the company.
In 1889, Betz moved to Chicago and entered the real estate business. The panic of the 90's cracked his bankroll, but not his spirit, and Betz took a position as manager of the Grand Rapids hospital and superintendent of agents in the district for the firm he had been with formerly.
In was this position that resulted in the founding of the Frank S. Betz company, which was later to become the largest manufacturer of surgical, dental and hospital supplies and apparatus in the world.
As manager of the hospital Betz was aghast at the prices charged for surgical instruments and he realized that they could be made and sold at prices 25 to 50 per cent lower. Suddenly the hospital company went bankrupt and young Betz was without a job or money.
Betz built his first equipment, a Turkish bath cabinet, on $25 he borrowed in Chicago. Business prospered and he moved into a building on 75th street.
In 1904, Betz came to Hammond and during the next 10 years his was a most active life. His business grew to its greatest proportions under his direct supervision. Betz retired from the active management of the Frank S. Betz company in 1914. However, he maintained an interest in the firm and was the largest stockholder at the time the company was sold in 1937.
After his retirement, Betz' interests were varied, but his principle activities were the Boy Scouts and reforestation. He maintained an active interest in the latter up to a year ago when his health forced him to turn over management of this forestry business to his son, Frank.
During his life, he sold articles on reforestation to American magazine and other publications. Like his wife, who preceded him in death several years ago, Betz was a charitable man and he manifested that charity in numerous philanthropies.
His desire to aid youth, together with his love of the outdoors, resulted in the establishment of Camp Betz, Hammond Boy Scout camp at Berrien Springs, Mich. Hundreds of Hammond Boy Scouts visit this camp every summer.
Betz was a member of Garfield Lodge No. 569 F & A.M., a life member of the Oriental Consistory of Chicago and the Hammond Kiwanis club. He had been a national representative of the Boy Scouts and at one time was a member of the executive board. Betz was the last surviving member of the original Hammond Manufacturers' association. He also belonged to the Illinois Manufacturers' association and the First Presbyterian church.
Betz was perhaps the most widely traveled man in the Calumet region. He crossed the Atlantic ocean 41 times and the Pacific seven, he once told a biographer.
Pallbearers at the service will be Peter W. Meyn; William Hastings, Charles Surprise, Dr. Brown, Samuel Greenwald, Dr. G.L. Smith, David Emery and James O. Dickson.
His body will lie at the funeral home at 5322 Hohman avenue until time for the services, a member of the family announced."
From "Flashback," monthly newsleter published by the Hammond Historical Society (Sept 2003). ]
Frank S. Betz
World Traveler
Mr. Frank S. Betz, one of the city's early industrialists, was also one of Hammond's first globe trotting citizens. As he worked to expand his business,his travels took him to nearly every corner of the globe. In this illustration at the right, we see Frank on one of his many world wind tours. This postcard shows Betz on the road in Rome, Italy while attending the International Congress of Physical Therapeutics.
Betz journeys took him to nearly every far flung corner of the world in his pursuit to reach as many potential customers as possible for his ever expanding wholesale supply business for doctors and dentists. Later on as he and his company matured, Frank Betz stayed closer to home. He even wrote a series of articles about his many journeys and life's experiences along the way for the Hammond Times newspapers.
Mr. Betz traveled with his wife and family on some trips as he mixed business with pleasure. Frank Betz wasn't shy about touring the United States either. He took many excursions in the states, making him quite the domestic traveler as well.
Source: Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011
Father: George M. Betz b. Germany
Mother: Unknown
Spouse: Alice Robertson
Funeral services for Frank S. Betz, 78 years old, retired manufacturer, will be held at 2 p.m. today in the First Presbyterian church of Hammond, Ind., with burial there in Oak Hill cemetery. Mr. Betz died Tuesday night in his home at 5746 Hohman Av., Hammond. His company was one of the larges manufacturers of surgical, dental, and hospital equipment in the world until he sold out in 1937. Two sons Frank and Lyman, survive.
Chicago Tribune - 3/1/1940 Frank S. Betz. Abstract
WIFE OF FORMER RESIDENT DIES AT HOME IN HAMMOND
"Mrs. Alice May Robertson Betz, 72, wife of Frank S. Betz, retired Hammond,
Ind., manufacturer, philanthropist, and conservation advocate died at her
home in Hammond Saturday, December 12. Mr. Betz, who founded the Frank S.
Betz company at Hammond in 1909, is a former resident of Eau Claire, and has
relatives here, including a sister, Mrs. Mary Helwig, Second Crossing, who
returned Friday after attending the funeral of Mrs. Betz.
Mrs. Betz is survived by her husband, two sons, Frank R. and Lyman R. and
four grandchildren. The funeral was held Monday from the home with the Rev.
T. J. Simpson, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, officiating. Mrs.
Betz was an active clubwoman and was also prominent in charitable activities
of Hammond. In 1916 Mr. Betz purchased a large building and remodeled it as
a home for 32 working girls. This home, named the "Alice Club" after Mrs.
Betz, later was moved to more substantial quarters and a few years ago was
taken over by the Y.W.C.A."
Obituary of Mrs. Alice May (Robertson) Betz in Monday, December 14, 1936
Hammond Times (Hammond, IN)
FINAL TRIBUTE PAID AT BIER OF MRS. BETZ, Burial Services for Well Known
Hammond Woman Are Held Today
"In simplicity, as she lived and died. Mrs. Alice May Robertson Betz was
buried this afternoon in Oak Hill cemetery. Funeral services were held from
the family residence at 5746 Hohman avenue.
In his eulogy before the bier of the dead woman, the Rev. T. J. Simpson,
pastor of teh First Presbyterian church to which Mrs. Betz belonged, said:
'We come with sorrow and regret, of course, at this earthly separation.
Not only will her family miss the love and strong leadership of Mrs. Betz, but
her church will feel the same loss as keenly, the loss of her encouragement and
leadership.
But our faith leads us to believe that somehow God will work out for us all
some good from this experience, and that for her loved ones and her church he
will find new compensation that will prove a blessing for us all.'
The pall bearers were Wasson Wilson, Mac McClay, Julius Meyn, Kenneth Steward,
Walter Mott and James Dickson. All were boyhood chums of Mrs. Betz' surviving
sons, Lyman and Frank R., and of her deceased son, Irving S. Betz.
She is survived by her husband, Frank S. Betz, retired manufacturer,
philanthropist and conservation advocate.
Her death thus marked the passing of one of Hammond's most useful citizens.
Most of the 31 years she had resided here had been dedicated to her family and
to the service of homeless young women. Indeed, scores of women, some now with
families of their own and others successful in professional and business ventures,
to whom Mrs. Betz had given helping hands, wiped away tears as her remains were
lowered into the grave.
In 1916, Mrs. Betz purchased the Jackson homestead and donated it as a home
for working girls. Those young women were so appreciative that they named it
the "Alice Club" in her honor."
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown
Date of Birth: Dec 1864 (Canada)
Date of Death: Dec 12, 1936 (Indiana)
Google Frank S. Betz Pharmaceutical Division to find great photos of the company and of the million dollar buisiness that employed so many in Hammond and beyond.
Google the beginning formation of Betz Air lines INC in Hammond, IN, another great discovery by Frank Betz circa 1928
Photos and designs of Hammond's first car, the Betzmobile can also be found online. Needless to say he was a very inventive man!
Frank S. Betz is one of Hammond's celebrity historical people. He is credited with being the first millionaire in Hammond.
Biography from "History of Lake and Calument Region of Indiana," pub. 1927 by Western Historical, p. 753.
FRANK S. BETZ - Mr. Betz was born and reared on a farm nine miles from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. His early lessons were learned in the little red schoolhouse, and the arduous duties of the farm gave him not only muscle but that strength of character which has lifted so many farm boys to a place of eminence. At eighteen he found employment in a saw mill where men up to fifty years of age were working twelve hours a day for from $16 to $30 per month. He saw that the men who were engaged in this work were no further ahead at fifty than were those of twenty, and he decided the thing to do was to learn a trade so that he might eventually start in business for himself. He decided on the blacksmith trade. His salary the first year while serving his apprenticeship was to be $50 per year and board. He performed themany duties that fell to his lot, such as shoeing horses, sharpening tools, doing the iron work required for new wagons, buggies, bob sleighs, etc.. His next position was that of blacksmith helper with N. Shaw & Company, a large concern making saw and grist mill machinery, engines, etc. It was while working as a blacksmith's helper that he decided to learn the machinist trade, and was transferred to this department and although he had to accept a cut in wages he cheerfully did this in order to master the trade. He then secured employment with the Union Iron Works Company of Minneapolis, manufacturers of flourmill machinery. At that time there were thousands of men in the Northwest in boarding houses who had no place to go and no one to care for them while sick or injured. An agent for a hospital company called at the plant every week selling certificates entitling single men to board, lodging and medical treatment in case of sickness or accident. When Betz saw how easy this agent was making $3 to his $1, he decided to quit the shop and become an agent for the hospital company. At the end of the first year he was made assistant to the president and placed in charge of all outside territory. His duties required him to look after the agents covering the saw mills, railroad construction work mines, etc., in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin during the summer months, and from October to March his duties were to personally visit all of the lumber, mining and other camps north of the Northern Pacific Railroad between the Hudson Bay Trail on the west and Duluth on the east. The stopping places on the trails leading to the camps, which were often one hundred fifty miles from a railroad, were from twenty to thirty miles apart without a white settler. The only method of reaching these camps was by walking. In addition to the unique and somewhat hazardous experience, he gained the education that comes from "roughing it." These travels were along wild trails where deer, bear, wolf, lynx and other animals abounded. In December, 1884, while attempting to make a short cut of seventeen miles through the woods instead of walking sixty five miles, he lost his way and was startled to hear the hungry cry of the wolves. He realized there was no time to be lost so he commenced to gather all the wood he could before darkness, when he started a fire which kept the pack trotting around until daylight, when he was compelled to retrace his steps to the camp he left the day before. He was then offered a position as general agent with the National Benefit Company, which issued the same kind of certificates good at hospitals in all of the principle cities in the United States and Canada. In 1899 while in Kansas City opening up the southwestern territory, the president of the company died and Mr. Betz came to Chicago, where he engaged in the real estate business. Shortly afterward it was decided to locate the World's Fair in Jackson Park, and he started in the business of organizing hotel companies. When the fair was over he was loaded with vacant real estate in the vicinity of Jackson Park that could not be given away, and he was "broke." At this time the National Bank of Illinois had taken over the Colonial Club on Oglesby Avenue south of Sixty-third Street which they turned over to him to operate on a commission basis. At the end of sixty days every room was taken. Four months later the old hospital company he had been with for years offered him the position as manager of the Grand Rapids Hospital, and superintendent of the agents of that district. It was this position that resulted in the founding of the Frank S. Betz Company. In his official capacity he purchased the surgical instruments and supplies required by the hospital. Amazed at the prices asked, he realized these instruments and appliances could be duplicated and sold for 50 per cent less and still make a good profit. Therefore he determined to start in the business as soon as his contract expired. To make sure that he would have the money he drew only part of his salary. You can imagine his surprise when he appeared in the general office of the company to collect his back salary, to learn that they were bankrupt and he was broke again. However, as he had made up his mind to start in business he borrowed $25 with which to buy raw material to work with. During the lean years and vicissitudes his wife stood nobly by him, ever an inspiration to his efforts. The second year he invented a steel dry hot air apparatus for treating patients with dry hot air up to 450 degrees Farenheit which he sold for $24. The cheapest one on the market at the time cost $350. His outfits were a success from the start. Over 1,200 pages of clinical reports were published in the medical journals, and the New York Herald showed the apparatus in operation and also a large loaf of br ead that was baked in New York City with a man in the apparatus. He began to make steel hospital furniture, X-ray machines and surgical instruments, which he sold directly to the doctor. To Mr. Betz perhaps belongs the credit for revolutionizing the attitude of the profession toward the use of the apparatus. Prior to his advent into the field doctors could not afford to own more than a stethoscope, a few forceps, and a thermometer. Few had an amputating case, and not many had an instrument case. His low prices and liberal offers to the profession to try any device sixty days compelled him to rent one building after another at Grand Crossing until he was making goods in five different places. In 1900 he built his first factory unit, one hundred foot front and two stories high, at Summerdale, just above Ravenswood, Chicago. He built an addition every year until the plant was a block long. While he could have purchased more ground he realized that to do business he had to be located on a railroad to bring in raw material and carry away finished goods without using drays, so in 1904 he purchased twelve acres in Hammond, installed switching facilities, gave an order for one million brick, and thus the first sections 836x100 feet of the Betz plant was soon a reality. Each year during his administration he added a wing to the plant, and so consistently did the business grow and so consistently was he in expanding that he had the foundation completed for another building, 165x100 and three stories high, that he intended to build the year he retired. Mr. Betz gives credit for his wonderful success to the loyalty of his employees, who were always on the job and who always tried to turn out more goods and work harder when he away on his European buying trips every year than they did when he was around the plant. When he retired in 1914 the Betz plant was the largest and most modern of its kind in the world for manufacturing hospital and office furniture, surgical, dental, veterinary, and embalmers instruments, orthopedic appliances, drugs, pharmaceuticals, glassware, etc. The assets were over $2,000,000 without a dollar of indebtedness except daily current bills. He always gives of his time and means to all movements for the general good of the Calumet district. Mr. Betz has many business affiliations among which are directorates of the First Trust and Savings Bank, Metal Refining Company, Gostlin Meyn and Weiss Company. He will always be remembered for his outstanding beneficence in purchasing the camp in Michigan for the local council of Boy Scouts. The committee had seleted the site at Berrien Springs, with almost one mile of river frontage, and had hoped to raise the money for it. With this end in view they approached Mr. Betz, who gave them his check for the entire amount. The creation of the Alice Club, a home for working girls, was made possible through his beneficence. He was one of fifteen who joined Mr. A.M. Turner in the purchase of The Wicker Park property on Ridge Road, which is to be turned over to North Township. Many other philanthropic works have claimed his generosity. Mr. Betz is somewhat of a globe-trotter, having crossed the Atlantic Ocean forty-one times and the Pacific five times. He has taken almost every country in the world, and has sought out of the way places. His study of life has been one of continuous absorption and he still finds the proper study of mankind is man. Mr. Betz is a member of the Masonic Order of Elks and other bodies. He was married in Bay City, Michigan, in 1888, to Alice M. Robertson, daughter of Mathilda Robertson. To this union were born three sons, Irving K., Frank L. and Lyman B., all of whom are in business in Hammond and Gary."
Obituary for Frank S. Betz from Feb 28, 1940 Hammond Times:
Headline: FIFTH STROKE PROVES FATAL; FAMILY AT BED Hammond Philanthropist Retired as Manufacturer During World War.
"Ill for more than two years, Frank S. Betz, retired manufacturer, philanthropist, conservationist and world traveler, died last night in his home at 5746 Hohman avenue, following his fifth paralytic stroke. He was 78 years old.
Members of his family who were present at Betz' bedside said that death occurred at 6:15 o'clock. He had been unconscious since Monday when he suffered his last stroke.
Dr. Stanley Brown, Betz' physician, virtually abandoned all hope for the aged man yesterday morning. Since he became ill on Feb. 1, 1938, Betz had made two partial recoveries, fighting off almost certain death. His first stroke occurred while he was in the office of Betz Investment company in downtown Hammond. In January, 1939, he contracted double pneumonia and was near death for several days.
Survivors include two sons, Frank R. and Lyman, of Hammond; six grandchildren, one great grandchild: three sisters, Mrs. John Helwig of Eau Claire [Mary], Wis., Mrs. Emma Drake, and Mrs. Grace Frye, of Oakland, Calif. and one brother, George H. Betz of Eau Claire.
Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. from the First Presbyterian church with Garfield lodge conducting Masonic rites. Rev. T.J. Simpson, pastor, will deliver the funeral eulogy. Interment will be held at Oak Hill cemetery.
Betz was born June 11, 1861, in Eau Claire, Wis., the son of an officer in the Union army. At the age of 12, he was doing a man's work in a sawmill and blacksmith shop in Eau Claire. When he was 20 years old, Betz went to Minneapolis, where he became employed as a blacksmith's helper. Shortly after this, he took a position selling hospital insurance for a Minneapolis firm and inside of a year he had become assistant tot he president of the company.
In 1889, Betz moved to Chicago and entered the real estate business. The panic of the 90's cracked his bankroll, but not his spirit, and Betz took a position as manager of the Grand Rapids hospital and superintendent of agents in the district for the firm he had been with formerly.
In was this position that resulted in the founding of the Frank S. Betz company, which was later to become the largest manufacturer of surgical, dental and hospital supplies and apparatus in the world.
As manager of the hospital Betz was aghast at the prices charged for surgical instruments and he realized that they could be made and sold at prices 25 to 50 per cent lower. Suddenly the hospital company went bankrupt and young Betz was without a job or money.
Betz built his first equipment, a Turkish bath cabinet, on $25 he borrowed in Chicago. Business prospered and he moved into a building on 75th street.
In 1904, Betz came to Hammond and during the next 10 years his was a most active life. His business grew to its greatest proportions under his direct supervision. Betz retired from the active management of the Frank S. Betz company in 1914. However, he maintained an interest in the firm and was the largest stockholder at the time the company was sold in 1937.
After his retirement, Betz' interests were varied, but his principle activities were the Boy Scouts and reforestation. He maintained an active interest in the latter up to a year ago when his health forced him to turn over management of this forestry business to his son, Frank.
During his life, he sold articles on reforestation to American magazine and other publications. Like his wife, who preceded him in death several years ago, Betz was a charitable man and he manifested that charity in numerous philanthropies.
His desire to aid youth, together with his love of the outdoors, resulted in the establishment of Camp Betz, Hammond Boy Scout camp at Berrien Springs, Mich. Hundreds of Hammond Boy Scouts visit this camp every summer.
Betz was a member of Garfield Lodge No. 569 F & A.M., a life member of the Oriental Consistory of Chicago and the Hammond Kiwanis club. He had been a national representative of the Boy Scouts and at one time was a member of the executive board. Betz was the last surviving member of the original Hammond Manufacturers' association. He also belonged to the Illinois Manufacturers' association and the First Presbyterian church.
Betz was perhaps the most widely traveled man in the Calumet region. He crossed the Atlantic ocean 41 times and the Pacific seven, he once told a biographer.
Pallbearers at the service will be Peter W. Meyn; William Hastings, Charles Surprise, Dr. Brown, Samuel Greenwald, Dr. G.L. Smith, David Emery and James O. Dickson.
His body will lie at the funeral home at 5322 Hohman avenue until time for the services, a member of the family announced."
From "Flashback," monthly newsleter published by the Hammond Historical Society (Sept 2003). ]
Frank S. Betz
World Traveler
Mr. Frank S. Betz, one of the city's early industrialists, was also one of Hammond's first globe trotting citizens. As he worked to expand his business,his travels took him to nearly every corner of the globe. In this illustration at the right, we see Frank on one of his many world wind tours. This postcard shows Betz on the road in Rome, Italy while attending the International Congress of Physical Therapeutics.
Betz journeys took him to nearly every far flung corner of the world in his pursuit to reach as many potential customers as possible for his ever expanding wholesale supply business for doctors and dentists. Later on as he and his company matured, Frank Betz stayed closer to home. He even wrote a series of articles about his many journeys and life's experiences along the way for the Hammond Times newspapers.
Mr. Betz traveled with his wife and family on some trips as he mixed business with pleasure. Frank Betz wasn't shy about touring the United States either. He took many excursions in the states, making him quite the domestic traveler as well.
Source: Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011
Father: George M. Betz b. Germany
Mother: Unknown
Spouse: Alice Robertson
Chicago Tribune - 3/1/1940 Frank S. Betz. Abstract
WIFE OF FORMER RESIDENT DIES AT HOME IN HAMMOND
"Mrs. Alice May Robertson Betz, 72, wife of Frank S. Betz, retired Hammond,
Ind., manufacturer, philanthropist, and conservation advocate died at her
home in Hammond Saturday, December 12. Mr. Betz, who founded the Frank S.
Betz company at Hammond in 1909, is a former resident of Eau Claire, and has
relatives here, including a sister, Mrs. Mary Helwig, Second Crossing, who
returned Friday after attending the funeral of Mrs. Betz.
Mrs. Betz is survived by her husband, two sons, Frank R. and Lyman R. and
four grandchildren. The funeral was held Monday from the home with the Rev.
T. J. Simpson, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, officiating. Mrs.
Betz was an active clubwoman and was also prominent in charitable activities
of Hammond. In 1916 Mr. Betz purchased a large building and remodeled it as
a home for 32 working girls. This home, named the "Alice Club" after Mrs.
Betz, later was moved to more substantial quarters and a few years ago was
taken over by the Y.W.C.A."
Obituary of Mrs. Alice May (Robertson) Betz in Monday, December 14, 1936
Hammond Times (Hammond, IN)
FINAL TRIBUTE PAID AT BIER OF MRS. BETZ, Burial Services for Well Known
Hammond Woman Are Held Today
"In simplicity, as she lived and died. Mrs. Alice May Robertson Betz was
buried this afternoon in Oak Hill cemetery. Funeral services were held from
the family residence at 5746 Hohman avenue.
In his eulogy before the bier of the dead woman, the Rev. T. J. Simpson,
pastor of teh First Presbyterian church to which Mrs. Betz belonged, said:
'We come with sorrow and regret, of course, at this earthly separation.
Not only will her family miss the love and strong leadership of Mrs. Betz, but
her church will feel the same loss as keenly, the loss of her encouragement and
leadership.
But our faith leads us to believe that somehow God will work out for us all
some good from this experience, and that for her loved ones and her church he
will find new compensation that will prove a blessing for us all.'
The pall bearers were Wasson Wilson, Mac McClay, Julius Meyn, Kenneth Steward,
Walter Mott and James Dickson. All were boyhood chums of Mrs. Betz' surviving
sons, Lyman and Frank R., and of her deceased son, Irving S. Betz.
She is survived by her husband, Frank S. Betz, retired manufacturer,
philanthropist and conservation advocate.
Her death thus marked the passing of one of Hammond's most useful citizens.
Most of the 31 years she had resided here had been dedicated to her family and
to the service of homeless young women. Indeed, scores of women, some now with
families of their own and others successful in professional and business ventures,
to whom Mrs. Betz had given helping hands, wiped away tears as her remains were
lowered into the grave.
In 1916, Mrs. Betz purchased the Jackson homestead and donated it as a home
for working girls. Those young women were so appreciative that they named it
the "Alice Club" in her honor."
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown
Date of Birth: Dec 1864 (Canada)
Date of Death: Dec 12, 1936 (Indiana)
Google Frank S. Betz Pharmaceutical Division to find great photos of the company and of the million dollar buisiness that employed so many in Hammond and beyond.
Google the beginning formation of Betz Air lines INC in Hammond, IN, another great discovery by Frank Betz circa 1928
Photos and designs of Hammond's first car, the Betzmobile can also be found online. Needless to say he was a very inventive man!
Frank S. Betz is one of Hammond's celebrity historical people. He is credited with being the first millionaire in Hammond.
Biography from "History of Lake and Calument Region of Indiana," pub. 1927 by Western Historical, p. 753.
FRANK S. BETZ - Mr. Betz was born and reared on a farm nine miles from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. His early lessons were learned in the little red schoolhouse, and the arduous duties of the farm gave him not only muscle but that strength of character which has lifted so many farm boys to a place of eminence. At eighteen he found employment in a saw mill where men up to fifty years of age were working twelve hours a day for from $16 to $30 per month. He saw that the men who were engaged in this work were no further ahead at fifty than were those of twenty, and he decided the thing to do was to learn a trade so that he might eventually start in business for himself. He decided on the blacksmith trade. His salary the first year while serving his apprenticeship was to be $50 per year and board. He performed themany duties that fell to his lot, such as shoeing horses, sharpening tools, doing the iron work required for new wagons, buggies, bob sleighs, etc.. His next position was that of blacksmith helper with N. Shaw & Company, a large concern making saw and grist mill machinery, engines, etc. It was while working as a blacksmith's helper that he decided to learn the machinist trade, and was transferred to this department and although he had to accept a cut in wages he cheerfully did this in order to master the trade. He then secured employment with the Union Iron Works Company of Minneapolis, manufacturers of flourmill machinery. At that time there were thousands of men in the Northwest in boarding houses who had no place to go and no one to care for them while sick or injured. An agent for a hospital company called at the plant every week selling certificates entitling single men to board, lodging and medical treatment in case of sickness or accident. When Betz saw how easy this agent was making $3 to his $1, he decided to quit the shop and become an agent for the hospital company. At the end of the first year he was made assistant to the president and placed in charge of all outside territory. His duties required him to look after the agents covering the saw mills, railroad construction work mines, etc., in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin during the summer months, and from October to March his duties were to personally visit all of the lumber, mining and other camps north of the Northern Pacific Railroad between the Hudson Bay Trail on the west and Duluth on the east. The stopping places on the trails leading to the camps, which were often one hundred fifty miles from a railroad, were from twenty to thirty miles apart without a white settler. The only method of reaching these camps was by walking. In addition to the unique and somewhat hazardous experience, he gained the education that comes from "roughing it." These travels were along wild trails where deer, bear, wolf, lynx and other animals abounded. In December, 1884, while attempting to make a short cut of seventeen miles through the woods instead of walking sixty five miles, he lost his way and was startled to hear the hungry cry of the wolves. He realized there was no time to be lost so he commenced to gather all the wood he could before darkness, when he started a fire which kept the pack trotting around until daylight, when he was compelled to retrace his steps to the camp he left the day before. He was then offered a position as general agent with the National Benefit Company, which issued the same kind of certificates good at hospitals in all of the principle cities in the United States and Canada. In 1899 while in Kansas City opening up the southwestern territory, the president of the company died and Mr. Betz came to Chicago, where he engaged in the real estate business. Shortly afterward it was decided to locate the World's Fair in Jackson Park, and he started in the business of organizing hotel companies. When the fair was over he was loaded with vacant real estate in the vicinity of Jackson Park that could not be given away, and he was "broke." At this time the National Bank of Illinois had taken over the Colonial Club on Oglesby Avenue south of Sixty-third Street which they turned over to him to operate on a commission basis. At the end of sixty days every room was taken. Four months later the old hospital company he had been with for years offered him the position as manager of the Grand Rapids Hospital, and superintendent of the agents of that district. It was this position that resulted in the founding of the Frank S. Betz Company. In his official capacity he purchased the surgical instruments and supplies required by the hospital. Amazed at the prices asked, he realized these instruments and appliances could be duplicated and sold for 50 per cent less and still make a good profit. Therefore he determined to start in the business as soon as his contract expired. To make sure that he would have the money he drew only part of his salary. You can imagine his surprise when he appeared in the general office of the company to collect his back salary, to learn that they were bankrupt and he was broke again. However, as he had made up his mind to start in business he borrowed $25 with which to buy raw material to work with. During the lean years and vicissitudes his wife stood nobly by him, ever an inspiration to his efforts. The second year he invented a steel dry hot air apparatus for treating patients with dry hot air up to 450 degrees Farenheit which he sold for $24. The cheapest one on the market at the time cost $350. His outfits were a success from the start. Over 1,200 pages of clinical reports were published in the medical journals, and the New York Herald showed the apparatus in operation and also a large loaf of br ead that was baked in New York City with a man in the apparatus. He began to make steel hospital furniture, X-ray machines and surgical instruments, which he sold directly to the doctor. To Mr. Betz perhaps belongs the credit for revolutionizing the attitude of the profession toward the use of the apparatus. Prior to his advent into the field doctors could not afford to own more than a stethoscope, a few forceps, and a thermometer. Few had an amputating case, and not many had an instrument case. His low prices and liberal offers to the profession to try any device sixty days compelled him to rent one building after another at Grand Crossing until he was making goods in five different places. In 1900 he built his first factory unit, one hundred foot front and two stories high, at Summerdale, just above Ravenswood, Chicago. He built an addition every year until the plant was a block long. While he could have purchased more ground he realized that to do business he had to be located on a railroad to bring in raw material and carry away finished goods without using drays, so in 1904 he purchased twelve acres in Hammond, installed switching facilities, gave an order for one million brick, and thus the first sections 836x100 feet of the Betz plant was soon a reality. Each year during his administration he added a wing to the plant, and so consistently did the business grow and so consistently was he in expanding that he had the foundation completed for another building, 165x100 and three stories high, that he intended to build the year he retired. Mr. Betz gives credit for his wonderful success to the loyalty of his employees, who were always on the job and who always tried to turn out more goods and work harder when he away on his European buying trips every year than they did when he was around the plant. When he retired in 1914 the Betz plant was the largest and most modern of its kind in the world for manufacturing hospital and office furniture, surgical, dental, veterinary, and embalmers instruments, orthopedic appliances, drugs, pharmaceuticals, glassware, etc. The assets were over $2,000,000 without a dollar of indebtedness except daily current bills. He always gives of his time and means to all movements for the general good of the Calumet district. Mr. Betz has many business affiliations among which are directorates of the First Trust and Savings Bank, Metal Refining Company, Gostlin Meyn and Weiss Company. He will always be remembered for his outstanding beneficence in purchasing the camp in Michigan for the local council of Boy Scouts. The committee had seleted the site at Berrien Springs, with almost one mile of river frontage, and had hoped to raise the money for it. With this end in view they approached Mr. Betz, who gave them his check for the entire amount. The creation of the Alice Club, a home for working girls, was made possible through his beneficence. He was one of fifteen who joined Mr. A.M. Turner in the purchase of The Wicker Park property on Ridge Road, which is to be turned over to North Township. Many other philanthropic works have claimed his generosity. Mr. Betz is somewhat of a globe-trotter, having crossed the Atlantic Ocean forty-one times and the Pacific five times. He has taken almost every country in the world, and has sought out of the way places. His study of life has been one of continuous absorption and he still finds the proper study of mankind is man. Mr. Betz is a member of the Masonic Order of Elks and other bodies. He was married in Bay City, Michigan, in 1888, to Alice M. Robertson, daughter of Mathilda Robertson. To this union were born three sons, Irving K., Frank L. and Lyman B., all of whom are in business in Hammond and Gary."
Obituary for Frank S. Betz from Feb 28, 1940 Hammond Times:
Headline: FIFTH STROKE PROVES FATAL; FAMILY AT BED Hammond Philanthropist Retired as Manufacturer During World War.
"Ill for more than two years, Frank S. Betz, retired manufacturer, philanthropist, conservationist and world traveler, died last night in his home at 5746 Hohman avenue, following his fifth paralytic stroke. He was 78 years old.
Members of his family who were present at Betz' bedside said that death occurred at 6:15 o'clock. He had been unconscious since Monday when he suffered his last stroke.
Dr. Stanley Brown, Betz' physician, virtually abandoned all hope for the aged man yesterday morning. Since he became ill on Feb. 1, 1938, Betz had made two partial recoveries, fighting off almost certain death. His first stroke occurred while he was in the office of Betz Investment company in downtown Hammond. In January, 1939, he contracted double pneumonia and was near death for several days.
Survivors include two sons, Frank R. and Lyman, of Hammond; six grandchildren, one great grandchild: three sisters, Mrs. John Helwig of Eau Claire [Mary], Wis., Mrs. Emma Drake, and Mrs. Grace Frye, of Oakland, Calif. and one brother, George H. Betz of Eau Claire.
Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. from the First Presbyterian church with Garfield lodge conducting Masonic rites. Rev. T.J. Simpson, pastor, will deliver the funeral eulogy. Interment will be held at Oak Hill cemetery.
Betz was born June 11, 1861, in Eau Claire, Wis., the son of an officer in the Union army. At the age of 12, he was doing a man's work in a sawmill and blacksmith shop in Eau Claire. When he was 20 years old, Betz went to Minneapolis, where he became employed as a blacksmith's helper. Shortly after this, he took a position selling hospital insurance for a Minneapolis firm and inside of a year he had become assistant tot he president of the company.
In 1889, Betz moved to Chicago and entered the real estate business. The panic of the 90's cracked his bankroll, but not his spirit, and Betz took a position as manager of the Grand Rapids hospital and superintendent of agents in the district for the firm he had been with formerly.
In was this position that resulted in the founding of the Frank S. Betz company, which was later to become the largest manufacturer of surgical, dental and hospital supplies and apparatus in the world.
As manager of the hospital Betz was aghast at the prices charged for surgical instruments and he realized that they could be made and sold at prices 25 to 50 per cent lower. Suddenly the hospital company went bankrupt and young Betz was without a job or money.
Betz built his first equipment, a Turkish bath cabinet, on $25 he borrowed in Chicago. Business prospered and he moved into a building on 75th street.
In 1904, Betz came to Hammond and during the next 10 years his was a most active life. His business grew to its greatest proportions under his direct supervision. Betz retired from the active management of the Frank S. Betz company in 1914. However, he maintained an interest in the firm and was the largest stockholder at the time the company was sold in 1937.
After his retirement, Betz' interests were varied, but his principle activities were the Boy Scouts and reforestation. He maintained an active interest in the latter up to a year ago when his health forced him to turn over management of this forestry business to his son, Frank.
During his life, he sold articles on reforestation to American magazine and other publications. Like his wife, who preceded him in death several years ago, Betz was a charitable man and he manifested that charity in numerous philanthropies.
His desire to aid youth, together with his love of the outdoors, resulted in the establishment of Camp Betz, Hammond Boy Scout camp at Berrien Springs, Mich. Hundreds of Hammond Boy Scouts visit this camp every summer.
Betz was a member of Garfield Lodge No. 569 F & A.M., a life member of the Oriental Consistory of Chicago and the Hammond Kiwanis club. He had been a national representative of the Boy Scouts and at one time was a member of the executive board. Betz was the last surviving member of the original Hammond Manufacturers' association. He also belonged to the Illinois Manufacturers' association and the First Presbyterian church.
Betz was perhaps the most widely traveled man in the Calumet region. He crossed the Atlantic ocean 41 times and the Pacific seven, he once told a biographer.
Pallbearers at the service will be Peter W. Meyn; William Hastings, Charles Surprise, Dr. Brown, Samuel Greenwald, Dr. G.L. Smith, David Emery and James O. Dickson.
His body will lie at the funeral home at 5322 Hohman avenue until time for the services, a member of the family announced."
From "Flashback," monthly newsleter published by the Hammond Historical Society (Sept 2003). ]
Frank S. Betz
World Traveler
Mr. Frank S. Betz, one of the city's early industrialists, was also one of Hammond's first globe trotting citizens. As he worked to expand his business,his travels took him to nearly every corner of the globe. In this illustration at the right, we see Frank on one of his many world wind tours. This postcard shows Betz on the road in Rome, Italy while attending the International Congress of Physical Therapeutics.
Betz journeys took him to nearly every far flung corner of the world in his pursuit to reach as many potential customers as possible for his ever expanding wholesale supply business for doctors and dentists. Later on as he and his company matured, Frank Betz stayed closer to home. He even wrote a series of articles about his many journeys and life's experiences along the way for the Hammond Times newspapers.
Mr. Betz traveled with his wife and family on some trips as he mixed business with pleasure. Frank Betz wasn't shy about touring the United States either. He took many excursions in the states, making him quite the domestic traveler as well.
Source: Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011
Father: George M. Betz b. Germany
Mother: Unknown
Spouse: Alice Robertson
Family Members
Siblings
Half Siblings
