Franz and Pope Timeline

 I subscribed to Newspaper Archive and I scoured the  archives of the Crestline Advocate and the Bucyrus Evening Telegraph for articles that mention Franz and Pope. 

I found a lot of advertising, but also many things I did not know before. 

Here's a timeline of what I found: 

1870- A Crestline Advocate reporter stopped by the Franz and Pope Jewelry store for a demonstration, was duly impressed, and reported that "the days of knitting pins are played out". 

1872- A druggist moved into the "room formerly occupied by Franz and Pope" implying that the knitting machine manufacturing facility had moved. 

1873- A Japanese man, Fu Kai, was introduced to an Advocate reporter as a new employee at the Bucyrus "Franz and Pope Knitting Machine Works"

1874 - Franz and Pope machines advertised for sale in a sewing machine shop in Crestline

1876, April - Franz and Pope plan to mount an exhibit at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia

1876, October - Favorable reports appear in the Advocate from a visitor to the Exhibition

1876, November - Franz and Pope awarded a medal from the Centennial Exhibition

1877, November - Oped in Advocate complains that Crestline lost the manufacturing facility to Bucyrus and reports that machines are being sold "in every corner of the land and are indeed being exported to other nations"

1881 - Crestline Advocate reports that Franz and Pope has shipped 127 "Steam" machines this season, and "orders not all filled".  This would seem to mean that they are producing industrial machines at this point. 

1887 - Ad in Crestline Advoice for 20 "girls" needed for employment

1888 - The Bucyrus Evening Telegraph reports that Franz and Pope are turning out black stockings

1889, February - The Evening Telegraph reports on a new patent that improves the efficiency of knitting heels and toes with less manual effort. 

1889, July - Miss Kate Kelly, hired as a bookkeeper, was reported as travelling to Philadelphia to perform training there. 

1889, Christmas Day - Report in Evening Telegraph about the good year and improvements to the equipment

1890, February - Evening Telegraph reports sale of machines to knitting mill in Elkhart, Indiana

1890, February - Announced the issuance of preferred stock to enable hiring of 100 workers

1890, March - Announcement that J. R. Perrott, a forman of over 20 years experience, has been dismissed.  There must be more to the story!  

1890, September - Report on the funeral of Dr. Pope in the Evening Telegraph

1891, March - Ad for black stockings

1891, June - Announcement that a superintendent has been hired, a Mr. J.G. Prosser

1891, August - Industrial accident involving hot oil and steam to an employee's face

1891, September - Report on an order from a company in Marion, Indiana

1891, October - Feature article on Bucyrus businesses includes an article mentioning both the industrial knitters  and a drawing of Franz and Pope home use machine.

1892, January - Annual meeting to elect officers and directors is reported on.

1892, July - Large order received for a new knitting mill in Bowling Green, Kentucky. 

1892, September - Large order received for a new knitting mill in Bloomfield, IA

1892, December - The company entertained a Mr. Fettig from Michigan City, Indiana as he placed a large order for a new knitting mill

1893, January - Report of Annual Meeting and election of directors.  Henry Pope, Dr. Pope's son, is re-elected President. 

1893, February.  Report of large sale to a new knitting mill in Meridian, Mississipi.  Miss Kate Kelly to travel there for a period expected to be six weeks to supervise setup of operations. 

1893, June.  Shipping report detail includes a shipping report of Franz and Pope machinery to Hamburg, Germany

1893, December.  Notice of annual meeting

1894, October.  Report of sale of equipment to second penitentiary facility.  The first was reported to be successful. 

1894, December. Notice of annual meeting

1895, January.  Report that an industrial accident occurred.  Frank Greenich, 17 years old,  was polishing a cam when the machinery exploded, crushing his skull.   The injury was anticipated to be fatal.

1895, April.  The bicycle craze was upon the nation, and the Evening Telegraph reported on the trend by publishing many items about bicycles and wheels.  One of the wheels was on display at the Franz and Pope locations. 

1895, May.  Franz and Pope had a company baseball team, and they publicly challenged the team of another company, 

1895, December.  Franz and Pope facilities were closed by the sherriff to satisfy company debts as was ordered by a judge in Upper Sandusky.  The company was expected to reorganize, satisfy debts, and continue operations.  A large order for machines was received the same day. 

1895, December.  A receiver was appointed to reopen the company and process outstanding orders. 

1897, March.  The stockholders re-organized the company and re-initiated operations of the reorganized company. 

1897, May.  Report of the stockholder approval of the sale. 

1913, February.  Report of the completion of an addition to the building. 

1914, January.  Henry Pope, formerly the President of the company, and now living in Chicago and operating a successful knitting mill with over 1000 employees, visits Bucyrus with his son.  They stopped by the TWO locations of Franz and Pope.  One was on Lane Street and was being demolished.  The other building was on Carroll.  He found two medals from the Centennial Exhibition and took them as souvenirs. 

1914, July.  Obituary for Ida Mae Pope. The daughter of Dr. William Pope, the company founder, she became a missionary in Hawaii. The obituary  reports that the surviving descendants of Dr. Pope are now all living in Chicago.   Note: Ida Mae Pope is the subject of the book by Sandra Bonura "A Light in the Queen's Garden".  The first chapter of this book mentions the Franz and Pope knitting machine company.

1916, February.  Obituary for Almira "Myra" Franz.  She was the wife of William Franz.  Since he was a leading citizen of Bucyrus, there was biographical information about him in her obituary. 

1917, November.  World War I-era article describing the quantity of socks knitted for the local Red Cross by the Bucyrus chapter.  The group used Franz and Pope knitting machines to achieve their large quantities and the article mentioned "that they have come into popularity again". 

1917, December.  Another article describing an additional quantity of socks knitted by the Red Cross Chapter using the Franz and Pope machine.  

1925, January.  Death of Dr. Pope's son "Biddy" who was a newspaperman.  Two front-page columns given to history of the Crestline street layout and occupants, including Franz and Pope's original jewelry store location.  The article also mentions William Franz's career and his ancestors.  He was born in Leesville, just northwest of Crestline, and educated in Bucyrus.  His father was Crawford County Sherriff. 

I was curious about the knitting company in Chicago started by the family of Dr. Pope.  I found this obituary for his grandson, Henry Jr. on the website of the Chicago Tribune.

1991, August. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-08-22-9103020443-story.html  "the firm produced millions of pairs of socks annually and was the largest family-owned hosiery manufacturer in the country.

Mr. Pope also was president of Paramount Textile Machinery Co. as well as vice president of Neumode Hosiery Co., which had hosiery outlets throughout the Chicago area."

The Daily Journal in Kankane IL published an article detailing the 1922 connection between Dr. Pope's granddaughter and FDR while each was recovering from polio Henry Pope Sr. was Kankakee's connection to FDR | Local News | daily-journal.com