Ouachita-Hot Spring County ArArchives Biographies.....Rockwell, Byrd Collins ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ar/arfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 July 17, 2009, 11:41 am Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922) BYRD COLLINS ROCKWELL. Byrd Collins Rockwell, organizer and general manager of the Rockwell Manufacturing Company, of Camden, manufacturers of the kasement skrene dores and kasement skrene dore hardware, has in this connection developed one of the important productive industries of his section of the state. The business has grown to substantial proportions under the careful management and wise direction of the founder, who has placed upon the market goods that meet a popular demand and which merit the best that can be said for them. Mr. Rockwell came to the south from the state of New York, his birth having occurred in Watkins Glenn, April 1, 1866, his parents being Byron B. and Belle (Chamberlain) Rockwell, the former also a native of the Empire state, while the latter was born in Maryland. The father spent his life in connection with the lumber business, as had his father before him. In the year 1844 the grandfather Rockwell removed with his family to the lumber regions of Michigan, but subsequently returned to the state of New York, where the later years of his life were passed. Byron B. Rockwell, on reaching adult age, engaged in the sawmill and lumber business, and about 1870 came west, operating in northern Indiana and southern Michigan, where he had extensive timber holdings. He died in Goshen, Indiana, in the year 1907, being a resident of that place at the time. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having served as captain of Company E, Twelfth Infantry, U. S. A., which was the first Federal command to enter Little Rock. He was at De Vails Bluff at the time of Lee's surrender, after which he returned to his former home in Niles, Michigan. His death was the first in a family which included himself, his wife and nine children. All of the children are still living, with one exception. The mother survives and is now hale and hearty, although in her eightieth year. For the past three years she has had her second sight. The great-grandmother of Byrd C. Rockwell in the maternal line lived to the notable old age of one hundred and five years, and at ninety years of age she gained her second sight. The grandparents in the paternal line lived to the ages of ninety-one and ninety-two years, respectively. History tells us that George Washington met the woman who was later his wife in the home of the maternal great-great-grandfather Chamberlain. Byrd C. Rockwell, the eldest in his father's family of nine children, pursued a high school course in Goshen, Indiana, and in his youthful days started out to provide for his own support by entering the employ of the I. X. L. Pump, Lumber & Manufacturing Company of that place. He continued in active association with that company for a period of fifteen years, rising from a humble position to that of superintendent of the business. His powers developed through the exercise of effort and his life history is proof of the fact that activity does not tire, but on the contrary develops resistance and force. In 1900 Mr. Rockwell came to Arkansas, settling at Malvern, where he was made general superintendent of the Owoso Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of screen doors. With this business he was identified for four years. In 1904 he organized the Rockwell Manufacturing Company of Malvern, devoted to the manufacture of screen doors, and was made president and general manager of the company. In 1910 this business was sold to the trust, and in 1912 Mr. Rockwell came to Camden and organized the Rockwell Manufacturing Company. Prior to the entry of the United States into the World war the company confined its activities to the manufacture of screen doors and screen door hardware, but since the United States joined the allied forces in the effort to advance world democracy the company of which Mr. Rockwell is the head has been extensively engaged in the manufacture of special crates. This crate was designed by Mr. Rockwell for the sweet potato industry and is known as the Dixa Crate. Notwithstanding the fact that it costs thirty per cent more than other crates put upon the market by other manufacturers, it has been adopted and is being extensively— in fact, almost exclusively—used by the Arkansas Sweet Potato Growers Association. To the trade Mr. Rockwell is known as a mechanical genius, and many valuable patents are the product of his brain. In addition to his mechanical skill and ingenuity he possesses executive force and administrative ability that have enabled him wisely and successfully to direct the operations of the plants owned by the companies with which he has been identified. In 1899 Mr. Rockwell was married to Miss Olive D. Behymer of Kansas City, Missouri, and they have become parents of five children, four of whom are living: Louis, Olive, Mary and Helen, all at home. Mr. Rockwell is a member of Goshen Lodge, No. 798, B. P. O. E., of Goshen, Indiana. He also belongs to the Hoo Hoos, the national order of lumbermen, and he is identified with the Camden Chamber of Commerce. He takes an active and helpful interest in civic affairs and his cooperation can be counted upon to advance and support any plan or interest that is looking to the benefit and welfare of the community. He and his wife are members of the Episcopal church, and their sterling traits of character have established them high in public regard. As a business man and as a citizen Mr. Rockwell occupies an enviable position and his life record should serve as a stimulating example to others, showing what can be accomplished through individual ability and merit. Additional Comments: Citation: Centennial History of Arkansas Volume II Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1922 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/ouachita/bios/rockwell199bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/arfiles/ File size: 6.3 Kb