Biography of J. Wallace Appley, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, FL File contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Nancy Rayburn (naev@earthlink.net). USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or publication by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ****************************************************************************************** Transcribed from: The History of Florida: Past & Present, The Lewis Publishing Co., Vol. II, page 13, 1923. APPLEY, J. W. In every community and in each branch of industrial activity there are certain men who stand out from their associates because of their purposeful personality and determined methods of action. Such men are bound to dominate any situation and control whatever opportunities lie in their onward progress. Through them and their efforts spring the vast enterprises that have so direct an influence on the prosperity of the country. Because of the establishment and maintenance of these institutions, producers are able to obtain a fair price for their products and consumers are given the advantages accruing from concerted action and efficient management. These conditions would never have become possible had it not been for the working of masterful minds and the application of modern business methods. To old ideas, also, are added the results of years of careful study and experiments of scientists, practical business men and efficiency experts, so that each day sees an advance made in management with a consequent betterment for all parties. One of the men who has risen to a commanding position in his chosen calling, and has had a correspondingly important effect upon his community, is J.W. APPLEY of St. Petersburg, president of the Marine Ways and Means Company. J. W. APPLEY was born at Hartford, Connecticut, August 9, 1881, a son of WILLIAM L. and KATE (McALLISTER) APPLEY, the former of whom was born at Canterbury, Connecticut, and the latter at Glasgow, Scotland, and J. W. APPLEY is the second child born to his parents. He grew up at Brooklyn, New York, which city became the family place of residence when he was a child, and he received the educational advantages offered by its public schools. Subsequently he attended Pratt's Institute from which he was graduated in 1899 as a mechanical engineer. Following his graduation Mr. APPLEY enlisted in the United States Army and served in it as an engineer for five years. After receiving his honorable discharge he became a master mechanic for the Sultan Motor Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, and continued with it until the conclusion of the war, during which period he was connected with the manufacture of motorboats, and in this way rendered his war service where it was most needed. In the late fall of 1918 he came to Saint Petersburg, where he has since been in business. In 1921 his business was incorporated, with him as president, and he has the largest and best equipped machine shop in the entire State of Florida. Employment is given to about twenty-five men, and the territory covered extends all over Florida. He is a man of keen vision and good judgment and estimates at its true value the future of St. Petersburg. In 1915 Mr. APPLEY was married to LUCY M. MAN of Prince Edwards Island, Canada, and they have one son, JAMES EDWIN. Mr. APPLEY is one of the governors of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. He belongs to Washington Lodge, No. 81, A.F. and A.M., and the Mystic Shrine, A.A.O.N.M.S. of the Masonic fraternity, and to St. Petersburg Lodge No. 1224, B.P.O.E. In him the Presbyterian church has an earnest member and faithful deacon. The record of Mr. APPLEY's life proves what a man can accomplish provided he has the natural ability and the willingness to develop his talents along the lines for which he has an aptitude. Those ssociated with him acknowledge and rely on his experience and good judgment and express their full confidence in him, and give him an unqualified support in what he desires to accomplish.