CHARLES E. KETCHUM

Inscription

CHARLES E. KETCHUM
1864-1949. RAISED IN WARSAW.
HELPED ESTABLISH WARSAW
ELEVATOR CO. 1892, BECAME OWNER
1910. EXPANDED COMPANY TO OVER
300 EMPLOYEES. LIVED HERE.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2025

Charles E. Ketchum was born in Phelps, NY on November 13, 1864, and he moved with his family to Warsaw when he was one year old. His father, James E. Ketchum, started the J.E. Ketchum & Son Door, Sash & Blind MFY, Lumber Mill & Cooper Shop in Warsaw, NY.

In 1892, Charles E. Ketchum was involved in starting the Warsaw Elevator Co. with a few business partners, and produced passenger and freight elevators, as well as dumb waiters. The company was reported to be extremely successful, and the Elmira Star Gazette reported in 1909 that the elevators they produced were “models of elegance and rapid service” with “original and valuable features found in no other elevators” (January 7, 1909).

In 1910, the Western New-Yorker reported that C. E. Ketchum had bought out his business partners to become the largest stock holder, taking control of the company (February 17, 1910). Ketchum was listed as the company secretary and treasurer in 1899, and as secretary in 1909. It is unclear exactly when Ketchum took on the title of President of the Warsaw Elevator Co., but he was referred to as such as early as 1929 and likely until the company was sold in 1941 (Wyoming County Times, October 2, 1941).

The company was bought again in 1946, and it was reported at that time to have been grown by C. E. Ketchum from “a small concern to one employing some 300 persons” (The Nunda News, August 9, 1946). By 1933 they had expanded to have offices in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, and even exported their products internationally (The Wyoming County Times, September 1, 1933).

In April of 1912, the Wyoming County Times reported that Chas. E. Ketchum was one of many people buildings new homes in Warsaw during a building boom, and that he was building a Spanish Colonial Villa on Park Street. He lived in this home until he passed away on December 25^th, 1949 (Obituary, Wyoming County Reporter, December 29, 1949).