March 27, 1914 - The Repository

The Repository | CantonRep.com | Sunday, March 27, 2016 A3
On this day in Repository history:
March 27, 1914
Today’s page — another
in a series of key dates in
The Repository’s 200-year
history — is sponsored by:
Chamber of Commerce formed in Canton
Fifteen men had a hand in forming one of the longest-operating civic organizations
in the Canton community.
Canton manufacturer H.H. Timken and Judge Henry W. Harter were among them,
and were being touted as possible leaders of the organization at its inception.
Others in the group were a “Who’s Who” of the city’s business men: J.H. Kenny of
Kenny Bros., William Zollinger of W.R. Zollinger & Co., Harry S. Renkert of Metropolitan Brick, and Elmer Gibbs of Gibbs Manufacturing Co.
Canton’s chamber was formed only two years after the national Chamber of Commerce organization was created. According to a 100th anniversary article for the
Canton chamber written by Edd Pritchard in 2014, the chamber “was founded at the
urging of President William H, Taft, who believed business should
have a single voice to carry its message to Congress and government
agencies.”
“The local chamber evolved from the old Canton Board of
Trade,” wrote Pritchard, “which for 27 years had worked to bring
industry to the area.”
Timken ultimately served as the Canton chamber’s first
president.
Gary Brown will write about a different front page in Repository history
each day during the paper’s bicentennial year. Email Gary at gary.brown@
cantonrep.com.
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