I have been cleaning up my system after hving a problem getting into it and saw your e-mail. I do not know who did your research in this area but either they are very mistaken or there is a typo on the date that the Elgin Watch Factory was torn down. I am unable to tell you what the year was but I do know that I and my children watched this being done on our daily walks in about 1970. I will do some futher checking and get back to you with what I find, There is an apartment complex and strip mall on that land at this time which have been there since pior to 1975. ----- Original Message ----- From: <R1946AT@aol.com> To: <ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, September 15, 2002 11:15 PM Subject: [ILKANE] Elgin Watch Factory > I see a discussion regarding the Elgin Watch Factory. It was started October > 17, 1864 via a corporate resolution. The first watch was produced on April > 1, 1867 and was named after B. W Raymond. The people of Elgin participated > in the naming of different watch models and insisted on referring to them as > "Elgin watches." Because of this informal practice of calling them Elgin > watches, the word "Elgin" was officially added to the cmpany name in May, > 1874. The factory closed in 1966 according to a dedication bulletin I was > sent some time ago by a researcher I hired in Elgin. The factory was torn > down in September 1992. > > One of my mother's uncles used to work at the factory and he started as an > errand boy and after spending 50 years of his life there, he retired as a > Vice President. His name was Percy Stringer. Yes, there was a bulletin that > used to be published by the company called The Watch Word. He appeared in it > several times. From the copies I received there wasn't a lot of items in it > where it mentioned employees names unless it was in connection with a > specific event. Perhaps the ones I received copies of were only of those > pages where Percy was mentioned and not the entire bulletin. > > If I'm not mistaken, I believe some of the records from the watch company are > at the historical society there in Elgin. I also think some of the Kane > county court house records are also at the historical society as well as I > was also sent copies of material found in the records that were being > transferred to the society about my family. As I've never been to Elgin, I > cannot speak from personal experience as to the truth of these statements as > to the location. I am relying on my memory of my correspondence with the > researcher. > > I don't know if the researcher I hired is still alive as she was getting up > there in age at the time I was corresponding with her (the last time in 1992) > and perhaps she no longer does any research. Her name is Viola E. Swanson. > Perhaps someone from the genealogical society might know whether she is still > alive or not. > > I heard that the watch factory had been sold to the Waltham Watch Company of > Chicago and when the retirees from the Elgin factory got wind of their > attempted corporate raid on the retirement (pension) fund the employees went > to court to stop the company from dismantaling the fund and cutting out the > Elgin retirees without a dime. I believe the U.S. Supreme Court got involved > and ruled, in our favor as well as in the favor of the employees, that when a > company is purchased by another, they can't be buying it just to raid the > retirement fund and the retirement fund must stay intack for the benefit of > the retirees. Perhaps that was one of the reasons the Elgin plant was > closed. The Waltham Watch Company had purchased the company on the pretext > of continuing in business, but was really buying the company because there > was big bucks in the retirement fund and that was what they wanted. Another > means of getting money. They wanted to then close the plant, desolve the > pension fund and leave the retirees up a creek without any life support, not > to mention the current employees who were put out of a job. Sound like any > companies you know of today (Enron?). > > Anyway, you might check the historical society there in Elgin to see what > kind of records they have from the watch company. You might want to ask if > any records were transferred, if they know of any, to the Waltham Watch > Company in Chicago. A newspaper article said that the Elgin Watch Company > was moved to South Carolina, but I hadn't heard of that before re-reading the > article I have a copy of about the demolition of the factory in 1992. > > Hope this information helps. I know I wrote to the factory way before it > closed and they had some employee records on Percy, but not on another member > of my family who worked there. Whether those records still exist today, I do > not know as I already got what I was looking for so have no need to write and > do research on the company. > > Christie Trapp > >