Background
William Louden was born on October 16, 1841, in Cassville, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the son of Andrew and Jane (Speer) Louden.
Businessman inventor manufacturer
William Louden was born on October 16, 1841, in Cassville, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the son of Andrew and Jane (Speer) Louden.
William Louden nearly died from inflammatory rheumatism at age 23 kept William Louden from engaging in farm labor. Instead, he put his inventive genius to work devising ways to make farm work easier. After watching others pitch hay from a wagon into a barn by hand, William Louden devised a mechanism he called a hay carrier - a means of moving hay from the wagon into the barn using a system of pulleys, rope, and a trolley. It was the first device of its kind to be patented in the United States. He assembled a number of these hay carriers at Loudendale, then traveled the countryside trying to sell them. When many farmers failed to pay for them, William Louden went broke.
Undeterred by his lack of financial success, William Louden built a small factory in Fairfield and tried to expand into the manufacture of farm implements, such as cultivators, hay rakes, and harrows. That venture was not successful, either. In 1889 his brother R.B. Louden and C.J. Fulton rescued him. R.B. Louden would become the company’s chief financial agent, leaving the development of farm products to William. Fulton brought the capital that would enable the company to grow. They incorporated as the Louden Company, dropped farm implements, and expanded into several types of barn products, such as door hangers and manure handling equipment. The high quality of the company’s products enhanced the firm’s standing among farmers. William Louden was very protective of the company’s name, which appeared somewhere on nearly all of its products. The company also had a staff of lawyers available to prevent infringement on Louden’s patents.
Over time, the Louden Machinery Company expanded, building factories in other midwestern cities, such as St. Paul, Minnesota, and Kansas City, as well as in Canada. The expansion enabled Louden to establish an international market, with Louden products sold in Scotland, France, and Russia. The company also acquired other hay tool companies, giving the firm patent rights to innovations that could be incorporated into Louden products. Still, William Louden remained loyal to Fairfield, Iowa, and promoted his hometown whenever he could.
When William Louden died in 1931 at the age of 90, the company still held 118 patents. The patents dealing with the moving of manure by using a rail system attached to the ceiling would allow the Louden Company to expand into material handling systems that would eventually be used by factories all over the country, enabling Louden’s legacy of agricultural labor-saving devices to carry over into modern American industry.
William Louden married Mary Jane Pattison, January 2, 1868. Children: Helen Craig (deceased), Agnes May, Arthur Claire, Robert Bruce.