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William Benson Mayo
- Wayne State University Press
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William Benson Mayo 1866-1944 "Mayo, I know, would do splendidly in setting up designs for the most efficient, up-to-date—even advanced—iron smelting plant., ' —Charles E. Sorensen. * When one sighted the monstrous automotive plants at Highland Park and on the River Rouge in Dearborn, the name "Ford,, was emblazoned on the tall powerhouse stacks. In touring the plants, however, the names of the plant designers, Albert Kahn and William B. Mayo, were never mentioned. One of the nine giant steam-gas power generators from Highland Park is the largest single item on display in the Henry Ford Museum, but the name of Mayo, its designer, is not mentioned. Mayo was another of the many exceptionally talented men Henry Ford used to the utmost and then cast aside. William Benson Mayo was born in Chatham, Massachusetts on January 7, 1860, the son of Andrew Benson and Amanda Nickerson Mayo. Chatham is on the southern tip of Cape Cod. At that time, the small town was made up largely of fishing folks and retired sea captains . William's father was a carpenter who supplemented his income by fishing. William had two brothers and one sister. They attended public elementary school at Chatham, where William displayed some artistic talent and showed an interest in mechanical devices. Without resorting to higher formal education, despite the objections of his parents, he went to Boston, where he worked as an apprentice to an outdoor sign painter and soon became a partner in the business. But since he liked machinery, and since sign painting was not a year-round job, at age twenty-two he accepted a position as office boy with the HoovenOwens -Rentschler Company, a manufacturer of Corliss steam engines. These engines were sometimes huge machines, often used to pump * From Charles E. Sorensen, My Forty Years with Ford (New York: W. W. Norton, 1956), p. 163. 219 Henry's Lieutenants water for municipal water systems. The company headquarters were in Hamilton, Ohio, with sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. Mayo soon became a junior salesman and worked his way to top salesman in the Boston office. At age thirty, he was offered a sales position in the New York office with a substantial pay increase. He had married Susan Harrall Dana of nearby Chelsea on January 8,1891, and his wife was somewhat reluctant to move from their home in Everett , outside Boston. But Mayo accepted the new position and commuted from New York to Boston on weekends. With his success on the new assignment, the couple moved to New York, where they stayed for ten years, during which time they had three children, two sons and a daughter. In 1906, Mayo was offered the position of secretary at the main office of Hooven-Owens-Rentschler in Hamilton. Again, his wife was reluctant to move, this time to the Midwest, which was even farther from the Boston area where her family resided. But Mayo could be a very persuasive man, and they did move to Hamilton, where Mayo became general manager and later vice president of the company. As vice president of Hooven-Owens-Rentschler, Mayo handled the largest machinery orders. In 1913, the company was approached by Ford Motor Company to make proposals on the largest steam-gas power generators Mayo had ever considered. They were for Henry Ford's Highland Park automobile plant north of Detroit. There were at least five companies competing for the massive project. Negotiations with Ford lasted for more than a year, during which Mayo and Ford became well acquainted. Ford became very trustful of Mayo and not only bought the Hooven-Owens-Rentschler equipment but hired Mayo away from his employer of twenty-five years. Mayo became Ford's chief power engineer. The two men were both middle-aged and had both risen to their positions through self-education. Installation of the nine huge "Gasteam" units at Highland Park required almost two years. One of these monsters is now in the Henry Ford Museum, where the three-story engine is the largest exhibit on display. The next large Ford project was at the Rouge site in Dearborn, where in 1917 Mayo was given charge of planning and construction of this world-famous industrial complex, an effort requiring several years of utmost concentration. Directly under Mayo were at least 250 assistants in departments of architectural engineering, mechanical engineering, powerhouse design, and general construction. Mayo's son, Dana, a recent graduate of the...