This is the story of four brothers from Concord, New Hampshire who in 1869 formed a partnership to export hardwood lumber and wagon parts to California. Shipping lumber by rail to Boston, then by sailing ship, around the horn of South America to San Francisco, then sold by senior partner, Charles H. Holt. The Holt business in California was very profitable, there were no large hardwood forest on the west coast. The partnership was equally owned by the four brothers, all having a vote in deciding how to spent their profit. Over time the brothers were able to buy a factory in Concord in 1876, expanding the business to manufacture wagon wheels. In 1882, the brothers decided to build a wheel factory at Stockton, California, run by Benjamin Holt, who had manufactured wheels in Concord since 1872.
In January 1905, the first Holt Caterpillar steam traction engine was tested. In July 1905, the leader of the Holt brothers, Charles H. Holt, died. Benjamin Holt was now the only original surviving Holt brother in the partnership. Harrison Holt had died in 1904 and A. Frank Holt had died in 1889. Benjamin Holt guided the Holt Manufacturing Company through its most famous period, until his death in 1920.
THIS IS THE STORY OF THE HOLT BROTHERS, THEIR FAMILIES AND ASSOCIATES. 1869-1925