Arthur H. Page Company, Ltd....The Wilson Transit Co.
THE WILSON TRANSIT CO,
ARTHUR H. PAGE COMPANY, LTD.
IN the business of Gulf transportation a distinctive place is held by the Arthur H. Page Company, Ltd., of 220-222 Hennen Building, New Orleans, which is the successor in continuous line of a business established in 1850 by Golden- boro & Kelley. After the death of Mr. Golden- boro, his partner, Joseph Kelley, continued the business, taking his son, George W. Kelley, into the firm, which became Joseph Kelley & Son until the senior Mr. Kelley, died, then continuing under the name of George W. Kelley, with Arthur H. Page as junior partner, until George W. Kelley died in 1902.
The business was then incorporated as Kelley, Page Company, Limited, in 1902, and was changed February 19, 1906, to Arthur Page Company, Limited.
The company has an extensive business as steamship agents and brokers, acting as agents for steamers bound for Gulf ports, and also doing a large chartering business of a general character. There has been a steady expansion in the company's business in connection with the large development of the maritime interests of the Gulf ports.
The active management of the business is in the experienced hands of Mr. Jules C. L'Hote, who has been with the firm since 1900.
Mr. L'Hote is a member of the New Orleans Board of Trade; associate member of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange; member of the Association of Commerce, the Motor League of Louisiana, the Boston Club, New Orleans Country Club, and the Young Men's Gymnastic Club of New Orleans.
THE business of The Wilson Transit Co., Cleveland, Ohio, was established in 1873 by Captain Thomas Wilson, who that year built the wooden steamship "D. M. Wilson," and subsequently built and operated eight other wooden steamships and four barges. Since the company- was incorporated in 1890 it has built no wood construction, but only steel boats. Captain Thomas Wilson, who was the founder and first president of the company, died in 1900.
When the company was incorporated the fleet consisted of the steamships "Spokane," "Olympia," "Yakima," "Missoula," "Sitka," "C. Tower, Jr.," and "Wallula," and the barge "Wadena." The company subsequently built the steamships "Yuma," "W. D. Rees," "A. W. Osborne," "Captain Thomas Wilson," "S. H. Rob- bins," "Charles S. Itebard," and "J. E. Upson," and the steel barge "D. Z. Norton," and also purchased the steamers "General Garretson," "H. P. Mcintosh" and "C. W. Kotcher."
Succeeding Captain Wilson, the presidents have been J. E. Upson, 1901-1907; Edward Morton, 1907-1911; and since 1911 A. W. Thomson has been president and manager; Charles S. Hebard, vice-president, and Frederick Cheetham, secretary and assistant treasurer. President A. W. Thomson has grown up with the Wilson Company business. He was associated for five years with Alexander McDougall in building and operating whale- back type steamships on the Pacific Coast.
The Wilson Transit Co. handles annually about 3,000,000 tons of bulk freight on the Great Lakes, principally iron ore, coal, and grains. The present fleet is composed of the steamships with tonnage as follows "General Garretson" and "H. P. Mcintosh," each of 10,800 tons cargo deadweight; "J. E. Upson" and "Charles S. Hebard," each 10,400 tons; "S. H. Robbins," 7,800 tons; "Charles W. Kotcher," 7,600 tons; "Captain Thomas Wilson," 7,400 tons; "A. W. Osborne," 6,600 tons; and "W. D. Rees," 6,000 tons.
The company's directors are A. W. Thomson, Charles S. Hebard, H. D. Goulder, A. W. Osborne, F. B. Stearns, Charles A. Paul, N. T. B. Nobles and J. E. Upson.
