Bertie Lamplough Johns
Name/Title
Bertie Lamplough JohnsEntry/Object ID
P2002-01-14-970Description
Bertie Marion [Lamplough] Johns portrait from the Caldwell Studio, Grimsby circa 1912. Bertie was born in 1891 to William & Jane [Jennie] Lamplough. They were fruit growers who lived in west end Grimsby township near the lakefront at lot 22, Concession One. In October 1912 Bertie married at Winona to Henry "Stinson" Johns of Hamilton, a Mechanical Engineer. Initially life was nomatic - in 1913 they lived in Tillsonburg, in 1915 Chatham, 1923 Hamilton. By 1931 they were age 40, living with her mother, the widowed Jennie Lamplough in North Grimsby. There Stinson tinkered with design ideas for conveyor systems. In 1935 Stinson Johns, became a recognized North Grimsby inventor. He was granted a United States patent for a unique type of conveyor system that brought 40 new origional innovations and improvments to conveyors which were recognized by the Patent Office. Stinson's patent received international attention and he was offered a position with the Osborn Manufacturing Co. at Cleveland, Ohio to develop his systems further. The Johns relocated from Grimsby to the United States in 1938 and applied for citizenship in 1941. Osborn Manufacturing Co. became the worlds largest manufacturer of industrial brushes, foundry machines and specialized conveyor equipment. Their systems enabled America's industrial automation and sped up national war production of aircraft, trucks, tanks, bombs and shells. The firm excelled with World War 2 production contracts and the Johns did well, enabling the purchase of a winter home in Florida. By 1961 Stinson & Bertie had retired and became residents of St James City [Fort Myers]. Stinson passed there in March 1961, and Bertie's mother Jennie shortly after in May 1961. Their remains were returned to Grimsby and interred at Fifty Cemetery, close to the family's former North Grimsby Township farm. The widowed Bertie returned to Florida and was noted in Fort Myers papers in 1962. Bertie died August 1984 at the age of 93 in Astabula, Ohio where she had been living with her son Lee in Chagrin Falls, a Cleveland suburb. She was buried there. Original photograph location P2001-01-14-770 See also newspaper clipping below on Stinson John's patent.Category
Photos - Peo/Fam - Other