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The fortune: The Kerr Murray Manufacturing Company grew out of the Fort Wayne gas works: James H. Walker, a Scottish gas engineer who had built gas plants from Quebec to Hartford, took charge of the Fort Wayne works and resigned to form the business that took the Kerr Murray name, by his 1887 obituary in the American Gas-Light Journal. The company made gas holders and stoves at Calhoun and Murray streets. Its business entry is in the Business section.
Its scale: The honest record here is short. The 1889–90 city directory lists the company as incorporated in 1881 with capital of $100,000, A. D. Cressler president and general manager. No published profile of a Kerr or Murray family fortune, and no estate valuation, has been found in the sources consulted — so unlike most entries in this section, Kerr Murray stands here on its capitalization alone, and the gap is stated rather than filled.
Sources:
- American Gas-Light Journal, April 16, 1887 — obituary of James H. Walker, founder of the business.
- Fort Wayne city directory, 1889–90 (R. L. Polk & Co.) — incorporation 1881, capital $100,000, officers.