Charles W. Nash (General Motors)-- Part 2: A Poor Beginning

From Wikipedia.

Charles Nash was born into a poor farming family in Cortland, Illinois, in DeKalb County, on what became the Lincoln Highway, now Illinois Highway 38, on January 28, 1864.

His parents separated when he was six and he was abandoned.  As a result of a court order, he worked as a farmhand in Michigan as an indentured servant under an agreement that was to last until he was 21.  He had only three months of schooling a year during this time.

At age 12 he ran away and became a farmhand, first in Grand Blanc, Michigan,  for $8 a month.  Then for Alexander McFarland in Mount Morris, Michigan, for $12 a month.  On McFarland's farm,  he learned the carpentry trade.  While there, he formed the Adams & Nash concern to press hay.

He also met his future wife, Jessie Halleck, and married her on April 23, 1884.  Due to her poor health, the couple moved to Flint, Michigan,  in 1890, where he was hired by William C. Durant of the Flint Road Cart Company, which later became the Durant-Dort Carriage Company.  And we know where it went from here.

A very poor beginning.

William C. Durant, I've Heard the Name Somewhere.  --RoadDog