HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS, E. Polk Johnson, three volumes,
Lewis Publishing Co., New York & Chicago, 1912. Common version, Vol. III,
pp. 1189-90.  [Full page photograph of Mr. Gates included with bio.]
[Jefferson County]

CHARLES D. GATES--To say of him whose name heads this sketch that he
has risen unaided from comparative obscurity to rank among the foremost
manufacturers of the state is a statement that seems trite to those
familiar with his life, yet it is but just to say in a history that will
descend to future generations that his business record has been one that
any man might be proud to possess.  Beginning at the bottom round of the
ladder he has advanced steadily step by step until he is now occupying a
position of prominence reached by few.  Through his entire business career
he has been looked upon as a model of integrity and honor, never making an
engagement that he has not fulfilled, and standing today an example of
what determination and force, combined with the highest degree of business
probity, can accomplish for a man of natural ability and strength of
character.
     Charles D. Gates was born in Hadlyme, Connecticut, August 21, 1855.
His father, Francis E. Gates, now (1910) eighty-four years of age, is a
direct descendant of the famous Gates family of Revolutionary times. His
mother, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Maria Day, is now deceased,
was a member of the illustrious Hugerford family whose genealogy is
recorded in the Knights of England.  Thus coming of New England stock,
Mr. Gates is from an ancestral line of which any one might justly be proud.
His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all prosperous farmers
residing in the Connecticut valley.
     In his boyhood days Charles D. Gates attended the district schools,
and at the age of fifteen years he was sent to the Hartford graded schools,
which he attended for a while and from which he went to a preparatory
school at East Hampton, Massachusetts, and later attended the Williston
Seminary at East Hampton, Massachusetts.  He then became a "yankee
school-teacher," in charge of the graded schools at Moodus, Connecticut,
as principal.  Finding the schoolroom to confining and that the work of
teaching was over-taxing his strength, Mr. Gates went to sea as a hand
before the mast for one season.  Returning home he was for one year more
engaged in the outdoor work of a farmer.
     His first venture in the commercial world and the one which decided
his career was in 1877, when he entered the service of Turner, Day &
Woolworth Handle Company, Incorporated, of Louisville, Kentucky, as
yardmaster.  He was then twenty-one years of age and he has continued in
the service of this company ever since, and in the more than thirty-three
years that have elapsed he has filled the positions of shipping clerk,
foreman, superintendent, secretary, general manager and president, which
latter office he now holds.
     The Turner, Day & Woolworth Handle Company, Incorporated, is not only
one of the greatest industries of Louisville, but also one of the largest
of its kind in the United States.  The head office is located in Louisville
and several other branches are maintained at other places, including both
New York city and San Francisco.  It maintains in all thirty-two branch
factories, the most important which are located in Nashville, Tennessee;
Huntington, West Virginia; Memphis, Tennessee; Paragould, Arkansas; Cairo,
Illinois; Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Decatur, Alabama.  From well
selected hickory timber are manufactured handles used by woodmen, farmers,
mechanics, miners, railroad contractors and the army and navy.  The
company, in addition to supplying a large domestic trade, does an enormous
export business, supplying probably three-fourths of all the handles that
are shipped to England, Germany, Australia and other foreign markets.
     To the large interest of this company Mr. Gates has given close and
constant attention for years, becoming familiar with every detail of the
business and to his efforts have been due, in the main, the gratifying
success in business with which the Turner, Day & Woolworth Handle Company
has met, and to-day it is the largest concern of its kind in the world.
Like all forceful men Mr. Gates has been in demand from other or outside
enterprises and corporations, but he has never consented to hold any
salaried office.  He has served as vice-president of the Louisville Park
Commission; and as director of the Lincoln Savings Bank and of the
Louisville Board of Trade.  He is a member of the Louisville Commercial
Club, of the Filson Club and of the Louisville Country Club.  Mr. Gates
has taken a lively interest in philanthropic and church work and affairs.
He has served as president of the Presbyterian Alliance of Louisville, as
an elder in the Presbyterian church and as chairman of the State Executive
Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association and as president of the
Presbyterian Orphan's Home. Mr. Gates is a thorough believer in association
work, having been an active member of the Handle Manufacturers' Association
of America, and having served as president of the Hickory Handle for a
number of years.
     In commercial affairs he is possessed of keen penetration, the power
of making a quick decision and firmness in maintaining his position once
it is taken--essential attributes in a man who would dictate the policy
of a great corporation.  He maintains an attitude of open fearlessness and
absolute frankness in business relations so much that he cannot forgive or
condone the lack of these traits in a competitor.  Perhaps the recent words
of an intimate associate of Charles D. Gates best sum up his dominant
characteristics: "When he goes after anything he usually gets it, and when
he gets anything good he is always willing to share it."
     In politics Mr. Gates is a stanch Republican, but he has never sought
political honors.
     In 1884 Mr. Gates was united in marriage with Miss Lallie S. Davison.
Mrs. Gates come of an old, prominent and well connected Kentucky family.
They have a delightful home, pleasant and congenial, where their friends
meet with the most generous hospitality.

Gates Day Davison
=
CT MA

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/jefferson/gates.cd.txt