Howard Samuel Holmes

Former President & Founder of Chelsea Roller Mills

One of four children born to Harmon and Edith Holmes, Howard Samuel Holmes was the only one to stay in Chelsea as an adult and actively participate in his father's many business enterprises. A quiet man, always immaculately and formally dressed, Howard was known throughout Michigan as a kind man with a heart for the milling business.

Howard managed to accomplish something a long succession of nineteenth-century mill owners had tried, but failed to do. He established a strong and successful business that was able to weather wars, recessions, depressions, fires, accidents, and family tragedies. His efforts ensured that the company would remain within the family from that generation on.

After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1907, Howard moved his way up through his father's businesses, starting as an assistant cashier, then moving to secretary, treasurer, and general manager of Harmon's conglomerate, the Wm. Bacon-Holmes Company, which owned the Chelsea mill.

Improvements and additions to the mill continued under Howard's guidance. In 1917 Howard was made President of the newly named Chelsea Roller Mills, which had been made into a division of the Wm. Bacon-Holmes Company. In 1923 the company's name was changed to the Chelsea Milling Company.

Having recently invested in the most modern wheat grain cleaning and tempering equipment available, Howard set out to remodel and remold the business, establishing key retail business relationships. These and other major improvements allowed the mills capacity to grow from 45 to 350 barrels per day.

In 1936, at age fifty, Howard Samuel Holmes was involved in a fatal accident, and his wife Mabel and twin sons Howard and Dudley stepped in to manage the family business.