M’Danell & Sons

Lumber Yards, Planing Mill, Saw Mil and House Building Material Manufacturing Establishment 

This magnificent plant, which is the pride of Warsaw, the largest and most extensive in this whole section of country, has grown like the stalwart oak from the humble acorn.  In 1875, Mr. McDanell put in a small stock of building material, with a hand rip saw to prepare and shape thin boards.  The trade began to grow and they were forced to put in a gasoline engine.  This answered for a while, but soon it failed to meet the requirements and their present boiler and engine were put in, with a hundred horsepower and ample machinery of all kinds.  They went to work, soon they saw the necessity of procuring their lumber cheaper, thus they put in a saw mill, a large, extensive affair with a capacity of 30,000 feet of lumber in ten hours, and now the middle man and his profit is completely shut out, as this from takes the lumber from the stump to the consumer. 

They employ 15 men, and extended until today, with all this vast machinery and a big force of men, it keeps them on the run to supply the trade which their extraordinary inducements have built up. 

They have a number of departments, and well qualified, honest and trusty men in control of each, while Mr. O. P. Morton, a competent, popular gentleman, puts in his time visiting the trade and finding a market for their product. 

The foreman of the planning mill, Mr. George Merchon, is an industrious, shrewd mechanic, reliable and deserving. 

William B. Robinson, the shipping clerk, is the right man in the right place: careful, prompt, conservative and painstaking, while Jesse Dike, the head sawyer, can get more lumber out of a log than any man living, especially when the saw is filed up nice and sharp by George Cutshaw, who keeps everything in the best of order and is a foreman of whom his employers are justly proud. 

The firm not only does an extensive retail trade, but sells large quantities of goods to dealers in the surrounding counties, their trade extending on both sides of the river from Cincinnati to Madison, and far back into the interior of both states. 

This form manufactures everything needed in building a house, and their home made doors, door frames, window sash and frames, elegant mantels, etc., are made from their own seasoned lumber, carefully and solidly put together, are unequaled by any similar building material on the market, while their prices are lower than any competitor can probably go, as they manufacture all their own goods. 

In conclusion we will say that the founder of this business, Mr. J. H. McDanell, together with his sons, John W., who has charge of the merchandise department, and James H., Jr.,  who has charge of  the saw and planning mill, are self-made men in every sense of the word, and in their wonderful success have fully demonstrated to the world what it is possible for energetic men to accomplish. 

Mr. J. H. McDanell had not only builded up an inheritance for himself, but he has also builded up a name and a reputation for our town which is the envy of neighboring towns less fortunate in the possession of enterprising business men.

from the Warsaw Independent, January 22, 1898