Born 1861, Died 1932
Married: ?
John Bahnsen was born in Germany in 1861 and came to America at the age of twenty-one. It is not known if he had friends or relatives there, but his first stop was in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. There he took a job in the furniture industry and for twenty- three years laboured for the American Seating Company.
About 1905, he and his son Cornelius moved to Chicago where they were employed at another plant of the American Seating. Soon Bahnsen became its managing director. When the Globe Furniture Company was started in Waterloo, in 1910, Edward Seagram owner of the new company, hired Bahnsen as his factory manager.
Bahnsen is credited with the spectacular growth that occurred in the 1920s and 30s that saw Globe Furniture become the leader in Canada of the manufacture of ecclesiastical furniture and religious carvings. This growth necessitated four different additions to the plant at the end of Shantz Ave. About 1924 Bahnsen purchased land from William Snider Estate that was located on the western side of Silver Lake, where Princess St. came to an end. Here he built a large Tudor-style home with interior decorations done in the Globe factory. Bahnsen suffered a stroke in 1931. The next year, when on a visit to his daughter in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, he had another attack. This time it proved fatal.
Sources:
Obituary, Waterloo Chronicle, October 6, 1932
Waterloo Ontario Canada- Record of a century of Progress, Daily Telegraph, August 1914.
Middleton and London, "John Bahnsen." Province of Ontario - a History 1615-1927
Globe Furniture Collection- Waterloo Public Library.
John Bahnsen Biography
Description
- Creator
- Little, Ellis, Author
- Media Type
- Text
- Item Type
- Articles
- Description
- This is a handwritten biography of John Bahnsen from the Ellis Little Papers. This biography has been transcribed exactly as written. Ellis Little was a local historian, who was the principal of Elizabeth Ziegler Public School. On his retirement, he invested much of his time in researching and writing about Waterloo's history. The Ellis Little Papers consist of extensive notes, papers and historical works.
- Notes
- To see the original document please visit the Ellis Little Local History Room at the Main Branch of the Waterloo Public Library
- Date Of Event
- 1861-1932
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Bahnsen, John ; Seagram, Edward F. ; Snider, William
- Corporate Name(s)
- Globe Furniture Company
- Local identifier
- ELP 51.4 and ELP 63.41.1
- Collection
- Ellis Little Papers: Men and Women of Our Past
- Language of Item
- English
- Copyright Statement
- Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Location of Original
- Ellis Little Papers
- Contact
- Waterloo Public LibraryEmail:askus@wpl.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:35 Albert Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 5E2
- Full Text
