CAMPBELL ALLEN HARLAN
The early years began on May 31, 1907 near Columbia, Tennessee; those early years, through high school, ended on a small farm next to the family plantation, which for C. Allen became one driving force in his life: his determination, finally realized, was for the family to own that land again. A court struggle over inheritance had given the plantation rights to another branch of the Harlans. That situation needed correcting; he would do it. Now Leon tells me that he never heard of such a family suit. How often have I told people that poverty set fire to the seat of C. Allen's pants and drove toward success; how often have I wondered just how many of the problems of the later years that lack of funds created. We need never know. Why? Because Leon has told me that he never heard of many of the tales which C. Allen told. That they were poor I am certain; my eyes have seen the evidence.
C. Allen had memories of an early move; there were no memories of any early house. It was about life in the newer home that he told me; it was to that farm home that he first took me. The early years were years of struggle for Alexander Campbell Harlan, his wife, Ella Green Picard, and their eight children. The struggle increased after the death of the father when C. Allen was about seven. There was little else that a widow could do to earn a living in such a small rural community except cultivate the land that was her own; that would set the table and provide minimal necessities.
A man's memories of his youth are almost always the pleasant aspects of life, the devilment that was part of growing up, the punishments that were the result, and the forces that decided his goals. C. Allen was fed, clothed, schooled according to what was available at that time. Until highschool opened visions of other fields, he was satisfied for he had nothing with which to make comparisons except life on the plantation next door and it, in all probability, was not too different from his own.
I have a letters bringing me memories from two of his brothers, Howard Leon and Curtis Earl (Bob). I copy first Leon's letter:
H. L. Harlan
Under C. Allen's picture in the Columbia High School year book was the nickname 'Cafeteria'.
Now I copy the letter from Bob:
C. E. Harlan
C. Allen was sent to Columbia to live with his Aunt Earle and her family in order to attend high school. He helped doing what a young boy could do for which he was paid a small stipend that gave him a bit of spending money. Older he felt that it could have been more; his Aunt probably figured that it was all that she could spare. Financial points of view always vary depending on who makes the decisions. It was in high school that he developed strong attachments for two teachers - Miss Mitchell, English teacher. and Carl Gardener, whose subject was history. I wonder if there are any teachers, at present, who can so inspire today's more knowledgeable children. C. Allen argued points of literature and history with me on the basis of what they taught. He came north with the southern mythology which rationalized slavery. He was in good company for even Aristotle rationalized the existence of slavery in ancient Greece. Aristotle's ego told him that the Greeks were above all else - therefore slavery was a natural consequence of that superiority.
The continuing drive was college; the known field of interest was engineering for the over-riding problem in Tennessee was that of mountain roads. Leon's letter has mentioned the help which was given C. Allen by his cousin - Benjamin J. Harlan.
C. Allen came north to find the job necessary to earn the money to pay his college expenses; it was a factory job that gave him the needed cash. There were no family funds, no government grants, no scholarships of which he could take advantage. He was certain that some one in the car, which took him home stole all of his wages; his proof was that the suspected young man, after paying all of his college expenses, blossomed out in a completely new wardrobe. So much for his proof; it did not get his money back and may have been no proof at all. Once in Knoxville, C. Allen got a job serving tables in a boarding house near the campus. He ran from class to job to class. The result was that he ran with the track team too. (This is, as I recall, what C. Allen told me about his time in college. So much for memory.) He joined a local fraternity and was so much distressed by the initiation that he frequently advised young men not to link themselves with such activities.
The next summer, he returned to Detroit, found a job at the Dodge plant, hired on as an electrician because some one in the line of hopeful unemployed said that Dodge was hiring electricians - C. Allen had a basic knowledge of electricity because of his science lessons; that sufficed. Then we met and that was the end of his formal education. He continued to expand his knowledge through the books available to him at the public libraries of Detroit.
As his brothers grew older, they tried their hands at different things; C. Allen was the only one who had even tried college. The others worked at various jobs, migrated temporarily to Detroit to hire on a production line. Bob and Porter married; then the problem of earning a living without an education became apparent. They both returned to classes in order to earn a high school certificate. I presume the problem was that high schools seldom seem to offer courses pertinent to young lives. The question has arisen since then.
Eventually he went to work for Turner Engineering as an estimator, found housing for himself, bought a Ford and was no longer dependent on his brother, John. Then came the lean years - well,...somewhat leaner. Things finally reached such a point that Turner no longer paid wages to any of the office people; each worker was to be given a share of the profits. It was a difficult time; but creativity, of which no one had thought, did exist and new ideas surfaced. Perhaps it was on the basis of this experience that C. Allen became an entrepreneur and began searching for better ways. He tried a small business extracting zinc from scrap metals; there was a potential sale for zinc; but, in the planning, no one had thought about the residue. He became involved in a small company producing key cases which included a small flashlight - Keylight; Sears accepted them for sale but times were hard and people could do without. He became involved with a business rewiring motors; eventually no one rewound motors for that was more expensive than buying a new motor. He had a business underway with Sol King (later president of Albert Kahn) and David Murray (to become head of the Cleveland part of HEC); they handled second hand electrical material. (Here he was, through hands-on experience, learning the materials which would become the basis of his career.) He invented a burglar alarm; It never sold. (As I told a panel meeting of the Michigan Council for the Arts, one never keeps track of the many failures of a entrepreneur; one only counts his few successes.)
Then finally came the beginnings of Harlan Electric Company. Some of the knowledge from the past would be carried forward into the operation of HEC. It had been the custom of contractors, in C. Allen's beginnings, to entertain and so win the favorable attention of men of the companies with which they wished to do business. Entertainment took several forms, but the one which kept my husband out beyond a reasonable hour, provided all of the drink desired plus the attention of females recruited from the streets was not to be considered. Although C. Allen was not a drinker of note and I was certain that he was not to be entertained by any available female, I could appreciate the feelings of those women whose husbands were. "No way!" was my decree; we would entertain the families of those men and send them home sober from an evening with the Harlans. There was no argument. That was the form of entertainment practiced by HEC, - with the addition of expensive gifts. Finally the law outlawed that last form of persuasion. Did no one consider the quality of the work done? We continued to follow that pattern of entertainment in all other activities. I know from reports that the wives appreciated being included; it made for better breakfast conversation.
One of the over-riding impressions that the sister-in-laws had was that every Harlan male was afraid of being hen-pecked. Was that a point of view of all southern males, of the men in the Columbia area only, or of these brothers who had been raised by a widowed mother? Whatever. They enjoyed being together, telling stories ('gossip', I call it) of the people whom they knew, of the things which they had done and bragging about their horses. That was the only area in which they could best C. Allen. All horses were important in this Tennessee Walking Horse part of the world. One day Porter was exhibiting his horse, amongst other horses. John was standing beside his Father when the five-year old stepped, after his Father, behind one of the horses. A sharp reprimand from C. Allen; John looked at him, turned and walked away. I suppose that young boy was filled with hurt feelings, for no one had told him not to walk behind the horses and the men had been doing just that; John had no other idea than the hurt. I spoke to C. Allen; he was not about to stop the boy. John kept on walking. I finally set out after him, overtook those hurrying legs and brought John back. So much for being hen-pecked.
Mule Day was the great day of celebration in Columbia; people came from miles around and even from other states (especially Missouri) to see the parade of mules, horses and the local young women riding them. A story. as I remember it, tells of an early Harlan bringing home from Spain an exceptionally large jackass which he bred with his horses, producing exceptionally large mules. Mules, at that time, were an important part of any army and of many southern farms for, better than horses, they could withstand heat, hardship, and continual heavy work. The result was a thriving business for Columbia. Clyde raised on his farm some exceptional show mules, and his teams of mules were featured in every one of Columbia's Mule Days. C. Allen bragged that Clyde could judge the size and weight of a mule simply by looking at it; that ability resulted from long experience in handling the animals. I recall remarking to Dr. Canning, musician, (dinner one evening at 3535) that that was a skill developed over many years, that the housewife could judge the quantity of left-oversee from a meal and know exactly what dish in her cupboard would hold them to within a spoonful either way. Constant repetition is a slow but excellent teacher. Clyde's skill was an important skill for the him; the breeding and raising mules was an important part of his farming. Judging the value of one's mules in competition with other mules on Mule Day, when sales were often the goal of the activities, was the important skill for the farmers involved; such skill was valuable.