Today in Wheeling History: March 3--The Gee Electric Company, founded in Wheeling by Harry Walter Gee, was incorporated (1909).
Harry Walter Gee (1880-1971) was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and later settled in Wheeling, West Virginia after his father was transferred there for work when Gee was around 5 years old. As a teenager in 1898, Gee founded a small electrical equipment shop at 1124 Market Street in Wheeling. The shop then moved to 1126 Market Street, 1215 Main Street, 1217 Main Street, and finally its location at Main and Fourteenth Streets, where Gee Electric was incorporated in 1909. The company grew into the major Gee Electric Company corporation serving 6 states by the 1920s. Gee served as Secretary and General Manager of the firm that incorporated in 1909 and employed 75 people at its Wheeling manufacturing facility and offices. On the personal side, Gee was very active in community organizations in Wheeling, leading wartime bond drives and involved with the Presbyterian Church. He married Elizabeth Stifel in 1907 and they had 5 children, though their first daughter and son Charles died in infancy. Their other children Eleanor (1915), William (1917) and Harry Jr (1919) survived into adulthood. Gee lived to age 91, building a successful electrical business as well as raising a family and contributing as a leader in the Wheeling, West Virginia area over his long career.
To learn more: (http://tinyurl.com/nvnxahcd) (http://tinyurl.com/bdz4epz8) (http://tinyurl.com/yxzc9dvc)
Harry Walter Gee (1880-1971) was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and later settled in Wheeling, West Virginia after his father was transferred there for work when Gee was around 5 years old. As a teenager in 1898, Gee founded a small electrical equipment shop at 1124 Market Street in Wheeling. The shop then moved to 1126 Market Street, 1215 Main Street, 1217 Main Street, and finally its location at Main and Fourteenth Streets, where Gee Electric was incorporated in 1909. The company grew into the major Gee Electric Company corporation serving 6 states by the 1920s. Gee served as Secretary and General Manager of the firm that incorporated in 1909 and employed 75 people at its Wheeling manufacturing facility and offices. On the personal side, Gee was very active in community organizations in Wheeling, leading wartime bond drives and involved with the Presbyterian Church. He married Elizabeth Stifel in 1907 and they had 5 children, though their first daughter and son Charles died in infancy. Their other children Eleanor (1915), William (1917) and Harry Jr (1919) survived into adulthood. Gee lived to age 91, building a successful electrical business as well as raising a family and contributing as a leader in the Wheeling, West Virginia area over his long career.
To learn more: (http://tinyurl.com/nvnxahcd) (http://tinyurl.com/bdz4epz8) (http://tinyurl.com/yxzc9dvc)
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