A profound grasp of details and uncanny business judgment accounted for the success of Porter B. Yates, founder of the Yates-American Machine Company that became the largest manufacturing business of woodworking machinery in the world.

Born in 1854 in Schenectady, New York, he came to Wisconsin with his parents when he was three years old. He was educated in Berlin, Wisconsin, and when he was a young man he was a clerk in his father’s hardware store there.

In 1884 he took control of a small sander concern. One model was produced, and 13 persons were employed. In 1887 Beloit invited his interest. It provided a site and the company was transferred.

Here it became the largest firm of its kind—more than 200 machines, from the most delicate to the largest, were developed, and the concern grew.

Of sturdy pioneer stock, schooled in rigorous routine and with a financial acumen that astonished experts, Porter B. Yates headed a great industrial triumph. He established a manufacturing plant in Canada, and he invested largely in other businesses.

His successes attested to attention to stern business affairs. He died April 27, 1923, in Chicago. He was buried in Beloit, the city of his outstanding accomplishment.