F. M. Kinsman
Sanitary Bottling Works

14 Nov 2021, last revised 27 Apr 2025

F. M. Kinsman was known to have ABM bottles, so it was quite surprising when a hand-finished bottle was discovered after the publication of Old Copper Country Bottles in 1978. This bottle marks the very end of the hand-blown era. Kinsman continued the bottling works of H. Larsen & Co.

Frank McCabe Kinsman was born on 14 Oct 1880 in Calumet (1,2). His father was born in Cornwall, England (8) and his mother was born in New York (3). Frank was a harnessmaker in his father's saddlery and carriage business (4). In Feb 1906, he and Charles Wagner took over the business (7) and his father, William C. Kinsman, announced his retirement (6).

Kinsman, who was president of the village of Red Jacket and who had recently left the firm Kinsman & Wagner, purchased an interest in the firm H. Larsen & Co. in Jun 1916 and would promptly assume the duties of manager (16,17). On 01 Aug 1916, Kinsman purchased the remaining interest and became sole owner (18). The Calumet operation would then be known as the "F. M. Kinsman pop factory" (18). Howard Larsen would continue to be in charge of the preparation of beverages (18). The bottling works had four employees in 1917, 1918, and 1919 (9,10,11). The 1917 Sanborn map showed the bottling works on the southeast corner of 9th St. and Portland St.

Kinsman was still a manufacturer of soft drinks when he was drafted for World War I on 12 Sep 1918 (1). Rudolph Beiswanger, previously of the Jos. James' bottling works, was employed by F. M. Kinsman when he was drafted (1). Kinsman's proprietorship was evidently short-lived since the 1920 U.S. Federal Census recorded him as a watchman in an auto factory in Flint, MI (3). Frank Kinsman then died on 22 Aug 1932 at the age of 51 in Flint, MI and he was listed as a clerk at Buick Motor Co. at the time of his death (2).

The 1921 Polk directory listed Sanitary Bottling Works at 812 Portland St., Red Jacket with Fredrick Demarais as proprietor (5). This address matches the bottling works address shown on the 1917 Sanborn map, suggesting that Demarais purchased the bottling works from Kinsman.

Fredrick Demarais was born on 20 May 1896 in Calumet (12). In 1917, he was a machinist helper for the Copper Range Railroad Co. (1). He served in World War I in Ambulance Corps, U.S. Army from 05 Mar 1918 to 28 May 1919 (13). The 1920 U.S. Federal Census listed him as a proprietor of a soft drink factory (3), so the change-over in proprietorship occurred in 1919 or 1920.

The bottling works was not listed in the 1927 directory (15), suggesting that it had closed by then. By 1930, Demarias had moved to Detroit where he was supervisor of a vacuum cleaner company (14). Demarais died on 24 Apr 1969 in Detroit (12).

Citations

1. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (accessed on ancestry.com)
2. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records (accessed on ancestry.com).
3. U.S. Census Bureau. 1920 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
4. R. L. Polk & Co. 1905. Houghton County Directory 1905-06. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
5. R. L. Polk & Co. 1921. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1921-1922. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
6. anonymous. (1906, Jan 26). Kinsman decides to retire from business. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 8.
7. anonymous. (1906, Feb 01). New harness firm has taken hold of business. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 5.
8. anonymous. 1883. History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Western Historical Company. Chicago, IL.
9. Michigan Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. 1918. Thirty-Fifth Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
10. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1919. Thirty-Sixth Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Fort Wayne Printing Co. Fort Wayne, Indiana.
11. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1920. Thirty-Seventh Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
12. Find a Grave. accessed Feb 2022. Fredrick Joseph Demarais. findagrave.com/memorial/219190200/frederick-joseph-demarais
13. U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1970 (accessed on ancestry.com).
14. U.S. Census Bureau. 1930 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
15. R. L. Polk & Co. 1927. Polk’s Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1927-1928. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
16. anonymous. (1916, Jun 27). Frank Kinsman takes interest in Larson Co. The Evening Copper Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 6.
17. anonymous. (1916, Jun 27). Kinsman joins new firm. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 9.
18. anonymous. (1916, Aug 02). Sole owner of firm. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 6.