J.J. Hinde and J.J. Dauch, the Men behind the Hinde and Dauch Paper Company

Image of James J. Hinde courtesy of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, Fremont, Ohio

James J. Hinde was born in Huron Township, Ohio on March 31, 1855 to Mr. and Mrs. William J. Hinde, who were both natives of Ireland. Jacob J. Dauch was also born in Huron Township, on July 2, 1857, to Philip and Mary Dauch, who were of German descent. In the 1880 U.S. Census, both J.J. Hinde and J.J. Dauch were residing in Huron Township of Erie County, and they both listed their occupation as farmer. In 1888, Hinde and Dauch formed a partnership to harvest and bale straw to be used in paper making. One of their customers was the Sandusky Paper Mill, which made butcher wrapping paper from straw. The paper mill ran into financial difficulty, and after leasing it for a time, in 1892 Mr. Hinde and Mr. Dauch purchased the mill. The company eventually became known as the Hinde and Dauch PaperCompany.  In its early years, the business was not very profitable. After  developing corrugated paper, Hinde and Dauch Paper became a leading company in its field. 

An article in the March 2, 1986 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that J.J. Hinde was the inventor, and J.J. Dauch was the business man in the partnership. Below is a drawing from Patent Number 1,005,836, for a machine for making paper board, designed by James J. Hinde in 1910. The patent was issued on October 17, 1911.

 Eventually the Hinde and Dauch Company became the largest manufacturer of its kind in the United States. There were box factories in several cities of the U.S. and Canada, and paper mills as far west as Iowa. 

In 1910, J.J. Hinde left the Hinde and Dauch Company, in order to pursue other interests. Among his later business interests were the Sandusky Automobile Company, the Hinde Paper Company, and the Hinde Brick and Tile Company. Unfortunately none of these ventures proved to be successful.  Mr. Hinde died from pneumonia on February 22, 1931. In his obituary, found in the 1931 Obituary Notebook at the Sandusky Library, we learn that Henry Ford visited J.J. Hinde, where he showed Ford the first tractor that he had ever seen. Mr. Hinde was known as an ardent conversationalist, and he often spoke fondly of Ireland, the birthplace of his ancestors.

J.J. Dauch became the president of Hinde and Dauch after Mr. Hinde departed.  In the image below, J.J. Dauch is with a group of Hinde and Dauch employees, who were all graduates of the Sandusky Business College; the photo was featured in a promotional booklet for the school. The picture was accompanied by a letter of endorsement for the college on stationery from another business Dauch owned, the Dauch Manufacturing Company.

Mr. Dauch had been a graduate of the college in 1876, when it was known as the Buckeye Business and Telegraph College. In 1881, he purchased the Sandusky Business College, but sold it in 1884. 

Sadly, Mr. Dauch died in an automobile accident on August 15, 1918, at the age of 61. His chauffeur, Harry Hicks, also died in the accident, and Dauch’s wife and daughter were injured. Another injured passenger in the car was J.W. Wellington, the president of the Matthews Engineering Company. 

An article by Tom Twitchell which highlighted the life and career of industrialist J.J. Dauch appeared in the March 2, 1986 issue of the Sandusky Register, available on microfilm at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.  In the article appeared a quote by local historian Gordon Wendt, about J.J. Dauch, “He was the wealthiest man in town, and the most important.”  

In 1953, Hinde and Dauch was acquired by Westvaco. For most of the 1980s, the company operated as Displayco Midwest, which was bought out by the Chesapeake Corporation in 1989. The factory closed in 1997. The former Hinde and Dauch building at 401 West Shoreline Drive is now home to Chesapeake Lofts. An article which provides the history of the development of Hinde and Dauch is available online. Tom Jackson wrote an excellent article for the Sandusky Register covers the Paper District in Sandusky.

Though J.J. Hinde and J.J. Dauch were associated with the Hinde and Dauch Paper Company for a relatively short time, their names live on in the history of Sandusky and the paper making industry.