James Henry Rand I was born on May 29, 1859, in North Tonawanda, New York. He was the son of Calvin Gordon Rand (b.1832-d.1872) and Almira Hershe (Long) Rand. He was the 3rd of 9 children.220 He spent the early part of his life growing up in Wheatfield, New York, and attended the local public school.221
His father died in 1872. His mother married her second husband, Henry W. Kimball, and they moved to Sweden, New York.222 Rand studied at the State Normal School in Brockport. At the age of 18, he started his first job as a railroad telegraph operator.
In 1880, he moved in with his brother Benjamin in Tonawanda, New York.223 After moving to Tonawanda, Rand started a career in banking. He became a clerk at the banking house of Evans, Schwinger & Co. He then worked for the State Bank of North Tonawanda, as a clerk and later as a teller. In 1882, Rand served as the clerk for the North Tonawanda Board of Education.224
Rand married Mary Jameson (Scribner) Rand (b.1863-d.1934) in 1884. They had five children: Adelaide Almira Rand (b.1884-d.1963), James Henry Rand II (b.1886-d.1968), Mary Scribner (Rand) Rich (b.1889), Mabel Scribner Rand (b.1893-d.1971), and Phillip Scribner Rand (b. 1906).225
In 1886, Rand became a cashier at the Lumber Exchange Bank in North Tonawanda.226 By 1888, he had moved to the neighboring town of Wheatfield. In 1888, he became an excise commissioner in Wheatfield.227 He lived in Wheatfield, until at least 1892 and had moved to North Tonawanda sometime between 1892 and 1900. 228
In 1894, he left his position at the Lumber Exchange Bank in North Tonawanda, to open his own private banking business. He also became president of the Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Tonawanda Electric Railroad Company.229 In 1897, William Pool described Rand as having been eminently successful as a banker and as one of the most prominent businessmen in North Tonawanda.230
During his time as a Banker in the 1880s and 1890s, Rand had turned his attention to organizing and innovating the banking process. In the 1880s, American banking was expanding and many people had begun opening bank accounts. This expansion of banking made it difficult for banks to keep track of a larger number of accounts and records. While working as a banker, Rand looked for ways to better organize bank records. He created a system of folders, tabs, and index cards, to keep track of records for each account. This system improved the efficiency of the banks he worked at. He came to recognize that the system he created could be commercially valuable. By 1897, he had founded the Rand Ledger company.231
Rand Ledger would sell his systems of records organization and the office supplies that would be involved. He acted as president of the company and headed up efforts to invent and develop new products, while he brought in his brother Benjamin as vice-president and head of manufacturing. Rand continued to produce a variety of new products for the company, including bank index files for deposits, tickets, and checks, stop payment registers, and sorters. The company would eventually expand to produce office products for a variety of businesses. In the process, Rand helped to revolutionize the organization and equipment of American banks and business offices.232
By 1910, Rand had moved to the state of Massachusetts, where he appears to have lived for the remainder of his life.233 James H. Rand’s business continued to develop over time. In 1908, his son James H. Rand II had graduated from Harvard and joined his company. His son quickly rose through the ranks of management. In 1910, a period of illness caused James H. Rand, Sr. to temporarily step down as head of the Rand Ledger Company. His son acted as head of the company, until he recovered and returned in 1914. There was some tension between Rand and his son, due to differing views on how to expand the company, and Rand’s tendency to overrule his son eventually led his son to leave the company.234
In 1915, James H. Rand II, created his own office supply company, American Kardex. Within five years, the company had grown into a major office supply company, which could compete with Rand Ledger. The two companies continued to compete with each other until Mary Jameson Rand convinced James Rand, Sr. and James Rand II to end their competition with each other. The companies were then merged to form Rand Kardex Bureau.235 While his son headed the new company, James H. Rand, Sr. remained involved in the company for the next two years. He worked to develop products and expand the company.236 In 1927, the company merged with Remington Typewriter to form the Remington Rand Company. Rand's son, James H. Rand II would continue to head the company until 1958.237
James H. Rand died on September 15, 1944, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Falmouth, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.238 232
Sources:
220 “James Henry Rand”, FamilySearch.org, Accessed, June 18, 2021, https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHXY-ZYT;
“James Rand: United States Census, 1870”, FamilySearch.org, Accessed, June 18, 2021, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8VQ-1Y3; “James H Rand: United States Census, 1900”, FamilySearch.org, Accessed, June 18, 2021, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS2N-S4T?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=LHXY-ZYT;
William Pool, Landmarks of Niagara County, (New York. Syracuse: D. Mason & Company, 1897),
160; John N. Ingham, Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1983), https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0003ingh, 1139-1142
221“James Henry Rand”, FamilySearch.org; “James Rand: United States Census, 1870”, FamilySearch.org
222 “James Henry Rand”, FamilySearch.org; “James H Rand: Census: United States Census, 1880”, FamilySearch.org, Accessed, June 18, 2021, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZDF-QYS?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=LHXY-ZYT; Ingham, Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, 1139-1142
223 “James Henry Rand”, FamilySearch.org; “James H Rand: United States Census, 1880”, FamilySearch.org, Accessed, June 18, 2021, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZZR1LW?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=LHXY-ZYT; Pool, Landmarks of Niagara County, 160; Ingham, Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, 1139-1142
224 “James Henry Rand”, FamilySearch.org; “James H Rand: United States Census, 1880”, FamilySearch.org; Pool, Landmarks of Niagara County, 160; Ingham, Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, 1139-1142
225 “James Henry Rand”, FamilySearch.org
226 Pool, Landmarks of Niagara County, 160; 341-354
227 “A Prohibition Excise Commissioner”, The Voice, (New York City, New York), May 17, 1888
228 “James Rand: New York State Census, 1892”, FamilySearch.org, Accessed, June 18, 2021, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQ34-NLG; “James H Rand: United States Census, 1900”, FamilySearch.org
229 Pool, Landmarks of Niagara County, 160; 341-354
230 Pool, Landmarks of Niagara County, 160
231 "James Henry Rand Dead At 81", New York Times, (New York City, New York), June 4, 1968; Ingham, Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, 1139-1142; “Kardex Systems Inc. Company Profile on AECinfo.com”, AECinfo.com, Accessed June 17, 2021, https://www.aecinfo.com/1/company/05/47/32/company_1.html.
232 "James Henry Rand Dead At 81", New York Times, (New York City, New York), June 4, 1968; Ingham, Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, 1139-1142; “Kardex Systems Inc. Company Profile on AECinfo.com”, AECinfo.com
233 “James Henry Rand”, FamilySearch.org\
234 "James Henry Rand Dead At 81", New York Times, (New York City, New York), June 4, 1968; Ingham, Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, 1139-1142; "Rand in Command", Time, (New York City, New York), July 27,1931
235 Ingham, Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, 1139-1142; "Rand in Command", Time, (New York City, New York), July 27, 1931
236 Ingham, Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, 1139-1142; "Rand in Command", Time, (New York City, New York), July 27, 1931
237 "Rand Yields the Helm at Remington", New York Times, (New York City, New York), April 16, 1958; Ingham, Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, 1139-1142
238 “James Henry Rand”, FamilySearch.org; “James H Rand (1859-1944) - Find A Grave Memorial”, Find a Grave, Accessed June 18, 2021, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/158634741/james-h-rand. 34 F
-- Contributed by Jonathan Makeley
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