check, pay roll account
Catalog Number
2018.44.5Date of Origin
1939Description
Rectangular shaped, yellow pay roll account check issued by Western Machine Tool Works of Holland, MI to employee Roger Van Huis in the amount of $26.14 in 1939.History
Roger J. Van Huis was born May 12, 1909 in Holland, MI. He died at the age of 91 on November 13, 2000.Roger resided in the Holland area his entire life. He worked at Western Machine Tool Works until his retirement and was a member of Trinity Reformed Church.
Western Machine Tool Works (WMTW) was founded in 1901 by John Boda and Nicodemus Bosch. WMTW was located at the end of west 9th, on the waterfront, in a brick factory. Bosch, a former mayor of Holland, would was still president in 1942. He died in 1944.
The company manufactured drills, tappers and lathes, among other tools. During WW2, Western Machine Tool won the Army-Navy “E” award for “high achievement in production of war materials.”. Western Machine closed in 1989 after years of declining business.
Nicodemus Bosch lived in Holland, MI at 189 West 12th with his wife Emma (1910 US Census and 1921, 1940 and 1942 city directories). He was born on 9-3-1863 in Vriesland, MI. He married Emma in Grand Rapids, MI on 12-9-1889. They had five children: Leon (1893-1962); Frances (1894-19510; Gerald (1896-1996); Colombe (1902- ); and, Randall (1905-1977).
Nicodemus passed away in Holland, MI on 10-22-1944.