Sligh family

The Sligh family of Grand Rapids, Michigan have been prominent businessmen and furniture makers for over one hundred years. The first generation of Slighs to come to western Michigan was James W. Sligh (1821-1963) who was a clothier and not a furniture maker. Immigrating from Scotland to Canada in 1833, and from there to Rochester, New York, in 1838, James W. Sligh finally settled in Grand Rapids in 1848. When civil war broke out, he entered service as captain with Company F, 1st Michigan Engineers and Mechanics. He died November 15, 1863, from injuries received from a train derailed by Confederate guerrillas.

Though still a boy at the time of his father's death, Charles R. Sligh (1850-1927) worked to help support his family. Following a series of odd jobs, Sligh was apprenticed for four years to a local tinsmith. He clerked for one year at the Foster and Stevens Hardware Store, and then in 1875, he went to work in the finishing room of Berkey and Gay, Grand Rapids furniture manufacturers. He was soon promoted to foreman of the finishing department and then became one of the salesmen for the company. Sligh was probably the first furniture salesman to make extensive use of photographs in his sales presentations. Up until that time, salesmen usually followed carloads of their companies' furniture into various cities along the train route. From the railroad yards, they would call the local dealers down to examine their wares, and sales would be made directly from the train. Using photographs enabled Sligh to open up new markets without being tied to the railroad.

On February 24, 1880, Sligh and his brother-in-law, Lewis Hawkins organized the Sligh Furniture Company. With Sligh as president and chief salesman, the company prospered and grew. In the 1890s, with bicycling a new and popular fad, Sligh attempted to diversify his company to include the manufacture of bicycle wheels. This venture proved a failure, and thereafter, Sligh devoted most of his business energies to furniture manufacturing in general and the Sligh Company in particular. He developed new sources for the mahogany needed in his production by organizing a company which cut lumber in Honduras and then transported it to Grand Rapids. He established an agency in England for the sale of his furniture. He was president of the National Furniture Manufacturers Association (1888-1892), and was for many years president of the Grand Rapids Furniture Manufacturers Association . And in 1900, when his supply of mirror glass was restricted by a cartel of French, German, and Belgian manufacturers, Sligh traveled to Europe and sought out a supply of glass from a number of small, independent Belgian manufacturers.

With his company well established, Sligh began to devote more of his time and effort to politics and public service. He was a member of the Grand Rapids Board of Education in 1882 and 1883, and was active in local Republican politics. In 1895, Sligh split with his party over the question of bimetallism. He advocated free silver and was one of the organizers of the Silver Republican Party in Michigan . In 1896, he was nominated by the Free Silver Republicans, the Democrats, and the Populists to be the fusion candidate for governor. He was defeated in this election by Hazen Pingree. In 1906, Sligh ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Grand Rapids. In 1912, Governor Chase S. Osborn appointed him to the state's Workmen's Compensation Commission; and in 1915, he was made a member of the Grand Rapids Charter Commission which drafted that city's charter. Sligh was elected state senator for his district in 1922, and in 1924, he ran unsuccessfully in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

Sligh was also involved in local philanthropic pursuits, including the Boy Scouts, the YMCA, and the planning for a proposed (but never completed) Sligh Memorial Hospital for Children. Among other business interests, Sligh was president of the Santiam Land and Timber Co., president of the Clark-Sligh Timber Co., and secretary-treasurer of the Clark Iron Co., which had large holdings of mineral lands in the Mesabi Range. Sligh died September 15, 1927.

With his death and worsening business conditions in the furniture industry, the Sligh Furniture Company floundered and failed. Its assets were liquidated in 1932. Charles R. Sligh, Jr. (1906- ) who had gained experience in his father's business, was forced to begin anew a business which would have the family name. In 1933, this Sligh together with O.W. Lowry, who had been the company's superintendent, pooled their resources to purchase an idle furniture factory in Holland, Michigan. The Charles R. Sligh Company gradually grew. In 1940, the two men opened another plant (the Sligh-Lowry Company) in Zeeland, Michigan. This was followed in 1945 by a third company, the Grand Rapids Chair Company, then by a fourth, the Sligh Furniture Showrooms in New York City.

Charles R. Sligh, Jr., like his father, was concerned with national economic issues. As a skilled debater, he became a spokesman first for the furniture industry and then for all of American business through his work with the NAM, the National Association of Manufacturers . Sligh was chairman of the NAM's taxation committee, and in 1952 was vice president of the NAM's Michigan-Ohio region. He was elected president of the NAM in December 1952, and after his term expired in December 1953, he was elected chairman of the NAM Executive Board. In April 1957, he was elected chief administrative officer and executive vice president of the organization. While with NAM, Sligh gained fame as spokesman for the business point of view in a series of debates with labor leaders, notably George Meany and Walter Reuther .

Though a Republican like his father, Charles Sligh Jr. never ran for high public office, preferring instead to express his political views through his NAM activities. He did serve as chairman of the Kent County Republican Party in 1952 and was an acquaintance of many national Republican leaders.

From the guide to the Sligh Family Papers, 1842-1967, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)