Georgia Ernst pretending to talk on the telephone Arthur used to communicate with Frank Remy. Photos by Blair Baumgartner.
By Blair Baumgartner
InkFreeNews
SYRACUSE — Frank Remy, who along with his brother Benjamin Perry Remy, co-founded Remy Electric Company, which later became the Delco Remy Division of General Motors, had strong ties to Kosciusko County.
Remy lived a good portion of the year on Lake Wawasee and spent a large portion of his life in Kosciusko County.
“Frank Remy was very prosperous — he had lived off of the invention he and his brother had developed in their 20s,” said homeowner Georgia Ernst.
The brothers spent an early portion of their childhood in Osborne County, Kan. According to the Osborne County Hall of Fame, the brothers invented the Remy magneto, which was one of the major features for the 1905 Buick automobile. The company supplied parts to early automobile manufacturers such as Columbia, Winton, Sterns, Hayes, Apperson and Severns-Duryea.
The Remy House
According to the Osborne County Hall of Fame, the brothers sold Remy Electric Company for $1 million on Jan. 25, 1911. Their combined net worth was close to a million dollars before the sale. The brothers became the youngest self-made millionaires in Indiana history.
They also continued to receive royalties on all the magnetos made under their most recent patent. The magneto was used to furnish electric lights for automobile headlights and other lights on the automobile.
After a short stint in the farm tractor business, Frank Remy retired. He founded the Wawasee Lake Golf Course in 1912. He presented the Remy Brassard Cup each year at the Indianapolis 500. He finally sold the golf course in 1950.
“Frank had a Black servant named Arthur who was also his chauffeur,” said Ernst. Frank was really good to Arthur and took good care of him. Arthur lived in the upstairs apartment above the garage. At the end of his life, Frank was also was very generous towards Arthur in his will,” she said.
According to Ernst, Frank was a very colorful person. “He and his first wife initially lived next door, but then something happened with his marriage and he became involved with the woman who lived in the house on the other side of mine. They married but she would not live in the house where the first wife lived, so he built this house for his second wife. So that’s how this house came to be and is still standing,” she said.
“In those days Black people were working at the hotels and taking care of wealthy families. Arthur was very popular with the ladies and at the end of their work days they would congregate here outside the garage and would enjoy each other’s company. This was their social life,” she said.
She continued by saying Frank had a board with inventory of how many cases of rum, bourbon, etc. to keep track of what they used and needed.
“I have trunks in the basement with records showing his liquor inventory. He must have entertained a lot. Frank traveled to Florida and he would bring all this stuff back and forth with him. I think this home was built about 1940 during the war. Construction materials were rather hard to get. The home was built without much of an eave. It’s more like a square box. They used as few nails as possible,” she said.
In her basement are some of the mementos Remy left behind that were there when she moved in 50 years ago.
“He used these old telephones to communicate with Arthur. I still have one in my bedroom on the wall. This one used to be up in the apartment. It’s how he communicated to Arthur to come down from the apartment above the garage to come take care of him,” she said.
According to the Osborne County Hall of Fame, The Remy Electric Company later became a division of the United Automobile Company, which was purchased by General Motors Corporation. The Remy Electric Company was then merged with Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, known as Delco, to form the Delco Remy Division.
