Talk:Charles Warren Nash
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Charles Williams Nash was born on a farm in Cortland Township, DeKalb County, Illinois, January 28, 1864. Charles' parents, David and Anna Nash relocated to the Flint, Michigan area in 1870, divorced, and abandoned Charles. Bound out to a Flint area farmer for labor, he worked for a number of farmers and eventually was part owner of a "hay pressing" company.
Married in 1884 to Jessie Halleck, Charles and his family which in 1890 consists of daughters Mae & Lena and Jessie move into Flint. He has a number of jobs which don't suit him, and then gets a job at the Flint Road Cart Company at $1 a day stuffing cushions. In 1895, Charles is promoted to General Superintendent when the company is reorganized into the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, and helps to build the company into the largest producer of carriages in the United States.
In 1897, Charles gets a ride in an automobile in New York while there on business. He is not very impressed. Also in this year, he is made Vice President and General Manager of Durant-Dort.
In 1904, Durant buys the automobile company begun by David Dunbar Buick, which becomes the foundation for General Motors which Durant establishes 4 years later. When Durant becomes financially overextended in 1910, bankers take over GM and install Charles Nash as President of Buick.
In 1912, Charles is made President of General Motors. In the next four years, he will retire the entire $15,000,000 of GM debt, triple the GM profits, and triple the value per share of GM stock. In 1916, Durant gets control of GM again, and Charles Nash resigns to build a car under his own name.
