Deb Brokaw displays a replica of the Hume Reel, part of a new exhibit at the Hume-Carnegie Museum that features the Horace D. Hume Company. The display also includes a variety of personal and business memorabilia that belonged to well-known businessman, inventor and philanthropist Horace Hume. (Reporter photo by Bonnie Morris)

In honor of its namesake, the Hume-Carnegie Museum has opened a new exhibit featuring Horace D. Hume, one of Mendota’s most benevolent residents. Inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Hume’s endeavors not only benefited the citizens of Mendota during his lifetime but his legacy continues to this day.

Deb Brokaw, administrative assistant at the Hume-Carnegie Museum, suggested the Hume display after rummaging through boxes of memorabilia, which had been donated by Hume’s family after his death in 2001. Brokaw said she was surprised at the number of patents Hume had received and was intrigued by the variety of business correspondence she found including invitations to the White House, which are included in the display.

Also included are pictures of Hume employees taken in 1964, which Brokaw said might be of interest to people who had worked at the plant or had family members who worked there. In addition, a number of the company’s internal newsletters are included in the display. Brokaw said she found about 50 company newsletters from various years. “They had humor and were quite entertaining,” she said, “and they provide an interesting insight into the man and how he related to his employees.”

As an inventor, Hume acquired over 100 patents and helped to revolutionize agriculture; as a businessman, he provided employment for hundreds of workers; and as a resident of Mendota, he served on committees to construct the existing Mendota Community Hospital and the Mendota Swimming Pool, donated $1 million for construction of the Graves-Hume Public Library, created the Mendota Museum and Historical Society and restored the Hume-Carnegie Museum – just to name a few of his contributions.

Although Hume had a tremendous impact on the city he called home for the later part of his life, he was not born in Mendota nor did he grow up in Illinois. In fact, he ended up in Mendota quite by chance. Born in Wisconsin, Hume moved with his family to a ranch in North Dakota as a child where he helped his father raise livestock and farm. The ranch prospered for a number of years but then a two-year drought coupled with the death of the family’s second son, Clarence, prompted Hume’s father to trade the ranch for a small hotel in Garfield, Wash. and move further west. Hume, who was working for another rancher by this time, also decided to forgo the tough conditions in North Dakota and followed his parents a short time later.

While in Washington, Hume became involved in the automobile business. The new industry had fascinated Horace from the age of 13 when his father bought the family’s first car. His very first patent was for a device to be used on a Chevy motor and even though Chevy discontinued that make of motor before the invention could be utilized, Hume’s creativity was just beginning.

With his background in farming, Hume had considered branching out into the sale of farm implements. When new restrictions on car sales were enacted in 1927, the time seemed right. Hume often talked with farmers who were losing an average of 50 percent of their crop due to the harvesting methods of the day. In 1931, he teamed up with farmer/mechanical engineer, Ed Love, to form the Hume-Love Company. The duo first patented a flexible floating cutterbar for harvesting peas in 1932. By 1934, Hume added a pickup reel to the cutterbar, an invention that could be used for a variety of crops including wheat, barley, oats, soybeans and rice.

As Hume-Love equipment and innovations continued saving farmers time and money, their name became known nationally and internationally. John Deere Company became the largest single customer for the reel and cutterbar and International Harvester advised their customers to buy the Hume-Love equipment.

By 1939, Hume found himself traveling frequently to the fertile farmland of the Midwest, which was becoming a large producer of soybeans. Knowing that sales would continue to be high in this region, Hume decided it was time to relocate. He found his final destination of Mendota by using simple logic: he chose his prime marketing area, drew a circle around it on a map and in the center of the circle was Mendota, which also had in its favor access to three railroads. In less than a week, Hume moved to Mendota with his wife, Minnie, and their son, James.

On Jan. 1, 1941, the Mendota branch of the Hume-Love Company opened in a rented building in the 800 block of Main Street. The Mendota business prospered but eventually, due to the great distance and the difference in farming needs between Illinois and Washington, Hume and Ed Love dissolved their partnership but remained friends. In 1944, the H.D. Hume Company began and it flourished for another 20 years until it was eventually sold to Hart-Carter, Inc.

Museum director Shirley Pierson noted that Horace Hume was a great asset to the City of Mendota. In 1993, he not only donated money for the city’s new library but also helped with the design of the building. The same year, he formed the Mendota Museum and Historical Society and refurbished the old library building, which houses the Hume-Carnegie Museum, the first of three museums he envisioned for the city. “This [Hume-Carnegie] museum opened in 1995 and the Union Depot Museum a couple years later,” Pierson said. “In 2002, Breaking the Prairie opened.”

Pierson also remarked that the Historical Society still receives money from the Hume Foundation each year. “He gave his money out generously to others and if it weren’t for him, this Historical Society wouldn’t exist,” she emphasized. “We’re very fortunate. He restored this building to look like it originally did. Even the paintings in the rotunda were cleaned up and restored.”

Pierson said that Hume, who lived to the age of 103, was a highly respected and highly regarded member of the community. “He was a nice guy,” she said. “His legend lives on and it’s nice his granddaughters [Marsha Jones and Michelle Babin] have chosen to continue that. Mendota was fortunate to have Horace Hume as a resident.”

The Hume-Carnegie Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4 p.m. For more information, the museum may be reached at (815) 539-3373.