Jerome I. Case, a representative of the Case family, needs no introduction to the readers of this volume. No name figures more conspicuously on the pages of Racine’s history. The great manufacturing enterprises conducted by the family have been the chief source of material development, and consequent prosperity of this section of the state. Into this heritage came Jerome I. Case and he has made it the purpose and aim of his life to uphold the high reputation of the family in its business connections. He was born May 6, 1887, a. grandson of Jerome I. Case, founder and promoter of the great manufacturing interests still maintained by the family, and a. son of Jackson I Case.
Exceptional educational advantages were accorded Jackson I. Case, so that he was well prepared to meet the responsibilities and obligations that devolved upon him in carrying on the business interests instituted by his father. He supplemented his high school training by study in the Racine Academy and in the Michigan Military Academy and then entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. In 1883 he accepted the position of bookkeeper with the Fish Brothers Wagon Company, with which he remained for almost two years, and for some time afterward he served as secretary to his father. As the years passed he became interested in many enterprises. He was president and a member of the board of directors of the J. I. Case Plow Works, treasurer and director of the Racine Hotel Company, a director of the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, and also of the Manufacturers’ National Bank. He was also interested in raising and training turf stock and owned a number of notably fast horses, among these being Echora, with a record of 2:23 1/2, dam of Direct, at that time the fastest pacer in the world, with a record of 2:06. Mr. Case served several terms as secretary of the Wisconsin Association of Trotting Horse Breeders, and was also vice president and a member of the executive hoard of the Northwestern Association of Trotting Horse Breeders. In 1889 he served as president of the Wisconsin Industrial Association. He was widely and favorably known all over the country. It was but in just recognition of his sterling character and business integrity that in 1891 Mr. Case was offered the nomination for mayor of Racine. His political opponent was Adolph Weber, who was up for re-election, having previously been elected by a majority of seven hundred and twenty-six votes, but Mr. Case won the election by a. majority of two hundred and eighty-six votes, thus changing the results of the previous year by over one thousand votes. He bore the distinction of being the youngest man who ever held the position in Racine, and was, at that time, said to be the youngest mayor in the United States. He proved capable, and little opposition was found during his administration.
On the 25th of March, 1886, Jackson I. Case was united in marriage to Miss Henrietta Roy. On the 8th of January, 1903, death called him from his activities. His four sons are: Jerome I., named for his grandfather; Roy; Harry; and Percival.
The first named attended the public schools and afterward attended the Manor School at Stamford, Connecticut. It has been customary with the Case family that their representatives should have thorough business training and that family connect-ion should not be allowed to interfere with this. Accordingly Jerome I. Case of this review started at the bottom with the J. I. Case Company in 1905 and worked his way upward through the various departments, learning the business in its many phases. Promotion came to him not as the result of influence but as the outcome of his merit and efficiency and he is today assistant superintendent of the J. I. Case Plow Works.
On the 22d of April, 1911, Mr. Case was married to Miss Constance Allien, of Stamford, Connecticut, a daughter of Victor S and Mariana Alien. The children of this marriage are Constance and Mariana. The parents attend the Christian Science church and Mr. Case maintains an independent political attitude. He maintains a position in harmony with the record of the family in the breadth and activity of his interests as relating to the public welfare as well as to business relations.