Charles F. Barndt is considered a valuable addition to the business circles of Racine, with which he became identified in October, 1913, when he removed to this city and entered into active trade relations here as the vice president and factory manager of the Racine Manufacturing Company. He was born in a suburb of Philadelphia on the 6th of April, 1876, a son of John G. and Annie M. (Clymer) Barndt. The father was a carriage builder who for many years was connected with the business but is now living retired at the age of seventy-eight years. He has long been a race horse fancier and still has a stable of fine horses. He formed an acquaintance with J. I. Case through their mutual interests in race horses and they became firm friends. In tracing the ancestry of the Barndt family it is seen that they are descended from two brothers of Scotch birth, one of whom remained in Philadelphia, while the other came to Wisconsin in the days of Indian occupancy in this state, securing land from the government about twelve miles northwest of Milwaukee. The journey westward was made with teams and the two families, the one of Pennsylvania, and the other of Wisconsin, did not know each other until a recent date.
After mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools, Charles F. Brandt also attended a private school of Philadelphia, spending three years as a student in Brunner’s Seminary. Later he pursued a course in mechanical drafting in New York and he received practical business training as an apprentice to the carriage maker’s trade in his father’s factory, where he mastered the business with thoroughness, acquainting himself with the trade in principle and detail. He afterward went to Wilmington, Delaware, where he entered the employ of the F. F. Clymer Company as a designer and draftsman, continuing there for a year and a half. He next entered the employ of the Columbus Buggy Company at Columbus, Ohio, as a designer and superintendent of construction and for ten years was thus connected with that establishment. In October, 1913, he came to Racine as vice president and factory manager of the Racine Manufacturing Company. His thorough understanding of the business in its various departments has been one of the potent forces in the success of this undertaking. He has had broad practical experience and knows the business in every phase and detail; therefore working along well defined lines, he lays his plans carefully and directs his efforts successfully.
On the 27th of February, 1900, Mr. Barndt was married to Miss Bertha T. Rosenberger, of Philadelphia. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the United Commercial Travelers. He studies the conditions and questions of citizenship and votes independently, not caring to ally himself with any party and pledge his allegiance thereto. Thoroughness characterizes him in every undertaking and what he purposes he accomplishes. He early learned to be a correct judge of materials and workmanship-and is thus able to direct the efforts of those who are in. his service, knowing what each man should accomplish and the manner in which the work should be done. He is thus especially well qualified to control the factory interests and he also has the executive power which makes his judgment a valued asset in the management of the business.