James Kennedy Anderson was an officer in the Nickerson Automatic Typewriter Company, which was founded in 1909 in Racine. It foundered by 1913 and was out of business by 1915. They did produce a lot of brochures, in addition to one prototype typewriter that was constructed in Groton, NY. That instrument now sits in the basement of the Milwaukee Public Museum.
I have lots of letters between J. K. Anderson and C. S. Nickerson regarding the typewriter company, and I have started to transcribe them. Some are typed, some
are handwritten:
- Report to stockholders, 2 August 1909.
- Letter from a lawyer, 16 October 1909.
- Letter to J. K. Anderson, 12 Feb 1910.
- Letter to J. K. Anderson, 31 March 1911.
- Letter to J. K. Anderson, 11 April 1911.
- Letter to J. K. Anderson from Nickerson, 30 November 1914.
- Letter to J. K. Anderson from Mrs. Gilbert, a wealthy investor, 8 Devember 1914.
- Here are some type-written testimonials (pdf format)
- This typewritten screed is undated, but apparently JKAnderson is miffed and trying to present his side of a story. It's a fascinating tale of fortunes perpetually just beyond their reach, but it does mention more than one Nickerson machine. This was written before JKA's death in 1915.
Here are some brochures. You can click on those in the top row to open them. Clicking on the others will get you a larger sized copy. As I find time, I will scan the innards of the other brochures as well.
