George Roby Dempster
Encyclopedia
George Roby Dempster was an American businessman, inventor, and politician, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee
, during the first half of the twentieth century. Dempster is best known for the invention of the Dempster-Dumpster, a now-commonly-used trash receptacle
that can be mechanically emptied into garbage trucks. During the 1910s and 1920s, the Dempster Brothers Construction Company, operated by Dempster and his brothers, built a number of roads and railroads across the Southern Appalachia
n region. Dempster also served as a city manager and mayor of Knoxville, where he became legendary for his political battles with eccentric Knoxville businessman Cas Walker
and Knoxville Journal editor Guy Smith, Jr.
immigrant John Dempster and Irish
immigrant Ann Doherty. John Dempster co-managed Scott, Dempster and Company, a gristmill
ing firm that operated a mill along First Creek. As a teenager, George Dempster travelled around the country working odd jobs for various companies, including the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
, the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad, and the Ward Line
shipping company. A railroad strike in 1903 left him briefly stranded in a hobo
colony in Iowa
. Dempster graduated from the Girls High School in Knoxville in 1906, having served as the school's class president.
After high school, Dempster worked as a steam shovel operator on the Panama Canal
project, helping to excavate the canal's Miraflores
and Pedro Miguel locks
. During the project, Dempster nearly lost his life on several occasions when rock slides caused his steam shovel to flip over. He also contracted typhoid fever
, and bickered with famed physician William C. Gorgas
over the most effective treatment. One of Dempster's earliest innovations was a device that allowed his shovel's dipper to mechanically empty its load.
, Georgia
, Virginia
, and Kentucky
. While initially lucrative, the company was forced into bankruptcy at the onset of the Great Depression
. Dempster's Fountain City
home (still standing at the corner of Broadway and Gibbs) was auctioned off to help cover his debts.
In spite of these setbacks, Dempster and his brothers reorganized their remaining resources to form Dempster Brothers, Inc., which focused on heavy machinery. In 1935, the company introduced the "Dempster-Dumpster," the first large-scale waste container that could be mechanically emptied into a garbage truck. As orders for this new product poured in from around the world, the company devoted all of its resources to the production of Dempster-Dumpsters. In 1939, the company introduced the Dempster-Balester, which crushed and baled automobiles. During World War II
, the company produced pontoon boats and other equipment for the U.S. Navy. The company introduced the Dempster Dumpmaster
, the first front-loading garbage truck, in the 1950s.
The Dempster Brothers plant on Springdale Avenue in Knoxville consisted of eleven buildings on 27 acres (10.9 ha), and employed 450 workers. For humanitarian purposes, the plant employed a large number of handicapped workers. The plant served as a training ground of sorts for welders and machinists who would later work on nearby Tennessee Valley Authority
and Atomic Energy Commission
projects.
, became actively involved in Knoxville politics during the 1920s. In 1929, he was named city manager, a position that had been created with some success earlier in the decade. After his appointment, he convinced the state legislature to merge the offices of city manager and mayor. This move proved unpopular, and Dempster was defeated by W. W. Mynatt in the mayoral election of 1937. Dempster continued to lead the opposition to Mynatt, however, forming an alliance with Knoxville businessman Cas Walker, who had a strong populist backing in the city.
During the 1930s, while he was still city manager, Dempster began to clash with Guy Smith, Jr., editor of the Republican
-leaning Knoxville Journal. Smith once stated that Dempster should be "relegated to the political ash heap and buried so deeply that one of his own Dumpsters can't dig him out." Dempster, likewise, quietly ordered the police to scour the city for Smith's car, and tow it away if it was illegally parked (which it often was). Smith ordered Journal photographers to crop Dempster from favorable group shots, and Dempster organized a raid that caught Journal owner Roy Lotspeich with a large supply of illegal whiskey.
Running on an anti-tax platform, Dempster's allies managed to recapture the mayor's office in 1945, and Dempster was once again appointed city manager. Dempster broke his campaign pledge, however, and proposed new city property taxes. This provoked the ire of Walker, who immediately mounted a campaign against Dempster. Walker blasted Dempster's new taxes, and claimed that "gambling, whiskey and prostitution" flourished when Dempster was in power. After Walker was elected mayor in 1946, Dempster resigned as city manager. Walker's new city manager, Paul Morton, accused Dempster of cronyism
, and undid most of Dempster's contracts and pay raises.
Walker's term as mayor proved tumultuous, and Dempster's allies managed to oust Walker in a recall election in 1947. Dempster was finally elected mayor in 1951. His tenure was largely stagnant, as two major textile mills closed, and the downtown area declined with the rise of suburban shopping centers. After he proposed a modest tax increase, Knoxvillians revolted, and voted him out of office in 1955.
Commission, which was responsible for buying up land for the national park. Dempster ran for governor in 1940, but lost in the primaries to Prentice Cooper
.
in Chicago
, although he largely retired from city politics after his defeat in 1955. He later rejoined his old nemesis Cas Walker in a successful attempt to thwart city-county consolidation, which was soundly rejected by Knoxville and Knox County voters in a 1959 referendum. Dempster died of a heart attack on September 18, 1964. Over one thousand mourners, among them U.S. senators Al Gore, Sr., and Herbert S. Walters, crowded into the St. James Episcopal Church for Dempster's funeral. He was buried next to his wife in Greenwood Cemetery.
, the Church Avenue and Fifth Avenue viaduct
s, four public library branches, and Bill Meyer Stadium
. He also convinced the city to buy Chilhowee Park
and Tyson Park. Dempster built several houses in Knoxville, some of which still stand in Fountain City and Old North Knoxville
.
Dempster hired the city's first African-American civil service secretary, and supported desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s. He championed a number causes in support of the handicapped and the blind, including a radio program that featured blind pianists. He was given the Father Abram Ryan Award by the Knights of Columbus
in recognition of his civil service shortly before his death.
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, during the first half of the twentieth century. Dempster is best known for the invention of the Dempster-Dumpster, a now-commonly-used trash receptacle
Dumpster
A dumpster is a large steel waste receptacle designed to be emptied into garbage trucks. The word is a genericized trademark of Dumpster, a American brand name for a type of mobile garbage bin...
that can be mechanically emptied into garbage trucks. During the 1910s and 1920s, the Dempster Brothers Construction Company, operated by Dempster and his brothers, built a number of roads and railroads across the Southern Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
n region. Dempster also served as a city manager and mayor of Knoxville, where he became legendary for his political battles with eccentric Knoxville businessman Cas Walker
Cas Walker
Orton Caswell Walker , better known as Cas Walker, was a Tennessee businessman, politician, and personality on television and radio. Walker founded a successful chain of small grocery stores that grew to include several dozen stores scattered throughout the Knoxville, Tennessee vicinity as well as...
and Knoxville Journal editor Guy Smith, Jr.
Early life
Dempster was born in 1887, the ninth child of ScottishScottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
immigrant John Dempster and Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
immigrant Ann Doherty. John Dempster co-managed Scott, Dempster and Company, a gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
ing firm that operated a mill along First Creek. As a teenager, George Dempster travelled around the country working odd jobs for various companies, including the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
, the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad, and the Ward Line
Ward Line
The New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company, commonly called the Ward Line, was a shipping company that operated from 1841 until liquidated in 1954. The company’s steamers linked New York with Nassau, Havana, and Mexican Gulf ports. After a series of disasters in the mid 1930s, the company...
shipping company. A railroad strike in 1903 left him briefly stranded in a hobo
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
colony in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. Dempster graduated from the Girls High School in Knoxville in 1906, having served as the school's class president.
After high school, Dempster worked as a steam shovel operator on the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
project, helping to excavate the canal's Miraflores
Miraflores (Panama)
Miraflores is the name of one of the three locks that form part of the Panama Canal and the name of the small lake that separates these locks from the Pedro Miguel locks upstream. In the Miraflores locks, vessels are lifted in three stages totalling 8 m, allowing them to transit to or from the...
and Pedro Miguel locks
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
. During the project, Dempster nearly lost his life on several occasions when rock slides caused his steam shovel to flip over. He also contracted typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
, and bickered with famed physician William C. Gorgas
William C. Gorgas
William Crawford Gorgas KCMG was a United States Army physician and 22nd Surgeon General of the U.S. Army...
over the most effective treatment. One of Dempster's earliest innovations was a device that allowed his shovel's dipper to mechanically empty its load.
Business career
After returning to Knoxville, Dempster, along with his brothers, Thomas and John, formed the Dempster Brothers Construction Company, which helped build roads, railroads, and small dams in Tennessee, North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. While initially lucrative, the company was forced into bankruptcy at the onset of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Dempster's Fountain City
Fountain City, Tennessee
Fountain City is a neighborhood in northern Knoxville, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Although not a census-designated place , the populations of the two zip codes that serve Fountain City— 37918 and 37912— were 36,815 and 18,695, respectively, as of the 2000 U.S. census...
home (still standing at the corner of Broadway and Gibbs) was auctioned off to help cover his debts.
In spite of these setbacks, Dempster and his brothers reorganized their remaining resources to form Dempster Brothers, Inc., which focused on heavy machinery. In 1935, the company introduced the "Dempster-Dumpster," the first large-scale waste container that could be mechanically emptied into a garbage truck. As orders for this new product poured in from around the world, the company devoted all of its resources to the production of Dempster-Dumpsters. In 1939, the company introduced the Dempster-Balester, which crushed and baled automobiles. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the company produced pontoon boats and other equipment for the U.S. Navy. The company introduced the Dempster Dumpmaster
Dempster Dumpmaster
The Dempster Dumpmaster, introduced in the 1950s, was the first United States commercially successful front loading garbage truck.Built by Dempster Brothers, Inc of Knoxville, Tennessee, they used the Dempster-Dumpster system of mechanically emptying standardised metal containers, which had been...
, the first front-loading garbage truck, in the 1950s.
The Dempster Brothers plant on Springdale Avenue in Knoxville consisted of eleven buildings on 27 acres (10.9 ha), and employed 450 workers. For humanitarian purposes, the plant employed a large number of handicapped workers. The plant served as a training ground of sorts for welders and machinists who would later work on nearby Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
and Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
projects.
Knoxville politics
Dempster, a lifelong DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, became actively involved in Knoxville politics during the 1920s. In 1929, he was named city manager, a position that had been created with some success earlier in the decade. After his appointment, he convinced the state legislature to merge the offices of city manager and mayor. This move proved unpopular, and Dempster was defeated by W. W. Mynatt in the mayoral election of 1937. Dempster continued to lead the opposition to Mynatt, however, forming an alliance with Knoxville businessman Cas Walker, who had a strong populist backing in the city.
During the 1930s, while he was still city manager, Dempster began to clash with Guy Smith, Jr., editor of the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
-leaning Knoxville Journal. Smith once stated that Dempster should be "relegated to the political ash heap and buried so deeply that one of his own Dumpsters can't dig him out." Dempster, likewise, quietly ordered the police to scour the city for Smith's car, and tow it away if it was illegally parked (which it often was). Smith ordered Journal photographers to crop Dempster from favorable group shots, and Dempster organized a raid that caught Journal owner Roy Lotspeich with a large supply of illegal whiskey.
Running on an anti-tax platform, Dempster's allies managed to recapture the mayor's office in 1945, and Dempster was once again appointed city manager. Dempster broke his campaign pledge, however, and proposed new city property taxes. This provoked the ire of Walker, who immediately mounted a campaign against Dempster. Walker blasted Dempster's new taxes, and claimed that "gambling, whiskey and prostitution" flourished when Dempster was in power. After Walker was elected mayor in 1946, Dempster resigned as city manager. Walker's new city manager, Paul Morton, accused Dempster of cronyism
Cronyism
Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy....
, and undid most of Dempster's contracts and pay raises.
Walker's term as mayor proved tumultuous, and Dempster's allies managed to oust Walker in a recall election in 1947. Dempster was finally elected mayor in 1951. His tenure was largely stagnant, as two major textile mills closed, and the downtown area declined with the rise of suburban shopping centers. After he proposed a modest tax increase, Knoxvillians revolted, and voted him out of office in 1955.
State politics
Dempster served as campaign manager for Henry Horton's gubernatorial campaign in 1928, and was subsequently appointed the state's commissioner of finance and taxation. In 1932, he was appointed to the Great Smoky Mountains National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
Commission, which was responsible for buying up land for the national park. Dempster ran for governor in 1940, but lost in the primaries to Prentice Cooper
Prentice Cooper
William Prentice Cooper was an American politician and Governor of Tennessee from 1939 to 1945.-Life and career:A native of Bedford County, Tennessee, he attended Vanderbilt University and then Harvard University...
.
Later life
Dempster was named a delegate to the 1956 Democratic National Convention1956 Democratic National Convention
The 1956 National Convention of the Democratic Party nominated former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois for President and Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee for Vice President. It was held in the International Amphitheatre on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois August 13–17 1956. Unsuccessful...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, although he largely retired from city politics after his defeat in 1955. He later rejoined his old nemesis Cas Walker in a successful attempt to thwart city-county consolidation, which was soundly rejected by Knoxville and Knox County voters in a 1959 referendum. Dempster died of a heart attack on September 18, 1964. Over one thousand mourners, among them U.S. senators Al Gore, Sr., and Herbert S. Walters, crowded into the St. James Episcopal Church for Dempster's funeral. He was buried next to his wife in Greenwood Cemetery.
Legacy
Buildings constructed during Dempster's tenures as city manager and mayor include the Henley Street BridgeHenley Street Bridge
The Henley Street Bridge, or Henley Bridge, is a vehicle bridge that crosses the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tennessee. Completed in 1931, the bridge is one of four vehicle bridges connecting Downtown Knoxville with South Knoxville, the other three being the Gay Street Bridge, the Buck Karnes...
, the Church Avenue and Fifth Avenue viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
s, four public library branches, and Bill Meyer Stadium
Bill Meyer Stadium
Bill Meyer Stadium was a baseball field located in Knoxville, Tennessee.It was named after Billy Meyer , a Knoxville native who was a catcher and manager in Major League Baseball and a longtime minor league skipper.-Baseball Usage:...
. He also convinced the city to buy Chilhowee Park
Chilhowee Park
Chilhowee Park is a public park, fairgrounds and exhibition venue in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, located off Magnolia Avenue in East Knoxville. Developed in the late 19th century, the park is now home to the Tennessee Valley Fair, and hosts several dozen expositions annually...
and Tyson Park. Dempster built several houses in Knoxville, some of which still stand in Fountain City and Old North Knoxville
Old North Knoxville
Old North Knoxville is a neighborhood in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, located just north of the city's downtown area. Initially established as the town of North Knoxville in the late-19th century, the area was a prominent suburb for Knoxville's upper middle and professional classes until the 1950s...
.
Dempster hired the city's first African-American civil service secretary, and supported desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s. He championed a number causes in support of the handicapped and the blind, including a radio program that featured blind pianists. He was given the Father Abram Ryan Award by the Knights of Columbus
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus....
in recognition of his civil service shortly before his death.
External links
- Classic Refuse Trucks – Dempster Brothers — collection of circa-1950s and 1960s photographs