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The Moneymaker. Edwin's ambition drove him to succeed, but his bluntness and tendency to hold grudges alienated him from many family members. His mastery of wire drawing and the chemical makeup of tool steel, made him the family's biggest innovator. His second company became a success and he invited many of his brothers to join it, but he could not forgive his brother Harry for destroying the first steel company.
The Peacemaker. Walter grew up immersed in the steel wire industry, but his heart was never in it. He broke from the steel industry for a different life. A college graduate, Walter became a minister and preached in multiple states. Edwin coaxed Walter to join his steel company in 1895, but Walter would not join unless their brother Harry came along as well. This is when the trouble started.
The Troublemaker. Charismatic and depressive, Harry was the family darling until his addictive tendencies emerged. Serving as the bookkeeper, Harry embezzled money from Edwin's first steel company. By 1895, Harry had battled tuberculosis for over twenty years and did not have long to live. Walter wanted the family to bring Harry back in the fold and forgive him, but Harry's past deeds colored everything he did.
Edwin founded this company in 1885 with his brother, William Kidd, Jr., and Rutherford Burgher. The firm was the first to produce drill rods in America. The company's innovation continued when the business expanded into other forms of steel wire production.
Edwin founded this company after going to court against his brothers for the rights to the name, "Kidd Steel." He lost, so he subsequently founded a new company in Sharpsburg with George P. Loomis called Globe Wire Company. At one point the firm planned to expand to over a 1,000 employees, but it never came to fruition.
Fresh from a victory in a trademark lawsuit, Walter founded a new company with his brothers, William and Harry, along with associate Rutherford Burgher, and called it Kidds Brothers and Burgher Steel Wire Company. The company operated in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, until an attempted robbery gone wrong caused the factory to burn down.
A few years after the destruction of the plant in McKees Rocks, Walter constructed a new factory in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. There the company and its inceptions went through continued hardships including bankruptcy, stolen secrets, and strikes.
