From 1857 until 2002 the Widdicomb name was synonymous with Grand Rapids furniture making. The first Widdicomb firm was a cabinet shop, George Widdicomb & Sons, and was started in 1857 by the British trained cabinet maker, along with his sons, William, Harry, John & George, Jr. At the outbreak of the Civil War all four sons enlisted, leaving the father to carry on the business, which struggled along precariously until it expired in 1864.

In 1865 the oldest two boys (William and George Jr.) came home and started a small shop near the foot of the East Side Canal. At the close of the war Harry and John returned and became associated with them. All four were skilled craftsmen and possessed a thorough practical knowledge on the making of furniture. On January 1, 1869, Theodore F. Richards bought into the business and the company became known as Widdicomb Brothers & Richards, composed of William, Harry, and John Widdicomb (George Jr. having died in March, 1866), and T. F. Richards. The firm quickly gained a reputation as one of the finest manufacturers of bedroom furniture.

On December 1, 1873, the company was incorporated with $150,000 and became known as the Widdicomb Furniture Company. The officers of that company were: William Widdicomb, President; T. F. Richards, Vice President; John Widdicomb, Secretary; and Harry Widdicomb, Treasurer. In addition, the brothers were each in charge of separate departments, William having the office management, Harry the power plant problems and John being factory superintendent. The company was located on the corner of Fourth Street and the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad tracks, which afforded adequate transportation facilities. Overall, they had about 150 men on their payroll, turning out approximately $80,000 worth of goods annually.

In 1883 William Widdicomb retired from the company to accept the position of Cashier in the Grand Rapids National Bank, but in 1894 he returned to the furniture industry. In 1897 he was made president of the company with Roger W. Butterfield as vice president, Roger W. Griswold, secretary and George R. Widdicomb, treasurer (son of ?).

In 1893, the Widdicomb Mantel Company had been established, and with the restructuring of the parent company in 1897, John Widdicomb took this company as the basis of his own new company, the John Widdicomb Co. He started his own plant across the street from the original Widdicomb Furniture Company. It continued under his direction until his death in 1910.

On January 1, 1916, the original family owned Widdicomb Furniture Co. was sold to Joseph G. Griswold, Maynard A. Guest, Godfrey Von Platen, Heber W. Curtis, and Chalmer Curtis. The Widdicombs severed their connection with the company with which they had been identified since 1865, but the name was preserved. The officers of that company were: Joseph Griswold, president; Heber W. Curtis, vice president; Maynard A. Guest, secretary; and Godfrey Von Platen, treasurer.

When John Widdicomb died in 1910, the tradition for quality and fine design was carried on by his son Harry Jr., and their successors with the continuing reputation for making fine furniture products. John L. Stuart and J. Fred Lyon, both of who purchased an interest in the firm, joined Burt A. Hathaway, part owner of the firm, in the 1920’s. In 1930 Mr. John L. Stuart was the company's sales manager; in 1939 he became general manager and shortly after that, he became president.

Ralph Widdicombe, a nephew of John who retained the old English spelling of his name, had earlier became interested in the designing of furniture, and when his uncle branched out for himself, Ralph joined him. For 53 years, until his retirement in 1951, Ralph Widdicomb, who was known as the dean of furniture designers, designed all John Widdicomb Co. furniture. Although Ralph is remembered best for his classical designs, it was his modern turn-of-the-century bedroom suite that was awarded first prize at the Paris Exposition in 1900. In 1924, working from models he had procured in Europe, Ralph Widdicombe introduced Louis XV Provincial designs, the first of their kind to be made in the United States. He started a wave of popularity for French Provincial, which still continues. A bombe bureau, the first such design, is still a much sought after pattern in John Widdicomb collection today.

In 1950, John Widdicomb Co. acquired the famous William A. Berkey Co., another old established maker of fine quality English furniture, and Vanderley Bros. in 1951. The Grand Rapids Bookcase and Chair Co. of Hastings, Michigan, was added to its holdings in 1956, but was later sold.

In July of 1969, Furniture Corp. of America purchased John Widdicomb Furniture Co. In 1964 when Stuart was made chairman of the board, John D. Hanink had been named president of the company. He and his team of officers included: vice presidents, John W. Shockley and Gordon Stuart, son-in-law and son of John Stuart who died in 1966; treasurer, Allen D. Benson, and secretary and counsel, F. William Hutchinson.

The “Widdicomb” name, shared by the two manufacturers since John left the firm in 1897, was brought together again in November 1970 when John Widdicomb Co. purchased the name and goodwill of the Widdicomb Furniture Co., the latter having ceased production several years previously.

In February, 1973, the company was sold to Hickory Furniture Co. of North Carolina; it was operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary. There were no changes made in the administrative level of the company; Hanink kept the president office. Overall, the company was operated as a subsidiary of the Hickory Company.

On September 5, 1986, three men with commercial furniture backgrounds (Michael S. Greengard, David Miller and Michael L. Levitas) and a group of investors bought the 128-year old company from Hickory Furniture Co. The Widdicomb investors each own one-sixth of the firm. Greengard was considered the President of the Co. Other partners and their positions include Miller, vice president of operations; Levitas, vice president of marketing; David Zagaroli, an independent furniture designer and consultant and designer for Widdicomb; and Gerald Mason, a Grand Rapids businessman who helped organize the investor’s group.

The company, located at 601 Fifth Street NW, still produces the top-of-the-line residential furniture, but is also expanding in the area of executive office furniture.

The papers and records portray the economic history of the Widdicomb furniture business. The audit reports, account records, cash books, ledgers, business invoices and transactions, and financial statements illustrate the every day business proceedings of the companies from 1865 to 1951. The business correspondences and other papers show the personal and professional side of how the companies were operated. The collection also contains check receipts, by-laws of the John Widdicomb Co., time book, trial balance, day book, maps of timber holdings, cutting order records, mortgage bonds, cash journal, purchase journal, passbooks to Stockings Second Addition-city of Grand Rapids, lumber sales by company and individual, historical notes, and portraits. Photographs pertain to the companies. Miscellaneous materials include autograph cards, papers pertaining to Edwin Widdicomb, Practical Book-Keeping Key , Mantel Designs Book , and letters pertaining to the Widdicomb Furniture Co. and John Widdicomb.

The John Widdicomb Company, closely woven with family history and harmony, is recognized for its rich heritage in the manufacture of exquisite furniture products. For 128 years the specialties of the company included chamber suits, chiffoniers, bedsteads, and bedroom furniture in quarter oak, ash, birch, and maple.