Dr. Robert C. Hindley, chemist with the Horlick Malted Milk Company, is well qualified by thorough college training and broad experience for the position of responsibility which he now occupies. He was born in Manchester. England, in 1848, a son of John C. and Mary A. Hindley, who, in 1856, crossed the Atlantic with their family to Philadelphia. The father was connected with the cotton trade and also engaged in the gun manufacturing business, making guns for the army throughout the period of the Civil war.
Robert C. Hindley attended school in Philadelphia, prepared for college in Virginia and was graduated from Trinity College at Hartford, Connecticut, with the class of 1872. For four years he engaged in teaching in the east, after which he accepted the position of professor of chemistry in Racine College, occupying that position for fifteen years. Later he became professor of mechanical and electrical engineering in the manual training high school of Philadelphia, where he continued for a fear and a half. In January, 1893, he took charge of the chemical department of Horlick’s Malted Milk Company, with which he has since been connected. Dr. Hindley was also one of the earliest workers in photography and in electricity and is an expert in those lines. He it was who established the first public electric lighting plant in Wisconsin, this being in 1884, at which time M. B. Erskine became president of the company, with F. Harbridge as treasurer and Dr. Hindley as secretary and superintendent. He was also the first owner of an automobile in Racine, driving a Winton car.
In 1876 Dr. Hindley was married to Miss Emma F. Higgs, of Philadelphia, and they have a son, Robert W., a graduate of the Wisconsin University and a ranchman of Texas, who is married and has two children, Eleanor and Roberta.
Upon Dr. Hindley have been conferred the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy. He was one of the original members of the American Chemical Society and has contributed largely to its publications. His initiative and his research work have given many ideas and results of value to the profession and his name is known and honored in professional circles throughout the country. Dr. Hindley is also prominent and active in Masonry. He belongs to the lodge, is past high priest of Racine Chapter, R. A. M., is past eminent commander of Racine Commandery, No. 7. K. T., and is an officer in the Consistory. He is also a charter member of the Royal League of Racine. An Episcopalian in religious faith, he served as rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church for twenty-three years. In politics he is a republican and has many times been chairman of the city and County republican conventions. From 1881 until 1888, he was a member of the board of aldermen of Racine from the second ward and was a member of the board of education in 1895-6. His interests are indeed broad and varied and his activity has been of marked worth in the development of the city. Association with him means expansion and elevation and the consensus of public opinion establishes him as one of the most prominent and honored residents of Racine.
