Moses Bensinger
| Moses Bensinger | |
|---|---|
Moses Bensinger, 1896 portrait
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| Born |
August 17, 1839 Louisville, Kentucky |
| Died | October 14, 1904 (aged 65) French Lick, Indiana |
| Resting place | Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Merchant, salesman, manufacturer, business leader |
| Years active | 1859–1904 |
| Spouse(s) | Eleanora Brunswick |
Moses Bensinger (August 17, 1839 – October 14, 1904) was an American merchant and manufacturer. He held the position of president of the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company from 1890 until his death in 1904. He helped found the American Bowling Congress, which set in place a legislative body to establish the rules and regulations used in modern ten-pin bowling. Bensinger was also an innovator of billiard table design and manufacture.
Bensinger was born August 17, 1839, in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the son of Nathan and Lena Bensinger. Bensinger went to Louisville public schools while a child. Upon graduation, he apprenticed to a jeweler. He started his own jewelry business in 1859.
Bensinger became an employee of Brunswick, a manufacturer of billiard and pool tables, in 1869. Brunswick's headquarters for his business was in Cincinnati, Ohio, and he had a branch office in Chicago. Bensinger, Brunswick and a couple of others formed the J. M. Brunswick Billiard Manufacturing Company in October 1872. Bensinger became a vice president and was general manager in charge of the Chicago branch. In January 1874 the Brunswick Company merged with a rival firm. This competitive company, owned by Julius Balke, had factories in Cincinnati and St. Louis, Missouri. On July 8, 1879, the new merged company formed was incorporated and called Brunswick & Balke Company. The incorporators were Brunswick, Bensinger, Julius Balke Sr., A. F. Troescher and Leo Schmidt. This company then merged in 1884 with another manufacturer of billiard and pool tables run by Hugh W. Collender. The name then became Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company. Bensinger was the motivating force in bringing about this conglomerate. Brunswick died in 1886. The company extended its business into bowling manufacturing in 1888 and Bensinger was made president of this new company in 1890.
Bowling in 1890 was a disorganized sport with no rules or regulations, played mostly by Germans in dimly lit Chicago saloons and basements of buildings. Bensinger helped coordinate and was the prominent figure in bringing about the initial organized set of rules and regulations for the sport of modern ten-pin bowling. He started then to make bowling balls and pins for new bowling alleys. His company also made the bowling lanes for these alleys. The first commercial regulation ten-pin bowling alley licensed was installed at the Plaza Hotel in north Chicago (Clark Street) in 1891. Bensinger sponsored traveling all-star bowling teams, managed by William V. Thompson, proprietor of the Plaza Bowling Alley, to promote Brunswick bowling products. Within two decades there were over two hundred commercial regulation ten-pin bowling alleys in Chicago alone.
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