In a previous article I told of twenty-one-year-old George Foote, who inherited more than a million dollars from his grandfather in 1908. George was able to undertake whatever business venture he wanted. His initial area of interest was the electrical side of the rapidly expanding automobile industry. He became a manufacturer of Corn Belt batteries and established automobile charging stations. By 1916, he turned his attention to the field of automobile mechanical repair, another expanding area of that industry. He bought the auto repair business named “The Best Garage.” It was founded and operated by Harry Nelson, son of C.A. Nelson, a long-time wagon and carriage dealer in Chillicothe. The Best Garage was co-located in the rear of the wagon business. Today that location would be remembered by many as the location of the IGA Store and now J.T. Fennell Co.

Foote changed the garage name to “The Square Deal Garage.” George was not a mechanic. Foote hired Nelson Brownfield, an employee of the Best Garage and a highly respected mechanic, to manage the business in late 1916. In less than a year, Brownfield moved from Chillicothe. In 1918 Foote hired a thirty-year-old mechanic from Brimfield, Illinois named Harry Wyman and soon learned Wyman was capable of running the shop. Another employee, Paul Staab, had carried over from Best Garage and continued to work for Foote. Foote continued to operate his electrical business and it appears that Staab became a salesman for Corn Belt batteries. Staab later incorporated the Staab Battery Company in Taylorville, Illinois which he moved to Springfield, Illinois. Staab Batteries also have locations in Auroa, Illinois and Bridgeton, Missouri. The location of the garage remained at the Chestnut location until 1923. 

In 1922, William McLean bought of parcel of land from Elmer Hunter in Lot One of Block 19 of the Darst Addition to Chillicothe and built a new garage building that Wyman leased for the Square Deal Garage. Many will know that location as where the Turner Hicks Insurance Office was for many years. The 4 Our Dog veterinary business now occupies that building on Pine Street.

Foote made Wyman a partner in the Square Deal Garage. That partnership dissolved within the year and Wyman became owner in 1918. In 1918 and in 1919, the Chillicothe Bulletin ads showed Foote and Wyman and then Staab and Wyman as owners of the Square Deal Garage. While Foote and Wyman were the owners, the Square Deal Garage took on a dealership for Hupmobile automobiles. The Hupp Motor Company was the smallest of seven automobile manufactures in Detroit in 1909 and closed in 1939. Wyman’s future was bright, but his life would face some very challenging times.