No information has been located as to who John T. Handt was or
where he was from. Clinton C. Butler was vice-president of this
company in 1912. H. J. Wilson was the secretary-treasurer and the
Handt Tractor Co. made gas engines, power hammers, and friction
clutch pulleys. In 1910, C. C. Butler was the general
superintendent of the William Galloway Company also located in
Waterloo. Because of this connection to Galloway, I feel there is a
possibility that this is where the Galloway Farmobile Tractor was
built. A couple of years later the Dart Truck Co. would make a Blue
‘J’ tractor that Mr. Galloway would market under his name.
This second tractor, may have been the one that bankrupted Mr.
Galloway later on.
By 1915, the John T. Handt Tractor Company had become the
Interstate Tractor and Gas Engine Company.
I have no proof that the Galloway Farmobile Tractor was
manufactured at the John T. Handt Tractor Company around 1913. The
Dart Truck Company was not listed as being in Waterloo yet, and to
me the link between this company and Mr. Galloway was C. C. Butler.
Keep in mind a C. E. Butler ran Galloway from bankruptcy until
closing in 1952. Maybe C. E. Butler was a son or some other
relative to C. C. Butler. I have no way of knowing. The tractor was
first of two tractors produced by William Galloway. The second came
along a couple years later and was exported overseas.
