Eells, Howard P., 1892-1978
Description
Howard Parmalee Eells was a businessman who, in 1941, began construction of a magnesium refining plant in present-day Henderson, Nevada. Eells was born on August 25, 1892 in Cleveland, Ohio to Alice Maud and Howard Parmelee Eells. In 1916, Eells joined the National Guard and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1918 during World War I. The United States federal government required magnesium, a lightweight metal, for the creation of an aluminum alloy used in the production of incendiary bombs, munitions casings, and airplane parts during World War II. In August 1941, the Federal Reconstruction Finance Corporation's Defense Plant Corporation (DPC) granted Basic Magnesium, Inc. (BMI), headed by Eells, a contract to build a magnesium manufacturing complex codenamed Plancor 201. The contract also allowed BMI to extend mining operations in the Gabbs Valley in Nye County, Nevada. After producing 83,161 tons of magnesium for the war effort, the federal government reduced its orders until the plant shut down in November 1944. After the war, Eells moved back to Cleveland, where he passed away on January 3, 1978 at the age of 85.
Sources:
Howard Parmelee Eells, Jr. Find A Grave. Accessed July 10, 2020. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/78111458/howard-parmelee-eells.
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