USA > Delaware > Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 1 > Part 33
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FARMERS' FRUIT PRESERVING COM- PANY, RISING SUN, DEL.,
AS organized in 1872, the incorpora- tors being William H. Ridgaway, James Green, Thomas Pickering, Absalom H. Carey, Jacob G. Brown, James W. Green, John C. Durborough and George
[ H. Gildersleve. The capital stock was $18,000, and the company was organized with the following officers: James Green, Presi- dent; Thomas Pickering, Treasurer; G. H. , Gildersleve, Secretary; and Jacob G. Brown, General Superintendent. They built the same year their large and commodious works at Rising Sun, now covering ten thousand square feet of land, and also built three stores. They have two Alden Steam Evaporators, each con- taining three thousand feet of coil pipe. The Alden Evaporator is said to be the best and most successful of any used in the state. The Canning department of the company, for can- ning fruits and vegetables is complete, and fur- nished with every modern improvement and device, and has a capacity of nearly a million cans a season. They have two steam boilers, one a sixty and one a forty horse power, and have a twenty-five horse power engine to run their works. Their goods are first class in every particular and are put up principally from the farms and orchards of the stockholders. Every where they command the highest market prices, and are sent to all parts of the United States and even to Europe. In January, 1876, William H. Ridgaway was elected President of the Company, and George H. Gildersleve Gen- eral Superintendent, which offices they still hold. Mr. Pickering has been Treasurer from the time of its incorporation. The success and prosperity of this industry has been steady from the first, and no other holds a higher place in the confidence and esteem of the business community. It gives employment in the busy season to about three hundred hands, and has already become the center of a thriv- ing little community, the nucleus, no doubt, of a future town. It is located in a portion of the state which is unsurpassed for growing fruits and vegetables, and the shipping facilities are unequaled. The company also manufactures field firtilizers and phosphates for the use of the stockholders, besides supplying a consider- able demand in the locality.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
DIAMOND STATE SUPER PHOSPHATE [ a ready market in various sections of the Pen- WORKS.
DESSA and Middletown. Victor Lord and George W. Polk, manufacturers. In 1878 Mr. Victor Lord commenced the manufacture of fertilizers at Odessa, making a specialty of two brands known as the "Diamond State Super" and "Diamond State Acid" Phosphates. The business was carried on in a small way, the product of the first season amounting to only forty tons. But his fertilizers pleased the farmers, and he found it necessary to increase his facilities. By so doing he was enabled the following season to turn out six hundred tons. The next year associating himself with Mr. George Polk, they took the firm-name of Lord and Polk, with greatly increased capital and manu- facturing facilities. One-half mile from Odessa, on Appoquinimink Creek, they pur- chased what was known as the "old store- house property," and some adjoining land, in all about eleven acres, where they erected their new two-storied factory, fifty by seventy- two feet, and supplied it with all the approved machinery necessary to the business. Adjoin- ing the factory they put up a smaller building for storing the manufactured phosphate. The machinery is driven by a sufficient horse power, and one hundred and fifty tons of fertilizers could, in 1880, be mixed ready for the drill every twenty-four hours. The factory has since been further enlarged, the buildings doubled in number, and the facilities greatly increased. In 1881 three thousand tons of the fertilizers were sold by the firm and it was with difficulty they could keep ahead of the demand. Besides the two brands above men- tioned, they make a Peach Tree Phosphate, a Sugar Beet Phosphate and a Corn Fertilizer. The Beet Phosphate has been remarkably suc- cessful and has surpassed everything of the kind thus far introduced.
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They also prepare a special fertilizer for peanuts, for the southern trade, and Truxillo- Guano, a high grade of goods for truck farms, and much used further south. They have a landing where materials can be unloaded di- rectly from vessels or steamers into the build- ings, at little expense. This firm has a large trade among the farmers of their own and ad- jacent communities, and their phosphates find
insula and in the adjoining counties of Penn- sylvania. They have an office at Odessa and one at Middletown, which are connected with each other and with the factory by a tele- phone. The factory is under the personal supervision of Mr. Victor Lord, the senior mem- ber of the firm, while Mr. Polk looks after the financial interests. They are young and ener- getic, and such has been their enterprise and industry that their success is now fully assured, and their business has become one of the es- tablished and leading industries of Odessa.
LAUREL MILLS. ADAMS & CO., LAUREL, DEL.
HE Laurel Saw, Planing and Grist Mills owned by Isaac J. W. Adams and Co., came into the possession of the present owners in 1871. At that time the entire mill property was in a state of citi- able dilapidation, and the old saw mill and grist mill have given place to structures adapted to the business now being done.
The building known as the Saw and Planing Mills and Stave Manufactory occupies five thousand seven hundred and sixty-three feet under roof. The mill is run by water power alone, and contains planers, circular saws, stave saws, jointers and headers for the manufacture of large quantities of staves for nail Kegs, Kegs for R. R. spikes, bolts, nuts, rivets, etc. Several car-loads of staves are sold and shipped each week.
The new Grist Mill, built in 1873, was con- sumed by fire in March, 1878. This building was four stories high, had four run of stones, and cost twelve thousand dollars. It had been insured to the amount of fifty-five hundred dollars. The loss above the insurance was eight thousand dollars.
Mr. Adams soon afterward erected the pres- ent Mill, whose product is known as Merchant- flour. This manufactory contains four sets of stones, stones for middlings, and smut ma- chines. It is thoroughly fitted for neighbor- hood and merchant service.
Mr. Adams is a practical miller, having a per- fect understanding of mill machinery. These mills are among the largest of Laurel's inter- ests and industries.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
THE FELTON STEAM SAW MILL.
R. JOHN M. WALDEMAN is the proprietor of this large mill, built in 1872, on the site of the old Penny- packer mill, which was burned in 1871. Mr. Waldeman purchased the site and the ruins, and erected the present mill. It has a stationary engine of thirty-five horse power which drives an upright and also a circular saw. It is one of the best mills in the State, and is constantly engaged in manufacturing ship timber, and sawing frames for buildings. The average run is 300,000 feet a year, which is sent to various ship building yards of the Peninsula, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Mr. Waldeman's reputation is high in the business community, and his works of great importance to the town of Felton. His sales amount to nearly ten thousand dol- lars a year.
SMITH'S MILL AND BASKET WORKS, LINCOLN, DEL.,
WNED by Thompson R. Smith. He manufactures Eureka Fruit Carrier, Peach Baskets, Peach Crates, Berry Baskets, Berry Crates, and has a Steam Saw and Planing Mill at Lincoln, Delaware.
This manufactory was built in 1868 by Smith and Whitehead ; afterward Mr. White- head sold his interest to Mr. William J. Hiscox in 1871. They continued the businessfor two years, when Mr. Smith purchased the whole interest, and in 1879 came into possession of the entire business.
The mill was 95 x 30 with an addition of 60 x 30, and was run by steam power. The whole building, upon which there was no insurance, was consumed by fire, December 1878; the loss amounting to about four thousand dollars. It was rebuilt in 1879 by Mr. Smith, he hav- ing purchased the ground, and remains from the fire. The dimensions of the new mill are 93 feet long by 30 in width, with a wing attached 12 x 60, and has about 6,000 feet under roof. It is run by an engine of 30 horse power and is capable of cutting 8,000 feet of lumber per diem. The machines used by Mr. Smith are of late invention, including a 24 inch
Surfacer or Planer, a 30 inch re-sawing machine, one 50 inch Circular Saw, a 24 inch Veneer Ma- chine, two cut-off Circular Saws, and two Rip- ping Saws. This mill is extensively engaged in the manufacture of Mouldings, Flooring, also Peach and Berry Baskets and Crates, &c &c.
Mr. Smith ships large portions of his work to New York and Philadelphia, and a great quantity is used in the neighborhood, for building purposes.
Du PONT'S GUNPOWDER WORKS. Revised from the "Great Industries of the United States," Hartford, 1872.
LEUTHERE IRENE DU PONT was the founder of the immense Works dis- tinguished as the "Brandywine Powder Works," near Wilmington, Delaware. He was a native of France, and emigrated to the United States in the fali of 1799, landing at Newport, Rhode Island, January Ist, 1800. Having noticed the poor quality of the Gun- powder then made in America, he resolved to engage in its manufacture, of which he had a knowledge, having been a pupil of the cele- brated French chemist, Lavoisier, who had charge of the "Bureau du Poudres et Sal- petres" under the French Government. After some time spent in selecting a location, Mr. Du Pont established himself on the Brandy- wine Creek, about four miles above the town of Wilmington, in the State of Delaware, where he prosecuted the business with such success that, at the time of his decease, at the United States Hotel in Philadelphia, in 1834, his establishment was .he most extensive of its kind in this country, as it now is in the world. Since the decease of its founder, the business has been managed by his sons and grandsons, who maintain the old firm-style of E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS & Co.
The works of the firm comprise fourteen complete manufactories,-four on the Brandy- wine, two in Luzerne County, Pa., seven in Schuylkill County, Pa., and one in Northum- berland County, Pa. The original works, on the Brandywine, commenced operations in 1802, and have a capacity for producing five thousand pounds of Sporting Powder per day.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
The middle, or Hagley Works, commenced | have over one hundred at their Delaware and Pennsylvania Mills.
in 1812, comprise two complete sets of works, in one enclosure, under a fall of twenty-two feet-so arranged that both can work on the same description of powder ; or, if required, one set can manufacture one kind of powder, and the other set another kind; the two com- bined having a capacity of twenty-five thous- and pounds of Blasting Powder per day. The lower works, commenced in 1836, are under a fall of twelve feet, and have a capacity of five thousand pounds of Sporting Powder per day. The Saltpetre Refinery, with Laboratory at- tached, is two hundred and fifty-eight feet, by ninety-six feet, with ample appliances for sup- plying all the nitre required for the fabrica- tion of Powder, and also considerable quanti- ties for the market, for such purposes as re- quire an article chemically pure. In proxim- ity to the Refinery are large warehouses for the storage of saltpetre. The Charring Houses, for the preparation of charcoal-three in number-are capable of furnishing all the coal required for the mills, the wood being stored and seasoned in extensive buildings adjacent.
Besides the Powder-mills, the firm own over two thousand five hundred acres of land, that stretch for a distance of three miles on both sides of the stream ; and on the property there are three Woolen-mills, a Cotton-mill, a Merchants' and Grist mill, and a population of nearly four thousand persons. The aggregate fall of the various water-powers of the firm on the Brandywine, including two which are as yet unimproved, is ninety-one feet. The farms attached to the works are in a high state of cultivation, and the roads are all. macadamized for ease of transportation. The buildings on the estate are mostly of stone, and very substantial. and the machinery is of the best and most costly character. The Luzerne County Mills have about seven hun- dred acres of land on the Big Wapwallopen Creek, with an aggregate fall of over one hundred feet, and a capacity for twenty-five thousand pounds of Blasting Powder per day. The Pennsylvania Canal, and the Lackawanna & Bloomsburg Rail Road pass through a part of the property. The Schuykill and Northum- berland County Mills, situate near the Rail Road connections of the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road, have about nineteen hundred acres of land, and an aggregate water-power of one hundred and seventy-five feet fall ; Mining Powder for the collieries being largely made.
The firm have two shipping points-one on the river Delaware, with magazines, and a wharf at which large vessels can lie ; the other on the Christiana Creek, with ample wharfage for coasters, and for landing coal, wood, &c. They have, also, a station and siding for the works on the Wilmington & Northern Rail Road, which passes through the property, in- The high reputation so long maintained for the Brandywine Powder is due to the care bestowed on its manufacture, and to the con- stant personal supervision of the owners. The production, (including the Pennsylvania Mills,) The machinery in operation for the manufac- ture of Gunpowder is driven by fifteen steam- engines and ninety-three water-wheels, of which the greater part are Turbines. The manufacture embraces all descriptions of Pow- der, viz : Hexagonal, Square, Mammoth, Can- non, Mortar, Musket, and Rifle, for army and navy ordnance service ; Diamond- grain, Eagle, and the various grades of Canister and Sport- ing Powders ; Shipping, Blasting, Mining, and Fuse Powders. The production of the mills is principally consumed in the United States, the firm having agencies and magazines at all the most important points, with a principal tersecting the Pennsylvania Rail Road at Coatesville, and uniting with the Philadelphia & Reading Rail Road at Birdsboro. A Pass- enger Railway has been established between the city of Wilmington and the property of in the year 1881, was over 14,500,000 pounds. the Messrs. Du Pont. Attached to the Powder Works are extensive Machine and Millwright Shops, where all repairs are made, and most of the machinery is built ; also a Saw-mill, Plan- ing-mill, Carpenter and Blacksmith shops, and capacious buildings for the manufacture of wooden and metallic kegs and barrels, and of powder canisters. Railroad tracks are laid through the Powder Works, and the bulk of the transportation of powder, in its various stages of manufacture, is done in cars drawn by horses, and the transportation to and from tide-water and Rail Road Station is done in wagons by horses and mules, of which the firm
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WHITE CLAY CREEK WOOLEN MILLS. NEWARK. DEL
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
depot for the Pacific States at San Francisco, and agencies in South America, and in the East and West Indies.
To illustrate the progress which has been made in the manufacture of Powder in the United States, it is only necessary to recall the fact that during the Crimean war, the Allies, to enable them to prosecute the siege of Sebastopol, were obliged to procure large supplies of Gunpowder in the United States, (one-half of which was furnished by the Brandywine Power-mills,) and that the American Powder compared favorably with the best they could procure in Europe.
THE DEAN WOOLEN FACTORY, NEW- ARK, DELAWARE.
HIS industry was founded in 1845, by Mr. Joseph Dean, who bought the grist- mill then located where the factory now stands, on White Clay Creek, near Newark, and converted it into a woolen mill. He then built a dye-house, warehouse, and several other houses for the workmen em- ployed, and his business steadily increasing, he built in 1853 a mill of 4 stories. In 1847, he took into partnership his son, William Dean, Esq., and the firm was known as Joseph Dean & Son, under which name it continued until within a recent period. After the death ofMr. Joseph Dean, a new firm was established by William Dean and John Pilling, still under the same name. This firm has carried on business with wonderful success, having run the mill night and day, without intermission (except for a short time at one period) up to the pre- sent date. The Kiamensi Woolen Company has also been under the entire management of these two gentlemen for many years. During the war large contracts were allotted to the firm by the government which were filled with fidelity. This establishment has been of great value to the town and its vicinity, furnishing steady employment and prompt pay to a large number, and livelihood, com- fort and, in some instances, actual wealth, to the employees. During the time the mill has been in operation, wages to the amount of a million and a half of dollars have been paid. In the latter part of 1881 the firm de-
cided to increase their working facilities and capacity, and a joint stock company was or- ganized with a capital of $200,000, at $50 per share of stock. The object was doubling the present capacity, putting up new build- ings and introducing the latest and most im- proved machinery. The capital stock was soon all taken, and with characteristic energy Mr. Dean and Mr. Pilling went to work to make the necessary changes and additions required under the new organization. When all are finished there will be required almost double the present number of employees, and it is expected that a saving on the cost of the manufacture of the goods will be secured equal to the interest on $100,000 of capital. There will also be a saving in the more effec- tual use of the water power of from $1,000 to $2,000 per annum. The Corporation went into active operation July 28th, 1882, by the election of John Pilling, Esq., as President, and William Dean as Secretary and Treasurer. The Board of Directors are, John Pilling, Au- gustus Thomas, Andrew J. Hassenger, Joseph Dean, Jr., and William Dean. The capital stock is all paid up, and it is expected that all will be completed and the new machinery in operation in October, 1882. Mr. Dean is also building nine three-story brick houses for the new employees. He has had an act of incorporation granted by the Court to the New- ark Brick Manufacturing Company, of which he is the principal stockholder. This was called into existence in April, 1882, by the needs of the Dean Woolen Company, and is now in full operation ; a half million of brick having been made, all of which have been used to supply the home demand. Joseph E. Johnson is President and Manager of the Company, William Dean is Secretary, and J. C. Johnson, William Dean, Joseph Dean and William K. Dean comprise the Board of Man- agers.
SMALL'S SAW MILL AND FACTORIES, LINCOLN, DEL.,
AS inaugurated in 1872, and is run by a 25 horse power engine. It cuts ship- timber and house lumber, and man- ufactures flooring, peach baskets, crates and packing boxes for canned goods. It has
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
machines for flooring boards, planing, mould- ing, steaming and cutting veneers for peach and strawberry baskets and is also a mill for grinding feed.
A. S. SMALL & SON, PACKERS "LINCOLN BRAND."
This industry was begun in 1874, by a com- pany known as the Lincoln Canning Com- pany. It was merged into its present name in 1879. The goods prepared here have a high reputation, and consist of Peaches, Corn, Tomatoes, Whortle and Blackberries, Aspargus and Pumpkins. The first year there was put up 50,000 of canned fruits, and since 1879 has increased to more than 400,000 in canned goods annually.
A. S. SMALL & SON-EVAPORATOR.
There are more evaporators in this part of Delaware than in any other part of the United States. It has been claimed that this process has paid the fruit grower, year by year, 33 per cent. more than he could obtain by shipping his fruit. The Evaporator Building has in it what is known as the Pacific Evaporator and turns out immense quantities per diem, finding a ready market for its products. The Packing House of A. S. Small and Son has 5688 feet under roof ; a 60 horse-power boiler is used ; they manufacture their own cans, and in order to have the best solder, manufacture it them- selves, of the best quality. Immense cellars are under their large buildings for storing peach and other evaporated and canned goods.
THE HOUSTON CANNERY.
D. SCOTT & COMPANY, PROPRIETORS,
AS organized and put into opera- tion in 1879. The buildings were erected that year, and in them were put machinery of the latest and most improved kinds. They did a good business the first year, putting up over one hundred thousand cans of small fruit and, also, a large quantity of peaches and fifty thousand cans of tomatoes. In 1880 they put up over one hundred thousand cans of small fruit and two hundred thousand cans of tomatoes. Their goods are all first class and stand high in the market.
BARKLEY'S STEAM BAKERY, WILMINGTON, DEL.
ARKLEY, J. and Brother, Steam Cake and Cracker Bakery and Candy Works, Wilmington, was established at Sixth and Spruce Streets, in 1868 by James and Samuel Barkley, the present proprietors. The present imposing and commodious struc- ture, three stories high, and 32 x 56 feet area, was erected by them in 1875. Improvements in machinery have also been constantly added, till it is now unsurpassed in convenience and facilities for the business to which it is devoted. They have a twenty-five horse power boiler and a fifteen horse power engine which drives all the machinery throughout their works. Their Exton Trenton Cracker Machine, capa- ble of converting eight barrels of flour a day into crackers, is the only one in the State, and they have a McCallum Cutting Machine, for Soda and Oyster Crackers, Knick-knacks, Ginger Nuts, and all articles in that line.
To this they have added two Steam Basins, a Steam Stirrer for Cocoanut Work, capable of working up in a day six hundred pounds of that confection, a Steam Cocoanut Grater, a Strip Cutter and a Candy-Toy machine. The three last were exhibited at the Centennial by Thomas Mills & Brother, and are said to be the best machines ever made. They combine all the latest improvements. The Toy-Candy machine is capable of turning out one thousand pounds of toy candy a day. They have, also, many other machines and contrivances for the manufacture of the various kinds of confections which they produce in endless variety. Their Steam Hoisting Machine hoists from the street to the several stories of the building.
The Messrs. Barkley confine themselves, mainly, to the wholesale business, and on them the trade down the Peninsula, chiefly depends, as also Chester and Delaware counties, Pa. They keepthree two-horse wagons, and two one-horse wagons constantly running, to supply those por- tions of the country which cannot be reached by railroad, besides shipping large quantities of their manufactures to various other points.
Their stables are first-class brick buildings and are reaclied from French street between Third and Fourth streets. The business of the Barkley Brothers continues steadily to increase and is daily growing in favor with the trade.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
CHAMBERS' HERMETICALLY SEALED | to bring out other new articles of manufacture, GOODS, DOVER, DEL.
HIS Industry was established in 1871 by Joseph M. Chambers, of whom a biographical account will be found in this work. His success was very marked from the first, and his goods obtained a wide-spread popularity in a surprisingly brief space of time. The following year, in 1872, he was shipping them to Europe, and the year succeeding that, 1873, they were exhibited at the Exposition in Vienna, Austria, where they were awarded a gold medal for their superior excellence. Very ingenious in contriving ways and means to accomplish his objects, and very thorough in all that he undertakes, Mr. Chambers has devoted himself to his business, and has succeeded in the art of put- ting up and preserving fruits, meats, vege- tables, etc., in as perfect a manner as it seems possible. yet every year he brings out some- thing new, and pleases and surprises his cus- tomers with some improvement in his line that no one would have thought of but himself.
At the Centennial in 1876 his exhibit of canned goods was pronounced the handsomest there, and they received the highest premium, and medal for superior quality and excellence. Among them was a glass jar of whole Bartlett pears, packed by Mrs. Chambers, in 1872, and which, with others, was shipped the same year to a customer in Hamburg, Germany, and the ยท year following, in 1873, one of the jars was exhibited at Vienna, and to which was awarded the premium of a gold medal. This particular jar was shipped back to this country by re- quest of Mr. Chambers, to be exhibited in his collection at the Centennial, where it was again among those that received the highest award. It is now in his office and is in as per- fect condition as when it was packed and shipped to Hamburg, ten years ago. A firm in Charleston, South Carolina, wrote to Mr. Chambers under date of December 23rd, 1880 : "We are pleased to announce to you that we have had awarded to us, for 'Chambers' Canned Peaches,' a silver medal, highest prize over all competitors, at our late fair here." All his specialties are original with Mr. Chambers, such as " Peaches for Cream," "Wine Sauce for Plum Pudding," "Panned Oysters," etc. He expects the present season 25
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