USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time > Part 157
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Van
400
1,400
19, 100
Moore, Seaverns & Co ..
200
600
15,000
A. Brown & Co ..
200
600
10,000
Tobey, Booth & Co.
....
600
10,000
John Hayward
1.40
. 400
5,000
Jones & Culbertson
...
1,200
9,000
J. & J. Stewart
....
300
3,000
George Steel & Co.
....
300
3,000
W. Leland
....
100
Small Packing Houses
500
*Total.
1,765
9,000
$154,100
Beef packing was for years the most ostentatious business in Chicago, and gave the newspapers of the day a most splendid foothold for boasting. Compared with the volume of business in that line now carried on, when single houses do more business daily than was at that time done in a year by the whole city, there was little to brag of; but the journalists of then, as now, looked back for comparisons, and found in them the grand satisfaction which came from past progress and unlimited hope for the future. Below are two extracts concerning the business in its early days from the Daily Democrat of September 26, 1848:
"The beef-packing season has opened unprecedent- edly early this year, and already a brisk little business is being done by one firm in this city-Messrs. Marsh & Sherry. The firm kills from fifty to sixty head per day, and has already shipped seven hundred barrels of beef to the East. Chicago will rely for its supplies of cattle this. season principally, if not altogether, on the northern por- tion of the State. One firm, Wadsworth, Dyer & Co., have already contracted for one thousand head of cattle. We have seen letters to Mr. Marsh from his commission house in Boston. stating that his beef takes the lead altogether of that shipped from Maine; also one from England to Wadsworth, Dyer & Co., stating that as long as their beef is kept up to its present standard there is no fear but it will compete successfully with the best Irish brands. This firm kills none but the heaviest cattle, and uses foreign salt altogether in packing. In consequence of this superiority most of the beef packed in this city goes to England or Boston. It is expected that eighteen thousand to twenty thousand barrels of beef will be packed this season, or perhaps more. Of this Marsh & Sherry expect to pack four thousand barrels, Wadsworth, Dyer & Co. ten thousand, and the remainder by Slocum & Clapp and one other firm. Barrels are selling at $1.oo, at which price contracts for large numbers have been made."
In 1850, November 16, the Gem of the Prairie gave the following exhaustive review of the business, the mention of the firms and business done being as fol- lows :
"The slaughtering and rendering establishment of Sylvester Marsh is situated upon the beach imme- diately north of the North Pier. The packing-house is situated on the bank of the river, at the corner of North Water and Wolcott streets. It was built during the present year, is three stories high, and sixty by eighty-four feet in size. He employs seventy-five hands. and slaughters one hundred and eighty-five cattle per day. He pays out for the season, cash. for cattle. $90,-
. From Annual Review of Chicago Daily Press and Tribune for 1858.
ooo; for salt and barrels, $15,000; for labor, $5,000- total, $110,000.
" The slaughtering and packing house of Gurdon S. Hubbard is situated upon the North Branch, on East Water Street, between Michigan and Illinois streets. Number slaughtered per day, one hundred and five; hands usually employed, seventy-five. He packs this year for Norman Felt, of New York; Joseph Draper, of Boston, and W. Smith, of New Haven. Pays for cattle, $100,000; for salt and barrels, $21,000-total, $121,000.
" The establishment of Wadsworth, Dyer & Co. is situated upon the South Branch, in the suburb of the city. The various buildings cover half an acre. The number of cattle slaughtered this season by the firm will probably exceed six thousand. The firm employs one hundred and ten men, and slaughters two hundred and ten head of cattle per day. They commenced operations here seven years ago. Their brand in the London and Liverpool markets take precedence over beef from every other quarter of the world. Their hides are purchased by Gurnee, Hayden & Co., and their refuse is carted by C. Beers to his farm beyond Bridge- port. Paid for cattle, $132,000; for salt, barrels and labor, $28,000-total, $160,000.
"R. M. & O. S. Hough are located a short distance below Bridgeport, immediately on the banks of the river. Their building is thirty by sixty feet in size, with wings. They are working fifty hands, and slaught- ering one hundred and thirty head of cattle per day. Cash paid for cattle, $70,000 ; for salt, barrels and labor, $15,000 ; total, $85,000.
" Passing down the river until within a short distance of the tannery of Gurnee, Hayden & Co., we come to the slaughtering and packing house of William B. Clapp. He is killing one hundred cattle per day, and working forty hands. He has a contract for supplying one thousand eight hundred barrels to the United States Navy. Cash paid for cattle, $56,000 ; for salt, barrels and labor, $16,000 ; total, $72,000.
"A little further down is the establishment of Eri Reynolds, a brick building, fifty by one hundred and twenty feet in size. He packs for himself and W. & H. Felt, of Earlville, N. Y., employs thirty hands and slaughters about ninety head of cattle per day. His estimates for the season are : Cash for cattle, S48,000 ; for salt, barrels and labor, $10,000 ; total, $58.000.
"The seventh and last establishment, that of Messrs. Clybourne & Ellis, we did not find time to visit. It is situated upon the North Branch, about a mile above Ogden's Bridge. They will slaughter this season about two thousand head of cattle, and the cost of the same, including salt, barrels, labor, etc., will amount to about $45,000.
"Hence we have twenty-seven thousand five hun- dred cattle packed and $651.000 paid out. The major- ity of cattle are fattened in Illinois, McLean County bearing the palm ; but a portion are brought from Indiana and Iowa."
The first cattle-yards were opened in 1848, at the " Bull's Head," and occupied the immediate vicinage of Madison Street and Ashland Avenue ; but they were but a make-shift for supplying the necessities of the growing cattle trade, and the live stock dealers became disgusted with the long drive to and from the yard to railroad depots and slaughter houses. In 1856, the wants of the public were met by John B. Sherman, who leased the Myrick property on the lake shore, north of Thirty-first Street, and laid out what were known as Sherman's yards, and this entrepot at once took the
564
HISTORY OF CHICAGO.
place of the old Bull's Head, and, being upon the line of the Illinois Central Railroad, was eminently adapted to the needs of the live-stock traffic.
FLOURING MILLS .- The first flouring mill erected in this city was located on the South Branch and was built by Jared Gage in 1836. In partnership with one Lyman, he conducted this mill until in January 1847, when with John C. Haines he purchased the Chicago Mills. - Lane & Co., 143 West Lake Street, capital invested These mills were massive, yet commodious buildings of stone situated on South Water Street and the river, and had excellent facilities for receiving grain direct from vessels or canal boats, and for loading the same. They had four run of buhrs and appropriate machinery for elevating and handling grain, all driven by a pair of reciprocating engines, to supply whose consumption of Capital invested. .$325,000 steam required the use of twelve hundred tons of coal Value of manufactures. Barrels of flour. Hands employed. 73 89,000 636.569 annually. The total investment in the plant was $150,000; in 1854, the proprietors employed thirty men and ground one hundred and twenty-five thousand During the year 1857, three new mills were built : Shawmut Mills, Star Mills and the mills of Grist, Rob- bins & Co. The total output of flour of all the city mills for the year was 96,000 barrels. bushels of wheat and ten thousand bushels of corn, turn- ing out twenty-five thousand barrels of flour and six hundred thousand pounds of meal. At that time the out-put of these mills was nearly all consumed in this city; in the year mentioned less than two thousand bar- rels were shipped to a foreign market.
The Hydraulic Mills, operated by the old water works engine, were built in 1842 by James Long. They were situated at the corner of Lake Street and Michigan Avenue. In 1848 they were owned and run by J. P. Hodgkiss & Co .; and in that year ground up over one hundred thousand bushels of grain, seventy-five thou- sand bushels of this amount being wheat. This would be turning out nearly fifty barrels of flour per day. Speaking of these mills the Democratic Press in its com -. mercial review for 1854 says: "The Hydraulic Mills, corner of Lake Street and Michigan Avenue, have until the last season done a large business in the manufacture of flour. Since the construction of the new water works, these mills, having fulfilled their destiny, have brought their business to a close. From the first of January, 1854, to the 28th of September, which was the time included in their last year's operations, they ground eleven thousand barrels of flour and two hundred and ten thousand pounds of corn meal."
.
In that year there were but two mills in operation in the city; the Hydraulic Mills, having shut down in Sep- tember; and a steam mill built in the spring of 1854, by Messrs. Ricord, Bierlein & Co., was in the fall of the same year, completely destroyed by fire. The remain- ing one, besides that of Gage & Haines, already men- tioned, was known as the "Adams Mills," and was an extensive and superior establishment situated on North Water Street and the river. Thirty men were employed here, and in 1854 the output was one hundred and fifty thousand bushels of wheat and five thousand bushels of corn. This was equal to thirty thousand barrels of flour and three hundred thousand pounds of cornmeal. The Adams Mills brand of flour was considered a choice article in the markets and was much sought after by Eastern shippers.
In July, 1855. the Hydraulic Mills were again started. making three mills in operation for that year. the total output of which was nearly eighty thousand barrels of flour, an increase for the year of over thirteen thou- sand barrels.
In 1856 there were the following mills in operation :
Gage & Haines, South Water Street, capital invested $150,000, flour manufactured 35.000 barrels, value of the same $250,000, hands employed 30 ; Adams & Co.'s Mills, North Water Street, capital invested $125,000,
flour manufactured 38,000 barrels, value $240,000, hands employed 25 ; Empire Mills, corner North and LaSalle streets, run by Ricord, Bierlein & Co., capital invested $10,000, flour manufactured 6,000 barrels, value $39,- ooo, number of hands 5 ; N. A. Chase, Jr., 12 and 14 North Canal Street, capital invested $10,000, value of manufactures $57,569, number of hands 7 ; Stevens, $3.500, cost of building $8,ooo, barrels of flour manu- factured 12,000, number of hands 6 ; Novelty Mills, owned and run by James McNair, 53 State Street, cap- ital invested $5,000. A summary of the above state- ments would be as follows :
BREWING .- The immense brewing interests of Chi- cago had their origin in the small beginnings of Will- iam Lill and William Haas, in September, 1839. They were really employed by William B. Ogden, who estab- lished Mr. Lill in business, at the corner of Pine Street and Chicago Avenue. The " brewery " was a little tene- ment building in that locality, and the extent of Mr. Lill's manufacture, at first, is said to have averaged about nine barrels per week. After a few years Michael Diver- sey entered into an active partnership with Mr. Lill, and Mr. Ogden's silent connection with the business ceased. Under the management of Lill & Diversey, the " Chi- cago Brewery " grew by 1857 to be the most extensive establishment of the kind in the West. It was situated on the corner of Pine Street and Chicago Avenue, the buildings covering a whole block. At the time of the panic of 1857 the firm had invested nearly $250,000 in their business, and successfully weathered the financial storm. Besides being known as good business men, Lill & Diversey were noted for their benevolence and gener- osity, the latter being a large benefactor to the German Catholic churches of Chicago.
James Carney, who had formerly kept a grocery store, commenced brewing in a small way in 1840. His establishment was on South Water Street, between State Street and Wabash Avenue. He continued the busi- ness until 1855, at which time he retired, renting his brewery to John O'Neill.
F. Busch was also an early brewer, his establishment being called the " North Brewery," and was situated on the Green Bay road, near the lake shore, North Side.
The "Columbian Brewery" was built by J. J. Sands. on the corner of Pine and Pearson streets, in 1855. He manufactured cream ale.
In October, 1855, James Carney, one of the oldest brewers of Chicago. rented his establishment to John O'Neill.
In 1856 Conrad Seipp, now one the most extensive and wealthy brewers in the West, commenced this busi- ness in Chicago, investing $18,000 and turning out $8.960 worth of malt liquors the first year. In 185; the entire capital invested in breweries, outside of Lill & Diversey's did not exceed 870.000.
The annual report of the Democratic Press, issued January 1, 1855, names and locates the firms engaged in brewing as follows :
" Frederick Burroughs-brewing and malting-Lake Street, near Union Street, West Side.
565
PRIMITIVE MANUFACTURES
"The North Brewery (F. Busch)-Green Bay road, near the lake shore, North Side.
" James Carney-No. 39 South Water Street.
"J. A. Huck-Wolcott, corner of Division Street, North Side.
" Lill & Diversey -- Chicago Avenue, corner of Pine Street, on the lake shore. The largest establishment in the city and the West. They manufacture all kinds of ale, porter, vinegar, etc.
" Union Brewery (George Metz)-Wolcott Street, north end, near the lake.
"Garden City Brewery (John Parker), erected in 1854-No. 115 Dearborn Street.
"J. S. Saberton, brewer and distiller - Wolcott Street, near the cemetery.
"North Star Brewery (Isaac and John A. Irvin)- Wolcott Street, near North Division."
ary, 1857, with statistics of the business for 1856, were as appears below :
NAMES OF FIRMS.
Capital Invested.
Value of manufac- tures in 1856.
No hands em- ployed
Bbls beer, manu- factured.
Bushels grain used.
Pounds Hops con- sumed.
Conrad Seipp. .
SIS,000
$ S,960
6
1,120
2,240
2,000
George Metz ...
15,000
19,200
6
2,400
4,Soo
4,000
Braham & Co ..
8,000
8,000
2
1,000
3,000
2,400
V. Busch ......
6,000
25 600
1
3,200
6,100
600
J.F. Rodermeyer
8,000
40,000
6
5,000
S.750 2, Soo
8,000
Bucher & Co ...
5,000
11,200
2
1,400
832
Blattner & Co ..
1,000
2,000
2
250
700
700
S. Irwin ..
3,000
S,000
2
1,000
2,000
2,000
- Spriggs.
3,000
7.200
3
900
I, Soo
900
Total
67,000
130,160
33
16,270 | 32,490
21.432
At that time there were several rectifiers, vinegar manufacturers and a few small brewers whose trade statistics do not appear in the above.
DISTILLING .- The business of distilling high wines came in quite early, but to whom belongs the honor of being the pioneer in the business has not been ascer- tained. In 1854, there were two quite extensive dis- tilleries. D). Ballentyne's establishment was on the lake shore, south of Twelfth Street; and that of A. Crosby & Co. on the North Branch, near Chicago Avenue. J. S. Saberton also distilled on a small scale, in connection with his brewing business. In 1857, only two distilleries were reported as follows :
Charles H. Curtiss (successor to Ballentyne)-lake shore, south of Twelfth Street. He had a capital invested of S50,000, employed twenty-five hands, and paid out for raw material and wages $150,000. He pro- duced, annually, 10,000 barrels of high wines, valued at $150,000.
A. & W. H. Crosby & Co .- North Branch, had invested $75,000, employed fifty hands, and consumed annually 300,000 bushels of grain and 3,000 tons of coal. The yearly production of high wines was 1,050,- obo gallons, valued at $310,000.
The comparative summary of the brewing and dis- tilling business made by the Democratic Press at the close of 1856 was as follows :
CAPITAL.
Capital invested .$297,000 Unreported (estimated). 200,000
Total
$497,000
Capital invested in 1855.
. 397,200
Increase in 1856. $99,800
VALUE OF MANUFACTURES.
Value of manufactures. $950,320
Unreported (estimated) 200,000
Total $1, 150,320 Value of manufactures in 1856. S26.645
Increase in 1856.
$323.675
ENUMERATION OF MANUFACTURES.
High wines, gals. 1,567,241 | Ale, bbls. .45,7So
Beer, bbis. 16,270 | Vinegar, bbls. 2,170
RAW MATERIAL CONSU'MED.
Grain. bush .: . 755,250 --
Coal, tons. 6,000
Hops, Ibs. ยท97,00S
Wood, cords. 400
HANDS EMPLOVED.
Hands employed.
165
TANNING .- During the year 1831 John Miller, the
the latter's tavern, near the junction of the two branches of Chicago River. They were in the business together, and in the spring of 1832 Benjamin Hall joined themn in the enterprise. They continued in that business for a number of years. W. S. Gurnee was one of the earli- est of this class of workers. In 1843 the "Chicago Hide and Leather Company " was formed, with Mr. Gurnee as president. Gurnee, Hayden & Co., Gurnee & Yoe, etc., are firms whose names are familiar to early settlers. George Bickerdike and James Knox also had tanneries on the South Branch for a number of years. In Novem- ber, 1848, George Burr established a morocco leather manufactory in a large four-story building, on the South Branch.
The business of tanning did not, however, assume any large proportions until subsequent to 1857. A reference to the table showing the receipts and shipments of hides, show that nearly the whole amount received and slaughtered were shipped to Eastern markets.
SOAP, CANDLES. OILS, ETC .- In 1833, Elston & Woodruff commenced to make soap and candles, in a log barn which had already been built on Kinzie Street, at the junction of the North Branch with the main river. In IS35 Charles Cleaver, a young Englishman, pur- chased Mr. Woodruff's interest, and the next year bought Mr. Elston's share in the business. Mr. Cleaver removed his factory to the corner of Kinzie and West Water streets in 1836. His enterprise had so prospered by
Bhar-blecer
1837, that he was obliged to erect a two-story-and-base- ment building, situated on the corner of Washington and Jefferson streets, where he remained for five years. In 1842 he moved to the corner of Madison Street and Canal, and in 1849 to the North Branch, near Division Street. Mr. Cleaver changed his location to Cleaver- ville, now Oakland, in 1851. Here, notwithstanding the smiles and even derisive laughter of many who thought him foolish in establishing a large manufacturing industry "so far out in the country," he erected a three- story brick building, where he not only made soap and candles, but also the packing boxes desired for his trade. He built a pier into the lake, at which vessels loaded and unloaded, and had the satisfaction, a few years after- ward. of seeing the Illinois Central. Michigan C'entral. and Chicago, Alton & St. Louis roads pass in front of his factory. In i85; the village of Cleaverville was laid out upon Mr. Cleaver's land. Until that year his far-
-
The names of brewers engaged in the business Janu- . brother of Samuel Miller, built a tannery just north of
566
HISTORY OF CHICAGO
tory did nearly all the rendering for Chicago packers, and was one of the most extensive in the city.
Charles Shillitoe & Co. commenced to manufacture soap and candles in August, 1836, but the firm was dis- solved in about a year. Joseph Johnston was also engaged in this line of business. "The Chicago Oil Mill " was established by Scammon & Haven in 1852, the building being located on the South Branch near Van Buren-street bridge. The " Chicago Oil Manufact- uring Company " was formed in 1855, with F. C. Sher- man as president.
Christian Wall & Sons commenced the manufacture of glue and neats-foot oil in August, 1855. Their factory was situated on the west side of the North Branch, above Chicago Avenue. The capital invested was $10,000. Up to January 1, 1856, they had manu- factured one hundred and fifty barrels of glue, one thousand two hundred gallons of neats-foot oil, and four thousand pounds of tallow. They employed fifteen hands.
A starch factory was also started in 1855, at Cleaver- ville, by M. L. Keith.
The beginning and development of other manufact- ures, farther removed from the native products, and requiring more special skill, were as appears in the following sketch of
EARLY MANUFACTORIES OF WOOD, IRON, ETC .-- Although the hypercritical may deny that a blacksmith is, strictly speaking, a manufacturer, the development of this individual into the foundryman is so gradual, and, if the Knight of the Anvil is successful, so certain, that for all practical purposes a starting point in this topic of "Early Manufactories " will be found here. In most new countries of the Northwest the horse and the man occupied the wilds together ; and man's mute but indispensable help-mate may be said to have not infre- quently been the means of establishing the first branch of manufacture therein. The first blacksmith to visit Chicago, of whom there is any record, was Jean Baptiste Mirandeau, the pioneer settler of Milwaukee, who used to come down from there to repair the soldiers' guns and shoe their horses, long before the first Fort Dear- born was destroyed. After the second Fort Dearborn was built, David Mckee was appointed Government blacksmith, his shop being situated near the Agency House, at the foot of State Street. Later came William See, sometimes called " Rev.", a Methodist exhorter, whose daughter, Leah. became Mrs. James Kinzie. In the fall of 1833 Mathias Mason opened a blacksmith shop. Clement Stose and Lemuel Brown established themselves about the same time. These include the earliest blacksmiths or "iron manufacturers," of Chicago; although it must be acknowledged that David Mckee's little shop and scant kit of tools bore but a slight family resemblance to the machine shops and rolling mills of to-day.
Lemuel Brown was born in Cumberland, R. I., December, 1784, and died at the residence of his nephew, D. G. Brown, in Kenwood, December 29, ISS3 ; at the unusual age of ninety-nine years and thir- teen days. In the fall of 1832 Mr. Brown left Massa- chusetts for Chicago, being sent by the Government to take charge of the fire_amas of Fort Dearborn. He was delayed at Cleveland, Ohio, and made his way to Chi- cago by team during the winter. He arrived in Chicago in the spring of 1833, and with the exception of brief intervals, has resided here since that time. He resided in Hyde Park for the last six years, and voted at every village and school ele sion during his residence. He voted for every President but two, voting for the first
time, though under age, by virtue of the ancient law providing that each free-holder to the extent of four hundred dollars was entitled to vote. He was a con- sistent Whig, and since the day of the present political parties, a stanch Republican. He was an expert steel temperer by trade, and worked at the forge until past eighty years of age.
In 1832 a number of saw-mills were built along Hickory Creek, and one at the mouth of the slough which then emptied itself into the river just south of Division Street, Chicago. The mill was burned in 1834. and refitted in 1835. During the summer it was mostly engaged in sawing out three-inch plank, which were used in covering the North Pier. Colonel G. S. Hub- bard and Captain Bemsley Huntoon were, successively, proprietors. The latter operated it for five or six years, adding to the saw-mill a shingle machine. Captain Huntoon's mill and the water-power establishment of John Miller, fourteen miles up the North Branch, sawed out such timber as grew adjoining, consisting of oak, elm, poplar, white ash, etc. Of such "lumber," in its green state, most of the houses were built, and the reader can easily imagine what these structures must have looked like after the summer's heat had warped and twisted the material.
In the spring of .1833, Tyler K. Blodgett established a brick-yard, on the North Side, not far from the river bank, between Dearborn and Clark streets. He engaged Henry S. Lampman, then of Ann Arbor, as a workman. As Mr. Blodgett operated the first brick-yard in the city, so Mr. Lampman was undoubtedly the first brick- maker. If any brick were manufactured in Cook County before then it is not known. From this yard came the brick for the first building constructed of this material-the dwelling house of Mr. Blodgett, after- ward occupied and added to by Colonel M. E. Stearns. The structure was located across the river, opposite this yard, and was originally a one-and-a-half story build- ing, twenty feet square. It was upon the eighth day of October, 1833, that a young man named Asahel Pierce arrived in Chicago from Vermont, and cont- menced the erection of a blacksmith shop, on Lake Street, corner of Canal. Being unable to find suitable lumber in Chicago, he was obliged to haul his mater- ial from Plainfield, forty miles,* and, after he had pur- chased Rev. Mr. See's old set of tools, he had a money capital of only a few dollars with which to establish himself in business. But Mr. Pierce set out with such a determination to succeed that he was soon obliged to enlarge his shop. He obtained from John T. Temple & Co., an order for doing the ironing for the first stage line between Chicago and St. Louis. This was in Jan- uary, 1834. In the spring of that year he commenced the manufacture of the old-fashioned " Bull " plow, with wooden mould-board. . This was certainly the first agricultural implement manufactured in Chicago, and the first one made in the State north of Springfield. Mr. Pierce afterward devised many improvements in plows, manufacturing the first steel, or self-scouring plow in the West. In the fall of 1835 David Bradley came from Syracuse, N. Y., in the employ of William H. Stow, to assist in the erection of the first foundry. located on Polk Street, on the west side of the South Branch. The money for the constuction of the so-called "Chicago Furnace," was furnished by Jones, King & Co., who, at this time, employed William H. Stow & Co. The old hardware firm of Jones William & King (Byran had been formed in 1834. The next year W.
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