USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 19
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Indiana. They also shipped a number of wagons to West Virginia and Ohio. This business is now conducted by Fred Mathes, a son of the late George Mathes, who in the spring of 1913 erected a new building and added a department for repairing automobiles. This is one of the oldest plants in the city of Anderson.
Jackson & Holloway established a chair factory at the corner of Eleventh and Meridian streets, in Anderson, in 1865; Anderson, Chit- tenden & Sisco started a factory in 1868 for the manufacture of spokes, hubs, etc., but five years later the founders were succeeded by the firm of Lafe J. Burr & Company; C. T. Doxey & Company engaged in the manufacture of heading and staves in 1870, their factory having been located on Jackson street near the Big Four tracks; and the Ralya stave factory, near the junction of the Big Four and Pan Handle tracks, was started by J. J. Ralya in 1877. All these concerns, in common with other wood working factories, were discontinued when the supply of timber suitable for their use was exhausted.
The Michner Machine Works was organized and incorporated in 1870, with D. W. Swank as president and John W. Westerfield as secre- tary and treasurer. A foundry and machine shop were erected at the north end of Jackson street. In 1875 the plant became the Anderson Foundry and Machine Works, under which name it is still in operation. Brick making machinery and gas engines are the leading products of the factory. As an interesting historical fact, the Anderson Foundry and Machine Works was the first factory to receive a subsidy for locat- ing in the city of Anderson. The grounds upon which the plant stands were donated by James Hazlett and the city made an appropriation to induce the company to locate here.
Platter & Foreman started a pump factory on January 1, 1873, in buildings that had been erected for the purpose by some other parties in 1859. After several unsuccessful attempts to make pumps here by various parties the works were abandoned in 1870 and stood idle for nearly three years. Platter & Foreman infused new life into the project and a year after they began business, James Battreall was admitted as a partner. In a short time the porcelain-lined wooden pumps made by this firm were known all over northern and central Indiana, the southern peninsula of Michigan and western Ohio. Scarcity of timber was the principal cause of the suspension of this concern. Platter and Battreall are both 'now deceased.
THE NATURAL GAS ERA
It is believed that natural gas was first utilized in the United States at Fredonia, New York, in 1821, when a "pocket" was struck and the product was used for illuminating purposes. About forty years later, while developing the oil fields of western Pennsylvania, enough gas was discovered to serve as fuel under the boilers instead of coal, and in 1873 gas was first used in the manufacture of iron at Leechburg, Pennsylvania. Prospecting went on and in the early '80s a rich gas field was found in Washington county, Pennsylvania. In 1884 the first gas wells were drilled near Findlay, Ohio, opening the field in that state. Vol. 1-10
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The first successful gas well was drilled in Indiana near Eaton, Delaware county, in 1886, and early the following year a well was drilled on the farm of Samuel Cassell, at Alexandria. This was the first well in Madison county. The second was sunk at Anderson, where a large flow of gas was found on March 31, 1887. The company that ordered the drilling of this well was organized at the courthouse on the evening of January 25, 1887, with a capital stock of $20,000, and, inasmuch as its labor resulted in transforming Anderson from a sleepy little city of about 6,000 population into the seventh city of the state, it is deemed advisable to give the names of the men who had the courage to sub-
FIRST GAS WELL, ANDERSON
scribe for stock in an undertaking that might end in failure. They were: L. J. Burr, G. D. Searle, C. K. and Thomas Mccullough, Harry Brels- ford, H. J. Bronnenberg, F. W. Makepeace, H. J. Daniels, R. P. Grimes, George C. Forrey, W. A. Kittinger, E. P. Schlater, J. F. Wild, A. B. Buck, E. T. Brickley, James Wellington, B. L. Bing, W. L. Maynard, A. J. Brunt, Thomas J. McMahan, Peter Fromlet, Harrison Canaday, Joseph Schwabacher, Patrick Skehan, George Matthews, J. F. Brandon, Samuel Kiser, W. T. Durbin, L. D. Adams, Thomas M. Norton, J. L. Kilgore, I. E. May, J. A. Munchoff, N. C. Mccullough, John H. Ter- hune, William Crim, Milton S. Robinson, and the firms of Nichol & Makepeace and Sansberry & Sansberry.
To promote the industrial interests of Anderson the board of trade was organized, but no effectual work was done toward the securing of new factories until late in the fall, when the Fowler Nut and Bolt Works, of Buffalo, New York, removed to Anderson. This concern
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was followed by others, among which were the American Wire Nail Company, the Union Strawboard Company, the Anderson Flint Bottle Company and the Knife and Bar Works. By 1890 a number of new manufacturing concerns had located in the city, adding materially to the population and wealth of Anderson.
One of the largest of these concerns is the American Steel and Wire Company, which was originally organized at Covington, Kentucky, for the manufacture of wire nails. In 1888, attracted by natural gas, the plant was removed to Anderson and the capital stock increased from $60,000 to $300,000. This company makes all kinds of wire nails and tacks, wire rods, plain and barbed fence wire, steel springs of all kinds, wire rope, concrete reinforcement, wire hoops, etc. The main offices of the company are in Chicago. The Anderson plant employs 600 peo- ple and is one of the principal works of the company.
The Anderson Knife and Bar Company was first located at Dayton, Ohio, where it was established by Manning & Farmer. In September, 1888, it removed to Anderson. At that time the capital stock was fixed at $25,000 and eighteen people were employed. The present number of employees is about thirty. This company manufactures all kinds of machine knives for wood-working and paper-cutting machinery, shear blades, fly bars, etc. The works are located in Hazelwood addition.
Mention has been made of the Fowler Nut and Bolt Works, which was the first factory to locate in Anderson after the discovery of gas. After the removal it took the name of the Anderson Bolt Company, under which name it was operated until 1895, when it changed owners and became the Schofield Bolt Works. When the supply of gas failed this factory was discontinued. A similar concern was the Anderson Iron and Bolt Company, organized by local capitalists, which was sub- sequently sold to a company in Louisville, Kentucky, and the works were removed to that city.
The National Tile Company, originally the Columbia Encaustic Tile Company, was organized by some Indianapolis men, who located a factory in the southeastern part of Anderson early in the days of the gas boom and began the manufacture of unglazed floor tiles, enameled tiles for hearths, mantels and wainscoting, and embossed tiles. George E. Lilly is the present president of the company. This concern ships several car loads of tile each week and maintains sales offices in New York, Chicago, St. Louis and San Francisco. It is one of the leading manufacturing industries in Madison county, employing about 200 people.
In 1888 the Pennsylvania Glass Company was removed from Mead- ville, Pennsylvania, to Anderson and located near the south end of Meridian street. At the present time it is under the management of John Shies, president and general manager, John L. Forkner, secre- tary and treasurer, and is engaged in the manufacture of fruit jars, bottles and druggists' prescription ware. It employs 200 people.
Another Anderson factory of note is the Sefton Manufacturing Company, which makes all kinds of paper cartons, corrugated ship- ping cases, paper pails, mailing envelopes, etc. The company has plants at Anderson, Chicago and Brooklyn, the one at Anderson em- ploying 500 or more people the year round.
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In North Anderson is located the Wright Shovel Company, a part of the Ames Tool Company, manufacturers of shovel plate, manufac- turing tools of various kinds, etc. This company also has a plant at Elwood. The works at Anderson employ about 175 men.
The Buckeye Manufacturing Company was formed at Union City, Ohio, where it was engaged in business for several years before remov- ing to Anderson. When first started in the spring of 1884 the business was conducted under the firm name of Lambert Brothers & Company, with a small capital and was engaged in making neck yokes and buggy materials, with a force of six men and perhaps as many boys. For a while the firm was known as J. H. Osborne & Company, and under this name the manufacture of certain hardware specialties was added. Mr. Osborne withdrew in 1890 and the old name of Buckeye Manu- facturing Company was resumed. In 1891 the plant was destroyed by fire, but was soon rebuilt upon a larger scale. The Lambert gasoline engine was patented in 1894 and the company was then reorganized and incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000; John W. Lambert, president; George Lambert, vice-president; C. A. Lambert, secretary and treasurer. In recent years the company has added the manu- facture of automobiles, which has come to be the chief product of the factory. The company employs about 200 persons, most of whom are skilled workmen.
The first glass factory to locate in Anderson was the Anderson Flint Bottle Company, which was removed from Butler, Pennsylvania, in 1888. At the time of the removal the company was capitalized at $60,000 and employed about 100 people, with Alexander P. McKee as secretary, treasurer and general manager. With the failure of the gas supply this company liquidated and went out of business.
In 1889 the Union Straw Board Company established a factory in Anderson. Subsequently the name was changed to the American Straw Board Company. The capital stock of this concern was $500,000 and in its day it was one of the largest plants of its kind in the country. The buildings, near the north end of Delaware street, are now used by a roofing company.
The Arcade File Works, located in the southeastern part of the city, is one of the industries that has continued to prosper after nat- ural gas was exhausted. This company makes all kinds of files, the Anderson plant being one of a chain of factories owned by the Nichol- son File Company, the largest producers of files in the world. About 600 people are employed, most of them skilled workmen, and the pay roll of the file works is probably the largest of any manufacturing con- cern in the city. It was established in 1891.
In addition to the factories already mentioned that ceased to do business with the failure of natural gas, the following may be added to the list: Anderson Forging Company, Anderson Paint Company, Anderson Paper Company, Anderson Pottery Company, Cansfield Sta- tionery Company, Cathedral Glass Company, Electric Power Company, Fisher Snath Company, Gould Steel Company, Haugh-Kurtz Steel Com- pany, Indiana Box Company (removed to Elwood), National Tin Plate Company, Union Glass Company, Victor Window Glass Company, Wooley Foundry, and the Speed Changing Pulley Works.
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A mere superficial glance at this list might convey the impression that, with the loss of all these factories, Anderson is a dead town. But such is not the case, for scarcely had one factory suspended than an- other came in and took its place. The report of the State Bureau of Inspection for the year 1912 gives the following list of Anderson manu- factories, with the general character of their business and the number of employees in each :
American Rotary Valve Company, compressors, motors, etc., 200; American Steel and Wire Company, all kinds of wire products, 600; Ames Shovel and Tool Company, shovel plate and manufacturing tools,
REMY ELECTRIC CO., ANDERSON
173; Anderson Brick Company, 91; Anderson Canning Company, corn, peas and tomatoes, 300; Anderson Carriage Manufacturing Company, 35; Anderson Foundry and Machine Company, clay working and tin plate machinery, 60; Anderson Gas Company, 25; Anderson Knife and Bar Company, machine knives and heavy cutlery, 30; Anderson Mat- tress Company, 8; Anderson Motor Company, 15; Anderson Plating Company, electro plating, 4; Anderson Rubber Works, rubber tires and specialties, 25; Anderson Tool Company, automatic computing scales, cte., 230; Arcade File Works, 550; Barber Manufacturing Company, bed springs, cushion springs, etc., 30; W. B. Brown & Company, gas and electric fixtures and supplies, 90; Buckeye Manufacturing Com- pany, automobiles, gasoline engines, etc., 200; Bulletin Printing and Manufacturing Company, 23; Computing Cheese Cutter Company, 19; J. H. Cloud Company, automobile tops, 15; Crystal Ice Company, 15; Daniels, Lyst & Douglas, paving and concrete construction, 90; De Tamble Motors Company, automobiles, 160; Dwiggins Wire and Fence Company, 40; Fletcher Enamel Company, granite enameled kitchen
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ware, 80; Frazer Stove Company, steel ranges, 75; Gedge Brothers Iron Roofing Company, iron roofing, corrugated siding, galvanized iron water tanks, etc., 15; Herald Publishing Company, 46; Hill Machine Company, pumping machinery, 42; Hill Standard Manufacturing Company, wire wheels and children's vehicles, 75; Indiana Brick Company, 90; Indiana Ice and Dairy Company, ice and dairy products, 26; Indiana Silo Company, silos, 52; Indiana Union Traction Company, 213; Lavelle Foundry Company, castings of all kinds, 16; National Tile Company, 270; Norton Brewing Company, brewers and bottlers, 40; Nyberg Auto- mobile Works, 70; Oswalt Printing and Paper Box Manufacturing .Com- pany, 18; Pennsylvania Glass Company, 200; Philadelphia Quartz Com- pany, silicate of soda and heavy chemicals, 25; Pierse Furniture Com- pany, dining and library tables, 8; Remy Electric Company, magnetos, etc., 288; Reynolds Gas Regulator Company, 40; Sefton Manufacturing Company, 500; Shimer & Company, wire fencing and recutting files, 25; Spring Steel Fence and Wire Company, wire fencing and gates, 40; Star Foundry and Machine Works, machinery for canning fac- tories, 51; Wright Rich Cut Glass Company, 40.
From this list it may be seen that over 5,000 persons are employed in the manufacturing establishments of Anderson, and it is quite prob- able that two-thirds of the city's population are supported by them. Lack of space forbids a detailed account of each one of these numerous factories, but there are a few that are deserving of more than passing mention. The Remy Electric Company was incorporated in October, 1901, and began business on First street. In 1904 the building now occupied, in the southwestern part of the city, was erected and a larger force of men employed. The magneto made by this company is used on many of the standard automobiles. The company also manufactures ignition for all kinds of motors, automatic starting motors and electric locomotive headlights.
The Nyberg Automobile Works, located on West First street, were originally started as the Rider-Lewis Automobile Company, but were purchased and enlarged by Henry Nyberg. The cars turned out at this factory have won a reputation all over the country-whether run- abouts, touring cars or heavy trucks-and the factory is regarded as one of Anderson's most substantial concerns. While the report of the State Bureau of Inspection gives the number of employees as 70, that number has been increased to about 300 since the report was published.
Fifteen thousand small wire wheels per day is the capacity of the Hill-Standard Company, besides the large number of children's vehicles that is constantly being turned out. Who has not seen the little wagon known as "The Irish Mail?" It is an Anderson product that is sold all over the country, made by the Hill-Standard Company.
On Ohio avenue, in the southeastern part of the city is located the Wright Rich Cut Glass Company, of which Richard Wright is presi- dent; Hunter Richey, secretary; and Thomas W. Wright, treasurer. This is one of two cut glass factories reported in 1912 to the bureau of inspection, the other being located at Walkerton, St. Joseph county. The glass made by this company is sold all over the United States and compares favorably with the imported article.
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The Indiana Silo Company, William Swain president, has two plants and several thousand silos in use. It is one of the Anderson industries that is advertising the city over a wide expanse of territory.
There are also a few factories in Anderson that did not make reports to the state inspection department in 1912. Among these may be men- tioned the Anderson Art Glass Company, the Gospel Trumpet Company, the Koons Oil Furnace Company, the United States Electric Company, the Vulcanite Roofing Company and the Webb-Baxter Company. The Anderson Art Glass Company began business about 1888. It makes a specialty of fine colored and bevel plate designs for memorial windows in churches, etc. From twelve to fifteen men are constantly employed and the products of this little factory are shipped to all parts of the country. The Koons Oil Furnace Company is located at 639 Meridian street. It makes oil furnaces for annealing, etc. The United States Electric Company, located on West Tenth street, is owned and operated by F. P. and Martin Dunn and George Louiso. It makes novelties in the way of electric cigar lighters, clippers, etc. The Vulcanite Roofing Company is located in the old strawboard plant at the corner of Hazlett and Delaware streets and employs about seventy-five men in the man- ufacture of roofing materials. This company also has plants at Frank- lin, Ohio, Kansas City, Missouri, and San Francisco. In the old Neely Saw Works building on South Brown street is the establishment of the Webb-Baxter Company, which manufactures vacuum cleaning devices that are sold over a large part of the country.
The Gospel Trumpet publishing plant is one of the largest printing plants in the United States devoted exclusively to the publication of religious literature. The annual output is constantly and rapidly in- creasing. During recent years the company has sent out annually about twenty car-loads of books, tracts, weekly periodicals, and Sunday-school quarterlies. These are sent to all parts of North America, and to Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, and the islands of the sea. The company maintains a German department, which edits Ger- man periodicals and publishes a large number of German books and tracts; also a department for the blind, which publishes books, tracts, and periodicals in Braille and New York point prints, and conducts a free library for the blind. Some of the literature of this faith is also pub- lished in Dano-Norwegian, Swedish, Russian, Lettish, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Hindustani, and other languages. The company is not a com- munistic colony or institution, hut a corporation acting as a publishing- center of the Church of God, with the sole object of publishing the relig- ious truths taught in the Bible. Its publications are not issued for profit. The company is organized under the charitable laws of the State of Indiana. The corporation is self-perpetuating. At the annual meeting in June the trustees elect the directors and the officers for the following year.
The business is conducted by up-to-date systematic methods. A well- organized working-force of about 225 persons is employed. This force is divided into abont thirty departments with their respective heads. Over these are the division managers, general superintendent, executive committee, and finally the directors and trustees of the company.
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A most interesting feature of this publishing-plant is that the em- ployees, or "workers," as they call themselves, are not paid regular salaries. They donate their services, receiving only their board, cloth- ing, and actual expenses. This applies to all, from the common laborers to the officers of the company. This plan, it is reported, has worked well for over thirty years. The workers and the church prefer that devotion to the cause, rather than desire for remuneration, be the motive for engaging in this publishing-work. A considerable number remain for eight, ten, or fifteen years, but most of them for a shorter time. In procuring the necessary funds as well as the labor, not even the mildest form of coercion is employed. Only free-will offerings are received. All profits and donations above the amount needed to oper- ate the plant are used in sending out literature free, or in enlarging the plant and in extending the circulation of the publication. The com- pany maintains a Free Literature Fund to which donations, large and small, are constantly being made by interested persons. Many thou- sands of dollars' worth of free literature is sent out each year to mis- sionaries and ministers, and to inquirers in all parts of the world.
The Gospel Trumpet Home is a large, three-story cement-block struct- ure situated near the publishing-house. It contains, besides kitchen, dining-room, laundry, etc., nearly one hundred living-rooms comfort- ably, though economically, furnished. Most of the married employees live in private cottages. The workers come from many different parts of the country, almost every state in the Union being represented. Aside from the object of donating their time and talents to the publication of the literature, many come to receive training and qualification for min- isterial work. A number of classes for the study of different branches of knowledge are organized from time to time. Bible study and devo- tional exercises are given prominence. In the chapel of the Trumpet Home devotional services are held every day, and other public meetings at appointed times. A high standard of Christian conduct and exper- ience is demanded of those who are regarded as permanent workers.
The Gospel Trumpet, the main periodical of the Gospel Trumpet Company, started on its career January 1, 1881, at Rome City, Indiana. Later the publishing-office was moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, and after several other moves, was located for thirteen years in Grand Junction, Mich. Here D. S. Warner, the former editor, died, and the present editor, E. E. Byrum, took charge. In 1898 another move was made to Moundsville, W. Va., and in 1906 the company located per- manently in Anderson, Ind.
While the Gospel Trumpet office is not the headquarters of the church, a great deal of correspondence and other business for the Church of God is handled here. The Mission Board, both home and foreign, has its office in the publishing-house. The general camp-meeting, at- tended by several hundred ministers and workers and by several thou- sand laymen, is held here each year in June. This meeting is not an official or legislative body; but as it is the largest gathering of the church, ministers, and foreign missionaries, and others make it a point to attend as frequently as possible. Many visitors from all parts of the United States and from foreign lands visit The Trumpet office with the
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GOSPEL TRUMPET PUBLISHING PLANT
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object of obtaining spiritual help and instruction. Many also come for physical healing. Several hundred requests for prayer are received each week-cablegrams, telegrams, telephone messages, and letters.
The prominent doctrines taught by the Gospel Trumpet literature are: Conversion, or the new birth; sanctification, or the baptism of the Holy Spirit; baptism by immersion; the Lord's Supper; feet-washing; divine healing, and the unity of all believers. Special emphasis is laid on the doctrine of church unity. The church of God here represented is not an ecclesiastical organization as are other churches; it is not incorporated, has no church discipline but the Bible, has no roll of members, nor does it license its ministers. After feeling the divine call and meeting certain Biblical requirements, they are ordained by the laying on of hands of the elders. All the ministers are recognized as equal in .authority ; they have no bishops or presiding minister. Min- isters preach where they feel led to go; they are not appointed to any particular circuit or district. The membership of the Church of God includes, according to their doctrine, all who have an experimental knowledge of conversion, or the new birth (St. John 3:3), and are living true Christian lives. The doctrine of divine healing, which is given much prominence, is they claim, quite different from Christian Science. The doctrine is founded on the example of Jesus Christ and on several texts of Scripture, the chief one among which, probably, is St. James 5: 14, 15: "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church ; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be for- given him." Numerous instances of notable healings are published in The Gospel Trumpet literature.
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