A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 16

Author: Collin, Henry P
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing
Number of Pages: 1198

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BRANCH COUNTY FARMERS' INSTITUTE SOCIETY.

This society, so closely identified with the interests of the agriculturist that its history belongs to this chapter, was organized at Coldwater July 27, 1895, with thirty-two charter members. The constitution proposed by the state board of agriculture was adopted, and the following were elected its

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first officers: L. M. Marsh, president ; A. J. Aldrich, secretary-treasurer. The executive committee was composed of the president, the secretary and A. L. Smith, E. E. Lewis, and A. M. Etheridge. The vice-presidents from the various townships and wards were: Butler, T. P. Evans; Quincy, A. M. Etheridge; Algansee, A. F. Archer : California, John Flynn ; Kinder- hook, A. C. Doerr: Ovid, E. C. Lockwood: Coldwater, Henry Straight; Girard, A. L. Smith; Union, Byron W. Bray; Batavia, Edwin E. Lewis; Bethel, Henry Fowler; Gilead, E. G. Luce; Noble, Ambrose Bushnell ; Bron- son, Richard Coward; Matteson, Amos Gardner; Sherwood, L. P. Wilcox; Coldwater, first ward, Cyrus G. Luce; second ward, George W. Van Aken; third ward, G. H. Turner; fourth ward, E. W. Treat.

The society had a total membership in 1899 of 335, and it has main- tained that strength, the membership in 1906 being 332. The meeting of February, 1906, was the largest ever held, 3.731 persons attending the lit- erary, musical and educative programs offered.

The officers for 1906 are as follows: Abram L. Smith, president ; Henry E. Straight, secretary-treasurer ; and vice-presidents: California, D. T. Bascom; Kinderhook, A. C. Doerr; Gilead, W. J. Bucklin: Noble, A. Bushnell; Algansee, L. G. Taylor; Ovid, Lafayette Scheidler; Bethel, Charles Daniels ; Bronson, Frank Coward ; Bronson Village, T. A. Eberhard ; Quincy, M. D. Knauss: Quincy Village, A. L. Bowen; Coldwater. Robert Brewster; first ward, M. E. Wattles; second ward, L. E. Lockwood ; third ward, C. J., Thorpe ; fourth ward, E. W. Treat; Batavia, I. A. Martin; Matteson, Frank Martin; Butler, F. M. Holmes; Girard, E. T. Waffle; Union, B. W. Bray; Union City, D. D. Buell ; Sherwood, J. S. Dunks ; Sherwood Village, F. M. Daniels.

BRANCH COUNTY AGRICULTURAL, SOCIETY.

This society, under whose auspices the county fairs have always been conducted, was organized October 17, 1851. The first officers of the society were James B. Tompkins, president ; John Allen, vice-president ; F. V. Smith, secretary; and H. W. Wright, treasurer. Other well known men took part in the work of organization, such as Asahel Brown, Alvarado Brown, E. B. Pond, William P. Arnold, Darwin Wilson, John Root, Oliver Burdick, Jr., Emerson Marsh.

The first annual fair was held at Coldwater October 7, 1852, only one day being given to it and the premium list aggregating only two hundred dollars. In 1854 the session was extended to three days. In the same year the society purchased six acres on Grand street near the north edge of the village, as a place for holding their exhibitions. This ground was sold in 1863, and the Agricultural Society and the Coldwater Agricultural and Breeders' Association, which had been organized in 1862, united in buying twenty acres on the west side of Marshall street near the north side of the village. This is the ground now commonly referred to as "the old fair grounds." It was increased to thirty acres in 1878.

Fairs were held annually until after 1897, and the association did much to promote agricultural and live-stock interest in the county.

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CHAPTER XVI.

MANUFACTURING IN BRANCH COUNTY.

It would be interesting to know just how the population of Branch county is classified among the various business activities, that is, the proportion of the county's twenty-six thousand people engaged in each general class of occupation. At best it would be possible only to approximate such a classi- fication. But as regards the industrial and manufacturing situation, some very interesting deductions may be drawn from the last report of the Michi- gan Bureau of Labor, giving the results of factory inspection made in this county in April, 1905.

In this report sixty-one firms and factories are named, thirty-four of which are located at Coldwater, nine at Union City, eight at Quincy, seven at Bronson, two at Sherwood and one at Batavia. The whole number of employes found at the time of inspection was 1,173. This approximates five per cent of the population of Branch county dependent on what are officially designated as "factory " industries. Were the data at hand for all the handicrafts and manufactories of the county, the proportion of those engaged in industrial pursuits would be much larger, perhaps at least ten per cent of the entire population.

Of the plants reported, thirty-four were located at Coldwater. In these twenty-three kinds of goods were made or handled. There were re- ported 712 employes, indicating that in a city of six thousand population one person out of nine depends on these industries for means of livelihood. This proportion is too small to place Coldwater among so-called "factory towns," where the percentage of factory operatives is often twenty-five per cent of the population; at the same time this form of activity is a consid- erable and distinct part of the city's general prosperity.

Of the manufacturing establishments named in the report, those which extent of business or length of time established make worthy of mention in this chapter are :

At Bronson : The Bronson-Kalamazoo Portland Cement Company, which was established in 1897 and at the date of inspection had 61 employes. (See elsewhere. ) The Bronson Basket factory, established in 1895; the electric light plant, established in 1886; the William Friedrich Company (see elsewhere).

At Coldwater : Ball Brothers Planing Mill, established in 1866 and employing 14 hands at the time of inspection; the Coldwater Gas and Fuel Company, organized in 1860, having 14 employes in 1905; W. A. Coombs Milling Company, the early history of which is given elsewhere, and which

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at its three establishments employs 36 men: the Conover Engraving and Printing Company, established in 1898 and employing nine persons; the City Brewery, established in 1894: Charles W. Chapman, manufacturer of cigars, established in 1880: Henry B. George, custom flour and feed grinding. estab- lished in 1880: Hellinburg & Son, turning and wood work, 16 employes, and established in 1876; Johnson Cooperage Company, established in 1868: National Burial Device Company, 14 employes, established in 1899: Pratt Manufacturing Company (see elsewhere) ; A. J. Pierce, cigar manufacturer, 10 employes, established in 1890; Regal Gasoline Engine Company (see elsewhere) : William H. Schmedlen, carriages, established in 1883; Titus Thurlow, iron castings, established in 1868; Tappan Shoe Manufacturing Company, with 86 employes, established in 1897; Wolverine Portland Ce- ment Company (see elsewhere. )

At Quincy : Globensky Brothers, barrel manufacturers (see elsewhere ) ; Felix A. Mckenzie, milling (see elsewhere) ; J. N. Salisbury, building ma- terial, established in 1886: Wolverine Portland Cement Company, estab- lished in 1899 (see elsewhere).

At Sherwood: . J. N. French, lumber, with 22 employes, established in 1881; Sherwood Heading Company (see elsewhere).

At Union City: B. F. Green, general repairing. established in 1870: Peerless Portland Cement Company (see elsewhere).

SOME REPRESENTATIVE MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS .*

B. H. Calkins & Son Co., manufacturers of cooperage and cooperage stock at Coldwater, was first organized in Butler township in 1869, by B. H. Calkins and his brother M. M. Calkins, and was known as Calkins Brothers. Owing to a lack of railroad facilities in that place the factory was removed in 1874 to its present location. After locating in Coldwater, Mr. L. B. Johnson, G. H. Taylor, and the banking firm of Bowen & McGowan also entered into partnership. This arrangement existed until 1877. During all of the subsequent changes, Mr. B. H. Calkins has been at the head. Since 1897 Mr. M. D. Calkins has been a member of the firm, and up to June 23. 1905, the firm was known as B. H. Calkins & Son, at which time the com- pany was incorporated under its present name, B. H. Calkins & Son Co. . The business has always been successful, although passing through five fires, the last being March 6, 1901, at which time Mr. B. H. Calkins was severely burned, and was forced to give up active business relations. He never re- covered from the shock to the nervous system, and passed away October 15, 1905. Mr. M. D. Calkins, who has had charge of the business since March, 1901, is president and manager of the corporation, Miss Almera H. Calkins, secretary and treasurer. This business has afforded a market to the farmers for all kinds of timber, at good prices. The firm purchase each year from

* Letters asking for data were sent to all the larger manufacturing firms in the county and information has been sought from other sources, but sufficient material for a sketch was not obtained in every case .- EDITOR.

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eight to ten thousand cords of timber, which means a yearly expenditure of $30,000 in that line. They also pay out an equal amount for labor. The firm enjoys a large trade in flour, cement, poultry, glass, fruit and pork barrels. A great amount of the heading and staves manufactured is also shipped to outside shops.

The Pratt Manufacturing Company was established in 1882 by J. F. Pratt and Wellington Chase, who came to Coldwater from Homer, New York, in that year. The business was started under the name of Pratt & Chase and continued under that title until the death of Mr. Chase in 1890. The business was established in a modest way in an old country tavern or inn known as the Bolster House and located at the corner of Railroad and Division streets. Changes and additions to the building were rapidly made until within ten years the old tavern had almost entirely disappeared. In 1902 Mr. J. F. Pratt retired from the business, and a corporation was formed, which took over the entire business and plant which had accumulated up to that time. At present the buildings have about 80,000 feet of floor space, and give steady employment the year round to about 125 men. The product, which consists of children's sleds as the larger part, is sold through the entire snow-belt of the United States. During the spring and summer months this company manufactures a line of porch and lawn furniture, which is shipped throughout the United States from ocean to ocean. The officers of the company are H. B. Fisher, president ; A. B. Schied, vice-president ; A. J. Pratt, secretary and treasurer.

The Regal Gasoline Engine Company, manufacturers of marine and stationary engines, Coldwater, was incorporated in August, 1901. The pres- ent officers of the company are A. E. Robinson. president : H. D. Robinson, vice-president; H. R. Saunders, secretary and treasurer. All of the stock is owned by these and Elmer J. Allen. They build a line of marine engines, also some sizes of stationary engines, but give marine engines the most attention. They employ 30 to 40 machinists. The output is sold princi- pally on the eastern coast from Maine to Florida, on the western coast from Seattle to San Diego. They also have many desirable agencies in New England, middle states and extreme south. They have an excellent trade with New Zealand, Australia, Fiji Islands, Italy, Belgium, and Finland. The Regal Gasoline Engine Company started in rather a small way, but has steadily increased in size.

The Conover Engraving and Printing Company was founded in 1877 by the late J. S. Conover. The beginning was a small one, the outfit con- sisting of a small hand lever printing press and some second-hand type from the " hell-box " of a Quincy printing office, but under careful management the business grew rapidly and in 1881 the present building was purchased and new machinery and material were added as fast as needed. Although all classes of engraving and general commercial printing are done here, still the Conover Engraving and Printing Company makes a specialty of labels and show cards, as well as high-class color work. A leading feature is the manufacture of cigar labels. The Conover establishment is a model engrav-

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ing and printing plant. The headquarters are in a substantial three-story brick block on West Chicago street, the three floors being devoted to the business. The printing equipment is one of the best in this portion of the state and, as can well be imagined, the patronage is very large.

The Johnson Cooperage Company was established in Coldwater in 1868 by Mr. Chas. W. Johnson. The first plant was of necessity a small one. but it has steadily grown until today the factory and yards cover over five acres of ground. The company manufactures barrels, kegs, pails, etc. The Johnson Cooperage Company was organized in its present form in 1894, capitalized at $15,000.

The Coldwater Gas Light and Fuel Company had its origin in 1860. when A. W. Parkhurst, H. C. Lewis, J. G. Parkhurst. D. S. Harrington and Artemus Allen organized the Coldwater Gas Light Company, with a capital stock of $25,000. The works were built in 1861, and extensions and im- provements have taken place consistent with the growth of the business and the city. Through the efforts of the late William A. Coombs the business was reorganized in 1895 as the Coldwater Gas Light and Fuel Company with a capital stock of $40,000. It is estimated that there are a thousand patrons of the company in Coldwater, where gas has been in general use for fuel and light during nearly half a century. The present officers of the company are: L. M. Wing, president: J. W. Thompson, vice-president : Geo. C. Turner, secretary and superintendent ; W. E. Moss, treasurer.

The Sherwood Heading Company, manufacturers of slack barrel and keg heading. was organized and put in operation about the year 1883 by Stafford & Ott, sold to H. Sayers & Son about 1886. then to C. B. Wilcox in 1896, then to J. F. McIntyre & Company. April 15. 1903. and reorganized January 1, 1906. under the name of Sherwood Heading Company, which is the firm name now. They employ about fifteen men. on an average, and turn and sell about one carload of heading per week, which is sold all over the country, but principally in New York and Pittsburg, Pa. They use from five thousand to six thousand cords of bolts each year to get out this amount of stock. The officers of the company are: J. F. McIntyre, presi- dent and general manager: Geo. H. Seymour, vice-president and treasurer : Guy E. McIntyre, superintendent and secretary.

The William H. Friedrich Company, manufacturers of veneers at Bron- son, whose plant was entirely burned June 3. 1906, commenced operation in Bronson in 1900 by remodeling and installing an electric light plant which then had about 450 lights. The village now has over three thousand lights installed, which shows a lively increase for the size of the town. In 1901 the company added the coal business, which has been well patronized ever since. and in 1902 started the veneer mill. making a good home market for high-grade logs and timber, which business has also increased every year. In 1903 was added a saw mill, which also made a home market for cheaper grades of timber, and with the combined industries the plant was running day and night at the time it burned. They took measures to rebuild at once.

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Globensky Brothers, at Quincy, are the successors in manufacturing of the Quincy Stave and Heading Factory, which, as elsewhere stated, was one of the first large industries in the village. It was established by H. L. and E. G. Lownsberry and L. P. Alden in 1864, was for some time con- clucted under the firm name of H. L. Lownsberry & Company, and its manu- factured product of staves and headings was very large, as many as fifty persons often being employed. Globensky Brothers bought the plant about 1890, and after remodeling and refurnishing, began a general barrel, stave and cooperage business.

The Mckenzie Cereal Food and Milling Company is another Quincy manufacturing plant that is historical as well as extensive in its present business. The first flour mill was built in Quincy in 1863, and it is from this small mill, through a number of successors, that the present plant origi- nated. Mr. F. A. Mckenzie has been the energizing spirit since 1887, at which time the business passed under control of the firm of Mckenzie and Hyslop. In 1894 Mr. Mckenzie became sole proprietor, and in 1903 the business was incorporated under the name as given above, Mr. Mckenzie owning most of the stock. The plant has been entirely rebuilt five times, and its capacity increased accordingly. From ten to fifteen men are employed, and the company has a warehouse in Erie, Penn., for the distribution of their products, which consist of several special food preparations, besides flour, buckwheat and mill feed.

THE PORTLAND CEMENT INDUSTRY.

Until a few years ago the natural products of Branch county were prac- tically all confined to the agricultural class. There are no coal deposits beneath the surface, no certain supply of gas, no minerals. Brick has been made here from an early day, there is a supply of building stone, but aside from these the products of the county have been mainly those of the soil.

From the early days the settlers had known of the existence of marl, more popularly called " merle " or " bog lime." No doubt they had discov- ered it in sinking their wells. They also found that this marl would serve as a substitute for quick-lime in making building mortar, and as lime, like all other materials that had to be imported, was hard to get and expensive to the first settlers, where a marl deposit was convenient they used the raw material for plastering up the chinks of their log houses. In some localities the marl was burned in kilns and thus reduced to quick-lime. It is said that, scattered over the marl-producing area, many log houses are still standing which were built with mortar of this kind, or even with the unburned marl itself.

Lime lake on section 26 of Batavia township was named because of the deposit of marl found along its shores. The manufacture of lime from this deposit is proved by an advertisement that appeared in the Coldwater Sentinel in November, 1843. In this paper it is stated that Hervey Miller " has constantly on hand a quantity of lime at his kiln, five miles west of this

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village on the Chicago road. It is manufactured from the marl of the marshes, and is as strong as the best stone lime."

But aside from this manufacture and use of the marl deposits. marl did not become an article of commercial importance in Branch county until very nearly the close of the last century. From the preceding paragraph it is evi- clent that marl is not a recent " discovery " in this county, any stories to that effect notwithstanding. But it was only ten years ago that the marl deposits became the basis for the most valuable manufacturing interests which the county possesses.

Marl and clay are the principal raw materials in the manufacture of Portland cement. The existence of both in large quantities in Branch county makes this a field of great value for the production of cement. It is hardly necessary to state the commercial uses to which Portland cement is now put in the world's industries. It is only a few years since it began to enter into engineering and architectural construction, and now it is being used by the millions of barrels. Vast quantities will be used in constructing the Panama canal. Its use in steel construction is now thoroughly estab- lislied. Cement blocks are being substituted for stone and brick in dwelling. business and public edifices. Stone, brick and wood have been building ma- terials through all the ages. The age of " steel construction " began some years ago; and this history is being written at what is probably the beginning of a "cement age." in which cement either alone c: in combination will be employed in greater quantities than any other material.

Michigan now manufactures cement next in quantity to New Jersey. although ten years ago this product was inconsiderable in this state and was confined almost entirely to New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Branch county can claim recognition as a pioneer in this manufacture. Not only had the existence of marl beds been known for years, but experimentation and prospecting had been done for several years before the first plant was actually established. Hiram Bennett, of Quincy, after having visited the cement works at South Bend and finding that marl was used in the manufacture of cement, in 1892 prospected in and around the lakes in the eastern part of the county, and tried to induce capitalists to invest money in an enterprise which would make use of the marl. But nothing was effected, and it re- mained for another village of the county to gain the first honor for beginning the manufacture of cement from the marl beds.

The oldest cement manufactory in the county is at Union City. Not only so, but it is claimed that it is the oldest successful Portland cement com- pany in Michigan. The Peerless Portland Cement Company was organized August 23. 1896, incorporated under the laws of Michigan, with a capital of $250,000. and first began the manufacture of cement in 1897. Important changes in equipment and methods were made from time to time. and the daily capacity is now 1,800 barrels of the Peerless brand. The plant is located at Union City, and the company owns marl and clay lands within a mile of the works and also at Spring Arbor. Mr. J. R. Patterson has been manager of the company since 1899.

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A brief description of the process of manufacture at this plant will apply to cement manufacture in general throughout the county. The marl is dredged from the lakes and loaded on cars and hauled to the factory by a railroad owned and operated by the company. There the marl is weighed and dumped directly into a mixing machine, where water and the right amount of clay are added. After a thorough mixing in this, it is dumped into a pug mill, where the mixing process continues. After a sufficient pugging, the mass, then called " slurry," is run into a large vat, which is furnished with mixing and stirring devices. As soon as one vat is filled and thoroughly mixed, two samples are taken for analysis. If the composition proves to be lacking in any respect the required ingredient is added and the whole mass mixed, sampled and analyzed as before. This is repeated until the correct chemical composition is obtained. The slurry is then elevated and run into large cylinder tube mills half filled with flint pebbles. As these mills revolve the slurry is ground to a fine silky paste. As the slurry leaves the tube mills it is conveyed into large storage vats, where it is kept in con- stant motion by the aid of compressed air, thus avoiding all settling and assuring additional mixing. From these vats it is again elevated and passed into a battery of rotary kilns. These rotaries at the Union City plant are each seventy feet long. The slurry runs in at one end and in its progress through the kiln is thoroughly dried and burned, dropping out at the other end in the form of clinker. The fuel used is pulverized coal, which is ignited and blown into the kiln at one end. After the clinker is passed through the cooling machines, a steel conveyor delivers it into a set of very heavy steel rolls, where it is reduced to the size of rice. Then it is conveyed to the hoppers which feed the Griffin mills, by which it is ground to a fine powder.

These are the salient features of the manufacture. A cement plant is a large institution, representing a great outlay of capital (it is said that the first cost of a plant is at the minimum three hundred thousand dollars), much executive aiblity, and a large supply of skilled and common labor. When it is recalled that Branch county now has four of these plants within her area, all built within the last ten years, it is seen how large and important has been the contribution of this industry to the permanent wealth and active resources of the county. According to the state report for 1905 there were only thirteen plants in operation in the entire state of Michigan, the total number of plants being seventeen. Thus Branch county has at least a fourth of the cement-producing equipment of the state of Michigan. From the same report the total daily capacity of the seventeen plants was 19.200 barrels, and of the four Branch county plants, 5,800, which is more than a fourth of the combined capacity of Michigan cement industries. The total number of employes in these four industries is 458, taking the figures of the factory inspector in 1905.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 16

Author: Collin, Henry P Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Collin, Henry P
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing
Number of Pages: 1198