History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 63

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358

USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men > Part 63

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About 1849, Joseph W. Branch purchased the St. Louis Saw-Works from the firm of Messrs. Childs, Pratt & Co., by whom that branch of saw manufae- turing had been recently introduced in St. Louis, and

in 1853 he finally settled in the city, where he has lived continuously for a period of thirty years. His firm was originally organized under the style of Branch, Crookes & Frost, but on Mr. Frost's retire- ment in 1857 the business remained in the hands of Mr. Branch and his brother-in-law, Joseph Crookes, under the firm-name of Branch, Crookes & Co. This latter name it has continued to bear, notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Branch in 1872 purchased the interest of Mr. Crookes, and has been sole proprietor ever since that time. From the moderate beginning which prudence required to be made, the special in- dustry in which Mr. Braneh engaged has been steadily developed until it has attained to very large propor- tions, and the acknowledged exeellenee of its manu- factures has won for the firm an enviable reputation throughout the country.

Joseph W. Branch was born in that portion of Yorkshire, England, described in the first chapter of " Ivanhoe." His birthplace, Rotherham (to use the language of Sir Walter Scott), lies " in that pleasant district of Merry England which is watered by the River Don, where existed in ancient times a large forest, covering the greater part of the beautiful hills and valleys which lie between Sheffield and the pleasant town of Doneaster. The remains of this extensive wood are still to be seen at the noble seats of Went- worth, of Wharncliffe Park, and around Rotherham. Here haunted of yore the fabulous Dragon of Wantley ; here were fought many of the most desperate battles during the civil wars of the Roses; and here also flourished in ancient times those bands of gallant out- laws whose deeds have been rendered so popular in English song."

Born of the purest stock of the old Saxon Frank- lins, Mr. Branch inherited the qualities of his raee in singular distinctness, as the spirit of adventure in his earlier years, and the energy, tenacity, and indomit- able steadiness of his maturer life have proved ; but the best sueeesses which he has achieved are partly due to a cireumstanee which seemed at first to be a great misfortune. In his early childhood he gave no promise of the robust physical development which he subsequently reached ; indeed, he was so delieate in health that he was deprived of the privileges of school education, and thus it happened that an accomplished mother was his only teacher. From her he learned the elements of a thorough English education, and the abundant legends and ballad stories of the North country in which they lived. From her also he learned the infinitely more important lessons of honor, veraeity, fidelity, and simple but practical religion by which his life has been directed.

Joseph W. Branch

Ut INE UNIVERSITY OF ILINOIS.

1271

TRADE, COMMERCE, AND MANUFACTURES.

Mr. Branch's father had established a manufactory in Rotherham, and the delicate child naturally became interested in mechanical pursuits. While yet a mere lad he was permitted to enter the counting-house of the Globe Works, at Sheffield, rather as an experi- ment than with any serious expectation of his learn- ing the business ; but from that time he began to out- grow the feebleness of his childhood, and speedily exhibited so uncommon a capacity for affairs that when he was only seventeen years of age he was in actual charge of several departments of the large and intricate business of the Globe Works. In 1844, when he was only eightcen, he received a striking proof of the confidence of his employers. They had a large trade with America, which they had con- ducted through their American correspondents, until the volume of their business in this country had re- quired them to establish a branch house and a factory in New York City. These were already in existence, but they were not working satisfactorily, and. young Branch was sent to take charge of them. Unfortu- nately, however, he found them in the hands of men who were greatly his seniors, and who were not dis- posed to carry out the views of so young a chief, and after two years, failing to secure the co-operation to which he was entitled, the lad resigned his position.

Then began the adventurous part of Mr. Branch's life. By advice of his father, he spent several years in traveling through various parts of the United States, and in 1848 made quite a remarkable journey through Mexico, which might readily furnish material for a writer of romance. That country was in a fear- fully disturbed condition when Mr. Branch, who was then only twenty-two years of age, undertook to ex- plore it. He organized a company of sixteen resolute men, and with this small force, well mounted and well armed, rode from Vera Cruz to Mazatlan, on the Pa- cific; thence he went to San Francisco, and spent the greater part of 1849 in that city and in occasional visits to the mines which had been opened in California. Returning to the East in 1849, Mr. Branch engaged in business in St. Louis, as heretofore stated.

In view of his own success in business and his standing in the community, it was impossible that Mr. Branch should escape a multiplicity of duties, in which his labor and influence were needed by his friends and fellow-citizens. Hence, besides the im- portant positions of president of the Illinois and St. Louis Railroad and of the Madison County Ferry Company, and vice-president of the Mechanics' Bank, which he now occupies, he has been called upon to hold many trusts, and to fill many positions of the greatest importance and responsibility. Nothing,

however, has been permitted to interfere with his de- votion to the interests of the innumerable benevolent institutions and enterprises to which he has given his aid, with hand, purse, and influence, to an extent which is hardly credible. Nothing which had any claim to his support as a man or citizen has been re- fused the best service he could render it. As presi- dent of the St. George's Society, he has lent timely aid to hundreds of poor emigrants; to the various orders of the Masonic fraternity he has rendered yeoman's service ; to St. Luke's Hospital he has been munificent in gifts and earnest in every form of sup- port, and in the co-operative societies which have for their object the relief of the widows and orphans of their members he has worked with all the enthu- siasm and tireless energy of his nature.

At a time when the society known as the Knights of Honor was comparatively weak in the State of Missouri, Mr. Branch threw himself into it with results that were at once apparent. He was for two years called to preside over it as its chief officer in the State of Missouri, and its progress while under his administration was such as to astonish its most sanguine adherents. In the St. Louis Legion of Honor, which is an order of similar plan and purpose to the Knights of Honor, he holds an influential po- sition ; and in all the charities of St. George's Church, of which he is the senior warden, Mr. Branch is looked to as a hearty sympathizer, an earnest worker, and a munificent contributor. It is an open secret that when the new and beautiful edifice of St. George's had been advertised some years ago for sale by the sheriff to pay a heavy debt of the parish, amounting to some sixty thousand dollars, more than half the sum required was contributed by two individuals, one of whom was Edwin Harrison, and the other was Mr. Branch. Grace Church is also under obligations to him for gifts amounting to thousands of dollars. In his religious views Mr. Branch is an Episcopalian of the old-fashioned High Church sort, with a strong leaning towards the Broad Church school. His re- ligion, however, is of a practical rather than a theo- retical kind. As the senior warden of his parish, he is the valued adviser of his rector, in the council of the diocese he exerts a great influence, and in every diocesan enterprise he is one of those to whom his bishop looks for strong and wise co-operation.

In his political views Mr. Branch's position is thoroughly independent. During the civil war he felt it to be his duty to give an uncquivocal and un- divided support to the Union cause, but he could never bring himself to regard the Southern people in the light of enemies. In the miseries which the war

1272

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

occasioned his " charity recognized no uniform," and when the flag of the Confederacy was furled, one of his first thoughts was to send relief to suffering dis- tricts of the conquered South. Owing to his course in this respect, in a border State and in a more than semi-Southern city, Mr. Branch's pronounced Union- ism never caused the least breach between him and his Southern neighbors. Since the war he has been repeatedly urged by representative men of both politi- cal parties to permit them to nominate him for high public office, but to these solicitations he has steadily refused to listen. He is content, and has good reason to be content, with the private station which he has made for himself, and in which, while still in the full vigor of manhood, he enjoys the comforts of an ample fortune and the blessings which attend a well-regu- lated life.

It would hardly be right to close this sketch, for which the materials have been gathered from many sources, without referring to Mr. Branch's exception- ally happy domestic life. It was in 1857 that he contracted a marriage, from which the element of ro- mance was not absent, with Annie Clark, second daughter of Matthew Clark, of Cusworth, Yorkshire, England. Mr. Clark was a gentleman farmer of ancient family, farming his own land as well as land rented from one of his neighbors. His cstate was not far from Rotherham, where Mr. Branch was born, and was quite near to "the pleasant town of Don- caster," where some of Mr. Branch's relatives resided. An attachment, of which the young people were hardly conscious at the time, for Miss Clark was then a very young girl at school, was followed several years later by a correspondence, which at length led- to their marriage. Mr. Branch's most partial friends consider it no derogation from his merits to say that the noblest and most generous features of his honorable life have had their inspiration at the fircside of a happy home. In her own sphere Mrs. Branch is as well known for her charities and personal service to good works of all sorts as her husband is in his. Their family con- sists of three sons and four daughters. Their oldest son, Joseph Clark Branch, has reached his majority, and is actively engaged in the business of his father's firm.

According to the census of 1870, the mining indus- try of St. Louis County showed the following statistics :

Hands.

Capital.

Wages.

Material. Products.

Iron, forged.

401

$1,007,143 $330,000

$826,750 $1,455,000

anchors and chains

20,000

21,000

25,750

60,000

nails and spikes ....

142,857

30,000

237,250

294,000

railing, wrought ...

37,000

18,600

28,710

79,500

pigs ..

734

880,000

700,000

813,000

1,945,000

castings.

146

95,000;

120,300

445.620

659,050

stoves, etc.

1564

2,762,500 1,174,194

1,416,775

2,937,950

In 1880, St. Louis City received 1,800,000 tons of coal, four and one-half times as much as the county consumed in 1870; the receipts of iron ore were 173,307 tons ; of pig-iron, 116,240 tons. The num- ber of establishments in the iron industry was 41; number of hands, 4444 ; capital, $8,733,500 ; wages, $1,751,107 ; material, $4,744,630 ; product, $8,101,- 915. The future value of this industry may be in- ferred from the following facts : St. Louis has as much capital in the iron manufacture as Philadel- phia, thirty-threc per cent. more than Chicago, and double as much as Cleveland, while the profits at all three of these cities were nearly double those at St. Louis, showing that the latter city is chiefly working to expand and develop a great industry and not to realize an immediate large profit upon it. Ex-Mayor Overstolz, in his address before the State Immigra- tion Convention in April, 1880, thus spoke of the growth and the prospect of this industry, --

" That the inexhaustible deposits of iron ore in the State of Missouri, and the abundance of our coal supply should have led to extensive furnaces, rolling-mills, foundries, and iron- and steel-works of all kinds in the city of St. Louis is not surprising. An immense industry has been developed within a period of ten or fifteen years, and notwithstanding the general depression of the iron trade during the last few years, it is to-day one of our most important departments of manufacture. The iron business includes so many branches, viz. : the manufacture of pig-iron and its conversion into bar-iron, to steel, to castings, and the making of articles of iron, such as engines, machinery, stoves, etc., all made from the original pig-iron or bars, that it is difficult, in the absence of official statistics, to calculate the amount invested in the industry. The result of inquiries in- stituted by myself into the operation of the trade seems to. show that the amount of capital at present invested in the busi- ness in this city is nearly $8,700,000, and the value of produc- tion, in view of the recent advance in prices, about $11,745,- 000. This includes boiler-making, furnaces, rolling-mills, machine-shops, mill machinery, nuts and bolts, wire and wire- goods, etc., and I have no doubt the aggregate stated is below the real volume of the trade. The present revival in iron manufacture and profitable prices will soon greatly increase the- business in this city, owing to our favorable situation for sup- plying all parts of the city and our houndless supplies of ore- and coal. This one industry in itself possesses wonderful pos- sibilities of development and of increasing our municipal wealth, because it is one that must expand with the increasing population and settlement of the country. It is a business that rests upon the basis of a great staple article of human use, one that is absolutely necessary in every step of commercial progress, and this unquestioned truth renders its extension in this city a matter of certainty. Within a distance of less than one hundred miles, and connected by railroads, exists abun- dance of the best kind of ore ; on all sides of us and within a radius of thirty miles are immeasurable coal deposits, and these facts, in connection with the capital and the manufacturing and shipping facilities by river and rail available here, make it evident that the future extension of the trade must be felt most immediately and powerfully at St. Louis."

The charcoal-iron furnaces in 1874 were as follows :

1273

TRADE, COMMERCE, AND MANUFACTURES.

Furnaces.

Capital.

Capacity.

Pilot Knob.

$1,000,000

12,000

Iron Mountain

1,000,000

12,000

Irondale.

300,000

7,000

Maramec

300,000

6,000

Scotia

250,000

7.000

Moselle ..

250,000

6,000

Gasconade.

............

.........

Total

$3,100,000

50,000

STOVE-COAL AND COKE FURNACES.

Capital.

Capacity.

Vulcan.

$250,000

25,000

Missouri ..

250,000

25,000

South St. Louis

250,000

25,000

Carondelet.

150,000

8,000

$900,000

110,000

ROLLING-MILLS.

Capital.

Capacity.

Tons.

Laclede ..

$500,000

10,000

Vulcan.

200,000

40,000

$700,000

50,000

The annual value of the products of these works was about $7,300,000.

According to the reports made to the Merchants' Exchange, the receipts of pig-iron at St. Louis from all sources during 1882 amounted to 105,432 tons. From the most reliable information obtainable the pro- duction of pig iron in the furnaces of the city during the year, and not included in the above, was 114,930 tons, or a total of 220,362 tons. The shipments for the year were 53,951 tons, leaving about 166,411 tons for local consumption, supposing the stocks on hand at the close of 1881 and 1882 were equal. The following statement shows the consumption of pig- iron in the different iron-melting establishments in the city last year, the information having been ob- tained from the several proprietors :

Tons.

Six stove-works.

13,300

Three agricultural implement works.

4,200

One steel rail works

84,000

Three car-wheel works.

13,000

Four rolling-mills

18,300

One gas- and water-pipe works. 12,000

Six machinery building foundries

10,350

Four architectural iron works.

1,875

Eight miscellaneous works.

6,800

Total, thirty-six establishments 163,825

The blast furnaces which are operated by St. Louis capital are not all located in the city, but as the busi- ness is all or chiefly done here, and so much of the product comes to this market, they can, by rights, be classed as St. Louis enterprises. There are eight stacks of cokc- and coal-blast furnaces in Missouri, and four stacks of charcoal furnaces. Of the former, all are located in this city and Carondelet, and there are two stacks of the Mcier Furnace ncar East Caron-

delet, in Illinois, immediately opposite the city. The St. Louis Ore- and Steel-Works at Carondelet are mammoth concerns, and in the same surburban town are located the works of the South St. Louis Iron Company. The Missouri Furnaces, the South St. Louis Furnaces, and the Meier Furnaces are all oper- ated by the Missouri Furnace Company. The Mid- land Furnace, in Crawford County ; the Nova Scotia Furnace, in Dent County ; the Pilot Knob Furnace, in Iron County; and the Sligo Furnace, in Dent County, are all operated by St. Louis companies. They all produce Bessemer pig, the most of which is converted into stecl in St. Louis.

To recapitulate : Bituminous coal or coke furnaces, ten stacks ; annual capacity, 224,000 net tons. Char- coal furnaces, four stacks; annual capacity, 57,500 net tons. Total number of furnaces, fourteen stacks ; total annual capacity, 281,500 net tons. Total pro- duct for 1882: coke-iron, 114,930 tons; charcoal- iron, 45,123 tons.

Number of furnaces ...

Number of hands employed. 1,400

Capital invested.

$1,775,000

Value of product (average $25 per ton) $4,001,325

There are six rolling-mills and steel-works in St. Louis. The Vulcan was built in 1872 as an iron-mill, but was changed to steel-works in 1876. During 1882 the Vulcan consumed 100,000 tons of pig-iron, producing 90,000 tons of steel rails. The other works include the Granite Iron-Rolling Mills, the Laclede Rolling-Mills, the Helmbacher Forge and Rolling- Mills, the St. Louis Steam Forge and Iron-Works, and the St. Louis Bolt- and Iron- Works. In addition to these, the Harrison Steel Company are erecting mammoth stcel-works at Harrison, Ill., which will be included in the industries of St. Louis as the capital is supplied. From the best estimates the number of hands employed by the seven mills last year was 3475 ; capital invested, $5,825,000 ; value of product, $10,730,000.

The following statistics show the development of the iron and kindred trades from 1877 to 1881, in- clusive :

Iron and Steel.

Tons.

Receipts in 1881 ..

56,231

1880.

50,720

1879

48,419

1878

1877

34,646

Nails.

Kegs.

Receipts in 1881 ... .... 534,227

shipments ...... 548,494

1880. .. 601,795

......

486,396

1879 ..

.... 575,538

.....

487,157

1878

....

......

...

.....

1877

510,590

......

499,518

....

Tons.

1274

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

Iron Ores.

Tons.

Receipts in 1881.

173,307

shipments

105,901

1880

316,200

94,458

1879

211,879

...

87,148

1878

...

1877

115,886

.....

52,229

Pig-Iron.

Tons.

Receipts in 1881.

116,440 shipments.

75,230

1880

83,132

95,570

1879

70,876

85,148

1878

.....

1877 ..

46,094

......

32,751

Railroad Iron.

Tons.

Receipts in 1881

99,347

1880

45,135

1879

40,993

Owing to the great diversity of iron manufactures it is impossible to give the exact figures of this vast in- dustry in St. Louis, but a general idea of its magnitude may be obtained from the statement that in the man- ufacture of iron and steel castings, bolts, nuts, washers, rivets, and wrought railing thirty-seven firms are en- gaged, which have a capital invested, in buildings, grounds, machinery, etc., of over $8,000,000, and provide employment for 4370 persons. The business transacted annually amounts in value to $8,424,000, and the wages to $1,900,251. Besides the above, four firms are engaged in the manufacture of architec- tural and ornamental iron-work, employing forty-four . hands, and transacting a business of over $80,000 per annum, and there are a number of firms engaged in the sale of iron and steel products, whose transactions are estimated at over $6,000,000 per annum.

Few people in St. Louis have an adequate idea of the magnitude of the railroad interests which have centred at this point within the past twenty years, and of the immensity of those kindred interests which depend upon the development of this kind of trans- portation. When a new road is built, everybody knows that it must be ironed with rails from some mill, but few are aware that a vast amount of other mate- rial besides iron or stcel rails enters into the con- struction of a railroad, or that when built it takes a great variety of costly things to fit up the engincs, equip its cars, and keep them running; yet such is the case, and now the business of furnishing railway supplies is one of the leading ones of the country. It follows that, as St. Louis is a great railway centre, the business here is very great ; and yet many read- ers of this work will no doubt be surprised to learn that one of the largest concerns of this kind in the world is located here, that of M. M. Buck & Co.

Myron M. Buck, the founder of this colossal estab- lishment, was born in Manchester, N. Y. He came

of a well-known and influential family. His grand- father was one of the pioneers in that region, being a member of the " Holland Land Purchase," a com- pany which bought the whole of Western New York, a section aptly denominated the "Garden of the State," where their descendants still live, enjoying in wealth and elegant comfort the results of the labors of their far-seeing and sagacious ancestors. The grandfather settled at Canandaigua Lake, and here his son succeeded him, and became owner of a cotton- and woolen-mill, which he managed success- fully, and here M. M. Buck was born and reared. In the practical atmosphere of a mill-owner's life he gained, it may be supposed, the practical bias which has distinguished his career and has made it so suc- cessful.

Young Buck received a common-school education, but the school privileges of that period were very meagre, and he soon exhausted them. At the age of eighteen he left his father's house to make a living for himself. After visiting several towns in Western New York, and paying a visit to Toronto and other Canadian places, he drifted to New York City, where he was employed in a manufacturing establishment, but soon determined to go into busi- ness for himself, and in pursuance of that object went West. He spent three years in Chicago, and in 1858 removed to St. Louis, where he opened a modest establishment for the manufacture of car trimmings, etc. He labored amid many and great disadvantages, such as want of capital and influential friends, but, undismayed, he plodded steadily along, honestly and faithfully giving his business his personal attention, and pushing it in every quarter, until he soon ob- tained a recognized footing, and was enabled to es- tablish a depot for the sale of all kinds of railway supplies. This was the pioneer establishment of the kind in the Mississippi valley, and only the second one in the West. It has not only been the first in point of time, but it has been foremost, also, in the magnitude, variety, and boldness of its operations, and it is stated that it is the largest house but onc in this field in the country.

The headquarters of the railway supply house of M. M. Buck & Co. are at 209 and 211 North Third Street, St. Louis, where it occupies two six-story buildings, each embracing an area of thirty-five by one hundred and fifty-six feet. It uses, also, two other large buildings for manufacturing and storage purposes. In the manufacture and handling of goods about two hundred hands are employed, and it sup- plies most of the leading Eastern houses with articles of its own make, while, on the other hand, it is the

M. M. Buck,

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

1275

TRADE, COMMERCE, AND MANUFACTURES.

sole Western representative of some of the most ex- tensive manufacturing establishments in this country. More than one hundred railways are its constant customers, and its operations cover literally the whole western hemisphere, from Canada to Soutlı America.

Mr. Buck attributes this marvelous success solely to his close and careful attention to business, which has been of a character and magnitude to engross his time, and he has declined numerous solicitations to engage in other enterprises and to permit the use of his name as a candidate. But in matters affecting the progress and prosperity of St. Louis he has always been wide awake and public-spirited, and has ever been found one of the most generous supporters of worthy public enterprises. In church affairs and in social circles, as among his business associates, he en- joys the esteem of all who know him, and is regarded as one of the representative men of St. Louis.

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History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 63

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898 Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1358

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358