History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska, Part 75

Author: Savage, James Woodruff, 1826-1890; Bell, John T. (John Thomas), b. 1842, joint author; Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: New York, Chicago, Munsell & Company
Number of Pages: 1020

USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska > Part 75

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The New York Biscuit Company, suc-

located at Ninth and Leavenworth Streets, the business being established in 1885. The establishment has a capacity of 150 barrels of flour daily, and 102 hands were employed until it shut down, the early part of 1892.

The Garnean Cracker Company, estab- lished in St. Louis in 1832, located a branch house in Omaha in 1883, erecting a large three-story brick building at the corner of Jackson and Twelfth and filling it with the latest improvements for a wholesale bakery business. The business, under the manage- ment of Joseph Garneau, has grown so that a branch bakery for bread and cakes has been established at the corner of Thirteenth and Mason. The firm employs 105 persons. The business has been conducted, since July, 1890, by the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company, incorporated under the laws of Illinois, with a capital of ten million dollars, with headquarters in Chicago and branches in all of the leading cities of the West and South. Joseph Garneau, Jr., remains as manager here.

The Haarmann Brothers are proprietors of the Omaha Vinegar Works, 1714 to 1718 South Twentieth Street. They built the present factory about five years ago and have been engaged in the manufacture of vinegar in Omaha since 1870. They em- ploy eight men.

The Omaha Consolidated Vinegar Com- pany has a factory at 1124 South Fiftieth Street, formerly known as the West Side Vinegar Works. This company is com- posed of J. H. Barrett, president; P. Schwenk, vice-president, and A. D. Slater, secretary and treasurer. It was incorporated in 1889, and operates on a capital of $25,000, em- ploying eight persons.

The product of the two factories, amount- ing to 25,000 barrels of vinegar annually, is sold by the Haarmann Vinegar Company formed in 1891 and composed of F. Ilaar- mann, J. II. Barrett, C. Haarmann and A. B.

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.

Slater. Six thousand barrels of vinegar go to South Omaha to be used for pickling pur- poses by the packers.

The Gedney Pickle Company has $20,000 invested in plant and buildings, at the cor- ner of Eleventh and Grace Streets, in what was formerly the Gedney Company's pack- ing house, which has been remodeled, en- larged and fully stocked with machinery and implements necessary to the present busi- ness. Eighteen people are employed at the factory and three salesmen travel abroad. The product of 250 acres of land is put up in the form of pickles, catsups, sauce, etc., in 5,000 wooden packages and 10,000 dozen bottles, and sold through the West. The The officers of the company are W. W. Marsh, president, C. B. Gedney, vice-presi- dent and manager, and J. L. Pickering, sec- retary and treasurer. The factory has been in operation since July, 1890.

Kopp, Dreibus & Co., manufacture con- fections, and do a jobbing trade in cigars and fruits. The members of the firm are Michael Kopp, Anton Dreibus and Jacob Kopp. This industry was started in 1884. The number of employes is from thirty-five to forty-five, and the number of traveling salesmen is ten. The business amounts to $175,000 annually. This is the first steam candy factory in the State. One thousand barrels of sugar per year are used.

Vogele & Dinning are manufacturing con- fectioners and wholesale dealers in fruits, at 1110 Howard Street. The business was be- gun in 1884. They employ thirty people in the business.

Ed. Peycke and M. S. Van Deusen consti- tute the Peycke Candy Company, manufac- turing confectioner and wholesale dealer in cigars, with a capital stock of $50,000. This company has a good share of the business in this line. and its trade extends to the Pa- cific slope.

Farrell & Co., manufacturers and refiners of syrups, molasses and vinegar, established themselves in business here in June, 1887.

They occupy a large brick building at the corner of Eighth and Farnam, have one hundred employes, and sell their manufac- tured goods throughout the entire west. The company possesses abundant capital and en- terprise. The annual sales amount to nearly half a million dollars.

Grant & Sons, located at 109 South Six- teenth Street, established their business as manufacturers of confectionery in 1888, with a capital of $5,000. They have six employes.

The German Yeast Company's factory is located at Twenty-eighth and Boyd Streets and the office at 1414 Harney. The manu- facture of yeast was begun in 1888, and gives employment to twenty-two persons. The officers are: W. E. Clarke, president; W. W. Cole, vice president; J. B. Miller, secretary.

Fleischmann & Co., compressed yeast man- ufacturers, have a branch in this city, Elmer E. Bryson being agent.

BREWING,

which is now one of the leading industries in Omaha, had an humble beginning in 1859. In that year Frederick Krug erected the first brewery within the State of Nebraska. The great number of people who passed throughi Omaha, then a village of perhaps fifteen hundred, on their way to Pike's Peak, and the Mormon emigration to Utah, demanded a great deal of stimulant, and the difficulty and expense of obtaining a supply of beer from eastern points, hastened the erection of a brewery here, which Mr. Krng began in the spring of 1859 and completed in six weeks The building was a one-story frame, twen- ty-two by forty feet in size, at what is now 1013 and 1015 Farnam Street, the site occu- pied by the Vienna cafe. The work of erect- ing the building was mainly done by Mr. Krug himself, who took as a partner a shoe- maker named Rudolph Selzer, and the firm started out as Krug & Selzer, the former at- tending to the work of brewing and deliver- ing the beer and the latter taking charge of

Tret Krug

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MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.

a room in the front part of the building where beer was retailed. The brew was from twelve to eighteen barrels weekly, which sup- plied the three saloons then running and the Mormons at Florence, who were the brewer's best customers. In 1860 Mr. Krug purchased his partner's interest and became sole proprie- tor. The business increased during the second year so much that from the occasional aid of a single assistant, steady employment was given to two. In 1863 a malt house was built on Eleventh and Jackson Streets, and in 1867 the whole plant was removed there and a brick building about forty-four feet wide and eighty feet long, one and one-half stories in height, was erected and employ- ment given to six men, two hundred and fifty or three hundred barrels of beer manu- factured monthly, and small shipments made to Bellevue and Fremont. Since that time an annual increment in buildings and im- provements has been made until the present time, when the establishment, which is of solid brick buildings, occupying almost an entire block, has cost $500,000, and gives employment to about sixty men, and pro- duces fifty thousand barrels of beer annually. January 1, 1892, Frederick Krug was suc- ceeded by the Frederick Krug Brewing Com- pany, with a capital of $1,000,000. The officers of the company are: Frederick Krug, president; William Krug, vice president and general manager; Conrad Wiedemann, treas- urer and assistant manager; M. Thomas, sec- retary; C. F. Bouffier and Edward Krug, directors-the officers being also included in the directorate. A tract of eighteen acres of land was purchased by Mr. Krug on South Twenty-fourth Street, near Vinton, at a cost of $150.000, upon which a new brewery is now in process of erection. It consists of two principal buildings, one fronting on Green Street (a continuation of Vinton Street), the outside dimensions of which are 81 by 165 feet, with height varying from one to six stories; the other is 110 by 318 feet, the different portions

varying from one to six stories in height and fronting on Boulevard Street, with railway trackage between them. The cost of the present buildings and machinery is about $500,000, and $250,000 more will be expended to erect other necessary buildings. The entire establishment is of brick and iron, the outside of stock or pressed brick, with stone and copper trimmings. Capacity 200,000 barrels per year.

Metz & Brothers, brewers, a firm com- posed of Frederick, Sr., Charles and Fred- erick Jr., own and operate one of the oldest establishments in Omaha, at Sixth and Leavenworth Streets, occupying three- fourths of a block. This brewery was established in 1861, by one McCumbe, and was afterwards sold to Joseph Baumann and Jolın Green. After changing ownership several times it became the property of the present proprietors in 1864, for the pur- chase price of $6,500. Since that time it has been rebuilt and is now a valuable, com- modious and substantial establishment. The output, which is 30,000 barrels annually, is equal to its capacity. The pay roll is $2,500 monthly and forty men are employed. Fred Metz Jr., is the business manager.

In 1865 Joseph Baumann began the busi- ness of brewing in a small way on Sherman Avenne, conducting the business with one assistant. In 1876, on the death of Mr. Baumann, his widow succeeded to the busi- ness, with Gottlieb Storz as foreman, who conducted the business until 1884, when Mr. Storz and J. D. Iler purchased the property, and as Storz & Iler carried on the brewing business, enlarging and improving the build- ings and machinery and greatly increasing the output.

In May, 1891, Mr. Iler sold his interest and the Omaha Brewing Association, a cor- poration, was formed, with G. Storz, presi- dent; Frederick Stuhbendorf, vice president; Louis Schroeder, secretary and treasurer; capital stock, one million dollars, thirty per cent. being paid up. Fifty men are employed

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.

and forty-five thousand barrels of beer an- nually made, which is mainly sold in Omaha, about one-fourth going out into the State of Nebraska. The buildings and appurtenances occupy two acres of ground. Ninety thous- and bushels of barley are used annually. The bottling department of the Omaha Brewing Association is at 1421 Sherman Avenue, where the business is conducted by I. and M. Kahn. Last year the business amounted to twelve thousand cases, or twenty-four thousand dozen bottles. This company is now erecting, on Sherman Ave- nue between Clark and Grace Streets, a new brewery of brick, iron and cement, with stone trimmings and latest improved ma- chinery, to cost, when complete. about $500,- 000. The front on Sherman Avenue will be two hundred feet, and the building, a por- tion of which is to be six stories high, will run back to the railroad tracks in the rear, where all the conveniences for receiving and shipping merchandise will be provided. The capacity of this new plant will be 150,000 barrels or more annually. It is expected to be ready for occupancy in the autumn of 1893.

MALT, SODA WATER, WEISS BEER.

The Gate City Malt Company is com- posed of R. Peterson, P. S. Boien and A. Blum, who bought the building formerly ocenpied by the N. K. Fairbanks lard re- finery, a three story building 66x100 feet in size, to which a four story addition forty feet square was made in the fall of 1891, in the latter part of which year malting was begun, the capacity of the plant being six hundred bushels daily and the actual output four hundred bushels. The amount of trackage (nearly three hundred feet) in front of the malt house, corner Second and Pine Streets, and a total of eight hundred feet capable of being utilized, make the location desirable. The use of steam power for moving all grain and the arrangement for storing, steeping, sprouting and drying are of the most convenient character. The

kilns occupy two floors forty feet square and the growing room two floors 66x100 feet. The malt is principally consumed in the manufacture of beer in Omalia.

Pomy & Segelke, manufacturers of soda water, dealers in mineral waters and bot- tlers' supplies, began business in 1869, at the corner of Eleventh and Leaven- worthi Streets, in a small one story brick building, which they occupied till 1884, when they erected and moved into their present commodious brick factory at 1114- 16-18-20, corner of Tenth and Pierce Streets.

Gustav Pomy began on a small scale and conducted the business alone the first year and then associated William Segelke with him. The firm now employs at different seasons of the year from fifteen to thirty men and sends goods to all parts of the west, as far as Oregon and Washington.

E. Engeler began weiss-beer brewing in 1868. Since 1871 he has been located at 1110 North Eighteenth Street. Competi- tion between him and other manufacturers (no less than fourteen having attempted to compete snecessfully with him and failed) has rendered the business unprofitable. Ile employs one man and the product is limited to three hundred barrels.

H. W. Snyder manufactures soda and mineral water at 1512 Grace Street. He employs from eight to fifteen men. The business was started in 1880.

DISTILLING.

The Willow Springs Distillery was for- merly located in Council Bluffs, where it was known as the McCoy Distillery, and brought to Omaha in 1866 by James G. Megeath and Samuel D. Megeath, who purchased it at a government condemnation sale. Peter E. Iler & Co., consisting of Peter E. Iler, Jo- seph D. Iler and Marsh Kennard, were taken into partnership, and in the course of a few years became the sole owners, the Megeathis selling their interest. The company was in- corporated in 1872. It is now the third

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MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.

largest establishment of the kind in the United States, the plant, including ten acres of ground, being valued at a million dollars. The distillery output in 1891 was 2,412,- 784 gallons of spirits, alcohol and whiskey, on which a revenue tax of 82,161,505.60 was paid, and the sales amounted to $2,847,812.15. During the year there were used 559,500 bushels grain, 4,000 tons hay, 11,500 tons coal, 31,463 barrels, 3,500 head of cattle were fattened, and the wages paid out were 870,168.80. The figures for 1892 are as follows: Sales of manufactured product, $3,346,690; internal revenue tax paid on same, 82,589,160.60; paid employes (wages), $70,421.63; number of barrels made and used, 35,505; tons of coal consumed as fuel, 12,500; tons of hay fed to cattle, 4,000; number of head of cattle fed, 3,500; num- ber of bushels of corn used, 547,540; num- ber of bushels of rye used, 30,970; number of bushels of barley used, 75,674; number of bushels of oats used, 35,000. The manu- factured product is sold in the country west of the Mississippi River, a large part of it going to the Pacific Coast. On two occa- sions the distillery has been damaged by fire, the first in November, 1884, when prop- erty of the value of $50,000 was destroyed, and the second in July, 1886, when an equal or greater loss occurred. The business is now managed by Peter E. Iler and Henry Suessenbach.

MANUFACTURING PHARMACIST.

The Mercer Whitmore Co., manufacturing chemist and pharmacist, occupies six floors in the Mercer Building, Twelfth and How- ard Streets, each 125 feet deep, and fitted up with the latest improved machinery and appliances for the manufacture of nearly every form of preparation in which medi- cine is now exhibited. This establishment, which has but just begun business, has twenty thousand dollars invested in machin- ery, and starting with eighteen workmen, is expected soon to employ from seventy-

five to one hundred persons, and turn out a large amount of manufactured goods. This company was incorporated January 1, 1893, with a capital of $100,000. The parties chiefly interested in this enterprise are : Dr. S. D. Mercer, president and treasurer; Geo. W. Mercer, secretary; Dr. B. F. Whitmore, vice president and general manager. The foregoing and E. W. Marsh, of Omaha, and J. W. Deweese, of Lincoln, constitute the board of directors. A. L. Johnson, lately with Parke, Davis & Co., has charge of the manufacturing interests.

SOAP FACTORIES.

In 1869, P. J. Quealey, with very little capital, began the manufacture of soap at his present location, Twenty-sixth Street and U. P. Railway. By industry and ener- gy he made his way against the competition of rival factories and was getting along well when, in 1879, his factory was burned to the ground. Ile immediately began to replace his building and soon had it almost com- pleted when, by a defect in a chimney, the structure again took fire and was entirely consumed. There was no insurance and he suffered a total loss. Undaunted he bought a kettle on credit, hung it on a tripod formed of green saplings, and by the side of the still smoking ruins of his late establish- ment, he set about making another kettle of soap, and sent word to his creditors to de- cide what should be done. They came, viewed the primitive process of soapmaking, commended his pluck and extended his credit. Another building soon occupied his former factory site and business was resumed. In 1889 a stock company was formed with W. F. Roskie, president; P. J. Quealey, vice- president, and J. B. Huse, secretary; capital stock $25,000, of which $6,000 is paid in. Various brands and qualities of hard soap are manufactured, as well as soft soap for families. From five to twenty persons are employed, mostly boys and girls.

The W. A. Page Soap Co., is a corpora-

510

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.

tion, the officers being W. A. Page, presi- dent; C. H. Wagner, vice-president; Alex G. Charlton, secretary and treasurer. The capital stock is $50,000, paid in. The fac- tory has been in operation since May, 1888, at 115-123 Hickory Street. The business has increased rapidly and thirty-three peo- ple are employed. The business of the pres- ent year amounts to $140,000. The coarser grades of soap are made of pure tallow, obtained from the packing houses of South Omaha, and the finer grades from cocoanut oil from the "South Sea," and the traditional odor of a soap factory does not exist here. Thirty different brands of soap are manu- factured, aggregating something like six mil- lion bars for the year's business. Ogden is a distributing point, where a resident agent attends to the trade south and west. Six traveling salesmen are employed.

CIGAR FACTORIES.

Joseph B. West and Charles L. Fritscher formed a co-partnership, in March, 1867, as manufacturers of fine cigars and wholesale dealers in leaf tobacco, in Omaha, which lasted twenty-five years. They were the pioneer cigar manufacturers, and for a long time the leaders in this line, but the business ceased to be profitable on account of strikes and difficulties with the Cigarmakers' Union, and West & Fritscher closed their factory in 1891.

O. K. Dellecker, mannfacturer and jobber of fine cigars, at 1408 Douglas Street, began business in 1883. Since 1887 he has carried on the business alone. Ile employs eleven hands, and the number of cigars manufac- tured amounts to 500,000.

Joseph Beckman manufactures cigars at 1611 Farnam Street. He has been in the business since 1875, and employs seven per- sons. Annual product about 250,000.

J. H. Richards is located at 1017 Farnam Street. He employs five persons and manu- factures 250,000 cigars annually. Has been

in business since 1890. Like the other man- nfacturers, his goods are chiefly consumed in Omaha.

Il. C. Hartry has manufactured cigars at 1116 Farnam Street since 1886, and em- ployes from three to six men.

Other manufacturers are H. Beselin, 2409 Patrick Avenue; B. Trosler, 1105 Farnam, who employ a small number of hands. Cigars are also made by others, but in small quan- tities and with few workmen. This fast decaying industry, in Omaha, which once employed two hundred persons, now scarcely gives work to fifty.

ASPHALT PAVING.

The officers of the Grant Asphalt Paving and Slagolithic Company, which was organ- ized under the present name, January 1, 1891, are: John Grant, president and gen- eral manager; E. W. Nash, secretary; and Guy C. Barton, treasurer. Crushing works, for crushing slag obtained from the smelt- ing works, to be used for paving instead of stone, are located at the corner of Sixth and Davenport Streets. These works have a capacity of 150 tons per day. Buildings and machinery for preparing asphalt for use in the construction of pavements and walks have lately been erected near Paul and Eleventh Streets. Their capacity is 1,600 yards of asphalt pavement per day. This company's muster roll depends upon the amount of paving being done, and contains from 30 to 350 names. Mr. Grant has devoted a great deal of time to the study of pavement and the material therefor, and has three patents on slagolithic pavement.

The Barber Asphalt Paving Company, C. E. Squires, general western agent; P. W. Henry, superintendent, and C. O. Howard, cashier, has plants at East Omaha and at South Fifth and Jones Streets. This com- pany has paved a very large portion of the street area of Omaha, and now employs a large force of men.

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MANUFACTURING INTERESTS.

MARBLE WORKS.

The Omaha Marble Works were estab- ished in 1868, by M. J. Feenan, and at that time supplied the local demand for monu- ments and tombstones, and later did work for points as far as one hundred miles north and fifty miles south of this city. Ten years ago the works were moved from the business portion of the city to their present location, 2212 Poppleton Avenue. Mr. Feenan claims that these are the oldest marble works in Nebraska.

W. Y. Teetzel is the proprietor of the Omaha Monumental Works, Eighteenth and Cuming Streets, where he began business in August, 1890, employing ten men.

SADDLERY.

Marks Brothers' Saddlery Company began business in Omaha in 1885. They do a wholesale business in saddlery and harness, occupying four floors at 1215 Harney Street. In 1891 they finished and occupied their new three story brick factory at East Omaha, where they do a large manufacturing busi- ness, employing seventy-five men.

Welty & Gny are manufacturers and wholesale dealers in saddlery hardware, har- ness and saddles, at 1316 Farnam Street.

BRICK MANUFACTURERS.

There were, during the year 1892, only about fifteen manufacturers actively en- gaged in making brick in Omaha, several yards, which had heretofore done a large business, being idle during the year. The product for 1892 was about 45,000,000 brick. To make these required the labor of some- thing over three hundred men. During the great building era in Omaha there were fifty-two brick manufacturers, turning out 150,000,000 brick annually. Among the principal manufacturers at the present time are: Martin Ittner, who has made brick in Omaha for the past fourteen years, and averages annually over five million brick, at his yards located at Thirtieth and Lake Streets and Twenty-sixth Street and Creigh-

ton Avenue; Richard Smith, who began business here in 1886 and established the first machine yard in the city, and now makes 4,000,000 brick per year; Rocheford & Gould; the Grand View Brick Company; G. W. McBride; John P. Thomas; The Omaha Standard Brick Company; Hermann Deiss; Ittner & Cassell; R. Peterson; John Withnell, and Withnell & Smith. John and Richard N. Withnell were pioneer brick- makers in Omaha and have been engaged in this line ever since brick began to be used in the city. Henry Livesy, Arthur Johnson & Brother, Lars Johnson, Bailey & Olsen, Rasmus Hansen, The Omaha Standard Brick Company, John Cremer, George H. Younger- man and others, have contributed largely to the brick supply.

MISCELLANEOUS

The Adamant Wall Plaster Company was incorporated in March, 1889, and is the suc- cessor of the Nebraska Adamant Wall Plas- ter Manufacturing Company, which, until the time of the incorporation of this com- pany, was located at South Omaha. The works are now located at East Omaha, where ten men are employed. The annual product is 24,000 barrels.

Carson & Banks are manufacturing jew- elers, at room 30 Barker Block. The indi- vidual partners are W. F. Carson and W. A. Banks. This industry was initiated in 1890. Six persons are employed.

The Omaha Art Stained Glass Company, G. II. Heckerman, president, and T. T. Wil- son, secretary, manufacture stained glass windows, etc., at 1012 Farnam Street. This industry was started in 1888,and the present company incorporated in 1891, with a capi- tal stock of $10,000 paid in, and employing from eight to fifteen men. The company sends work to Texas and west to the Pacific.

John Power, manufactures all kinds of tanks and dairy cooperage, at Fourth and Jones Streets. The industry was begun six- teen years ago. Eight men are now em- ployed.

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.

The number of men employed in the in- dustrial establishments of Omaha is about 7,500.

Bradstreet furnishes most of the following statement as showing the amount invested in the leading manufacturing industries in Omaha for the year ending December 31, 1892;

Class Capital Invested

Asphalt

$ 60,000

Bag factory.

150,000

Basket manufacturers

10,000

Boiler works

28,000

Bottling works

65,000

Boot and shoe factory

110,000

Box factories, etc.

49,000

Breweries

850,000

Brick

365,000

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History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska, Part 75

Author: Savage, James Woodruff, 1826-1890; Bell, John T. (John Thomas), b. 1842, joint author; Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899 Publication date: 1894 Publisher: New York, Chicago, Munsell & Company Number of Pages: 1020

Author: Savage, James Woodruff, 1826-1890; Bell, John T. (John Thomas), b. 1842, joint author; Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: New York, Chicago, Munsell & Company
Number of Pages: 1020