History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. I, Part 143

Author: Shaw, William H
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: [United States :]
Number of Pages: 840

USA > New Jersey > Essex County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. I > Part 143
USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. I > Part 143

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Other carriage-making firms, established subsequent to those particularized, have done much to maintain and increase the reputation of Newark in the trade. Joseph Colyer & Co., Golder & Post, Ezra Marsh, M. C. Green & Co., Leverich & Enders, Il. W. Dobbins. Allen & Smith, W. 11. Cleveland, George tiochring, Joseph Harfele, J. A. Hasis, F. R. Kelley & Co., Wil- liam Kelley, S. C. Lewis, Paul Clitus, F. ... Piaget, J. C. Russell, C. Schumaeber, A. Stubenbordt, T. Wolfe, W. S. Tooker, Henry Taylor, Zipf & Bro., W. F. Wangner, and Peter Toldt are among those carriage manufacturers whose handiwork always finds a market wherever ease, elegance, lightness and dur- ability are the desire of discriminating purchasers.

GOLDER & POST were established in 1842, and theirs is one of the oldest houses in the city. Their location is at Nos. 225 and 227 Halsey Street, and they have there an extensive factory, where they employ, on an average, twenty men. Their sales reach thirty thou- sand dollars.

FINTER & Co., of Hamilton and Bruen Streets, do a large business in wagon-making. Mr. Frederick Finter, who is the sole proprietor of the establishment, is a native of tiermany, but has been in the city fifty years, and has probably lived here longer than any other person of his nationality. Ilis son is manager of his business.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Spoke and Wheel Works .- PHINEAS JONES & Co.'s wheel and spoke manufactory was established in 1855 by Mr. Jones, the senior member of the firm, at No. 301 Market Street, Newark, where continues to be carried on one of the largest establishments of the kind in the State, employing at present one hundred persons. The works have been enlarged from time to time, as necessity required. In 1880 the works were destroyed by fire, and immediately rebuilt. The death of Phineas Jones occurred April 19, 1884, at which time he was the senior member of the firm, the others being W. H. Baldwin and IIenry P. Jones, who con- tinue the business.

PHINEAS JONES was born in the town of Spencer, Mass., April 18, 1819, and was the youngest of fourteen children, his father being a farmer in good circum- stances, and a resident of that place. At a suitable age young Mr. Jones was sent to the academy at Leicester, where he enjoyed excellent advantages for learning, and whence he was graduated with great credit. Returning home, his father being now some- what advanced in age, he undertook the management of the farm, and continued to do so until his father's death. Thrown upon his own resources, his first ad- venture was school-teaching in his native town, a pro- fession for which he was well qualified, and in con- nection with which he employed his leisure hours in surveying. Finding, however, these occupations in- sufficient for his active and aspiring nature, he deter- mined to fit himself for a business life, and to that end established a large country store in the town of Spencer. In this enterprise he developed such fine business talents and was so successful that he resolved to test his abilities in a larger field. To this end he relinquished his store in Spencer, and removing to Elizabeth, N. J., engaged extensively in the man- ufacture of carriage-wheels. This was in 1855. In Elizabeth he remained until 1860, when he removed to Newark, N. J., where, in partnership with Mr. William H. Baldwin, he established a factory on a much larger scale, and year after year, since that time, continued to increase his manufacturing facilities and to extend his business until the day of his death, which occurred April 19, 1884. While engaged in this business he exhibited a great deal of mechanical ingenuity, and several of his inventions, which were patented, proved to be very valuable.

In politics Mr. Jones was a Republican, and in maintaining the principles of that party was bold and energetic. As a ready and forcible speaker, he always commanded attention, and as an intelligent, efficient man of business, acquired confidence and respect. Within three years after his settlement in Elizabeth he was elected a member of the Common Council, and served for two years in that body.

For several years after his removal to Newark he gave strict attention to his factory, in which he had now one hundred men employed, with a constantly- increasing demand for his productions. Nevertheless,

we hear from him in connection with the Board of Trade, established in 1868, of which he was a member and a director, and in which he took a very active and prominent part. We also hear of him as a director of the l'eople's Insurance Company, established in 1866; but in 1874 he appears more prominently as a member of the General Assembly, in which body he served so satisfactorily to his constituents that in the year following he was re-elected to the same position. In 1881, Mr. Jones was elected a member of the Forty- Seventh Congress, and served to the end of his term, although during the last months of the second ses- sion he suffered so much from sickness contracted at Washington that he declined the renomination which was tendered to him. But of all the institutions of a public nature with which Mr. Jones was connected, the New Jersey Agricultural Society awakened his liveliest sympathies. The experience of his early life made him a valuable member of its board of directors, and to its interests he devoted much of his time and attention. His sudden death, in the midst of a most honorable and useful career, was deeply lamented by the community of which, for nearly a quarter of a century, he had been an esteemed and valuable member.

Saddlery and Harness Business .- In this depart- ment of labor Newark workmanship also achieved, many years ago, an enviable reputation for excellence in strength, style, finish and beauty. It may be said that for a long period the largest part of the South was supplied with saddlery and harness by Newark. The earliest important establishment, of which we have any trace, is the one founded about the year 1823, under the title of Smith & Wright, the firm some years later consisting of Hanford Smith, William Wright, Edwin Van Antwerp and William Faitoute. Their extensive factory (a portion of which is still standing) occupied the southeast corner of Broad and Fair Streets. The founders of the firm, like the founders of Newark, originally came from Connecti- ent. They are said to have long conducted here the largest business in their line in the country. One member of the firm was destined not only to contrib- ute largely to the development of Newark as a man- ufacturing centre, but to figure conspicuously in the atlairs of the State and nation. This was William Wright, who died on Nov. 1, 1866, while holding the position of Senator in the Congress of the United States. Mr. Wright was a native of Rockland County, N. Y., where he was born about the year 1790. He engaged in the saddlery trade at Bridgeport, Conn. After a very active business life of thirty years in Newark, and having amassed a splendid for- tune, Mr. Wright retired from. business about the year 1854. Meanwhile he had taken a deep interest in public affairs, and served three terms as mayor of the city (in 1841, '42 and '43). In 1842 he also ran for Congress, and was elected over William B. Kinney. lle was re-elected in 1844, and in 1847 ran for Gov

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INDUSTRIES OF NEWARK.

ernor of the State, but was defeated by Daniel Haines. In politie- he was a Whig, supporting Henry Clay in 1848, but in 1850 he withdrew from that party, joined the Democracy, and in 1853 was elected I'nited States Senator by that party. At the expiration of his term he was succeeded by a Republican, the Republicans having emtrol of the Legislature ; but in 1863 the Democrats had the majority, and seut Sen- ator Wright back to the Senate. He died three year- Inter, at the ripe age of seventy-six. Senator Wright left behind him a reputation, not as an orator, but as

Macknet), "opposite the Third Church ; " Darcy & Gray ( W. M. Darcy and A. J. Gray , " near the City Hotel:" Davy, llowell & Benedict Joseph Davy. William Howell and Terah Beuediett, " West Market Street |up-stairs), near Broad Street ;" and Abram Hedenberg, " East Market Street, near Broad."

GEORGE PerEns .- George Peters, the grandfather of Mr. Peters, was of English extraction, and born about the year 1752 in Germantown, l'a., where he re- sided until his death, having served with credit dur- ing the war of the Revolution. Ilis children were

a " prudent counselor," one who was "endowed with great good sense and sound judgment," and " faithful in all the relations of life." The marble memorial placed in the House of Prayer lof which church he was " the benefactor") is authority for saying that " charity was the rule of his life."

The other early saddlery and harness manufacturers were Jacobus & Garthwaite (l'eter Jacobus and Wil- liam Garthwaite), "a few doors above City Hotel; " Dodd, Bassett & Co. (Abner Dodd, L. S. Bassett and J. A. Horton), " next door to the First Church ;" Shuguard & Macknet (William Shugard and C. S.

four daughters and three sons, among whom was Abram, also a native of Germantown, where he be- came an industrious representative of the cooper's trade. He married a Miss Shuguard, of Germantown, and had two sons,-Jacob and George. The latter was born Nov. 17, 1518, nt the homestead, where the first thirteen years of his life were spent at school in the immediate vicinity of his home. He then came to Newark, and entered the shop of his unele, William Shuguard, with a view to acquiring the trade of a hur- ness-maker. Ou completing his apprenticeship he remained one year in Newark, and then became a

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

resident of Bridgeport, Conn., where he remained for seven years in pursuit of his trade. Returning in 1845 to Newark, he purchased an interest in the factory of his uncle, and later became sole owner of the estab- lishment. This business has greatly increased in pro- portions, and is still conducted under the firm of Peters, Calhoun & Co., with the subject of this sketch as the senior partner. Mr. Peters was married in 1845, and has ten children. In politics he is a Dem- ocrat, though formerly affiliating with the Old-Line Whig party. Hle has served as Alderman of the city of Newark, but declined other offices. He has also at various times been identified with the city banks and insurance companies, but in later life retired from such responsibilities. Ile is a regular attendant and one of the vestrymen of Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church of Newark.

THE PETERS & CALHOUN COMPANY .- The sad- dlery and harness establishment of the Peters & Calhoun Company was founded by Samuel Shuguard who began collar-making in a one-story wooden building. In the year 1823 he became associated with Mr. Macknet, under the firm-style of Shuguard & Macknet. They afterwards extended their busi- ness so as to include the manufacture of harness. This firm continued for about a quarter of a century, until the year 1848, when they were bought out by Mr. Peters, the present general manager of the concern. He became associated with Mr. Thompson, under the firm-name of l'eters & Thompson, but the latter's death, in 1851, caused another change, and Mr. Peters carried on the business alone for about three years, when the firm of Peters & Benner was formed. MIr. Benner retired ten years later, and Mr. Peters again continued alone until 1874, when the concern was organized as the Peters & Calhoun Company. In 1878 the preseut management took hold, and they have since conducted a most successful business. The officers are : President, G. Willis l'eters ; Treasurer, John L. Dodge; Secretary and Assistant Treasurer, J. S. Dodge; General Manager, George Peters. The New York sales-room is at 691 Broadway, and the factory is located at Nos. 906 and 908 Broad Street, Newark. The company also have agencies in Lon- don, in Sydney, Australia, and other important foreign centres. The firm claim that they are the largest manufacturers in their line in the world. The manu- factory occupies two fronts on Broad Street, and runs back one hundred and sixty feet on Green Street. There are also two L's of seventy feet each, to provide additional facilities. The number of hands employed averages from two hundred and twenty-five to three hundred and fifty, according to the demands of the trade. The building is divided off into three depart- ments, one being for harness, another for saddles and the third for collars, cach having its own foreman at the head.

N. J. DEMAREST & Co. is another of the oldest and inost firmly-established saddlery and harness concerns

in Newark. Daniel Demarest, the father of the pres- ent senior member of the firm, was in business long before Newark became a city. An early directory de- scribes him as "saddle-tree maker, 22 Fair, h. 36 S. Canal."

JACOBUS & CONDICT were the founders of the busi- ness now conducted under the title of S. A. Condiet & Co.

The first attempt to manufacture harness exclu- sively in this city is said to have been successfully made by Joseph Davy, a patriarch of the haruess- makers.

TERAH BENEDICT conducted business ou his own account from 1836 to his death, in 1884. The firm was originally Davy, Howell & Benedict, then Bene- diet & Ball, and subsequently Mr. Benedict's sons were associated with him.

Joseph Benedict, the grandfather of Terah Bene- diet, was a resident of Danbury, Conn., and a successful farmer. His children were Seth, Ery, Hannah, Elizabeth, Annie and Olive. Ery was born on the homestead, the land of which he cultivated. He married Adah Dibble, daughter of Samuel Dibble, and was the father of a son, Terah, and a daughter, Betty (MIrs. Anson Weed). The first itamed was born at the family house, in Danbury, Conn., on the 3d of February, 1801. Having been at the early age of three years deprived of a father's affectionate care, he became a member of the family of his maternal grandfather, at Stony Hill, in the same township, during which period he received in- struction at the neighboring school, and also turned his willing hands to the labor of the farm. On de- ciding to acquire a trade, he removed, at the age of fifteen and a half years, to Bridgeport, Conn., and be- came an apprentice to a saddle and harness maker. Here he continued until his majority was attained, when, having been engaged by his employers, who had meanwhile removed to Newark, he became a resi- dent of the latter city, and continued with them from 1822 until 1836. During the latter year he became a member of a firm in the same business. This enter- prise not proving successful, he conducted the busi- ness for a brief period alone, and ultimately entered into another copartnership. About 1840 he estab- lished the business of which he is the present head, and later admitted his sons, Alexander T. and Edward E., into the firm, who now assume its active manage- ment. Mr. Benedict was, on the 20th of November, 1822, married to Miss Ellen M., daughter of Ebenezer Booth, of Bridgeport, Conn., whose death occurred on the 20th of August, 1832. He was again married on the 20th of November, 1833, to Miss Julia C., daugh- ter of David Ball, of Newark, N. J., whose children are Alexander T., David E., Edward E., Oscar B. and James P. Mr. Benedict has been during his long and active life absorbed in the cares of business, and found no leisure for participation in matters of a political or publie character. He has therefore never sought nor

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INDUSTRIES OF NEWARK.

had conferred upon him official position, though reg- ularly exercising the privilege of the franchise, first as a Whig and later as a Republican. lle is a mem- ber of the First Reformed Church of Newark, though formerly an elder in the Park Presbyterian Church.

Tompkins & Mandeville established themselves about 1857.

During the Franco-Prussian war several Newark firms supplied the French government with immense invoices of saddles and artillery harness. One firm alone filled an order on an emergency for four thou- sand sets of artillery barness, finishing the work in

Halsey. But to no man is so much due, perhaps, for the rise and growth of this business, and particularly for the eredit which it has won the community because of products superior to those of other markets, as to Thomas B. Peddie, a thrifty, energetic and most indus- trious Scotchman, who settled here some time before Newark became a city. lle began business in 1834. In the directory for 1830 his name appears as " trunk manufacturer, base 355, h. 393 Broad."

Thomas B. P'eddie reared out of his Broad Street basement in Newark a business which employs a sinall army of workers, occupies two four-story brick

Deryh Menedin

eleven days. Additional to the saddlery and harness manufacturers already named, there have been estab- lished here Theo. Dufford, E. F. Beck, Butler & Wards, E. A. Crossman, Jr., J. Clements & Bro., Manning & Lyon, John Houck, George Roubaud, Robert t". Win- ters and The Harness-Makers' Co-Operative Union.

Trunk and Traveling-Bag Manufactories .- The manufacture of trunks and traveling-bags is another highly important branch of imlustry in Newark, and of long establishment here. With it, in the first part of the present century are creditably associated the names of John Hedden, Pruden Alling, Ralph Mor- gan, Peter Jacobus, Richard M. Crane and Smith

buiklings, each four hundred feet long, at Market and Halsey Streets, uses in a year more than two million fret of lumber, and every month eats up ten tons of sheet-iron and more than fifteen thousand dollars' worth of leather. Early in his career (in 1847) Mr. P'eddie had associated with him an admirable business man,-John Morrison. In 1861, Mr. Morrison died. After continuing business alone for several years, Mr. Peddie took as a partner George B. Jenkinson, the firm-title being T. B. Peddie & Co. It is not extrava- gant to say that this firm, in common with others in Newark, eclipses the world in the utility, finish and beauty of the goods manufactured. These goods find

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

a market all over the l'nion and in foreign countries. The factory is probably the largest in the world. The number of employés varies from four to five hundred.

THOMAS B. PEDDIE was born in Edinburgh, Seot- land, the native place also of his father, who was engaged in business in that city, and who was highly respected for his integrity and the interest which he took in matters of religion. Under the influence of parents who had a solicitous regard for his welfare, young Peddie grew up instructed in the rudiments of learning and trained to habits of industry and sobriety. Ile was taught that throughout life he would be obliged to depend mainly upon his own exertions, and with the parental injunctions constantly before him, he labored with such diligence that, before reaching his majority, he was in circumstances which enabled him to look about and choose the most suitable field in which to exercise his talents and make for himself a home and a name. The knowledge obtained by inquiry and reading begat in him a desire to see the world, and a spirit of enterprise finally led him to the conclusion that the United States was the country in which fortune and the realization of his dreams awaited him. Full of hope and of brave determina- tion, he bade good-by to his native land, and in 1833 landed in America. With the sagacity which has always characterized him, he first resolved to look well around him before fixing upon a place of settlement, and it was only after a great deal of deliberation that he decided upon Newark, N. J. True to the purpose with which he left his home, he sought a place where he could exercise his abilities, and without much difficulty obtained a situation in the great saddlery establishment of Smith & Wright, the latter of whom became subsequently a United States Senator. With this firm he remained for two years, when he com- menced on his own account the manufacture of leather trunks and traveling-bags. It was a very small beginning indeed, but it has grown to be one of the most important manufacturing establishments in the city of Newark, and even in the whole country. In 1846 he took into partnership Mr. John Morrison, with whom he continued to be associated until 1861, when Mr. Morrison died. In 1872, Mr. George B. Jenkinson, who had for several years been connected with the firm, became a partner, and from that time the business of the establishment was carried on under the style of T. B. Peddie & Co., and is at present so conducted. To the management of this great manu- factory, which sends its products to every part of the world, Mr. Peditie still gives his personal attention. But notwithstanding the great amount of time and labor requisite to the supervision of his private busi- ness, he has not stood idle or indifferent when the publie good could be promoted by his services. Besides being a director in many of the financial institutions of the city of Newark, he has taken a lively interest in almost every important public move-

ment. In the discussions of the Board of Trade, of which he was at one time president, he has always taken a prominent part. On his return from a visit to Europe a few years since he delivered an address before that body full of valuable information con- cerning trade and the industrial pursuits, both mechanical and agricultural, of the different countries which he had visited, and concluded his remarks by earnestly advocating a new department at Washington, that of trade and commerce, as an adjunct to that of agriculture.

Mr. Peddie is and always has been a stanch Repub- lican. In 1863 and 1864 he served as a member of the State General Assembly, in which position he took an active part in support of the general government during the war of the Rebellion, and by means of his influence, as well as his purse, did good service in behalf of the Union. In 1866, '67, '68 and '69 he was mayor of Newark, an office which he filled with credit to himself and to the city. In 1876 he was elected to represent the Sixth Congressional District of New Jersey in the Forty-fitth Congress, and on the expira- tion of his term of office declined a further nomina- tion. Although no seeker after political oflice, Mr. Peddie takes a deep interest in the party which he has so faithfully served, and his advice and influence are always sought in matters affecting it. In his religious views he is a Baptist, and is connected with the First Baptist Church of Newark, in which he takes a great interest, and to the maintenance of which he has not only contributed generously, but is ever ready to re- spond whenever called upon for aid. His name was bestowed upon the Peddie Institute, at Hightstown, N. J., as a mark of regard for his interest in the educa- tion of the young. Of the Newark City Home, the Newark City Hospital and various other public institu- tions he has repeatedly acted as a trustee, or director. All benevolent enterprises find in bim a liberal sup- porter, and he is always ready to contribute of his means, as well as of his personal services, to whatever may advance the welfare of his adopted city.

GEORGE B. JENKINSON, of the firm of T. B. Peddie & Co., manufacturers, Newark, N. J., was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, Aug. 18, 1827, his parents being among the worthy and highly-respected Prot- estant families of that section of the country. Ilis father, somewhat embarrassed in his business affairs by the financial troubles of 1846 and 1847, determined to emigrate to America, and, setting sail accordingly reached Montreal in March, 1847, and settled at once in that city. Young Jenkinson, at this time nineteen years of age, having received a fair education in his native land, was placed in a trunk factory for the purpose of learning the trade, which, by the aid of his great industry, skill and business talents, has placed him among the most successful manufacturers of New Jersey. The three years which he considered neces- sary to fit himself for active and thorough work were spent to the best advantage in Montreal, and when

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that time was accomplished, he carefully gathered together his earnings, and taking as direct a course as possible, reached Newark, where, entering the large trunk manufacturing establishment of Peddie & Morrison, he modestly offered his services to that well- known house. His frank, business-like air imme- diately secured him employment, and in a very short time he found himself not only the trusted foreman of that thriving concern, but a party highly interested in its success. With such prospects now before hin, it is not difficult to believe that all his energies were put forth, and that year by year, under his skilltul management, the business of the establishment, together with his interests therein, was constantly increasing. In 1861, Mr. Morrison, one of the members of the firm, died, and in 1872, Mr. Jenkinson became a full part- ner in these extensive works which covered nearly half a block in the very centre of the city, and gave employment to several hundred workmen.

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History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. I, Part 143

Author: Shaw, William H Publication date: 1884 Publisher: [United States :] Number of Pages: 840

Author: Shaw, William H
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: [United States :]
Number of Pages: 840