USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Paterson > Paterson, New Jersey : its advantages for manufacturing and residence: its industries, prominent men, banks, schools, churches, etc. > Part 14
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JOSEPH TOWELL was born in County Down, Ireland. on May 24, 1848. and attended the schools of his native place until he was fourteen years of age. Even at that . man of the energy, knowledge and talents possessed by early age he evinced a liking for flowers and floriculture and at his own request he studied gardening in the gar- dens of the Marquis of Downshire for three years ; during his apprenticeship he received no wages but paid the sum of eighteen pence per week for the education he re- ceived there. At the expiration of the three years he went THE JOHN NORWOOD COMPANY .- Among the most important of the large business establishments in the city of Paterson, that exert in no small degree an influence upon the commercial advantages of that city, is the whole- sale and retail paint and painters' supply house of the John Norwood Company, which is located on the southwest corner of Main and Ellison streets. The building, which is one of the finest and largest in the city, is constructed of pressed brick, with ornamental stone dressings, and has a frontage of twenty-five feet, with a depth of one hundred and ten feet ; it is three stories in height. It is one of the most conspicuous features of Main street. the leading thor- oughfare of the city, and is amply provided with every convenience and facility for conducting the large trade to England where for twelve months he had charge of the gardens at East Ilempstead Park. Finding that there was still something to learn in the vocation he had chosen he sought employment in the large gardens of the British Isles, his main object being the acquiring of a thorough knowledge of gardening, wages being only of secondary consideration. In pursuance of this plan he was engaged in a large number of the principal gardens of England both private and commercial and fitted himself thoroughly for the business. He had from his early youth a desire to come to this country and in 1872 he carried that project into execution. Despite the prevailing depression in all lines of business he soon found employment as landscape
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that is carried on, which is both wholesale and retail. the store being divided into two departments, in order to facil- itate transactions. The company also occupies a building in the rear of their premises in Ellison street ; this build- ing is fifty by fifty feet and three stories high. The stock, which for character, extent and variety is the larg- est in the city, comprises paints, varnishes, glass, white lead, oils, alcohol, glues, gums. &c., and a very large and complete line of brushes ; also artists' and wax flower ma- terials, machinery and burning oils are handled largely. A full line consisting of fifty shades of the Longman & Martinez and The John Norwood Co.'s ready mixed paint is always kept in 'stock. It might be stated that the demand for ready mixed paints is growing every year, and the foreman of the company says that white lead, colors and oil, ground together by machinery, are finer and will wear much better than if mixed by hand. There is also a well selected stock of coach colors and coach var- nishes, and other materials used by carriage builders. Carriage gloss paint is a comparatively new article ; it is coach colors ground in varnish and ready for use. The wall paper department is as large. if not larger than any other ; great care and study is given to the selection. The patterns and colorings are always the newest. They carry in stock pressed papers, velvets, embosts, bronzes, felts, silks, damasks, varnished, washable and sanitary papers ; also, white and brown blanks; most of these have matched friezes, borders, ceilings and decorations ; a complete combination can be made including mouldings, &c. Shadings and hollands, plain and decorated, with many styles of fringes, which match in color; also all sizes of spring rollers and fixtures for large store win- dows, &c., will be found in this department. The com- pany give special attention to shading fine residences, large mills, &c., as they make all the shades they sell. The painting and interior decorating is in the charge of a foreman who is a practical and thorough man, and devotes all his time to this branch, and all work entrusted to his judg- ment, will be correct in combination, coloring, &c. An- other feature worthy of mention is the systematic arrange- ment prevailing throughout the entire establishment.
The business was established by Mr. John D. Shorrock in 1836; Mr. Shorrock was succeeded by John Norwood & Co., and at present the business is carried on by the John Norwood Company, a corporation which for ability in the qualifications of its personnel is not surpassed by any in the city. All of the members of the company have had a great deal of experience in their particular depart- ments of the business, and all were for a number of years connected in some capacity with the firm of John Nor- wood & Co. Mr. W. G. Norwood is the son of John Norwood and assisted him for many years in the general conduct of the business. Mr. John B. Spear was for ten years bookkeeper in the establishment and is thoroughly conversant with every branch of the business; Mr. Henry Schoonmaker who has charge of the shade department, has devoted many years to that branch of the business ;
Mr. John H. Post has shown exceptional ability in the de- partment entrusted to him ; Mr. James Kennelly is a prac- tical painter and decorator: Mr. George W. Pollitt was for many years engaged in mercantile pursuits in the city until he became an employee of John Norwood & Co. That success should attend such a combination of practical men, each especially adapted to the department entrusted to him, is certainly not more than might have been ex- pected.
MARSHALL & BALL .- The name of this firm is familiar to every man, woman and child in the State of New Jer- sey. No individual enterprise has ever had the effect on any special class of trade that this firm has exerted on the clothing business. When the firm first started into busi- ness only the cheapest kinds of goods were manufactured into what was called ready made clothing ; men who could afford it had their clothing made to order and ready-made clothing was looked upon as something very inferior. The firm set themselves to work to revolutionize this state of affairs and the success they have attained is attested by the enormous business they have built up in the three largest cities in the State. They used the best kind of goods for their stock and the public soon ascertained that a suit of clothes could be obtained just as good by patroniz- ing this firm as by having goods made to order and that at a far lower price. Their business increased enormously and soon they were able to keep in stock all kinds of goods and of all sizes and shapes. Ready made clothing rose from the position it had hitherto occupied to one equal to that of the best custom-made goods. Marshall & Ball at present have three stores-one at Nos. So7 to S13 Broad street, Newark ; one at Nos. 58 to 60 Newark avenue, Jer- sey City, and one at Nos. 221 and 223 Main street, Pater- son. In Newark the firm occupies the whole of a large building and here the cutting and manufacturing is done. The Jersey City store was started in 1874 and five years later their business was established in Paterson. The bus- iness here under the management of Mr. Henry Diefen- thaler continued to grow at such a rate that hired quarters were no longer sufficient and the firm purchased a plot of ground on Main street and erected its own building, of which a representation appears on another page. The salesroom is one of the handsomest in the city and occu- pies the whole of the first floor, being 42x100 in area, well lighted and well ventilated.
LOCKWOOD BROTHERS .- In 1852 Mr. W. Lockwood established the furniture business in Paterson at No. 48 Van Houten street and in November, 18;3, he removed to Nos. 290, 292 and 294 Main street. Here his business ex- tended very rapidly and he took his two sons, Frank S. and William J., into partnership with him, the firm name being W. Lockwood & Sons. On February 1, 1889, Mr. Lockwood retired and the business has since been carried on by his sons under the firm name of Lockwood Brothers. The business had assumed great proportions and for some years the firm found itself cramped in its quarters. Con- sequently in ISgo a material addition was erected to the
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store so that it now runs through from Main street to Cross street. It has a frontage of fifty feet on Main street, twen- ty-five feet on Cross street and a total depth of two hun- dred and ninety feet. The Main street building has a basement and three stories; the Cross street building has a basement and four stories. The stores are supplied with two freight and one passenger elevator. The firm has always been successful, their business increasing largely every year.
GEORGE MELVILLE ELLIOT was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on January 7. 1856. When he was about five years of age his family removed to London where he re- ceived his education. In 1868 he went back to Edinburgh where he learned the trade of watchmaker and jeweler. In 1873 he came to this country and at once took up his residence in Paterson where he was employed until 1879 by a prominent jewelry firm. In 1879 he began business for himself in a small room on the upper floor of the building on the northwest corner of Washington and Ellison streets, and by means of natural business capacity and strict attention to business soon accumulated enough to warrant him in opening a store on the first floor of the building on the northwest corner of Van Houten and Washington streets The energy with which he looked after his business, his uniformly courteous manner and fair dealing with all soon made his quarters too small for an ever increasing business and he obtained possession of the large store at No. 194 Main street where he has since conducted his business No merchant stands higher in the estimation of his friends and customers than Mr. Elliot and his business is continu- ally assuming larger proportions. The transition from the time, only a few years ago, when he did all his own work, to his present business, when he continually em- ploys eight men, is sufficient evidence of his qualifications as a business man. He was the first jeweler in the city who found it necessary on account of the extent of his bus- iness to employ a delivery wagon. Mr. Elliot is a mem- ber of the Board of Trade and of a number of prominent societies in Paterson and has always taken a commend- able interest in all projects looking to the welfare of the public.
MEYER BROTHERS .- The Boston store, Nos. ISI to :S7 Main street, and Nos. 116 and 118 Washington street, was established in Paterson about ten years ago by Meyer Brothers who were at that time doing a flourishing dry goods business in Newark. They opened a store on the corner of Main and Market streets and their enterprise and low prices soon attracted a great deal of trade. In a short time the store, spacious as it was, proved too small for them and as on account of the architecture of the building an enlargement could not be bad they took a lease for a long number of years on the Van Saun building which was then in the course of erection. Although they had the largest floor space of any business in the city they so in found that they were cramped and that additions would be absolutely necessary. Accordingly in IS90 they purchased the property on Washington street lying immediately in
the rear of their Main street stores and thereon they crected a fine building, having a frontage on Washington street of sixty-five feet and a depth of a hundred feet. The new building, which is four stories high. contains all the mod- ern improvements and connects with the Main street build- ing, forming as it were one solid building, all the floors connecting and running through from Main to Washington street. All the different departments are reached by eleva- tors so that the top floor is now as easy of access as any part of the store. Several new departments were added, viz -carpets, furniture, clothing, millinery, upholstery. dressmaking and honse furnishing in all its branches. Over a hundred clerks are employed and nearly every Eu- ropean language is spoken. The delivery wagons of the firm may be seen almost at any time of the day and even- ing in almost any part of the city. The firm has also an- other establishment nearly as large in New Brunswick, N. J.
SAMUEL NATHAN, one of the most prosperous and re- spected business men of Paterson, was born in Czempin. Prussia. on May 12. 1843. He enjoyed the advantages of the educational facilities of his native home until he was about seven years of age when his family removed to this coun- try. They proceeded at once to Providence, R. I .. where young Nathan attended school for two years, at the expira- tion of which time his family removed to New York city where he completed his education. At the age of thirteen he was employed in a mercantile establishment in New York and at the age of fifteen was made salesman, his nat- ural business abilities having secured him this rapid pro- motion. At the age of twenty he started in business for himself in Fulton street, dealing in gentlemen's furnishing goods. In May. 1866, he removed to Paterson and open- ed a clothing and merchant tailoring establishment on the southwest corner of Main and Ellison streets. On account of the sale of the building three years later he was com- pelled to vacate and for two years and a half occupied a store on Main street a short distance south of his former location. In IS71 Mr. Samuel Smith and Mr. James Jackson had erected a fine row of business houses on Mar- ket street ; at that time Market street was not a business thoroughfare ; although in the heart of the city trade had not found its way out of Main street and Market street was lined principally with residences. Mr. Smith and Mr. Nathan had been on terms of the closest friendship for a long time and Mr. Nathan, with a perspicacity which has assisted him in establishing his business, saw that it would be but a question of a short time before trade would find its way into Market street ; he accordingly led the way which has been followed by so many others since and became the pioneer of trade in Market street ; he leased one of the stores in the Smith & Jackson block and some time after- wards acquired by purchase the adjoining property on the corner of Market and Church streets. He first occupied the building adjoining that occupied by the Second Na- tional Bank but when sometime afterwards a neighboring and larger store was made vacant he removed to this in
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order to increase his facilities, this step being made neces- sary by his increasing business. Strict attention to busi- ness, assisted by courteous demeanor and a well earned reputation for integrity and fair dealing, soon established a business which in itself was a guarantee of success. In ISS.4 Mr. Nathan erected a fine building on the property acquired by him a few years previous and became the owner of one of the handsomest business structures in the State. The lower floor of the building is used for business purposes, the upper floors are used for the rooms of the District Court and as lodge and meeting rooms Mr. Na- than is a leading director in the Second National Bank, in the Colt Land Company and the Home Land Company and occupies other honorary positions testifying to the con- fidence the citizens of Paterson repose in him.
FRANK W. ALLEN was born in North Kingstown, R. I., on July 10, 1851, and received his education at the Providence Conference Seminary. He then became a clerk in a wholesale flour and grain house in Hartford, Ct., and was subsequently employed by the same firm in Springfield, Mass. In 1877 he went into the dressed beef business on his own account in Worcester, Mass., remain- ing there for five years, at the expiration of which time he came to Paterson. No western dressed beef business had been established yet in this city and shortly after the old way of bringing cattle and slaughtering in Paterson was completely changed to western dressed brought in refrig- erator cars. He erected refrigerators near the tracks of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad and in ISS6 obtained possession of commodious quarters in Washington street, nearly opposite the city hall. The latter proved of great convenience to his patrons, as it was easy of access. Mr. Allen supplied his establishment with all the modern improvements in his line of business and was the first in the state to have an ice machine in opera- tion for the cooling of dressed beef. He was the first to introduce the killing of hogs in Paterson and this experi- ment was attended with so great a success that now the number of hogs slaughtered at his establishment at times reaches an average of twelve hundred a week. Progress and success have marked every year of Mr. Allen's career in this city and the number of his friends increases with the circle of his acquaintanceship, for Mr. Allen is of a quiet and pleasing disposition and fair and liberal dealing are characteristic of him. He is a director of the Paterson National Bank and enjoys the confidence of all who have ever met him.
PATRICK HENRY SHIELDS was born in the north of Ire- land on January 12, 1837, being the oldest of nine child- ren. His parents came to America in 1846, settling in Paterson, N. J , where they remained a year or two, when they removed to Little Falls. In 1858 the family removed again to Paterson and Mr. Shields entered a grocery store and in the course of five years acquired such an insight into the business that he set up for himself in 1863 with the little capital he had been able to accumulate by the closest economy after liberally aiding his family. By his
steady industry and honesty in trade he soon acquired an enviable reputation and although through his proverbial generosity he has at times lost heavily his business has constantly been growing until he is now one of the most extensive grocers in Paterson. A number of years ago he took one of his brothers, Mr. Walter G. Shields. into part- nership with him. Thus it will be seen that Mr. Shields is emphatically a self-made man and he is a very credita- ble specimen of that sort of production. In 1871 he was elected to the Board of Chosen Freeholders, remaining in that body for five years, during all of which time he was one of the leading spirits in shaping its policy and control- ling its measures. He was chosen director in 1872-3-4-5- Largely through his influence the Board inaugurated the policy of building permanent iron bridges, in consequence of which the county now spends very little in repairs of bridges. In the fall of 1SSI he was elected to the Assem- bly by a majority of 952, which the three wards compos- ing his district never gave to any other man, a fact which sufficiently attests his popularity among all classes. He was re-elected the following year. In March, ISSS, he was elected County Collector and has held that office ever since.
JAMES BELL was born on October 8, 1835. in County Down. Ireland, where his family were engaged in the manufacture of linen. Mr. Bell landed in this country on the 11th of April, 1854 ; the vessel in which he came was shipwrecked and instead of landing in Boston landed in Newport. Mr. Bell at once proceeded to Boston, where he was engaged in the rubber business until November, 1860, when he removed to Paterson. Here he went into the business of importing wines and other articles of mer- chandise at the store which he still occupies in Market street ; he also at once took an interest in various manu- facturing and mercantile projects. In 1866 he began the development of Riverside, at present a flourishing section of the city. Ile organized the Riverside Land Improve- ment Company in 1866 and at its dissolution in 1872 he owned one-fourth of the property held by the company. This company induced the New Jersey Midland railroad company-now the New York, Susquehanna & Western railroad company-to lay its tracks through Paterson by subscribing $12,500 to the capital stock of the railroad company, the latter locating its route through the property owned by the land company. In 1868 Mr. Bell purchased the Hilliard place and at present occupies a portion of it as a residence. He has located fourteen mills and manu- facturing establishments in this city, all with one excep- tion on property owned by him. He was one of the first subscribers to the Paterson & Little Falls horse railroad company. lle had large interests in the Passaic and Orange oil companies and in the Excelsior and Empire oil companies, the latter being the first companies of their kind organized in this country. He secured the charter and organization of the People's Gas Light company of Paterson. a corporation which reduced the price of gas to manufacturers from $3.So to $1.50 per thousand, and he
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has been largely interested in nearly every work of im- portance undertaken in Paterson. At the present day he is the owner of a great deal of valuable real estate. In ISS9 he erected the Bell building on the corner of Market street and Ramapo avenue, an illustration of which appears on another page. He has just completed the Bunker Hill mill- at Riverside and leased them for a long term of years to W. & J. Sloane, of New York, for the manufacture of tapestry, thus introducing another new industry in the city.
JAMES WILSON is a Scotchman by birth and came to Paterson twenty-seven years ago. Ile established a coal business in which he has been very successful, due to his business rule of liberal and honest dealings with all. He has extensive sheds on Marshall street with considerable frontage on the Morris canal. He supplies a large num- ber of the mills and manufactories in Paterson with coal and his business is continually increasing. He has been prominent in public affairs and his judgment is frequently sought when matters of importance to the city and the pub- lic are to be considered. He served as one of a committee appointed at a public meeting for the selection of parks for Paterson and the subsequent action of the Board of Alder- dermen in purchasing the sites selected and the general public approval of this course bore testimony to Mr. Wil- son's excellent judgment.
THE HOBART-STEVENSON BUILDING .- The Hobart- Stevenson building was erected in ISSS and is the property of Mr. Garret A. Hobart and Mr. Eugene Stevenson. The property is situated on Washington street adjoining the City Hall. For a long number of years the lots on which it stands were unimproved, the property being too valuable for residences. Mr. Stevenson conceived the idea that it would be an excellent place for a building for offices and Mr. Hobart having joined him in his enterprise the result was the erection of the building, an illustration of which appears on page 62. The judgment of the gentle- men owning the property was excellent, for before the building had been completed every room and the four stores
on the ground floor had been leased. The Passaic Water Company and a number of lawyers and real estate agents have their offices in the building.
N. LANE .- Paterson is certainly well provided in the line of photographers who are continually vieing with each other in the production of the best work. Recogniz- ing the fact that photography as applied to portraits had the field well covered Mr. Lane a number of years ago devoted himself exclusively to photographing buildings, machinery, interiors and similar work. He found here ample opportunity for the display of his talents and as lit- tle had been done in this direction before, his efforts were the more appreciated. No photographer had made a spe- cialty of this class of work and Mr. Lane soon found him- self master of the situation. His work is perfect in every respect and his camera is constantly in demand. He has made thousands of views for manufacturers and others and in every case given entire satisfaction. Most of the en- gravings in this work are from photographs taken by Mr. Lane, he having been selected on account of his superior- ity in this class of work.
THE COTTAGE ON THE CLIFF .- Thousands of people are annually attracted to the Falls of the Passaic for the purpose of viewing this great masterpiece of nature. The grounds about the cataract have been improved in many ways and contain three of the reservoirs of the Passaic Water Company. The Valley of the Rocks, a deep gorge below the Falls, still retains its pristine grandeur unimpaired. Excursions and target companies from New York, Newark, Jersey City and more remote points visit the Falls in large numbers every year. At present the grounds are in charge of Mr. Henry Baum, who has also secured a lease on the Cottage on the Cliff, situated roman- tically on a high ledge of rock overlooking the Valley of the Rocks and the city of Paterson. A dancing platform, caroussel, shooting gallery and bowling alleys are among the attractions on the grounds.
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