USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > The history of Newark, New Jersey : being a narrative of its rise and progress, from the settlement in May, 1666, by emigrants from Connecticut to the present time, including a sketch of the press of Newark, from 1791 to 1878 > Part 23
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The other early saddlery and harness manufacturers were Jacobus & Garthwaite (Peter Jacobus and William Garthwaite), " a few doors above City Hotel;" Dodd, Bassett & Co. (Abner Dodd, L. S. Bas- sett and J. A. Horton), "next door to the First Church ;" Shugard & Macknet (William Shugard and C. S. Macknet), "opposite the Third Church;" Darcy & Gray (W. M. Darcy and A. J. Gray), "near the City Hotel;" Davy, Howell & Benedict (Joseph Davy, William Howell and Terah Benedict), "West Market street, (up stairs), near Broad street ;" and Abram Hedenberg, " East Market street, near Broad." George Peters long conducted the business begun nearly fifty years ago by Shugard & Macknet. He was their foreman. For some years prior to 1863 he was associated with Henry Benner. Lately his establishment, one of the most extensive in the country, changed into a company under the title of " The Peters and Calhoun Manufacturing Company." The firm
220
SADDLERY AND HARNESS-SHOEMAKING.
of N. J. Demarest & Co. is another of the oldest and most firmly established saddlery and harness concerns in Newark. Daniel Demarest, the father of the present senior member of the firm, was in business long before Newark became a city. An early directory describes him as "saddle-tree maker, 22 Fair, h. 36 S. Canal." Jacobus & Condict were the founders of the business now conducted under the title of S. A. Condict & Co. The first attempt to manufacture harness exclusively in this city is said to have been successfully made by Joseph Davy-a patriarch of the harness makers. Terah Benedict has long conducted business on his own account, and 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 emer- gency for 4,000 sets of artillery harness, finishing the work in eleven days. Additional to those saddlery and harness manufac- turers already named, there have been established here: Theodore Dufford, E. F. Beck, Butler & Wards, E. A. Crossman, Jr., J. Clements & Brother, Manning & Lyon, John Houck, George Roubaud, Robert C. Winters, and The Harness-makers' Co-opera- tive Union.
The manufacture of shoes, as we have already seen, was exten- sively carried on during and subsequent to the period when Combs and the Gobles flourished. J. and I. Tichenor, the Shipmans, Halsey & Utter, J. C. Crane, Harley Watson, J. Honnewell, David Nichols, Peter Mcad, Moses Bigelow, J. Gardner, Aaron Young, Hiram Free- man, Moses Lyon, Dunn & Tucker, Dunn & Stewart, James, William and John Terhune, Jabez Campfield, Haynes Plum and Matthias Plum, Richard M. Crane, Richard Sweasy, John S. Peshine, Jonas Agens, H. M. Baldwin and Jabez Geiger were all active shoe manufacturers of Newark more than a generation ago. As will subsequently appear, the great industry nurtured by them became strong and lusty in years following under other trained and restless energies. Of the leading firms now in existence, the first established was that of M. B. & I. Canfield, of Market street. This firm was started about the year 1836 by I. & M. B. Canfield. In 1845 Isaac Bannister began business and founded the firmn which has since, under the title of Bannister & Tichenor, done so much to place Newark in the forefront of those places which produce the very
22I
LYNN CAST IN THE SHADE.
finest grades of workmanship. The firm was awarded the only Medal of Merit given by the Vienna Exhibition Universelle (1873) for their class of goods. In 1857 Leopold Graf established a business here which has grown to be the most extensive boot and shoe manufactory, not only in Newark, but in the country. In 1860 Herman Graf (since deceased) united with his brother under the firm title of L. Graf & Brother. The factory on Lincoln street is one hundred and fifty feet long, thirty-six feet deep, four stories high, with an additional wing building fully half as large. Such is the perfection of the machinery used that a pair of boots or shoes can be cut from the stock and made ready for wear in about twenty minutes. As many as four hundred hands have been employed at one time in the factory, the business carried on in prosperous times reaching as high as $600,000 per annum, and the weekly wages disbursed amounting to over $4,000. This firm finds a market not only throughout the Union but in Europe, large orders being regularly sent to Germany and other countries on the Continent. L. Boyden & Co. is another Newark house of very high repute and early establishment, the date being about 1844. Yet another firm which has reflected credit on the industry of Newark by its excellent workmanship is that of Miller, Mccullough & Ober. Altogether, there were running here in 1870 no less than twenty boot and shoe factories, great and small. In these factories were produced every- thing in the shape of boot and shoe wear, from a heavy cavalry or frontiersman's boot to a child's tiny kid shoe ; from the gentleman's shapely calf-skin boot to the demoiselle's daintiest gaiter or slipper. No less than ten thousand pairs per week of all kinds of shoe goods have been manufactured. This excludes work done by retail shoe- makers. Lynn, the great shoe-shop of the East, has been cast in the shade by Newark, and is unable to compete with Newark in fine goods especially. Under a normal state of trade the total sales per annum in Newark have been about $2,600,000, and the number of pairs of boots and shoes made about 520,000.
The manufacture of trunks and traveling-bags is another highly important branch of industry 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 Morgan, Peter Jacobus, Richard M. Crane and Smith Halsey. But to no man is so much due, perhaps, for the rise and growth of this
222
TRUNKS, ETC-THOMAS B. PEDDIE.
business, and particularly for the credit which it has won the com- munity because of products superior to those of other markets, as to Thomas B. Peddie, a thrifty, energetic and most industrious Scotchman, who settled here some time before Newark became a city. In the directory for 1837 his name appears as " Thomas V. Peddie, trunk manufacturer, base 355, h 393 Broad." Even as another famous Scotchman began about the same time to lay in a New York basement the foundation of a newspaper destined to achieve world-wide reputation and influence, so Thomas B. Peddie reared out of his Broad street basement in Newark a business which employs a small army of workers, occupies two four-story brick buildings, each four hundred feet long, uses in a year more than two million feet of lumber, and every month eats up ten tons of sheet iron and more than $15,000 worth of leather. Early in his career Mr. Peddie 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 partners George B. Jenkinson and R. Dod, the firm title being T. B. Peddie· & Co. It is not extravagant to say that this firm, in com- mon with others in Newark, eclipses the world in the utility, finish and beauty of the goods manufactured. These goods find a market all over the Union and in foreign countries. Besides attending to the management of the large concern of which he is the head, Mr. Peddie has found time to satisfactorily fulfil important public positions to which his appreciative fellow-citizens at various times called him. Twice he was elected Mayor of Newark, serving in that capacity from 1866 to 1870, and in 1876 he was elected to represent the Sixth District of New Jersey (Newark and Essex County), as its Representative in Congress.
About the time Mr. Peddie began business, John N. Osborn was also in the trade, his place in 1836 being in the rear of No. 14 Orchard street. The firm of Edgar Farmer & Co., which still flourishes, was founded some thirty-five years ago, and conducted under the title of Galpin & Farmer. This was only for a few years, after which the present title was adopted. The head of the firm (recently deceased) was a man of unblemished reputation. He served several years as Director of the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Other leading Newark trunk firms are William O. Headley & Son, established in 1859 by Randolph &
223
OTHER TRUNK MANUFACTURERS-STATISTICS.
Headley ; J. Lagowitz & Co., established about the same time, being now one of the largest factories of the kind in the world, producing annually goods worth half a million dollars ; William Roemer, and Edward Simon & Brothers. Simon's manufactory is a very extensive one. It was founded in 1863, by Edward Simon. Subsequently he took as partners his brothers William and Samuel. At a later period, Morris Schwerin entered the firm. Their four-story brick factory on Main and St. Francis streets covers an area of 12,800 square feet, and affords room for eight hundred workmen. One and a half million feet of lumber are used annually by the firm, and every day fifty hides of leather. The wages paid, when the factory is fully employed, amount to $4,000 per week, the sales per annum being over half a million dollars. A market for the goods manufactured includes Cuba, South America and Europe, as well as the United States.
The scope of this chapter was intended only to embrace matters culminating with the year 1861. For the sake of continuity and convenience, however, it is deemed best to extend it to a period close to the year of publication, so as to secure proper industrial groupings. A summary of statistics relating to those industries in which leather is the chief article of manufacture shows, therefore, for the year 1874, the following carefully prepared estimate :
LEATHER INDUSTRY STATISTICS.
NO.
NO. OF EMPLOYES.
WEEKLY WAGES.
YEARLY PRODUCTS.
Leather Manufactories
33
1,827
$20,880
$5,694,000
Morocco
6
1,004
11,050
2,675,000
Saddlery and Harness.
I7
822
10,655
1,500,000
Trunk, Bag, &c.
9
1.792
18,150
3,185,000
Boot and Shoe
I6
1,552
18,220
2,498,000
Russia Leather.
I
I2
200
Leather Belting.
I
6
125
25,000
Totals
83
7,015
$79,280
$15,577,000
While, as has already been abundantly set forth, leather has from the earliest period been the chief element of the town's industrial strength and prosperity, other materials have entered largely into its manufactures. Among these the baser and the precious metals may be especially enumerated. For several generations cunning
224
ARTIFICERS IN IRON, ETC.
artificers in iron, steel, brass, silver and gold have flourished here, adding to the fame. and reputation of Newark. Seth Boyden was busy here nearly two-thirds of a century ago. So were Hinsdale, Taylor, Phelps, Downing and Carrington, workers in gold, silver and precious stones. In 1837 Henry C. Jones adver- tised himself as a "General Spring Maker," having "erected a spacious shop 7 Church street where he will be happy to execute all orders that the public may favor him with." Alexander Con- nison and John Helm, proprietors of the Washington Foundry, No. 50 Halsey and 29 New street, were also "prepared to furnish iron castings of any description and to execute Millwright and Engineer business in all its various branches." H. B. Smith and Elias Wilcox likewise solicited orders for the manufacture of gratings, railings, iron shutters, doors, bank-vaults, safety-closets, &c., “at II Bank street, a few doors from Broad." And there were Cyphers & Duvall, " Housesmiths, 50 Canal street, near Cherry;" and John Garside, " Engraver and Steel Plate manufacturer, Washington Factory." In 1840 Connison & Helm had prospered so that they were "able to furnish iron castings up to two tons weight with certainty." At the same period Jacob Alyea conducted an iron foundry at "No. 290 Market street, near the Railroad depot ;" Oba Meeker and Elly Meeker, another one at No. 75 Clay street, “ near the Stone Bridge ;" Andrew Roalefs and James B. Hay, still another at the corner of Market and Ward streets. At No. 24 Market street, near Washington, Samuel E. Farrand and Ezra Gould had a sign up as " Machinists and Brass and Iron Founders." John P. Joralemon and Arnold Stivers did business at No. 11 Mechanic street as lock manufacturers and brass founders. Daniel Condit and Joseph A. Bowles, "successors to S. Boyden," carried on a " Malleable Iron Foundry " at No. "25 Orange street, near Broad." Besides these there were under the head of " Machinists " Abner Dod, who was also a worker in iron and brass, and "City Sealer of Weights and Measures ;" Moses J. Martin, who had harness mount- ings " always on hand ;" Alfred Hunter, a table knife manufacturer ; James N. Joralemon & Co., coach spring, step and axle manufac- turers ; Isaac B. Lee, millwright and pattern maker; Amos H. Searfoss and Eliphalet Miller, the same.
Of foundries now existing the oldest in Newark is that conducted by John H. Barlow, No. 28 Orange street. The history of this
225
THE FOUNDRIES OF NEWARK.
foundry is the history of iron work in Newark. It was started by Seth Boyden, and here, upon July 14th, 1826, it is said, he first succeeded in making malleable iron castings. A Boston firm purchased Boyden's concern, and after them came a continuous succession of firms down to 1871, when Mr. Barlow, who had long worked in the foundry, became its proprietor. The Eagle Iron Foundry, now conducted by E. C. Hay, was established by his father, J. B. Hay, already mentioned. The extensive tool and machinery works of Ezra Gould, on Railroad avenue, are the outgrowth of a shop not much larger than a roomy closet in which Mr, Gould began business over forty years ago. About the same time E. W. Roff started the Huntington Machine Works, the products of which now find a market throughout America and even in Europe. Before 1850 there were established factories from which have grown the businesses now conducted by Oscar Barnett, of McWhorter street ; Hewes & Phillips, of Orange and Ogden streets; Cyrus Currier (a fellow-worker with Seth Boyden), Railroad place ; McFar- land & McIlravy, Railroad avenue ; D. M. Meeker & Son, Clay street (established by Gardner, Harrison & Co.); L. J. Lyon & Co., boiler-makers, Commerce street. Subsequent to 1850 there were established : T. M. Ward & Co .; " The Globe Foundry," established by J. B. Ward ; Dickinson & Rowden, manufacturers of bank note engravers' machinery ; Wright & Smith, manufacturers of steam engines, machinists' tools, wood-working machinery, jewelers' machinery and general outfits for factories, planing mills, &c .; Watts, Campbell & Co., "The Passaic Machine Works,"; J. S. Mundy, general machinery business, including hoisting, pumping and mining engines ; Bolen, Crane & Co., machinists, boiler makers, tools, &c .; The Atlas Manufacturing Company, makers of cotton and wool machinery, cotton-gins, wool pickers and burring machines; Burnet & Leonard, boiler-makers, who send products as far as Cuba and Mexico; Morrison, Sinclair & Co., embossing and hydraulic presses and general machinery; James Donaldson, a variety of castings; A. J. Davis, general machinery, including steam engines, hoisting machines, hat machines, &c .; Surerus & Co .; Seymour & Whitlock, iron and wood-working machinery, Baxter's portable steam engines, &c. ; Lowerre & Tucker, fluting machines; Elwood Wrigley, general machine work; Hayden & Osborn, general and special machinery ; Skinner, Leary & Lindsley, stationary and portable steam engines,
226
MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURES.
&c. ; Crane & Co .; Samuel Hall's Son and Co .; Smith & Sayre Manufacturing Company ; Drake & Tobin, electrical machines; W. L. Chase & Co .; A. A. Pool & Co .; F. W. Ofeldt & Co. (Star Gas Machine Co.); George E. Hart, watch-making machinery, &c .; Chapman & Blum; Grant & Co., light machinery and models, and the Cottrell Stone Machinery Company, whose machines are able to saw enormous blocks of stone with almost as much case and celerity as it has been customary to saw hard wood, the inventor of the machine being Herbert Cottrell. To the other departments of mechanical excellence for which the city has achieved fame is to be added that of the construction of very superior steam fire engines, R. J. Gould and J. N. Dennisson being the makers. From the shops of these gentlemen many cities throughout the country have obtained highly prized engines.
The manufacture of saddlery hardware was begun in Newark upwards of forty years ago. It has steadily kept pace with all other industries, until now it is a most important branch of Newark skill and trade. The founders of the business now con- ducted in Mechanic street by Crane & Co. are said to have been the pioneers in this trade, starting about the year 1834. The factory of N. Van Ness, also in Mechanic street, was established about 1845. Joseph Baldwin & Co. began business about a year or so later. R. M. Grummon followed next. Samuel E. Tompkins, the inventor of Tompkins' patent gig tree, laid the foundation of his extensive business in 1855. W. L. Starr began about 1844. Subsequently there were established in this same business : Kuehnhold & Wright, The Sargeant Manufacturing Company, August Buermann, Bayley & Co., H. C. Maxwell & Co., G. & T. Simonson, S. G. Sturges, Son & Co., Charles M. Theberath & Brother, A. Teas & Co., and Wiener & Co.
The manufacture of coach and carriage hardware is yet another department of labor in which the artisans of Newark greatly excel. The oldest house in the trade is that of C. N. Lockwood & Co., of Mechanic street. That of G. Otto was established about 1854. A. Stivers began business in a small way before 1840. Orlando & S. B. Greacen produce a rich and costly style of goods. Coach lamps and fire engine signals are made by Richardson & Hall.
The pioneer in the manufacture of fine cutlery in Newark was the late Rochus Heinisch, who came to this country from Leutmeritz,
227
CUTLERY, HARDWARE AND TOOL FACTORIES.
Bohemia, his native land, early in the present century. For a time he manufactured surgical instruments in New York, and came here about the year 1830, having before that been in Elizabeth. In Newark he continued .the same industry. Mr. Heinisch was a mechanic of superior attainments. The inventive faculty was largely developed in him. This he applied to his trade, and while building up for himself and his children a splendid business, at the same time by his improvements in scissors and shears conferred incalculable benefits on all who used them in their labor. Prior to his death, which occurred in August, 1874, he associated his sons, Rochus, jr., Henry C., Albert A. and Edmund E., with him in business under the firm title of R. Heinisch & Sons. The sons continue the business founded by their father, under the title of R. Heinisch's Sons. The goods of the firm find a market not only in this country, but in far off Australia, and even English tailors pass by Sheffield and come to Newark for their shears. Thomas and Charles Booth have manufactured a superior article of pocket cutlery here for many years. Furness, Bannister & Co. make table cutlery superior in finish and equal in quality to the best Sheffield manufacture. The same is true of Wuesthoff & Co., who manufacture scissors and shears.
From the smallest beginnings fifty years ago, there have grown up in Newark nearly a score of hardware and tool factories. The firm of C. S. Osborne & Co. claim to be the pioneers in the United States. in the manufacture of saddlers and harness makers' tools. Joseph English established the business here in 1826. English made small headway until 1856, when C. S. Osborne became associated with him, also William Dodd. Thenceforward the firm began to be able to successfully compete with foreign manufacturers. John Charlton was early established here in producing mechanics' tools, especially those used by hatters. His business spread until finally his goods reached and became extensively used by the Mormons at Salt Lake City. Charlton's wares also go as far as the West Indies and Germany. In the manufacture of edge tools, such as carpenters use, the house of William Johnson is one of the very oldest in the country. It was founded by the present proprietor's father, in 1834. M. B. Provost, in the same line, was established about the same time. M. Price started in 1846, and Henry Sauerbier in 1848. Several years before this, John Toler began the
228
IRON INDUSTRY AND STATISTICS.
manufacture of castors. Locks and builders' hardware have for a quarter of a century been manufactured by Langstroth & Crane. Axes, adzes, hatchets and the like have been specialties with William White. In 1844 Cornelius Walsh began, in a very small way, to manufacture bag-frames and trunk hardware. C. A. De Hart-the Newark Edge Tool Manufactory-Foerster & Kraeuter, Henry Sommers and Wichelhaus & Rothe, have likewise long been engaged in the manufacture of edge tools, while Charles Kupper and R. Neumann & Co. have carried on much the same business as Walsh. One firm, Spaeth & Guelicher, have been engaged in man- ufacturing fine skates exclusively. In 1859 C. Richardson began the manufacture of saws. Besides the foregoing formidable array of workers in iron and kindred metals, Newark has had a smoothing iron manufactory (Bless & Drake's), a number of file manufactories, an iron safe manufactory, several iron railing manufactories, several spring and axle manufactories, a wire manufactory, a scale manu- factory and an extensive steel manufactory, the founders being Prentice, Atha & Co. The steel manufactured is the finest produced in America, and is used for every purpose, from the finest pocket knife cutlery to the rails on railroads. A summary of the manu- factories in iron gives the following interesting estimated exhibit for 1874 :-
IRON INDUSTRY STATISTICS.
MANUFACTURES.
NO.
NO. OF EMPLOYES.
WEEKLY WAGES.
ANNUAL PRODUCTS.
Iron and Machinery Manufactories.
38
1,353
$17,685
$2,503,000
Saddlery Hardware
16
8.47
8,335
1,115,000
Hardware and Tool
17
596
6,700
1,049.000
Steel
I
90
1,200
500,000
Spring and Axle
3
165
2,175
490,000
Coach and Carriage Hardware Manufactories.
5
I21
1,390
297,000
Cutlery
4
150
1,810
230,000
Wire
I
50
900
200,000
Steam Boiler
2 2
66
750
175,000
Iron Railing
MH 3 I
52
750
105,000
Smoothing Iron
..
60
700
100,000
File
4
91
815
98,000
Steam Fire Engine
2
50
950
80,000
Saw
I
50
800
70,000
Scale
I
16
200
30,000
Iron Safe
I
3
50
20,000
Grand Totals.
100
3,760
$45,210
$7.062.000
.
229
THE GOLDEN ARTS-THE JEWELERS.
While, as is apparent from the foregoing, the industry, skill and genius of a large and honorable class of citizens during many years have been devoted to what may be termed " the iron arts," the cultivated workmanship of another equally honorable class has been concentrated in the development of what, with the same license, may be termed " the golden arts." Mention has already been made of the establishment here, early in the century, of the jewelry trade by Epaphras Hinsdale and John Taylor. The credit, however, of first winning extended fame for Newark handiwork in the jewelry business, is generally awarded to Taylor & Baldwin. Of existing houses, that of Thomas G. Brown, of Marshall and Halsey streets, claims to be the oldest-to have been established in 1834. In 1837-8 the manufacturing jewelers of Newark were: Taylor, Baldwin & Co .- John Taylor, Isaac Baldwin, Horace E. Baldwin ; C. E. Chevalier, doing business at No. 6 Franklin street, near Broad; John Medcraft, Boston street, near Richmond; Bliss & Dwight -- Elihu Bliss, George Dwight-Broad street, " opposite the Third Church"; Colton & Alling-Demas Colton, Stephen B. Alling-Franklin street, near Mulberry; and Taylor & Nichols- John Taylor, jr., S. O. Nichols-Broad street, between Green and Franklin streets. In 1840 Stephen B. Alling, Demas Colton, jr., and John Taylor conducted business separately. In 1845 there were nine manufacturing firms in operation. These were Baldwin & Co .- the old firm, minus Taylor; Bliss and Dwight, Demas Colton, Baldwin, Osborn & Co .- E. A. Baldwin, E. Osborn and E. Crane ; John Annin, 48 Kinney, John Taylor, jr., Aaron Carter, jr., I. A. and J. C. Alling, and Jennings & Pierson-J. C. Jennings, John R. Pierson. It was during a later period, however, that Newark became the great jewelry workshop of the American Continent, producing works of art in the precious metals and precious stones, rivalling in beauty, finish and design not only the richest handiwork of Europe, but the rare and exquisite jewelry, still preserved, of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Etrus- cans and Romans. At first, owing to a prejudice against home products, as foolish as it was false, the trade met with slight encouragement. American women, like their sisters of the days of the Queen of Sheba and of Cleopatra, have ever been disposed to enhance their beauty by displays of fine-wrought gold and richly- set jewels ; but it was a long time before they could be made to
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