Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 21

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : Munsell
Number of Pages: 1360

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It was during the period of the interest in the concern of Mr. F. W. Devoe (now of the firm of F. W. Devoe & Co.), that Mr. Richardson, then a young man, developed that pecu- liar adaptibility to the business that has since caused him to be regarded as, without doubt, the best manufacturer of colors and paints in this country; and he relates that it was Mr. Devoe who was first to recognize his talent for this branch of the business, and advance him therein; and, during the many years of success which have followed one another into the past, since then, Mr. Richardson has never ceased to regard Mr. Devoe with that grateful feeling which he be- lieves is due from him to the friend of his youth.

The paint trade and manufacture, when Mr. Richardson's connection with it began, was in its infancy in this country,

only small quantities being made by hand, and the bulk of the painters' materials in greatest demand being imported. He has seen its development into one of the leading in- dustries of the country, employing thousands of skilled workmen, and based on millions of capital, and its advance- ment, under a protective policy, to a point where the import- ation of painters' materials has practically ceased, and an enormous demand, caused by the steady development of the previously unsettled portions of the United States, supplied almost wholly by domestic manufacturers, among whom his firm takes high rank, both for the excellence and quantity of its products, which find a ready sale everywhere.

The firm of C. T. Raynolds & Co. have an extensive paint and putty works in Brooklyn, a large varnish and color fac- tory at Bergenpoint, N. J., and an immense paint and putty works in Chicago, with large stores at 106 and 108 Fulton street, New York, and 21 Lake street, Chicago.

In 1858, Mr. Richardson married Miss S. Louisa Cole, and they celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of their mar- riage at their residence, 1190 Dean street, Brooklyn, on Monday evening, June 25th, 1883. They have two sons and a daughter.

Politically, Mr. Richardson is a republican, but he has never been, in any sense, a politician, though his counsel and advice have often been sought by those high in author- ity. His interest in the clean administration of public affairs is equalled only by that which he has ever taken in educational measures.

His family are members of the Washington Avenue Bap- tist Church, of which Mr. Richardson is one of the trustees, and lie has long been prominent in the management of its finances.

In all matters pertaining to the public good, Mr. Richard- son takes a deep and abiding interest. His charity is · bountiful, but never ostentatious; and in all the relations of life he is honored beyond a majority of his fellows. He is widely known in connection with important interests con- cerning the Baptist Church, and is at all times recognized as a liberal contributor to the pecuniary needs of the organiza- tion, and as a wise and safe counsellor in its deliberative assemblies.

A specialty in this line is the mixing of paints with gelatine, soluble india-rubber, or some other substance which keeps it suspended and prevents its drying up or forming paint skins. In this specialty there are several houses, each employing a different suspensory fluid. It is the opinion of the white lead manufacturers, and probably they have good reason for their belief, that these manufacturers of special paint use little or no white lead in their paints; at all events, only sufficien to justify their claim that they are partly composed of that substance. The Averill Puint Co., of which Messrs. Seeley Bros. are now the principal proprietors, are the leading house in this specialty, and do a large business. The Ingersoll Paint Works, and several others, are smaller in extent. Several of these houses claim to use a solution of india-rubber in their paints, thus preventing, they say, their fading or changing color.

There are also houses which manufacture coarser paints, and those which are used for roofs, for iron fences, beams and columns. These generally use the

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

mineral paints, or red lead, or paints mixed with eoal tar, or something of the sort. Messrs. H. D. Johns &- Co., and one or two other houses, produce these paints.

It should be said, in regard to the manufacture of paints, that there are certain underlying principles which govern the manufacture of all genuine and satis- factory productions, whether as applied to wood or smooth metallie surfaces, which consist of three constit- uents, viz .: 1, The pigments; 2, The vehicles: 3, The thinners and driers .* .

The two largest houses engaged in the manufacture of these mixed paints in Brooklyn are also the largest in the United States, or, for that matter, in the world. These are: Messrs. C. T. Reynolds & Co., who have also a large interest in the white lead manufacture, be ing stockholders in the Bradley White Lead Co., which supplies their white lead, and are engaged in the pro- duction of whiting and Paris white, and in the manu- facture of artists' (tube) oil colors. Their mixed paints are of excellent quality, and command a large sale in all parts of the United States as well as abroad. Messrs. John W. Masury & Son, under the vigorous management of their efficient superintendent, Mr. Wol- cott, have rapidly risen to the first rank in this manu- facture. They confine themselves to paints and fine varnishes, and their goods in both departments are

*1. The pigments are various ; generally white lead teither pure or mixed with oxlde of zinc, baryta or prepared chalk, or some of the earths) is the basis. This should be always the case with white and light colors, and with most of the darker ones, from its body or cover- Ing property.

Other pigments used in the mixed or colored paints are : Yellows .- Yellow ochre, chromate of lead. gamboge, etc.

Reds .- Red oxide of lead, vermillion, red ochre, oxides of iron, red oxide of copper, di-chromate of lead, carmine, carmine-madder, and other lakes, etc.

Blues .- Prussian blue, ultramarine, smait, Thénard's blue, verditer, aniline blues, etc.

Greenx .- Verdigris, Parls green, verditer, borate of copper, oxide of chromium, cobalt green, and green lakes, and very often a mixture of chrome yellow and Prussian bine, etc., etc.

Browns .- Umber, bole, terra di Sienna, bistre, sepia, etc.

Blacks .- Lampblack, bone-black, anthracite, graphite, etc., etc.

2. The Vehicles .- These are : 1. Oils, generally linseed off, of late also, to a limited extent, cotton-seed oil, nut oil, and poppy oil, vari- ousiy prepared, for the finest work. 2. Water, with glue or gum added. The last are essentially water-colors, and are mainly used on interiors, and for graining purposes.

The oil paints are Ilrst ground with a small quantity of raw linseed oll, to make the mixture homogeneous. This, as we have already stated, is now very largely done by the manufacturers. Abont eight per cent, of oil is added to white lead, 12 or 13 per cent. to zine white, and various proportions, according to the amount of body of the different colors, and other considerations. Under the old system the painter .inixed this for use with a further quantity of raw and bolled finseed oil, and colored it, to any desired shade, with colored plgments, which he obtained either dry or ground in oll.

Now, the painter can obtain his paints, of the requisite fluldily, and of any desired shade of color, all mixed to his hand, and there will be no variation in the shade if he has to paint a surface of ten thousand or fifty thousand square feet. The addition of off and colors Is gov- erned by Axed rules, and the oils and colors are tested for purity before being used.

3. The paints require, in using, thinners, which are generally of spirits of turpentine or benzine, and also driers, or siccatives, which may be, according to the necesalties of each peculiar case, sugar of lead, nitrate of lead, sniphate of zinc, verdigris, binoxide of manganese, red lead. Japanners' gold size, and, most powerful of all. borate of manganese. ground in oll. The paints must be used immediately, or they settie. and paint skins form over them.

of the very highest quality. In the paint department, they grind the white lead and the colors dry and in oil, and are prepared to furnish them in both conditions. They also mix their paints with the requisite thinners and dryers, so as to be ready for immediate application. Messrs. Masury & Son procure their white lead mostly from Pittsburgh, exehanging their paints with the manufacturers for it. The range of shades of color made by these houses is very great, and the quality and color perfectly uniform. They have elevated the busi- ness to one of the fine arts.

All the paint manufacturers now put up their paints in eans and pails of all the sizes required by the large or small customers The competition in regard to quality is as severe as that in regard to price, and as a consequence there is less adulteration in paints at the present time than in almost any other commodities.

SUBSECTION IV .- Varnishes.

The manufacture of varnishes is carried on to a greater extent in Brooklyn than in any other city in the Union, more than one-seventh in value of the whole production of the United States being made here, and the business has received a very great impulse since 1870. The statistics of the census of 1880 were: for the whole country, 81 manufactories, employing $3,778,- 100 capital and 573 hands, paying $366,716 in wages, using $3,699,684 of raw materials, and producing $5,721,- 174 annually. Of these the state of New York had 17 manufactories, $1,395,800 capital, 143 hands, 891,638 wages paid, 81,028,705 raw material, and $1,867,155 produet. There were no varnish factories in New York city, but Brooklyn had 8, with $716,800 capital, 73 hands, $47,186 wages paid, $355,205 raw material, and $874,655 product. The present product for the whole country is believed to be about $7,500,000, and for Brooklyn and Kings county, nine establishments, 150 employees, $90,000 wages, and an annual product of over $1,200,000.

The amount of curnish imported from all foreign countries in 1882 was of the value of $116,132, and this included all the oriental lacquers and varnishes, as well as everything of European production, the whole amount being less than one-tenth of the Brooklyn pro- duct alone, and about one-fiftieth of the entire American production. The figures of 1883 on both sides would show a still greater difference.

In fact, our export of varnishes has, for some years, exceeded the import, being, in the year ending June 30, 1882, $187,860, and having largely increased during 1883.

There are now nine manufacturers of varnish in Kings county, two having been added since 1880. We ought to say, perhaps, a few words here in regard to the differ- ent kinds of varnishes made.

Fixed oil varnishes, which are the kind most largely used, are prepared by mixing the fused gum resins with

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THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.

a boiled and oxidized linseed oil, at a temperature of about 300° F., and added gradually with constant stir- ring.

The secret of those varnishes which have the highest reputation consists in the greater purity of the oil and gum resins, and the proportions which are used, rather than in any other ingredients. Asphalt is sometimes used for black varnishes, and India rubber or gutta- percha for the purpose of giving greater flexibility or elasticity in the working of the varnishes; but the finest varnishes are made from pure oil and pure gums.

Spirit varnishes are true solutions of the gum resins in alcohol (95 per cent.), or wood spirit of the same strength. The gums employed are sandarac, mastic, shellac, animé and copal. There are also colored spirit varnishes or lacquers, the coloring ingredients being tinctures of gums and gum resins, and recently aniline colors. The spirit varnishes are also used as driers for paints. They deteriorate by keeping, but as they are easily produced, this is not of so much consequence. They are not a staple article, like the oil varnishes.

Volatile oil varnishes are of considerable importance, especially in the fine arts; they are prepared from the finer gum resins and the volatile oils, spirits of turpen- tine being the usual solvent.

Ether varnishes are ethereal solutions of the gum resins, and have a very limited application, mostly con- fined to the jewellers and photographers.

There are also a variety of miscellaneous varnishes made for particular purposes by the parties who have occasion for them. These are not made by the varnish manufacturers.

Messrs. Valentine & Co., Messrs. C. C. Reed & Co., Messrs. J. W. Masury & Son and Mr. G. C. Liszka are the largest manufacturers of coach and palace car var- nishes, of the best quality, for both inside and outside work, in Kings county. They also make lower priced varnishes for other purposes. Messrs. Valentine & Co. probably produce the largest amount, but the aggregate value is about the same as that of the other houses. Messrs. C. C. Reed & Co. claim, and, we believe, with justice, that they were the pioneers in the manufacture of fine coach varnishes in Kings county, and, perhaps, in the United States. They are still doing a very large business.

Messrs. John W. Masury & Son, under the leader- ship of their present general manager, Mr. Wolcott, have made a great advance in their business, and are now, in the quality and quantity of their goods, the peers of any house in the country.

Mr. Liszka is also a large manufacturer of very fine varnishes for these purposes. Mr. Liszka came to this country from England in 1873. He had been appren- ticed to the varnish business in England, and made himself thoroughly master of the business, and brought from thence the formulas, under which he has produced most excellent goods. He believes these superior to

any others for coach work. Mr. Liszka has also in- vented and manufactures the "Terebine " and " Lion Liquid Dryers." He claims a capital of $80,000 invested in the business, employs 30 hands, pays $20,000 wages, and reports an annual product of $200,000.

Of the other varnish manufacturers of the county, Messrs. William D. Chase, Patrick Booden & Son, George S. Wood & Son, as well as the more recently established houses, Möller & Schumann and John F. Cornwell, all make varnish of excellent quality, and the demand for their goods is already large, and rapidly increasing.

Messrs. Booden & Son give special attention to gold- sizing, flock-sizing and bronzing for the manufacturers of wall papers.

SUBSECTION V .- Whiting and Paris White.

These articles, for which there is a large demand, are not quite identical, though often used interchangeably. Whiting is a prepared and refined chalk, brought from the chalk cliffs of England in a crude state, or from chalk beds in our own country, and ground, washed and precipitated in a pure state in factories here. Paris white may be from the chalk beds of France (in the Paris basin); and if so, is somewhat softer than the English or American article, and is a finer and more nearly impalpable powder when refined; but a consid- erable portion of what is sold as the best Paris white is a finely powdered sulphate of baryta, which, for some purposes, is preferable to the chalk.

The substitution in these days of kalsomine and ala- bastine for the old-fashioned lime whitewash has created a great demand for whiting and Paris white, while their employment for cleaning silver, gold, brass and copper has fallen off, electro-silicon and other articles having largely taken their place. There is also a moderate use of the prepared chalk (creta preparata) in medicine, though this is smaller than formerly. The kalsomine is generally a preparation of whiting or Paris white with white glue for the walls of houses. It produces a brilliant surface, does not rub off easily, may be tinted of any required color, and receives paint over it with advantage, the kalsomine filling the little cracks, checks or pin holes of the plaster. At first kalsomine was made with the white oxide of zinc (and perhaps derived its name by corruption from calamine, the zinc oxide) ; but it was very soon found that whiting or Paris white was equally good, and very much lower in price. Where the Paris white is composed wholly or in part of sul- phate of baryta, it is for this purpose fully equal to the zinc. The zinc tradition was maintained by the kalsominers, long after its use had been given up, to extort a higher price from the customers, on the plea of its greater cost. The largest producers of whiting and Paris white in Kings county are Messrs. C. T. Ray- nolds & Co., Messrs. Truslow & Co. (more than forty years in the business), and, after these, Arthur Buel,

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

Phillips & Ferguson and Conrad Zeiger. The total product annually is nearly a million of dollars.

We may then safely bring together the industries of white lead, linseed oil, paints and colors, dry and mixed, varnishes and whiting, in Brooklyn, as having an annual product, in 1883, of $14,500,000, divided in about these proportions: White lead, $2,442,000; lin- seed oil, $3,158,000; dry colors, ready for use, $1,000,- 000; paints, mixed and ground in oils, ready for the trade, 85,500,000 (this estimate is probably too low); varnishes, $1,400,000; whiting and Paris white, $1,000,- 000; total, $14,500,000.

SECTION XIII. Ropes, Cordage and Twine.

The production of ropes, cordage and twine is a large interest in Kings county. It has been conducted here from ahnost the first settlement of the county. The oldest of the ropewalks in Brooklyn was probably started by some members of the Sands family, and not far from the time of the Revolution. It is certain that sinee 1783 and up to the present time, the manufacture of ropes and cordage has been constantly carried on by somne braneli of that family or their descendants. We do not mean by this that, during the whole of these hundred years, the same ropewalk has been continu- ously carried on by the Sands family or their descend- ants; but that there has been no time during that een- tury when some members of the family, and often sev- eral at a time, have not been engaged in the manufae- ture. To be more definite, probably the first rope- maker in Brooklyn or Kings county, was the grandfather or unele of Joshua Sands. As early as 1790 a brother of Joshua Sands was engaged in the business, his rope- walk extending from the present Sands street, which was named after him, to near Tillary street. In the same vicinity, early in the present century, were the ropewalks of James Ingalls, Forbush & Albert, and John Seaman. In 1803, Major Fanning C. Tucker, who had married a daughter of Joshua Sands, started another ropewalk on his own account, taking a Mr. March as his partner. This was at first in the same vicinity as the others, extending back from what are now Fulton, Washington and Adams streets to the then low and marshy lands at the north, through what are now Tillary, Lawrence, Bridge, Duffield and Gold streets. Several years later, Mr. R. Sands Tucker, the son of Major Theker and grandson of Joshua Sands, came into the firmn, together with other partners, Messrs. Carter, Cooper, Marsh, etc. At the death of Mr. R. Sands Tucker, his son, Mr. J. A. Tucker, the present Treasurer of the Tucker & Carter Cordage Company, took his place. The company had removed their rope- walk to buildings at first erected by John F. Delaplaine, between Classon and Kent avenues, and between Myrtle and Flushing avenues, which they still ocenpy.

Meanwhile, other ropewalks were started in Brooklyn, mostly east of the City Hall. Among these were Noah Waterbury and - Barberin (probably a son of Dr. Barberin) located on or near the present Clinton street, and extending baek to or beyond Bridge street. This was started in 1816. Barberin died a few years later, and Noah Waterbury about 1854. Other ropewalks were Martin's, Nat. Howland's and Thursby's, all of them starting before 1825, and about 1828 Schermer- horn & Bancker's and James Ingalls. The Tueker and Carter Company is the only survivor of those early companies. Thursby's ropewalk remained in business till about 1850, when the factory became bankrupt, Mr. Thursby having died before that time. He had re- moved, some years before, to a traet near Newtown ereck, between the present Grand and Ten Eyek streets, and extending from what is now Waterbury street to the eanal. It is the present site of part of the rope- walk of L. Waterbury & Co.

The next ropewalk to be established was that of William Wall, commenced in 1830. Mr. Wall, who had learned his trade thoroughly, and had worked for some time as a journeyman with Messrs. Tueker & Cooper, purchased from one of the old ropemakers a ropewalk in Washington street, in 1830, and began business in a very small way. He removed, in 1836, to the site now occupied by his sons on Bushwiek avenne and Siegel street, where there is now conducted an im- mense business. The next ropewalk, which is still in existence, was commenced in 1845. The partners were Lawrence Waterbury, a son of Noah Waterbury, and William Marshall. Mr. Marshall was a practical rope- maker, had served his time in other ropewalks, and had been from 1839 to 1845 a partner with John B. Thurs- by, a son of the Thursby already mentioned, in a rope- walk near the corner of Flushing and Bedford avenues, and for a few months the foreman of Messrs. Tueker & Cooper. This ropewalk (of L. Waterbury & Co.) was commeneed on and near its present location, the firm owning the lands south of Ten Eyek street, and leasing those of Thursby, north of thein, until they were sold, when they purchased them. Mr. Waterbury died in 1879. Mr. Marshall is now the oldest manufacturer of ropes and cordage who is still actively engaged in the business.

There were probably three or four other ropemaking firms, now and long since extinct, which date baek to a period between 1816 and 1830. Among these were two, of whom there are still traditions-Luther and Lawrenee. Both firms have descendants who are now in the business, though on a small scale. John F. Lu- ther, at the corner of Grand and Waterbury, and Law- renee & Cooper, at Maspeth and Morgan, represents these two old firms, and the latter has united with his also the name of Cooper, a nephew of Peter Cooper, whose glue factory is in this vicinity, and who owned a large tract of land in this part of the Eighteenth

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THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.

Ward. Other houses in the business are D. Allen's Sons, in South Brooklyn; Samuel Ludlow, of Rocka- way avenue, corner Chauncey; and six or seven others, mostly in the Twenty-fifth Ward. Most of these houses do not, we believe, attempt the manufacture of large ropes, but confine themselves to the production of bed and sash cords, clothes-lines, fish-lines and the va- rious kinds of twine used for packing purposes. In the early history of ropemaking in this county, the ropes were made by hand, the strands being spun and twisted by a wheel and spindle turned by a stout man (usually a negro) but later by a horse or dog power, the spinner having a mass of hetchelled hemp girt round his waist, and walking backward as he formed the strand, which was twisted by the wheel. The strands, when spun, were reeled, and then by another and larger wheel, twisted into a rope of such size as was required. For some purposes the strands were drawn through heated tar before being twisted, and thus constituted tarred rope; but the Manila and Sisal cordage was not often tarred. The tarred rope was very durable, but when it had at last worn out, it was cut in pieces of a few inches in length and picked fine, sometimes by sailors, sometimes by landsmen, and not seldom in the alms-houses. When thus picked it was called oakum, and was used for caulking boats and vessels. The Manila and other untarred ropes were better for some purposes, but they were stiffer and less durable. Now, a portion of the Manila and Sisal cordage, as well as much of the Russia hemp is tarred. In the course of time, machines were substituted for most of this hand work, the spinning jenny being the first adopted by the manufacturers, greatly to the disgust of the hand spinners, who, herc as well as elsewhere, rose in open rebellion against it.

In the nearly fifty years which have since elapsed, the number and variety of machines has been greatly increased. The hetchelling and combing of the fibres of the Manila, Sisal aud other hemps, is done by machinery, and the laying and twisting of all the cordage, and indeed the whole production of the cordage and small ropes, is effected by machines which greatly facilitate and increase the production. The larger ropes are still laid and twisted in the long ropewalks, which in some of the larger establishments are from 1,200 to 1,700 feet in length. In the manufacture of Harvester and other twines, the whole of the processes are carried forward by machines invented for the purpose.

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Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 21

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York : Munsell Number of Pages: 1360

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : Munsell
Number of Pages: 1360