History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 82

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920

USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 82

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CURTIS MACHINE-SHOP. ( Whitesboro' Street.)

The original of this institution was put in operation about 1832, as a machine-shop, by Philo C. Curtis, who con- tinued the business about three years, when it changed hands" - a number of times, and, among other firms, was operated by Pond, Higham & Co. for several years. In 1861, Mr. Curtis succeeded the last-mentioned firm, and in 1863, Philo S. Curtis, his son, became proprietor, and has con- tinucd the business to the present time.

The present investment in real estate, stock, and ma -! chinery is about $100,000, and the annual productions reach a value of from $50,000 to $150,000, according to the condition of trade. The number of hands employed varies from 45 to 100; at present about the smaller num- ber are at work.

The business comprises general foundry, machine- and- boiler-work. Steam is used as the motive-power. The buildings, machinery, and appliances are first-class, and the work turned out is equal to the best.

UTICA ORNAMENTAL IRON-WORKS. ( Whitesboro' Street.).

This establishment was originally put in operation in its present location in 1858, by Linns Dean, for the manufac- ture of ornamental iron-work, and is still operated by him. Iron fence is extensively manufactured as a specialty," in every form and varicty, and railings, balconies, and ver- andas, flower-vases, urns, lawn furniture, etc., are turned out in endless styles and varieties; also iron stable furni- ture, roofing materials, street gratings, and portable horse- powers.

The lot occupies a space fronting 250 feet on Whites- boro' Street, and extending the same width to the Erie Canal. The buildings, consisting of foundry, machine- shop, etc., are extensive and fitted with improved machinery. The number of hands at present employed is about 20. In busy times the number is much larger. The goods manu- factured by Mr. Dean may be largely classed as luxuries, and in times of depressed trade the demand is affected more than that for staple goods.

The sales are mostly made at the works, and the market is principally in Central New York.

MALLEABLE AND GRAY IRON WORKS. ( Corner of Broad and Mohawk Streets.)

The ground now occupied by these works was formerly occupied by a lock-factory, which was burned; and abont 1863, John H. Chapman purchased the property, built a portion of the present buildings, and began the manufacture of wagon-skcios and boxes, which branch is still continued. Mr. Chapman carried on the business with various part-

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

ners until about 1870. The firm was also Hawley & Mc- Clure, and Hawley & Co. At the death of Mr. Hawley, in 1874, Messrs. T. V. Le Roy and L. H. Shattuck bought out Hawley & Co., and in April, 1875, Mr. J. Q. Head was admitted to partnership, and continued until his death,. in 1878. . His interest, however, remains in the business.

This firm made extensive additions to the buildings and facilities of the establishment, and it is at the present time in very complete condition. The goods manufactured are plain, turned, and patent metal bearings, skeins and boxes, malleable and gray iron ; and during the present year the manufacture of hop-presses and agricultural implements has been added. The capital employed in 1874 was $60,000, and 24 hands were employed. The capital remains the same, but the number of hands has increased to from 90 to 105, according to demand. Steam is used as the motive- power. The firm has agencies in New York and Philadel- phia. All other sales are made direct to dealers. It is the only establishment in the county combining the two. branches, malleable and gray-iron work. The firm is Le Roy, Shattuck & Head.

CENTRAL NEW YORK BUHR-MILLSTONE MANUFACTORY. (Munson Brothers, Broadway and Erie Canal.)

The manufacture of buhr-millstones was commenced by Alfred Munson about 1823-25, on the corner of Hotel and Liberty Streets. It was subsequently removed to Wash- ington Street, on the Erie Canal, and about 1855 again removed, to the west side of Broadway, on the canal. In 1868 it was once more changed, to its present location, on the east side of Broadway. Alfred Munson continued the business in his own name until about 1830, when Martin Hart became associated with him, under the firm- name of Munson & Hart. This continued for a number of years, when the firm dissolved, and Mr. Alexander B. Hart (a son of Martin) and Mr. Edmund Munson (a brother of Alfred ) became associated under the firm-name of Hart & Munson, and carried on the business until about 1868, when the firm dissolved, and a new one was formed, cou- sisting of Edmund L., Alfred H., and Counteil Mausou (sons of Edmund Munson), under the title of Munson Brothers, which is the style of the present firm. Countcil Munson died in 1873.

Edmund Munson, Sr., was an excellent mechanic and inventor, and under the impulse of his genius the business, which had been commenced with limited means and a small number of employees, rapidly increased. Among the im- portant improvements invented and put in operation by Mr. Munson were an ingenious machine for finishing buhr- stone, an improved cast-iron eye and spindle, and a port- able mill, for grinding all kinds of grain.

The firm of Hart & Munson did an extensive business, employing at times as many as 100 hands. It was then comparatively a new industry in the United States, and competition was almost unknowa. The business has since been established on an extensive scale at Buffalo, N. Y., Indianapolis and Richmond, Indiana, and other localities. The Messrs. Munson are at the present time employing about fifty hands, and have about $60,000 invested in the business. Under an improved condition of trade these

figures would be largely increased, but this, like all other industries, is affected by the depressed condition of general trade.

. ..

The raw material comes exclusively from a locality near Paris, France, and is imported through New York houses. The manufacture includes about 200 sets annually, besides large quantities of general mill machinery. The trade covers all parts of the United States, and reaches South . America, Canada, and the British Islands. The latter is for a peculiar class of improved goods not manufactured in Europe. The works occupy a large area on Broadway and the canal, and their shipping facilities, both by rail and water, are excellent.

Mr. Alfred Munson, the originator of this branch of manufactures, was a well-known and prominent citizen, intimately connected with the business of Utica in various departments for many years.

CENTRAL NEW YORK POTTERY AND FIRE-BRICK WORKS.

This important industry is located on Whitesboro' Street, a little beyond the Chenango Canal, and occupies an area of 400 feet front on the street, and the same width on the Erie Canal, with an average depth of 200 feet or aiore. This ground was occupied at first by two firms,-Justin Campbell, commencing in 1826, and Messrs. Brayton, Kellogg & Doolittle, who began in 1827; both engaged in. the manufacture of pottery.

In 1819, Noah White emigrated with his family from Thetford, Orange Co., Vt., to Madison Co., N. Y., and set- tled near Oneida Lake; but the region was so malarious that he soon after removed to Westmoreland, Oveida Co.

In 1828 he removed again to Utica, and engaged with one of the pottery firms, and labored for about two years. In the mean time the works passed through several hands. About 1833, Mr. White took one of them, and operated it on shares for a number of years, and in 1838 he purchased one and leased the other, and in 1841 became the owner of both.

In 1842 his sons, N. A. and William, became partners in the business. About 1856, William sold his interest to his father and brother, and removed to Morris, La Salle Co., Ill., and subsequently to Utica, in the same county, where he is at present engaged in the manufacture of sewer-pipe and drain-tile. The firm then became N. White & Son.

After the death of Noah White, his son, N. A. White, associated his son, William N., with him in the business, and the firm continued as N. A. White & Son until the death of the latter, in the autumn of 1877, since which it has been N. A. White.

When Noah White first began business, in 1833, his means were limited and the business small ; but both grad- ually increased as the country became more densely popu- lated and the wares better known, until at the present time, at a very low valuation, the amount invested in real estate, working capital, and stock equals $50,000.

The goods manufactured up to about 1840 were common stone-ware. At that date fire-brick were added, and in 1870, sewer-pipe. Extensive improvements have been made by the present proprietor, including a new building for manufacturing purposes, constructed of brick, two stories

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

in height, fifty-five by sixty-five feet in dimensions, and a new engine and machinery. The present number of hands employed is about twenty, and the value of annual produc- tions, in the present depressed condition of business, about $25,000, of which $15,000 is stone-ware and $10,000 fire- brick. The manufacture of sewer-pipe is for the present suspended.

The clay is all procured in New Jersey, mostly at Amboy. The motive-power is steam, and the fuel anthracite coal and hemlock wood. The stone-ware is largely marketed in Cen- tral New York, though considerable sales are made as far as California. The fire-brick are sold over a large territory.

MATCHI-FACTORY.

James Eaton commenced the manufacture of matches at West Winfield, Herkimer County, in 1850. In 1864 he removed his enterprise to Utica, and located on South Street, in the " gulf," where the business has grown steadily to its present respectable proportions. Extensive buildings have been erected, and improved machinery introduced from time to time, until the establishment is one of the most com- plete in the country. Every variety of matches known to the trade is manufactured here except the two known as " safety" and " wax" matches.

James Emery Eaton, a son of the original proprietor, was admitted to a partnership in 1875, since which the firm has been J. Eaton & Son. The amount of capital at present invested in land, buildings, and machinery is about $30,000, and the firm carry an average of $10,000 in stock on hand. The number of hands directly employed averages 65,-15 males and 50 females. The total product annually equals $100,000 including stamps, of which about three-fifths is paid the government in duties. This tax is a very onerous one. The amount of lumber consumed annually equals 300,000 feet, of which one-half is used in the manufacture of the matches, and the remainder for boxes. The lumber is from Canada, and the goods are sold over a region extend- ing from Vermont to Ohio, and from the St. Lawrence to Maryland. The motive-power is furnished by a twelve horse-power engine. It is the only institution of the kind in Oneida County.

UTICA LAST COMPANY.

The business of manufacturing shoe-lasts is a peculiar one, requiring great skill not only in the construction of the necessary machinery, but in its use, as any one can readily understand who is acquainted with the complex and irreg- ular fornis of the goods manufactured.

The Utica Last Company's Works are located on Blaudina Street, near First, in the block of brick buildings partly occupied by the Phoenix Iron-Works, and were put in op- eration in August, 1876, by H. Beckwith, George Walker, and A. H. Auborn, with a working capital of about $5000, includiog stock and machinery. The material is principally procured at Lyon's Falls, in Lewis County. Every descrip- tion of work in their line is manufactured, and the firm makes a specialty of " manufacturers' lasts."

The market is principally among finders, and boot and shoe manufacturers. The largest trade at present comes from Pennsylvania. The business is well established and promising.

We mention this establishment not so much on account of the amount of capital employed or business transacted, but because of its peculiarity, it being comparatively a new branch of industry in this region. The works are well worth a visit to those who take a special interest in inge- nious machinery and its application.

UTICA SOAP AND CANDLE WORKS.

An establishment for the manufacture of soaps and candles was put in operation as early as 1840 by a gentle- man named Cahoon. James S. Kirk, now of the extensive firm of James S. Kirk & Co., Chicago, was also for some years, from 1845 to 1860, interested in this branch of manufactures in Utica, and was located on or near the ground now occupied by Messrs. Heath & Tavender. The last-named firm began business in 1862, and have continued it, with a steady increase, to the present time. Their present capital invested in the business is $20,000, and the amount of their annual sales approximates $50,000. They emplay about seven hands, including the proprietors, who give their undivided attention to the management of the establishment.

Their manufactured goods include all kinds of staple brands, including the celebrated " woolen-mill soap." The candle business was, before the introduction of petroleum, a very extensive one, but has gradually diminished in im- portance, until it forms but a fraction of their total business. This branch is now confined exclusively to the production of common tallow candles. The works are located on Whitesboro' Street, West Utica, near Wiley Street, and also near Nail Creek.

TOBACCO MANUFACTURES.

The manufacture of tobacco and cigars is quite extensive in Utica, and the aggregate sales are very large, though we are unable to give the total value in dollars and cents.

F. M. KENDRICK & CO. (F. M. KENDRICK, EDWARD MC- WENIE; No. 4 Bleecker Street.)

This firm confines its manufacturing department exclu- sively to the production of various brands of cigars, ranging through all grades from the lowest to the highest. They com- menced the business with cight employees, in 1872, and have gradually increased their trade, until at the present time the business gives employment to a total force of 60 hands. The aggregate sales of cigars for 1878 will reach 2,000,000. They also do a large jobbing business, the sales of various brands of chewing and smoking tobacco reaching a value of $50,000 annually. Three traveling agents are employed, and the goods are mostly marketed in the State of New York. The stock is purchased in New York City and Connecticut.

SHERWOOD & HEMMENS (EDWIN F. SHERWOOD, JAMES HEMMENS; 120 Genesee Street.)

This manufactory was established about 1853, by Sher- wood & Wilkins, subscquently changed to Stephen Sher- wood, and to Sherwood & Hemmens in 1871. The business at first gave employment to from 25 to 30 hands, which

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

has been increased to about 75 of all classes at the present time. In the line of cigars this firm confines itself to the manufacture of a special grade known as the "S S" brand. The manufacture of chewing and smoking tobacco embraces all grades, and the aggregate productions are very large. The number of cigars turned out annually amounts to about 1,000,000. The stock is mostly purchased in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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Three traveling agents are employed, and the sales are almost exclusively within the territory of the State of New York.

WARNICK & BROWN. (No. 86 Genesee Street.)

The original of this establishment was put in operation in 1837 by Warnick & Bryan, with a force of two or three worknien. Since 1853 the firm has been Warnick & Brown. The total number of hands now employed, including men and boys, aggregates about 80. Five traveling agents are kept on the road, and the sales of cigars arc 1,500,000 annually. The firm manufacture every description of tobacco, cigars, and snuff, excepting plug-tobacco. The raw material for the various grades of smoking and chew- -

ing tobacco is purchased in Kentucky, the cigar-leaf in New York.

The market is principally in the State of New York.

In addition to those enumerated, there are extensive . manufactures of various descriptions, such as breweries, flour-mills, sash-, door-, and blind-, and furniture-factories, and innumerable establishments which the limited space allotted to general manufactures compels us to omit. Among others there is quite an extensive oil-cloth manu- factory, situated on the corner of Cornelia and Columbia Streets, of which we had intended to give a brief descrip- tion, but, for reasons best known to himself, Mr. Pomeroy declined to furnish the necessary information for the pur- pose.

Extensive wholesale and retail mercantile houses are found in various parts of the city, engaged in every variety of trade usually carried on in the larger towns, and the number of ordinary retail establishments is very great for a city of 35,000 people. We should have been glad to make mention of many other business enterprises had the plan and scope of our work permitted, but, for reasons that will be obvious, we have confined ourselves as much as possible to the legitimate purposes of a history of Oneida County, inserting brief descriptions ouly of a small number of the more extensive and important manufactures,

CITY BUILDINGS.

The buildings belonging to the city are a city hall, public library, city hospital, police station, two engine-houses, and one hose depot. The public library building is described in connection with the city schools.

CITY HALL.

This building was erected by a commission named in the special act for its crection, between the years 1850 and 1856, from designs by Mr. Upjohn, the well-known archi- tect of New York. The approximate total cost was $80,000.

It is constructed of light-colored brick, something after the Romanesque style, and has a lofty tower at the northeast angle. The building has two lofty stories above the base- ment, and is occupied for city purposes, and by the United States District Court and clerk's office. Previous to the construction of the new police station, there were a series of cells fitted up in the basement for the safe-keeping of prisoners sent up by the recorder's court, These have ·been supplanted by the new ones.

The clock in the tower was constructed by Messrs. La- fever & Beary, of New York. The bell, weighing about 3500 pounds, is from the foundry of Jones & Co., Troy, N. Y. The fire-alarm is attached to this bell. The clock dials are of European manufacture, and about six feet in diameter. They are illuminated at night.

CITY HOSPITAL.

This building was also erected by a commission in 1855-56, and was originally calculated for a hospital and work-house. The total cost has been about $12,000. It is three stories in height, with a wing of two stories on the south. Its capacity is equal to the accommodation of fifty patients, though only a portion of the building is at present fitted up. It occupies a fine site on the corner of Mohawk and South Streets, and is supplied with gas and city water. The material used in its construction is red brick.

Rooms have also been fitted up for the confinement of prisoners from the recorder's court, and for women and children awaiting trial, and witnesses detained who are unable to furnish bail.

POLICE STATION.

This fine and commodious building, adjoining the city hall on Pearl Street, was erected in 1877-78, at a total cost of about $10,000. It is used exclusively by the police department and the recorder's court. The basement is fitted up with ten cells for prisoners, and there are three above for another class. The building is constructed of red brick, with stone trimmings, and is a model one of its kind.

The following additional figures are from the annual re- port of the Fire and Police Commissioners for 1877. The stated cost of the new police station-house is less in this than the amount shown on the books of the city clerk, which is owing probably to the fact that the building was not entirely completed at the date of the report.

" PROPERTY .- Prior to the organization of the Fire and Police Commission, the city rented all the houses of the fire department, except the hose depot, but since then the houses of No. 2 and No. 4 have been built by the city, and only Nos. 1 and 3 are now rented by the board, and it is hoped that the city will soon build two new houses.

" The estimated value of all the houses belonging to the departments in charge of the Commission is :

" No. 2 engine-house. $5,500

No. 4

6,000

Hose depot. 7,500

Police station-house ... 7,000

Total real estate. $26,000

Photo. by Mundy.

John Kdramas

JOHN J. FRANCIS was a descendant upon his father's side of an old Walah family. His grandfather was an officer of rank in the British navy, who, having been an extensive traveler, was so well pleased with America, nud confident of its future commercinl growth, that he resigned his lucrative and honorable commission, and settled in Utica nt an enrly day. Among his children wns Willinm Francis, father of the subject of this sketch. A man of strong characteristics, good judgment, and general intelligence. He figured among Utics's early financiers ; was one of the first trustees of the Savings Bank of Utica. Ha was s devout Baptist, nt the same time liberal towards those whose views differed from his own. Throughout his entire life, in his domestic, political, commercial, and religiona relations, he had the universal reapect nad esteem of his fellow-citizens.

Themss and Eleanor James, the maternal grandparents of John J. Francis, were both natives of North Wales. Upon their departure for thia new country, a large number of their friends and neighbors joined in giving them n farewell dinner. They landed in Philadel- phia. It had been their intention to proceed to Kentucky, but Mr. James' desth occurring ten days after their arrival, his widow, with her family, settled io Utics, in 1798. With the comfortable fortune left her, she did much towards allevisting the wants of the new Welsh settlers of Oneids County. At her decense she left 61 living descend- ants.

Of the eight children born unto William and Eleanor Francis, John J. was the third. He was born Nov. 6, 1808. He received a good academic education, was a zeslous reader, and well informed upon all aubjects. He Jenraed his father's trade, that of carpenter and joiner, at the latter's request and under his supervision ; but he early devel- oped s taste for a different pursuit. He naturally inherited s retiring disposition. His judgment was sound and good. He was far-seeing, and many sought the benefit of his counsel. He early became prom- inent among the extensive builders of his native city. He assisted in the creation of various companies and business organizations, among them the Packet, Screw, and Insurance. He was also one of the projectors of the street railroad company in the eastern part of

the city. He became early identificd with the Utica Mechanics' Asso- cintion, and was one of its first life members. It was aan dealer in renl cstate that he was most actively ond widely known. He bought, improved, and sold, during his busy life, s large quantity of real ca- tata; and upon past, present, or future valuations his judgment wss unsurpassed. In 1845 ha was elected n vestryman of Trinity Church, which trust be filled conscientiously and industriously from that time until his death. For many years he wns chairman of the committee on real estate.

In 1854 he was appointed, together with J. Watson Williams, E. A. Wetmore, Thomas Hopper, E. A. Graham, and John Dagwell, one of the commissioners of the building of the city hall. Through- out his entire business career, his honor and integrity were never questioned. He was a member of the board of trustees of the House of the Good Shepherd, from its first organization in 1872, and a mem- ber of the building committee during the construction of the building.

In 1835 he married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the late John A. Russ, long sod favorably known here. In his domestic life, Mr. Fran- cis was a kind husband, s tender parent, and a firm friend. His widew and three children, Helen G., Daniel J., and Cornelia M., still survive him. His son is an enterprising merchant of Syracuse, N. Y.

Mr. Francis was a great lover of nature. Brynut's poems were smong his favorites. It was his custom to take long walka, for exer- cise and pleasure, nmidst the green fields, the sloping hills, and beau- tiful valleys. There were few places of interest in his native county with which he was not familiar. He thought no walk too long to sc- cure the first wild-flowers of spring, and the troiling arbutus in its season.

He passed from earth, May 5, 1877, so peacefully and gently that he seemed to exemplify the truth of the poet's words,-

"Surs the last and of the good man la peaca. How calm hla exit !

Night dews fall net more calmly on the ground, Ner weary, worn-out winda expire ac soft."

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

" Value of apparatus, horses, furniture, etc. :

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 82

Author: Durant, Samuel W Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss Number of Pages: 920

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920