USA > New York > Onondaga County > History of Onondaga County, New York > Part 47
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The President of the company is Joel Thayer, of Skaneateles, a gentleman well and favorably known as a citizen and business man, having been long identified with some of the leading interests of this section. Mr. Barnes, the Treasurer and General Manager, formerly held responsible positions in railroad affairs ; was Superintendent of the division of the New York Central between Syracuse and Utica until the consolidation, and after wards Super- intendent of the Marietta & Cincinnati railway. Of late years he has devoted himself wholly to the " business of the company which he has so success- fully managed.
In September, 1877, the consolidation of these works in Syracuse with those of Akron, Ohio, was effected, and a new company formed, called the Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Company, with a capital of $400,000. The new company will be managed in Syracuse by Mr. George Barnes, pre- cisely as the old shop has been.
THE SYRACUSE CHILLED PLOW COMPANY. - This company has been formed in Syracuse for the purpose of manufacturing Chilled Plows. It has a capital of $100,000. James M. Ellis, President ; T. F. Andrews, Vice-President ; L. W. Hall, Secre- tary and Treasurer ; and H. Wiard, Superintendent. The company occupies the Williams Mower and Reaper Works in this city-premises which could not have been better adapted to plow making pur- poses if the company had erected them ; and on the 2d of August, 1876, the first plow was manufac- tured. Since then the company have used every effort to facilitate their business ; from day to day the number of plows turned out has increased ; every improvement in modes of finishing has been adopted : and the result is the production of an im- plement which promises to effect an important change in the manufacture and material of the plow.
There are three other concerns in the country engaged in the manufacture of chilled plows, some of them really excellent, but others base imitations. In the Syracuse chilled plow the de- fects of others have been avoided ; the iron is chilled by a process differing greatly from that of others ; the shape of the plow is more symmetrical, the finish more perfect. In the construction of this plow the same iron is used by the company as that used by the United States in the manufacture of its guns. By certain processes this iron is chilled and made effective for the purpose designed. A comparison has been made between this process
Photo, by Sarony, N. Y. ''ity.
The subject of this sketch was born in Warwickshire, England, Jan. 6, 1821. He was the eldest child of Thomas Greenway and Anna Padbury, both natives of England. Ilis paternal grandfather's name was John. His father, with his family of wife and five children, John, Elizabeth, George, David, and William, sailed from Liverpool about the middle of June, 1837, and landed in New York in August, after a very stormy pas- sage. The mother died soon after coming to this country, in Jersey City.
The family felt a great loss in the death of the wife and mother, but the same year, by steamboat up the Hudson river and by canal the balance of the way, came to Syraense. Ilis father died at the age of seventy-three years. Upon reaching Syracuse, John worked on a farm for Walker Knapp one mouth for five dollars. Hle afterwards went into the grocery store of Ephraim Hull, where he spent most of his time for the next three years as a elerk, but by odd spells worked at other business ; helped to ent a track through the swarup for the survey of the Syracuse and Utica railroad ; assisted in cutting the piles for the road, receiving therefor one eent each ; was on call for any general work, and during this time received n very limited opportunity for an education, being a part of two winters in a district school. Ile spent his boyhood before leaving England in agricultural pur- suits; this, together with his three years' experience among strangers, had well fitted him to meet the obstacles common not only to foreigners, but as well to the native poor, both of which he had to surmount.
In 1841 he, with his brother George as partner, opened a grocery store at Lodi Locks, for the purpose of supplying the canal trade. In this they cleared during the spring and summer one hundred dollars apiece, and he remembers of feeling very rich in this world's goods at sneh a success. Another summer was spent in trade, with greater profits, and sufficient to induee them to sell out their store and invest in a hurse and wagon, and start on the road as peddlers. This business lasted only a short time, and he and his brother determined to go south ; but upon reaching Lancaster, Ohio, the roads being nearly impassable, an English penny, tossed up, determined whether they should go ahead or return. The return was fixed upon, and John and his brother, after many interesting adventures, came back to Palmyra, N. Y., and the next year opened a grocery store in that place, which was continued only one season, and in this store they were also successful. John, in the fall, thinking to speculate, started to New York with a cargo of live poultry by canal. On his way the canal froze over, and with no possibility of getting his freight carried by railroad, he was left in a sad dilemma; but after a short time got his poultry to market, with the price of the same out of pocket. Thence he went to New Orleans, where he worked for a Portuguese merchant, in a provision store, until the next June, and returned to Syracuse. From this time (1845) Mr. Greenway's career was more fixed to one branch of business. Ile beenme tho ageut for the sale of ale manufactured by a firm at Palmyra, and continued with that firm and others for several years, when, in 1853, ho formed a co-partner- ship with his brother George, and bought the entire Brewster interest in Syracuse. The new firm pushed their business with great vigor. Both partners were men of unusual enterprise and activity, and they managed
the manufacture and business in such a way that gave them at once repu- tation and profit. The ales and porter made by them became known in all parts of the country, and they made it a rule that every article should be kept at a standard quality. About the year 1867, Mr. John Greenway came into possession of the entire business, occasioned by his brother's death. He at onee entered upon his increased responsibilities with still grander schemes of enlargement and improvement, which he bas fully carried out within the last few years. He has completed one of the largest brewery and malt-houses to be found in the United States. An idea of this'immense structure may be gained when we state that it is six stories high, with a French roof, and extends nearly one eighth of a mile in length. It includes a malt-house, large elevator, brewery, storage, and shipping departments, and elegant office. The capacity of the malting department is sufficient for converting into malt about three hundred thousand bushels of barley during the malting season, and not less than five thousand barrels of ale and porter are continually in the vaults. Mr. Greenway is perfectly unselfish in his efforts to establish a large and profitable business. At all times he has exhibited a determination to make those laboring with him participate in its increase and profits. Whenever he could better the circumstances of any man by increased pay, he has been mindtul to do it; and has succeeded in many ways in giving his workmen advantages not enjoyed in other establishments.
While Mr. Greenway has been prosperous in business, he has not heen unmindful of the needy, and of any and all interests of his city and county requiring a helping hand. His liberal spirit and actions were most notably shown on New Year's Day, 1870, by a great barbeene which he gave to the poor of Syracuse and the country around. It is said that forty thousand persons were present, and that ten thousand were fed. As a fitting erown to the feast, two thousand four hundred pounds of plum pudding were distributed for dessert,
The pudding was brought on the ground in sleighs decorated with ever- greens and flags, and having on the sides, in large letters, the words " Happy New Year." At the close of the barbecue a large, nnevoked ox was ent up, and, with supplies of bread, was distributed to the poor widows and orphans of the city. In the winter of 1877, Mr. Greenway opened a soup house for the benefit of the poor of the city, and in this way he shared with the needy the munificence of his hospitality.
Mr. Greenway is a man of plain appearance,-an honest, humble-minded person, of practical views in regard to all things. His face bespenks his energy of character and goodness of heart. He has the same frank and genial manners and address with all persons, and consequently enjoys the widest popularity. Hospitable and sociable in his home circle, he goes abroad with a cheerfulness and goodness that are inseparable from his nature.
In the year 1848, Feb. 18, he married Miss Nancy Ann, daughter of Ephraim Hull, of Syracuse, by whom he has had four sons and two daughters, now living, Gertrude, George, John, William, Thomas, and Annie Laurie.
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GREENWAYS
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and that of the Oliver Plow Factory at South Bend, Indiana, the largest chilled plow establishment in the world, showing that while the chilling process of the Oliver works requires twenty-five hours, the method adopted by the Syracuse Chilled Plow Company completes it in a very few minutes. The iron thus chilled is crystalized for about two-thirds of its thickness, leaving an iron basis as a matter of strength and durability. The appearance of the crystalized surface is as if the metal was made up of an infinite number of needles, and the superiority of the chilled iron over steel is in the fact that the wear upon the metal is across the point-like crystalizations instead of lengthwise of the metal. It has been observed that this chilling process changes the polarity of the metal, or in other words, the course of the magnetic current ; for applying the magnet to the chilled side the needles will point to the south, and vice versa when applied to the other side. This is a curious problem for the scientist to solve.
GREENWAY'S BREWERY is one of the sights of Syracuse. It occupies a peculiarly commanding and central position in the heart of the city and fronting the passenger tracks of the New York Central Railway. An immense parallelogram, it stretches away a distance of nearly one-eighth of a mile. Nor is it simply a pile of brick and mortar without shape or comeliness : on the contrary, in an architectural point of view, it deserves to rank with the finest in the city. Its proportions are sim- ply superb, and the mansard roof and tower that crown the edifice give it a light, graceful appear- ance. In its general aspect, architecturally con- sidered, it is unlike any other building devoted to like purposes in the country, and its immense cost -$500,000-shows how complete it must be in all its appointments. It is fitted out with all the com- plete paraphernalia of a modern brewery, including malt house, elevators, ice houses and cellars of the most approved construction.
The malt house consists of twelve floors, each 106 by 65 feet, in which is annually made 200,000 bushels of malt, and the coal consumed for malting purposes amounts to 800 tons yearly. The gran- eries consist of three floors, with storage capacity for 200,000 bushels of grain. The hop room is 65 by 45.feet, and the yearly consumption of hops is about 200,000 pounds. The boiling tub will hold over 400 bushels at one time. The boiling is done by steam, requiring 1,200 tons of coal each year, making the total amount of coal consumed per annum over 2,000 tons. The coal bunkers have a storage capacity of 500 tons.
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These few figures give some idea of the magni- tude of the business, to which must be added the fact that Mr. Greenway owns 50,000 ale casks and 25,000 lager beer casks ; his cellars, which are im- mense in extent, have a storage capacity for 30,000 casks of ale and lager. Such statements seem like extravagance, or the baseless fabric of a dream, but they are solid, indisputable facts. Perfect sys- tem and order mark all the operations of this mam- moth establishment and the men employed are all experienced in their several branches of work.
The Ale and Lager Beer Breweries are connected by a tunnel which runs under the Erie Canal. The casks are made in Mr. Greenway's own shops, which are connected with the brewing establish- ment, as are also carpenter's, tinner's, copper- smith's, blacksmith's and harness-maker's shops. Mr. Greenway employs and has constantly in use from 70 to 80 horses.
Mr. Greenway is ably assisted in the conduct of his immense establishment by his financial manager, Samuel W. Sherlock, who has filled many positions of responsibility and trust in the city for the past twenty-five years ; also George H. Greenway, his elder son, and John Greenway, Jr., who holds the position of cashier, and also William N. Greenway, assistant brewer. His younger son Thomas has charge of his model farm.
ONONDAGA POTTERY COMPANY -The works of this company are located in Geddes, where an ex- periment of manufacturing fine Ironstone China had been carried on about two or three years before the present joint stock company was organized in July, 1871. Hitherto the American market for this class of goods had been supplied wholly from England, and it was not supposed that such goods could be manufactured in this country. But the country abounded in the best kind of material, and a knowl- edge of the art, enterprise, and skilled labor were only required to produce a variety of goods that should fairly compete with, and even rival, the famous Staffordshire wares of England. Such knowledge, enterprise, and skilled labor have been organized by the Onondaga Pottery Company, and are now in successful operation, producing every variety of both plain and decorated table and toilet ware.
Certain specimens of the pottery made at these works were sent to Staffordshire for examination in 1875. The Times of that city reported upon them as follows : " This week we have been called to view a few pottery specimens from America, and are able impartially to say that they are as fine a sample of granite ware as most that is produced in
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Staffordshire. The body evinced greater potting skill, and the tint or stain much care and knowl- edge of the art. If anything, the American pro- duction is a shade lighter than the ware of the same character in this country, but this is a matter of taste, and has no reference to art only in quality. Our first impression on viewing the samples was that they were Staffordshire ware, and we were certainly much surprised when informed to the con- trary."
The company at Geddes are running four kilns, including one decorating and one calcining kiln. The quantity of coal consumed is about 1,200 tons a year : flint and feldspar, 250 tons ; kaolin, 250 tons ; Ball and Sagger clay, from 400 to 500 tons ; besides large quantities of other materials. About 75 hands are employed, and the sales amount to $70,000 per annum The kaolin used is found mostly in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Missouri and South Carolina. The flint, feldspar, &c., are found in Maine, Connecticut and New York, large quanti- ties of the former being brought from Whitehall, Washington county. This is an enterprise of great importance, for it gives a value to otherwise worth- less ledges of rocks and strata of clay, developing and utilizing the resources of the earth, enlarging home industry, and supplying the American market with American manufactured goods. There can be no doubt but the time will soon come when the people of this country will be entirely independent of England for their fine granite table and toilet wares.
The following are the Directors and officers of the company : N. S. Gere, C. E. Hubbell, M. P. Pharis, C. D. Avery, D. A. Moore, Stephen Hunt, R. N. Gere, G. W. Draper, G. A. Cool, Directors. N. S. Gere, President ; Charles E. Hubbell, Vice- President ; George W. Oliver, General Manager. Mr. Oliver has active charge of the works, and their successful operation is largely due to his excellent management.
PORTER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LIMITED, is the style of a firm doing a large business in cast- ings and machinery. Their foundry and machine shops are situated on Salina street in the First Ward of the city. Originally a foundry was started here by Messrs. Burr Burton and T. R. Porter in 18-, who made castings chiefly for the salt works. The style of the firm was at first Burton & Porter ; then it became Porter & Luther, Mr. John M. Lu- ther acquiring an interest in the business ; subse- quently, by the association of T. R. and George A. Porter, it became Porter & Co., which it remained till January 1, 1877, when the present stock com-
pany was formed. The officers of the Company are : R. B White, President ; R. Townsend, Vice- President ; G. A. Porter, Treasurer, and D. Il. Gowing, Secretary. The Company are largely en- gaged in the manufacture of steam engines, boilers, cotton presses, steam pumps, salt kettles, grates, all kinds of castings for salt blocks, and everything in the line of castings and mill machinery, together with the " Economizer Portable Engine," which is one of their specialties in trade. The shops and store-rooms of these works cover about half a block, and seventy men are employed in the business.
THE ONONDAGA FRON COMPANY .- The immense works and blast furnaces of this company are located in the town of Geddes, and are conveniently situated for handling their coal, iron and ore via the Erie Canal and the New York Central and Oswego railroads. The corner stone of their works was laid in 1869, at which date the company was in- corporated with a capital of $150,000, which has since been increased to $300,000. The officers of this company are : J. J. Belden, President ; R. N. Gere, Vice-President ; and W. H. H. Gere, Secre- tary and Treasurer. The company own sixty acres of land, and their works cover about ten acres.
THE SYRACUSE IRON WORKS .- Another mam- moth establishment located also in Geddes, just outside of the city limits, is the Syracuse Iron Works, covering several acres of ground and pre- senting an imposing appearance to travelers pass- ing in and out of the city. This company began on a small scale in 1861, at which date it was in- corporated with a capital of $30,000, and since then has gone on rapidly increasing till its present nominal capital is $200,000. They manufacture from pig and a small amount of scrap iron from eight to ten thousand tons of metal annually of over two hundred different sizes, and of one quality, (the best ) comprising merchant bar iron, horseshoe and rivet iron, brazier and wire rods, band and hoop iron, also fish joint and bridge bolts, railroad spikes, toe-calks, tire and cutter-shoe steel, &c. The company control a very large local trade, with a general market extending from Boston to Chicago, competing strongly and profitably with the Pitts- burg manufacturers. This establishment gives employment night and day to about two hundred hands.
The officers of the company are: R. N. Gere, President, and C. E. Ilubbell, Secretary and Treas- urer. Mr. Gere resides in the village of Geddes, with the interest of which he has always been identified. He is a large owner of real estate both in Geddes and Syracuse, a manufacturer of fine and
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coarse salt, President of the Merchants' National Bank of Syracuse, and an enterprising and influ- ential citizen. The interests of Syracuse and Ged- des, however, are identical, and in the course of events will undoubtedly be included in one corpora- tion.
DUGUID, WELLS & Co .- The Saddlery and Coach Hardware interest of Syracuse is among its leading branches of trade, and is represented by the firm of Duguid, Wells & Co., Nos. 31 and 33 West Water street. The house is an old established one, dating its origin back to 1845. In the years which have since elapsed, the business has been almost com- pletely revolutionized and has attained to an im- portance which may well challenge public atten- tion.
Duguid, Wells & Co., are successors of the old firms of Pope & Dawson, and of E. S. Dawson & Co., the present firm style having been adopted in 1868. The copartners in the present firm are H. L. Duguid. J. Emmet Wells, Gilbert W. Lyon and Frank Simmons. Their premises on West Water street present an appearance not easy to describe, on account of the extent and variety of the stock, which finds a market, about half in the State of New York, and the balance in nineteen other States and in Canada. Every year shows an increase, which is a substantial testimony to the worth of the house. In horse-blankets and lap-robes the stock of this house is simply immense, their sales in this specialty amounting in one year to over sixty thousand dol- lars.
The firm are extensive manufacturers as well as dealers. On East Water street they have a com- pletely equipped factory, Nos. 134, 136 and 138-a large brick structure devoted exclusively to the manufacture of saddlery hardware of all kinds, and which gives employment to from fifty to seventy- five hands. Gig saddles and coach pads are a spe- cial branch of their business ; also carriage hard- ware and trimmings, including axles, springs, hubs, spokes, and all kinds of bent wood work, as well as cloths, plushes, and enameled and patent leathers.
Mr. Duguid has been connected with the busi- ness since 1858, and is one of the best known busi- ness men of the city. The members of the firm all give their personal attention to the business, and the enterprise which has been manifested by the house is creditable alike to themselves and to the city.
FRAZER, BURNS & JONES. - The late firm of Frazer & Burns, founded in 1853, consisted of the late Kasson Frazer, a native of this county, and Peter Burns, who became a resident of the then village of .
Syracuse in 1836. These gentlemen were trained from youth to the saddlery business, which they fol- lowed as mechanics until about 1845, when they be- came identified with C. Pope & Co. in the saddlery hardware business here, Mr. Frazer in the depart- ment of manufacture, and Mr. Burns as general clerk.
At this time the manufacture and introduction of American saddlery hardware in this country was comparatively new. After eight years of practical experience in their respective departments, these gentlemen became identified in business, which in- terest has continued during the past twenty-five years. From comparatively small beginnings, this business, during the past eighteen years, has em- ployed an average of one hundred and eighty per- sons annually. Its sales-which are exclusively wholesale-mostly made in distant parts of the country, were confined to articles of their own manufacture.
This successful business has now passed into the hands of a new combination, under the style of Frazer, Burns & Jones, with additional facilities and an increasing trade.
JACOB BROWN & Co .- Another branch of the saddlery and coach hardware business of this city, was established in 1870, the partners being Jacob Brown and the late Kasson Frazer. Since the death of Mr. Frazer, his estate has remained the Company of the firm, so that the style continues unchanged, while the active management devolves upon Mr. Brown, who has been a resident of the city of Syracuse since boyhood.
A. C. CHASE, PIANOS AND MUSICAL INSTRU- MENTS. - In addition to manufacturing pianos, or- gans and melodeons, Mr. Chase deals in instru- ments made by other parties. Having learned the trade of piano making in Boston, he came to Syra- cuse in 1855 and soon after commenced business as a musical instrument dealer. Beginning in a small way, his headquarters were located first on the corner of Salina and Fayette streets, whence he re- moved to the Washington Block and commenced the manufacture of pianos, organs and melodeons. Subsequently, to meet the demands of business, he built the block on Clinton street, which was occu- pied till 1876, when his new factory and salesrooms fronting on Clinton street, between Jefferson and Onondaga, and with entrance both from Clinton and Salina streets, was erected. This new building is a four-story brick structure 50 by 70 feet, and of sufficient dimensions to bring his entire business under one roof, affording to the different depart- ments of the trade such spaceas is necessary. Mr.
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Chase, by his energy and perseverance, has made his business a success, although he has had every- thing in the way of musical instruments to com- pete with, showing that manufactures of any de- scription can as well be established and sustained in Syracuse as in any other city in the United States In 1875 Mr. Chase was appointed Post- master of this city, which position he now fills.
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