USA > New York > Staten Island > History of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York : from its discovery to the present time > Part 69
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Mr. Bechtel is now in the prime of life. He is a man of taste and foresight, and is regarded by those who know him best as a highly useful as well as influential man. It has been his in- tention for some time to erect a hospital upon Staten Island which shall be open to unfortunates of all nationalities and sects. He will put his plan into execution as soon as the proper site can be secured. He has just given a sum of money with a promise of more, if necessary, to erect a hospital for invalid Odd Fellows of the state of New York, and is at present nego- tiating with a committee from the Smith infirmary to build a pavilion costing from $4,000 to $5,000 and containing six en- dowment beds, as an addition to their projected hospital, entirely at his expense.
Mr. Bechtel married, in 1865, Miss Eva Schoen, of New York city. He has five children still living, four daughters and one son. The daughters were attendants of the famous French school of Madame Colin, formerly conducted by Madamoiselles Charbonnier.
The Clifton brewery, in Edgewater, is one of considerable importance. It is invested with some degree of interest from the fact that it was established by General Garabaldi and his partner, Antonio Meucci, in 1851. Since their day it has passed through the hands of several proprietors, among whom were Louis Gross, Christian Trefz and Gabriel Mayer, at whose de- cease it passed into the hands of David Mayer and Fr. Bachmann. The capital invested is about a quarter of a million dollars and the work employs about fifty hands. This brewery was de- stroyed by fire on the 31st of October, 1881. The buildings were of brick, but they fell before the devouring flames, to-
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
gether with an ice house and a saloon connected with the brewery. The loss was estimated at about two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars.
The Atlantic brewery, at Stapleton, is owned by Rubsam & Horrmann. It was established in 1870, and employs a capital of about one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, and a force of thirty to forty men.
Bischoff's brewery was established at Stapleton, in 1854, or soon after that date, by one Gillich. Subsequently it became the property of Wolf & Reinhardt, and later passed into the possession of George Bischoff. Abont twenty hands are em- ployed.
The Constanz brewery is located at Castleton Corners. It was established in August, 1852, by August Schmid. Subsequently passing into the hands of Joseph Setz, it was conveyed by him to Monroe Eckstein, in 1875, and by him it has been greatly im- proved and is still owned. The original number of buildings was two, and its capacity until 1875 only three. thousand bar- rels. Six large buildings have since been added and the ca- pacity increased to forty thousand barrels. Inproved machinery has been introduced, which is driven by steam. The water here is of first quality. About forty men are employed and ninety to one hundred thousand bushels of malt and three hundred bales of hops are annually used.
There are a few other similar establishments on the island, but none so large as those we have noticed. At the centennial exhibition at Philadelphia eleven prizes were awarded to brew- ers in the United States, three of which were awarded to Staten Island brewers, viz .: Mayer & Bachmann, George Bechtel and Rubsam & Horrmann. Eckstein, Bischoff and some others did not compete.
MONROE ECKSTEIN, one of the most enterprising men among the brewers of Staten Island, is the seventh of twelve children of Henry Eckstein, formerly a wealthy merchant of New York, who came to this country from Bavaria in 1835. He was born in the city of New York. June 23, 1849, and during his youth attended private and public schools in his native place. Subse- quently he enjoyed a term in the College of New York, after which. in 1865, he engaged in the tobacco business with the firm of Wertheimer & Co., of New York and San Francisco. Here his business abilities soon won for him the favor of his employers
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
and he was rapidly advanced till at the time of his leave taking in 1875 he was buyer for the firm.
In the latter year Mr. Eckstein purchased from Joseph Setz the Constanz brewery at Four Corners, S. I., which had been founded in 1852, by August Schmid, one of the organizers of the United States Brewers' Association. The brewery is located on rising ground whence a magnificent view of the Kill Von Knll, the Jersey country and vicinity can be obtained, and has about it twenty-two acres of gronnd, most of which is attrac- tively laid out as a pleasure park, with summer houses, seats, etc. The immense increase in the business which Mr. Eckstein has succeeded in bringing about has compelled him to enlarge the building from time to time, and he is at the present writing engaged in rebuilding the whole structure, and replacing the old machinery at a cost of $125,000. This will make his outfit one of the most complete brewing plants in the country.
Mr. Eckstein is a public spirited and enterprising man. He takes great interest in the development of the neighborhood, and was active in the organization and promotion of the rail- road company that constructed the shore line direct to his es- tablishment. Ever since his removal to the island he has been identified with the more important enterprises on it. He is commissioner of highways, chairman of the board of school trustees of Castleton Corners, treasurer of the Richmond County Railroad Company, president of the Richmond County Savings Bank and a stockholder in the First National Bank and the Bank of Staten Island.
Besides these he is an active member of the executive con- mittee of the Association of United Lager Beer Brewers of New York and vicinity, and a member of the vigilance committee of the New York State Brewers and Malsters' Association. He is also connected with many social clubs in New York city and on Staten Island.
Mr. Eckstein has given large amounts to charitable purposes and his spirit of benevolence is well known throughout Rich- mond county. His genial nature and thorough integrity in the transaction of his business have won for him many and lasting friends.
Mr. Eckstein married, February 1, 1882, Miss Selina Dinkel- spiel, of New York city, in which place he resides during the winter months.
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
The firm of B. Kreischer & Sons, at Kreischerville, is engaged in the manufacture of clay gas retorts, fire brick, blocks, and all kindred fire clay goods necessary where high heats are ob- tained. The factory is located on Staten Island sound, two miles from Tottenville, and diagonally opposite the coal docks of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company.
This business was established in 1845, by Balthasar Kreischer and Charles Mumpeton, under the firm name of Kreischer & Mumpeton, at the corner of Goerck and Delancey streets, New York city, and so continned until 1849, when, after the decease of the latter, B. Kreischer carried on the business in his own name. In 1859, his nephew becoming associated with him, the name was changed to Kreischer & Nephew, and two years later, upon the admission of Mr. Kreischer's son-in-law, it was again changed to B. Kreischer & Company. In 1861 the partnership was dissolved, and the style of B. Kreischer again adopted. In 1870 Mr. George F. Kreischer was admitted as a partner, and the style changed to B. Kreischer & Son. The manufactory was again enlarged, and at that time occupied twenty-one full city lots. In 1873, the property becoming too valuable and ex- pensive for manufacturing, it was resolved to enlarge the Staten Island works sufficiently to raise its capacity equal to that of the New York works. Operations were at once commenced, but were somewhat retarded by the general depression of busi- mess. In the fall of the year 1876, the buildings being com- pleted, the machinery was taken out of the New York factory, and all tools, moulds, etc., shipped to Staten Island. The build- ings in New York were taken down and tenement houses erected in their stead. On the eve of the 1st of Jannary, 1877, the factory was consumed by fire, causing a total loss of sixty
thousand dollars. By the energy and close attention of Mr. B. Kreischer, however, assisted by his sons, on the 23d day of April the engine was again running, and manufacturing opera- tions were resumed. The factory was rebuilt and the newest im - provements were made. In 1878 Mr. B. Kreischer retired from the business, having been active in the same for thirty-three years, and the style was changed to the present one, B. Kreischer & Sons, Mr. B. Kreischer allowing his sons to use his name.
The factory now covers over three acres of ground, is two tories high, and has a capacity of twenty thousand fire brick a
errr
FIRE-BRICK WORKS OF B. KREISCHER & SONS, KREISCHERVILLE, N. Y.
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
day. A one hundred and twenty-five horse power engine, tak- ing steam from two tubular boilers, supplies the motive power. A line of shafting extends from one end of the main building to the other, being three hundred feet in length. The storage room for clay, etc., is composed of fourteen bins thirty-two by twenty-five feet each, taking up a space of four hundred and twenty-five feet in length, with a capacity of four thousand tons. In the fall of the year 1885, a clay digging machine was purchased by the firm, which gives great satisfaction, and ma- terially reduces the labor of mining the clay.
There are altogether from one hundred to one hundred and fifty men employed at the works and in the clay mines. The annual consumption of raw material is about thirteen thousand tons, and to dry and burn the material manufactured, from three thousand five hundred to four thousand tons of coal are con- sumed. The average production per annum is about three mil- lion five hundred thousand brick, or ten thousand tons gross. The fire brick manufactured are transported to New York city, a steam lighter of one hundred and twenty tons capacity being used for that purpose. This was built for the purpose in 1880. At the foot of Houston street, East river, the firm has a depot, where a large stock of all kinds of fire brick is constantly kept on hand, and there the financial part of the business is con- ducted. The present members of the firm are George F. Kreischer, residing in New York city, and Charles C. and Ed- ward B, Kreischer, both residing in Kreischerville, Staten Island.
For the period of almost half a century this concern has given close study and personal supervision to this important branch of manufacture. The European systems have regularly been examined by them, and valuable improvements have from time to time been made. Such untiring energy, industry and perseverance have met with the deserved reward of gaining the highest reputation for their goods wherever they have been used. Considerable difficulty was experienced about 1854, in procuring a reliable supply of clay, and the proprietor, feel- ing the necessity and the advantages of having his own mines, purchased the clay property (discovered by him) situated here, and here erected a building for the manufacture of fire brick. Large additions were made to the premises in 1855, providing for the employment of a large number of men. The growth
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
and prosperity of this little village, by reason of Mr. Kreischer's enterprise and success, was such that a post office was estab- lished and the place named Kreischerville. In the year 1860 the buildings were enlarged and the manufacture of clay gas retorts introduced, this being the first place where gas retorts of clay were manufactured in America. In 1865 valuable clay heds at Woodbridge, N. J., and Chester City, Pa., were pur- chased, and the business had become so prosperous that the New York manufactory was rebuilt, and a new system of burn - ing and drying, together with improvements in machinery. were introduced.
BALTHASAR KREISCHER, who was born March 13, 1813. at Hornbach, a small village of Bavaria, is the grandson of Nicko- las Kreischer, a native of Berschweiler, Rhenish Prussia, who settled in Hornbach as a manufacturer of bricks. His three sons were Peter, Andreas and Balthasar. The latter, born in 1776, married Susan Schlemmer, and had four daughters and two sons, one of whom is the subject of this sketch. After re- ceiving a common school education he was apprenticed to a stone cutter and sculptor. At the age of twenty-two he was selected, together with two others, to lay the corner stone of the fortress of Germersheim, near the ruined castle of Freidrichsbuhl, where Rudolph of Hapsburg died in 1291. In December, 1835, occurred the great fire in New York which in- fluenced his emigration to that city. Arriving in June, 1836, he immediately sought work and aided in rebuilding the burned district. Soon after he married Caroline, daughter of George Haenchen, of Hornbach, and speedily became a builder on his own account, erecting many houses and business structures. The building of bakers' ovens became a specialty, his reputa- tion being early established as the best bnilder of such ovens in the city, many of them of fire brick. Mr. Kreischer having discovered in New Jersey a suitable clay, determined to embark in the manufacture of fire brick himself, and for this purpose found a co-partnership with Charles Mumpeton under the firm name of Kreischer & Mumpeton. To overcome the prejudice against the domestic article, as compared with the English, he entered into a contract with a consumer by which a furnace was built, one-half with imported fire brick and the remainder with brick of his own manufacture, giving a bond of indemnity against loss in case his own gave out before the imported
M. Aceischer
1
RESIDENCE OF THE LATE B. KREISCHER KREISCHERVILLE, N. Y
AKTOTYPE, E. BIERSTRUT, & V.
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
article. The result was in his favor and decisive. In a few years the English article was almost entirely superseded by brick of Mr. Kreischer's manufacture. Mr. Mumpeton having died in 1849, his partner conducted the business alone, giving it close attention and introducing from time to time improve- ments suggested by his own experience and the study of Enro- pean methods. Its extension was such that the factory originally occupying one city lot, covered thirteen lots. Mr. Kriescher also found time to start a chemical works in 1850 and works for the mannfacture of nltra-marine blue in 1852. He finally purchased an extensive property in Westfield township, Staten Island, built additional works near his mines, adjoining the Staten Island sound, with superior facilities for transportation, and ultimately made it his place of residence. A prosperous village soon grew up, and the government established a post office under the name of Kreischerville. Mr. Kreischer was in 1860 one of the originators of the Staten Island Railway which, by his subsequent generous aid, was rendered self-sus- taining. In 1865 valuable clay beds were purchased at Wood- bridge. New Jersey, on the Staten Island sound, and in Chester connty, Pennsylvania. The New York manufactory was re- built and a new system of burning and drying, with various improvements in machinery, introduced. In 1867 large works were erected in Philadelphia, the New York works abandoned in 1876, and extensive additions made to the Staten Island establishment. Mr. Kreischer had meanwhile kept fully abreast of the time and maintained the highest reputation for his goods. Meanwhile his sons, George Frederick, Charles C., and Edward B., after a thorough education in their own country and in Europe, were made familiar with the business to which they succeeded in 1878. Mr. Kreischer was one of the original trustees of the Dry Dock Savings Bank. He was an active member of the Masonic fraternity and connected with various charitable organizations, much time and aid having been given by him to the Association for the Improvement of the Condition of the Poor of New York. At Kreischerville, named in his honor, he was held in high esteem for his active, intelli- gent participation in every movement tending to the moral and material advancement of the community. One of his latest acts of benevolence was the gift of St. Peter's German Lutheran Church to the congregation, free of debt. The death of Mr.
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
Kreischer occurred on the 25th of August, 1886, at Kreischer- ville.
The Jewett White Lead Company's works, at Port Rich- mond, on Staten Island, were established in 1842, under the firm name of John Jewett & Sons, and have since been greatly en- larged, nntil they now occupy about two and a half acres of ground. The main building for manufacturing purposes is one hundred and fifty feet long, forty feet wide and three stories high. In this building the machinery is propelled by an en- gine of eighty horse power. In the year 1862 another building was erected for manufacturing purposes, one hundred and fifty feet long, thirty-five feet wide and three stories high. In this building the machinery is propelled by an engine of forty horse power. The works have a capacity for producing three thousand tons of pure white lead annually, and they consume about two thousand tons of coal and employ one hundred men. The quality of their productions is well and favorably known to dealers in all parts of the country.
In the year 1882 the company was reorganized, under the name of " The Jewett White Lead Company," with the follow- ing officers : Benjamin C. Webster, president ; James W, Sel- lick, secretary ; Charles H. Jewett, secretary. The snb office for the transaction of business is at 28 Burling slip, in the city of New York.
The corroding houses, of which there are three, are frame structures, each abont one hundred and fifty feet long and sixty- five feet wide, and of the usual height to accommodate the beds. James B. Pollock, superintendent, has been connected with the works twenty-nine years, twenty of which he has been superintendent, proving himself a very successful and efficient one.
Two of the partners, Messrs. G. W. Jewett and J. A. Dean, commenced the manufacture of linseed oil in 1869. The build- ings, which are nearly a mile west of the white lead works, also stand between the Shore road and Kill Von Kull, and partly on a large wharf. The main building is of brick, three stories high, one hundred and twenty feet long by seventy six feet wide, with an addition seventy-six by twenty-five feet, and a tower con- taining a public clock. This establishment employs about fifty men, and manufactures abont half a million of gallons
-
RESIDENCES OF CHARLES C. AND EDWARD B. KREISCHER.
Kreischerville, N Y
ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, * Y
737
HISTORY OF RICHIMOND COUNTY.
of oil annually. The works are now owned by J. A. Dean & Company,
The manufacture of silk has been carried on for several years at New Brighton by the Irving Manufacturing Com- pany, under the management of John Irving. This establish- ment has been lately devoted to the manufacture of dress linings. An office is maintained at 84 Franklin street, New York.
At the same place in New Brighton the Manchester Manufac. turing Company, consisting of John Irving and William G. Hartley, of Manchester, England, recently began operations. The partnership was formed in the early part of 1885 for the manufacture of silk and cotton plush, mohair, woolen uphols- tering and dress goods and velvets. Forty new looms of im- proved invention were placed in the old silk mill on Jersey street, and the work was begun during the summer. A force of about fifty men and girls was set to work. The mannfacture of a silk plush strongly resembling sealskin was made a spec- ialty. The business was commenced with the employment of about $100,000 capital.
JOHN IRVING was born April 17, 1844, in County Derry, Ire- land, and educated principally at the night schools of his na- tive place. At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to the weaver's trade and at seventeen embarked in the mannfacture of fine linen, with such marked snecess that soon after he had several looms in operation. Discovering in America a wider field for his ability he, in 1866, emigrated, and settled in Patter- son, N. J., as an employee of R. & H. Adams & Co. Leaving this firm at the expiration of the third year, he spent three years in New York, and then established in Brooklyn a factory for the making of book muslins for the dry goods trade, which he was the first to introduce into this country. In 1881 Mr. Irving purchased the valuable property now owned by him in New Brighton, and began the manufacture of India linens, Victoria lawns, tarlatanes, and mohair and silk plushes for up- holstery. There being little competition in these fabrics he is able largely to control their production and finds a ready market in all the large cities of the United States. Mr. Irving devotes his attention exclusively to his extensive business, and as a consequence has no leisure to bestow upon public enter. prises or private schenies. He was married on the 15th of
47
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
April, 1864, to Eliza, daughter of Robert McElroy. of County Derry, Ireland. Their children are: William, Margaret, John and Geogre W.
The Linoleum works are located at the western extremity of the Richmond turnpike, on the shore of Arthur kill or Staten Island sound. The enterprise was established here a little more than ten years ago, by a joint stock company having a capital of four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, a considerable part of the stock being owned in England. The title of the corpo- ration is " The American Linoleum Manufacturing Company," and the article manufactured is a floor cloth, which is made from ground cork and linseed oil under patents held by the company. This was the first venture in the manufacture of such an article in this country, and as far as we know is now the only one in operation. The article is a substitute for oil cloth, being much more durable, and though perhaps more costly to begin with, is for the reason suggested less expensive in the end.
The plant is located on a tract of about two hundred acres owned by the company. Building was begun in August, 1873, and in the course of three years the works erected covered an area of about seven acres. The manufactured goods were first placed on the market in January, 1875. Joseph Wild was the president of the company at the beginning of its operations, and J. Cartledge was the manufacturing director.
The company has been eminently successful in its business, the products meeting with a general approval and ready sale. For many years the demand for their goods was ahead of their capacity to supply it. Steam to the amount of one hundred and forty horse power was used and about two hundred workmen employed, the works being run by night and by day. Electric lights were used to facilitate night work. A village was erected about the works, and this is now con- nected by stages making several trips daily over the beauti- ful macadamized road to Port Richmond, about five miles distant.
De Jonge's paper factory was originally located in New York city, but as business increased and additional facilities became imperative, the works were removed to Staten Island in 1852. They are located on the south side of Richmond turnpike,
John Spring
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
about half a mile from Tompkinsville. Louis De Jonge and Charles F. Zentgraf are the proprietors, and carry on the busi- ness of coloring, printing and finishing fancy paper, under the style of Lonis De Jonge & Co. The capital invested is about $200,000, and the annual value of the manufactures about $300,000. The works cover an area of about two acres, the principal building is about two hundred and fifty feet long by forty feet wide, with a wing at right angles of one hundred and twenty-five by thirty feet. From one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty hands are regularly employed in the establishment, and the engines, in the aggregate, are about one hundred horse power. The office of the company is at 71 and 73 Duane street, New York city.
The Windsor plaster mills, said to have been among thie largest of the kind in the country, were located at New Brighton, on the shore of the kills, where they had a frontage of over two hundred feet, and near the foot of Jersey street. About ninety men were employed there. The buildings were de- stroyed by fire on the 19th of July, 1885, destroying prop- erty to the amount of about $225,000. The works were owned by Messrs. J. B. King & Co., the "company " being Peter C. Biegel, George H. Wooster and George R. King. The debris was immediately cleared away and the mills were rebuilt.
About twenty-five or thirty years ago a factory was estab- lished at Seguine's Point for the purpose of obtaining the oil from palm nuts, by expressing. The works were erected by a company composed of Joseph H. and Stephen Seguine, Isaac K. Jessup and Major Bennett. The work did not prove remu- nerative. and the establishment was afterward devoted to the mannfacture of candles. This was also abandoned as unprofit- able, and about the year 1865 the factory was sold to Algernon K. Johnson.
In the factory above mentioned, sometime after its purchase by Mr. Johnston, the Jolinston Brothers, of whom he was one, placed their machinery, and began the manufacture of dental supplies. This work consists of a wide range of articles : gold foil, dental instruments, dental chairs, brackets, engines, lathes, inhalers, and, in short, whatever a dentist needs in his business.
The liquefaction of nitrous oxide gas was first accomplished
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
in this country and on a commercial scale at these works. The business of Johnston Brothers, and that of the late Mr. S. S. White have been inerged into the "S. S. White Dental Manu- facturing Company," and is now located here. About two hun- dred hands are employed, and the goods, which are acknowl- edged as the best made in the world, are sent all over the United States and to every part of Europe.
Other manufactures have been in operation on the island. Among them was the manufacture of rubber cloth, which was begun by the New York India Rubber Cloth Company in 1835. This company was incorporated by an act passed March 11 of that year, with a capital stock of $100,000, which was divided into shares of fifty dollars each. The directors appointed by the act were : Samuel Marsh, Nathan Barrett and David V. N. Mersereau. A building was erected in New Brighton, and the business was for a time successfully carried on. The building has since been used in the manufacture of paper hangings.
Mccullough's shot factory was in operation for several years before and during the late war. In May, 1862, it was work- ing day and night to supply government contracts for min- ie balls, to the amount of several hundred tons. It stood near the steamboat landing at Stapleton. About the close of the war it was abandoned for the purpose for which it had been used, and the tower was pulled down. The building otherwise was enlarged and converted into a cream tartar fac- tory, and this, after running but a few weeks, was declared a nuisance and closed by order of the courts.
The manufacture of mowing machines by the Hopkins Mower Company is about being established npon the island, but at the time of this writing their plans are not sufficiently developed to become a part of history. The company has been incorporated under the laws of New Jersey, and its of- ficers are: Alexander M. Holmes, president ; Rev. Thomas S. Yocum, vice-president ; Thomas L. James, treasurer, and A. K. Johnston, secretary.
There are two gas light companies doing business on the island. These are the Richmond County Gas Light Company, which has been established about twenty-five years, and the Staten Island Gas Light Company, established in 1884. Both have their manufacturing works at Stapleton. The former las
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HISTORY OF RICHIMOND COUNTY.
about fifty miles of mains laid and manufactures about thirty million cubic feet of gas per annum. Their grounds, build- ings, etc., are valued at about $100,000. The capital stock of the company is $400,000, nearly the whole of which has been actually issued. The annual dividends have generally been as high as six or seven per cent.
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