USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York, 1609-1909 > Part 68
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Mr. Cozzens has been married twice, first in Ohio, August 4, 1885, to Margaret Harvey, who died in April, 1892, by whom he has a daughter, Marie Christine, born in 1887. Mr. Cozzens married again in New York City, June 4, 1901, Mrs. Sarah C. Sloane (born Sarah C. Harvey).
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK
G
P. ROBERT G. SJOSTROM
787
P. ROBERT G. SJÖSTRÖM
P. ROBERT G. SJOSTROM, secretary and treasurer of the United States Worsted Company, is of Swedish birth and ancestry, the son of Ludwig and Maria Elizabeth ( Norelius) Sjöström. He is of an excellent Swedish family on his father's side, his paternal great-gradfather having been well known in Swedish history as a large operator in copper, and a well- known public official, who entertained King Carl XIV Johan of Sweden on several notable occasions. His mother is a direct descendant of King Robert Bruce of Scotland. Mr. Sjöström's father, Ludvig Sjöström, was a textile manufacturer, chemist and dyer. He came with his family from Sweden to Canada in 1867, and in 1881 to the United States, becoming prominent in the textile interests of the country; and he organized and developed the Lawrence Dye Works and Finishing Company. With his wife he now lives on his estate in Miami, Florida. Their family consists of eight children, five sons and three daughters, all living and all married.
Mr. P. Robert G. Sjöström attended school in Sweden from five years of age until eight years of age, coming to Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, in 1867. He attended the Sherbrooke Academy, and private classes, and at the age of fourteen he entered upon a full technical and practical course in woolen manufacturing. At the age of eighteen he entered a law office, and matriculated as a law student in McGill University at Montreal, from which famous institution he was graduated at the age of twenty-one with the degree of Bachelor of Civil Laws, and with first-rank honors in the class of 1881. He was admitted to the bar in the Province of Quebec, Canada, in 1881.
Coming to Lawrence, Massachusetts, he entered a law office in that city, but in 1882 took a position as private secretary in the banking house of Wins- low, Lanier & Company, of New York, and in the following year took charge as office and credit manager of a large importing firm engaged in trade in laces and embroideries. He later became vice president and general manager of a large manufacturing company in New York, and after that for twelve years treasurer of the Lawrence Dye Works Company at Lawrence, Massa- chusetts; secretary and treasurer of the Patchogue Manufacturing Company of Patchogue, Long Island, and secretary and treasurer of the United States Worsted Company of New York, all of which positions he still occupies. He is also treasurer of the North American Fruit Company; director of the Atlantic National Bank, Providence, Rhode Island, and president of the Hun- garian-American Bank of New York.
Mr. Sjöström, during his twenty-six years of residence in New York, has displayed extraordinary skill as a business organizer and financial man- ager, being an expert stenographer and accountant, and an inventor of many advanced methods in accounting, whereby he has the happy faculty of being able to manage at one and the same time as many as eight different business
288
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
establishments in the capacity of treasurer. By a system all his own, concen- trated reports of every phase of each business, showing the status of each day, are furnished daily, and from these reports, instructions are given, actions taken, and arrangements made, so that the business of each independent con- cern runs along smoothly, as well financially as physically, and the strenuous ability and energy thus employed is evidenced by the marked success of all the companies managed.
Mr. Sjöström is at present actively engaged in developing and man- aging the United States Worsted Company at 100 Fifth Avenue, one of the leading textile corporations of this country, with a capital of six million dollars, operating five large mills, manufacturing high-grade woolen and worsted factories.
The United States Worsted Company has developed from the Lawrence Dye Works of Lawrence, Massachusetts, founded by Ludvig Sjöström, and built up by him and his family to a position of great success and satisfactory development. The capacity of these works is being largely increased, and closely connected are the Iroquois Mills at Saugus, Massachusetts, which operate 150 looms; the Musketaquid Mills, at Lowell, Massachusetts, with a newly installed equipment of 200 looms; the Tinkham Mills at Harrisville, Rhode Island, with 225 looms; and the company have a new plant nearing completion at Lawrence, Massachusetts, with a capacity of 600 looms. Con- trolling these large plants with established outlets for their products, and with their unsurpassed ability and experience of management, the United States Worsted Company has taken an enviable position in the textile indus- tries of the country.
Mr. Sjöström is a Republican in politics, and has been active in custom house and tariff matters for many years, and he served as a member of the Board of Education of Westfield, New Jersey, from 1904 to 1907.
He has also been prominent in church affairs, was treasurer and trustee of the Park Methodist Episcopal Church of Elizabeth, New Jersey, from 1892 to 1897, and president of the Elizabeth District (New Jersey) Epworth League in 1901-1902. He is a thirty-third degree Mason, and a member of Mecca Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and is also a member of the Aldine Club, the Merchants' Central Club, Masonic Club, Canadian Society of New York, the New York Swedish Chamber of Commerce, and Manhattan Chess Club. His city residence is at the Hotel Endicott, and he has a country place at New Rochelle, New York.
Mr. Sjöström married, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, June 21, 1883, Emma Irene Wright, and they have three children: Mary Elizabeth Irene, born September 10, 1885; Paul R. G., born January 21, 1888; and Carl Reginald, born December 29, 1892.
JOSEPH H. EMERY
289
J OSEPH H. EMERY, now president and general manager of the great dry goods house of Lord & Taylor, was born in Dover, New Hampshire, the son of Joseph Huntress and Rebecca Caroline (Hill) Emery. He is of an old New England family, descended from John and Anthony Emery, brothers, who came from Romsey, England, arrived in Boston in 1635, and soon afterward settled at Newbury, Massachusetts.
Mr. Emery was grad- uated from the high school at Portsmouth, New Hamp- shire, in 1877. His first employment was as a news- boy and he was afterward errand boy in a dry goods store. He came to New York, August 15, 1878, and entered the employ of Lord & Taylor as a stock clerk. He afterward filled many positions in the house, be- came a traveling salesman, department manager and, when the business was in- corporated, was elected sec- retary. After the death of Mr. Hatch, who had been president, he succeeded to the executive charge of the business as chairman of the Executive Committee, and on July 12, 1910, was elected president of the cor- poration and is now in full charge of its affairs.
Mr. Emery is an active Republican and is a member JOSEPH H. EMERY of the Executive Committee of the Republican Club of New York; has served in the Twenty-second Regiment of the National Guard, and is a thirty-sec- ond degree Mason; also member of the Union League and Aldine Clubs, the Chamber of Commerce, and the New England Society in New York.
Mr. Emery was married, in New York City, on July 6, 1889, to Fannie Adele Constant.
790
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
E DWARD HENRY CLIFT, of the firm of Clift & Goodrich, com- mission merchants in knit underwear, was born in Philadelphia, November 18, 1851, son of Edward and Martha T. (Herring) Clift. He is of an old American family, on his father's side of English Quaker and Dutch origin, and maternally of English, French and Irish descent.
He was educated in private schools and by special tutors, and after leav- ing school was trained com- mercially through the vari- ous financial and merchan- dising departments of the business in which he is now engaged, and in 1891 he became associated in the formation of the firm of Critten, Clift & Company, which continued until June I, 1908, when, because of the death of Mr. DeFrees Critten, who had died No- vember 29, 1907, the pres- ent firm of Clift & Good- rich was organized and has since conducted an exten- sive business as commission merchants in knit under- wear at 74 Leonard Street, with branches in Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston, and are considered one of the leading factors in their line.
Mr. Clift is a Republi- can in his political affilia- EDWARD HENRY CLIFT tions, and is especially a firm supporter of the Re- publican doctrine of the protection of American industries; and he is a mem- ber of the Executive Committee of the American Portective Tariff League of New York.
He is a member of the Union League Club, the Merchants' Club, and New York Riding Club, and also of the Pennsylvania Society of New York City.
791
EDWARD ISMON GOODRICH
E DWARD ISMON GOODRICH, who has for years been a leader in the underwear business in New York, was born at Grand Rapids, Michigan, August 13, 1861, the son of Philip M. and Betsey (Ismon) Good- rich, and is of English descent. His father was a hardware merchant in Grand Rapids.
Mr. Goodrich was educated in a public school at Grand Rapids, and in 1883 entered the employ of W. H. & A. D. Rowe, of Troy, New York, in the underwear business, and in 1896 became a partner in that firm. On June 20, 1898, he started in the un- derwear business on his own account, and June I, 1908, he joined his business with that of E. H. Clift, at 74 Leonard Street, New York City, where they con- duct business as commission merchants under the firm name of Clift & Goodrich, and are recognized as one of the leading houses in the knit underwear trade.
Mr. Goodrich having devoted practically all his life since attaining man- hood to the underwear busi- ness, has become recog- nized as one of the leading experts and best informed merchants in that depart- ment of commercial activity.
EDWARD ISMON GOODRICH
Mr. Goodrich is a Re- publican, but he has never given much of his time to politics or public life, and never held a public office.
He is a member of the Union League Club, the Merchants' Club, and the New York Riding Club.
He married, at Big Rapids, Michigan, June 30, 1882, Lillie Bell Stickney, and they have a daughter, Irene Goodrich.
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK
JOSEPH H. WRIGHT
793
JOSEPH H. WRIGHT
OSEPH H. WRIGHT, president of the United States Finishing Com-
J pany, is a native of Paterson, N. J., where he was born April 16, 1853, being the son of James and Mary (Foote) Wright. His father, who was born in Scotland, in 1829, was a master mechanic of such expert skill that he was frequently called upon, from all parts of the country, to give his opinion upon mechanical matters. He died January 11, 1908.
Joseph H. Wright was educated in the public schools of Paterson until he was twelve years old, when he entered, as a boy, the employ of F. C. Van Dyke & Company, dry goods dealers, with whom he became a clerk, and re- mained with that firm for about six years. He then connected himself with the Reid & Barry Company, conducting the Dundee Dye and Print Works at Passaic, beginning in a minor position and by energetic, faithful and efficient service winning his way, until he became secretary of the company, and upon the death of William I. Barry, in 1895, he succeeded him as treasurer and general superintendent. In 1897 the company, with the Norwich (Conn. ) Bleaching, Dyeing and Printing Company and the Dunnell Manufacturing Company of Pawtucket, R. I., were merged into one corporation under the style of the United States Finishing Company, with a capital of $2,000,000 preferred and $1,000,000 common stock. The active management of the new company was placed in the hands of Mr. Wright from the first, though Mr. William W. Dunnell was chosen president and held the office until October, 1900, when he retired, Mr. Wright becoming president and general manager.
In May, 1901, the Sterling (Conn.) Dyeing and Finishing Company was acquired by the company, making a valuable addition to its resources and facilities, and the Silver Springs Bleaching and Dyeing Company, of Provi- dence, R. I., was also added to the United States Finishing Company, which, thus augmented, has become one of the largest enterprises in the line of bleaching, dyeing and finishing in the world. Under the management of Mr. Wright, new mills, machinery and equipment have been added, the plant has been brought to a high degree of perfection, while the capital stock was increased by $600,000, and a surplus of $2,000,000 has been accumulated. Mr. Wright is regarded as the leader in the finishing business in this country.
He is also president of the Apponaug Company, at Apponaug, R. I., the Queen Dyeing Company, Providence, R. I., and the Biddell & Bogart Paint- ers' Supply Company; a director of the Chatham National Bank of New York, the Hobart Trust Company of Passaic, and the First Mortgage, Title and In- surance Company of New Jersey.
He is a member of the Union League and Merchants' Clubs of New York, and the Hope Club of Providence, R. I. He married Emily Pelton, in 1881, and they have two children, William Pelton and Marie Louise (now Mrs. Ralph M. Robins).
794
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
HENRY STANTON CHAPMAN
795
HENRY STANTON CHAPMAN
H ENRY STANTON CHAPMAN, president of The Arlington Company, was born in Huntington, Mass., December 22, 1837, be- ing the son of Hiram and Fannie (Stanton) Chapman.
On his father's side he comes from an English family of Chapmans, transplanted in New England in the Seventeenth Century, his grandfather, Jedidiah Chapman, being born in New England. In the maternal line he is a direct descendant from Thomas Stanton, born at Rodway in England, who came to America in the early part of the Seventeenth Century. He was not only a successful trader in furs, dealing with the Indians of New England and New York, but possessed a thorough knowledge of the Mohawk and other principal Indian languages of these colonies, so that he became recognized as the best practical master of these languages among the colonists. He was therefore appointed, and served for many years Interpreter-General of the Colonies. He married Ann, daughter of Thomas Lord, and he and his wife were among the founders of Hartford, Conn., and their descendants have figured in an honorable and constructive way in the nation's advancement.
Mr. Chapman received his education in local schools and academy at his birthplace until he was eighteen years old, when he went to Dutchess County, New York, and began his business career by securing employment in a drug store, of which he became one of two proprietors. The business grew and a large trade was built up at wholesale and retail, but finally he sold out and for years was actively identified with iron-mining interests in Dutchess County.
Thence he came to New York City and organized The Arlington Company, of which he is president, and which has a very large and complete manufacturing plant at Arlington, N. J., turning out enormous quantities of fine goods, including combs, brushes, mirrors, fancy goods, sheeting, collars and cuffs, etc., of superior composition, manufacture and finish, these products under their trade-mark "Pyralin" or "Celluloid," enjoying not only a national, but also an international reputation and demand.
He has also made extensive and judicious investments in real estate in Glen Ridge, N. J., and elsewhere. He is also a director and officer in other corporations, chiefly subsidiary or auxiliary to The Arlington Company. He is Republican in politics, and has been a member of the Court of Appeals to regulate taxes and assessments in the Borough of Glen Ridge, N. J., where his attractive home, "Sunny Crest," is located.
He is a member of the Republican and Merchants Central Clubs of New York City, and of the Glen Ridge Club and Glen Ridge Golf Club.
Mr. Chapman married first in March, 1873, Jennie Brewster, a descendant from Elder William Brewster of the Mayflower. She died in 1883, leaving a son, Charles Brewster Chapman. In September, 1887, he remarried, his wife having been Miss Emily M. Payne, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
796
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
C. JULIUS FORSTMANN
797
C. JULIUS FORSTMANN
C. JULIUS FORSTMANN, president of the Forstmann & Huffmann . Company, of Passaic, New Jersey, was born at Werden on the Ruhr, Rhenish Prussia, March 22, 1871. He attended schools at Düsseldorf and Duisburg, Germany, and after leaving school spent several years in Germany, England and France, studying the theory and practice of woolen manufac- turing in all its stages, as well as the marketing of woolen goods in different countries.
Upon the completion of these studies Mr. Forstmann entered, and is still a partner of, the firm of Forstmann & Huffmann at Werden on the Ruhr, established by his great-grandfather in 1803, and ranking among the foremost manufacturers of high-grade woolens in Germany. His family has been uninterruptedly engaged in the business of woolen manufacturing in Ger- many for seven generations.
Mr. Forstmann also traveled extensively and made two trips around the world for the special purpose of studying the wool industry and trade, visiting all the principal countries of Europe, the United States, India, China, Japan and Australia.
He was a member of the Essen Chamber of Commerce, one of the lead- ing German Chambers, in which district are included such important interests as the Krupp Works, the Coal Syndicate, and other large industrial enterprises ; and he was also a member of the Board of Directors of several financial and industrial institutions in Germany, from all of which he resigned in 1904, when, after several lengthy visits to the United States and a careful study of the business conditions in this country, he came here with the express object of founding the Forstmann & Huffmann Company, located at Passaic, New Jersey, an undertaking which has duplicated the success attained in Germany by the old firm.
Building of the plant was begun in Passaic in 1904 and in the fall of 1905 the mill commenced operations. From the outset the enterprise was extremely successful and has steadily grown until it now occupies large plants in Passaic and Garfield, employing twenty-five hundred people and with every prospect of still further extending its activities. Controlling the entire proc- esses of woolen and worsted manufacture-buying the wool in the primary markets, spinning the yarn and weaving, dyeing and finishing the cloth in its own mills-the company has succeeded in turning out fabrics of the finest quality, recognized as equal in all respects to the best imported goods and fully sustaining the reputation enjoyed for over a century by the parent firm in Germany.
Mr. Forstmann married, in 1902, Miss A. Lynen, of Biebrich-am-Rhein, and they have a family of four boys. Since coming to America Mr. Forst- mann has resided with his family in Passaic, New Jersey.
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK
HEINRICH ERNST SCHNIEWIND, JR.
799
HEINRICH ERNST SCHNIEWIND, JR.
H EINRICH ERNST SCHNIEWIND, JR., is a member of a distin- guished German family of silk manufacturers who through several generations have successfully prosecuted the industry in their native land, and through him as their representative have taken a position of prominence in the same line of industry in the United States.
He was born in Elberfeld, Germany, January 21, 1869, the son of Hein- rich and Maria (Bredt) Schniewind. His father is a silk manufacturer, and a partner in the house of H. E. Schniewind, of Elberfeld, Germany, where it has been engaged with success in that line of production ever since 1794.
Heinrich Ernst Schniewind, Jr., received a sound and thorough educa- tion in the gymnasium of his native city, his scholastic training being directed with special reference to preparation for an efficient and successful participa- tion in the family business, and after the completion of his studies in the gymnasium he at once entered upon his commercial training in the firm of H. E. Schniewind, in Elberfeld, which he pursued with the thoroughness that is so characteristic of the business houses of that great commercial and indus- trial country. As the operations of the firm are international, it was neces- sary that besides full training in all the activities of the main house, he should also participate in the work of the branch. establishments of the firm. With this in view Mr. Schniewind spent, consecutively, a year in London, half a year in Paris, and one year in Lyons, France, in the branches maintained by his firm, and one and a half years in New York. Mr. Schniewind learned the usage of the silk trade in these several markets, and greatly added to his practical equipment and capacity for usefulness to the house, and he became a member of the firm of H. E. Schniewind, at Elberfeld, July 1, 1895.
His investigations in New York had led him and his firm to determine upon the establishing in this country of an American branch of the business of H. E. Schniewind, and he came to this country after his admission to the firm and established an office in New York (now at 18 West Eighteenth Street ), securing a manufacturing plant and establishing, in November, 1895, the American branch of the firm as an independently organized but closely allied enterprise, under the name of the Susquehanna Silk Mills, of which cor- poration he is president, treasurer, manager and a director. Mr. Schniewind personally directs the business with excellent executive ability.
He is a Republican in politics; is a member of the Society of Chemical Industry, a member of the Aldine Association, the Union League, Deutscher Verein, and Merchants' Club, of New York, and of the Casino of Belle Haven, Greenwich, Connecticut. His town house is at 8 East Seventy-ninth Street, and his country place at Greenwich, Connecticut.
He married, at College Point, Long Island, August 23, 1899, Helen Greeff, and has five children: Helen, Margaret, Emily, Henry and Ethel.
800
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
JACOB WEIDMANN
801
JACOB WEIDMANN
TACOB WEIDMANN, whose career of many years in the silk-dyeing business in Europe and America earned him a place of special dis- tinction in that important industry, is a native of Thalweil, Switzerland, where he was born March 22, 1845, the son of Frederick and Esther (Schaeppi) Weidmann.
After elementary training at home he attended, for a four-years course, the boarding and preparatory school conducted by Otto Huni, at Horgen, Canton Zurich, Switzerland. His father was a silk dyer and Mr. Weidmann, on leaving school, devoted himself to a thorough and complete study of the same profession. In 1867 he came from Switzerland to this country, and became one of those who aided in the most effective and practical way in the upbuilding, in this country, of the silk industry.
Although the culture and manufacture of silk in this country began in Colonial times as a home industry, and in the first half of the Nineteenth Century many factories were established in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey, it was not until after the Civil War that the industry became important. The services of several European experts who came to the coun- try about that time were of special value, because of the higher development of the arts of dyeing and finishing of silk fabrics which had been attained in those countries.
Mr. Weidmann started in the silk-dyeing business in Paterson, New Jer- sey, in 1870, and he developed it until, under the name of the Jacob Weid- mann Silk Dyeing Company, the plant became the largest individual silk- dyeing plant in the United States. His success was achieved by his untiring personal supervision over the business and by his adherence to the highest standards of workmanship and the most advanced process known to the in- dustry. Mr. Weidmann retired from business, selling his plant to a French company in 1909. During his nearly forty years' connection with that indus- try in Paterson, he saw it grow to great proportions and contributed in the largest degree to that growth and to the improvement which has made the production of domestic silks one of the most important branches of American textile manufactures. His complete knowledge of the technical processes and details, his business and executive ability and his enterprising methods, brought him a success which was fully and fairly earned.
Mr. Weidmann married, in South Manchester, Connecticut, in 1869, Ellenor Cheney. They have a daughter, Esther Weidmann, who is now the wife of Roberto Züst. Mr. Weidmann resides in Paterson, New Jersey.
He is a member of the Union League, Merchants', Central and Swiss Clubs, of New York; the Hamilton and North Jersey Country Clubs, of Pat- erson, New Jersey; and the Princess Anne, Pocahontas, Blooming Grove, Amabelish, and Spesutia Island Hunting and Fishing Clubs.
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