The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 41

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II > Part 41

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ANDREW D. BAIRD was born at Kelso, Scotland, October 14th, 1839. His parents were Andrew and Ellen (Lindsay) Baird. In 1853, he came to the Uni- ted States with his father's family, and located in that portion of Brooklyn in which he has since resided al- most continuously.

Andrew Baird, Sr., was a stone-mason, and early in life the subject of this sketch was apprenticed to the same trade in the stone yard of Robinson Gill, at Wythe avenue and Keap street, where he thoroughly mastered the stone-cutters' department of the stone- masons' work, at which he was employed until the out- break of the late rebellion.

May 18, 1861, Mr. Baird went out as a private sol- dier in the Seventy-ninth New York Highlanders, a regiment largely made up of Scotchmen, which was in the field without intermission from the first fight at Bull Run to the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. It

is due to Mr. Baird to state that the records show that he was at his post, and doing his duty in every engage- ment in which his regiment participated. At the first battle of Bull Run, he was promoted on the field from corporal to sergeant for bravery, and at the second Bull Run fight his prowess was rewarded by his promotion from a second lieutenancy to a captaincy. At Chantilly, where the brave Kearney fell, he was severely wounded, and still carries in his arm a rebel bullet as a memento of that fight. He was wounded also at Blue Springs, and at the final terrific struggle before Petersburg. While his regiment lay in front of Petersburg, he re- ceived a commission as major and brevet lieutenant- colonel, by special orders from the war department, for gallantry on the field, and meritorious conduct in camp, and he commanded the regiment as lieutenant-colonel and brevet colonel in the final campaign. At a regi- mental dinner, in which he, with many of his former comrades, participated, long after the war, his health was proposed by Colonel Morrison, who referred to him as the only soldier in the regiment who had been twice promoted on the field for bravery in action.

At the close of the war, Mr. Baird returned to Brooklyn and, in 1865, he was married, and two sons and a daughter have been born to him. In 1866, he formed a copartnership with his former friend and employer, Robinson Gill, in the ownership of the stone yard where he had served his apprenticeship to the stone-cutters' trade. He has since that time been an active and enterprising man of business, and to his efforts is attributable in no small degree the success of the well-known firm of Gill & Baird, whose business is elsewhere referred to more particularly.

Those patriotic convictions which impelled Mr. Baird to brave the terrors of the field of strife, early attached him to the principles of the Republican party, and a steadfast Republican he is and has been ever since he attained to an age to take an interest in governmental affairs. Especially is he devoted to what he regards as the best interests of Brooklyn, and both in his ward (the nineteenth) and throughout the city his strength in the councils of his party is felt and recognized. During a period of six years, embracing three consecu- tive terms, closing with the sessions of 1882-'3, he repre- sented the Nineteenth Ward in such an able and effective manner, that even those who oppose him po- litically give him credit for the possession of the rare combination of qualities whichi befit him for a party leader-honesty, ability, tact and unflinching opposi- tion to trickery and rascality.

Did space permit, we might refer to many of his public acts, while thus in the service of his fellow-citi- zens, which have demonstrated his unswerving integrity, and his uncompromising devotion to the welfare of the city. His retirement on account of the pressing demands of his increasing business, was referred to with regret by people of all classes, who have learned

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

to regard the public weal as safe in his hands, and the conduct of municipal affairs as likely to be better for his counsel and aid.

SECTION XXXVII. Fire Brick and Tile.

The census has Brick and Tile, but includes under it some pottery which does not belong to it. There are about twelve concerns in the United States engaged in the manufacture of clay retorts, used in the genera- tion of coal gas, and so satisfactory is the quality of the domestic article, that the importation of such ap- paratus has almost entirely ceased. Cast-iron retorts were discarded years ago, being found inferior to those made of clay.

retort factory, ninety by two hundred feet, one story; fire-brick factory, one hundred by one hundred and seventy-five feet, two stories; engine and boiler rooms, and carpenter shop, seventy-five by one hundred feet, two stories; storehouse, one hundred and twenty-five feet square, one story; office building, twenty by thirty feet, two stories. The ground floors are all paved with stone flagging, and the entire works are as nearly fire- proof as possible, but further protection is secured by means of a powerful steam pump. Ample accommo- dations are provided for a large number of horses and wagons, and the open spaces between the buildings are utilized for the storage of clay and other materials.

The best retort-clay comes from New Jersey, whence it is shipped by the company directly to their wharves.

BROOKLYN CLAY RETORT AND FIRE BRICK WORKS.

One of the largest establishments of this kind is the Brooklyn Clay Retort and Fire Brick Works, of which Messrs. EDWARD D. WHITE & Co. are the pro- prietors. The location of the works is in South Brooklyn, N. Y., near the Erie Basin. The premises include about fifty city lots, situated on Van Dyke, Elizabeth, Richards and Partition streets, with a front- age of five hundred and fifty feet on the first-named street, six hundred and ten on the second, seven hundred and twenty-five on the third, and two hundred and thirty-seven on the fourth. The dock has a frontage of one hundred and twenty feet, and the slip is two hundred and thirty feet long, with a depth of eighteen feet of water at low tide.

The dimensions of the principal buildings, solidly constructed of stone and brick, are as follows: gas

After being crushed in mills, it is properly tempered, thoroughly mixed, pressed in moulds, dried and fired in kilns.

The kilns are of large dimensions and the most im- proved construction. The chimney connected with the retort kilns is seventy-five feet high; that from the fire-brick factory is one hundred and twenty feet high. The machinery is driven by an engine of 75 horse- power, and steam is employed for heating purposes. The full complement of hands is about seventy-five.

The gas retorts from these works are of the best possible quality, and they are used in all parts of the country, orders being received from the most distant sections.

The fire brick are of all the various shapes required in rolling mills, cupolas, foundries, forges, lime and

yours truly LetDrick

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THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.

cement kilns, etc. Besides these, the production includes all kinds of slabs and tiling for the lining of ovens, stoves, grates and furnaces.

The business of this concern was established in 1854 by the late Mr. Joseph K. Brick, who purchased a considerable tract of land near the Erie Basin, and gradually built up the works to their present proportions. He was the first manufacturer of clay retorts in this country. After his death, in 1867, the business was continued by his partner, Mr. E. D. White, until 1877, when the present firm of Edward D. White & Co, was formed by the admission of Mr. Ira N. Stanley, who had been interested in the business for twenty years; the estate of Mr. Brick retaining an interest in the busi- ness. Mr. Stanley is a practical gas engineer, thoroughly conversant with all the details connected with gas works, and his able superintendence has widely extended the reputation of the works.

JOSEPH KEASBEY BRICK was born at Woodstown, Salem county, N. J .; in early life was dependent upon the labor of his own hands for support, and his opportunities for school instruction were quite limited. From his boyhood, however, his desire for knowledge, both practical and scientific, was very great, and he improved every opportunity to acquire it. While employed in Philadelphia, during several years, the Franklin Institute found him, after his daily toil, a constant visitor. In various departments of science he was a student all bis life.

In that department of practical and scientific work to · which he mainly devoted himself in after life, namely, that of the construction and management of gas works, he was regarded as an authority. Many of the improvements now in common use in gas-making were first proposed by him, notably the introduction of the fire-clay retort. The city of Brooklyn is indebted to him and his associates for the first introduction of gas. In 1848-'9, the works of the Brooklyn Gas Light Company were erected under his superinten- dence; and, for many years he was engineer and until his decease, and a Director of that company. The Gas Works at Buffalo were erected under his oversight about the same time. From this time he was sought for as Consulting En- gineer, and his judgment was relied upon in gas work all over the country.

When water was first introduced into the city of Savannah, Ga., the work of distribution was done under his superinten- dence, and to the satisfaction of the public authorities.

To all his undertakings he brought untiring energy. work was satisfactory to him unless it was the best that could be done. In the latter years of his life he traveled much in this country and in Europe; and, being a man of taste, of well-trained mind, and a close observer, he gathered stores of most valuable information, which he took pleasure in imparting to others. He died at Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 7, 1867; his children died in infancy. Mrs. Brick is a resi- dent of Brooklyn, living at corner of Lafayette and Vander- bilt avenues.

John Cooper, 413 Oakland avenue, estab. 1868; makes the fire-brick for the Union Porcelain Co.'s ovens; em- ploys about 50 men. John G. L. Boettcher, foot of Clymer street, manufactures fire-brick and tile; The International Tile Co., Third street, near Hoyt, manu- factures encaustic tile for floors, mnral decorations, &c.,

SECTION XXXVIII.

Silk and Lace Goods ; Mixed Textiles ; Woolen and Cotton Manufactures ; Knit Goods.

The manufacture of silk and silk goods is reported by the census of 1880, in Brooklyn, as follows : 15 es-

tablishments; $559,335 capital; 707 employés; $231,135 wages; $443,135 material; $853,480 annual product. Like most of the census reports, it was both redundant and defective. The original return by Mr. William C. Wyckoff, the accomplished Secretary of the Silk Asso- ciation of America, and special agent of the Census Office, on silk mannfactures, differed from this in several particulars. Mr. Wyckoff reported, "silk goods and mixed textile fabrics, 21 establishments; $680,500 capital; 1,199 hands; $290,299 wages; $598,543 material; $1,102,576 annnal product. The Census Office sepa- rated as they had a perfect right to do (though the exercise of that right was very nnwise), the mixed tex- tiles from the silk and silk goods, but they had no right to increase the number of silk establishments from 10 to 15, since Mr. Wyckoff's facilities for ascertaining all the facts in regard to the silk manufacture were much greater than theirs could possibly be. Their report of mixed textiles was: 11 establishments; $338,300 capital; 259 hands; $99,430 wages; $263,097 material; $423,239 annual product. Adding the two returns together we have 26 establishments ; $897,625 capital ; 966 hands ; $330,565 wages; 706,232 material; $1,276,719 annual pro- duct; a result which it will be seen differs at every point from Mr. Wyckoff's, and gives $174,143 larger product. We have said that these returns were both redundant and defective-redundant in the number of silk factories, of which there were not then, and are not now, more than 10 in Brooklyn. In 1881, the Textile Directory reported 14 establishments large and small in Brook- lyn, but of these, four were small shops, manu- facturing hat cord, or braids and gimps, in a very small way, all of whom gave up the next year, and of the re- maining ten, two had failed before 1883, though two others had taken their places. The return was defec- tive, because the manufacture of silks, aside from mixed textiles, produced more than a million of dollars an- nnally. Of the silk and silk lace manufacturers, there are now only two (there were four in 1881). Of these, the Jennings Lace Works (A. G. Jennings & Sons) is the oldest and much the largest. We give a view of their works on the opposite page, and a portrait and biography of Mr. A. G. Jennings herewith.

The history of these works is very interesting. About 1867, Mr. Jennings, an enterprising business man, with ample capital, for which he sought oppor- tunity of investment, found a small establishment in Jersey city, with very little capital, trying to make silk hair nets, which were then the fashion. After some negotiations, Mr. Jennings purchased the little factory, and commenced the manufacture of the silk nets on a somewhat larger scale. In May, 1868, he removed the business to Park Place and Barclay street, New York city, and added largely to his machinery and facilities, and commenced making laces as well as hair nets.

In 1871, the lace works were removed from New York to the corner of Park avenue and Hall street,

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

A. G. JENNINGS & SONS' LACE WORKS .*

Brooklyn, where Mr. Jennings had erected a large and commodious factory, specially adapted for the business of manufacturing silk laces in all its branches, from the raw silk to the dyeing and finishing the lace perfect for the use of the consumer.

Since that time the business has been yearly extended and improved, both in the variety and quality of laces made ; new machinery imported ; many more persons employed, many of whom, skilled in the various branches of the art of making fine laces, were brought over from Europe at his expense.

The Jennings Lace works, as they are called now, give employment to some six hundred persons, paying out $175,000 yearly for labor, producing an average of $600,000 per annum, with a capacity of twice that amount. A large part of the employés in this estab- lishment are women and girls, and the proprietors are very careful in regard to their morals and manners, encouraging them in well-doing. We have not seen, in any establishment in Kings county, neater, more cheer- ful or more intelligent hands.

Within a few years some other parties in this state have commenced to make laces from the yarn, but to A. G. Jennings is awarded, very generally, the credit of establishing in this country, on a sure basis, the impor- tant business of manufacturing lace goods. What has been accomplished is the result of much thought, care and labor, and in this he has been materially assisted by his sons, particularly his son, Warren P. Jennings, the Superintendent of the works.

In regard to quality, their goods greatly surpass the foreign goods, and are sold at a lower price. One

great cause of this is that they conduct all the de- partments of the work on their own premises. At Nottingham, the head-quarters of the English lace trade, laces are woven by small manufacturers, owning but one or two looms, are then sold to the finisher, who, after finishing them, sells them to the large jobber, and he in turn to his English and foreign customers. Thus there are three profits to be made on the English goods before they come into the hands of the American im- porter and jobber. At St. Gall, the manufacturing is managed in much the same way. Messrs. Jennings & Sons buy their silk, ready thrown, of the throwster ; but all the other processes, such as making the patterns for the laces, weaving them on the lace looms, introduc- ing his new designs by means of the Jacquard appara- tus, dyeing, making up, finishing and putting up the goods for the market, are performed in the manufactory.

Lace machinery is very costly. The looms are gener- ally imported from Europe, and cost from $6,000 to $10,000 each. A single set of Jacquard card patterns for the Jacquard looms, to make one design for figured lace, costs from $60 to $500 each. And there are re- quired for elaborate patterns from 1,500 to 10,000 per- forated cards.

Of the disk bobbins used on the lace looms, Messrs. Jennings & Sons use over 100,000.

It has always been a grievance to Mr. Jennings, and justly so, that the Government prevented him from making cotton lace, which is now largely imported, and so greatly undervalued that, really, the nominal duty is no protection to the American manufacturer; while the very fine cotton thread, Nos. 150 to 300, which is spun in England, from Sea Island cotton, is not made here, and is indispensable for its manufacture. This fine cot- ton is charged with a duty of from 60 to 100 per cent., which is prohibitory. If this duty could be reduced to not more than 10 per cent., the Swiss mulls and fine cotton laces, for which we pay now from $10,000,000 to $12,000,000, might be made here of a quality fully equal to the imported goods.

At the present time, Messrs. Jennings' works are not running at anything like their full capacity. Fashion has much to do with this. Spanish lace, of which they have been obliged to carry a large stock to meet the demand, is now going out, and Escurial and other laces are slowly coming in ; and, until the demand for the latter is fully established, it is necessary to go slowly.

ABRAHAM GOULD JENNINGS .- The Jennings family is one of the oldest in England. When William the Conqueror ascended the English throne, though he confiscated some of the great fiefs of the Anglo-Saxon nobles, he did not touch the lands of any of the tenants holding feudally under them ; and as the Jennings family were men of " peace and plenty," having no desire for political preferment, or liking for the glory gained by civil conflicts and strifes, they re- mained undisturbed by the great convulsions of the country which resulted from the conquest of it by Willlam of Normandy.

* These works are now being enlarged by the erection of another building.

A.G.henning?

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THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.

For six hundred years, they remained among the gentry and commoners of England, wealthy, industrious, and in- fluential agriculturists and manufacturers, loyal to their country and its rulers, but without ambition for place and preferment.

At length, in the contest which led to the dethronement and execution of Charles the First, to one branch of the family, that of Cambridgeshire, in the persons of Sir John Jennyns, his son, Richard Jennings, of Sandridge, and the daughters of the latter, there came the preferment to which they had been so long indifferent. The eldest and youngest daughters of Richard Jennings were: Frances, "La Belle Jennings," Duchess of Tyrconnel, the most beautiful and the purest woman of the courts of Charles II. and James II., and Maid of Honor to the successive Queens of those courts; and Sarah Jennings, the famous Duchess of Marlborough; and the intimate friend and counsellor of Queen Anne.

Richard Jennings left no male heirs, and hence there are none of his lineal descendants now bearing the name of Jen- nings, though there are very many of his father's, and other families of that name. From some one of these, the subject of this notice claims descent. His earliest ancestor here, Joshua Jennings, was born in England about 1620-1625, and came to Hartford, Conn., about 1645-1647, and removed to Fairfield, Conn., before 1656. He was married at Hartford, December 23d, 1647, to Mary Williams, of that town, and by her had nine children, from the seventh of whom, Isaac Jennings, he traces his lineage. There were in all four gene- rations of the name of Isaac Jennings; the third of that name had, for his fourth child, Abraham Gould Jennings, (better known as Captain Gould Jennings), born in 1781, and one of the most remarkable men of Fairfield county; a brave, grand, noble man, in all the relations of life ; a man who feared God, but knew no other fear; who loved his country intensely, and manifested that love in its time of peril. His mother was Abigail Gould, a daughter of Col. Abraham Gould, one of the heroes who fell in the Revolu- tionary war. His wife was Anna Burr, a daughter of Peter Burr, one of the leading citizens of Fairfield, and a woman of rare intelligence and elevation of character. To this pair, were born ten children, of whom the seventh is the sub- ject of this notice, Abraham Gould Jennings, who was born in Fairfield, Conn., August 28, 1821. His early education was received in the schools of his native town, and under the influences of a cultured and refined home life. In 1836, he came to New York, and became a clerk in the store of his brother-in-law, Mr. J. S. Pierson, then a manufacturer and wholesale dealer in clothing. His character for zeal and diligence in business was so marked, that, in 1844, Mr. Pier- son took him into partnership, and they remained as partners till 1857, when Mr. Pierson sold out his interest to Mr. Henry D. Wheeler, and the firm was thenceforward Jennings, Wheeler & Co. In 1845, Mr. Jennings had visited Charles- ton, South Carolina, and established a branch of their busi- ness, which was continued until the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Jennings and Mr. Pierson going to Charleston, alternately, every season. The partnership with Mr. Wheeler was dissolved in 1861, and Mr. Jennings continued his busi- ness in New York during the war, but on a very moderate scale. In the fall of 1865, he visited the south, and looked up his old customers, some of whom owed him large sums. Many of them were scattered, many dead, and all the survi- vors greatly impoverished.

Meanwhile, he was looking for some other legitimate busi- ness, in which to establish himself. He found this, in a small lace factory in Jersey City, as we have elsewhere nar- rated. He purchased this small factory, with its few lace

machines, in the autumn of 1867, and by diligent study of the business, in all its details, and by his decided enterprise, made himself master of it and extended it, both as to the variety and quantity of the goods made, as rapidly as the demands of the trade required and his means would justify.

In the spring of 1868, he removed his works to Barclay street and Park Place, New York city, and having won the confidence of the trade, still further extended his business. In 1870, he went over to England and studied the business there, purchasing lace machines, which could not then be built here, and bringing back with him skilled operatives, designers and draughtsmen. His eldest son has visited Europe repeatedly and has made himself very thoroughly familiar with every step of the processes of lace making by machinery, and with the complicated machines which are used in its manufacture.

In 1871, he purchased the site of his present works, and erected his large factory thereon, which has been repeatedly enlarged, and is now known, all over the country, as the "Jennings Lace Works." Though, perhaps, not the very first manufacturer of lace, in this country, by machinery, he deserves the credit of having been the first to conduct it on a large scale, and to make it one of our great industries. Others have followed in his wake, but none have equalled him in the extent and excellence of their production. He acknowledges, in this matter, the assistance he has received from his eldest son and partner, Mr. Warren Pierson Jennings, who, by his designs and inventions of new meshes, new fabrics, and improvements in the Jacquard looms, has greatly improved and facilitated the manufacture. Mr. Jennings has been very happy in his family. He was married in April, 1851, to Miss Cecilia M. Douglas, daughter of J. P. Douglas, Esq., of New York city, and of the seven children which have been the issue of this marriage, five survive- three sons and two daughters. The eldest daughter was married in 1876. Of the eldest son we have already spoken. The second son, Oliver Taylor Jennings, has also been a partner since 1883. For five years previous to that time he had been in charge of a large property of 4,000 acres of min- ing, agricultural and timber lands-"The Glades," Hall county, Georgia,-owned by his father, where he had laid the foundations of a flourishing settlement.

Mr. Jennings united with the Presbyterian Church under the pastoral care of Rev. I. S. Spencer, D. D., in 1839, and has been actively engaged in Sunday school instruction since that time. He speaks in high terms of the benefits which he received, intellectually and spiritually, from Dr. Spencer's preaching and teaching. He has been a member of the Clinton avenue Congregational church since 1873. Mrs. Jennings is a member of the same church, and being like- minded with her husband, has been very useful and active in all church work. Mr. Jennings has been through life a close student, and his knowledge of the Scriptures is both thorough and profound. Some years since, he compiled and published a small volume, The Last Days of Christ; or, an Account of the Great Atonement. He has a very large and choice library, and a remarkable collection of early editions of the Scriptures.

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The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 41

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co Number of Pages: 1345

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345