Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 20

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1150

USA > Ohio > Summit County > Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens > Part 20

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

In 1845 David Miller established a sash, door and blind factory, which was purchased by D. G. Wilcox in 1866. In 1864 he formed a partnership with Samuel B. Weary, Jacob Snyder and Andrew Jackson, under the firm name of Weary, Snyder and Company. In 1867 the company was incorporated and con- tinued to do business until the destruction of the plant by fire about five years ago.

In 1863 George Thomas established the Thomas Building and Lumber Company, with works on the west side of the canal. be- tween Bank and Cherry Streets. In 1877 David W. Thomas succeeded to the business. In 1888 he organized the corporation with a capital stock of $100,000. The new company also took possession of the lumber business theretofore conducted by William Buchtel.

In 1867 the business of Solon N. Wilson was established, and he is now doing a suc- cessful business in lumber and contracting. The Hankey Lumber Company was estab- lished in 1873 by Simon Hankey.

The Enterprise Manufacturing Company is one of Akron's most successful manufactur- ing establishments. It was founded in 1881 by Ernest F. Pflueger, and was incorporated in 1886 for the purpose of making fishing

supplies, etc. It has grown from the start, un- til it now occupies the great factory of Ash Street. The present officers are: G. A. Pflueger, president; G. E. Pflueger, vice-presi- dent and superintendent ; E. 1. Pflueger, sec- retary and treasurer, and H. A. West, assist- ant secretary and treasurer.

The Western Linoleum Company was in- corporated January 1, 1891, with a capital of $200,000. A. M. Cole was its first president ; W. E. Hoover, secretary and treasurer, and Charles Templeton, general superintendent. They are now a part of the Standard Table Oil Cloth Company. E. A. Oviatt is the local superintendent.

The Globe Sign and Poster Company began business as the Globe Sign Company, and was incorporated in 1890. John Grether, S. S. Miller, Frank Reefsnyder, W. B. Gamble and H. G. Bender were its first organizers.

RUBBER INDUSTRY.

The B. F. Goodrich Company. Akron is best known today as the world's center for the rubber manufacturing industry. It is the chief of all our industries. It has more capi- tal invested, more hands employed, larger fac- tories, and a larger value of output than any other line of manufacture in the city. Most of this growth has taken place in the last twelve years; all of it since 1870. The origin of rubber-working in Akron goes back to the advent of Dr. B. F. Goodrich in our midst. The date is 1870. He was the original rubber man of Akron, and without him there probab- ly would have heen no rubber industry here. In 1870 Dr. B. F. Goodrich came from the East and associated himself with Colonel George T. Perkins, George W. Crouse and others of this city, and started what was then known as B. F. Goodrich and Company-the Akron Rubher Works. The business slowly grew and prospered until in 1880 a co-partner- ship was formed and the business incorpo- rated under the name of The B. F. Goodrich Company, with a capitalization of $100.000. The growth of the company was continuous from that time on and the capital was in-

156

HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY

creased from time to time as the demands of the business required, until at present the capitalization of the company is $10,000,000.

Dr. Goodrich remained president of tlie company until 1888, the time of his death, when Colonel George T. Perkins succeeded him, holding the position until January 15, 1907. The present officers are: B. G. Work, president; F. H. Mason, vice-president ; H. E. Raymond, second vice-president; C. B. Ray- mond, secretary; W. A. Folger, treasurer; W. A. Means, assistant treasurer ; E. C. Shaw, gen- eral manager of works; C. C. Goodrich, gen- eral superintendent, and II. E. Joy, assistant general superintendent. The directors are Colonel George T. Perkins, F. II. Mason, B. G. Work, II. E. Raymond, E. C. Shaw, George W. Cronse and C. C. Goodrich.

The product of the company consists of a full line of soft rubber goods, such a belting. hose, packings, druggists' sundry goods, golf balls; tennis balls, automobile and bicycle tires, carriage tires, molded goods, mats, boots and shoes. The factory buildings cover an area of sixteen and one-half acres of floor space on fifteen and one-half acres of ground, and the buildings are lighted by over 8,000 incan- descent lamps and one hundred are lights. The power plant has a generating capacity of 3,500 K. W., and a boiler capacity of 6,600 H. P., 4,500 HI. P. of motors being used to drive the machinery throughout the plant. The company has 3,300 people in its employ.

Diamond Rubber Company. In 1898 the Diamond Rubber Company was unknown out- side of a limited circle of trade. With a capi- talization of $50,000, it was manufacturing a modest line of mechanical rubber goods and tires-then, as now, in competition with con- cerns powerful in productive and brain ca- pacity. And at that time, too, the majority of competing companies were rich with the prestige which long established business rela- tions give. Still the Diamond Rubber Com- panv grew.

The present capitalization of the concern is $5.000.000, but the real extent of its growth and the rapid increase of its strength are bet- ter shown by other comparisons. Two hun-

dred and fifty was the number of the com- pany's employes in 1898. Twenty-seven hun- dred and twenty is the number in 1907, with the quota of brains per capita also increased.

Crude rubber was brought by cases of 500 pounds each by this company seven years ago. Now single purchases amount to as much as 200 tons. For four years the mill rooms of the Diamond Rubber Company have been in operation night and day the year around. Their equipment in 1898 included seven mills and two calenders. Today, with twenty-seven inills and seven calenders, it is only by keep- ing every wheel constantly turning that stocks can be made ready fast enough.

An engine capacity of 250 horse-power, which was sufficient seven years ago. has steadily increased until today the capacity is 2,050 horse-power and every ounce of pressure utilized.

If every day for ten years, Sundays in- cluded, the factories of the Diamond Rubber Company had expanded 95 square feet, the total would still fall short of equaling the extensions in new buildings and additions the company has erected within that time. And the ground area used is now eighteen acres, as compared with less than six acres in 1898.

Seven years ago the Diamond Rubber Com- pany had no branch establishments; they were not necessary. Today the company has its own branches in twelve principal cities. with three stores in New York and two in Chicago, besides exclusive agencies in many other business centers.

IFose holds a conspicuous place in the prod- uets of the company, and is a department hav- ing several extensive sub-divisions. Air-brake hose is the most prominent in the line of its products for the railroad trade. From a small beginning their production of air-brake hose. made to Master Car Builders' Recommended Practice, or their own, or other specifications. has grown to an average of nearly 2.000 pieces per day, made with such care and precision that the percentage of rejected goods has ceased to be a factor-a remarkable achieve- ment.

The steam hose problem is another whose

157

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

solution, in a manner distinctly gratifying, not only to the company, but to the trade, con- tributed directly to the growth of the com- pany. And. furthermore, the mastery of the art of making steam hose was in itself the overcoming of the long-vexing ear-heating hose problem as well. Both are now a notable part of their daily output, with an increase in these and allied lines, such as signal hose, cor- rugated tender hose, etc., steadily indicated from month to month.

Another division of the hose department which has similarly expanded is that devoted to water hose, tank hose and kindred kinds. Hose for fire protection is a subject so impor- tant that they regularly divide it into three classifications-rubber fire hose, cotton jaeket. rubber-lined fire hose, and cotton jaeket rub- ber-lined mill hose. There is not a day in the year-Sundays always excepted-that their own looms are not roaring with industry in the weaving of fire and mill hose jackets from their own tested yarn. Their sales of garden hose, by the way, where formerly measured yearly by the thousands of feet, are now com- puted by the millions.

Belting constitutes a large department in the Diamond factories, and in seven years the output has doubled and doubled again, one of the various additions erected within that pe- riod having been expressly to provide greater space and facilities for the belt department.

Six hand presses used to keep up with the demand for moulded goods made by the com- pany. Today ten times six and all hydraulie presses are necessary. Hard rubber has been a part of the Diamond Rubber Company's product for only a few years, but today the department would make by itself a factory of creditable size. The output is confined large- ly to battery jars, sheets, rods and tubing, re- insulating tape, ete.

Tires-last, but by no means least. Dia- mond detachable elineher tires for automo- biles are the equipment on a very large per- centage of all motor cars used in this country. Diamond solid side wire motor truck tires and Diamond solid and cushion tires for lighter commercial vehicles and carriages are searce-

ly less well known. The annual business of this company in its tire department mounts well into the millions of dollars and has made necessary the erection of one of the largest structures on earth devoted to rubber tire man- ufacturing.

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Frank A. Seiberling purchased the Woolen and Felt Company plant in June, 1898, and immediately thereafter eansed to be organized The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, with an authorized capital of $200,000, $90,000 paid in, the officers being David E. Hill, pres- ident: George Hill, vice president: H. B. Manton, treasurer; Charles W. Seiberling. see- retary; F. A. Seiberling, general manager. The above, with Byron W. Robinson and L. C. Mills constituted the first board of direc- tors. The work of installation of machinery and equipping the plant was immediately un- dertaken and vigorously prosecute so that by December. 1898, the mill was put in opera- tion. The business was a success from the start, the company readily securing sufficient orders to keep them operating to their full capacity.

The following year Mr. R. C. Penfield ac- quired the interests of the Hills, becoming president of the company. One hundred thousand dollars of new capital was put into the business at that time, which, with a stoek dividend declared out of profits, made the paid-up capital $200,000. The business stead- ily increased under the impulse of additional eapital, so that in 1902 the authorized capital was increased to one million dollars, $500,000 of which was paid up, partly in cash and part- ly in stock dividends.

Each year extensive additions were made to the plant until its capacity today is fully four times greater than when first started. and the company is handling a business more than five times greater in volume.

Its present officers are: F. A. Seiberling, president and general manager: L. C. Miles, vice-president; George M. Stadelman, secre- tarv : Charles W. Seiberling, treasurer.

The history of the company has been one of steady progress and is marked by an im-

158

HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY

portant patent litigation that affected the en- tire carriage tire industry of the United States. The Goodyear Company was operating under a patent owned by it for the manufacture of a certain type of solid carriage tire, which the owners of the Grant patent claimed was an in- fringement upon their rights. Up to the time that the Goodyear Company entered their field the Grant patent had had a complete monop- oly of the rubber tire industry of the United States. In a bitter contest involving a large expenditure on both sides, extending over a period of two years' time, the United States Court of Appeals decided the Grant patent in- valid, opening the market in this country to anyone who desired to make rubber tires of their type. As a result, twenty-five manufac- turers in this country are now making the Grant type of tire, though The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is probably making more solid rubber carriage tires than any other one concern in the United States, turning out as much as six tons per day in the height of the season.

They are also large manufacturers of pneu- matic bicycle and automobile tires, and with- in the past two years have brought out a quick detachable tire upon their Universal rim, which promises to revolutionize the method of attaching and detaching tires in this coun- try. As a result of their initiative, all of the leading concerns are working and are bring- ing out devices for accomplishing the same ends. They now employ over a million dol- lars of capital, and 800 men, with a volume of business approximating $3,000,000 an- nually.

PRINTING AND PUBLISHING.

The Werner Company, book manufacturers, lithographers, general printers and engravers, publishers of the new Werner edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Paul E. Werner started in the printing business as publisher of the Akron Germania in 1875 on the third floor of the building on Howard Street, ad- joining the southeast corner of Howard and Market Streets, then owned by E. Steinbacher.

In 1877 he removed his business to the sec- ond floor of the Kramer building, also on Howard Street. In 1879 he occupied a frame building on Howard Street, which stood where the Arcade building now stands, and added the publication of the Sunday Gazette. In 1881 he removed to the southeast corner of Howard and Mill Streets and added to his business the publication of the Daily and Weekly Tribune. In 1883 he removed his business to a three-story frame building spe- cially fitted up for him, which stood where the large mill of the American Cereal Company now stands on Howard Street. In 1885 James Christy erected a four-story brick builing es- pecially for him on Howard Street, directly south of the big mill. By that time the com- mercial printing part of the business had grown to larger dimensions.

Paul E. Werner realized that the field in the newspaper business in a town of the size of Akron was very limited, and disposed of his newspapers. About 100 people were em- ployed in that building. Very soon these quarters were too small for the continually growing business. In 1887 the Werner Print- ing and Lithographing Company was organ- ized, larger capital was procured, and a large tract of land, located at the corner of Perkins and Union Streets (the present location of the company's factory) was then purchased for the purpose of erecting buildings special- ly designed and equipped for the manufactur- ing of books on a large scale, and of printed, lithographed and engraved articles in gen- eral. The business continued to grow very rapidly and new buildings were added every year for a number of years, until at the pres- ent time the Werner Company occupies the following buildings: Three buildings each 300 feet long, forty feet wide ; three buildings each 200 feet long, fifty feet wide; three build- ings each 100 feet long, fifty feet wide; one building, seventy-five feet long, thirty feet wide; one building, eighty feet long, forty feet wide, and a number of other small build- ings, all equipped with the most modern ma- chinery required for the manufacturing of books and other printed, lithographed and en-

PLANT AND OFFICE OF THE WERNER COMPANY, AKRON

161

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

graved products. The capital invested in and required in the conduct of the business of The Werner Company is very large and amounts to over $3,000,000.

In 1907 the officers of this company are as follows: P. E. Werner, president and gen- eral manager; R. M. Werner, vice-president and assistant treasurer; C. I. Bruner, treas- urer; Karl Kendig, secretary ; H. M. Huddles- ton, assistant secretary; Edward P. Werner, general superintendent.

The Werner Company is by far the largest and most complete book factory on the Ameri- can continent. It comprises under one roof, so to speak, and under one management, all the graphic arts and trades.

It furnishes directly and indirectly material means of livelihood for four or five thousand Akron inhabitants. The great majority of the employees of the Werner Company are skilled in trades and arts and receive high compensa- tion.

During the year 1906 the works of The Werner Company were in uninterrupted oper- ation, and a great part of the time worked thirteen hours daily. During that year this company purchased and received raw mate- rials and shipped finished products rep- resenting the full capacity of one thousand two hundred railroad cars. The products in- cluded more than 3,000,000 large books; more than 15,000,000 large and finely illustrated catalogues made for the largest manufacturing concerns of this country, and millions of other printed, lithographed and engraved articles.

If the books alone which were manufac- tured by The Werner Company last year were laid on a pile, one on the top of the other, this pile would reach ninety-six miles into the air. If these books were laid side by side they would constitute a line 500 miles long.

The raw materials consumed during the past year comprise 3,500 different kinds. The largest consumption is in paper, cloth, leather, gold and ink. If the paper consumed during the past year were laid in sheets side by side, they would reach around the world four times. The binders' cloth consumed measured 5,000,- 000 square feet. The different kinds of

leather consumed required the skins of 25,000 cattle, 30,000 sheep and 36,000 Persian and Morocco goats. Over 3,000,000 leaves of gold were consumed. While the principle product of this factory is books, The Werner Com- pany has a world-wide reputation for furnish- ing fine commercial work, typographic as well as lithographic, catalogues of every descrip- tion. Of this particular kind of product it makes more than any other concern in the United States.

WHITMAN AND BARNES MANUFACTURING COMPANY.

The Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of mowing and reap- ing machine knives, sickles, sections and parts of cutting apparatus, "Diamond" twist drills, reamers and collateral lines, wood handle and drop forged wrenches, lawn mow- ers, haying tools, such as hay carriers, forks, pulleys, etc., spring keys and cotters, rubber pad horse-shoes, hammers, planer knives and cutters for wood-working machinery. In 1848 the predecessors and founders of the present corporation, The Whitman & Barnes Manu- facturing Company, commenced in a very small way to make knives and sickles for mow- ing and reaping machines. They were the first in this country to engage in the manufac- ture of these parts. From the small begin- ning in 1848 this firm has advanced and in- creased until now it has three factories-one at Akron, Ohio, occupied exclusively in the manufacture of Diamond twist drills and col- lateral lines ; one at Chicago, Ill., at which fac- tory they manufacture knives and sections, wrenches, lawn mowers, hay tools, spring keys and cotters, and rubber-pad horse shoes; one at St. Catharines, Ontario, where they manu- facture knives and sections, hammers, haying tools, planer knives and cutters for wood-work- ing machinery. Their factories are equipped with the most modern machinery, and they employ a very large number of skilled me- chanics, which enables them to produce goods equal to any upon the market, and at a price which allows them to compete successfully in

162

HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY

the trade. Their brands are extensively known, not only in this country, but in all foreign countries, and their trademark, "Dia- mond W. & B.," is a trade naine the world over and a guarantee of the quality of the goods manufactured.

In the past two years they have materially changed their manner and way of handling their business with the trade, abolishing their branch-house system for the purpose of ally- ing themselves directly with the jobbing trade. This change meets with the hearty approval of the jobbers over the country, and they are fast associating themselves with this company in handling their large line of products.

The Akron factory is managed by George A. Barnes, who has been long associated with the company. The Chicago factory is man- aged by W. II. Eager. The St. Catharines factory is managed by W. W. Cox, who has been for many years an officer of the company, and who stands very high, not only in the States, but in Canada. A. D. Armitage, who also has been connected with this company for many years, is general manager of manufac- ture.

The officers of the company are: C. E. Shel- don, president; W. W. Cox, vice-president; Frank H. Hiscock, second vice-president; Wm. Stone, treasurer; C. E. Caskey, assistant treasurer ; James Barnes, secretary ; W. H. Gif- ford, chairman ; Frank Hiscock, general coun- sel. The directors are C. E. Sheldon, George T. Perkins, George C. Kohler, C. I. Bruner, George .1. Barnes, all of Akron, Ohio; Frank H. Hiscock. William Stone, W. H. Gifford, Syracuse, New York; W. W. Cox, St. Cath- arines.

Milton Otis Hower was born in Doylestown, Wayne County, Ohio, November 25, 1859, and is a son of John H. and Susan Yongker Hower. He attended school in Doylestown and was subsequently a pupil in the Akron public schools and at Buchtel College. . He began his business career as secretary of The Hower Company. proprietors of the Akron Oatmeal Mills. These mills were afterward consolidated with the American Cereal Com- pany, of which Mr. Hower became director,

vice-president and chairman of the Executive Committee. In 1894 he removed to Chicago, where the general office of the American Cereal Company is located, but after remain- ing there six years, he returned to Akron. He is president of The Akron-Selle Company, The Lombard-Replogle Engineering Com- pany, Akron Wood-Working Company, Ak- ron Hi-Potential Porcelain Company, San- dusky Grille and Manufacturing Company, Jahant Heating Company. The Bannock Coal Company, Hower Power-Building Company ; vice-president of The Central Savings and Trust Company ; director of the Akron Home Building and Loan Association, and director of the Akron Canal and Hydraulic Company. Mr. Hower was married November 16, 1880, to Blanche Eugenia Bruot, daughter of James F. and Rosalie Bruot. They have two chil- dren, Grace Susan Rosalie Hower (now Mrs. Paul E. Findlay) and John Bruot Hower. The family residence is at No. 60 Fir Street.

INCORPORATED COMPANIES.

The Abstract, Title-Guarantee & Trust Company, 124 South Main; incorporated, 1892; capital, $30,000.

The Actual Business College Company, 616 Hamilton Building; incorporated, 1905; cap- ital, $10,000.

The Akron Belting Company, 74 South Canal; incorporated, 1895; capital, $100,000.

The Akron Brewing Company, 865 South High; incorporated, 1903; capital, $125,000. The Akron Building & Loan Association, 130 South Main; organized. 1888; capital, $5,- 000,000.

The Carriage and Implement Company, 67- 71 West. Market: incorporated, 1904; capital, $25,000.

The Akron China Company, corner of Sec- ond Avenue and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; incorporated, 1894; capital, $150,000.

The Akron Clay Company, 1010 East Mar- ket: incorporated. 1904.

The Akron Coal Company. 26 Central Of- fice Building; incorporated, 1891; capital, $100.000.

163

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

The Akron Cultivator Company, 214 North Union ; incorporated, 1889; capital, $1,000,- 000.

The Akron Democrat Company, 92 East Mill; incorporated, 1892; capital, $25,000.

Akron Electrical Manufacturing Company, Ira Avenue; incorporated, 1891; capital, $500,000.

The Akron Excelsior Laundry Company, 62 South High; incorporated, 1903; capital, $35,000.

The Akron Extract and Chemical Com- pany, 184 South Main; incorporated, 1903; capital, $35,000.

The Akron Fertilizer Company, office 516- 519 Everett Building; incorporated, 1900; capital, $25,000.

Akron Fire Brick Company, 1057 Bank; incorporated, 1882; capital, $50,000.

The Akron Fireproof Construction Com- pany, 285 Park; incorporated, 1901; capital, $40,000.

The Akron Foundry Company, 526 Wash- ington ; incorporated, 1894; capital, $25,000.

The Akron Gas Company, 59 East Market; incorporated (Ill.). 1891; capital, $400.000.

The Akron Germania Company. 124 South Howard : established

1869: incorporated, 1889; capital, $25.000.

The Akron Glass and Machinery Company, 12 East Market: incorporated. 1901; capital. $50,000.

The Akron Grocery Company, 117 East Mill : incorporated, 1889; capital, $100,000.

The Akron Laundry Company, 77 South High: incorporated, 1900; capital, $30.000.

The Akron Machine Company, 1069 Bank; incorporated. 1891; capital, $100.000.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 20

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1150