USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume Five > 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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36
"an ingenious mason and stonecutter," on a plan furnished by George Evans, one of the proprietors, and stood on the river bank between Broadway and Ludlow just east of the Broadway ferries. It was of nine stories, "including two above the eaves"; sixty- two by eighty-seven feet; had twenty-four doors and ninety windows; and in its construction consumed 90,000 brick, 14,800 bushels of lime, and 81,200 cubic feet of timber, the total weight of the finished building being estimated at 15,655 tons. It was intended for the manufacture of various articles, principally flour, cotton and woolen goods, and flaxseed oil. The Direc- tory of 1819, after it had been in operation five years, described it as containing "four pair of six-feet mill- stones and machinery for carding, fulling, and dressing cloth-all driven by a steam engine of seventy horse- power. It is capable of manufacturing annually twelve hundred barrels of flour, besides carding and dressing cloth to the amount of three or four thousand dollars. It employs in the whole about twenty hands, and consumes yearly about twelve thousand bushels of mineral coal."
Other establishments of the same period were the Cincinnati Manufacturing Company, which had exten- sive buildings above the mouth of Deer Creek, and, like the Steam Mill, produced a variety of articles; a large steam sawmill, opened July 4, 1815, "amidst the anxious gaze of curiosity," and having a capacity of eight hundred feet per hour; four cotton-spinning mills run by horsepower, which operated altogether twelve hundred spindles; two breweries with an annual out- put of 31,000 barrels of porter and 1,340 barrels of
273
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
beer, the total value of which was $50,000; a large glass works; soap and candle factories; a sugar refinery; and, probably the most significant of all, the Cincinnati Bell, Brass, and Iron Foundry, opened in 1816 by William Green, who afterward took into partnership William Henry Harrison, Jacob Burnet, James Findley, and John H. Piatt. The general disposition of the community to encourage industrial enterprise is indi- cated by an advertisement in the Western Spy, July 10, 1813, of the Miami Exporting Company, a leading banking concern, offering "liberal and lengthy accom- modation" to all persons who had engaged in or had arranged to engage in manufacturing. In 1815, accord- ing to Dr. Daniel Drake's "Natural and Statistical View or Picture of Cincinnati and the Miami Country," the principal articles produced for export were flour; pork, bacon, and lard; whiskey, peach brandy, beer, and porter, pot and pearlash, cheese, soap and candles, hemp and spun yarn; walnut, cherry, and blue ash boards; cabinet furniture, and chairs, "to which," says Greve, the Cincinnati historian, "might be added kiln-dried Indian meal, for the West Indies."
It was the fond expectation of the early Cincinnatians that their city would become one of the most important centers for textile manufactures. This seemed a reasonable hope, because of its convenient and cheap access to the cotton fields of the South and the great success of wool-growing in Ohio. After the introduc- tion of steam power several of the manufacturing plants were built largely with a view to the production of fabrics, and a considerable activity in this department was always predicted by intelligent citizens, whose
It- of
274
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
views of the probable development of the community were generally sound. "These men who made the prediction," says Mr. Goodwin, "did not appreciate the fact that of all classes of manufactured goods, textile fabrics would probably stand the highest transporta- tion rate, and that other sections would prove to be more favorably situated for their manufacture."
The industrial spirit so thoroughly awakened in Cincinnati by the end of the second decade of the nine- teenth century was a prominent factor in giving that locality the decided advantage in population which it so early achieved and so long maintained. In 1820 the city had 9,642 inhabitants, and in 1830, 24,831. There was no other community of Ohio which in 1830 had advanced beyond the village rank: Cleveland had only 1,076 people, Columbus 2,435, Dayton 2,950, Springfield 1,080, Zanesville 3,094, Hamilton 1,079, and Newark 999. The example of Cincinnati in starting and developing manufactures had a stimulating effect throughout Southwestern Ohio, and the rise of such cities as Dayton, Springfield, and Hamilton is traceable to similar influences.
Having briefly reviewed the early progress of indus- trial activity in the locality of its origin in this State, a consecutive treatment of the subject would next require notices of the beginnings of manufacture in other places, all in chronological sequence and progres- sion. We cannot, however, undertake an examination so ideal, precise, and minute, and such a collection and arrangement of facts would have little value except for isolated references in certain connections. Anything like a detailed account of the foundation
275
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
and advance of the manufactures must derive its usefulness from a broader system of survey, with refer- ence to the two chief aspects of development-first, development in the cities where manufacturing is principally represented; and second, development in some of the special lines of manufacture, taken severally for the State at large.
The principal cities, in their order of population, as arranged in the table on pages 262 and 263, must claim a large share of attention in a comprehensive account of the manufacturing interests of Ohio. But our space is much too limited to admit of a review in detail for all the thirty-seven cities exceeding ten thousand in population, and the remainder of this article will be restricted to the ten leading cities. It should be understood that the object of the following summary is to present the more important and interesting facts, and that, while many sources of information have been consulted and utilized, no pretension is made to exhaustiveness.
I. Cleveland has been the first city of the State since 1900. Population :- 1820, 606; 1830, 1,076; 1840, 6,071; 1850, 17,034; 1860, 43,417; 1870, 92,829; 1880, 160, 146; 1890, 261,353; 1900, 381,768; 1910, 560,663.
Though founded before the close of the eighteenth century, the village of Cleveland, or Cleaveland, did not for many years make any pretensions to industrial enterprise. It was not until the opening of the Ohio Canal, from Cleveland to Portsmouth on the Ohio River-a distance of three hundred and nine miles-in 1832, that facilities were obtained for communication with the developed portions of the country. With
at e
S 7
276
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
the railway advantages, which followed gradually bu comprehensively, and above all the extension of dee water navigation throughout the whole system of the Great Lakes by the Sault Ste. Marie Canal (completed in 1855), the city advanced to a prominent commercia position. The traffic thus established had the inci dental consequence of making the materials of manu facture abundant and cheap in Cleveland, and the foundations of industry which were established as th natural sequence of this condition were developed with steady success and finally on a very great scale.
The first manufacturing plant in Cleveland is said to have been a distillery, built in 1800 by David Bryan and his son Gilman, at the foot of Superior Lane Aside from the usual milling, carpentering, blacksmith ing, and household trades necessary to the existence of a pioneer community, there is no record of a manu facturing venture until about 1817, when Abel R Garlick began to make "French burr millstones' at an establishment on Bank Street, obtaining hi material from a quarry at Mill Creek, in Newburgh He afterward cut his stone into "flagging," and hi products were among the earliest of Cleveland manu facture which supplied a demand outside the home market.
On the 3d of March, 1834, Charles Hoyt, Luke Risley, Richard Lord, and Josiah Barber incorporated the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company under the first State charter issued to a Cleveland manufacturing concern. It had an authorized capital of one hundred thousand dollars, was the first iron industry in Cleve land or vicinity to use steam instead of horsepower
277
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
for "blowing" the furnace, and had a prosperous career from the start. The plant was at the corner of Detroit and Center streets. Samuel P. Orth, in his "History of Cleveland," says (Vol. I, p. 629): "It not only did a general foundry business, but early manufactured a patent horsepower device. In 1841 it made cannon for the Government. In 1842 Ethan Rogers entered its employ and developed the manufacture of construc- tion machinery to be used in building railroads, and later the manufacture of locomotives. At this plant was built the first locomotive west of the Alleghenies. It was used on the Detroit and Pontiac Railway. Here were made the first locomotives used by the Cleve- land, Columbus and Cincinnati, and the Cleveland and Painesville railways. The first successful lake screw propeller was the 'Emigrant,' and its machinery was made in this establishment."
According to the Directory of 1837 there were at that time "four very extensive iron foundries and steam engine manufactories, three soap and candle manu- factories, two breweries, one sash factory, two rope walks, one stoneware pottery, two carriage manufac- tories, and two French burr millstone manufactories." At that period and for the next ten or fifteen years the principal commodities of Cleveland manufactured for export were those converted from the raw materials of the farm, such as soap, potash and pearlash, candles, lard oil, saleratus, leather, whiskey, and flour. Mean- time iron manufacture, which had made such a respect- able beginning in 1834, was gradually expanding, and by 1860 it took the leading place in the industrial busi- ness of the city. Coal, the essential foundation for
rg
Wi
sa yan an it en
let rci in an th
te
es 1
n
RES
278
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
successful iron production, was regarded with consider- able prejudice by Cleveland citizens in the early times. It was first offered for sale in 1828 by Henry Newberry. James Harrison Kennedy, the Cleveland historian, says that Newberry, with a wagon-load of the new fuel, went from door to door, explaining its merits, but during the first day found only one purchaser. Many years elapsed before it came into general use. The name of Daniel P. Rhodes is prominently identified with the early coal trade. He was largely interested in mines and in the shipment of their product to Cleveland and other places.
Soon after 1850 the thoughtful and enterprising citizens came to a quite definite realization of the special advantages of Cleveland for the iron industry. A public meeting was held in 1856 with a view to making Cleveland an important iron center, at which a com- mittee reported that this result was inevitable because of the abundance and cheapness of ore and coal; a site for a blast furnace was donated and $60,000 subscribed.
We are indebted to Mr. Orth's history for the follow- ing details of early iron and kindred establishments in the city, following the original undertaking already noticed:
"In 1839, Whittaker and Wells built a furnace near the pier. In 1850, Sizer's Foundry was established and continued under that name until 1866, when S. Merchant succeeded in the proprietorship. The Lake Shore Foundry was incorporated about this time, with buildings at the foot of Alabama Street. The Company made a specialty of car and bridge castings and water and gas pipe.
O.
in p m
pr T Pi
un
279
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
"In 1849, Michigan granted a charter to the Cleve- land Iron Company. But little business was done until in 1853, when it was reorganized under the laws of Ohio as the Cleveland Iron Mining Company, with a capital of $500,000. The officers were J. W. Gordon, president; Samuel Mather, vice-president; and H. B. Tuttle, secretary. The ore was largely shipped to Pittsburg. In 1854, four thousand tons were mined.
"In 1852, Henry Chisholm founded the firm of Chisholm, Jones and Company, for the manufacture of railway and bar iron. Later the firm was merged into a corporation, the Cleveland Rolling Mill Com- pany, which expanded into one of the largest steel manufactories in the United States. It is of interest to know that Bessemer steel was first blown in the New- burgh plant, October 15, 1868, which was some years prior to the making of Bessemer steel in Pittsburg.
"In 1852, William A. Otis with J. M. Ford formed a partnership for the manufacture of iron castings, with a foundry on Whiskey Island. From this developed the firm of Otis and Company, and subsequently the Lake Erie Iron Company and the Otis Iron and Steel Company. In 1859, Mr. Otis built the first rolling mill in the city.
"In 1858, the following firms were manufacturing iron in Cleveland :- Ford and Otis, furnaces; Cleveland Boiler Plate Company, Cleveland and Erie Railway Works, the Railroad Iron Mill Company, Morrill and Bowers Car Factory, Sizer Car Wheel Manufac- turing Company, Cleveland Agricultural Works, Chapman's Foundry, the Boat Machine Shop, and the Cuyahoga Steam Furnaces.
280
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
"In 1860, Thomas A. Reeve began the Novelty Iron Works, for the manufacture of iron bridges, frogs and crossings, and general machine work.
"In 1861, the Lake Superior Iron Company was incorporated. S. P. Ely and H. B. Tuttle were active in its organization. The Jackson Iron Company was organized the same year. It was composed largely of New York capitalists. The Cleveland agent was Samuel H. Kimball.
"In 1863, the list of new corporations increased to sixteen, and from that year forward they have multi- plied rapidly. Among the largest developed within the succeeding decade were the following :- the Cleve- land Foundry, established in 1864 by Bowler and Maher, joined later by C. A. Brayton. In 1864, Sherman, Damon and Company began the manufac- ture of both hot and cold pressed nuts, washers, chain links, and rivets. At this time the Union Steel Screw Company was incorporated by Amasa Stone, Jr., William Chisholm, Henry Chisholm, A. B. Stone and H. B. Payne, with a capital of $1,000,000. In 1866, Hovey Taylor and Son began a foundry business on Central Place. This developed later into the success- ful Taylor and Boggis Foundry. In 1868, the Cleve- land Spring Company was organized, with $200,000 capital, for the manufacture of steel springs for loco- motives, cars, wagons, and carriages. Among its early directors were: E. H. Bourne, William Corlett, John Corlett, H. M. Knowles and S. Bourne. The King Iron Bridge and Manufacturing Company was organized in 1871 by Zenas King, Thomas A. Reeve, A. B. Stone, Charles E. Barnard, Charles A. Crumb,
AMASA STONE
Born in Charlton, Worcester County, Mass., April 27, 1818; during early life was engaged in bridge construc- tion and railway enterprises in the East; removed in 1850 to Cleveland, where he was a most conspicuous citizen until his death; actively and prominently identified with railway, financial, and manufacturing interests, benevo- lent, educational, and philanthropic work, etc .; died May 11, 1883.
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
LD 1868. Thom ЖИОТА АДАМА ve. began the Novelty
IMqA .. aasM vtnuoO
-orfano ogbrid ni bagsgne asw ofil thiss animonsmanages, froge
nositio anoriganoo tom s asw od stodw buslevel of dtiw beflitnebi vitnenimoiq brs visvitos Ifssb aufmmany was Hovered ,atasistai grintostunem bas lionsmatthewliere a
ason iron Company .8881 .11 VSM it was composed largel
New York
The Cleveland agent
-
Samues EL JU
"in a88% w / www corporations increased vistoun and Fries that yew forward they have mull plied rapidly. Among the largest developed withm the atece dig deonde were the following :- the Cle land Fowww. subWant in 1864 by Bowler Maher. Joured bife by C. A. Brayton. In 186 Sbermix. Bo 464 Company began the manuf ture of lub Bo owl cold pressed nuts, washers, cha Ma time the Union Steel Scn wird by Amasa Stone, Chisholm, A. B. Stone an aMeal of $1,000,000. In 18 Moan a foundry business Wwwveloped later into the succe l.
Foundry. In 1868, the Cle Jand Surfing Caos organized, with $200,000 capital, for the mantartar of steel springs for loco motivea, cars, wagons, and carriages. Among early directors were: E H Bourne, William Corlet John Corlett, H. M. Knowles and S. Bourne. The King Iron Bridge and Manufacturing Company was organized in 1871 by Zenas King, Thomas A. Reeve A. B. Stone, Charles E. Barnard, Charles A. Crumb
282
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
county: One establishment :- capital invested, $2,000; cost of raw material, $5,000; number employed, 3; cost of labor, $1,800; value of products, $8,000. The location of oil refineries in Cleveland dates from this time. "In 1861," says Mr. Orth, "John D. Rocke- feller and Henry M. Flagler formed a partnership, amalgamated many of the refineries, and in 1870 expanded into the Standard Oil Company, with Cleve- land as its headquarters. The first directors were John D. Rockefeller, Henry M. Flagler, Samuel An- drews, Stephen D. Harkness, and William Rockefeller. The capital stock was $1,000,000 and the refineries were established in Kingsbury Run." The "coal oil" statistics of the county in 1870, according to the census, were :- number of establishments, 16; hands employed, 209; capital, $520,000; wages paid, $120,759; value of material, $3,611,046; value of products, $4,283,065. In the same decade the iron industry also showed a remarkable increase, but, counting all its branches, its output scarcely equalled in value that of the petro- leum business, which had been wholly developed in ten years. This industry directly or indirectly led to the establishing of other new lines of manufacture, some of which have since greatly flourished. As an instance, E. Grasselli, who in 1839 began to produce chemicals in Cincinnati, removed to Cleveland in 1866 and started a plant for the manufacture of acids to be used in oil refinery. "These works have expanded into enormous plants located on Broadway and Independence Road, with many factories in other cities and other lands."
O
-
0
283
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
During the vogue of the bicycle, Cleveland was its leading manufacturing center, the Lozier Company being especially prominent in this interest.
At the present day it is estimated that Cleveland produces considerably more than two thousand kinds of manufactured articles. In 1910, there were 2,148 establishments, engaging the services of 98,686 persons (of whom 84,728 were wageworkers), utilizing 199,898 primary horsepower, capitalized at $227,397,000, pay- ing $48,053,000 in wages and $15,593,000 in salaries, and having products valued at $271,961,000. In the ten years from 1900 to 1910 the capital showed an increase, in round numbers, of $71,000,000 and the value of products $100,000,000.
Without too minutely analyzing the census figures of 1910 for specific Cleveland industries, we will give some of their principal features. It should first be observed that of the nearly $272,000,000 value of prod- ucts, more than $67,000,000 value is not reduced to classification, but is given under the head of "all other industries." Doubtless a large portion of this amount belongs to industries accessory to the leading "specified" ones, particularly iron and steel.
The preponderating interest was by far iron and steel, which, counting the primary products and the allied ones of the foundry and machine shops, had a total value of nearly $76,000,000. Under the head of "iron and steel, steel works and rolling mills," there were fourteen establishments, 8,278 persons being engaged (including 7,538 wageworkers), with a capital of $25,087,000, a wage total of $5, 150,000, and products valued at $38,463,000. The foundries and machine-
284
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
shops were 231 in number, employed 20,348 persons (of whom 17,915 were wageworkers), were capitalized at $41,610,000, paid $10,485,000 in wages, and had an output worth $37,443,000. Other allied industries were "cars and general shop construction and repairs by steam railroad companies," producing $2,056,000 gross value; and cutlery and tools, "not elsewhere specified," valued at $2,395,000. Aside from iron and steel, were these metallic products and values :- copper, tin and sheet-iron, $2,966,000; brass and bronze, $1,362,000.
Professor W. M. Gregory, of the Cleveland Normal School, in an article on Cleveland's manufactures in the Geographical Journal, says of the varied products of the metal industries: "The vast output of nails, spikes, screws, tacks, drills, and bolts has given the title of the Sheffield of America to Cleveland. * Metal working machinery is one of the various special- ties. A great many kinds of steam hammers, lathes, slotters, punches, benders, rolls, drills, chisels, shears, and forges are built for home use, and many of these machines are exported to France, Germany, and England. The finer mechanics of the city have con- structed the delicate mountings on the great Lick and Yerkes telescopes, as well as those of many of the smaller observatories in this country and abroad. In direct contrast to the delicate instruments of pre- cision of the observatories are the hoisting, dredging, conveying, and ship-unloading machines. The latter of these are built only in Cleveland, and are distributed to all parts of the world. The two most successful types of the unloaders are the Brown Hoist and the
JOHN H. THOMAS
Pioneer Springfield manufacturer; one of the first to establish and develop the making of grain drills; public- spirited citizen; died January 23, 1901.
THE RISE AND PROGRESS ZAMOHT H ИНОЙ
-oilduq ;alliib nisig to grilem ont goleveb bris dardstas. "948 persons
U $19. 485,000 in wages, and had a
poo, Other allied industriel xere Main and promil shop construction and repair. be mine na kud rompapies." producing $2,056,000 gros values and artiety and tools, "not elsewhere (podle l" valued at 66.305,000. Aside from iron and steel, so the mer alle products and values :- copper ma acil dont-lton. $2,966,000; brass and bronze
Kofeuer W. M. Gregory, of the Cleveland Normal School In an article on Cleveland's manufactum in the Geographical Journal, says of the varied produr of the metal industries: "The vast output of na wilkes, screwk, Lacks, drills, and bolts has given t. Ulle of the Shellwild of America to Cleveland. chory in one of the various speci 0% A mo Lun of steam hammers, lath lors, rolla, drills, chisels, shean and bigwe on lan botte use, and many of the mach ar apporred to France, Germany, an England. The Antr imechanics of the city have com atrusted the delicate mountings on the great Lick az Yerkes telescopes, as well as those of many of t smaller observatories in this country and abro In direct contrast to the delicate instruments of pre cition of the observatories are the hoisting, dredging, conveying, and ship-unloading machines. The latter of these are built only in Cleveland, and are distributed to all parts of the world. The two most successful types of the muloaders are the Brown Hoist and the
ven. By CHAS SHAW.MY.
John Ho, Thomas يومـ
1
285
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
Heulett. One of the machines will take six hundred and twenty-eight tons of ore out of the hold of a boat in one hour and place it in the stock piles, and several of them working on the same boat at once take a cargo of twelve thousand tons out of a freighter in four or five hours."
Next in rank to iron and steel is the automobile business, which, against nothing reported in 1900 and $4,624,000 value in 1905, showed a value of products in 1910 of $21,404,000. This industry was represented in 1910 by thirty-two establishments; employed 7,115 persons, of whom 6,408 were wageworkers; had a capital of $16,600,000, and paid $4,023,000 in wages. Of the development of automobile manufacture in Cleveland, Mr. Orth says: "On March 24, 1898, Alexander Winton sold the first gasoline automobile made in Cleveland, and one of the first ever manufac- tured in the United States. This was the beginning of an industry that in 1909 made 5,800 cars. In 1896 Frank Stearns manufactured his first machine from a patent he had carefully wrought out. About the same time the Gaeth machine was manufactured on West Twenty-fifth street. In 1898 the Stearns Company was organized and cars put on the market. The Baker Company was organized at this time, for the making of electric machines, by R. C. White, F. R. White, and Walter C. Baker. Their first factory was a small building on Jessie Street. In the fall of 1898 the first White Steamer was made at the factory of the White Sewing Machine Company on Champlain Street. The machine was designed by Rollin White. In 1901 the Peerless Company began the manufacture of their
286
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
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.