Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio, Part 32

Author: Sutor, J. Hope, 1846-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 898

USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > Zanesville > Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio > Part 32

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THE BLANDY MACHINE COMPANY

was incorporated in 1889, to conduct the business, and in the summer of that year took possession, but was unable to restore the prestige of the works as maintained by Henry Blandy, and

THE UNION MACHINE COMPANY

was incorporated, in the summer of 1898, bought out the Blandy Machine Company, and began op- erating the works as a general machine shop with no specialty in the line of manufacture.

MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

THE BROWN MANUFACTURING COMPANY

was incorporated June 23, 1873, by Peter Black. Thomas E. Sturgeon, W. A. Graham, W. S. Har- lan and M. Churchill, and July 28, the first direc- tors were chosen, viz: Peter Black, president and treasurer ; W. P. Brown, general superintendent ; M. Churchill, F. J. L. Blandy, Thomas Griffith, James Herdman and W. A. Graham. Mr. W. P. Brown and Oliver C. Ong, who was chosen sec- retary, were the promoters, and active operating officers of the company which was formed to man- ufacture wagons and agricultural implements, and both remained until death severed their connection with the business. Mr. Ong died September 13, 1885, and Mr. Brown, January 27, 1888.

The original plant was quite extensive, and was totally destroyed by fire July 23, 1882, the office building and some lumber alone being saved ; the loss was in excess of $100,000.00, but the works were immediately rebuilt and additions have been made until the present plant encloses an aggre- gate floor space of seven acres, all the buildings being protected with automatic fire extinguishing apparatus. The average working force is three hundred men, and the establishment has long been one of the leading industries of the city.

GRIFFITH AND WEDGE COMPANY.

When the financial panic of 1857 engulfed Ebert and Lowdan, Thomas Griffith and G. W. Ebert continued the business of a general machine shop in the former works, and in 1858 Francis Wedge purchased the Ebert interest, and the firm of Griffith and Wedge engaged in the manufacture of portable engines. November 29, 1870, Mr. Wedge obtained patents on a vertical portable en- gine, the first of its kind, the former types having been horizontals, and with so radical an improve- ment in the engine the business assumed large proportions, and other forms of machinery were produced. Mr. Griffith died in 1884, and in 1885 the Griffith and Wedge Company was incorpor- ated and the following officers chosen: Francis Wedge, president : Charles D. Wedge, vice presi- dent : Edward Cigax, secretary and treasurer ; John Wedge and J. A. Crotzer : March, 1893, Mr. Wedge died, and the present officers are: John Hoge, president : C. D. Wedge, vice presi- dent and manager : Edward Gigax, secretary and treasurer. The company now makes a specialty of the Ohio Corliss engine, one of the highest types of engines, and clay working machinery. The plant embraces iron and brass foundries, machine, boiler, blacksmith and pattern shops and an extensive drawing room ; only the most skilled mechanics are employed. and every product is wrought from drawings.

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PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

HARRIS BRICK COMPANY.

In 1863 William B., Charles O., and George C. Harris, as the Harris Brothers, began the manu- facture of brick, east of the city, near Greenwood cemetery, about the first product being employed in the erection of the residence of W. B. Harris ; and during the first ten years of the business the kilns were built up of brick and daubed with clay. Permanent kilns were then introduced, and the firm made the first pressed brick west of the Ohio river. The business became very extensive, and with the introduction of the so-called vitrified street paver they engaged in their manufacture. In 1897 the business passed to a corporation, known as The Harris Brick Company, with the following first officers: John B. Baxter, presi- dent ; John T. Granger, vice president ; Charles H. Magie, secretary ; Edmund N. Hatcher, man- ager. The present plant is modern in every res- pect, and has a capacity of 90,000 brick per day.

THE J. B. OWENS POTTERY COMPANY.

During the fall of 1891 J. B. Owens came to Zanesville, from Roseville, and erected a brick building 100 feet square, with two kilns, upon a large tract of land along the Terminal Railway, west of Brighton. The J. B. Owens Pottery Company was incorporated with $100,000.00 cap- ital, to conduct the business of manufacturing flower pots and painted clay ware, and the first goods were produced in the spring of 1892. Ad- ditions, of three and four stories, were made to the original brick structure almost annually, as demanded by the increasing business, until 175,- 000 square feet of floor space, and ten kilns were employed. In 1896 the former grades of clay goods were abandoned, and glazed, ornamental ware produced on such extensive lines that eight hundred kinds and sizes of pottery, embracing six- teen distinct lines of art pottery, and various arti- cles of utility and ornamentation, are produced. In 1898 the capital was increased to $300,000.00, and in the spring of 1902 the entire plant was de- stroyed by fire; reconstruction was immediately begun and the new plant, two and three stories in height, with twelve kilns, has been so conveniently designed that the minimum cost of operation has been attained. The present officers are, J. B. Ow- ens, president, treasurer and general manager : F. G. Dodd, vice president ; A. W. Burg, secre- tary ; George S. Brush and J. N. Owens, Rose- ville, directors.

MARK MANUFACTURING COMPANY.

During 1900 Zanesville was agitated in conse- quence of a proposition to erect an immense plant for the manufacture of tubes, to be independent of

the recently organized "trust;" it was represented that capitalists in Pittsburg, Philadelphia, New York and other eastern cities were prepared to in- vest $600,000.00 if Zanesville would subscribe to bonds of the concern to the amount of $150,- 000.00 ; the business men of the city promptly took the amount and the premises formerly occupied by the shops of the Z. & O. R. R., and A. O. Jones Brick works, both of which had been de- stroyed by fire, were secured ; this tract was im- mediately south of and adjoining Putnam, and covered an area of about forty-six acres.

Immense quantities of earth were brought in by rail and the surface elevated above the recorded high water mark; the foundations for the build- ings and machinery were laid in the most substan- tial manner and the superstructures were of structural steel; operations were begun in 1901. but the representations made respecting the east- ern capital were not fulfilled, and for lack of capi- tal the plant was placed in receiver's hands. May 21, 1903 ; at a commissioner's sale, March 19, 1904, it was purchased by the Mark Manufactur- ing Company, a partnership consisting of Cyrus Mark and his two sons, Clayton and Anson, the latter of whom is now the resident manager of the plant. The purchasers were experienced men in the business, having extensive plants at Evans- ton, Illinois, where well goods and specialties are produced ; the Zanesville plant is devoted to the manufacture of boiler tubes, well casing and other forms of pipe, ranging from one-eight inch to sixteen inches in diameter. The capacity of the plant is 350 tons per day and can employ 1,000 men, the present force being 700.

THE OHIO POTTERY COMPANY.

September 17. 1900, Alvah P. Clark and Jacob Burgy, of Zanesville, and Charles W. Reynolds, Charles R. Applegate and Shepard M. Humston, of Beverly, Ohio, were incorporated as The Ohio Pottery Company for the manufacture of stone- ware specialties, and September 28th directors were elected as follows: C. W. Reynolds, presi- dent ; F. H. Herdman, vice president : A. P. Clark, secretary, treasurer and general manager; J. Burgy, superintendent : C. R. Applegate. The plant is located in Owen's addition, west of Brighton, and consists of five brick buildings, one and two stories in height, and a kiln shed con- taining five kilns.

MOSAIC TILE COMPANY.

The incorporation of the company was effected September 4, 1894, and the first meeting of the stockholders was held September 8. 1804, in the city council chamber when the following direc- tors were chosen: David Lee, president : W. M.

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PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

Bateman, vice president ; W. M. Shinnick, secre- tary and treasurer ; J. Hope Sutor, H. C. Mueller, Karl Langenbeck, Edmund Moeser, E. Ebert Peabody and W. E. Miller, directors. A tract of five acres was secured on the Cooper Mill road, opposite the Fair Grounds, in Brighton, upon which the plant was constructed in the most mod- ern and substantial manner ; additions were made during 1896, 1900 and 1904, which have increased the capacity of the works more than three fold the original design. Floor and wall tile, of the high- est class, are produced and the combined output of the American Encaustic and Mosaic Tile works is more than half the tile production of the United States, and the peer and in some respects the su- perior of imported ware.

MUSKINGUM COFFIN COMPANY.

August 23, 1881, T. J. Newman, Joseph Shaw, L. D. Sandel, Wilbur F. McCoy, Thomas W. Gattrell, S. E. Stranathan and James T. Irvine executed articles of association and were incor- porated as The Muskingum Coffin Company, to engage in the manufacture of general undertaking supplies. Books of subscription were opened and September 29, 1881, directors were elected and October 15th they organized as follows: T. J. Newman, president; George W. Shaw, vice president : Joseph T. Gorsuch, treasurer ; James T. Irvine, W. F. McCoy, L. D. Sandel and S. E. Stranathan, directors, and Joseph Shaw, secre- tary and manager.

The Kaemmerer mill, a three-story brick and frame structure on the south side of Main street at the east end of the "Y" bridge, was purchased and equipped for the business, which had grown to such proportions that in May, 1888, the three- story brick building. 60 by 120 feet, on the south side of Main street, east of First, was erected, and occupied in December as office and wareroom, and the enterprise is now one of the leading businesses of the city.

PINKERTON TOBACCO COMPANY.

In 1884 a partnership was formed. under the title of the Pinkerton Tobacco Company, and began the manufacture of "scrap" chewing to- bacco, while the Pinkerton Brothers were en- gaged in the wholesale grocery business, in Fourth street. The enterprise was successful from the beginning and in 1900 was incorporated and the business moved to the former flour mill, at southwest corner of Locust and Potter alleys, which was soon outgrown and the two three-story store rooms fronting on Third street were added. and in 1904 a five-story brick building was erected on the south, adjoining the original plant, and is being equipped with the latest and most improved

machinery, appliances and conveniences, and when ready for occupancy will give the com- pany a factory with a ground area of 100 by 132 feet, and with buildings three and five stories high. The high grade goods produced and the strict and honorable business principles observed have been potent factors in effecting the success which has attended the company's operations ; it is financially strong and prosperous and ranks among the city's most important manufacturing establishments.

THE ROSEVILLE POTTERY COMPANY

operates four potteries, the principal of which is located at the north end of Linden avenue, at Zanesville, "where town and country meet," as the company states in its handsome pamphlet de- scriptive of its art products. The company was incorporated in 1892 and began business at Rose- ville by purchasing the plant started about 1885, by J. B. Owens ; the works have three kilns and are still employed in the manufacture of flower pots, cuspidors and painted ware. In 1898 the Midland Pottery, with three kilns at Roseville, was added to the pottery of the Roseville Com- pany, and continues to produce stoneware special- ties. The combined annual output of the two Roseville plants is valued at $100,000.00 and about 100 people are employed.

The Linden avenue plant, at Zanesville, was originally a three-story brick structure, with three kilns, erected by The Clark Stoneware Company about 1892, for the manufacture of stoneware specialties ; the period of inception was inaus- picious and it could not maintain itself during the protracted depression in business and in 1898 the Roseville Company acquired the property ; in 1899 a three-story brick building, 50 by 156 feet, was built and in the succeeding year a fourth story was added and a three-story brick addition made to the original building ; the kiln shed was en- larged to accommodate the ten kilns required for the business, and in 1903 a two-story brick office and sample room was erected.

The Linden avenue works were devoted en- tirely to the production of painted ware but in 1900-I Rosane ware was developed ; the designs are hand work and the motive is "to preserve with natural effect original works in oils and water colors," upon imperishable clay, instead of canvass, the form of the vessel being itself grace- ful and an object of beauty. The working force consists of about 200 people and the annual out- put is valued at $350,000.00.

In 1901 the old pottery, at Muskingum avenue and Harrison street, in Putnam, which had been operated by the Mosaic Tile Company, as an auxiliary, was purchased by the Roseville Com- pany and devoted to the manufacture of a line

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PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

of German cooking ware; the works have four kilns, employ 50 people and have an annual out- put valued at $50,000.00.

The present officers of the company are George B. Emerson, president ; J. F. Weaver, vice presi- dent ; G. F. Young, secretary, treasurer and gen- eral manager.

S. A. WELLER.

About 1873, S. A. Weller, a young potter, planted a commercial acorn at Fultonham, Ohio, in the form of a small pottery, with the crude machinery and appliances of the period, and manufactured plain, unpainted flower pots and similar ware, which he went upon the road and sold; about 1882 he leased a frame building in South Second street, which he used as a ware- room, and in 1888 transferred his factory to a small frame plant on the river bank, at the foot of Pierce street, in Putnam.

In 1890 he purchased the old show grounds in Putnam, abutting on the railroad between Pierce street and Cemetery Drive, and erected a brick factory fronting on Pierce street, and abandoned the pottery on the river bank and the wareroom in Second street. The manufacture was then be- gun of painted flower pots, jardinieres, cuspidors, hanging baskets, umbrella stands, etc. In 1893 an addition along the alley front was built, in which, in addition to the previous line, the first fancy glazed goods were produced in Zanesville; in 1894 another addition was necessary and the building was extended to Cemetery Drive, and occupied in December. The "Rookwood" ware had been the only art pottery manufactured in the West, and upon the completion of the new building Mr. Weller associated with him Mr. W. A. Long, of Steubenville, in the production of "Lonhulda" ware, but the association termin- ated a year later, and Mr. Weller began the pro- duction of an art ware styled "Louwelsa," a word coined from the three first letters of the name of his daughter, Louise, the first three let- ters of his surname and his initials.

May 10, 1895, the new buildings and their contents were entirely destroyed by fire, the original Pierce street building and its contents alone being preserved, but on the following day the labor of clearing away the debris was begun and the re-erected plant was ready for occupancy in October. In 1900 the business had outgrown the Putnam plant and there being insufficient ground for the required enlargement, the original plant of the American Encaustic Tiling Company, in the Marietta road, was purchased, remodeled and put into commission in 1901 for the produc- tion of cooking and toilet utensils, common flower pots and the cheap ornamental pottery. In 1901 an addition to the Putnam plant was built on Cemetery Drive, the art ware stock room

and sales room being removed to the second story and elegantly equipped offices opened on the first.

In January, 1901, Jacques Sicard, of Golfe Juan, France, and his assistant, Henri Gellie, came to America to introduce Metallic Lustre Pottery, and learning of the Weller factory, came to Zanesville and were engaged by Mr. Weller to produce Sicardo ware, respecting which China, Glass and Pottery Review says: "is des- tined to take its place among the highest grade art pottery of the world .- The vases are first treated all over with a secret metallic prepa- ration, and then decorated in floral and other art effects, with chemically prepared metallic pig- ments,-which make the most perfect color schemes and which are absolutely permanent."

In 1904 a model, modern pottery was erected at St. Louis, in the Louisiana Purchase Ex- position grounds, in which the most effectual machinery was installed, kilns erected and an actual pottery operated by skilled workmen sent from the Zanesville plant ; the various processes were demonstrated, from the grinding and wash- ing of the clay to the decoration and burning, the plant being under Mr. Weller's personal super- vision. A similar exhibit was made at the Lewis and Clark exposition at Portland, Oregon.

T. B. TOWNSEND BRICK & CONTRACTING COMPANY.

In 1868 T. B. Townsend began the manufacture of brick at the north end of Seventh street, and on the site of the present extensive plant, in the east end of the city : primitive methods were em- ployed and in 1882 R. C. Burton became a part- ner and the business was conducted as T. B. Townsend & Company. In 1885 the top or allu- vial clay, from which the brick had been made. was exhausted and the underlying shale was ex- perimentally tested, with surprising satisfactory results, and the modern, vitrified, building and paving brick were originated. The first perma- nent kilns were erected in 1885 and in 1800 the business was incorporated as the T. B. Town- send Brick and Contracting Company.

Although engaged in the manufacture of brick, Mr. Townsend and his partners were engaged also in the general contracting line until 1900, and the court house, jail, Clarendon Hotel. John MeIntire Children's Home and nearly all the important buildings in the city were built by them, and their operations extended to other cities and localities ; they laid large quantities of the brick pacing in the city of Zanesville and constructed eleven bridges across the Muskingum river, be- tween Marietta and Dresden.

The original plant has fourteen kilns and a capacity of 100,000 brick per day, the output now being confined to vitrified pavers and sewer brick.

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PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

and common building brick, and their goods have been shipped to the city of Mexico, and in the United States to points as distant as Boston, Saginaw, Michigan, and Illinois cities.

A new plant is about completed, 1905, with ten kilns and a daily output of 50,000 brick, which is located on the Belt Line, one mile east of the original plant, and between them lies IIO acres of shale lands, the raw material being ex- cavated to the level of the vein of No. 6 coal and the refuse is deposited in the vast ravines so prevalent in the neighborhood, and eventually will transform the topography of the section.

ZANESVILLE GAS LIGHT COMPANY.

March 24. 1849, the General Assembly passed an act incorporating The Zanesville Gas Light Company, with James L. Cox, James V. Cush- ing. George A. Jones, Adam Peters, William Galigher, John A. Adams, George James and Joseph Galigher as the incorporators and an au- thorized capital of fifty thousand dollars. A meet- ing was at once called at George James' office, on Fourth street on ground now occupied by the court house, at which Mr. James presided and William Galigher acted as secretary ; the charter was accepted and books of subscription to the stock were ordered opened: on April 14th more than four hundred shares had been subscribed and a meeting for organization was called for May 2d, at Mr. James' office, when 618 shares were reported taken; John T. Fracker presided and S. S. Mann served as secretary, by-laws were adopted and William Galigher, James L. Cox, S. S. Mann, A. C. Ross and George James were elected directors.

Operations were immediately commenced and while the pipes were being laid Alexander B. Campbell fell into an open ditch and died from the effects of his injuries; no responsibility for the accident attached to the company, but "as an act of humanity." as the minutes state, the funeral expenses were assumed and a pension of $10.00 per month was voted his widow for one year. The works were erected in North Sixth street, and during November, 1849, gas was furnished the citizens ; about 1856 the service was extended to Putnam, and about 1870 to Natchez and West Zanesville, one of the conditions by which the residents of the latter village were per- suaded to vote for annexation being that there should be street lighting by gas.

Iron pipe cost $78.00 per ton and was difficult to obtain, and about 5,000 feet of wooden pipe, made at Bay City, Michigan, was purchased and laid ; one portion commenced at Linden and Mc-

Intire avenues, along McIntire and Maple avenues to Adair ; another, on West Main street, from the "Y" bridge to Ridge avenue, and the third from Greenwood along Hamline avenue to the residence of Henry Blandy. All of this pipe was in service about fifteen years and during the excavation, in 1905, of the trench for a brick sewer along Maple avenue the wooden pipe was exhumed and found to be in a perfect state of preservation. The sections were of soft pine, about seven feet in length, with an interior caliper of three inches : the pipe was coated with tar and the joints were uniformly turned, and fitted with exactness.

CLARENDON HOTEL.

It may appear incongruous to mention a hotel in connection with the existing, leading industries of the city but the Clarendon certainly is entitled to the distinction, as it has done much to give Zanesville an enviable reputation. Erected upon a site which has been employed for hotel purposes for nearly a century, the building was erected 1877-78, by Peter Black and W. A. Graham; designed as a model house of entertainment, as the Schultz' Opera House was a model as a house of amusement, it was at the time of its completion the most perfect hotel building in the state, as to solidity and security of construction, variety and completeness of comforts and conveniences and beauty of interior and exterior decoration. The "host" was selected with the same care that marked the design and construction of the build- ing and under the successive managers to A. P. and J. W. Rusk who now conduct it, the house has been known as "Ohio's famous hotel," and for many years, until other cities emulated the ex- ample of Zanesville, travelers came from distant points to spend Sunday at this incomparable hostelry.

NATURAL GAS

was first furnished the city of Zanesville in No- vember, 1898, by the Great Southern Gas and Oil Company; the gas was obtained from the Sugar Grove field and conveved to Zanesville in eight-inch pipes, and a reducing station was erected south of the city. In June, 1902, the Ohio Fuel Supply Company came into possession of the property and in the spring of 1903 con- nected the city with the Licking-Knox fields by an eight-inch line. As both the Sugar Grove and Licking-Knox fields are connected with Co- lumbus, a circuit is made and an interruption in the supply from either field would not affect the supply at Zanesville, as it could be procured by even so indirect a route as the entire circuit.

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PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE DISTINGUISHED DEAD, ENUMERATING WIL- LIAM H. BEARD, PETER BLACK, HENRY BLANDY, DANIEL BLISS, M. D., ALVA BUCKINGHAM, EBEN- EZER BUCKINGHAM, LEWIS CASS, JESSE CHAND- LER, M. D., DANIEL CONVERS, S. S. COX, REV. JAMES CULBERTSON, JAMES HAMPSON, SAMUEL HERRICK, C. C. HILDRETH, M. D., ROBERT HIL- LIER, M. D., J. G. F. HOLSTON, M. D., INCREASE MATHEWS, M. D., JOHN MC INTIRE, MRS. MC IN- TIRE, BLACK MESS, ROBERT MITCHELL, M. D., BLACK NANCE, JEFFREY PRICE, RUFUS PUTNAM, REV. FRANKLIN RICHARDS, A. C. ROSS, WYLLYS SILLIMAN, ISAAC SPANGLER, M. D., ISAAC VAN HORNE.

The evil that men do lives after them ; The good is oft interred with their bones.

The men and women who have participated in and accomplished the deeds which history records must ever prove interesting characters to those who delight to know the events of the past, as well as those of the present, and it is relevant to a history of this character that more than the mention of the names of the actors in the scenes of the drama preceding the ones in which we appear, should be recorded somewhat in detail. All cannot be mentioned for

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Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio, Part 32

Author: Sutor, J. Hope, 1846- Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 898

Author: Sutor, J. Hope, 1846-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 898