Century history of New Castle and Lawrence County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th, Part 14

Author: Hazen, Aaron L. (Aaron Lyle), 1837- comp. and ed. cn
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1058

USA > Pennsylvania > Lawrence County > New Castle > Century history of New Castle and Lawrence County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th > Part 14

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Much of the coal used in manufacture is mined in Lawrence County.

From figures prepared by A. M. North, of the Erie Railroad, a few years ago, but the latest available, we quote the follow- ing:

Tonnage of blast furnaces, 1,500,000 tons annually.

Yearly tonnage of limestone quarries near the city, 935,000.

Various coal banks, 400,000.

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Shenango Valley Steel Mill, daily out- put, 800 tons; sold or made up here, 250 tons.

Iron consumed daily, 1,000 tons.

Tonnage of other industrial plants runs the total year tonnage up to 3,908,600.

The men employed to handle this vast amount of mineral, which is constantly in- creasing, is one cause of New Castle's growth. But the factor which has been most instrumental in stimulating indus- trial enterprise in New Castle is the tin plate industry. Its development here has been due largely to the enterprise of Geo. Greer. In 1892 a company was organized, with Geo. Greer, president; Charles Greer, secretary, and W. S. Foltz, treasurer, for the purpose of erecting a tin plate plant. They began in a small way by erecting a four-mill plant with a bar mill in connec- tion.

The company met with many discour- agements, but as the business became bet- ter understood and new machines were in- vented the plant enlarged until it contained twenty mills. It was then the largest plant in the world. Later the company was en- larged and another mill, the Shenango, was completed, containing thirty mills. Thus New Castle has fifty mills, employ- ing 3,500 men and paying out $200,000 monthly in wages. Two thousand three hundred tons of black plate are made every week when the mills are in operation.

The Shenango Valley Steel Mill, which later became the property of the National Steel Company, was established in 1891 with a capital of $2,500,000. Its officers were: W. E. Reis, president; William Pat- terson, vice-president; John Stevenson, Jr., general superintendent; James W.

Reis, superintendent of furnace depart- ment. Geo. E. Berger was secretary.

A blast furnace, having an annual capac- ity of 120,000 tons, later became a feature of the plant.

The Bessemer steel department, a ca- pacity of 30,000 tons of steel billets per month, also had a bar mill. The erection of the tin and steel mills led to the estab- lishment of half a dozen large machine shops, and previous to the inauguration of these enterprises New Castle was well sup- plied with industries, so there is little cause for wonder at the phenomenal growth of the city during the 1890-1900 decade.

The city has brick works that employ about 200 men and pay about $8,000 a month in wages. There is also a paper mill at New Castle. The breweries employ more than 100 men. There are also flour mills and other industries.

In the year 1899 over 700 new houses were built.

In four years the assessed valuation jumped from $7,000,000 to $12,000,000. The greatest improvement was in the southern part of the city. For the in- crease in valuation in the suburbs and the upbuilding of the same the city has been largely indebted to the New Castle. Trac- tion Company, which spent over $500,000 in construction of its lines.

The assessed valuation of New Castle is about $15,000,000. The levy for all pur- poses does not in any year exceed 15 mills, and residence and business property is as- sessed at only from two-thirds to three- fourths of its real value. Manufacturing property is only nominally valued, it being the policy of the city to assist and encour- age its industries.

CHAPTER VII

MANUFACTURERS

Grist and Saw Mills-Distilleries and Breweries-Tanneries -- Hat Manufacture-Lin- seed Oil-Carding Works, etc .- Shenango Iron Works-Aetna Iron Works-Brad- ley, Reis & Co .- New Castle Manufacturing Co .- Neshannock Iron Co .- Crowther Iron Co .- Elliott-Blair Steel Co .- American Sheet and Tin Plate Co .- Pennsyl- vania Engineering Works-Foundries, Machine Shops, etc .- Lawrence Foundry and Machine Shop-New Castle Agricultural Works-New Castle Stamping Co .- Standard Wire Co .- New Castle Forge & Bolt Co .- American Car and Ship Hard- ware Manufacturing Co .- Frank C. Douds & Co .- New Castle Asphalt Block Co. -New Castle Ice & Storage Co .- Carriage and Wagon Manufacture-Furniture- Woolen Manufacture-Paper-Planing Mills-New Castle Box Co .- Gailey Fiber Plaster Co .- New Castle Elastic Pulp Plaster Co .- Glass Manufacture-Pottery- Shenango Pottery Co .- Universal Sanitary Manufacturing Co .- New Castle Port- land Cement Co .- Other Incorporated Companies, etc.

It is chiefly to the extraordinary devel- opment of her manufacturing industries that New Castle owes the great degree of prosperity and fame she now enjoys. Most of this has been the growth of the last twenty-five years. A quarter of a cen- tury ago the arc light and electric trolley car were unknown, but one street was paved and that with cobble, the city was poorly lighted, there were no modern office buildings or business blocks, but one mod- ern church and one schoolhouse of credit- able appearance, while the principal manu- facturing industries consisted of two small rolling-mills, two window glass factories, four blast furnaces of minor importance, a wire-mill, rod-mill and nail-mill, none of which enjoyed more than what would be now regarded a very moderate degree of prosperity. There were a number of other miscellaneous enterprises of comparatively small magnitude and importance. Her buildings were generally antiquated, her

newspapers scarcely equal to the average country weekly of today, while there were no public parks and a very imperfect sew- age system. The total population of the city at that time (1884) was about 10,000.

Twenty years later the population of the city jumped to 35,000, placing New Castle third among the cities of the United States in point of increase during that period; the assessed valuation had been trebled; miles of streets were paved; a complete are light- ing system had been introduced; the city perfectly sewered; eleven new and modern school buildings, together with a dozen handsome and costly churches, and scores of imposing brick and stone business blocks had been erected; efficient police and fire departments organized; while five railway trunk lines joined to give New Castle the distinction of having the heaviest freight traffic of any city of its size in the world. Most of this was the direct result of the phenomenal increase in the extent and im-

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portance of her manufacturing interests. Today New Castle manufactories compel the admiration of the world. She has the largest tin plate mills and the largest pro- duction of limestone; while the great Car- negie steel works, operating four large blast furnaces, the Republic Iron and Steel Company, and the Elliott-Blair Steel Com- pany, form another leading factor in her industrial prosperity. In addition to these, there are important and flourishing manu- factories of window glass, brick, flour, enamel ware, paint and varnish, lumber, cement, and various products of the coun- try, besides other minor industries.

GRIST AND SAW-MILLS.

All this vast amount of wealth-producing activity along manufacturing lines had a humble beginning. The necessities of life were the first consideration of the early settler. Consequently we find the grist-mill standing as the pioneer manufacturing en- terprise in this, as well as most other sec- tions of the country. Probably the first of these mills in the vicinity of New Castle was the one erected by John Elliott on Neshannock Creek, at the foot of Shaw's Hill. It is said to have been erected about the year 1800, and was, no doubt, a prim- itive affair. Being partially destroyed soon after, it was rebuilt and refitted in 1803 by Nicholas Vaneman. At that early day there was very little grain to grind, the first being corn, which, of course, was not bolted. When the settlers began to raise wheat it became necessary to have a bolt, which Vaneman procured and put in operation. It seems to have been worked by turning a crank by hand, probably be- cause there was not sufficient power in the rude machinery and wheels to run the whole establishment by water.

In 1803 or 1804 John Carlysle Stewart, the original proprietor of the town, in com- pany with James Reynolds, and also, pos- sibly, Joseph Townsend, built a grist and saw-mill at the head of the Narrows on the east side of the Neshannock. These mills

were run by the above-named firm, or by Stewart & Reynolds, until about 1810-11, when Reynolds sold out either to Stewart or one Wilkins (who became a partner with Stewart), and went up the creek about three miles farther to Eastbrook, where he built another mill. After Reynolds sold out, the machinery was taken out and the grist-mill transformed into a forge for the manufacture of hammered iron, which in- dustry, however, after being carried on for several years by different parties, was abandoned as unprofitable. About 1816 a portion of the works was carried away by flood, and subsequently successive floods swept away the last vestige of the first iron manufactory in northwestern Pennsylva- nia. Previous to the erection of the grist- mills before spoken of, all the grain in this region was either floated down the Beaver River to Beaver Falls in canoes and brought back in the same way, or taken on horseback to one Allen's mill on the Slippery Rock Creek, near the south- eastern border of the county.

"Among the earlier mills in New Castle were a grist and saw-mill, erected by Craw- ford White, about 1818. They were both frame buildings, and stood on or near the ground now occupied by Raney's mill. Mr. White died about 1834, and his oldest son, James D., soon after rebuilt the mills. The grist-mill was of brick, three stories in height. James D. White died in 1840, and in 1841 the mills, along with other prop- erty, were sold to Crawford Brothers and Ritter. In 1844 Joseph Kissick, who had settled here from Westmoreland County in 1831, purchased the property, and soon after raised the upper story from a hip- roof to a full store, and improved the mill to the amount of $5,500. It was destroyed by fire in 1851, and with it 10,000 bushels of wheat. Mr. Kissick's loss was very heavy, but he rebuilt the mill the same year, and continued the business until 1865, when he sold the property to the late Lean- der Rainey, who operated it until 1873, when the late William Gordon purchased

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an interest, and the firm was known as Rainey & Gordon. Considerable additions and improvements were made by Mr. Rai- ney and Gordon, and the mill was an ex- cellent one and did a large business. It contained five run of stone and had a ca- pacity for grinding about 350 bushels of grain per day. They did both merchant and custom work."

At an early day Joseph T. Boyd and John Wilson built a brush dam and erected a saw-mill on the site subsequently occupied by the dam and mill of Pearson, Clapp & Co. They afterwards, about 1845, sold to Peebles & McCormick, who made preparations to erect iron works. They collected considerable material on the ground, in the shape of timber, etc., but finally went into the business with the Ori- zaba Iron Works Company. The property was sold to Henry Pearson, who built a new dam and grist-mill in 1854, which he operated until 1868, when the mill and water-power became the property of his sons Bevan and Warner Pearson, and his son-in-law, Capt. J. M. Clapp, who oper- ated the mill under the firm name of Pear- son, Clapp & Co. This was a fine mill. containing four run of stone, and did an extensive business in both merchant and custom work.

In 1833 Henry Pearson built a dam and in the following year erected a saw-mill on the site subsequently occupied by the paper mills. This property he operated until 1868, when he sold to J. Harvey & Co., who erected mills for the manufacture of paper.

About 1842 Benjamin White, Henry Wil- liams and William Clark erected a build- ing at the lower end of Mill Street, near the Neshannock pool, on the west side of the street. In this building were included a grist-mill, with one run of stone; a card- ing-mill, with two sets of machinery, trans- ferred from the mill sold to the Crawfords. previously referred to, and two or three turning-lathes, for turning out various de- scriptions of wood work. This establish-

ment was destroyed by fire in the latter part of 1844, and never rebuilt. Williams went into the employ of Crawfords & Co. as engineer in the nail factory, and con- tinued until about 1854. when he removed to Lawrence, Kansas.

There have been various concerns at dif- ferent times engaged in the manufacture of flour and feed in New Castle, and our space will not permit us to give the history of all of them. There are now at least three establishments of the kind-the Cas- cade Roller Mills, of which the Alborn brothers are proprietors, and of which a full account may be found in their bio- graphical sketch published elsewhere in this volume ; the Shenango Roller Mills, at No. 348 E. Cherry Street, which are con- ducted by Raney & Co., and that of Mrs. E. G. Veach at No. 57 S. Croton Avenue. All these are up-to-date establishments and turn out a high quality of product. There are also some six or seven retail dealers in flour and feed exclusively, aside from the firms engaged in the grocery trade.

DISTILLERIES, BREWERIES, ETC.

In the estimation of our pioneer ances- tors, whiskey was regarded as one of the chief necessaries of life. A grist-mill was built as early as 1811 by David White, a brother of Crawford White, in the south central part of the town, lying east of the Neshannock Creek. It was erected prin- cipally for the purpose of grinding grain for his distillery, which was erected about the same time, the two being run together until about 1814 or 1815.

Crawford White also had a small dis- tillery. erected about 1810-11, very near the residence of the late John T. Phillips. He used the water from the spring on Mr. White's premises. This distillery was run until about 1813. Another distillery was owned by William Moorhead, and built about the same time as the others, on his farm a mile below New Castle, and now in Taylor Township.

In those days whiskey was almost the

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only commodity which would bring, at all times, ready money, and consequently there was a large number of small distilleries in operation in various parts of the coun- try. The whiskey made in the vicinity of New Castle was mostly consumed in the neighborhood. Its manufacture was con- sidered a legitimate and honorable busi- ness, and was then perhaps more lucrative than any other. At one time there were no less than sixteen distilleries in North Beaver Township.

There are now two brewing companies in New Castle - the Standard Brewing Company and the New Castle Brewing Company.

The Standard Brewing Company, whose plant is located at No. 100 Sampson Street, was incorporated in 1898, with a capital of $300,000. It had its real origin in a con- cern established in 1850 by Adam Treser and Jacob Genkinger, which, however, was not a success. Early in the nineties the plant was purchased by George D. Lamoree and Louis Eschallier. The latter retired in 1897 and the company was then incorpo- rated with a capital of $100,000. In 1898 the company was reorganized with a capi- tal of $300,000, as above noted, the present brewery being built in that year. The out- put amounts to about 65,000 barrels per year and thirty men are given employment. The present officers are as follows: Geo. W. Lamoree, president; H. Grotefend, vice-president ; E. O. Haun, secretary; M. Feuchtwanger, treasurer.

The New Castle Brewing Company was incorporated in 1896 with $75,000 capital. It owns a large and thoroughly up-to-date brewery on West South Street, opposite the covered bridge, and which, with the bottling works, covers about two acres of ground. The capacity of the brewery is about 22,000 barrels annually. The presi- dent of the company is Louis Preisel, Sr., W. S. Mears being secretary and treasurer.

TANNERIES.

Another early industry was tanning, the

first establishment of the kind in New Castle being started, it is said, by Joseph Town- send, Jr., as early as 1805. In 1808 it be- came the property of William Dickson, who had emigrated from near Chambersburg, Pa., and settled in New Castle that year. Mr. Dickson operated it until about the time of his death, in 1831. His son Isaac continued the business until 1866, when it had become unprofitable, and was aban- doned. These works contained twenty-one vats, and manufactured annually about 1,000 pieces of leather of various kinds. In 1857 Mr. Dickson opened a leather store in connection with his tannery, and continued it until the tannery was abandoned, when he engaged in the hardware business.

The second tannery in the place was put in operation by John Tidball about 1820. It stood in what was for a long time known as "Reynoldstown," on the Pittsburg road, near the Court House. About 1840 he sold the property to Robert Reynolds, who continued the business until about 1868-69.

A third one was put in operation by Thomas Falls somewhere between the years 1820 and 1825, on a lot lying east of Mr. Dickson, near Mercer Street. Mr. Falls continued the business until the time of his death, about in 1865-66. Subse- quently his son, Wilson Falls, continued it until about 1870, when it was abandoned.

William Moore established a small tan- nery in what is called West New Castle, about 1850, and carried it on for a few years.

Robert Patterson established another small tannery in South New Castle, about 1852-53, and operated it until 1873-74, when it was discontinued.

In early times throughout this section the tanning business was carried on by nu- merous small establishments, located in nearly every town and hamlet in the coun- try. Sometimes there were four or five in operation at the same time in a small town, and often the business was to be found away from the towns, at cross-roads, or

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upon some farmer's premises. At first oak bark was used exclusively, but at a later period hemlock bark largely took its place, though oak was still used to some extent. The oak bark was obtained in the neigh- borhood of each tannery, but the hemlock was brought from Crawford and Erie Counties. Hemlock was not much used until after the completion of the canal, when it was brought down the canal in boats.

HAT MANUFACTURE.

Isaac Jones was probably the first to commence the manufacture of hats in New Castle. He opened a shop about the year 1805 and continued the business until 1816, when he removed to Somerset County, Pa. Returning to New Castle in 1819, he carried on the business subse- quently until his death. John and Isaac Townsend, sons of Joseph Townsend, Sr., opened the second hatters' shop about 1807-8. James Dunlap established himself in the business about 1810-11, and contin- ued it until near his death, in 1830. Joseph Justice, White MeMillen, and perhaps oth- ers, learned the trade of Mr. Jones, and afterwards carried on business for them- selves. Mr. Justice opened a shop in 1819 and continued the business until 1851, when he retired.

William Cox, who learned the trade from Joseph Justice, opened a shop about 1825 and worked at the business some twelve or fourteen years. He died in New Castle in the fall of 1876.

White McMillen commenced business for himself about 1830, on Jefferson Street, south of the "Diamond," and continued it for about twenty years. About three years after quitting the business of manu- facturing he opened a hat, cap and fur store. In good times Mr. MeMillen em- ployed three hands besides himself. The market was principally at home, but dur- ing the winter months they sometimes man- ufactured a stock of wool hats for export to Pittsburg and other large towns.

LINSEED OIL.

About 1841-42 E. C. and G. O. Griswold established the first oil-mill in New Castle, on ground east of Washington Street, near the bank of the Neshannock Creek. About 1850 they sold to Robert Wallace, who con- tinued the business for some time. The first-named gentlemen took a large share of the machinery to Warren, Ohio, where they established works.

Another oil-mill was erected by James Hamilton, about 1842-43, on the east side of the Neshannock, near R. W. Cunning- ham's foundry. James Hamilton and Alex- ander Newell operated this mill until about 1846, when J. N. and S. C. Euwer pur- chased a half interest in the concern, and at the same time Mr. Newell retired. Busi- ness was continued under the firm name of Euwer, Hamilton & Co., until about 1856, when the firm purchased an interest in a mill in Allegheny City and removed most of the machinery. Since that date the business of manufacturing linseed oil has been abandoned in New Castle.

CARDING WORKS, ETC.

About 1837 James D. White erected a two-story frame building in the upper story of which were two carding machines, operated by one Benjamin White, a rela- tive. In the lower story Ezra Perry had an establishment for the manufacture of bass and snare drums. It is said he made the best goods in the market, and they were sold in various places throughout the United States. He carried on the business until about 1841. The carding machines were also running until about the same date. This factory was built on the ground subsequently occupied by the keg factory of the Aetna Iron Works.

An addition was made to it about 1838-39, in which a manufactory of shov- els was carried on for J. D. White, or his estate. Some time after White's death the property was sold to the Crawford broth- ers, who converted the building into a

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blast house, for blowing a refinery for smelting iron.

SHENANGO IRON WORKS.

This institution, in former times the es- pecial pride of the people of New Castle, was established in 1845 by Joseph H. Brown, Joseph Higgs and Edward Thomas, who formed a co-partnership, for the purpose of building a mill for the man- ufacture of iron. The ground was pur- chased of Isaiah and James White, and buildings erected. During the first year the company had no boiling furnaces, and purchased their "muck bar" of Messrs. Crawford & Co., of the "Cosalo" Iron Works, later known as the Aetna Iron Works. In 1846 Robert H. Peebles and Pollard McCormick were added to the com- pany and the firm became McCormick, Pee- bles, Brown & Co., and the works being christened the "Orizaba" Iron Works. The new firm immediately added to the works a mill for the manufacture of merchant bar- iron, nails and muck bar. The works were successfully carried on until July, 1847, when they were entirely destroyed by fire. They were rebuilt the same year and a nail factory, with twenty-four machines, and a keg factory were added. In 1848 four additional boiling furnaces were put in operation and a "Burden squeezer" took the place of the trip-hammer.

In 1850 the firm changed to Peebles & Co., and in 1852 Mr. P. McCormick be- came the sole proprietor. In 1853 Mr. Mc- Cormick erected the "Sophia" furnace, and operated the entire establishment until 1855, when the works became the property of Knapp, Wilkins & Co., who continued the business until 1859. During this period four additional boiling furnaces and seven nail machines were added to the works.

The establishment was idle from 1859 to 1863, and the various buildings and ma- chinery became more or less injured and decayed. The suspension of such ex- tensive works caused great depression in business and values in and around New

Castle, and many people removed to other localities. During these four years of idle- ness many efforts were made to dispose of the works, but without effect. The prin- cipal reasons operating against a sale were the want of facilities for procuring coal, which had to be hauled a distance of four miles in wagons, and the fact that the only means of shipment was by canal, which was closed for a considerable portion of the year. Finally, in 1863, a sale was ef- fected to Messrs. Reis, Richards & Berger, who at once rebuilt and enlarged the works and changed the name to Shenango Iron Works. The rolling-mill was put in oper- ation on the 16th of June, 1863; the nail factory on the 6th of July, and the furnace on the 24th of October. During the next year the New Castle and Beaver Valley Railway was put in operation, and soon after it the Erie and Pittsburg Railway. In July, 1864, Mr. Richards retired from the firm and Mr. W. H. Brown, of Pitts- burg, took his place, the firm then becoming Reis, Brown & Berger. In 1864 the com- pany purchased the Hanging Rock Iron Works, in Ohio, the machinery of which was brought to New Castle, and a sheet- mill. 113x139 feet, erected, in which the sheet-rolls and nail-plate rolls removed from the rolling-mills were set up. Three extensive fire-brick kilns were also built, having the capacity of 50,000 bricks each. In the spring of 1865 the firm commenced the manufacture of red brick, not only fur- nishing for their own use, but for the gen- eral market. In 1868 a large and commo- dious brick warehouse, for the storage of nails and sheet iron, was erected. During the season of 1866 Mr. James Rhodes built a railway from his extensive coal mines, four miles north of New Castle, to the mills. In the spring of 1870 a branch rail- way was built, connecting the works with both the New Castle and Beaver Valley and the Erie and Pittsburg railways, and in the same year many other improvements and additions were made.

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Century history of New Castle and Lawrence County, Pennsylvania and representative citizens, 20th, Part 14

Author: Hazen, Aaron L. (Aaron Lyle), 1837- comp. and ed. cn Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold publishing co. Number of Pages: 1058

Author: Hazen, Aaron L. (Aaron Lyle), 1837- comp. and ed. cn
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1058