History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 140

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania > Part 140

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In 1870 he returned to his residence in Pottstown, Pa., and was in charge of the construction of the Nesquehoning Valley Railroad and the Nesquehoning tunnel, in Carbon County, Pa., and in the latter work, availing himselfof the experiments then in progress at . the Hoosac tunnel, made use of compressed air as a motive-power for the rock-drills.

He was next appointed to select the location, amid several conflicting interests, for the extension of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Central Ohio to Chicago, and after the necessary surveys, recommended the route upon which that road is now built, and was also engaged on the Wilmington and Northern and Berks County Railroads and other works of lesser importance.

He afterwards organized and established the J. D. Steele & Sons' Manufacturing Company at Potts- town, Pa., and thus ended an active but inconspicuous professional career.

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

POTTSTOWN IRON AND BRASS FOUNDRY .- The Pottstown Iron and Brass Foundry is located on Beech Street, and was erected in 1868 by William Auchenbach. It was operated for several years by W. P. Buckley and William Auchenbach, under the firm-name of W. P. Buckley & Co., but was subse- quently changed to the firm of William S. Ellis & Co. The firm is engaged iu the general foundry business, and also manufacture sad-irons, having a branch establishment for the finishing of sad-irons on Queen Street. The firm is in a flourishing condition and employs a number of men.

BOYER & BROTHER .- The foundry is located at the corner of York and Walnut Streets. All kinds of castings are made here in iron and brass, and orna- mental wrought-iron fencing is made to order. Twenty-six hands are employed, with a pay-roll of seven hundred dollars a month. The building is forty-six by one hundred and fifty feet and the fin- ished work averages one ton per day.

MECHANICS' BOILER-WORKS, SOTTER & BROTHERS. -The firm consists of Jacob, Ferdinand, Henry and Philip Sotter, four brothers who are skilled mechan- ies. They manufacture boilers, smoke-stacks, blast and steam-pipes, iron stock-cars, furnace-barrows, water and oil-tanks, gas-holders, etc. The works were established in 1879, and were formerly occupied by Messrs. Buckley & Auchenbach as a foundry.

The main building is forty-five by one hundred feet. Forty hands are employed, with a pay-roll of fifteen hundred dollars a month. During the year 1883 the amount of finished work was estimated at sixty thousand dollars' value.

POTTSTOWN ROLLER-MILLS, BERTOLET & MILLER. -This firm does a very extensive business, and the water-power has no superior in the State. Here was erected the first mill in the region, about the year 1725. It was owned by Jesse Ives for a long period, but in 1855 the property was purchased by Henry and Jacob H. Gabel, who rebuilt it in 1856, and furnished it with the best machinery. The mill is forty-five by fifty feet, four stories high, and has a capacity of one hundred barrels a day.

POTTSTOWN MARBLE-WORKS, MESSRS. E. REIF- SNYDER AND J. W. STORB, No. 149 High Street .- The business condueted by these gentlemen was founded forty years ago by Albert Storb. In 1859 the firm became Wagner & Reifsnyder. Five years after- wards Mr. Wagner died, and the present firm was founded. Marble and granite work of all description is done in the highest style of the art, and the large sixteen by one hundred feet building always contains a very large stock of finished monuments and head- stones, so that orders may be filled successfully. Five hands are employed in the busy season and a regular trade has been secured in Berks, Chester and Montgomery Counties. Both gentlemen are practical workmen, and all work is erected under their personal supervision.

MARBLE AND GRANITE-WORKS .- The manufac- ture of monuments, head-stones, ete., was com- menced in Pottstown in 1865 by Seazholtz & Yohn. This firm was in turn succeeded by Seazholtz & Shenton, and in 1873, Mr. Shenton beeame sole pro- prietor. Mr. Shenton is a gentleman of twenty-one years' experience in this particular trade, and as an ar- tisan of skill has no superior, as is abundantly attested by the soldiers' monuments of Phoenixville and St. Clair and many other beautiful and large monuments erected by him in this county and in Berks and Chester Counties. The building occupied by him on Hanover Street, near the railroad, is twenty-four by ninety-six feet in extent, During the busy season five hands are employed.

POTTSTOWN STEAM PLANING-MILL, J. F. ALT- HOUSE, PROPRIETOR .- These works are located on Apple Street, and were established in 1879, the firm at that time being Fisher & Althouse. A large amount of sashes, doors, window-frames, etc., is manufactured by the firm. Twenty-one hands are employed, and the pay-roll amounts to one thousand dollars a month. The main building is one hundred and fifty by one hundred and fifty-five feet, the lum- ber-yard is one hundred and fifty-five by one hundred and seventy feet. The machinery is driven by a thirty-five horse-power engine.

RICHARD H. KRAUSE'S PLANING-MILL .- This mill is situated at Water and Charlotte Streets, and manufactures sashes, doors, window-frames and scroll - work. Fourteen hands are employed, with a pay-roll of five thousand dollars a month.

THE PHILADELPHIA BRIDGE-WORKS, COFRODE & SAYLOR, CIVIL ENGINEERS AND BRIDGE-BUILDERS. -These extensive works are located at Pottstown, on the line of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. The buildings and improvements eover an area of about thirteen acres of ground. The establishment has been in operation since 1877-78, and is justly noted for its capacity to produce the best and most skillfully constructed bridge-work of the age. The most improved machinery is used in the execution of their work, and their patrons are found in all parts of the Union. Their Philadelphia office is located at No. 257 South Fourth Street. They employ from five hundred to one thousand men, and are an impor- tant branch of the capitalized industry of the county.

LIMERICK TOWNSHIP.

NATIONAL STOVE-WORKS, LIMERICK STATION, MARCH, BROWNBACK & Co .- These extensive and val- uable works were established at Lawrenceville, Chester Co., in 1848, by Michael March, Isaae Buckwalter and Ezekial Thomas, trading as Mareh & Buekwalter. Before the works were in full operation Thomas and Buckwalter sold out their half-interest to Michael March. In 1849, John Church and Thomas Church purchased one-half interest, when the firm became March & Church. In 1850, James L. Ellis bought

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the interest of John and Thomas Church, when the firm-name was March & Ellis. In 185], George Frick purchased the interest of James L. Ellis, and the firm became March & Frick. In 1852, Daniel ! Allen bought the interest of George Frick, when the firm-name became March & Allen. In 1853, Wash- ington Savidge bought a part of Allen's interest, and Mr. March remained a silent partner in the firm. The firm-name then was Allen & Savidge. In 1854, Savidge died, and the business was continued by Daniel Allen. In 1855, Henry C. March and Joseph Johnson bought Allen and Savidge's interest. The

upon their manufacturing capacity. In 1868, James Brownback bought the interest of II. C. March, the firm-name continuing. In 1871, T. J. March pur- chased the interest of Franklin March, firm-name continuing. In 1874, James Rogers bought the interest of D. M. March, and in the fall of the same year Michael Towers bought the interest of Edward Sisler, when the firm became March, Brownback & Co. In 1877, M. Towers sold to his partners, T. J. March, James Brownback and James Rodgers, his interest, and sinee that date the firm-name has been March, Brownback & Co.

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firm-name was March & Johnson, and so continued until 1860, when Edmund Sisler bought Joseph John- son's interest. The firm then became March & Sisler, and continued so until 1865, when .I. W. March entered as an equal partner; firm-name, March, Sisler & Co. In 1866, Franklin March entered the firm, the firm-name continuing, In 1866 the works were transferred to Limerick Station, Montgomery Co., where more extensive and sub- stantial buildings were erected, and the most im- proved machinery put into operation, so as to enable the firm to meet the constantly increasing pressure 39

When the firm started the number of hands em- ployed was twenty-five, with a monthly production for the first year of twenty-five net tons, stoves and plate ; wages per month, approximately, thirteen hun- dred dollars. At present when working full the number of hands is one hundred and twenty-five, with a monthly pay-roll of six thousand two hundred dollars. The goods manufactured are stoves, heaters and ranges, of which the product for the year 1884 was eleven hundred net tons.

The works cover one and one-half acres, on which stand the following buildings : Moulding-room, one

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hundred and fifty by seventy-five feet ; moulding- room No. 2, seventy-five by fitty feet; with ware- house, shipping and finishing department in one building, one hundred by sixty feet, four stories high ; carpenter-shop and fitting department, thirty by twenty feet, four stories high ; and saud-house, forty by eighteen fect, four stories high, office, etc. Value of the plant, one hundred and ninety thousand dollars.

THOMAS J. MARCH .- The earliest representative of the March family in Pennsylvania was Frederick March, of German descent, who settled in Limerick township, Montgomery Co., Pa. He had several sons, one of whom, Frederick J., removed to the ad- joining county of Chester, and resided at his death in East Vincent township. Among his children was Michael, whose birth occurred on the 24th of July, 1803, in the above township, where he was subsequently married to Miss Susanna, daughter of Henry Chrisman, also of East Vincent township. To this union were born children,-B. Franklin, Henry C. (deceased), Ellen (who became the wife of James Brownback), Webster (deceased), Thomas J. and Emma C. (married to Rev. J. P. Miller). Thomas J., of this number, was born on the 16th of February, 1844, at Lawrence- ville, Chester Co., Pa., where he remained during the years of early youth, meanwhile availing himself of such advantages of education as the public schools afforded. At the age of eighteen he became a pupil of the State Normal School, at Millersville, engaged for a brief period in teaching, and, on the completion of his studies, received, as the representative of the Seventh Congressional District of the State, the ap- pointment to the United States Military Academy, at West Point, N. Y. He graduated in the class of 1868, and was at once assigned as second lieutenant in the Seventh Regiment Cavalry, then on duty on the plains, his command being at the time engaged, under General G. A. Custer, in active frontier service. Mr. March remained four years in the army, having been from October II, 1868, to November 20, 1870, in Kansas and the Indian Territory, where he partici . pated in the engagement on Washita River with the Cheyenne Indians on the 27th of November, 1868, in which he was wounded. He was, on the 2Ist of November, 1870, appointed to the Military Tactics Board, convened at St. Louis, and again assigned, on the 11th of February, 1871, to frontier duty at Fort Lyon, Colorado. He later received leave of absence and tendered his resignation March 10, 1872. Mr. March, on returning again to civil life, after his varied and eventful military experience, cutered the firm of March, Sisler & Co., stove-founders, at Limerick Sta- tion, Montgomery Co., and has sinee devoted his attention to business pursuits. He was, on the 29th of January, 1880, married to Emma, daughter of the late Jacob and Maria Kulp, of Pottstown. Their only child is a son, Michael Henry. Mr. March is in his political views a staneh Republican and an earnest advocate of the doctrine of a protective tar-

iff. He is in no sense a politician and is indiffer- ent to the honors attached to party service. The religious associations of his family are with the Reformed Church in Pottstown, of which he is a sup- porter.

UPPER MERION TOWNSHIP.

SWEDES' FURNACE .- This well-known furnace was built by Griffith Jones for the firm of Potts & George in 1853, and Mr. Jones became the manager. They run the furnace until 1869, when it was pur- chased by James Lanigan, the firm, which was known as Lanigan & Repellier, paying one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars for the property. The production in good times of trade was about six hun- dred tons a month. It was run by Lanigan & Co. up to 1877, when it was stopped, and has remained idle up to this date. The furnace is now the property of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Com- pany.

MONTGOMERY FURNACE, MONTGOMERY IRON COMPANY .- The furnace is located at Port Kennedy ; the stack was built in 1854 and was first blown in 1856. It is closed at the top. The ores used are three-fifths magnetic and two-fifths hematite. The specialty is forged pig-iron, with a capacity of twelve thousand five hundred net tons. Two roasters for magnetic ores were added in 1880. A. S. Patterson is the president of the company, John W. Eckman manager.

WM. B. RAMBO'S QUARRIES. - This valuable in- dustry covers one hundred and forty-three aeres. The quarries were opened in 1830 by Geo. W. Roberts on a very small scale, producing about fifty thousand bushels of stone and lime per annum; but the business inereased until 1843, when it was sold at sheriff's sale and bought by Nathan Rambo and John T. Potts. Before the deeds were signed Nathan Rambo pur- chased the interest of Mr. Potts for five hundred dollars, when the latter retired. Nathan Rambo run the quarries alone until January 1, 1857, when his son, William B. Rambo, and Matthias P. Walker were admitted into partnership.

Nathan Rambo died Mareh 1, 1858, when the firm became Rambo & Walker, and remained so until January, 1859, when Mr. Walker retired and William B. Rambo became sole proprietor and re- mained such to the present day.

There are twenty-six kilns, operated by one hundred men, producing eight hundred thousand bushels of quick-lime per annum for building and fertilizing purposes, with a pay-roll of nearly four hundred dollars per month. The quarries and kilns have a capacity of one million bushels of lime a year. Thirty-two horses and a fifteen horse-power pumping- engine assist in the work. The building lime is sent principally to Philadelphia, and the fertilizing lime is sent by the different railroads to New Jersey, Delaware and many other States adjacent to Penn- sylvania.

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Adjoining the William B. Rambo quarries are those ; one fifty by one hundred feet, and one fifty by one hun- of Nathan Rambo, ninety aeres in extent, produeing about one hundred and fifty tons of stone per day, most of which is used in the manufacture of asphalt blocks. These quarries are leased by Mr. William B. Rambo.

THE ASPHALT BLOCK COMPANY. - These works are located on the opposite side of the railroad from the quarries of W. B. Rambo. They belong to a chartered company of Philadelphia, incorporated in 1876, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars; stock issued, eighty-two thousand dollars. The pro-

dred and twenty feet. One hundred and thirty hands are employed, and the pay-roll is about three thou- sand dollars a month. The mill is engaged in the manufacture of jeans, producing one million eight hundred thousand yards per annum. The property is valued at one hundred thousand dollars.

ELBRIDGE MCFARLAND .- Dr. James McFarland, of Montgomery County, the grandfather of Elbridge McFarland, graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently pursued his profession at Morgantown, Berks Co.

ElindeMC Farland

duction is about five thousand blocks a day, each measuring twelve by five by four inches. Twenty hands are employed, at a cost of about five hundred dollars a mouth. The works cover about two aeres of ground, fronting on the railroad fifty feet, with a depth of three hundred and twenty-five feet towards the river, the main building being two stories high. Jacob C. Daubman, of Camden, N. J., is the presi- deut of the company, William B. Rambo treasurer.

GULF MILLS, GEORGE MCFARLAND & Co .- This handsome mill is situated in a picturesque spot on Gulf Creek, in Upper Merion township, and consists of three buildings, one seventy by one hundred and sixty feet,

His four sons were John, Arthur, James B. and George. The last named and youngest of the number was born at Morgantown on the 20th of March, 1811, and spent his youth in Norriton township. On arriving at a suitable age he entered the woolen-mills of Bethel Moore, on the Gulf Creek, near Conshohocken, with a view to perfecting himself in the business of a manufacturer. After a limited time spent at Easton, Pa., he returned to the Gulf, and began the manufac- ture of woolen goods in a small way at the place now owned by Samuel Tinkler. Here, by industry, energy and uprightness, he laid the foundation of his success as a manufacturer. In 1847 he purchased the mill

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property at Gulf Mills, which was rebuilt and refitted as a cotton and woolen-mill. About 1858 a serions conflagration destroyed this factory, which was re- placed by another on the same site, and conducted by Mr. McFarland until 1875, when he admitted his son, Elbridge, and Frank L. Jones, of Norristown, as partners. George McFarland was married to Mary Cornog, of Gulf Mills, in 1849. Their children are George Clinton (deceased), Elbridge, James Arthur and John.

There being no portrait of Mr. George MeFarland extant, it is deemed advisable to represent the manu- facturing interest he founded through his eldest living son, Elbridge, leading partner of the present firm, who was born May 4, 1853, at King of Prussia, and re- moved when a child with his parents to Gult Mills. He pursued his studies at Norristown, and later en- tered the Polytechnic College, at Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1872 as a civil engineer. He followed this profession for a brief period in Pitts- burgh, and returning to the Gulf, entered the office and mill of his father. In 1875 he was made a partner, and, on the death of the latter, in January, 1879, with Mr. Jones, before mentioned, assumed the active man- agement of the mill, his brothers, J. Arthur and John, being made partners soon afterwards. While under his successful management the works have been ex- tended, new machinery added and the capacity nearly doubled. The mill, with these improvements, ranks as third in size among the woolen-mills of the county.

VALLEY FORGE WOOLEN-MILLS .- These famous old mills have a history, and have passed through many hands. They were built in 1810 by Mr. James Rogers and were operated by the firm of Rogers & Watters in the manufacture of cotton goods, bed- ticking, etc. They were next occupied by James C. Ogden, but he failed in 1857. The mills remained idle until 1861, when Mr. Joseph Shaw commenced the manufacture of government kerseys. Mr. Shaw died in the fall of 1863, when Isaac W. Smith, Esq., managed the business a few years for the widow, Mrs. Shaw. Mr. Smith then rented the mill for five years, when he purchased the machinery. He run the mill up to the year 1882, when he sold out. The machinery consisted of four sets of cards, four hand- mules and eighty-two looms, producing forty-two thousand yards of doeskin jeans per month. It was run entirely by water-power. The mill has been idle since 1882. Grass and weeds grow rank in the yards, the machinery is rusting and the floors rotting, pre- senting a sad picture of inertness and neglect.

MATSUNK COTTON-MILLS .- This ancient factory was built by, and has been in the possession of, the Supplee family, of Upper Merion, for over five gener- ations, and has passed through many changes and vicissitudes of fortune. In 1860, Mr. Thomas Liver- sidge leased it and manufactured jeans for sixteen years. He had sixty looms, forty-eight hands and

paid about fifteen hundred dollars a month in wages. When he removed to Norristown the building was leased by Mr. Mark Stead, who uses it for making extracts for separating cotton from woolen rags. The building is about forty by sixty feet, and is now the property of Miss Annie Novioc.

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP.

THE OLD DAVE MILLS .- This once famous old mill is now in ruins. Its origin dates back nearly to Revolutionary times ; it has passed through many hands and seen many changes. It was run as a paper- mill for many years, then as a cotton-mill by C. Mc- Namara, who failed. It was run by Mr. Patrick Scanlon, on jeans, from 1850 to 1870, and was also operated by Mr. Charles Shaw. It was finally de- stroyed by fire and never rebuilt. While on this subject it may be recorded that the Buggy Mill, on Gulf Creek, formerly operated by Denning & Ander- son on cassimeres and balmoral skirts, was burned about eight years since, and Seth Humphrys' mill, on the Hagey property, was burned down in the month of June, 1884.

ASHLAND'S PAPER-MILLS .- These well-known mills are situated on Rockhill Creek, close to the River road, and are better known by the name of Rudolph's Mills. In old times they were used for the making of dye-woods, and were known as Ashland Dye-Wood Mills. In 1860 they came into the hands of the present proprietor, A. S. Rudolph, who gradu- ally increased the capacity of the mills until they have assumed their present proportions. Their specialty is newspaper material, of which they manu- facture one hundred and eighty-five tons a month. Seventy-five hands are employed, and the pay-roll is two thousand seven hundred dollars a month. The store-rooms and pulp-mill front on the Rockhill Creek road two hundred and fifty feet, forty-five feet wide and three stories in height. Along the Schuylkill the building extends one hundred and fifty feet by sixty feet wide, three stories in height. The motive- power is obtained from one one hundred and fifty horse-power engine, one eighty horse-power, one fifty horse-power, one twenty-five horse-power and six boilers. The machinery nsed is all of the best quality and most modern improvements known to the trade.

ROCKHILL MILLS, JOHN DOBSON, PROPRIETOR .- This is the oldest mill on Rockhill Creek, dating from about the year 1798. It was known for many years as the Old Sheetz Paper-Mill, and its antiquity in that branch of manufacture may be judged from the fact that for many years the paper was manufac- tured "by hand." The building remained empty for a series of years, but is now a scene of active industry. Mr. Dobson has occupied it since 1869, and is making an excellent quality of woolen cassimeres, of which eight thousand yards (yard and a half wide) are made per month. The monthly pay-roll is two thousand five hundred dollars. Seventy hands are employed,

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and when in full operation there are twenty-two broad looms and eighty-four narrow looms at work. There are two thousand two hundred spindles, four self- actors, a seventy-five horse-power engine and a one hundred horse-power boiler. The main building is ninety by fifty feet, four stories in height ; the picker-house is fifty by thirty feet ; engine-house, fifty by thirty feet, two stories in height; boiler-house fifty by forty feet, two stories in height ; stock-house, sixty by forty-five feet, one story in height. The property is worth fifty-three thousand dollars.

ROBINSON'S MILL .- This mill is located on Mill Creek, in Lower Merion, and was rebuilt in 1882 by Joseph M. and George R. Baltz. Their specialty is carpet-yarn, of which they make about seven thou- sand five hundred pounds a week. Fifteen hands are employed, with a pay-roll of four hundred and fifty dollars a month. There are three sets of cards, self- acting mules, with corresponding machinery. The building is one hundred and five feet front by forty two feet in depth, two stories high ; one picker-house, thirty-two by twenty-eight feet, one story high. The motive-power is one thirty horse-power engine and one sixty-eight horse-power overshot water-wheel.

THE HENRY MILLS .- They are located on Rock- hill Creek, but are now a pile of blackened ruins. They were first built as a machine-shops, early in the present century by the Henry family, of Philadelphia, and since then have passed through many hands, has seen many changes, and experienced many vicissitudes. They were used as machine-shops by the firm of Schofield & Howgate, were used as a yarn- spinning factory by Reiff, Woolfenden, Leach & Lee, and Thomas Barker. They were finally improved and enlarged in 1860, but were burned down February 4, 1868. They were rebuilt, but again burned down on August 2, 1872. They were then, as now, owned by Thomas Schofield, but have been a complete ruin since the date of their destruction. The last time the mills were in operation the proprietor employed about forty hands in the manufacture of woolen yarns.

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History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 140

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534