USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume I > Part 40
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The Easton Car & Construction Company was founded January 19, 1913, and incorporated January 9, 1914, with a capital stock of $100,000. The officers at the time of its organization were: W. E. Farrell, president and treasurer; Carl R. Gur, vice-president; and H. S. Seals, secretary. The company design and build the Easton industrial cars and track equipment for mines, iron and steel mills, automobile and other factories. The yearly production is $800,000, and exports are made to Norway, France and South America. The number of employes is two hundred. The present officers are: W. E. Farrell, president ; A. M. Farrier, vice-president ; R. C. Haggerty, secretary.
One of the present industries of Easton, that was founded sixty years ago, is the Ashton Casket Company, which was founded in 1857 by William Keller. The enterprise in 1888 was purchased by Frank Ashton, and October 28, 1908, it was incorporated as the Ashton Casket Company, with a capital stock of $75,000. The officers at the time of the organization were: W. E. Chipman, president ; E. Harris Ashton, vice-president ; E. V. Everhart, secre- tary and treasurer. Caskets and undertakers' supplies are manufactured and all kinds of funeral furnishings are sold to the retail trade. The present officers are: W. K. Spangenberg, president; P. Frank Haggerty, vice-presi- dent; H. S. Vannatta, secretary and treasurer.
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DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES
The Binney & Smith Company was founded in 1885 by a partnership of Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith. An incorporation was obtained September 30, 1902, under its present title, with a capital stock of $250,000. The officers elected on the foundation of the corporation were: C. Harold Smith, president; Edwin Binney, treasurer; C. P. Wiley, secretary ; the lat- ter has been succeeded by J. E. Roan. The yearly product of the company averages about $750,000, which consists of school and artists' crayons, chalks, marking crayons, marking and stencilling inks, malts and dyes. An export trade is carried on with Great Britain, Continental Europe, Egypt, South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, South and Central America, Mexico, West Indies and Canada.
The Fitzgerald Speer Company was founded September 1, 1890, as a partnership, and was incorporated February 1, 1905, under its present title, with a capital stock of $225,000, divided into $150,000 common and $75,000 preferred. The officers chosen at the time of the organization of the corpora- tion were: C. J. Fitzgerald, president; William Buzzard, vice-president ; E. A. Speer, treasurer and general manager; H. C. Wolfe, secretary. The death of Mr. Fitzgerald occurred in June, 1906, and Milton Flory was elected in his stead. The yearly production is $400,000 of lumber and general mill work, and employment is given to from seventy to ninety male employes. The corporation for a number of years operated a plant at Pen Argyl, which was entirely destroyed by fire January 21, 1919.
Easton in the last twenty years has made possible the most rapid prog- ress in manufacturing industries of any city of its size in the United States. Besides those already mentioned are: The General Crushed Stone Company, employing about four hundred hands, and among the largest in that line in the United States; the General Chemical Company (Baker & Adamson branch), who manufacture sulphuric nitre and mixed acid, and have on their payroll about three hundred hands; the Kuebler Foundries, Incorporated, makers of malleable castings of steel and iron bands, general iron products, furnishing employment for two hundred male wage-earners.
The American Flag Manufacturing Company, established in the latter part of the past century by W. J. Heller, manufactures a high grade of flags only and shipments are made to points throughout the United States. This is the first and largest flag factory in the United States. Mr. Heller was in 1887 a solicitor for a New York decorating firm, and in pursuit of business in 1886 visited York, Pennsylvania, which that year was celebrating a cen- tennial anniversary. He was much taken with the enthusiasm of the people in the unfurling of a national flag on the high school building. The thought occurred to him: What would be the result if a flag was displayed on every schoolhouse in the United States? At this time there was little if any enthusiasm for the national emblem. With this aim in view, of creating a demand for the national flag and placing it on every schoolhouse in the land, he determined in 1887 to start a flag factory, as the only way to procure a flag was through awning makers, there being no established factory in the United States. When he mentioned the project to others they smiled in derision, and when he informed them that he intended to equip a plant with twenty-five machines to manufacture flags, they retorted : "Why, you would
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make enough in one year to supply the market for fifteen years." On Mr. Heller's return to Easton, he immediately set to work to put his idea in force, and established what is now the American Flag Manufacturing Com- pany. The business from the first was a success, and a substantial increase was made with each succeeding year. Silk and bunting parade, naval, marine, service and regimental flags, church presentation flags, society, State and municipal flags, silk banners for secret organizations, colonial and national banners, door and window draperies, flag and butterfly draperies, fully cov- ered by patents, are made in endless quantities. A particular line of the business is the manufacture of United States yacht ensigns, yacht pennants, boat flags and flags of all nations. Every style and size, in square or rectan- gular shape, of burgees and pennants, are all made. During the period of the late war the company supplied all the flags used by the Bethlehem Steel Company and the United States Shipping Board. The business is conducted as a partnership; besides Mr. Heller, L. Franklin Sterner and L. M. Miller, being members of the firm. In the busy season employment is given to sixty men and women.
The pianos manufactured by H. Lehr & Company are to be found in every State of the Union. The crowning triumph of the Board of Trade was the building of the South Side Industrial Branch of the Lehigh Valley Rail- road, which opened up an area of between two or three thousand acres of factory sites. On this area have been located the Easton Finishing Company, bleachers and finishers of dry-goods; the Easton Car & Construction Com- pany, already mentioned ; the Hawley Down Draft Furnace Company, makers of automatic furnaces; and the Sterling Products Company, who manufac- ture laundry products. Easton is known throughout the length and breadth of the country as an enterprising, up-to-date manufacturing city, having in the neighborhood of one hundred and twenty-five manufacturing concerns, employing from a few employes up to the thousands.
The Bethlehem Fabricator Company was formerly the Guerber Engineer- ing Company ; the latter was incorporated February 20, 1901, and the present title was adopted December 30, 1918. The company are designers, fabri- cators and erectors of structural steel works, and is capitalized for $198,200. The present officers are: R. P. Hutchinson, president and general manager ; F. C. Stout, vice-president; W. B. Myers, treasurer ; and I. W. Gangawer, secretary. A specialty of the company is structural steel for the erection of coal breakers, and their products are exported to France, Chile, Cuba and Porto Rico. The number of wage-earners employed vary from two hundred to four hundred.
The Bethlehem Construction Company was formerly the Vanderstucken- Ewing Construction Company ; the latter was incorporated in February, 1910, and the present title was adopted in the latter part of 1918. The former officials were F. R. Vanderstucken, president ; William Ewing, vice-president; F. V. Vanderstucken, treasurer. The capital stock of the company is $50,000, and structural steel is manufactured. The present officers are: Dallett H. Wilson, president; R. L. Kift and E. L. Meyers, vice-presidents ; Edwin E. Wallace, secretary and treasurer.
The Silvex Company, manufacturers of the Bethlehem Spark Plugs, was
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incorporated August 12, 1912, with a capital stock of $50,000. The original officials were: Charles M. Schwab, president ; E. H. Schwab, vice-president ; E. B. Turn, secretary and treasurer. Employment is given to six hundred hands, and the yearly production is 5,000,000 spark plugs. The only changes in the executive force of the company are: E. H. Schwab succeeded Charles M. Schwab as president; and the vacancy thus created in the office of the vice-president was filled by the election of W. H. Lumpkin.
The Roller-Smith Company makes a specialty of intricate engineering problems connected with the control or measurements of electricity. It is a New York corporation which was established in New Hampshire in 1909, and on its consolidation with the Switch Board Equipment Company of Bethlehem and the Whitney Electrical Equipment Company of Penacook, New Hampshire, the works were removed to Bethlehem. The company also acquired the good will and the patents of the Columbia Meter Company of Indianapolis, Indiana. The company manufactures electrical measuring in- struments which include voltmeters, ammeters and watt meters, resistance measuring apparatus, circuit breakers and special switchboard protective apparatus of all kinds. They also manufacture the Columbia integrating watt meters for both switchboard and commercial use, also steam specialties. From three hundred to five hundred hands are employed. The chief executive officer of the company is F. W. Roller, of East Orange, New Jersey.
Among the industries worthy of more than passing notice is that of Kurtz Brothers, established April 10, 1894, by Charles F. and John Kurtz. A spe- cialty is made of interior construction and equipment for offices, banks and stores ; bar fixtures on an extensive scale are also produced. The output is manufactured from rare foreign and domestic woods, and finds a ready sale in this as well as foreign countries. During the late World War the plant was engaged in United States Army work. The yearly production is about $250,000.
There are several manufactories of hosiery, underwear and knit goods located at Bethlehem. The Philadelphia Hosiery Company was incorporated in June, 1904, with a capital stock of $10,000, which in 1908 was increased to $50,000. The building they occupy on Scott and West streets was origi- nally built by A. M. Graham for the manufacture of chenille curtains, which was not a success, and was purchased and enlarged in. 1910 by the Phila- delphia Hosiery Company. At the Bethlehem Mills, misses' and children's hosiery are manufactured. At a branch in Allentown, established in 1915, ladies' woolen dress goods are produced. The yearly production at the Bethlehem Mill is $100,000, at the Allentown Mill $200,000, and exportations have been made to China, Russia, Italy, Greece and the various republics of South America. The present officers are: Charles F. Hendricks, president; Samuel Graham, vice-president and trade manager ; A. B. Harbison, treasurer and manager.
The South Bethlehem Knitting Mills was formerly the Excelsior Knit- ting Mills, owned by George D. Dobbins, and on his failure, seven of the creditors organized a new company, which was chartered October 23, 191I. Misses' ribbed hosiery is manufactured, the mills having a yearly capacity of 264,000 dozen pairs. The present officers are: William B. Meyers, presi-
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dent; Henry K. Thompson, vice-president; Osman F. Reinhard, secretary and treasurer. The Central Knitting Company manufactures a line of under- wear, while the Halycon Knitting Company are engaged in producing hosiery.
The manufacture of cigars is represented in Bethlehem by Bondy & Lederer, who also operate a plant in the borough of Northampton, and employment is given to over one thousand hands in the two factories. Bayuk Brothers, at their South Bethlehem branch, manufacture 20,000,000 cigars yearly, with an average of three hundred and seventy-five employes on the payroll. The present company was incorporated July 22, 1912, with an authorized capital stock of $2,000,000. The present executive officers are: Samuel Bayuk, president; Meyer Bayuk, treasurer; Harvey Hust, secretary.
The diversified industries of Northampton county are largely centered in Easton and Bethlehem, but scattered in different locations are manufac -- turers who added materially to the growth, progress and wealth of the county. In the latter half of the past century the building of railroad cars was an important industry. The Bath Car Company was organized July 9, 1870, by William Evans, Samuel Straub, John Morey, Samuel C. Shimer and Charles Brodhead. The Lehigh Car Manufacturing Company was incor- porated in 1871 for the purpose of taking over the business that had been founded by G. H. Stem in Allen township, at a place which had become known as Stemton. A reorganization of the company took place in 1887, when the Lehigh Car Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $125,000. The Empire Agricultural Company, located at Hellertown, was in 1889 a growing industry, their output principally being exported to foreign countries. The Messenger Manufacturing Company at Tatamy was founded in 1857, and was incorporated under its present title in February, 1912, with a capital stock of $100,000. The officers at the time of organization were: G. Frank Messenger, president; J. A. Happel, vice-president; G. S. Messenger, secretary and treasurer. The present officers are the same, except that Karl L. Mehler succeeded J. A. Happel as vice-president, the latter now being secretary. The yearly output of the company is from $180,000 to $200,000, and is principally exported to the various countries of Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. The number of employes engaged in this industry is from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five.
Amongst those who have been largely instrumental in promoting the milling industries of Northampton county is the Mauser Mill Company, situ- ated at Treichlers. Founded in 1878, it was incorporated in 1902 with a capi- tal stock of $200,000. The officers chosen at the time of organization were: J. B. Mauser, president ; J. M. Mauser, vice-president; G. B. Mauser, secre- tary and treasurer. The present officers are: J. M. Mauser, president ; H. J. Lerch, vice-president ; George B. Mauser, secretary and treasurer. A yearly product of $2,500,000 of wheat and rye flour is manufactured, giving employ- ment to sixty men. A branch is maintained at Laury's Station, Lehigh county, three miles from the borough of Northampton. The Flory Milling Company of Bangor was established in 1853, and incorporated under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, May II, 1911, with a capital stock of $85,000. The present officers were chosen at the time of organization : Milton Flory, president; Thomas Snyder, vice-president ; Harry E. Flory,
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secretary and treasurer. The company manufactures wheat, rye and corn flour, also are jobbers of all kinds of feed, having an annual sale of $1,000,000, furnishing employment to forty males. The company has a branch at Naza- reth. At Walters, a small hamlet two and a half miles from Easton, a station of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, is located the Bushkill Milling Company, and Charles W. Walter, a custom miller.
At Bangor there is the Bangor Casket Manufacturing Company, incor- porated February 17, 1911, with a capital stock of $50,000, increased in 1914 to $75,000. The officers elected at the time of organization were: Robert H. Steinmetz, president ; E. K. Eisenhart, treasurer; J. Kichline, secretary. Mr. Eisenhart has been succeeded by B. F. Miller as treasurer, who is also general manager. The output of the company in 1918 was five thousand hardwood burial cases, and they carried on their payroll thirty-five employes. The S. Flory Manufacturing Company of Bangor employs about two hundred and fifty skilled laborers in the manufacture of engines.
At Pen Argyl is the factory of the William Krell Shoe Company, giving employment to about sixty men and women. The manufacture of shirts in the county has been an industry of long standing. The Blue Mountain Shirt Company at one time employed two hundred and fifty hands at their plants in Bangor and West Bangor. The Bath Industrial Company, incorpo- rated under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania in December, 1898, oper- ated for several years a factory at Bath for the manufacturing of shirts and textile goods. The Kneadler Brothers are engaged in this industry at Pen Argyl, and furnish employment to seventy-one employes, mostly women. A novel industry of Pen Argyl was incorporated January 10, 1907, under the title of the Pen Argyl Clock Case Company, with a capital stock of $10,000. The present officers elected at the time of organization are: Walter Ede, president ; J. Lundy, vice-president and superintendent; E. A. Sheer, treas- urer; S. Reeser, secretary. The production is limited to clock cases and high grade cabinet work, employment being given to fifteen skilled mechanics. The East Bangor Manufacturing Company is engaged in the manufacturing of harness and trace snaps and clips, also wood and steel tackle blocks. The company was incorporated December 29, 1892, with a capital stock of $10,000. The first executive officers were: George F. Shook, president; J. A. Long, vice-president ; D. F. Long, treasurer ; W. H. Shook, secretary. The amount of the yearly production is $40,000, employment being given to about twenty hands. The present officers of the company are: E. C. Miller, president ; George A. Manley, vice-president ; J. E. Rasely, treasurer ; W. H. Shook, secretary.
Prominent among the hosiery and knit goods industries of the county is the hosiery plant of Roseman & Loeb, of New York City, at Hellertown. The Bath Knitting Company of Bath, which was established in 1887 under the firm name of Odenwelder, Mauser & Company, employs about forty hands. The Kraemer Hosiery Company of Nazareth gives employment to about three hundred and fifty hands, mostly females, in the manufacture of seamless hosiery. The Nazareth Knitting Mills Company employs about thirty hands. There is also located at Nazareth an industry for the manu- facture of children's knit waists and union suits. It was incorporated July,
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1886, with a capital stock of $200,000, under the title of the Nazareth Waist Company. The waist was the original knit taped waist and is known all over the United States as the standard garment. The production is not only sold in this country, but exported to Canada and South America, the yearly output being about 300,000 dozen waists and union suits. Employ- ment is given to about two hundred and fifty to three hundred males and females. The present officers of the company are: P. L. Trumbower, presi- dent; O. D. Schaeffer, treasurer. Among the other important industries of the borough of Nazareth are G. A. Schneebeli & Company, who give employ- ment to several hundred male and female wage-earners in the manufacture of laces and trimmings. The Nazareth Brick Company employs forty-five hands, and the Nazareth Paper Box Company is a live concern, giving employment to about thirty female workers.
CHAPTER XXX FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
The origin of banks is not accurately known, but they are undoubtedly of great antiquity. As early as 2697 B. C., ancient history states that there were banks in China, and they were known to exist in Greece and Rome and many cities long before the Christian era. A bank was established in London, England, by the Lombard Jews in 808. The first Bank of England was established in 1694 and the first United States Bank in 1791. As early as 1800 a branch of this bank was established in Easton. It was located on the southeast corner of the square and Third street. The first cashier was Mordica Churchman, a Quaker from Philadelphia. Mr. Churchman was succeeded in 1827 as cashier by Philip Mattes. This branch was successfully conducted, and its business extended over a large area until 1845, when the books were removed to Philadelphia.
The War of 1812 taxed the energies and crippled the prosperity of the country. This was seriously felt in Pennsylvania. The bank in Easton was one of discount and deposit only and could not issue its own paper, therefore did not supply the public demand. The State legislature in 1814 divided the State into twenty-seven districts, in each of which there might be one or three banks, as necessity might demand. Northampton county and a part of Wayne county constituted one district, in which a bank was to be estab- lished in Easton and called the Easton Bank. There was also to be an office of discount and deposit in Milford, Lehigh county, under the control of the Easton Bank. Commissioners were duly appointed and commenced proceed- ings to organize the bank. The Easton Bank was to have eight thousand shares as capital, of a par value of fifty dollars each; the Milford branch was to have six hundred shares. At the time of its foundation it was the only bank between Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre.
At the meeting of the first board of directors, Samuel Sitgreaves was elected president. Mr. Sitgreaves had been in public life for many years, had been a leading member of Congress, and a special minister to the Court of St. James. His name was a tower of strength to the bank, which gained a high standing in public esteem. Mr. Sitgreaves died April 24, 1827, and was succeeded by Colonel Thomas McKeen, who had been cashier since organization of the bank. Colonel McKeen was one of the most prominent citizens of Easton, of Scotch blood, born in the North of Ireland, June 27, 1763, coming to this country when a youth. He remained in the position of president until 1851, when he declined a re-election at the age of eighty- eight years. He was succeeded by David D. Wagener as president, May 4, 1852, who retained the position until his death, October 1, 1860. On the passage of the National Bank Law, the bank was changed from the State to National system, and the name became the Easton National Bank. The next president was John Davis, who performed the duties of the position until his death in 1873. His successor was William Hackett. The capital stock
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of the bank in 1873 was increased from $400,000 to $500,000. The available assets of the bank July 1, 1878, were $509,956.44. The successor of Mr. Hackett as president is the present executive officer, James V. Bull.
The Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Easton was incorporated August 12, 1851, with a capital of $400,000. Peter S. Michler was elected president, and McEvers Forman, cashier. After a service of ten years Mr. Michler resigned and John Stewart was elected his successor. At a meeting of the board of directors, August 19, 1865, it was resolved to apply to the Comp- troller of Currency for the conversion of the bank into a national banking association to be known as the First National Bank of Easton. The applica- tion was granted, and Mr. Stewart remained president until December 29, 1875, when he resigned. The position was filled by the election of McEvers Forman, who had been cashier since its organization. President Forman died January II, 1885, and Edward F. Stewart became his successor. The next president was John F. Gwinner. His emigrant ancestor was Frederick Gwinner, who came to America in 1758. The new president was an only son of Francis Aaron Gwinner. He was born in Easton, April 9, 1833. After completing his education he taught school and became a messenger for the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank. On the merging of that institution into the First National Bank he became connected with its clerical force, in 1885 was chosen cashier, and in 1890 became president. This position he held at the time of his death, September 6, 1916. The capital stock of the bank is $400,- 000, and the building it now occupies was constructed in 1902. The present officers are: Charles Snyder, president ; William J. Daub, vice-president ; and Frank W. Simpson, cashier.
The legislature was petitioned in 1870 by M. H. Jones, F. W. Noble, John Tisdale and others for the establishment of a bank at Easton, chartered under the State laws, to be known as the Merchants' Bank of Easton. The charter allowed a capital of $400,000, divided into 16,000 shares of $25 each. It was a notable fact that the $120,000 of stock offered at the first sale was oversubscribed for in less than half an hour of the commencement of the sale. The first officers of the bank were: John Knecht, president; H. A. Shouse, cashier. The charter was liberal in its franchise, giving the bank every facility for doing a large business ; the stockholders, however, were personally liable for double the amount of their stock. The business at first was prosper- ous, a regular ten per cent. dividend being realized by the stockholders. The success continued for several years, but in 1879 the stock sold at public auction from twelve to forty-five cents a share. At a meeting of the stock- holders, April 18, 1879, they were informed that the entire capital stock had been lost, and in 1881 the bank went out of existence.
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