344 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
CHAPTER IX.*
CITY OF AKRON—ITS MANUFACTORIES—THEIR RISE AND PROGRESS—THE REAPER WORKS—SEWER PIPE AND POTTERIES—MILLS. OATMEAL. ETC.—OTHER INDUSTRIES.
"The bellows-puff, the hammer-beat, the whistle and the song,
Told, steadfastly and merrily, toil rolled the hours along."—Street.
THE first steps taken to inaugurate manufacturing within what are now the corporate limits of the city of Akron were by Joseph Hart in 1807. This movement was commenced in what is now the Sixth Ward, Middlebury. Mr. Hart began, during that year, the erection of a " grist-mill." He soon sold one-half the land he had purchased to Aaron Norton, and the two completed the structure in partnership, finishing their work in 1809. For many years this mill did the work of the surrounding country in the way of grinding—as did " Bagley's Factory " the cloth-dressing and carding. The projecting of the Ohio Canal gave an impetus to the manufacturing interests of Middlebury—mills, factories and mechanical shops springing into existence ; but Akron, on the canal, when once under way, brought a sad discomfiture to the village eastward. In 1831, Dr. Eliakim Crosby conceived the project of bringing the Little Cuyahoga from Middlebury round to Akron, thus creating a fine water-power. No sooner was the project conceived than it was undertaken ; the " Cascade millrace " was dug and the Stone Mill put in operation. Thus was started on its astonishing career of prosperity the manufacturing interests of Akron proper. Middlebury languished for awhile ; its factories closed, and the " grinding ceased." However, in the course of time, mechanical establishments began to increase and its water-power was improved. In the end, the pottery business gave it a permanence, so that now the Sixth Ward is emphatically a manufacturing ward of the city.
Among the prominent industries of Middlebury, nearly thirty years ago, was the carriage manufactory of C. A. Collins, which then turned off goods to the amount of $20,000 annually. Their carriages were of " the highest
*Contributed by C. W. Butterfield.
finish and style, and in great demand in the Southern and Southwestern States." Irish. McMillan & Co. had an extensive machine shop, " where all kinds of machinery were manufactured." Their building was three stories high, and about three hundred feet long by forty wide. This firm averaged, in manufactured articles, about $14,000 a year. Their fire-engines were superior to those made in Eastern establishments.
" The pottery business," says a writer of that period, in speaking of the manufactories of Middlebury, " is carried on extensively. There , are three devoted to the making of ordinary stoneware, one to the manufacture of stone pipes and pumps, and one to Liverpool ware. The clay is procured from Springfield, and the ware is of the best quality. The pipe for pumps or water drains, is made in joints of , twenty inches, and by shoulders and cement are put together so as to present an entirely smooth inner surface. They are glazed inside and out, to prevent decay of the pipe and an unpleasant taste to the water. They are destined to supersede all metallic pipes.
" The potteries," continues the writer, " furnish 80,000 gallons of the manufactured articles annually, which average five cents a gallon. There is also a cabinet-shop in this town (Middlebury), which turns off an immense number of articles in its line. Every operation, from jacking an oak board to vaneering the choicest mahogany, is done by machinery. Rawson, Goodale & Co. have a woolen factory which employs a large number of hands and turns off a considerable amount of broadcloths, satinets and flannels. These goods are taken to the New York market, the Ohio mark taker off, and then, by the merchants; returned to Ohio and sold as European manufacture. The deception is a harmless one, as their goods are decidedly preferable to those imported. There is also a comb and button factory in Middlebury. one of fanning-mills, and several for making Lucifer matches." Such was the state of
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manufacturing industries in what is now the Sixth Ward of Akron, something more than a quarter of a century ago.
From 1831, when the first mill was built in the village of Akron, to 1854—a period of twenty-three years—the manufactures of the place had largely increased both in number and importance; but the great want was a speedy transportation. Says the writer already quoted:
When our immense beds of stone-coal, iron and pottery shall have an opening to market ; when our flour, by a speedy transportation, can come in competition with the New York and Eastern production; and when the milk from our dairies can be sent almost warm to the New York market, then Akron will indeed be not only the child of promise but of fulfillment."
In 1857. there were in Akron two woolen-factories, five flouring-mills, a steam engine factory: a blast-furnace, a mineral paint mill, a card-factory, and an extensive stove-factory, besides a number of smaller works. The next seventeen years showed a large increase ; for, in 1874, there were in the whole city, two woolen-mills, two paper-mills, seven flouring-mills, four foundries, one rolling-mill, one blast-furnace, one forge, three planing mills, two manufactories of reapers and mowers, one of pearl barley, one of oat-meal, one of knives and sickles. one of rubber goods, one of chains, one of matches, and three machine shops. There were, also, one manufactory of boilers, two of plows, one of woolen goods, one of horse hay-rakes, one of stoves, one of iron fences, ten of stoneware, and one of blank books.
There is now, probably, no city in the United States of the same population, presenting such a diversity of manufactures as Akron. The receiving and shipping facilities enjoyed by the manufacturers of the city may be regarded as one of the important factors in their progress and prosperity. The magnificent water-power is another noteworthy advantage ; and the abundant supply of cheap fuel from the neigh-boring coal-banks is still another. The market is stocked, at all seasons, with cheap farm produce ; house rents are reasonable ; in fact, all the expenses of living are very moderate. The city has already three railways. This gives competing lines East and West, and insures the lowest rates for fare and freights.
In no department of the mechanic arts, it is safe to say, has more marked progress and improvement been made within the last quarter of a century than in that of labor-saving farm machinery. The problem of how to construct the most economical and effective mechanism for the consummation of a given purpose in the arena of agricultural enterprise, has for a series of years been made the patient and unremitting study of some of the most talented of American inventors. While admiring a beautiful and perfect piece of machinery, the creation of some master mind, how little conception has the beholder of the many months and even years of studious application, of persistent experimenting, of scientific induction, that were involved in the successful development of it. This is known only to the inventor himself, and it is in entire accord with the doctrine of compensation that he should reap the legitimate reward for his incessant toil and preeminent skill. That this reward, in its fullest measure, is due to Lewis Miller, of Akron, inventor of the Buckeye Mower and Reaper, will be conceded by every one acquainted with his inventions. The fact that the machine is today, in its essential principles and mechanical construction, the same as when originally brought out —in 1855—is assuredly an emphatic tribute to . Mr. Miller's genius. Of course, minor improvements have from year to year been made upon it—here a little and there a little—but its main features remain the same.
These machines were first manufactured in Canton. Ohio, by the firm of C. Aultman & Co. In 1863, the works in Akron were started as a branch of the Canton house. There is now another branch, located in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Taken together they rank among the largest works of the kind in the world. They are making at Akron sixty-five machines a day, and have shipped an average of three car loads a day since the middle of December, 1880. From this writing (March, 1881) until July following, the average will be about eight car loads a day. The works comprise in Akron a main building, 450x50 feet, with four floors ; a warehouse, 50x200 feet, having also four floors ; a molding shop, equivalent to 150x70 feet, one floor ; engine and boiler-rooms, 50x40 feet, two floors ; a blacksmith-shop, 30x200 feet, one floor ; an old wood-room, 50x100 feet, having three floors ; a new building, 265x60 feet, with four floors ; a new engine-room, 20x30 feet, one floor ; a repair room, 30x50 feet, two floors ; an
346 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
iron warehouse, 35x116 feet, and an office building, 40x80 feet, with three floors ; the total area of the buildings being 243.900 feet, or upward of five and two-thirds acres. These buildings are thoroughly equipped with very complete machinery, especially adapted to this kind of business, and operated by steam-power supplied from engines of colossal proportions. The machines are sold all over the United States ; but, the principal demand is from the wheat-growing districts west of the Mississippi. At the works in Akron are now manufactured the Buckeye Mower ; the Buckeye Single Reaper ; the Buckeye Combined Mower and Dropper, rear deliver` ; the Buckeye Combined Mower and Table Rake, side delivery ; the Buckeye Harvester, for hand binding; the Buckeye Twine Self-Binder. and the Buckeye Wire Self-Binder.
The firm of Aultman. Miller & Co. was organized in 1865. with a capital of $300.000. since increased to $1.000.000. for the exclusive purpose of manufacturing these machines. The headquarters and main works of the company are located at Akron.
But the "Buckeye" is not the only mower and reaper manufactured in Akron. The Empire," made by J. F. Seiberling, at his works in the city. belongs to the lighter class of machines, and is now sold in every State and Territory in the Union. In its construction numerous improvements have been made since its first introduction into the market. It has been thoroughly tested in all kinds of grass and grain, and on all conditions of ground. with gratifying results. For compactness, simplicity, lightness of draft, ease of management and beauty of finish. it ranks deservedly high. The Empire Mower and Reaper Works were established in Akron by Mr. Seiberling in 1875. Their capacity is now 7,000 machines a year. The Empire works turn out a mower which is a two-wheeled, front-cut machine ; to this can be added, at any time, a reaping attachment. This consists of a separate finger-bar, with either the dropper or Empire side-delivery table-rake, or sweep rake. Mr. Seiberling also manufactures the Empire Harvester and Binder, which is a new member in his family of machines. The buildings of Mr. Seiberling are those of the old Excelsior Mower and Reaper Works, located immediately east of the depot of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad, on Forge and Lincoln streets. They consist of a foundry, 110x95 feet ; a main building, 45x180 feet ; a warehouse, 45x90 feet. and a blacksmith-shop, 35x40 feet. The steam engine which supplies the motive power of the works is of eighty-horse-power.
That such a prosaic subject as the manufacture of shirts should have been made so highly poetical, under the magic touch of an English poet, as to immortalize his name. is strange in-deed : but such is the fact, for
“With fingers weary and worn,
With eyelids heavy and red.
A woman sat in unwomanly rags.
Plying her needle and thread:
Stitch : stitch : stitch
In poverty. hunger and dirt.
And still with a voice of dolorous pitch.
She sang the 'Song of the Shirt.' "
That is to say. it was wonderfully sung by Thomas Hood. as every one knows. But mention of the two factories in Akron will not be made in verse : nor will the way their owners do business be chronicled in harmonious nunbers. The office and factory of George W Wright & Co. are located at No. 112 South Howard street. on the third floor. These gentlemen do excellent work. and are the sole manufacturers of the patent diamond neckband. which is used in all their shirts. The other factory is upon the same street. at No. 167. and is owned by Sperling & Roberts. They make first-class goods of four grades.
The manufactory of Frank D. Howard. who makes plows. cultivators. field-rollers. road scrapers farm bells and other articles. is on the corner of High and Mill streets. This manufactory was first started in 1869. by A. Rice & Co.. and continued under that name until 1872. when the firm changed to Benjamin & Howard. and. in 1877, the present proprietor became sole owner. The premises occupied by the business covers a space of 120 feet on Mill street and 115 feet on High street. The building consists of a two-story brick with basement. 35x70 feet, used as a factory, sample and sales-room and office ; a foundry. 40x50 feet ; a blacksmith-shop, 20x30 feet ; and an engine-room, 15x20 feet, with sheds and warehouse for storage of material and stock. A forty-horsepower steam engine is used in driving the machinery. Mr. Howard makes superior chilled iron and steel plows, in which he has a large trade. In the foundry department, car wheels
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for coal cars are the chief product. The trade of this house extends throughout Central, Northern and Eastern Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, and the Eastern and Western States.
In the Scriptures, carriages or chariots are frequently alluded to. Upon the flight of the the Israelites out of Egypt, they were pursued by Pharaoh with six hundred chariots, all of which were swallowed up by the Red Sea. Chariots and carriages were used mostly by kings and grandees on state occasions. The Greeks and Romans had chariots, but, strange to relate, it was so late as the sixteenth century (1550) that carriages were introduced into France ; and at that date only three were known in Paris. then quite a large city. Since taste enters so largely into the construction of modern vehicles, and their price brings them to the doors of many, the manufacturing of them has become general. There are in Akron four carriage manufactures, where goods of that kind can he obtained second to none in the country.
C. A. Collins & Son have the oldest establishment for manufacturing carriages in Northern Ohio. It was commenced in 1837, by C. A. Collins. All styles of open and top buggies. fancy carriages, spring wagons and sleighs are made by this firm. Their works are located on the corner of Main and Church streets ; their repository is on the "old gas works " property. An addition 30x50 feet. three stories high, has recently been made to their buildings.
Another manufactory of carriages in Akron is that of John Heppert. at the corner of Market and College streets. Mr. Heppert commenced in this line in 1858. in the Sixth Ward, then Middlebury. He now occupies as office, salesroom and repository two floors of the spacious building, 50x30 feet in size, at the corner of the streets just mentioned. He turns out some of as flue carriages. road wagons, buggies, express wagons and other vehicles as are to be found in this section of country.
A third manufactory of carriages is that of Charles Vogt, who commenced business in that line in 1876, at the corner of Main and Middlebury streets. Mr. Vogt has good manufacturing advantages and a prosperous trade. The old wood department and paint-shop measure 35x 70 feet, and the smith-shop 30x45 feet. These are now store buildings. His new and commodious brick structure is used as an office and wareroom on the first floor. The second flooris occupied as a paint room and repository. This building is on the northwest corner of the streets before mentioned, while the old buildings are on the southwest corner. His new frame building in the rear of the brick is used as a blacksmith-shop.
In addition to the manufactories of carriages before described, there is one belonging to Harpham Brothers, in the Sixth Ward, at 102 High street; but this firm is employed more especially in the making of wagons. They do a large and thriving business and their work is first-class.
The large establishment of the Whitman Barnes Manufacturing Company makes nothing but articles appertaining to agricultural implements. This company is the outgrowth of two others : the Whitman & Miles Manufacturing Company of Akron, and George Barnes & Co.. of Syracuse, N. Y.. and was formerly conducted as a branch of a Massachusetts house. founded a number of years ago. The capital stock of the Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Company is 8500,000. The works at Akron are very extensive. and consist of a number of buildings erected and fitted up expressly for the rapid and perfect prosecution of this particular branch of industry. They make mower knives, reaper sickles. sections. spring keys. guard plates and other articles of this nature. The demand for their goods extends from the rugged and rocky hillsides of New England. across the fertile prairie lands of the Mississippi Valley to the sunny slopes of the Pacific coast. They export large quantities to England, France and Germany. The annual business of the Akron branch of this corporation is fully $500,000. Two immense engines of 150-horsepower each are used at these works. The company has a smaller branch house at Canton.
The tobacco trade is one of the most extensive in the United States. whether we regard the extent of the capital invested, or the number of hands to whom it gives steady employment. The use of" the weed" is very general. notwithstanding the theories put forth by certain medical writers concerning its had effects upon the system, and the practice of smoking is on the increase, while chewing is perhaps scarcely holding its own, and snuff-taking is a thing of the past. Cigar manufactories are multiplying all over the country. There are no less than ten in Akron : Freudeman Broth-
348 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
ers, 165 South Howard street ; M. H. Hart, 125 1/2 same street ; Holstein & Golberger. same street (No. 155) ; Louis Walde, near the fair ground ; John Lotze, 707 South Main street ; Benjamin McNaughton, 916 East Market street ; J. Mengendsorf, 125 South High street ; H. F. Shrank, 258 West Market street ; Peter Langendorf & Brother, 927 South Howard street, and John F. Weber, 164 same street.
There are two tanneries in Akron. The Akron Tannery is the property of James Christy & Sons, and is located on Howard and Main streets. The business was founded here in 1842, by the present senior member of the firm. and, from a comparatively small beginning, has steadily increased to its present extent and magnitude. The firm now occupies as office, storeroom and finishing department, four floors of the spacious new brick structure. 38x60 feet. at the intersection of Howard and Main streets. with a two-story building, 40x100 feet, the first floor of which is used for the storage of bark, and the second as a dry-room for hanging hides, and a two-story tannery building, 80x80 feet. They have all the latest improved machinery in the various departments of their extensive establishment. and manufacture every description of leather of superior grades, and the most excellent qualities, making a leading specialty of fine harness leather, which latter product has attained a national reputation for its uniform excellence and reliability.
John H. Christy is the owner of the other establishment. He is the successor of J. H. Christy & Co., who started the business in Akron in 1849. At that time, the firm purchased the tannery at the corner of Howard and North streets, which had been erected ten years before by Christy & Sawyer. The business continued under the firm name of J. H. Christy & Co. until April, 1849, when, by purchase of the company's interest, John H. Christy became sole owner. The building, occupied for storing and displaying goods, and as an office and salesroom, is a three-story brick, at 109 Market street. In rear of this is a brick warehouse, three stories high, 25x40 feet, with slate roof. Upon the site of the old tannery, an elegant one of brick, three stories high, 100x100 feet, is erected. The leather manufactured is harness, upper and calf. The trade of the house extends throughout all parts of the United States.
Beds have come down to us from the ages primeval." An easy couch for the weary or sick—what is more comfortable ?
" When thoughts
Of the last bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, and sad images
Of the stern agony, and shroud and pall,
And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,
Make thee to shudder and grow sick at heart;"
When disease has laid us upon a sick bed, and our bodies racked with pain, what greater boon than an improved spring bed-bottom for our couch on which to lie? F. F. Hale manufactures Champion spiral spring bed-bottoms at 206 Mill street. He began business in April, 1880. H. Limbert also makes goods of this description on Summit street. He manufactures. in addition, patent swings.
The Akron Steam Forge Company was originally a partnership concern, established in 1865, but, in 1879, it became an incorporated company under the above title. with a capital of 860,000. The area of ground owned by the corporation is ten acres, and the works occupy a space of 60x265 feet. These buildings have a fine appointment of mechanical appliances adapted for the special work performed here. In the axle-shop are four steam hammers—one 4.000-pound upright. taking steam both ways; two halves, each with hammer-head weighing 2.000 pounds, and one with head of 1,500 pounds ; five heating furnaces, and every requisite modern convenience commended by thorough experience.
The product of this company comprises car, driving and locomotive axles, shafting, eleven sizes of eye-bars for bridges, and every description of wrought shape work. In all departments are employed long-experienced and well-skilled artisans, none but the best selected materials, and absolute perfection is aimed at and attained in all their manufactures. Hence, wherever these uniformly fine goods have been introduced and used, their quality, strength, finish and durability are acknowledged to be unsurpassed by the output of any other like establishment in the Union. In their line of manufacture, the character of the stock employed is an all-important consideration, and therefore they use nothing but carefully selected wrought scrap, of tough and fibrous texture. insuring the most satisfactory results.
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The company are doing a very prosperous business, and their product is in active demand by railway and other corporations, keeping the works constantly busy. They now give employment to some fifty hands, while their pay-roll foots up to $2.000 per month. The present output is at the rate of about $300,000 per year.
The shipping facilities of this company are all that need be desired. The Valley Railway runs through their premises, and they have switches connecting with the A. & G. W. and C., Mt. V. & C. roads, whereby they are enabled to ship their products to all parts of the country at competing rates. The office and works are east of the Fountain Driving Park.
One of the large industries of Akron is the manufacture of oatmeal. An analysis made by the eminent chemists Liebig and Hassal, shows that while wheat and barley contain 14 per cent of the nutritious elements—the life and muscle-giving qualities—and corn but 12 per cent and a fraction, oats contain nearly 20 per cent. The phosphorescent qualities of the latter act as a gentle and healthy stimulant to the brain ; and on no food can one endure so great or so prolonged mental labor as on oatmeal porridge. To a very great number of people the value of oatmeal is little known. although the prejudice against it is fast giving place to a more just opinion, especially among the educated classes who are capable of appreciating the value of the favorable verdict of chemists and physiologists. There is more oatmeal now consumed in the United States than in Scotland. As it contains in an unusually large degree all the essentials which go to produce health, hardiness and long life, by all means give us more porridge and less pastry. From a highly instructive paper on oatmeal. by Dr. H. A. Mott, an eminent analytical and consulting chemist, of New York, we learn that of all cereal meals, oatmeal is far superior for the following reasons : Because it contains more fattening matter than any other cereal grain ; it contains a large amount of nitrogenous matter (gluten); it contains so much nutriment in small bulk ; it can be eaten for long periods with beneficial results; it keeps unchanged for a long time. In oatmeal the nitrogenous and carbonaceous elements exist in such proportions as to admit of it being eaten alone as a sustaining diet; hence it is atypical food. The proper preparation and use of oatmeal for the table to make it palatable, is, as yet, not well understood by a large portion of American cooks. They cannot prepare it properly. To do so, requires a double kettle for boiling in water and steam—iron outside, and tin about an inch smaller inside. In this way the meal cannot be scorched.
The oatmeal mills of Akron may properly be said to have given the city a goodly share of its wide celebrity as a manufacturing center. The man as yet best known in this connection is Ferdinand Schumacher. Before he inaugurated the production in this country of this wholesome article of diet, it was generally believed that such a commodity as good oatmeal could not be. made in America, simply because it then was not. But Mr. Schumacher entertained a different opinion in the premises. and, having had some experience in his native country (Germany) in this line, he came to the conclusion that the experiment looking to the production of superior oatmeal here should be persistently attempted. The signal success he has met with in his efforts in this direction shows that he was perfectly right in his judgment. When he began, all the oatmeal consumed in this country was imported from Canada and Europe; but his excellent product at length led the market, and at present the importations of this valuable hygienic food are comparatively trifling in amount.
Near the depot of the New York. Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad are located Mr. Schumacher's German Mills, devoted exclusively to the manufacture of this article of food. His are among the largest and best-equipped mills in the country. They are seven stories high. and cover an area of 60x90 feet. They are fully furnished, from foundation to the top floor with the latest improved machinery and manufacturing apparatus. The engine. 20x42. is of 125-horse-power, built by the Putnam Machine Company, of Fitchburg, Mass., as were also all the other engines in this establishment.
The German Mills have two basement stories, each thirteen feet high, containing sixteen oat driers, with a capacity of 3,000 bushels per day. The oats are kept constantly stirred and turned by machinery, so as to secure perfect uniformity in drying. Though the fuel used is coal, the arrangement of the driers is such that
350 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
no smoke or smut can come in contact with the grain.
In these mills are eleven hulling stones and buhrs for grinding feed, which are all run from a line shaft by quarter-twist belts. When perfectly hulled and cleaned, the berry of the oats are cut by ingenious machinery patented by Mr. Schumacher, consisting of a series of knives operating in connection with vibrating perforated plates, for the purpose of cutting the meal, instead of bruising and crushing the berry as in the old process, whereby a large proportion of the starch was unavoidably converted into a comparatively worthless meal or dour. The packing and warerooms are very commodious, light and airy, and kept scrupulously clean. The oatmeal is conveyed from the mill into this department by machinery, for the purpose of being packed and shipped fresh every day. A fair proportion of the meal is put up in fourteen-pound airtight tin packages, in which it may be kept perfectly sweet for years. The "German Mills American Oatmeal " brand is largely shipped to every State in the Union, and its quality and flavor are pronounced unsurpassed on every hand.
Carter & Steward also manufacture oatmeal in Akron, at 111 South Main street. The buildings occupied by this enterprising firm were erected more than a quarter of a century ago and used as flouring-mills until 1873. when they passed into the hands of the present proprietors, and extensive alterations and improvements were made. and since that time they have been used exclusively for the manufacture of oatmeal. The main building is 33x95 feet in size, and the engine house and kiln, or department for drying oats, is 15x95 feet. The mill is supplied with complete machinery, especially adapted to the uses for which it is employed, and all the appointments of these works are of the best and latest improved designs. The products of these mills are sold in all portions 1 of the United States, from Portland, Me., to San Francisco, Cal., in New Orleans and throughout the entire South. An idea of the capacity of the works and the extent of the business transacted by this house may be gathered from the fact that their annual sales in this one item alone exceeds $100,000.
Besides the two mills already spoken of, there are those in Akron of Hower & Co., successors to Turner & Co., which make oatmeal, on thecorner of Canal and Cherry streets. Turner & Co. started in 1877, and were succeeded by Hower & Co. In December, 1880. Their mills are now known as the Akron Oatmeal Mills. Their capacity is sixty-five barrels a day. The trade of the firm extends from Michigan to Maine.
The latest addition to these mills is the manufacture of rolled avena (rolled oats), which is oatmeal as originally made, and claimed to be superior in flavor and much more easily cooked than the granulated meal.
There are in Akron four extensive planing-mills. The Weary, Snyder, Wilcox MIanufacturing Company have their buildings on Main street. This company was founded in 1864, by Weary, Snyder & Co. It became a joint-stock company in 1877, with an authorized capital of S150.000. This company handles about 3.000.000 feet of lumber annually. Their yards and mills occupy about four acres of ground opposite the Empire House. The factory building is three stories in height. and 80x120 feet in size. This is equipped with a variety of machinery especially adapted for this particular branch of industry, among which is a gang of saws twenty-eight in number. planing machines, ten single saws, numerous scroll saws, a dove-tailing machine of their own invention. used especially in the manufacture of boxes for the establishment of F. Schumacher for the packing of oatmeal, pearl barley and cracked wheat; door, sash and blind machinery, etc., operated by a forty-horse power engine. In this establishment is manufactured doors, window sash, blinds, door and window frames, casings and brackets.
In 1852, J. H. Dix & Co. started a planing-mill at the AEtna Mills—the first in Akron. They moved in 1855 to south Howard street near the gas works, where the business is still carried on—but by other parties. They continued the work for three years, when they sold their mill to J. Rockwell & Co. The last-mentioned firm conducted the business about three years, when their interest was disposed of to W. L. Evert & Co., who continued the work for a time when the property was sold to W. B. Doyle & Co., the present owners. This firm manufacture doors, sash and blinds and other articles appertaining to house-building. They also have a lumber-yard connected with their mill. They carry on an extensive business.
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Plaster, as a fertilizer, is also manufactured by them.
Another planing-mill is that of Simon Hankey. This was started at his present location, 1136 South Main street, in July, 1872, where he occupies three acres of ground. By reason of his straightforward course, characteristic push and integrity in all his dealings, he has succeeded in establishing a prosperous and constantly amplifying trade. His fine planing-mill measures 60x122 feet, part of which is of two stories. He has the latest improved machinery for general planing and the manufacture of sash. doors, blinds and moldings. His trade is chiefly that of the city and county.
The planing-mill of D. W. Thomas, at 244 West Market street. is an extensive one. It was first started as a furniture factory by George Thomas, father of the present owner. After going through several hands and being changed to a planing-mill, the ownership finally passed to Mr. Thomas, who now conducts a large lumber business in connection with his mill.
All nations, ancient and modern, savage and civilized, have considered respect for the dead a virtue. and burial-places as sacred. Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah as a burial-place. Egyptians hewed sepulchers out of solid rock, and built vast pyramids to serve as repositories for their dead, whose bodies were so embalmed that after 3.000 years they are found in a good state of preservation. The Romans honey-combed the hills of Southern Italy with catacombs, in the niches of which they placed their dead. The cemeteries of modern civilization are fast getting to be picturesque cities of the dead. Monuments of all kinds mark the resting-places of those who slumber in the bosom of the earth. Akron is not behind her sister cities in the manufacture of these standing memorials. The proprietor of the Akron Marble Works, M. H. Crumrine, manufactures and deals in American and Italian marble and in American and Scotch granite mantles and grates. He first started the business in Massillon, in 1857, and in 1863 changed its location to Akron, when he purchased a lot at 219 and 221 East Market street, 100x40 feet, and erected a frame building in which he continued his business until in 1866, when he moved the frame building to the rear of its former location, and on the same site erected a fine three-story brick block known as Castle Hall Block. In 1868,at 15 North High street, one door from the corner of Market street, he erected a brick building 53x16, which he has since occupied as sample and salesroom and office, with a work-shop immediately in the rear 35x20.
Besides the marble works just mentioned are those of Emil Feige, who manufactures monuments and tombstones of Italian and American marble, sandstone and other varieties, at 235 Main street. This house was founded in 1858, by Jennings & Henry. In 1877, the present proprietor, E. Feige, purchased the establishment and became sole proprietor. The building at present occupied by the business is a frame 20x45—the front portion used for display of manufactured good and the rear for manufacturing.
Not only oatmeal, but pearl barley is extensively manufactured in Akron. The Empire Barley Mills of Ferdinand Schumacher are located near the depot of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad. These mills have six floors, each measuring 85x60 feet. The engine room contains a double engine with combined power of 250 horse. A 40-inch belt on an 18-foot pulley conveys the power to the pearling machines, which, thirteen in number, are attached to a long line shaft, and have a united capacity of 250 half barrels of pearl barley per day. of 110 pounds each.
On the first floor are the barley machines, consisting of an iron shell turning in the opposite direction, from rapidly-revolving sand-stones, four feet in diameter by fourteen inches across. This mill, the German Mill, the model Akron (A) elevator, and the commodious packing-houses, which are all adjoined, have a total frontage of 293 feet.
Gorner & Planz are the proprietors of the Akron File Works, located between Carroll and East Middlebury streets. This firm is the only one in Summit County engaged to any extent in this branch of manufacture.
The enterprise was first started by Methias Harter, in 1868. The senior partner of the present firm became a partner in 1870, and the business was conducted until 1873 under the firm name of Harter & Gorner, when Mr. Corner purchased the interest of Harter, and for a year and a half continued the business alone. In 1875, H. Pohle purchased the works from Gorner, and continued the business with Planz as partner until 1877, when Mr. Gorner re-
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purchased the interest of Pohle ; and since. the firm name has been Gorner & Planz. The buildings occupied for the conduct of the business are two in number—one, 16x32, the other 16x22. The location of the works is just east of the Buckeye Shops. and in the rear of the Akron Knife Works. In the works is a ten horse-power engine. which is used principally in the grinding of files, five cutting-blocks, and all tools and machinery used in cutting files. The trade of the house extends throughout Northern. Central and Eastern Ohio, a large amount of the product being sold to the large manufacturing establishments of Akron.
Baker. Merriam & Co. manufacture wood and clay smoking pipes. enameled teapot knobs, pail woods and cigar boxes, also all styles of Hamburg and Shaker pipes. at the corner of Bowery and Ash streets. J. W. Baker began business at this point in 1870, in the manufacture of cigar boxes alone. and was joined in the fall following by J. C. McMillen. who purchased an interest in the concern. They made cigar boxes about four years. after which they added wood smoking pipes and tinners' teapot knobs. They now carry on a large and flourishing business in the articles above mentioned.
Among the multifarious industries of the city of Akron. there is no single one which has contributed in a greater degree to give the city a wide-spread reputation than that of the production of sewer pipe. From the rock-bound coasts of New England to the prairie cities of the far West the fame of the Akron sewer pipe is familiar as household words. and has repeatedly received the highest encomiums from Mayors and boards of public works. engineers, contractors and chemists. It is manufactured from a combination of the celebrated " Summit County Clays," which by careful analysis have been found to be superior to any yet discovered for this particular purpose. By skilled labor and powerful machinery of the latest and most approved design, the material is rendered homogeneous and uniform throughout, and under immense pressure the pipe is made very compact, and under a high temperature becomes thoroughly vitrified and impervious to the action of acids, gases and steam, all of which are found to a greater or less extent in city sewers. This kind of clay receives a perfect glaze from the vapors of salt, and does not require slip or other foreign substances which areliable to cut or scale off by the action of sewer gases.
The subject of thorough and perfect sewer-age is beginning to receive the general public attention and recognition which its importance demands. That the health of communities is seriously affected and impaired by faulty or inadequate drainage is a proposition susceptible of ample demonstration. The disease-breeding miasmas contaminating the atmosphere of thousands of neighborhoods and homes. poisoning the human system with noxious effluvia and deadly exhalations, are the sure and direct result of heedlessness with regard to sanitary teachings in this direction. Go into a neighborhood where typhoid and typhus fevers prevail. and you will certainly find a cause for this infectious malady in the noisome gases emanating from the undrained soil or from imperfect sewerage. and. not infrequently. in consequence of drinking well water impregnated with fetid percolations from contiguous privy vaults and cesspools.
It is. moreover, unquestionable that many other forms of disease are contracted by similar means. emphasizing the vital importance of counteracting and removing this pestilent cause of disease and death.
The fact of the need of a universal system of sewerage being well established, it now remains for us to consider and determine as to the best and most approved material for this purpose, inasmuch as upon this point of perfect sewerage depends the health and well-being of the public.
The strange anomaly is too often observed of a house-builder, in order to save a few dollars, contracting for the introduction into his premises of a poor and cheap sewer connection, thus inviting febrile disease into his household ; but then does the victim employ a quack doctor to attend his family ? No ; he hesitates not to summon the best physician to be had. Here is an illustration of obtuse empiricism at the first and corrective skill at the last, although perhaps the latter is employed too late to prevent fatal consequences of the imprudence of " saving at the spigot and leaking at the bung."
The initial process in the manufacture of vitrified pipe is the grinding and tempering of the clay, some of which is extremely "refractory," in huge mills—the substance being manipulated by large revolving discs describing
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diverse circles. and moving gradually from center to circumference of the clay receiver by the operation of an automatic screw. From the mills the tempered mass is thrown into the " blockers," which expel the air, solidify the substance. and form it into blocks, which are brought by elevators up to the powerful screw and steam presses, the cylinder whereof contains an inside die suspended from the top of the press, taking the place of the core in iron castings. and an outside die which forms the exterior of the pipe. The clay is forced down between these dies, producing pipe ranging in diameter from one to twenty-four inches. and is cut off at proper lengths by a series of knives. The present forms are then transported by steam and hydraulic elevators. consisting of endless belts, to the drying and finishing departments, where they are seasoned for three or four clays by steam heaters. They are then taken by tramways to the burning kilns, ten in number. each of which is as large as a good-sized room, where for several clays they are subjected to a most intense heat, perhaps not far from a thousand degrees—a " warmth " that would have made old Dr. LeMoyne. of crematory fame, dance with delight. The torridness of this temperature may be imagined when it is stated that thereby iron can be reduced to a cinder.
After the clay has approached the melting or fluxing state. coarse alkaline salt is thrown upon the fires. producing a dense vapor which permeates every part of the kilns. circulating through and around the sections of pipe, completely enveloping their inner and outer surfaces. This vapor chemically unites with the pipe communicating to it a smooth and glossy finish. whereby the substance becomes vitreous or glass-like. and the glaze is an integral part of the pipe itself ; not a mere varnish-like coating, as is the case with the slip "glazed pipe. The contents of the kilns are allowed to gradually cool off, and usually at the expiration of a week they are in proper condition for removal and the market.
The Akron Sewer Pipe has for many years been in satisfactory use in every section of the country, and is its own complete recommendation. Its even interior surface has no hummocks to arrest any floating substance, and its glassy smoothness enables a very small flow of water to carry along with it all the solid matter that finds its way into the sewer. For over twenty years the " Akron " has been the standard in Chicago, where the flat, low-lying surface requires the most perfect sewers, because of the very slight fall possible in their construction. The experience of other cities and towns which have adopted this pipe uniformly corresponds with that of Chicago, and wherever practically tested it has maintained its justly exalted reputation.
Another significant fact is that these pipes have been and are employed in chemical works and retorts, holding the strongest acids, and nothing has ever been used which will produce the slightest effect upon them ; they cannot be disintegrated or even weakened by any known chemical.
There are three sewer pipe companies in Akron, each one which is largely engaged in the manufacture of sewer pipe. The Akron Sewer Pipe Company, at 17' North Water street. Sixth Ward. make standard Akron sewer pipe. The business is conducted under the name and style of the Akron Sewer Pipe Company, was founded in this city in 1848, by Merrill, Powers & Co. It subsequently was transferred to Hill & Adams, who were succeeded in 1867, by the Hill & Adams Sewer Pipe Company. In 1871, the company was again reconstructed and became as at present. with a paid-up capital of $175.000. and an authorized capital of $300.000. It is a joint-stock company, incorporated under the laws of the State of Ohio. with works and general headquarters at Akron. and agencies in all the principal cities of the United States. The works consist of one two-story brick structure, 50x240 feet in size, and one four-story structure. 50x150 feet, with numerous smaller buildings, sheds, etc. They have ten down-draft kilns, each with a capacity of twenty-five tons. These kilns are constructed so as to secure a uniform heat. vitrifying each piece of pipe, which by gradual cooling is rendered free from checks and scales. The products of the company are sold in almost every State in the Union. These were the first sewer pipe works started west of New York City, and the second established in the United States.
The Buckeye Sewer Pipe Company manufacture, at 921 East Exchange street, Sixth Ward, vitrified salt-glazed sewer pipe. This company was incorporated in 1872, with an authorized
354 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
capital of $100,000. The buildings occupied were erected in 1867, for the manufacture of woolen machinery, and were occupied for this purpose until in 1872, when the business was changed to that of the present. They consist of two main shops of brick, 170x45 and 80x40 respectively, office, sheds, etc. The shops are equipped with all modern appliances for the manufacture of sewer pipe ; six kilns of two carloads dimensions each.
The Hill Sewer Pipe Company also manufacture sewer pipe in Akron. Their place of business is at 1175 East Market street. This company was founded under its present title in 1873. as a stock company, with a capital of $80.000. D. E. Hill, one of the stockholders, and the gentleman from whom the company takes its name. originated the sewer pipe business in the United States, and to him is largely clue the honor of bringing about a much needed reform in the sewerage system of most of the cities of the Union, by the introduction of this pipe. which is now acknowledged to be a safe and reliable article for sewers. The works occupied by the Hill Sewer Pipe Company occupy a large tract of ground, and contain one four-story structure. 50x100 feet in size, equipped with all the necessary machinery for the manufacture of these improved pipes. and four kilns. 15x30 feet in dimension.
That the taste for personal decoration is a universal expression of human existence, and that the art of making jewelry was one of the first at which mankind arrived, is evident from the immense stores taken from the tombs of ruined cities of the Egytians and other nations. In the manufacture of jewelry but little is done in Akron, but that little is well done by George J. Neiberg, at 179 South Howard street.
Matches in their present form were first made public about 1830, by Faraday, and came rapidly into public use. The tip of the match is a combination of sulphur and phosphorus. The phosphorus ignites at the heat of 120 degrees, which a slight friction will produce, and this in turn ignites the sulphur, which requires 450 or 500 degrees. The flame of the sulphur sets fire to the pine of which the match is composed, and which ignites at about 600 degrees. The combination is necessary because the phosphorus alone would not kindle the match, while the sulphur alone would not ignite with ordinary friction. Thenumber of matches that are annually consumed in this country is something wonderful to contemplate. According to the late report of the Revenue Department, the tax of matches for the last year yielded revenue to the amount of $3,561,306. At 1 cent a box this would represent, in round numbers, 356, 000,000 boxes. Calling our population 50,000,000, this would give over 7 boxes to ever) man, woman and child in the country. ThE taxes paid on matches by each individual it the land would thus be 7 cents. The revenue tax on matches is 1 cent for each 100 in a box Where such an immense quantity of matches are consumed, there must be considerable facilities for manufacturing them. This we have in the ingenious machinery used in making them, as most all of the processes in manufacturing them are conducted by mechanical appliances. The wood used is the best clear white pine—which is first sawed into blocks of equal size. and of two matches in length. These blocks are then made into splints of a proper size. by being forced through tubes with numerous perforations. made as near together as possible. leaving just enough strength for cutting purposes. These perforations may be either round, square or diamond shaped. the latter forming the name of the new combination. The square forms are called telegraph " matches. These and the diamond are preferable to the round, as they do not break so easily. After the splints are cut into proper sizes, they are fed through a hopper and received by a double chain, which carries them to the sulphur vat, then to the phosphorus vat, when they are taken off and removed to the packing room. The phosphorus composition into which the matches are dipped is composed of phosphorus, niter, glue, red ochre and smalt in proper proportions. In safety matches, the phosphorus is in sand paper on the box, and other materials on the end of the match, so that neither can be ignited without the use of the other. Matches are also made without dipping into sulphur, paraffins oil being used as a substitute. The parlor match is made without the use of sulphur, and phosphorus is replaced by the chlorate of potash and antimony. The wood is prepared with stearine or paraffine.
On the 1st day of January, 1881, the Diamond Match Company, with branches in differ-
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ent parts of the United States, went into operation. One of the largest of these branches is what was previously the Barber Match Company, of Akron. The Akron works were established in 1847, by George Barber. The first factory was a small barn ; but, from the very beginning of the business, owing to the superior quality of the goods produced, the demand steadily increased. The average product of this branch is 1,500 gross, of 14,400 each, or 21,360,000 matches every clay, with a possible capacity for turning out 6,804,000.000 matches per annum. The United States revenue laws require a 1 cent stamp to he placed on every 100 matches, and to do so requires an expenditure by the Akron works of over $1,900 a day. They use annually from 2.500.000 to 3,000,000 feet of the best quality of white pine lumber, 70 tons of brimstone 17,000 pounds of phosphorus, 33,600 pounds chlorate of potash, 30,000 pounds of glue, 50.000 pounds of paraffine wax for parlor and drawing-room matches or tapers, and a large quantity of other material. They manufacture their own packages, and use about 250 tons of straw board for boxes, and 20 tons of other paper. and for shipping boxes over 1.000,000 feet of cottonwood lumber. Two printing-presses are kept constantly employed printing labels, and 15 box-making machines, each capable of turning out from 7.000 to 10.000 straw board boxes per clay. Three hundred and fifty hands, including men, boys and girls, are constantly employed, and the monthly payroll amounts to fully $6,500. The works are equipped throughout with the most perfect match-making machinery now in use, propelled by two engines of 250 and 150 horse power respectively. The works are located on Falor street. This branch makes about one-fifth of the entire product used in the United States. The Diamond Hatch Company also run a factory near their match works, where animal pokes, curry-combs and smoking pipes are made. This factory was formerly run by the Hopkins & Robinson Manufacturing Company.
The Akron Machine Works of Taplin, Rice & Co. are located on Broadway and Church street. These works were established in 1861, by Taplin, Rice & Ford. In 1867, under the manufacturing laws of the State of Ohio, it became an incorporated company, with a paid-up capital stock of $100,000, under the name and style of Taplin, Rice & Co. They have now a surplus of $40,000. The works cover a large area and consist of several commodious buildings, all connected, being 550 feet in aggregate length and of an average width of about fifty feet. In addition to these is a separate structure, 40x1 00 feet, used as a pattern shop. The works are divided into three separate departments, as follows : Foundry, machine shop and stove department. The buildings are all supplied with the latest improved machinery, tools and appliances requisite for carrying on the business in all its various features and departments. The company manufactures stoves in every variety, and turn out brass and iron castings of all kinds. They make a leading specialty of steam engines, mill gearing, shafting and pulleys, potters' and sewer-pipe machinery, and Mason's Patent Friction Clutch and Pulleys. They attend to the repairing of machinery and gearing of every description. The company have recently purchased, directly opposite their works on Church street the extensive buildings formerly occupied by J. F. Seiberling in the manufacture of his Empire mower and reaper. The patronage of Taplin, Rice & Co. is largely West, extending to the States of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. and east to the western portions of Pennsylvania.
American inventive genius is to be credited with some of the most wonderful achievements of the age, and in the production of valuable articles the eminence of our country is universally conceded. It is no less remarkable how quickly and thoroughly this talent finds applications in the perfection of new ideas and the improvement of old ideas, so that no sooner has a discovery been announced, or a new invention made, than active minds are at once developing its capabilities and extending its uses in all directions. Economy in time, labor and material is the greatest desideratum, never lost sight of by the practical men in our midst, and the wastefulness and inefficiency of primitive methods are never allowed to shelter themselves long behind the plea that nothing better has been thought of.
This train of musing can be particularly applied to the drug trade. Skilled pharmacists become important factors to the trade of all cities. The Smith Brothers manufacture pharmaceutical products at No. 193 South Howard
356 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
street. This house was founded in 1873, by Sisler & Hoy, who conducted the business successfully until September. 1878, when they were succeeded by the present proprietors. These gentlemen occupy two floors in the three-story brick structure, No. 193 South Howard street, as office. salesroom and laboratory. Their laboratory is supplied with the latest improved devices and appurtenances of chemical science for the manufacture of solid and fluid extracts, elixirs, pepsin. gelatine coated pills, and a great variety of chemical and pharmaceutical preparations. They manufacture 120 different varieties of gelatine-coated pills. This house does a wholesale and retail business, dealing directly with druggists and physicians.
An industry of considerable dimensions in Akron is that of the manufacture of chains, by the Miller Chain Company. This company succeeded to the business of S. Matherson. at Cuyahoga Falls. in 1879. In order to increase their facilities. and the better to accommodate their increasing trade. in September of that year. they established themselves at Akron. where they have spacious and well-arranged works, with materially improved appliances and conveniences for manufacturing their various goods.
The works comprise four buildings. two brick and two frame, each having dimensions of 20x100 feet : one brick. 60x80 feet. and one brick. 40x60 feet, besides a large packing-room office building, etc. The firm make. cable, crane. agricultural, machine and harness chains of every description. They also make car brake and other chains to any designated length. and chains for special purposes, from sample or drawing.
All their chain are made from carefully selected stock, in the most faithful and workman-like manner, and are thoroughly inspected before leaving the works. Hence, they can safely guarantee their productions to be of superior quality and finish.
Possessing every modern facility, ample capacity, and unsurpassed advantages for the economic prosecution of this department of industry, they are enabled to offer the most favorable terms to manufacturers using large quantities of chain. and to the trade generally.
Their product finds a market from Maine to , California, and they have a prosperous and increasing trade in St. Louis, Chicago, and through the Northwestern States.
The Akron Iron Company is a stock company, founded in 1866, under its present name. Its location is in South Akron. The capital invested in the business is $400.000. They manufacture every variety of bar and pig iron, hot-polished shafting, best, common. refined and charcoal iron. American-Scotch pig iron of all grades and make. A leading specialty is the production of superior qualities of iron for agricultural implements. This is one of the largest establishments of the kind in the United States devoted expressly to the manufacture of iron for agricultural implements : and for extent. capacity and general completeness of appointments, will compare favorably with any. The buildings occupied by this company are capacious and extensive. and are equipped in all their departments with the most perfect machinery and devices for carrying on their extensive business. Power is supplied at the Akron works by engines of 500-horse-power. and 175 men are regularly employed. many of whom are skilled and experienced mechanics. The company also owns and operates a blast furnace at Buchtel. Ohio. where engines of 700-horse-power are in operation. They also operate coal and iron ore mines in the Hocking Valley regions, furnishing employment at the mines and furnaces to 173 additional hands. The total monthly pay-roll of these extensive works ranges from 810.000 to 815.000. and the amount of business transacted by the company reaches nearly three-quarters of a million dollars per annum. Their trade is principally derived from the large manufacturing establishments within a radius of one hundred miles around Akron.
The manufacture of flour is extensively carried on in Akron. This is made possible by the fine water-power of the city, and the cheapness of coal to drive engines. The Cascade Mills are located at the foot of North Howard street. They are owned and operated by Ferdinand Schumacher. They are run exclusively by water-power, and manufacture the highest grades of flour and farina, by the most approved patent process. The buildings are " L " shaped, and have six floors. The mill measures 50x80 feet, with warehouses attached, 40x80 feet, and barrel-house, 40x40 feet.
The water-power is ample at all seasons. It
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has a head and fall of 38 feet. The power is derived from an iron overshot wheel, 35 feet in diameter, with a 10-foot face. This immense wheel weighs 37 tons, and yet, being well balanced, it revolves on its shaft as steadily and smoothly as if it were made of the lightest wood. The wheel contains a series of 96 steel buckets, having a total weight of 16,000 pounds. Each Bucket is made of a single sheet of cold-rolled steel one-eighth of an inch in thickness. This complete wheel cost $8,000, and about $4,000 additional were expended for its foundation, which is built on the solid rock. The water supply flows through a 6-foot subterranean tube, to an iron stand-pipe rising about 18 feet to the level of the basin, and flowing from an iron-tank 26 feet long, 8 feet wide and 4 feet high, to the iron-gate, which gauges and delivers it to the buckets at the apex of the wheel. From spur-wheels, connected with a 12-foot pulley, by a 40-inch leather-double belt, 120 feet long, power is communicated to the line-shaft over a 10-foot pulley, whence the 12 run of buhrs are operated by quarter-twist belts.
The mills are equipped with thirteen middlings purifiers, one pair each porcelain and iron-rolls, two cockle-machines, an ending-stone and brush-machine for cleaning wheat, and other appliances, all of the latest improved mechanism.
The Ohio Canal runs through the premises, affording convenient facilities for receiving and shipping product. The waste water, as well as the water discharged from the wheel, flows into the Cuyahoga River through two substantial 12-foot stone underground conduits, each 220 feet long.
The Stone Mills, of which Commins & Allen are proprietors, are located on Howard. Ash and Mill streets.
These mills were erected in 1832, by Gen. Perkins and E. Crosby, and by them transferred to Ebenezer Beech, of Rochester, who, with his successors, continued in possession until about 1867, when they were in turn succeeded by the present proprietors, Commins & Allen. This is not only the largest mill in the city, but the oldest. The main mill structure is of stone, five stories in height, and covers an area of 60x120 feet. The machinery is all of the most complete character, and comprises eleven run of buhrs, from 4 feet to 4 feet 8 inches in diameter, six of which are propelled by water, and five by steam-power. One engine and boiler,,of 125-horse-power, and water-power estimated as fully equal to 100 horses, furnish the motive power for the machinery employed. The amount of capital invested in the business is large and ample. The products of the Stone Mills are known by the following brands : The " Akron Mills," the " Stone Mills," the " Star Mills," the " Lake Mills," the " California Mills " and others. These gentlemen also manufacture and make a leading specialty of superior patent flour.
The Allen Mills were originally a building used as woolen mills, which was changed to a flouring-mill in 1853, by Jacob Allen, Jesse Allen and J. D. Commins, who conducted their business under the firm name of J. & J. Allen & Company. The original building was erected by S. Perkins, J. D. Commins, Jacob Allen and Jesse Allen, who together constituted the Perkins Company. The Allen Mills are located on Canal street, between Mill and Cherry streets, and are owned by F. H. Allen. V. J. Allen and W. A. Palmer. The building, which is of brick, is 35x110 feet. The machinery of the mills is all first-class. The flour manufactured is the fancy patent, and the fine grades of family and baker's flour. The capacity of these mills is 225 barrels in twenty-four hours.
A distillery was first erected on the spot where the Etna Mills now stand. The building was enlarged and changed to a flouring-mill in 1837, and run by Chamberlain & Standard, of Cleveland. Subsequently, it passed into the hands of Rawson & Noble, who conducted the business until the building burned down. Upon the spot of the burned mill was erected, in 1857, the present mills by Buell & Taylor, who continued proprietors until 1862, when the mills were purchased by the Chamber Company. They were owned by this company until 1877, when they became the property of the Second National Bank of Akron. By the bank they were leased to McNeil & Baldwin, who conduct the business at the present time. The capacity of the mills is 200 barrels of flour in twenty-four hours. McNeil & Baldwin manufacture the straight grade and patent flour.
The South Akron Mills are now owned by the Brewster Coal Company. These mills are located on South Main street. They were erected by George Steese, who sold them to L. Herrold, the latter disposing of them to the present owners in 1875. Only custom work is
358 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
done at these mills. Connected with them is a saw-mill—the only one in Akron.
Coopering, as might be expected, is carried on to a considerable extent in Akron. The Union Stave Company. C. B. Maurer, General Superintendent, carry on a large business at 402 South High street. This company is now erecting four new frame buildings. One of these will be 3Sx40 feet in dimensions, 14 feet high ; two other buildings will be 30x34 feet each and 18 feet high. These three buildings will front on High street. The fourth structure will be in the rear of the other buildings and will be 30x108 feet in dimensions. 18 feet high.
The first-named building will be used for manufacturing purposes. and the remaining additions will be for storage room.
The material used in the manufacture of barrels, at this place. is prepared from the forest at Union City. Penn.. by a force of about fifty men under Mr. Maurer's management. The annual shipments to this city of staves. hoops and headings by Mr. Maurer is fully 200 car loads. This immense amount of stock is here made into about 160.000 barrels per year. by a force of fifty men. The trade is growing very rapidly, and the present year's business will reach at least 173,000 barrels. Another item of interest in this connection is that. while the prepared material is shipped to this place. the finished barrels are shipped from here filled with flour from the mills of F. Schumacher. and Commins & Allen's (Stone) Mills.
There are other establishments in Akron where barrels are made in large numbers : By T. J. Walker. corner of Middlebury and South Main streets ; by Lapp & Riner, near the Etna Mills ; by George Roth, 353 South Main street ; and by Edward Zschech. 362 same street.
The question of ability to manufacture an artificial stone that would, in point of durability and general efficiency, come up to all requirements has, for many years, received the attention not only of the curious and inquiring, but also the practical and scientific. and much time and labor has been devoted to the discovery of a successful process of manufacture. Success has crowded the effort, and now an artificial stone in every way equal to the best natural stone is produced at much less expense. while the fact of its being much lighter and more easily molded into any desired shape, !enders it more desirable. For building purposes it is superior to brick. as it is impervious to water, and is not affected by heat or frost and will stand fire " much better than either brick or natural stone. This stone is of a hydraulic .nature and will harden when set in water. and will resist the action of steam, acids, and other disintegrating influences. as well as our best building stone. The artificial stone was patented by James Harry Thorp. of New York. September 11. 1877. being the second patent issued to himself. The process of manufacturing being simple and requiring but few tools. Wood patterns are made of whatever shape the stone is wanted. sand and cement are then mixed together in proportions three to one. when thoroughly incorporated, the chemical is added in quantity sufficient to dampen the mixture. which is then tamped into patterns. the patterns are then taken away in pieces. the stone is allowed to stand a few days to harden and dry. and is then ready for use. In our larger cities this stone is fast superseding the use of other building material. and is being extensively used for walks. trimming brick houses. etc. The sand found in this vicinity is particularly well adapted to making this stone. and thus the article can be furnished here very cheap. The expense of the material does no: average one half that of natural stone. Thin industry which promises to be of importance to Akron. is carried on at Palmer & Pruner's Artificial Stone Works. 113 North Howard street—H. A. Palmer and H. A. Pruner. proprietors. They manufacture this stone under the patent before mentioned. the firm controling the right in the counties of Summit. Trumbull. Portage and Stark. They make ornamental lawn vases. window caps. sills and keys. cemetery work. pavements in mosaic and other styles. cisterns and cellars. chimney tops. fountain basins, door steps. horse blocks, and lot fencing and solid stone of all kinds for building purposes. of any size or dimensions.
The Webster. Camp & Lane Machine Company have their works on North Main street. They were established in 1831. under the name and style of the Glooe Foundry. In 1869.:. stock company, known as the Webster, Camp. & Lane Machine Company, was organized with a capital stock of $100,000. The works were remodeled and enlarged. and the scope of business considerably increased. The machine-shop, which is two stories in height, covers an
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area of 52x150 feet, and is constructed of brick, in the most thorough manner. The foundry building is one story, of wood, 60x100 feet in size. The storehouse is a two-story wooden structure, 40x90, and the smith-shop of one story, 20x40. These buildings are all thoroughly equipped and supplied with the most approved styles of machinery for carrying on the extensive business of the company, in its varied departments and ramifications. One forty-five. horse-power engine furnishes the motive power required. The company manufacture every description of gearing and pulleys, mining and milling machinery (these two latter being leading articles of manufacture by this house), pottery machinery, brass castings of every description, steam and water pipe fittings. and other articles pertaining to this line. They make a specialty of furnishing engines constructed and fitted up with special reference to simplicity of mechanism. durability and freedom from derangement, regularity of speed, economy of fuel, and the largest amount of power.
The trade of this house extends all over the West. particularly throughout the States of Ohio. Indiana. Illinois. Missouri. Kansas. etc.
The manufacture of boilers of every description. and heavy sheet and boiler iron work. is extensively carried on by J. C. McNeil. at the Akron Boiler Works. on South Broadway. directly opposite the Buckeye Works. This business was established in January. 1866. by the present proprietor. The main building covers an area of 40x75 feet. and is supplied with the latest improved machinery and devices for carrying on this extensive business. The sheds adjoining the main works cover an equal space, and are used for storage, and for the heavier work. One ten-horse-power engine and boiler furnishes the motive power required. and twenty skilled and experienced workmen are. on an average. employed at this establishment. Mr. McNeil manufactures every description of ordinary boilers, making a specialty of heavy sheet and boiler iron work. His repairing department is in charge of competent and experienced workmen, and is made a prominent feature of his steadily increasing business. The Akron Boiler Works are thoroughly equipped in every particular. and will compare favorably with any similar establishment in the West.
Almost every manufacturing establishment in the city of Akron use and testify to the superiority of his boilers. He also makes a specialty of steam heating "magazine" boilers for public and private buildings. The new buildings measure 66x100 feet, and the shipping facilities are as good as those of any manufacturing establishment in the city, being located immediately on the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio and Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus Railroads, thus affording the greatest facilities for loading and shipping the product to any part of the country.
There are two creditable upholstering establishments in Akron, where are manufactured everything in the line of upholstered stock. especially lounges and mattresses. The first is the house of Klinger & Dodge, originally Klinger & Gintz. Their place of business is at 126 Howard street. The other manufactory is that of K. Gintz, 114 Mill street, which was opened in 1880. The work at both these establishments is done in the best manner, and sold at reasonable prices.
Edam & Johnson, manufacturers of commercial fertilizers and best quality of Kelly Island White Lime. have their works at the corner of Cedar and William streets. George Edam began the business in 1877, and Charles N. Johnson purchased an interest in January. 1880. Their establishment is a large one ; they burn about forty tons of lime in twenty-four hours, and grind twenty tons of fertilizers in the same length of time. Their new buildings are 40x60 feet ; the old ones nearly the same dimensions. Their engine room is 25 feet square. They furnish ground limestone, land-plaster, pure bonedust, white lime, plastering hair, calcined plaster and cement.
The Akron Straw Board Company are located in the Sixth Ward, Middlebury. Their works were established in 1873, by the present proprietors, J. F. Seiberling and M. Seiberling. Since that time their business has steadily increased. until it has now reached the handsome aggregate of r5,000 to $100,000 per annum. The works consist of three two-story buildings. one being 30x100 feet in size, one 40x85 feet. and one 40x60. These buildings are supplied with the most approved styles of machinery manufactured expressly for this line of business. and on which numerous improvements have been made by the members of the firm. The
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mills are in every respect thoroughly equipped, and for general appointments and capacity will compare favorably with any similar establishment in the United States. The products of these works, which consist principally of a superior quality of steam-dried straw board, in numbers ranging from thirty-five to one hundred and fifty, are used for a variety of purposes, and meet with a ready sale in the Philadelphia, New York and Boston markets. where this trade is principally located. The capacity of the mills is at present from eight to ten tons of finished board per day, the demand for which is fully equal to the supply.
The firm of May & Fieberger are successors to Cramer & May in the manufacture of galvanized iron cornice, window caps and other work. They are located at 114 North Howard street, and do a large and successful business.
Caoutchouc, or, as it is commonly called. India rubber, has within the last twenty-five or thirty years become a very important article of commerce and industry. It is procured from the creamy exudations of several plants, and is found in abundance in a number of tropical countries, the principal sources of supply being Para, Java, Penang, Singapore, Assam and Central America. The best quality of rubber comes from Para, though much of the Central American product is in quality nearly equal to it.
The India rubber tree is a beautiful specimen of the vegetable kingdom, being very tall and straight, with smooth bark, and measuring in many cases eighteen inches through at the base. In these trees small longitudinal gashes are cut, from which flows a white sap, of about the consistency of cream, which is conveyed through an earthen spout to a trough placed beneath. The curing process is performed by means of a fire made from the nuts of the Urucury palm, the smoke of which has the peculiar property of solidifying and curing the rubber in a very thorough manner. The workman dips a wooden paddle in the creamy fluid, turing it quickly in order to separate the sap as much as possible, then passes it repeatedly through the smoke, until the substance assumes a grayish yellow color and becomes solidified. After the rubber has accumulated to a thickness of about two inches on each side of the paddle, it is cut open on one side, peeled from the tool, andhung up to dry out the water that accumulates
between the layers.
The color of the cured rubber is a light yellow, but it gradually changes until with age it takes on the dark brown so familiar in the rubber of commerce.
An effort is being made, aided by the Brazilian Government. to systematize the cultivation of India rubber. and this. if successful, must largely increase the production beyond the requirements of manufacturers, thus decreasing the cost of the raw material, as also of the finished product.
The chemical properties of India rubber are somewhat remarkable, inasmuch as, unlike all other solid vegetable products, it contains no oxygen, the constituents, according to Dr. Gres' analysis. being 90 per cent carbon and 10 per cent hydrogen. It is quite insoluble in alcohol, but in ether. derived from alcohol by washing with water. it readily dissolves and affords a colorless solution. When the ether is evaporated. the rubber becomes again solid. When treated with hot naptha distilled from native petroleum, or from coal tar, it swells to thirty times its former bulk, and if triturated with a pestle and pressed through a sieve it affords a varnish.
The present skilled stage in the manutacture of India rubber has only been reached after years of patient labor. To get two pieces of clean rubber to unite firmly together, at their recently cut surface ; to obtain facile adhesion by the use of hot water ; to cut the rubber by the use of a wet blade ; to collect the refuse pieces, make them up into blocks, and then cut the blocks into slices, required years of time, the greatest patience and ingenious machinery to effect. Mackintosh, Hancock and Goodyear alike record the simple manipulations they first employed, and the impression produced at last when they compare their individual efforts with the gigantic and complex machinery now used to secure the same result.
Of all the wonderful changes affected by chance, observation or chemical experiment of' late years, few have been so important as the change in India rubber by the process called vulcanizing, which was discovered and patented by Charles Goodyear, of New York. The union of sulphur with rubber, to give new properties so valuable that it may be said the prior well-known quality of elasticity is now rendered so variable that almost every range, from the most
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delicate tenuity to the hardness of metals, is obtained at will by the manufacturer.
India rubber, until the time of Goodyear's invention, had been greatly restricted in use owing to the fact of its being entirely unfitted for many purposes ; but now, with extraordinary impetus, the ingenuity of manufacturers was employed in producing an immense variety of articles, which were constantly demanded by the ever augmenting utility of vulcanized rubber in the arts and in mechanical construction. This invention, judged by its great usefulness to society, deserves to rank among the leading discoveries of the ninteenth century.
There are three different and distinct classes of manufacturers of rubber goods, viz., those manufacturing belting, hose, packing, springs, wringer rolls, tubing—in short, goods used for mechanical purposes ; those making boots and shoes and clothing, and those producing the thousand and one small articles of utility and ornament which are ever increasing in variety.
There is but one factory in Akron of rubber goods, but this one produces all articles made of caoutchouc adapted to mechanical purposes. This is the Akron Rubber Works. located at 111 Factory street. These works were established in 1869. The resources and trade of this concern have more than kept pace with the general prosperity of Akron. The capital employed is $75,000, and the annual trade reaches $300,000. The buildings occupied by these works consist of a main building, 120x60 feet (three stories), an additional back building of 80 feet in length, and a stock-room of 50 feet in length, all built of brick. The parties composing the firm are B. F. Goodrich, H. F. Wheeler and B. T. Morgan. The trade of these works extends over various States be-sides our own, and their products, among which may be found belting from 2-inch to 24-inch in width, 2 3 and 4 ply, steam packing for making steam-tight joints, standard hose of all kinds and for all purposes, which are unsurpassed, many of the processes used being of their own invention and the result of many years' experience. Hose for fire department service, springs, grain drill tubes, wringer rolls, billiard-table cushions, and, in fact, all articles made of rubber, adapted to mechanical purposes.
The Akron Paper Company, the proprietorsof which are Thomas Phillips & Co., have a fine brick mill, 100 feet square, with two floors, containing a full equipment of improved machinery, which is propelled by two steam-engines of respectively 80 and 18 horse power. They make a specialty of manilla flour-sack paper, turning out, on the average, 2 tons every 24 hours, and consuming 3 . tons of old rope per diem. The number of hands employed is 70 ; annual product, between 600 and 700 tons of paper, worth in the neighborhood of $160,000.
Besides a very large local demand by the. millers of this city, the Akron Paper Company have considerable trade with the millers west to Chicago and St. Louis, and some Southern custom ; the aggregate demand being fully equal to the full producing capacity of their mill.
The business was inaugurated in 1872 by Thomas Phillips (deceased in 1878), and it was through his efforts that the enterprise was made a success.
Merrill & Ewart manufacture, on Brook street, Merrill's patent vitrified diamond roofing tile. This firm commenced the manufacture of this tile in Akron in 1875. The works consist of a two-story brick, 64x32 feet in size, with a wing 24x48. and were erected by the firm at a cost of $10,000. One 40-horse-power engine is used in driving the machinery, which consists in the main of a clay mill, clay packer and tile presser. The trade extends through Ohio, Pennsylvania and the Eastern States generally. The house has an agency in New York City, Boston and Philadelphia. The sizes of tile made by this concern are 14x84 inches and 6x10 inches, and require 250 and 500 respectively to the square. This firm also manufacture a superior quality of drain tile.
The business of D. A. James, designer and manufacturer of fine wood work, was inaugurated by him in 1875, on Main street, between Market & Mill, and was removed to the present location, 218 West Market street, in 1876. W. P. DeLand was admitted to partnership May 1, 1879, when the firm assumed the above title. The partnership continued one year, when Mr. DeLand retired. Mr. James makes fine office and church furniture from architects' or their own designs. All their work in this line is executed in a highly artistic and workmanlike
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manner, from the best selected materials. He makes a specialty of ornate picture and mirror frames and room cornices, from unique and original designs, with the most elaborate and artistic finish. He produces special designs to order, which are never duplicated except by permission. This superb art work is executed in precious natural woods. some of them very rare, including Hungarian ash, English oak, burr oak, chestnut, white holly, ebony. African amboine, bird's-eye maple. silver-gray maple, thuya and tulip woods. Making a constant study of this special line of manufacture, and exercising cultured taste and skill in its perfect development, these gentlemen have met with marked success in their sedulous efforts to please their numerous patrons. He likewise pays special attention to wood decorations for dwellings, such as window and door casings. etc., in natural woods susceptible of rich carving and high finish.
The Akron Varnish Works. of which Kubler & Beck are the proprietors, were established in Akron by E. G. Kubler, who. after many years of practical scientific experience in some of the largest manufactories of varnishes and japans in the East, concluded to " go West." He found Akron to be an advantageous point for manufacturing and shipping, and the decision to locate here proved to be a wise one.
Mr. Kubler is a thoroughly skilled chemist, possessing intimate knowledge of all its details, and enjoys the prestige of careful business training, ripe experience and uprightness in all his dealings. With this ample fortification, he has constituted it his strong point to manufacture none but the purest and best goods. After patient experimenting, he has brought the production of black baking japan to such perfection that even his competitors acknowledge the fact that it is unsurpassed in quality and durability.
Owing to the constant growth of the business thus established on a firm foundation, it was found necessary to enlarge the facilities for macufacturing, and a copartnership was formed under the style of the Akron Varnish Works, Kubler & Beck, proprietors. Mr. Beck is also a gentleman of fine business ability, and has acquired a practical knowledge of producing processes in this line. Their goods are sold all over the United States to the largest manufacturers of every description who have occasionto use varnishes. Their old works are located on Bowery street; their new works on South Main street.
Lager beer, in its use among Americans, is fast superseding whisky. The perfection to which its manufacture is brought in Akron is due in a great measure to F. Horix. who carries on a brewery on North Forge street. Mr. Horix came to Akron in 1868, and. soon after his arrival here, entered upon the brewery business, and has continued in it to the present time. His first start was in a small building which he erected on Exchange street. The buildings which he now occupies consist of the brewery proper. a three-story structure of stone and brick. 68x92 feet. a warehouse of brick. 14x 14 feet. and an ice-house 30x80 feet. The cellar used for cooling purposes is beneath the brewery. inclosed by stone, and is 68x90 feet. The arrangement of these buildings is most perfectly adapted to the business. These buildings were erected in 1873 by F. Overholtz. The premises. with all improvements. were purchased by Mr. Horix March 1. 1879. and immediately taken possession of by him. The capacity of this establishment is 20,000 barrels
manufactured by the Wolf Ledge Ale and Lager Beer Brewery, at 154 Sherman street. by William Burkhardt. proprietor.
At 210 Cherry street, west of the Brick Mill. are manufactured the " Celebrated Callow Pumps." by H. J. Cahow. He makes deep well pumps a speciality. His work includes a great variety of force, suction and chain pumps. He also manufactures water pipe. Mr. Callow does an extensive business in his line.
The city of Akron is not only famous far and wide for the superiority of the sewer pipe and stoneware made within her limits, but likewise for the excellence of the fire brick here produced.
For a series of years J. Park Alexander_ proprietor of the Diamond Fire Brick Works, made a careful, erudite study of the subject of making first-class fire brick, expending many thousands of dollars in his laudable endeavors to bring about the consummation he so desired to achieve, and being ultimately rewarded with signal success.
Mr. Alexander commenced the manufacture of fire brick in. 1866—the first one to start in this business in Northern Ohio, if not in the
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entire State. His previous large experience in the production of stoneware from the chemically peculiar clays of this region, with very satisfactory results, led him to experiment therewith in the making of fire or furnace brick. It was soon demonstrated, however, that only a low-grade brick, suitable for ordinary heating apparatus, could be made from it. In no wise disheartened at the comparative failure, he subsequently made a thorough test of the best clays from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, laying under contribution. as it were, the divers aluminous deposits of the whole country, but still without the successful outcome aimed at. Though baffled, he continued to persevere in his research after the coveted secret, ever keeping in view the adage that " persistency wins the day " at last.
In 1870, or thereabouts. Mr. Alexander inaugurated a series of experiments with the siliceous pebbles. found in abundance in the conglomerate rock formation near the western corporation line of Akron, feeling assured that therein he had the material for the production of an infusible and non-shrinkable brick. After long and patient study and experimenting with silica and alumina, and a large pecuniary outlay, he succeeded in discovering a process whereby fire brick of unequaled quality and durability could be made from silica alone. He made application for letters-patent on his new process, which were duly granted.
The material alluded to was analyzed by Prof. Cassell, and found to contain 98.75 per cent of pure silica—an extraordinary proportion—and affording an advantage not enjoyed by other localities. Mr. Alexander has availed himself of this, and for about three years past has made the silica fire brick. known as the " Diamond" brand.
The manufactory of Allison & Hart is on Bank street. Sixth Ward. This firm manufhctures fire brick also on a large scale ; they also make stove and furnace linings, and ground fire clay for laying fire brick.
The uncommonly fine plastic clays of Summit County, rich in alumina, and practically inexhaustible in extent of deposit, formed the basis for the early inception of pottery manufacture in Akron. It was started here on a somewhat extensive scale, when the town had but a few hundred inhabitants, it being the first mechanical industry of importance established here.
From the date of its introduction, about 1830, it gradually grew in volume up to the year 1852, the surrounding country being supplied with brown, yellow and stone ware from this point. Up to the period mentioned, the means of' transportation were restricted to wagon conveyance and the Ohio Canal, and, consequently, the commercially tributary area was limited.
In 1852, however, when the Atlantic & Great Western Railway was opened to Akron, the business gained a fresh impetus, and has steadily increased in volume ever since.
The fame of Akron stoneware has extended pretty much all over the country, and it may be qualifiedly affirmed that it is the only real stoneware made on the continent. The peculiar fire qualities of the clay found here are such that the ware made therefrom is capable of standing any degree of heat to which it may be subjected ; neither fire nor hot water will affect it injuriously. Hence, it may be used the same as iron vessels for culinary purposes. On the contrary, the so-called stoneware made in New Jersey and elsewhere, from the friable clay of other sections, must be "handled with care," and can only be preserved from fracture by keeping it at a safe distance from caloric influence.
By reason of this fact, Akron stoneware has justly achieved a wide reputation, and the demand therefor is rapidly extending. It is now being shipped largely to all parts of the West and Northwest (Chicago being one of the principal distributing points), to the South, to the interior of Pennsylvania, and latterly, considerable orders for this excellent ware have come from Philadelphia, New York, Boston and other Eastern cities.
The business of Whitmore. Robinsons & Co., was established in a comparatively small way, in 1857, by a number of practical potters, under the style of Johnson. Whitmore & Co. They commenced with one kiln. and their whole area for working consisted of about a quarter of an acre of laud, situate on the south side of Market street, Middlebury, now the Sixth Ward of Akron, where they set to work making yellow-ware, then a new manufacture in this section. Fortune favored them, and their business prospered.
In January, 1862, Mr. Johnson retired, and in the following April, James B. Manton became a member of the firm, whereupon the style changed to Whitmore, Robinsons & Co., consisting of Richard Whitmore, Thomas Robinson,
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William Robinson and James B. Manton. In 1866, Henry Robinson was taken into the copartnership. From time to time, commodious additions were made to their works, thus increasing their producing capacity, until they had the satisfaction of knowing that theirs was the most extensive and complete stoneware pottery in the world. They run six mills, operated by three steam engines, with a total of 175-horse-power.
While this company make stoneware their principal manufacture, they also produce all kinds of yellow and Rockingham ware. In this department, they have two updraft kilns, which are run to their full capacity.
The buildings of this immense concern have the following dimensions : Main building, of brick (stoneware department), 177x 50 feet. three stories ; kiln sheds and engine houses attached. 177x 50 feet. one story : yellow ware warehouse, of brick, 80x34 feet, three stories, with wing 20x30 feet ; yellow and Rockingham ware factory, of stone, 70x36 feet. three stories ; stoneware factory, of stone, 180x36 feet, two stories ; slipware shop, of brick, 50x40 feet. two stories ; dipping-house and green-house, frame. 100x30 feet, two stories ; other small buildings for various uses, about half an acre of area. The aggregate floor surface of these works is 97.660 square feet. or about two and a quarter acres.
They ship their goods principally to the West, and Southwest as far as Texas, while they also have a growing Eastern trade.
The Akron Pottery, owned and carried on by E. H. Merrill & Co., was established in 1861. They do a large and prosperous business in the manufacture of beer and ink bottles, pump cylinders and all styles of stone tobacco pipes. They manufacture a variety of novelties in stoneware, which are the invention of the proprietors, and they have also made many improvements in machinery, especially applicable to this branch of business, among which we may mention a bottle machine and a pipe machine, constructed on new and improved principles. They have also invented an improvement in clay mills, which greatly facilitates the manufacture of their specialties. The buildings occupied by this firm consist of one three-story structure, 30x60 feet in size, and one-story building. 70x100 feet, equipped with all the necessary machinery and implements required in this branch of industry, with an engine and boiler40-horse-power. Their place of business is at 404 South Main street.
Meyres & Hall manufacture Ohio stoneware, having their office and warehouse near the depot of the New York. Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad. Their works, although located in another town, may appropriately be classed among the industries of Akron. The business was established in 1864 by S. L. Stall & Co., at Mogadore, and passed into the hands of the present proprietors in 1873. They manufacture a superior grade of goods, widely known as Ohio Stoneware," consisting in part of churns, butter, pickle and snuff' jars. milk pans, jugs. water fountains, fruit. preserve and cream jars, bean pots. stove tubes. etc. The office and warerooms of the firm are located near the union depot, Akron, and the potteries at Mogadore. These consist of one building. 60x40 feet, with an L-shaped addition, 40x50 feet : another building. 40x50 feet. and numerous smaller structures, sheds, etc. These are supplied with all the necessary machinery and appliances, operated by one 20-horse-power engine and boiler, which serves to turn the lathes and to heat the buildings. All the machinery is of the most perfect construction, especially adapted to this line of business.
Stoneware is manufactured by F. J. Knapp, wholesale dealer. east of Fountain street. He and his father began business at that point many years ago. The present buildings were erected by them. Mr. Knapp purchases his clay in Springfield. He has two kilns. His works have a capacity of 14,000 gallons a week. His motive power is furnished by a steam engine of thirty-horse-power.
At 115, 117 and 119 Fountain street, are the pottery works of Whitsel, Gibbs & Co., manufacturers and wholesale dealers in Ohio stone-ware. Their buildings were erected over twenty years ago by F. J. Knapp and his father, who afterward sold to Beecher & Lantz. The latter ran the works one year and sold them to Peter Bodenbohl, who disposed of them to Shenkle Brothers & Mann. This firm conducted the business until last year, when the works were purchased by the present proprietors. The capacity of the establishment is 15,000 gallons a week. There are three kilns. Their trade goes West, largely.
Next to the works of Whitmore, Robinsons & Co.. those of the Akron Stoneware Company, on Bank street, Sixth ward, are the largest in
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Akron. This is an incorporated company, organized May 1, 1879, with a capital of $60,000. Joseph Cook, President ; R. H. Kent, Secretary and Treasurer; David A. Butler, General Agent. This company manufactures every variety of standard Akron stoneware. Their works are large and their trade extensive.
Johnson & Baldwin occupy the works first started by Johnson & Dewey as a redware manufactory, on the corner of Market and High streets, Sixth Ward. The proprietors are Thomas Johnson and Harvey Baldwin. Their works have a capacity of 15,000 gallons a week. They have two downdraft kilus. Their entire trade is disposed of to Quigley Brothers, of Akron, wholesale dealers in stoneware. The latter have an office at 215 High street, Sixth Ward, also one near the depot of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad.
Jones, Waite & Co. carry on the manufacture of stoneware on River street, Sixth . Ward ; William Rowley on the same street ; Cook & Fairbanks on South High street ; and Viall & Markle on East Market street, same ward. These works are all extensive and their trade widely extended.
Akron has three broom factories ; that of Bachtel & Pontius was established in 1870. This firm, of whom the members are A. C. Bachtel and N. Pontius, manufacture in large quantities every variety of the best brooms, at 125 Carroll street. Their broom-corn is brought from Illinois ; their handles from Columbus, Ohio ; their wire from Cuyahoga Falls ; and their twine from New York City. The shop of H. B. Cross, who also manufactures brooms, is at Lock No. 1, Ohio Canal ; that of Mr. Hardy is on Mill street.
The Akron Malleable Iron Works are located on East Water street. Sixth Ward, Hope & Greer proprietors. W. Foster Hope, Business Manager ; John F. Greer, Superintendent. This firm manufacture malleable iron castings, nickel-plated castings, models for patents, and gray iron castings of every description.
Lepper & Sackett make Bohemian or hulless oatmeal at their Bohemian Oat-Meal Mills, on Water street, Sixth Ward. Their goods are sent to various parts of the country.
In addition to the industries already noticed, there are a number in Akron helping to swell the aggregate, each one of which is of importance : Louis Cohn's Awning Manufactory is located in the Phoenix Block, South Howard street. N. O. Freer, makes, at 176, same street, furnaces for heating and ventilating buildings. He began his business first on Mill street, in 1876, and moving to his present rooms in 1878. G. W. McNeil & Sons manufacture stone grain scourers and polishers on South High street. George W. McNeil, Jr., makes, at the same place, the Acme Wheat Steamer. M. Shouler manufactures soda water, ginger ale and Seltzer water, at the Akron City Bottling Works, 834 Bowery street. At 240 Mill street, R. L. & A. Andrew make window shades. They have been established in the business since 1876. Nahum Fay, at 926 East Market street, manufactures cordage. John J. Grether makes soap and candles, at 717 South Broadway. He established the candle business in Akron in 1852, adding soap manufacture some years subsequent. Adam Beck also manufactures soap near the fair grounds. Walter Andrews makes candies at the Akron Steam Candy Works, selling them at wholesale only. J. Bergdorf is engaged in the manufacture of baskets on Cuyahoga street.
A summary of the manufacturing interests of Akron is as follows : Capital invested, $6,127,-250 ; hands employed, 4,163 ; total value of materials consumed, $4,606,774 ; total annual production, $9,313,451.
Number of establishments that turn out a product annually of $1,000,000 or over, 2 ; 8900,000 or over annually, 1 ; $250,000 and less than $900,000 annually, 7 ; $100,000 and less than $250,000 annually, 7 ; $50,000 and less than $100,000 annually, 11 ; $25,000 and less than $50,000 annually, 18 ; $10,000 and less than $25,000 annually, 34.
It may be said, therefore, with truth, that the crowning glory of Akron is her manufactories. It has been shown that a number of them are among the largest and most successful of their kind in the United States, giving them almost the control of the market for the particular commodities manufactured. The history of most of them shows a gradual development from small beginnings., Not all, of course, have been alike successful ; but, the rule has been. to which there have been but few exceptions. ! that every industry persevered in and conducted on strictly business principles in Akron, has, in the end, proved a success. There really seems no limit to the increase of the manufacturing interests of this thriving city.
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