THE iron foundry business started almost simultaneously in
Grandville and Grand Rapids. Winfield Scott Levake, in 1837, built
a small furnace and foundry at the corner of Bridge and Mill streets, which
he operated for a few years, when he abandoned it, and the building was
burned or converted to other uses. His establishment was operated
by horse power. At that time the demand for iron casting was light,
and the trade small. George Ketchum and James McCray came to Grandville
in 1838, formed a partnership, and built a foundry and machine shop there,
of which a few years later Mr. McCray removed the tools and appliances
to Grand Rapids.
The second foundry here was planted on the bank of the canal near the
"big mill," by Henry Stone and his son Henry G. Stone, in 1842, and made
ready for business while James McCray was moving his plant up from Grandville
and building the furnace and shops at the foot of the Canal. After
Mr. Stone had his foundry bed leveled a river freshet overflowed it to
the depth of several feet, and so damaged it that a good portion of the
work had to be done over again. Henry Stone, who came in 1837, was
the first plow maker here. Gains S. Deane came down from Lyons in
1843, and became a partner in the establishment under the name of Stone,
Deane & Co (Henry G. Stone, Gaius S. Deane and Elihu Smith).
This partnership was dissolved in May, 1853, but all of these men were
in business as iron machinists and plow manufacturers in that vicinity
for many years after. Luman R. Atwater was connected with it for
a time about 1858. Deane continued in it until his death in 1883.
For years they had a salesroom on Canal street.
Prominent among machinists about 1844 and for a dozen years, was William
B. Hill, an expert in the making and setting up of steam engines.
The first engine made here, for the steamboat Empire, was constructed at
the shop of Henry G. Stone & Co., in the spring of 1845. It was
of seventy-five horse power; William B. Hill, draftsman, Andrew Ferguson,
patternmaker, Horace Wilder, molder. Hill was a student of the scientific
construction of intricate machinery, and an inventor of considerable note.
Hill's Patent Governor, for steam engines, came into general use.
Gilbert M. McCray, Stewart B. McCray, and H. Gaylord built a foundry
and machine shop about 1855 on Waterloo street, below the Eagle Hotel.
This firm of McCray Brothers & Company, and the firm of Daniel Ball
& Son about that time did some of the first casting of iron pillars
and other iron work for store fronts.
Gilbert Marshall McCray was born at Skaneateles, N. Y., May 13, 1826;
at twelve years of age came with his parents to Grandville, Mich., and
in 1843 came to Grand Rapids. He was bred to the trade of machinist,
in which he became an expert and a master workman. After operating
the shops mentioned on Waterloo street, a few years, he was during most
of the time for nearly thirty years foreman in the Grand Rapids Iron Works.
In 1858 he was Mayor of Grand Rapids.
Elihu Smith, in 1856, had a machine shop driven by steam power on the
east side of Canal street, opposite the dam, and by it in that year Samuel
Tower erected a foundry and shop. Five foundries were then in operation
in this city.
In the foundry and machine business a large amount of capital is invested
here; it has become a principal and important factor in our industrial
interests, and is probably the heaviest in its line in any interior town
of the State.
GRAND RAPIDS IRON WORKS.
Except the very small shop built in 1837 by Mr. Levake at the junction
of Bridge and Mill streets, the first iron furnace, foundry and machine
shop on Grand River was built at Grandville by George Ketchum and James
McCray in 1838. Horace Wilder for these did the first molding and
casting. Their partnership in the business ended January 1, 1843,
and their affairs were settled by Mr. McCray, who then moved to Grand Rapids,
and began the erection of new works for similar business at the foot of
the canal basin, on Huron street. Here he was joined by Daniel Ball,
forming the firm of James McCray & Co., which on August 1, 1845, announced
the "Grand Rapids Iron Works" finished and ready for the manufacture of
"every variety of castings for flouring, grist, saw and other mills, at
short notice and on the most reasonable terms." Mr. McCray managed
the work till his death in 1851, after which it was conducted for a short
time by his sons, Gilbert M. and Stewart B. McCray. About that time
Mr. Ball purchased the establishment, formed a partnership with Charles
P. Babcock, and it was operated by Ball & Babcock till March, 1855,
when Babcock retired and was succeeded by Byron D. Ball, the new firm name
being Daniel Ball & Son. In 1854 it gave employment to twenty-five
men, and in the same year constructed its first sawmill engine. June
5, 1856, a special partnership was formed, in which the senior Ball became
a silent partner, and Byron D. Ball proprietor and manager. This
arrangement lasted until December 15, when Richard E. Butterworth purchased
an interest, and the firm was known as Ball & Butterworth, William
S. Gunn being also a partner for a time. In October, 1858, Mr. Butterworth
bought out the other proprietors, and as sole owner conducted the business
till 1869, when James Lowe, from Ashton-under-Lyne, England, came into
the establishment, and the firm of Butterworth & Lowe was formed.
Mr. Butterworth died in 1887, but the firm name was continued, in the proprietorship
of James and Mrs. Eliza E. Lowe. Through such mutations has grown
the establishment known as the Grand Rapids Iron Works - on the spot where
James McCray put its foundation nearly half a century ago - now among the
largest and oldest foundries and machine shops in the State. The
working plant and buildings cover about an acre of ground. The foundry
and shops, and rooms in Mineral Block, afford working room in which some
fifty men are kept busy the year round. The invested capital is $110,000,
and the annual product of about $80,000 comprises all sorts of heavy castings,
engines, general machinery and logging cars. Under the name of Butterworth
& Lowe this firm has become an incorporated stock company, of which
the members are James Lowe, Eliza E. Lowe, Edward Lowe and Rowland Lowe.
The musical brass bell which rings the opening and closing hours for work,
on this iron factory, is the same one that in 1838 called the men of the
Port Sheldon Company to dinner, at the great hotel that was built and soon
abandoned at Pigeon Lake, a few miles south of Grand Haven, by the shore
of Lake Michigan.
VALLEY CITY IRON WORKS.
The Valley City Iron Works were started in 1862 by Adolph Leitelt, in
a small building, giving employment to only six men, and using only about
6,000 square feet of working room. The business has grown until at
the present time the plant covers 45,930 square feet, and gives employment
to 100 men, and at times to as many as 140. The monthly pay roll
averages about $5,000, while the output of steam engines, boilers and all
classes of machinery and building castings, amounting to upward of $150,000
annually, goes to all parts of the West and Northwest. For a number
of years the principal product was steam engines, but in 1868 Mr. Leitelt
opened a boiler shop, the first of much size started in the city, and since
then has added to his products until all classes of engine work and steam
heating apparatus, boilers and building and machinery castings are sent
out from this factory. A comparatively new branch of the business
is the manufacture of veneer cutting machinery. The works are partly
on Erie street, the original site, and partly across the canal by the river.
WEST SIDE IRON WORKS.
Joseph Jackoboice began iron work in 1860; in a small room on the second
floor of a sash, door and blind factory on Mill street. In 1862 he
moved into a building near the east end of Bridge street bridge.
In 1865 he purchased a lot on the present site of the Clarendon Hotel,
where he put up a building which he occupied about two years, when he removed
to South Front street, near the end of Pearl street bridge. From
there, in 1880, he moved to his, present quarters, erecting a two story
building on the corner of South Front and Bowery Streets, and opened the
West Side Iron Works. The capital invested by Mr. Jackoboice is $10,000,
and gives employment to half a dozen men, with a monthly payroll of about
$300. The annual output of $10,000 or more consists mainly of mill
work and wood working machinery, his specialties being Jackoboice's band
saws and fire escapes
CENTRAL BOILER WORKS.
These were started in March, 1884, by Henry Brobst, John Himes and Peter
Petersen, under the. firm name of John Himes, & Co. In 1888 Mr.
Brobst bought out Mr. Petersen, and the style changed to Brobst & Himes.
In their shop by the foot of Huron street some fifteen men find employment
in making marine, tubular and upright boilers. The capital employed
is $25,000, and the annual output about $50,000.
MICHIGAN IRON WORKS.
The Michigan Iron Works have been prominent among foundry and machine
shops since they were started by Williams & Smith in 1871, on the southeast
corner of Pearl and Campau streets. In 1872 C. W. Watkins was added
to the firm. In 1873 the erected the building now used, and James
G. McElwee was taken into partnership. The business was carried on
at a loss for a short time and the plant was purchased by Crawford Brothers,
who sold out in 1874 to H. D. Wallen, Jr. From this till 1882 there
was no change. A stock company was then organized, known as the Michigan
Iron Works Light and Power Company, capital $100,000, with George W. Cass
President, H. D. Wallen, Jr., Vice President and General Manager, W. R.
Shelby Secretary and Treasurer. In January, 1885, W. T. Powers &
Son, the present proprietors, purchased the business. The manufacture
consists of engines, heavy castings and mill machinery, and amounts to
about $80,000 a year. They make a specialty of veneer cutting machines,
which are sent to all parts the country. The capital invested is
$65,000. They have 21,000 square feet of shop space, on which fifty
or more men work for an aggregate average of about $2,400 monthly.
WILLIAM T. POWERS, manufacturer and capitalist, was born at Bristol,
N. H., July 8, 1820. His parents Jonathan and Anna Powers, were natives
of the same place. In 1826 the family removed Lansingburgh, N. Y.,
where he received a common school education, and after he was eighteen
years of age learned the trade of cabinet maker. He early showed
aptness and skill at machine work, a faculty which ever after proved useful
and profitable to him. In June, 1847, Mr. Powers and his family,
then consisting of his wife and one child, came to Grand Rapids.
His chief business capital at the time was a good trade, about $300, in
cash, a pair of willing hands and a spirit of energy and determination.
Here he began work in a small shop at the southeast corner of Fountain
and Ionia streets, where he rented bench room. Soon afterward he
secured better quarters by the east bank of the river above Bridge street
and began working by machinery, using water power; making furniture of
nearly all kinds then produced, and chairs, not only for the home trade,
but for exportation, and having a salesroom near the foot of Canal Street.
About 1851 he formed a partnership with Ebenezer M. Ball, under the firm
name of Powers & Ball, in the furniture trade, their business place
being near where is the south entrance to the Arcade. In 1852 they
built a sawmill to which they added a larger structure for a factory, on
Erie street, where the business grew rapidly; soon giving work to some
forty employes [sic], and establishing an export trade in ready made stock
for chairs, furniture and reapers. In January, 1855, this partnership
was dissolved and Mr. Powers turned his attention to lumbering, operating
a steam mill with a circular saw, the first of its kind in this part of
the State, which the firm had built above Leonard street on the west bank
of the river. About the same time he constructed a machine with a
gang of circular saws for slitting thick plank into siding and flooring.
Again he added furniture making to his business, and for a time before
the civil war had an extensive sales room on Canal street, near Erie.
In 1865 and 1866 he purchased the river frontage necessary and in the three
following years constructed the West Side Water Power Canal, a description
of which is given in this book. As a builder since he came to Grand
Rapids, Mr. Powers has erected some thirty or more structures for houses,
mills, stores, factories and other purposes. Most prominent among
these is Powers' Grand Opera House. Notable in his work, also, is
the Arcade artesian well, where so many thousands daily partake of its
refreshing waters, free - a public benefaction. In 1880 he caused
the organizing of an electric lighting plant and company in this city,
the first city lighting by electricity in the State. The works are
operated chiefly by water power. William T. Powers & Son in 1885
purchased and have since operated the Michigan Iron Works at the foot of
Louis street. Indomitable and persistent industry and energy have
marked the career of Mr. Powers in Grand Rapids; and besides his successful
enterprises at home he has been actively and prosperously engaged in the
development of valuable properties in and near Spearfish, Lawrence county,
Dakota - the Black Hills region - where he has a water power of some 300
to 400 horse power, some manufacturing buildings, and about 400 acres of
land. He has always exhibited great interest in the material growth
and advancement of Grand Rapids. He was chosen City Treasurer in
1853 and again in 1854, serving two terms. In 1857 he was elected
Mayor and served one term, during which he started and gave a lasting impetus
to the system of street improvements that has been so prominent a factor
in city development and progress. Similarly he has stimulated municipal
growth by his service in the Board of Public Works from 1873 to 1878, where
he was prominent in the establishment of the water works system.
As a politician he has never sought office, but has been a steady and active
adherent of the Democratic party. As a man, an influential citizen
and a neighbor, he is held in universal esteem. From a modest beginning,
he has built himself a fine estate and secured a handsome competence, in
the accumulation of which he has exhibited rare forecast and sound judgment.
He is yet vigorous and in active business. Mr. Powers married, in
1839, at Troy, N. Y., Louisa Hall, a native of London, England. Of
six children born to them, four are living - William H., Sara A., Mary
L. and Charles B. Powers.
WILLIAM H. POWERS is the eldest son of the Hon. Wm. T. Powers,
and was born in the City of Troy, New York, April 7, 1841. He came
to Grand Rapids with his parents in the month of June, 1847, where he has
resided ever since. He received a common school education, and at
the age of 18 entered the employ of his father as clerk and bookkeeper,
in which position he continued until 1863, when his father closed out his
furniture business. In the spring of 1862 he was elected City Clerk,
in which position he served one year; his office where the city business
was transacted being with that of his father. At the conclusion of
his term of office he, in company with D. H. Waters, secured from the city
the contract for grading, graveling and paving the gutters of Lyon street
from Canal street east to Union street; and subsequently they also secured
the contract for grading Kent street from Lyon to Bronson, and Ionia from
Lyon to Hastings. At that time this was the heaviest grading contract
ever let by the city. These contracts afforded a fair profit, and
this was the business starter for Mr. Powers. From this he went into
manufacturing, having rented from his father the old furniture factory
with its machinery on Erie street, where the office and steam fitting shop
of A. Leitelt now are. Here he did a small amount of business at
job work, turning, planing and sawing, employing two or three men, running
the machines principally himself, wood turning and scroll sawing being
his forte. After operating in this way for some time with but fair
profit, be put in shingle machinery and operated one winter on contract
for Powers & White, cutting out bolts which were run down from Rouge
River and pulled out at the head of the rapids. In 1866, in company
with E. M. Ball, he purchased the interest of the Geo. Whittemore estate,
and subsequently the remaining interest of his father, in the steam saw
mill on the west side of the river at the head of the rapids, and they
commenced manufacturing lumber, continuing the business with reasonable
profit until 1868, when they sold their mill to A. B. Long & Sons.
They then invested their means in a water power site on the then new West
Side canal, upon which they erected a planing mill and sash and door factory,
where the Powers & Walker Casket Company's works are now situated.
Mr. Powers is the principal stockholder and President of the Powers &
Walker Casket Company, whose business was founded in 1875, and which is
now classed among the largest manufacturing concerns in the Valley City.
In 1885 Mr. Powers, in company with his father, purchased the plant known
as the Michigan Iron Works, at the foot of Louis street, and he at once
assumed the management of the machine shop and foundry comprising this
plant, giving the business his personal attention, and operating it with
marked success to the present, time. Mr. Powers has been, and is
still, interested in many other manufacturing enterprises, and has filled
many positions of trust of both business and public nature, among which
are: President of the Powers & Walker Casket Company, President of
the Wolverine Chair & Furniture Co., Secretary of the Grand Rapids
Brush Co., Secretary and Treasurer of the Rouge & Grand River Log Running
Co. (which position he held for sixteen years), Secretary and Treasurer
of the Grand Rapids Electric Light & Power Co. (which position he has
held since the first organization of the company in 1880), President of
the Martins' Middlings Purifier Co., and for ten years Manager of Powers'
Grand Opera House. Among the public positions which he has filled
are those of City Clerk, Alderman, Member of the State Legislature, Member
of the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners, at the present time serving
his second term as President of this Board, and now just completing his
second term as member of the Board, to which position he was first appointed
in 1881, being one of the original members named in the Act of the Legislature
creating the Board. He is also an active member of the Board of Trade,
being one of its Directors ever since its organization. He was one
of the Charter Members of Mystic Lodge of the Knights of Honor, and has
filled all the chairs in that order, to that of Grand Dictator. Mr.
Powers married, February 8, 1865, Sarah L. Bradford, daughter of Durfee
T. and Hannah M. Bradford, of Walker Township. They have had seven
children, of whom they have buried three. The four now living are
Frederick W., Frank C., Carrie L. and Gertrude B. Powers. The record
of the Hon. William H. Powers is that of a busy life, marked by energy,
industry, enterprise, sagacity, integrity and thrift. His work and
the positions accorded him show, better than mere words could, his standing
as a man and citizen, and the place he has won in the public esteem.
In the zenith of middle manhood he is yet at work, with apparently no abatement
of vigor.
PHOENIX IRON WORKS.
Frederick Hartmann started at 69 South Front street in 1872, in a small
way, a jobbing foundry, doing general work, employing four men, in a room
only 40 by 50 feet. In 1879 he added a small machine shop, and took
Louis Dietz into partnership in the latter, under the firm name of Hartmann
& Dietz, the foundry being still that of F. Hartmann. In December,
1884, the foundry was turned over to the management of Henry J. Hartmann.
In July, 1886, the partnership between Hartmann & Dietz was dissolved,
and the firm of F. Hartmann & Company organized, with Frederick Hartmann,
H. J. Hartmann and Edward Tannewitz as members. In June, 1888, they
moved to 270 South Front street, where (in 1888) the Phoenix Iron Works
are doing a business of about $17,000 annually, giving employment to twenty-four
men.
FOX MACHINE COMPANY.
In 1885 William R. Fox started the Fox Machine Company, on Canal street,
near Hastings. In June, 1887, he removed to Erie street and in October,
1888, to a two story brick building on Front street. He makes several
kinds of special machinery, having one of the finest establishments for
its size in the country. In 1879 he patented a trimmer to take the
place of saw and block plane in short cuts, and shortly afterward a combination
dado or grooving saw head, which two articles comprise his principal products,
and are sent to all parts of the United States.
SHINGLE MACHINES.
In the winter of 1873-74, in a small room, the shingle machine manufacture
of Harford J. and Willis J. Perkins was begun. Starting with one
small patent, they now have, and control nearly fifty. Two years
after beginning they doubled their room, and in 1880 moved to the old stone
wagon factory building on North Front street, doubling its size in 1882
and again in 1888, until they have nearly forty thousand square feet of
working space (against one thousand in 1874), and (in 1888) give employment
to about 100 men. Perkins & Company make a large share (they
think half) of the most improved shingle machines in the United States.
The works are at 60 to 120 North Front street.
GRAND RAPIDS BOILER WORKS.
Daniel Sullivan, the proprietor of the Grand Rapids Boiler Works, started
in 1873 on the east side, at the foot of Huron street. In the same,
year he purchased land on the west side, at 35 South Front street, on which
in 1880 he built his works. With a capital of $25,000, he keeps some
ten men at work, turning out about $20,000 worth of heavy boilers yearly.
SHINGLE MILL MACHINERY.
The establishment of James C. and Frank Simonds, 53 and 55 North Waterloo
street, was founded by the former in 1856, since which it has done a steady
and fairly remunerative business in the manufacture of various kinds of
mill works and shingle mill machinery. In April, 1887, the firm name
was changed to J. C. Simonds & Son, and the works were enlarged.
With a capital of $25,000 they give employment to nine men, and send their
products to most of the shingle producing States of the country.
BUSS MACHINE WORKS.
Charles Buss, the founder of the Buss Machine Shops, was an early inventor.
It is stated that while learning his trade he invented the revolver or
six-barreled pistol from which Colt took the idea and obtained the first
patent, Buss not feeling able to patent his invention at the time.
The Buss Machine Works have yet the old revolver which he afterward patented.
Early in life he developed great mechanical ingenuity, making a complete
steam engine that a thimble would cover. After acquiring his trade,
the J. E. Fay Company of Cincinnati, manufacturers of wood-working machinery,
employed him to help develop some of their machines. In 1848 he established
at Marlboro, N. H., a machine: shop which was the foundation of the present
business of the Buss Works, and in 1867 George F., the eldest son, became
a partner, and they began the improvement of planers, making the first
panel planers for fine work, which took a first prize in Massachusetts
in 1869. In 1878 they removed to Grand Rapids and established the
present works at 36 and 38 Mill street, opposite Hastings; the firm then
comprising Charles Buss and his four sons, George F. Buss, Henry C. Buss,
Edward, P. Buss and Wendell R. Buss. Here they began further improvements
in wood working machinery, and made a specialty of machines adapted to
the manufacture of furniture, organs, pianos and fine cabinet wares; and
with such success that they have constructed machines for 400 or more factories
in the United States. Their improved special furniture planer, the
first of its kind; carving machine for free-hand carving, and patent carving
machine; the patent dado machine of George, F. Buss, and the glue jointer,
have met with phenomenal favor. George F. Buss, who has been at the
head of the firm since their location here, is a native of New Hampshire,
who learned his trade thoroughly, in all its details, and at seventeen
years of age was able to command high wages as a skilled mechanic.
The Buss Machine firm has grown to be known in every large city and town
in the United States. The buildings are of brick, 48 by 100 feet,
three floors, and 35 by 100 feet, one floor; pattern room, 48 feet square.
Capital invested, $80,000; annual output about $86,000; men employed, 55,
with a monthly pay roll of about $3,000. George F. Buss is president
and treasurer (1889), with Wendell R. Buss as manager and superintendent.
BLACKSMITHING.
No town or village is properly equipped without its quota of one or
more blacksmiths, and in cities these useful artisans form no inconsiderable
part of the mechanical workers. Grand Rapids had its blacksmiths
before the growth of the white settlement began. There were two white
blacksmiths at the Indian Mission, and an Indian learned the trade there.
Louis Campau had a blacksmith at his trading post when the settlers came
in 1833 - Antoine Carmell. This man worked in a log shop between
Canal street and the river, where Huron street now is, and did more or
less of repairing wagons, sharpening ploughshares, setting of horseshoes,
and similar work for the pioneer farmers. A. D. W. Stout opened a
blacksmith shop near the foot of Pearl street in 1834. Others soon
came, among them, in 1836, H. R. Osborn, on Kent street; John Westcott,
about 1838, and in 1840 John Rice, who did the blacksmithing for Lucius
Lyon, while the latter was sinking his salt well. About, that time
a little log blacksmith shop was built on Ionia street, between Monroe
and Fountain, where a forge was kept busy for some fifteen years.
Nehemiah and Charles W. Hathaway, William N. and Josiah M. Cook, and two
or three more were here in 1843-44. Soon after, David C. Porter,
Alson Adams, P. R. Jarvis, Joseph Emmer, Joab Jones, and others contributed
to swell the ranks of the craft, and now these hardy, ingenious and toilsome
"Sons of Vulcan" may be found in every convenient locality for the prosecution
of their trade. Nehemiah Hathaway set up the first triphammer, in
the spring of 1844, at his shop by the canal basin, in McCray's foundry
and machine works.
TIN AND SHEET IRON WARE.
The tin and sheet iron divisions of the hardware trade and manufacture
have their root in the shop of the skilled mechanic, the tinsmith; the
man who fashions from the raw materials the articles which are placed on
sale. Most especially have the workers in tin and iron, a prominent
part in the building up of the mechanical industries of this city.
Like the other sources of our abundant prosperity, this art has grown with
our growth, and strengthened with our strength. No sooner was the
village fairly started than, with a new field for his labor, the tinner
made his appearance. Wilder D. Foster came in 1838, and worked, for
a time at the tinner's trade for E. G. Squier, and then entered into partnership
with him, opening a small shop in a building owned by George M. Mills,
on the north side of Pearl street at the foot of Monroe, where they advertised
to "make to order on short notice tin and sheet iron ware, stovepipe, tin
conductor pipes and eavetroughs.î In February, 1841, this partnership
was dissolved, and Foster continued the business in the employ, or as a
lessee, of Mills. In 1845 came Thomas W. Parry, also a tinsmith by
trade, and entered into partnership with Foster, the firm name being Foster
& Parry. They worked together about nine years. In November,
1848, they removed from the Mills site to the west elbow near the foot
of Monroe street, below Irving Hall, their building facing up Monroe street.
This was, in part, where now stands the extensive hardware store of Foster,
Stevens & Company. January 1, 1855, Mr. Parry retired from the
firm, and was succeeded by Henry Martin. The business had grown rapidly,
and in 1856 Martin Metcalf was admitted to partnership, the firm name being
Foster, Martin & Co. From those beginnings has grown the mammoth
store and factory of Foster, Stevens & Company, whose building is one
of the finest for its uses in the city.
WILDER DEAYR FOSTER was prominent in the business and social
life of Grand Rapids during a period of more than thirty years. In
the mercantile and manufacturing line, and as a public-spirited citizen,
he was among the foremost in laying broad and deep the foundations, while
it was yet a village, for the thriving, pushing, progressive and populous
city that is now the pride of Western Michigan. Personally and in
trade he was well known and universally esteemed in all this part of the
State. Wilder D. Foster was born at Monroe, Orange county, N. Y.,
January 8, 1821. His father, Forris D'A. Foster, was a descendent
of an early New England family, and emigrated to Orange county from Maine.
It is among the family traditions that five of its members, brothers, were
in the Revolutionary war; that they were minute-men at the battle of Bunker
Hill, and that one of them was killed there. Forris D'A. Foster,
after about 1848, spent the closing years of his life in Grand Rapids,
and died here December 12, 1871, aged 87 years. The early educational
privileges of the son, Wilder D. Foster, were slight; but he had a studious
turn of mind and an eager thirst for knowledge, and in his school boy days
he resorted to books to add to the stock of information obtainable at the
common schools. While yet but a lad he engaged as an apprentice to
learn the trade of tinsmith; but his term of service was short by the removal
to Michigan and a change in the circumstances of his employer. With
the latter he came to Marshall in this State in 1837. In 1838 he
came to Grand Rapids, and worked for a time as a journeyman; next went
into business with E. G. Squier, in a small shop on Pearl street.
This partnership was dissolved in February, 1841, and Mr. Foster continued
business by himself until the fall of 1845, when he entered into a
co-partnership
with Thomas W. Parry. The firm of Foster & Parry was continued
until January 1, 1855, at which time Mr. Parry retired. In 1848 the
business was removed across Monroe street, to a building which stood facing
the east, and in part on ground ever since occupied by the Foster &
Company hardware store and tin and sheet iron manufacturing shops.
After Mr. Parry, Mr. Foster had in succession as partners, Henry Martin
and Martin Metcalf and then for ten years as sole proprietor he conducted
the fast increasing business of the establishment; in 1869-70 erecting
the fine brick block at 16 and 18 Monroe street, and in 1872 laying the
foundation walls at Nos. 10, 12 and 14. January 1, 1873, was formed
the firm of Foster, Stevens & Company, Wilder D. Foster taking as partners
his eldest son, Frank W. Foster, and his nephew, Wilder D. Stevens, which
firm name is still retained in the business and trade at the same place.
Further reference to the name and fame of that hardware establishment is
scarcely needed here. In it Mr. Foster spent his business life.
It was prominently and favorably known all over the State, and its prestige
is well sustained by his successors. As a successful merchant whose
character stood for the embodiment of integrity, such confidence was reposed
in him and his management that the house never suffered in credit; and
it safely weathered several financial storms before which many others went
down. A quiet, private life best suited Mr. Foster's taste and inclinations.
But such men are needed in public affairs, and it was in accordance with
the nature of things that he should be called to participate therein.
In the village days he was an active member of the Grand Rapids Lyceum,
and often took part in its debates. There he was storing and training
his mind for other spheres of action. He was prominent in organizing
and starting an efficient fire department, in which he afterward served
as Chief Engineer. During nearly a quarter of a century he had an
active part in the management of the public schools, which had no more
earnest friend than was he. Industrious, practical, sound in judgment
and principles, he was often called to official positions of trust and
responsibility. Though not intensely partisan, he was an earnest
Republican from the organization of that party. In earlier life he
at first voted the Democratic ticket; but in each of the National elections
of 1844, 1848 and 1852 he gave his vote for President to the Anti-Slavery
candidate. As a man, a citizen and a public servant he had the undoubting
confidence of all who knew him. In 1851 and 1852 he was elected City
Treasurer. He represented his ward as Alderman in 1852. In
1854 he was one of the Board of County Superintendents of the Poor.
He was thrice chosen Mayor of the City - in 1854, 1865 and 1866.
In the legislative term of 1855-56 he was a member of the State Senate.
At a special election in 1871 he was chosen to represent his (then the
Fourth) District in Congress, receiving a majority over his chief competitor
of 5,481; and at the general election in 1872 was re-elected to the same
position, receiving 8609 majority, and almost two thirds of the total vote
of the District. In public service Mr. Foster was always found faithful,
manful, honorable and efficient. He did the work of the people well.
Both there and in private life he was a very busy man, with an energy that
never flagged and which sometimes carried him beyond the support of his
physical strength. He was kind and sincere and benevolent.
No worthy person in need appealed to him in vain. During the war
his sympathies and his generosity went constantly out to the soldiers in
the field and to their families at home. Toward those about him in
his business and the workers in his shops his bearing was ever that of
the kind and considerate friend. He treated his employes [sic] as
men, and assisted the humblest among them as he found opportunity.
He was quick to recognize the good, and slow to believe evil of any one.
To an employe [sic] who had been with him nineteen years he wrote, shortly
before his death: "One thing I know you cannot help thinking about, as
you grow older and feebler; that is whether your place will continue to
you, and I now say that you need not borrow any trouble on that point.
There will always be place for you as long as the business is run by a
Foster or Stevens, whether you can do as much as now, or twenty years ago,
or not." In that expression shines Mr. Foster's real character.
He lost much, through his accommodating spirit, but was never heard to
complain, nor to censure those by whom the losses came. "With malice
toward none and charity for all," he was yet steadily successful in business,
to the end. January 11, 1849, Mr. Foster married Fanny Lovell, a
sister of judge Louis Lovell of Ionia, who survived him in life, subsequently
was married to Noyes L. Avery, and died in this city May 8, 1886 - a lovely
woman who won affection by her virtues and graces. Mr. Foster died
at his home in this city September 20, 1873. At his funeral was a
vast concourse of citizens attesting their love for the deceased and their
great grief over his departure. In the matter of religious faith
he had never professed allegance [sic] to any creed; in his belief he doubtless
came nearer to Universalism than any other. He was an attendant,
regularly, with his family, at the Congregational Church. His religion
was in his life of morality and purity. He was a strictly temperate
man, and as such, an exemplar and teacher to all about him. His life
and his work are inwrought in the materiality and growth of Grand Rapids;
this record is for him both a eulogy and a monument. [See page 116.]
In August, 1845, Joseph Stanford started a "copper, tin and sheet iron
manufactory" at the corner of Canal street and Crescent avenue, the present
site of the Grinnell Block, where he conducted a moderate business for
several years.
In the summer of 1846 William H. McConnell started a small tinshop in
connection with a hardware store on the south side of Monroe street, two
doors above Waterloo. With him, then or soon after, was his brother
John McConnell, a practical workman, who continued the business there for
a time, and afterward for many years on Canal street, with a fair degree
of success.
JOHN McCONNELL, who has been a highly esteemed citizen of Grand
Rapids for some forty-three years, is a native of the old town of Newbury,
Berkshire, England, where he was born September 22, 1821. His early
schooling was in what was known as John Moss' Academy, at the place of
his birth, and was somewhat limited, his feeble health obliging him to
give up study at ten years of age. In 1833 he, with his father, William
McConnell, and family came to America and settled in Rochester, N. Y.
There he was employed in mercantile houses until 1842, when he moved to
Mount Morris, N. Y. In 1844 he opened a store at Dansville, N. Y.
In 1847 he disposed of that and came to Grand Rapids. Here he again
engaged in mercantile trade, which he followed, chiefly in hardware, some
twenty years, with a good degree of success. In 1850 he purchased
a tract of ten acres of land next south [sic] of Wealthy avenue and west
of Division street - then in the woods - and built there a pretty residence,
the first on that quarter section of land, in which he still lives.
He has served as Alderman and Supervisor of his ward, giving faithful and
efficient service in both positions. He has also served several years
on the Board of Education. October 5, 1848, Mr. McConnell married
Mary Escott. They are both members of the Episcopal Church.
He has been a vestryman at St. Mark's a number of years; was one of the
chief founders of Grace Church, and for some time a Trustee and one of
the Managers of St. Mark's Home and Hospital. He has been a member
of the Masonic Fraternity since 1848, advancing through all the degrees
of the original American system, and was among the earliest of the Knights
Templar in this State. He is recognized as a citizen of practical
good sense and judgment; one who takes great interest in whatever tends
to promote the general welfare and prosperity. He was one of the
original stockholders and Directors in the Grand Rapids and Holland Railroad
Company, afterward merged in the Chicago & West Michigan. In
1871 he retired from active business, and with a fair competence and pleasant
social surroundings is enjoying happily the evening of life.
Nearly every house where the hardware trade has been a specialty has
carried on the tin and sheet iron business industrially, to a greater or
less extent. Among those who have operated shops may be noticed:
Goodrich & Gay, on Canal street, 1858; William S. Gunn, for about thirty
years past (who with his sons has built up a very large trade on Monroe
street, with a wholesale house on South Ionia); De Long & Scribner
on West Bridge street, for a short time after the war; William P. Kutsche,
for fifteen years or more, east side of Canal near Bridge street; Carpenter,
Judd & Co, 1873 and for a few years near Sweet's Hotel. At later
dates there have been: John Whitworth & Co., West Bridge street; Peter
Dogger, toward Coldbrook on Ottawa street; Maris, De Graaf & Co., 115
Monroe; J. A. S. Verdier, Spring street; William Miller, South Ionia; Frank
Leitelt and F. A. Prin West Bridge street; Ferdinand Scheu East Bridge;
Joseph Berles, Canal, between Pearl and Crescent; N. B. Kromer & Son,
Plainfield avenue; Rickard Brothers, South Division; Whitworth & Alden,
37 West Bridge; Barstow & Jennings, East Bridge; Melis Hardware, Grandville
avenue; Blakeley & Jennison, 78 South Division, and Schmidt Brothers,
224 Fulton. Most of these employ journeymen, and a number of others
are engaged in this industry.
Nearly all manufacturing enterprises in this city had their beginnings
in the area between Fulton and Bridge streets, within forty rods of Canal
street, and tinsmithing is no exception. On the West Side it was
started about thirty years ago by S. Rawson. About fifteen years
ago some shops were opened near Coldbrook, and in 1876 Gerrit Meinardi
gave it a start on South Division street. More recently, in 1882,
the region on Bridge Street Hill, near Barclay street, became the center
of a little cluster of stores and business houses, where Fred N. Jennings
opened a shop, leading to the business since conducted by Barstow &
Jennings, and near them Kromer & De Windt are in the manufacture and
trade. Every ward in the city now has some of these indispensable
workshops.
GALVANIZED IRON WORK.
The manufacture of galvanized iron cornice commenced here about 1870.
In that year it was made a branch of their business by Foster, Stevens
& Company, hardware merchants, who placed Frederick Shriver and Warren
C. Weatherly in charge of the work. The latter are probably entitled
to the credit of originating the idea of the use of such cornices in Grand
Rapids. Shortly after, the firm of Shriver, Weatherly & Company
was formed, and took full control of that special branch of the trade.
They succeeded well, and soon in addition to cornice work began to shape
galvanized iron into a variety of forms, fanciful and convenient, for different
uses in the construction of the fronts of buildings, making it ornamental
as well as useful, in brackets and imitations of stone work, in various
styles and designs. Later, in 1873, Sokup & Company entered this
field of enterprise, the individual members of the firm being Frank J.
Sokup and John Hormuth. This firm is still in existence, and working
at 93 Campau street. In March, 1882, W. C. Hopson commenced the manufacture
of galvanized iron work (now located at No. 9 Pearl street), and W. S.
Gunn & Company also added this branch to their business. McDonald
& Emmerson began the manufacture in May, 1888, at 75 Ottawa street.
The cornice on the McMullen building, corner of South Division and Island
streets, is a specimen of their work. A. B. Hum & Company, Hermitage
Block, and Barstow & Jennings of East Bridge street, among others,
are workers in this line. It is an industry which has grown steadily
and quite rapidly from its beginning to the present time, and constitutes
a very important feature in the architecture of the city, turning out an
annual product of not far from $120,000.
EDGE TOOL MAKING.
In the early part of 1851 William N. Cook and John Blain opened a shop
on the bank of the river, a little south of Bridge street, east side, for
the manufacture of axes and coopers, carpenters and shingle makers
tools, and built a trip hammer for the work. Blain came here from
Waterloo, N. Y., and was a skillful artisan at the trade, and Cook was
also an expert workman in iron and steel. In the early part of 1852
the works were burned, but were immediately rebuilt on a larger scale,
with steam power added; near the junction of Ionia and East Fulton streets,
William S. Gunn having joined the firm at the new works they were enabled
to manufacture six dozen axes per day, besides a variety of other edge
tools. In July, 1853, Mr. Gunn bought out his partners, and continued
the business for about three years, when he disposed of his interest to
Hathaway & Alcumbrack, the plant having in 1854 been removed to the
canal bank, by the site of the old Lyon salt well. Charles W. Hathaway
and Daniel Alcumbrack constituted the new firm. This shop was burned
when the bridge burned in April, 1858, at which time F. T. Ranney had succeeded
Mr. Hathaway. Rebuilt, and again in the hands of Mr. Hathaway, it
was doing a thriving business in 1864. Another trip hammer had been
added to the works, and, soon after, James D. Lyon became a partner.
In 1870 they were turning out about 240 axes per day. The factory
in 1873 passed into the hands of James G. Granger, and a little later the
Grand Rapids Ax and Edge Tool Works Company was organized, the members
being Benjamin W. Chase, Asa E. Hawley and Charles G. Quivey, under the
firm name of Chase, Hawley & Quivey, by whom the works were operated
for a few years. More recently the manufacture has been prosecuted
by Edward A. Munson, at 52 Mill street. Though not one of the heavy
factors in our manufacturing interests, edge-tool making has been carried
on here forty years, and still gives employment to fifteen or twenty men,
whose annual product will average perhaps $1,000 each. The history
of the works here briefly sketched comprehends substantially that of the
entire business in Grand Rapids, only one or two small shops besides having
taken part therein.
William N. Cook came to Grand Rapids in 1843, a blacksmith by trade.
He was born at New Hartford, Oneida County, N. Y., May 13, 1821.
His first work here was in forging iron work for flouring mills.
Soon opening a shop, he followed his trade during most of his business
career. His sign was a familiar one for twenty years or more, being
the motto of the order of the Mechanics' Mutual Protection - "The Hope
of Reward Sweetens Labor." He was also for some years engaged in
the making of edge tools, an expert in most lines of his craft, and though
resting from hard work is still a sprightly citizen. He has served
efficiently in several ward and city offices, and takes much interest in
horticulture. He ironed by hand work and set up in 1843 the first
buggy with elliptic steel springs made in this valley.
GUNSMITHING.
Samuel Buchanan came to Grand Rapids in 1842 and opened a gun shop on
Ionia street, a little south of Monroe. He worked at the business
of making and repairing firearms for near a dozen years. His son,
John C. Buchanan, learned the trade, and removed his little factory to
the north side of Monroe street, opposite the National Hotel, where be
continued the business until the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion,
when he enlisted and went into the army. About 1858, or a little
earlier, George R. Pierce opened a gunsmith shop on Monroe street below
Waterloo, and Chester B. Turner embarked in the business on West Bridge
street. This is not classed among the heavy branches of manufacturing
in Grand Rapids, but from the beginning two or three mechanics of the trade
have found in it a fairly remunerative occupation. In 1867 Charles
Lindberg opened a shop on Ottawa street, and followed the business most
of the time for about twenty years. John H. Mahieu in 1867 and for
some time, carried on a shop on Monroe street. Christian G. Baisch,
locksmith and gunsmith, has worked at the business a dozen years or more
near the Bridge Street House. Other parties at recent dates have
been trading in guns, pistols and sporting goods generally; among them
William H. and Henry W. Calkins for several years on Ottawa street prior
to 1885; also Lysander S. Hill & Co., on Pearl street, recently and
up to the present time. (Mr. Hill, the senior partner of this last
named firm, died in December, 1888.)
RAILROAD CAR SHOPS.
The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Company opened their shops in
1876. They are in the southern part of the city between Hilton and
Wallen streets, occupying about twenty-five acres. Repairs for the
railroad are made in these shops, as well as building new coaches and freight
cars. In 1886 the coach and paint shops were destroyed by fire, but were
rebuilt with substantial structures on a much larger scale. The capacity
of the shops (1888), in addition to repairs, is two coaches and from fifteen
to twenty freight cars per month. The average number of men employed
in the shops is about three hundred and fifty, at an expense of some twenty
thousand dollars per month; but as the department in charge of the Master
Mechanic, S. K. Bradley, includes all engineers and firemen on the road,
the total number of employes [sic] in his charge averages about six hundred,
with a monthly pay roll of nearly thirty-five thousand dollars.
GAS FITTING AND PLUMBING.
Work at this trade began immediately after the introduction of gas in
this city. As early as July 28, 1857, Norcross & Co. advertised
their readiness to receive orders for gas fitting in all its branches,
at the store of Foster, Martin & Co. William W. France, Jan. 1, 1858,
opened a gas fixture shop near the foot of Monroe street, and about the
same time the hardware firm of which Wilder D. Foster was the head made
gas fitting a branch of their business. Previous to that, plumbing,
though a small business, had been done by most of the hardware establishments.
As a distinct business that of plumbing and gas fitting has become quite
an important one. In 1865 Thomas Smethurst entered the field, near
the corner of Ottawa and Monroe streets, where he and after him J. A. Smethurst,
continued the business for about a dozen years, and then removed to Lagrave
street. In 1873 Shriver, Weatherly & Co. began this class of
work at the corner of Lyon and Canal streets, Thomas Smith & Co. on
Monroe street, and William A. Brown on Canal street. Since the latter
date have appeared, McDermot Bros., afterward McDermot & Runions, on
Ottawa street; William Miller, on South Ionia street, and Sproul &
McGurrin, as steam fitters also, on Canal street. Still later, since
1880, Ditric & Hoffman, Thompson & Robertson, A. F. Worfel &
Co., Allingham & Bannerman, W. J. Cunningham, A. B. Hum & Co.,
Manns, Soule & Co., and Hunt & McCall, and perhaps some others
have operated in the trade. With half a dozen establishments in operation,
this important branch of industry is now an adjunct of considerable proportions
to our manufacturing interests, giving employment to a large number of
hands, and it is to be hoped that the workers are accumulating profits
with the ease and facility traditionally attributed to the professional
plumber. Weatherly & Pulte are running a good business on Pearl
street, and Fred Shriver gives employment to several hands at his works
on Island street.
SPECIAL CASTING.
Moulton & Rempis - L. V. Moulton and J. H. Rempis - have a thrifty
business at 54-56 North Front street, where they make a specialty of grey
iron castings, manufacturing a variety of convenient and useful articles,
such as lawn vases, settees, roof crestings, carriage steps and hitching
posts.
BRASS AND BRONZE WORKS.
The manufacture of brass goods as a distinct business in Grand Rapids
was begun in May, 1882, when Daniel W. Tower associated himself with Thomas
Farmer, Jr., for the purpose; making cabinet hardware and trimmings.
In 1887 Mr. Tower purchased Mr. Farmer's interest in the firm, and in July,
1888, it was merged in the Grand Rapids Brass Company then organized -
President, Daniel W. Tower; Vice President, M. S. Sinclair; Secretary and
Treasurer, George F. Sinclair. Their factory is of brick, four stories,
50 by 92 feet, at 162 to 166 Court street, finely, equipped with the best
of machinery, and as near fire-proof as may be. Capital stock, $25,000.
Employes, [sic] sixty. Output of goods about $75,000 per year.
VALLEY CITY FILE WORKS.
File making was begun in this city about 1863 by William Cox, whose
shop, for a time, was on Lyon street, afterward removed to Erie and then,
about 1872, to Mill street. Two or three years later the establishment
was taken to the West Side and is located at 75 Front street. It
gives work to four employes [sic]. The business consists of the manufacture
and recutting of mill and machine and three-cornered files. The sales
amount to some $4,000 annually. It is the only factory of that kind
in the city.
STEEL WIRE NAILS.
A new enterprise in this city is that of the Steel Wire Nail Manufacturing
Company at 62 and 64 South Front street. It was organized in January,
1888 - Herman Leitelt, President; Wensel Ansorge, Vice President; William
Leitelt, Secretary and Treasurer. Capital stock, $8,000; annual output
thus far, about $10,000.
WOOD WORKING MACHINERY.
The manufacture of various kinds of wood working machines has been carried
on to some extent by most of the iron machinists of the past forty years,
in connection with their general Work. For some twelve or fifteen
years two or three have turned their attention to the making of special
wood working machinery as their main business, and the great growth of
the demand for such work has made it a profitable business. C. 0.
& A. D. Porter have an establishment on North Front street giving employment
to many skilled hands. Alexander Dodds conducts a similar establishment
on South Front Street.
WIRE WORKS.
Edward Racine, about 1876, established a factory for wire work on Monroe
Street, and has continued the business to the present time; having recently
removed to Waterloo street, near Fulton.
ALDINE PATENT FIRE-PLACE.
This article is a movable fire-place, made to be set in any room where
it can be connected by pipes with a chimney. It has a grate for burning
coal, and is finished with a mantel, making it ornamental as well as useful.
The Aldine Manufacturing Company - A. D. Rathbone President; J. T. Philips,
Secretary and Treasurer - with factory at the corner of Shawmut avenue
and Court street, has been operating some three years.