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Greatest Hits
Memorable tales of triumph, tribulation and transformation in our rich commercial past
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Business New Haven
7/10/2000
By:
Priscilla Searles
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Blake Gets Stoned
The invention of the stone-crusher by Eli Whitney Blake, nephew of Eli Whitney, had a revolutionary impact on construction and presaged the creation of the vast American highway system.
The development of the stone-crusher came about as a result of a challenge. In 1851 Blake was placed on a New Haven town commission charged with laying two miles of macadam pavement on Whalley Avenue, from New Haven to Westville. He observed the waste of labor in producing the crushed stone needed for the road: It took two days to produce one cubic yard of broken stone, all done by a worker with a sledgehammer. Blake set about to find a solution to a problem that was being faced by all major American cities.
“The importance of a machine to do the work became immediately obvious and from that time for a period of seven years, scarcely a day, or an hour, passed in which my mind was not mainly occupied with the subject,” said Blake.
Patented in 1858, Blake's machine took the largest of the stones and crushed them to the required size using two upright steel jaws which closed with a force of 27,000 pounds per square inch. The first machine, capable of producing various sizes of crushed stone, worked exactly as Blake had intended and remains the progenitor of present-day stone crushers.
The availability of crushed stone made the production of concrete financially viable, giving birth to what became known as “the age of concrete.”
Chandler Cowles & the Carriage Trade
Chandler Cowles came to New Haven to seek his fortune. Joining forces with William Cornwell of Cromwell, in 1838 he rented a shop at 122 York Street and began manufacturing carriage hardware.
By 1841 they were listed in the directory as platers. The partners expanded the line to include door handles, locks and other coach parts. Years later the company would convert this line to automobile accessories. The partnership between Cornwell and Cowles continued for 15 years until 1853, when Cornwell left to run the Humphreysville Copper Co.
Moving his shop to 29 Orange Street, Cowles began to produce coach trimmings, hardware and stove ornaments. Cowles' half-brother Ruel had come to New Haven a few years earlier and was manufacturing coaches in a factory next to Cowles' shop. Realizing that it was possible to expand his business, Cowles approached Ruel and New Haven accountant John N. Babcock and proposed that their businesses be amalgamated. The Cowles brothers knew the carriage trade; Babcock knew finances. On March 22, 1855 C. Cowles & Co. was incorporated. Chandler was elected president and treasurer.
Chandler Cowles left the company he founded a legacy of longevity and the ability to diversify as times changed. C. Cowles & Co., which moved its operations to Water Street in 1890, is still doing business that that same location, producing metal-stamping parts for the automotive industry.
Joseph Parker: Paper Tiger
Joseph Parker believed that waste from cotton mills might make a high-quality paper. He knew that the process was already being done successfully in England. He found a partner, J.K. Herrick, a wholesale stationer in New York, and in 1840 opened the West Rock Paper Mill on Whalley Avenue in New Haven.
Producing a paper noted for purity and excellence, the company paid $20 per gross ton for cotton waste, transforming it into book-papers that matched the quality of those produced overseas - at $125 a ton. The manufacture of a high quality, cotton-based paper was a great success, soon imitated by others.
A trip to a New York stationer in 1856 gave Parker the idea for his next product. Seeing the first case of blotting-board ever imported into America, he happen to have some sample sheets of cardboard with him, made for a manufacturing company. He conducted a test to see whether this cardboard could be used as blotting-board.
It not only worked - but was better than the product manufactured in Europe. Parker's company became the first in the United States to produce blotting paper, soon becoming a world leader in the field.
Parker's older brother Frederick had joined the organization in 1841 and the company's name subsequently changed to J.H. Herrick & Co. Four years later Herrick retired. Over the years others joined the partnership and the company underwent several name changes, incorporating in 1892 as the Joseph Parker & Son Co.
The company discontinued production of book-paper and concentrated on blotting paper, shipping the product all over the world. Joseph Parker & Son continued producing blotting paper until its closing in 1970.
From Office Boy to Mogul
Joseph Bradford Sargent began his career at age 16 when he left his home in Leicester, Mass. to go to work for a dry-goods firm in Boston. Hired as an office boy, Sargent before long was managing the Boston business.
Turning his talent to selling for a number of concerns, Sargent became a major stockholder in one of the companies, Peck & Walter Hardware of New Britain. In 1857 he gained control, but several years later, when Sargent attempted to purchase property needed for expansion, he was met with some opposition. Exasperated, he moved the entire operation to New Haven and with his brothers George and Edward purchased waterfront property at Water, Wallace and Hamilton streets. In May 1864 the plant, now known as Sargent & Co., opened for business.
Sargent's ideas on manufacturing were highly progressive and the new factory was so modern that many in New Haven predicted the failure of the business even before it opened. Despite the opinion of New Haven's business community, the plant opened with running water on each floor for washing, manufacturing and fire purposes, adequate bathroom facilities and a slate roof.
A building on Water Street was used for manufacturing and office space. A foundry for grey iron castings ran the entire length of the block on Collins Street, and the brass foundry was located on Wallace Street. A dock on the property was renovated to accommodate coal barges and other large vessels. The old Pavilion Hotel, once a summer resort for families from the South, was renovated to serve as housing for workers and their families.
Starting with the production of approximately 1,000 items, by 1871 the company was adding extensive additions to the plant to accommodate 2,000 workmen. Using the alphabet to mark each new building, by 1882 the company had reached the letter V. Following the Civil War, Sargent Co. became the largest supplier and distributor of hardware in the U.S., buying out many smaller companies. A major course change for the company came in 1884 when it began to manufacture locks.
J.B. Sargent died in 1905 at the age of 83. Although large privately owned manufacturing concerns have all but disappeared in the U.S., the company that bears his name continues to prosper as a manufacturer of architectural hardware for the building trades, now under the flag of Swedish conglomerate Assa Abloy.
The Gun That Won the West
In 1854 Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson patented an improved loading mechanism - a toggle-link lever action - for the repeating rifle. Volcanic Repeating Arms Co. was formed, with Oliver F. Winchester, a New Haven shirt maker, and 39 others as investors. When the poorly managed company failed in 1857, Winchester bought out the other investors and in April of that year reorganized the company under the name of the New Haven Arms Co.
Selling Volcanic rifles, which Winchester claimed could fire 30 rounds in less than a minute, the product and company at first earned no more acceptance than its predecessor.
But in 1862 the New Haven Arms Co. introduced the first successful repeating rifle, the Henry, in time to take part in the Civil War. It became known as “the gun you could load up on Sunday and shoot all the rest of the week.” In spite of the new design, Winchester failed to get any government contracts during the Civil War. The company's success was due to private retail sales, with some 10,000 bought by state troops.
The Henry did have teething problems, and in 1866 improvements were made. With the new lever-action repeating Model 1866 rifle, the name of the company was changed to the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. Winchester now claimed that their rifle could fire two shots a second without loss of aim. This model was quickly accepted on the Western frontier. During the post-Civil War years to the dawn of the 20th century, Winchester was the household name for repeating rifles.
The Model 66 was the first in a long line of outstanding lever-action repeating firearms. The most famous were marked ONE OF ONE THOUSAND, engraved on the barrels of the 1873 and 1876 models. The Model 73 is still referred to as “The Gun That Won the West.”
In 1888 Winchester purchased the Whitney Arms Co. and in 1895 introduced the first sporting rifle, the Model 94 .30-30. Still in production today, more than six million of the weapons have been manufactured. Between 1915 and 1918 Winchester produced over one million guns (including Enfields and Browning Automatic Rifles, in addition to bayonets) for U.S., British and Russian military forces.
The flip side of the company's rapid expansion during World War I was financial distress in the 1920s when armed forces shrank, government contracts evaporated and Winchester was left with idled production facilities. Winchester responded by producing hand tools, knives, ice and roller skates, flashlights, batteries, refrigerators, radiators, fishing equipment, garden tools, paint and field hockey sticks.
It wasn't enough. The company entered bankruptcy in 1931 and was purchased by the Western Cartridge Co., a division of the Olin Corp. Emphasis was now placed on sporting rifles and shotguns. In 1937 Winchester received a contract from the U.S. Army to manufacture 500 units of the new Garand rifle, the first commercial gunmaker to receive such a contract. During the Korean War Winchester manufactured M-14 rifles and subcontracted to Colt for part of the M-16.
Parent company Olin entered into a number of new ventures, such as aluminum and chemicals, that were to be the downfall of Winchester. In 1981 Olin sold rights to use the Winchester name to a group of investors incorporated as U.S. Repeating Arms. Today Winchester guns are produced in the U.S. and Canada under a special contract with Olin, allowing U.S. Repeating Arms to continue to manufacture the existing line. The Winchester name can be used on new models, subject to Olin's approval.
Olin continues to own the Winchester trademark and retains all other rights, which include selling a line of Japanese-made guns under the Winchester trademark.
Dwight: If at First You Don't Succeed…
Later known as the New Haven Copper Co., the Humphreysville Copper Co. had its beginnings when John William Dwight (grandson of the Rev. Timothy Dwight, president of Yale from 1795 to 1817), his brother Timothy and Raymond French formed a partnership to produce augers, working in a plant in Humphreysville. The partnership ultimately led to the founding of the Humphreysville Copper Co. in 1849.
Located on the Naugatuck River, Humphreysville had its name changed to Seymour in 1850 but the company retained the original name. It was French who organized the company, with John serving as its first president. The company reorganized in 1852.
By 1853 Humphreysville Copper began building its smelting and sulfuric acid manufactory on the East Shore of New Haven Harbor in what was then East Haven. Soon ore-laden schooners were docking at the new East Shore wharf. The company was given permission by the General Assembly to construct a breakwater. Ore was turned into refined copper at the Morris Cove site and transported to the rolling mills in Seymour.
Reflecting the move, in 1855 the company changed its name to the New Haven Copper Co. Dwight remained president. A year later, in spite of assets of $615,000 and liabilities of $295,000, serious problems set in.
Residents complained that fumes from the smelter were poisoning the vegetation and that the smell traveled at least two miles. The smelting operation was shut down. In 1857 the company quitclaimed its 15 acres of land and dwellings to Dwight, marking the end of the Seymour company's interest in the New Haven location.
Dwight now began to manufacture saltpeter. By 1862 he had formed the New Haven Chemical Works attempting, unsuccessfully, to manufacturing white caustic soda. Ironically, on the last day of operation workmen found two kettles of white soda. No one knew how it had been produced and it came too late to save the company.
Not one to give up, Dwight returned to an old standby. He formed the New Haven Saltpeter Co. Dwight died in 1887, leaving no will. The insolvent New Haven Chemical Co. and the land known as the Copper Works was sold at public auction and resold in 1890 to the Parks Commission and became Fort Hale Park. Fort Hale became part of the New Haven Parks Department in 1921. The New Haven Copper Co. is still in operation on the Naugatuck River in Seymour.
The Other Warner Brothers
It took a couple of doctors to sell women on the idea that “rearranging” the human body via the old-fashioned corset was not practical. Doctors Lucien C. and I. DeVer Warner put their heads together and came up with a corset to fit a woman's body, unlike other Victorian undergarments which “tied” her in.
The brothers called their product “Dr. Warner's Sanitary Corset” and although an improvement, the Warner corset was still highly restricting by today's standards. The brothers later changed their sales pitch to “Dr. Warner's Health Corset,” a terminology we can only assume had more appeal.
Production began in a local tailor shop, with sales offices located in Lucien's home and an office in New York. Having used women to sell his medical books door-to-door, Lucien decided to use this same method to sell the corsets.
On his way to a college reunion at Oberlin he stopped off in Painesville, O. to show his new product to a retail store owner, who bought three dozen. Realizing that the future of this product was in mass wholesale sales, he proceeded to hire a salesman and the corsets were offered to stores.
By 1883 the line included corsets for stout woman, young ladies and even included one corset with elastic. Early corsets were boned with horn or whalebone, making the garments uncomfortable and impractical, since both materials broke easily. The Warners discovered a fiber of the Mexican ixtle plant, devised a machine for building the fiber into cords, sizing and tempering it, thus creating a boning material called “Coraline.” Warner Brothers was now able to advertise the most comfortable and only unbreakable corset in America.
As early as 1875 the company was running display ads for corsets, likely the first corset ads in America. Skilled corset-fitters were hired and traveled the country, convincing merchants to add fitting rooms, unheard of before the Warner Brothers sold the idea to seller and buyer alike. Warner Brothers continued to grow and expand (with a few hard years during the 1920s when women got the vote and discovered new freedoms in the pre-bra-burning era), acquiring on new companies and eventually becoming known as Warnaco.
A Revolution in Agricultural Research
The first institution of its kind in the nation, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station was born in 1875. Today there is a station in each of the 50 states, but Connecticut pioneered the way.
Today the station's staff investigates insects, ticks, forests, plant diseases, fruit, vegetable and nursery crops, plant breeding, soils and water, analyzes fertilizers, feeds, food, drugs, cosmetics and other consumer products in cooperation with other state agencies. It also registers beekeepers and nurseries and inspects for pest insects and plant diseases.
Yale professor Samuel William Johnson pressed the idea of an agricultural experimental station for Connecticut. It was while studying agricultural chemistry in Germany that Johnson developed the idea. Germany already had a station that was tax-supported; had the characteristics of a public corporation; was not controlled solely by farmers; had a board of control comprising scientists, politicians and farmers; was close to but not part of the local university; and its research was not a hobby of college professors. Johnson saw the station as a blueprint for a Connecticut station.
When Johnson returned to Yale he discovered that many fertilizers were frauds, convincing the newly formed Connecticut State Board of Agricultural that fertilizer analysis was needed. Provided funds by the board, he established the first consumer protection office in the nation.
Actively campaigning for a station, Johnson faced a number of failures before his dream would become a reality. Farmers were not in favor of a station or farming based on “book larning.”
But Johnson was joined in his battle by others, and on July 20, 1875 Gov. Charles R. Ingersoll signed a bill establishing the Connecticut Agricultural Experiential Station. Its first location was at Wesleyan University in Middletown.
In 1877 the legislature passed a new bill transferring the station to New Haven. A board of control was established. Yale offered space in the old Sheff building at the corner of College and Grove streets. In 1881 the legislature provided enough funds to purchased six acres on Suburban Street, now known as Huntington Street. Land was purchased from the estate of Eli Whitney Jr., and his former residence became the office building for the new station.
Today the facility houses seven scientific departments: analytical chemistry, biochemistry and genetics, entomology (the study of insects), forestry and horticulture, plant pathology and ecology, soil and water and valley laboratory (located in Windsor).
In addition to the extensive research done by the station, in 1998 the staff registered and inspected 327 nurseries and 1,397 honey-bee colonies and inspected thousands of individual plants or other regulated materials begin shipped into or from Connecticut. The station also operates a 75-acre research farm in Hamden, known as Lockwood Farm.
Many important discoveries have come out of research at the station, including vitamin A (in 1913), hybrid corn and the first crossed sweet corn variety. Another critical discovery was a fungus that keeps the gypsy moth population under control. In 1889 the station introduced the first soil fungicide in America. In 1960 the station discovered the first chemical control of ozone damage, spray with a dithiocarbamate fungicide.
It was an Experimental Station scientist who discovered, imported and released a Japanese ladybird beetle predator of hemlock woolly adelgid in an attempt to save hemlocks in Connecticut forests. Approximately 65,000 beetles have been released in the state to date.
The station published its first report on Connecticut mosquitoes in 1904. In 1998 it opened a laboratory where the eastern equine encephalitis virus was isolated from mosquitoes collected in five towns in eastern, central and western Connecticut. In 1997 the station initiated a community-based Lyme disease tick-control project encompassing 2.25 square miles and many residences in Old Lyme by attracting deer to feeding stations which apply a chemical pesticide to kill ticks feeding on the heads and necks of the deer. BNH
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