Clayton, W. Woodford, History of Union and Middlesex Counties. p. 656-675.

CHAPTER XCV. 

CITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK.— (Continued.)

Industrial Pursuits.— The industries of New Brunswick may be thus enumerated: Architects, 5; bakers, 15; blacksmiths and wheelwrights, 21; books and stationers, 5; boot and shoe dealers, 47; box manufacturer, 1; broom-factory, 1; buckram and mosquito-netting factory, 1; butchers, 21; carriage manufactory, ,3; carpenters and builders, 21; carpet-weavers, 8; cedar cooper, 1; cement, lime, and sand, 2; cigar box-factory, 1; clothiers and tailors, 19; confectioners, 21; coal, brick, and stone, 10; corsets, 1; china and glassware, 3; cutlery grinding, 2; druggists, 9; dry-goods, 11; dyers, 2; fancy goods and notions, 15; foundries, 3; fruit-dealers, 6; fur goods, 4; furniture-dealers, 6 grain, hay, and feed, 3; groceries, 86; hardware, 3; harness-makers, 7; hats and caps, 6; hides, 3; hotels, 15; house and sign painting, 11; iron and steel, 2; jewelers and watchmakers, 8; leather and shoe findings, 2; leather shoe factories, 7; lime-kiln, 1; locksmiths, 2; lumber-dealers; 2; machine-shops, 3; marble and slate mantels, 1; marble-works, 4; mason and builders, 9; needle-works, 1; oil-dealers, 2; paper-hangings, 2; parasols, canes and trunks, 1; photographers, 1; picture-frame dealers, 2; plumbing and gas-fitting, 8; plow-manufactory, 1; pottery, 1; printing-offices, 4; pump-factory, 1; roofers, 3; sail-makers, 1; sash and blind-factory, 2; saw-mill, 1; ship-yards, 2; boat builders, 1; soap-works, 1; stair-builders, 1; stonecutters, 2; stoves and tinware, 14; taxidermist, 1; teas, coffees, and spices, 3; besides many minor employments that nothing short of a thorough private census could give us the proper information concerning. As nearly as can be ascertained, however, the industries of this city number over sixty. Sketches of some of the largest of them are given below.

NEW JERSEY RUBBER SHOE COMPANY.— This company, under the name of "New Jersey Rubber Company," was known by that name since 1839, although different companies have been established from the same rubber company. The following interesting historic account gives the early organization of the former companies:

It is a well-known fact that they were started by Horace H. Day, and were the centre of the famous litigation between Charles Goodyear, with his associates, Ford & Co., the Newark Company, the Hayward Rubber Company, and the L. Candee Company on the one side, and Day on the other, for the latter’s infringements of the Goodyear patent. It was here that Day built his first little shop, still standing on Dennis Street and now a part of the great works, and here that he enlarged his business, made mints of money as the phrase goes, and persisted in his persecution of poor Goodyear until finally beaten in the courts by the last great effort of Daniel Webster. For years it yielded him an annual profit of fifty thousand dollars on shirred goods, a great portion of the money going to sustain his suits with the patentee.

It was about 1839 that Day started his little Dennis Street shop, and turned out carriage-cloth made by spreading over cloth rubber dissolved in turpentine, and shoes made from the rubber uppers that came from Para, by fitting them upon leather bottoms. As soon as the Goodyear vulcanization process came out in 1844, Day claimed the right to use it as an un-patented English invention, and began making the improved shoes. After prosecuting him, Goodyear compromised by permitting him to make exclusively shirred goods, leaving the shoe manufacture to Onderdonk & Letson, the Newark Company, Ford & Co., and the Naugatuck Company. This compromise was violated, and lawsuits followed in regular succession, until Mr. Day was finally vanquished. Meanwhile being helped by several of our citizens, who had known him from his boyhood (he came here early in life to live with his uncle), he had enlarged his works gradually until they came to occupy the very large space they now fill.

The high chimney bears the inscription of 1858, with his name, and it was but two years later that he gave way to the Goodyear Elastic Fabric Company. The work of this company for the next four years is indicated by its name, and in 1864 William Judson bought out the works and ran them for two years. Rubber blankets for use in the war were now a prominent feature of the business, the vacant lot on the east side of Dennis Street being filled with racks of the sun-drying cloth. In 1866, Cornwell, Murphy & Bennet came into control of the works, but soon sold out to the Manhattan Rubber Company. This concern lasted but a short time when it failed, and the factory lay idle for a long time. In the fall of 1869, Mr. Christopher Meyer bought the works and associated with him Messrs. Ford and Hyatt, the three forming the Hyatt Rubber Company. This name was not continued a full year, but was changed to the New Jersey Rubber Company, which went into operation with a capital stock of two hundred thousand dollars in April, 1870. President, L.L Hyatt; Treasurer, Christopher Meyer; Secretary, James B. Ford; Superintendent, J.H. Canfield.

Few men have had more varied and valuable experience in the rubber business than President Hyatt. Formerly engaged with Mr. Meyer at Milltown, in the year 1855 he went out in the employ of Hutchinson, Henderson & Co., to superintend their factory near Montargis, France. The factory was an immense one, ranged along three sides of a rectangle, with the most spacious and elegant grounds beyond, shaded with trees and watered by a canal, which served also for shipping goods to the main canal beyond. From here he went to Paris to superintend the very large works of the Compagnie Nationale, there making boots and shoes, clothing, hose-packing, and all mechanical goods. In 1857 Mr. Christopher Meyer planned a prodigious manufactory at Edinburgh, Scotland. He had stocked the building now occupied by the Novelty Rubber Company with machinery for which he had no use when the hard rubber-works began operations there, and it occurred to him to utilize it by organizing a foreign factory. He therefore sent Messrs. Norris and Pannlee with it to Edinburgh, and bought for the new works the immense buildings of the Castle Silk-Mills. Two years later, at his request, Mr. Hyatt took charge of these new works, which manufactured on a tremendous scale, employing over a thousand operatives, including at one time five hundred girls, and turning out fourteen thousand pairs of shoes per day, besides hose, clothing, etc. Mr. Hyatt came back to this country in 1869, when the control of the Castle mills passed into other hands. (Messrs. Meyer & Ford still retaining stock, however), and took charge of these New Jersey works, now idle and rusty. He at once went to work preparing for their successful operation, and in April, 1870, started them. The buildings were the same as those left by Day in 1860, occupying about two-thirds of the block facing Dennis, Neilson, and Richmond, and measuring two hundred and thirty by forty-five feet, one hundred and twenty-five by thirty feet, each three stories, and one hundred and fifty by thirty feet, two stories, and since that time until the present enlargements have been made as the business extended. At the present time the building of a large brick extension is in contemplation. New ovens and furnaces have been constructed, and numerous additions made to the machinery. The largest calender in America is set up here, its face of roll being five feet, the diameter of the roll nearly two feet. It was built at the National Iron-Works of this city, and is a triumph of iron work, for although eight feet high, it could be managed perfectly in every particular by a man on the floor without changing his position.

In the month of August, 1876, a fire destroyed most of this structure, and since then it has been built and remodeled, and now, with the proposed improvements, will be one of the largest structures for manufacturing rubber in the world. It now employs a large number of hands, nearly equally divided between the sexes, and every day turns out thousands of pairs of shoes, as well as rubber boots and carriage-cloth. It has changed the name since 1877 to the New Jersey Rubber Shoe Company, with John R. Ford as president; Christopher Meyer, treasurer; Howard Meyer, secretary; and John C. Meyer, superintendent. With regard to the work of this factory, it may be stated that it occupies an A 1 place in the market, and is bound to keep at the head of it.

JANEWAY & CO., PAPER HANGINGS.— This establishment was commenced in 1844 by John P. Hardenbergh, and in the fall of 1845 Henry L. Janeway became interested. In 1848, William R. Janeway became one of the firm, and in 1849 Mr. Hardenbergh retired, and the firm became Janeway & Co. They began with a factory measuring forty feet by twenty-five; they now use an immense structure facing on Water Street and the canal, covering nearly two acres of ground and measuring, the main building, fifty by two hundred and fifty-four feet. Their coloring house is a large building attached, and they have a large engine-room with a seventy-horse engine, and steam pipes are carried all over the building, bringing it to one temperature. Ordinary wall paper is printed from maple rollers, which have been seasoned for several years in the factory and then accurately turned. Gilt paper and water-colors are printed from maple blocks, having a cross-grained pine back.

There are between one and two hundred hands employed, and the factory turns out nearly three million rolls of paper-hangings, borders, and a large quantity of window-shades per year, consumes tons of paper, also of clay and colors, chemicals, and over five hundred tons of coal.

The following is from an earlier account of these works: In printing, Janeway & Co. use nine printing-machines made by Waldreon, of this city, including one twelve-color, four eight-color, and four six-color machines, costing from twelve hundred to three thousand five hundred dollars. Machines are made at a cost of over ten thousand dollars each, which print as many as eighteen colors, being twenty-five feet in diameter, with the effect, of course, of producing gaudy and cheap-looking patterns. The drying in all the processes is done by hanging the fabrics over steam pipes, where they are conveyed by a peculiar machine invented by Mr. Janeway, but never patented, which saves the handling that was formerly necessary, to the great injury of the wet paper.

The secret was let out by one of their discharged employes, and the machines are now in use both in this country and in England, where one of the manufacturers claims it saves him one hundred pounds per day.

Before being printed, however, grounding is first put upon the paper. Clay from Amboy and the South— the whitest being from England— is pulverized in large mills and mixed with coloring to the desired shade, and also mixed with sizing to make the printing colors hold better to the paper. The process of printing gold and silver paper is quite an interesting one. These papers have been made in France, where formerly all the paper-hanging manufacturing was done for many years, and the gilt paper has been long made in this country also; the silver paper though formerly in fashion, was discontinued until two or three years ago, since which it has been introduced by the efforts of Janeway & Co. Velvet paper is made by flock being put on in the same way as the bronze, flock being a French preparation of woolen cloth ground up and colored. Water-colors are put on by hand-blocks. For borders of the common variety the printing-machines may be used, but the better kinds are printed with hand-blocks. Window-shades are printed from blocks on wide machines.

The designing is a very nice part of the business, the aim being to suit and attract the public according to the varying fashions which prevail in wall-paper as well as in clothing. As we have said, this factory’s work stands high in the market for excellence and durability of material, for elegance of design, and for artistic finish, and it occupies a very important place among the industries of the city. Their business extends from Maine to California, and all of the States north of the Southern States. For a time there was very severe competition; some of the New York firms lost large amounts of money, while Janeway & Co., with their extensive facilities for business, still carried on their business in this city and outlived all competition, and owing to the severity of this competition they came to an agreement of uniformity of price, which system has its advantages and disadvantages, but is believed to be the best system according to the views of a majority of manufacturers.

The design of this establishment is to send one of the firm to Paris every year, to obtain the designs (which in France is a business by itself). They are continually receiving letters complimenting their artistic styles and manner of manufacturing. They have also an extensive store-house, where their goods are packed ready for the market.

FURNITURE, CORNELIUS POWELSON.— This large manufactory of furniture of Cornelius Powelson was located on the corner of George and Schureman Streets, in 1847. It was at that time the beginning of a large business in this city, which sprang from a small shop on the corner of New and George Streets. The trade increased until he erected his present four-story brick structure and launched out into exclusively first-class furniture and upholstery work. The designs are made according to the wish of his customers, and the result is that he equals the best dealers in New York, and sells a great deal cheaper. He uses the very best of choice veneers and woods, and his work is known all over the country.

CONFECTIONERY ESTABLISHMENT.— About the year 1850, Mr. William Frank opened a small place on the east side of Peace Street, and began to manufacture and sell goodies to an admiring public of little ones. This was the day of small things, but in 1878 he had a large confectionery store, with an extensive toy establishment, the goods being imported from Germany. He still employs a number of men at 15 Peace Street in the manufacture of every description of French and American candies, numbering over two hundred varieties. He supplies at wholesale the stores in the various country towns within twenty miles of the city, which, with his city sales, bring up his business to over twenty thousand dollars annually. We have not space for a description in detail of the various processes, machines, and moulds required in the making of the multitude of varieties of goods, but we may say they belie the old joke about the reluctance of those who see candy made to eat it.

McCRELLIS BROTHERS’ CARRIAGE MANUFACTORY, established in 1851. The three brothers McCrellis began the manufacture of carriages, wagons, and sleighs in their new factory on Somerset Street. They have become one of the most extensive manufacturing firms in this city, employing a large number of workmen, constructing handsome carriages equal to any other manufactory, and have made for themselves a reputation for the excellence of make and durability of material second to none in the country.

NORFOLK AND NEW BRUNSWICK HOSIERY COMPANY.— Established in 1866. Office, Neilson Street, above railroad bridge. President, Johnson Letson; Secretary and Treasurer, John N. Carpenter. It is said that this is the largest manufactory, and the manufactory making the best goods in the hosiery line in America, and that the machinery used makes it altogether superior to any similar establishment in the world. It is under charge of the Norfolk and New Brunswick Hosiery Company, which has an interesting history.

About fifteen years ago Messrs. I.K. and E.E. Kilbourn being engaged in making yarn in Norfolk, Conn., determined to get a hand-knitting machine to use some of it up. While working this they gradually introduced improvements until they thoroughly mastered the principles of the machine, and conceived an original idea in the construction of one, namely, an, automatic motion,—something that had been often tried but never accomplished. They went on to New York and endeavored to form a company on the patent they had obtained, but met with no success until they enlisted their former townsman, Mr. L.P. Porter, then engaged in the rubber business in New York, in the enterprise. The works were established in Norfolk in 1858 on a capital of seventy-five thousand dollars, and the goods made there were of a coarse gauge. Messrs. Porter and E.E. Kilbourn meanwhile visited Europe to inspect foreign works, but found nothing like Kilbourn’s machines. From 1858 on the works at the Norfolk factory continued to increase, and a great difficulty met the company in the fact that there were not people enough in the vicinity to keep even with the works in seaming the made goods. Mr. Porter having now relinquished the rubber for the hosiery business, looked about New York and Brooklyn for a new factory, and at the suggestion of the Messrs. Dayton, who were directors, and whose acquaintance he had made in former business transactions, came out to this city to look at the building formerly occupied by the New Brunswick Rubber Company, near the railroad bridge. Dissatisfied with this, he gave up the plan of locating here until his attention was called in the cars on the homeward trip by Mr. James Bishop to the old cotton-factory of Col. Neilson, near the Novelty Rubber Works. He came back and looked at it, and was delighted with its adaptation to the business. The factory and machinery were bought, much of the latter being put to use; the new company was incorporated. Since then constant improvements have been made, and extensions to the buildings. The original factory, with excellent water-power, at Norfolk, Conn., turning out a large amount of the coarse kind of work, and in New Brunswick the factory is devoted to the finest and best work made in this country, four large buildings being devoted to its manufacture, while others are in process of erection.

The old wooden saw-mill of Col. Neilson, near the upper canal locks, is also in full operation as a picking department. Large buildings for shirt and drawer knitting-looms, and also stocking-looms, are in operation. The amount of capital is over five hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and about one million dollars of annual product. The following gentlemen were among the first in its organization, and held office up to 1874:

L.P. Porter, Jonathan Earle, James Dayton, Johnson Letson, Jacob S. Carpenter, T. Deland, M.A. Howell, W.W. Welsh, James Neilson, S.V. Hoffman.

The goods thus turned out are sold by the company exclusively, the main dealers being those like Stewart and Claflin, of New York, and with these the goods rank next to imported in reputation and price. In quality and true worth they are superior to the imported, and would crowd the latter out of the market if it were not for the names "domestic" and "foreign," which mean so much to some classes of people. It is a fact, however, that the demand is greater than the factory can supply, and is rapidly increasing.

The following is a description of this immense establishment, the largest in the world, covering fully six acres of ground:

The buildings are all brick, and kept in complete order and repair. Over three million pounds of wool are used in the manufacture of hosiery, and over two thousand tons of coal consumed. This immense establishment employs one thousand men, women, girls and boys.

The following comprise the board of directors: Johnson Letson, president; John N. Carpenter, secretary and treasurer; Mahlin Runyon, Lewis T. Howell, James Neilson, Christopher Meyer, Augustus F. Libby, William W. Welch, John Van Deventer.

The head manager, who has charge of the entire establishment, having a large number of foremen superintending over one thousand operators, Henry McMurtry.

JOHNSON LETSON, merchant and manufacturer, of New Brunswick, N.J., was born in that place Dec. 8, 1806. He is the son of Thomas and Ann Letson, both of whom were natives of New Jersey, the former having been born at the Raritan Landing, Oct. 12, 1763, the latter at Piscataway in 1774. The father, while yet a young man, removed to New Brunswick, where he established the leather manufacturing business, pursuing it until about l832, when he retired to his farm at Three-Mile Run, where he resided until his death, May 13, 1851. The mother, died in, New Brunswick, October, 1856, at the residence of her son, the subject of this sketch.

Young Johnson Letson was educated in New Brunswick, closing his education at the grammar school auxiliary to Rutgers College, in the main building of which it was then held, under the Rev. John Mabon, D.D. His education, though not polite, was solid, like the understanding it trained, and afforded, on the whole, a fair preparation for the long and active and useful life before him. When about the age of fourteen he went to New York as clerk in a hardware store, where he remained for some three years, after which he returned to New Brunswick, where he served in the same capacity until 1827, when he again went to New York, engaging this time in the book business, which he pursued for about two years, and then sold out, returning once more to his native city.

The needle in his life’s compass now began to rest, and seeing his way clearly, he followed it hence-forward steadily.

In March, 1830, he started the hardware business in Burnet Street, New Brunswick, and prosecuted it there till 1855, a quarter of a century, when, content with his large success, and desiring a more quiet and retired life, he disposed of all his interests in it, and has since devoted himself mainly to the discharge of his duties as an officer of various corporations, conspicuously the duties devolving on him as president of the New Brunswick Rubber Company, an office which he has held since the organization of the company in 1850. In connection with several other gentlemen he organized in 1863 the Norfolk and New Brunswick Hosiery Company, of which he was then made one of the directors; and upon the decease of Lucius P. Porter, its first president, in 1876, Jacob S. Carpenter was chosen president pro tem., and filled the office until 1877, when Mr. Letson was chosen president of the company, which position he has held since. He has been one of the directors of the National Bank of New Jersey at New Brunswick since its organization, was chosen one of the directors of the Willow Grove Cemetery Association upon its organization, and for several years has been its president.

In 1863 he was elected a member of the board of trustees of Rutgers College, and for several years past has acted as chairman of its finance committee.

In April, 1870, upon the organization of the Particular Synod of New Brunswick (Reformed Church), Mr. Letson was appointed its treasurer, and has continued the incumbent of the office since. In January, 1875, he was induced to take the treasurership of the Middlesex County Bible Society on account of some irregularity in its former accounts.

There would seem to be no relief for him when he accepted an office at the hands of a corporation. Such is the sense of his business capacity and of his general trustworthiness, that if he serves once he has no choice but to serve as long as he is able to.

Glorious servitude, in which the fetters are forged of honor and fastened by esteem. Mr. Letson has never taken an active part in politics, although long ago he served as a member of the City Council for several years, and was always identified with the Whig party before it was dissolved, as he has been with the Republican party since its organization. He is, indeed, as little of a politician as is consistent with good citizenship, his catholic tastes and his broad feelings chafing against the limitations set up by political organizations. In 1830 he married Eliza L., daughter of Cornelius and Eliza W. Shaddle, of the city of New York. Their two surviving daughters are Amelia L., wife of Rev. Theodore B. Romeyn, of Hackensack; Mary S., wife of William H. Acken, of New Brunswick. One daughter, Ann Elizabeth, died a young lady, another died an infant.

LUCIUS PHELPS PORTER.— His father, Capt. Henry Porter, was a prosperous farmer of Coldbrook, Conn., and removed to Norfolk, in the same State, with his family in 1823, where both himself and wife died. The family consisted of four Sons and two daughters, of whom only Frederick E. Porter, superintendent of the Norfolk Hosiery Company at Norfolk, survives in 1882.

The maternal grandfather of Lucius P. Porter was Capt. Jeremiah Phelps, a prominent and influential citizen of Norfolk. Lucius P. Porter was born at Coldbrook, May 14, 1818, and remained at home, spending his time between the routine of farm-work and attending school until the age of seventeen years, when he began a business life for himself, and for two years was a clerk in a store at Norfolk. He was a clerk afterwards for a few years for Paulus Warner at Plymouth, Conn., and subsequently for Henry Terry, of Colchester, with whom after one year he formed a copartnership in business.

During the continuance of his business relations with Mr. Terry he first took an interest in manufacturing, the firm being the owners of the Plymouth Woolen-Mills. In 1848, Mr. Porter removed to New York, retaining his connection with the mills, and in 1851, with two other gentlemen, who also with him had become possessed of valuable patents, organized the New York Rubber Company, which has since become one of the most prominent in the country. He superintended the building of the branch mills at Fishkill, N. Y., was the principal in developing the large business of the company, and remained a trustee and actively connected with the concern to the time of his death, April 2, 1876.

In 1857, Mr. Porter, with several other capitalists, among whom was Jonathan Letson, Esq., present president of the Norfolk and New Brunswick Hosiery Company, of New Brunswick, and the late Charles P. and James Dayton, of the same place, organized the Norfolk Hosiery Company at Norfolk, Conn., with a capital of seventy-five thousand dollars, of which he was chosen as treasurer. In 1859 the stock of the company was increased to one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, and the company arranged to manufacture fully fashioned hosiery by steam-power. In 1863 the demand for the company’s goods so increased that it was found necessary to enlarge their facilities for manufacturing, and after prospecting in New York, Brooklyn, and other places, Mr. Letson was authorized to purchase the property now occupied by the Norfolk and New Brunswick Hosiery Company in New Brunswick, where a large branch of the business has been carried on since. Mr. Porter was chosen president of the company, whose capital stock was subsequently increased to five hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and soon after took up his residence in New Brunswick, where he resided until his decease. He was public-spirited, enterprising, and largely instrumental in establishing the largest and one of the most important of the manufactories of the city. Always interested in every worthy local enterprise that tended to the prosperity of the city and the welfare of its citizens, he supported them morally and liberally financially, and from his first settlement in New Brunswick until his death he was known as kind-hearted, upright, and a promoter of good society, and given to deeds of charity. He was a much-esteemed member of the First Presbyterian Church for many years, and one of its board of trustees.

Mr. Porter was twice married, and left a widow and two daughters.

On April 3, 1876, following his decease, the Board of Water Commissioners of the city held a meeting for the purpose, and among other appropriate resolutions passed the following:
     "Resolved, That in his official relations as a director of the New Brunswick Water Company from June 24, 1868, to April 30, 1873, and as president of the Board of Water Commissioners of the city of New Brunswick from that time to the close of his life, he has given his time, already over-occupied, and his superior executive abilities to the business of the Board of the city, without other compensation than the satisfaction of seeing a public work of the highest importance to all of our citizens wisely and economically conducted, and in such a way as to best meet the present and future demands to be made upon it. As those who well know the valuable services of Mr. Porter in this work, we desire to express, for ourselves and for our citizens, the high estimate we put upon his labors for this cause."

On the same day, at a meeting called for the purpose, the directors of the Norfolk and New Brunswick Hosiery Company, with other resolutions, passed the following:
     "Resolved, That since the organization of this company Mr. Porter has been its trusted and faithful president, and to his untiring devotion and wise and prudent management it owes its growth and prosperity. In all their relations with Mr. Porter the members of this Board have found him a noble and sympathizing friend, a public-spirited citizen, sacrificing private conveniences to public interests, and a high-minded, unimpeachable officer, who gave the best energies of his life to the faithful discharge of his duties."

JANEWAY & CARPENDER, MANUFACTERERS OF PAPER-HANGINGS.- This firm is characterized by a strong determination to excel those who can date back their organization a score or two of years. The factory was established in 1863, their office in Neilson Street above railroad bridge, by Messrs. Belcher & Nicholson, the latter being a retiring partner of the firm of Janeway & Co. It turned out principally bronzes, and what are technically known as French drawn stripes and mouldings. In January, 1870, Mr. Charles J. Carpender bought out the interest of Mr. Belcher, and the firm of Nicholson & Carpender continued the business until July, 1872, when Mr. Nicholson retired and Col. Jacob J. Janeway, formerly with Janeway & Co., formed a copartnership under the name of Janeway & Carpender. The business was at once extended to include the printing of blanks and satins, and the firm has met with such success that further additions to the size and capacity of the works were found needed. Sales have been made by the firm all over this country and in Canada to jobbers and to the trade, and the products of the establishment are circulated far and wide. Their works occupy large buildings and employ a large number of hands.

They turn out the different varieties of blanks, satins, tints, gold and silver paper, and French drawn stripes and mouldings. It is not necessary, since we have already described the process of printing, to enter upon any delineation of this kind of work at this factory.

But the great specialty of this factory is its French drawn mouldings and stripes, which we have not yet had occasion to describe. The former are used in paneling off a room in imitation of fresco, the mouldings being surmounted by caps and corners to complete the panels. The French drawn stripes, which are made by but one other concern in the country, are exquisite combinations and shades of stripes which take the place of figures in wall-paper. The process of making the stripes and mouldings is the same, though several considerations unite to make the cost of production of the latter greater than of the other. In mouldings corners are printed by hand separately, and they with their corresponding mouldings are fitted round a centre of plain or fancy paper for the interior of the panel. In making the stripes and mouldings the colors, which are all mixed on the premises, are poured into "pans," a separate one being required to be made for each pattern. The pan is a tin box as long as the pattern is wide, and its section is triangular. It is divided into compartments, which are of course triangular in shape, and are open at the base and have apertures at the apex. Each of these compartments is filled with a separate color, and a succession of them contains all the colors of a pattern in consecutive order. The pan then is only to be set on edge and the paper to be passed under it for each color to flow out of the aperture of its compartment and imprint itself upon the paper, the color being fed as fast as used by little gutters at the side, from which separate slits in the tin lead to the various compartments. Thus the colors in the order of the pattern are printed in what appears to be a very simple style, without blurring or running together. Mouldings are commonly made in this country by printing, but by that process each pattern requires as many impressions as there are colors, and by this simpler process of using pans the whole is done at once and better, and of course cheaper.

The firm shows its enterprise and appreciation of public taste by bringing out nearly one hundred patterns in the different goods every year, besides working over old rollers in brown blanks. This paperhanging factory is one of the best in this country, doing excellent work with novel designs in French mouldings and stripes as are to be found in this country or in Europe.

ROLFE & SON’S SAW-MILL.— This city possesses but one saw-mill, that of Isaac Rolfe & Son. In the year 1863, Mr. Rolfe established himself, with Mr. G.W. Metlar, in the saw-mill at the foot of New Street, in Burnet Street. The old Neilson mill for years had stopped work. The necessity of a mill for the convenience of many having use for sawed timber, became urgent, and this mill was built. Since then the grounds have been enlarged to meet the growing demands of business, and now measure one hundred and eighty feet on Burnet Street by three hundred feet deep, the canal front being about three-hundred and forty feet. The mill does a large amount of sawing and planing required by the sales of the firm, and most of the timber—white pine, hemlock, oak, chestnut, ash, etc.— is brought direct from Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, Illinois, and from Canada, and the total cost per year reaching over $100,000. Mr. Rolfe’s son, John Rolfe, the junior partner, has the active superintendency, and employs nearly one hundred men throughout the year.

THE MEYER RUBBER COMPANY.— Established at Milltown in 1844, incorporated in 1861, for the manufacture of rubber boots and shoes. President, Christopher Meyer; Treasurer, John R. Ford; Superintendent, John C. Evans.

In the year 1839 Mr. Meyer came to New Brunswick from Newark to put up for Mr. Horace H. Day the first steam-engine and machinery for the first rubber operations ever carried on in this city. Mr. Day was then making carriage-cloth and rubber shoes, but his carriage-cloth was so odorous as to be intolerable, and was moreover so soft that when the carriage top was put down the folds of the cloth stuck together and peeled off, and his shoes in summer were similarly unfit for use, while in winter they became hard as bricks. It was here that Mr. Christopher Meyer, who had begun his investigations soon after Goodyear and Day, made his first essay at manufacturing, and here obtaining his right under the Goodyear patent, and fighting the battles with Day under the Goodyear banner, he went on inventing and improving machinery and perfecting the progress of rubber shoe making, and to-day no man in the world more thoroughly understands all the branches and details of the rubber trade than Mr. Meyer. He is the leading spirit of three companies here,— the Meyer Works at Milltown, the New Jersey Rubber Shoe Company, and the Novelty Hard Rubber Works, every one in a prosperous condition and occupying an important place in the rubber trade.

And Mr. Meyer discovered a plan by which the odor was almost entirely obviated, and the cloth and shoes rendered more durable,— a plan, in fact, which was only surpassed by the subsequently-discovered process of vulcanization. Mr. Day refused to recognize the value of this process, and Mr. Meyer thereupon decided to leave his employ, a determination he insisted upon, even when Mr. Day reconsidered his refusal. In 1840, therefore, Mr. Meyer started on his own account near the Landing Bridge, and stayed there three months. Messrs. Hutchinson & Onderdonk had meanwhile dissolved partnership in their Water Street rubber-factory, and the latter started the rubber-manufacture in the old saw-mill of James Neilson, near what is now the upper lock of the canal, the former going to Newark. Mr. Onderdonk failing in his experiment, Mr. Meyer bought him out, and ran the works with his own machinery for two years. He was so successful that Mr. Onderdonk bought him out in turn, and, associated with Mr. Johnson Letson, started the works under the name of Onderdonk & Letson (this firm subsequently merging into the New Brunswick Rubber Company).

Mr. J.C. Ackerman now proposed to Mr. Meyer to build him a factory on the site of the old Milltown grist-mill, and this was done, Mr. James Bishop joining with Mr. Meyer in the management. This was in 1843. The next year the works were started, and engaged in the manufacture of shirred goods, carriage-cloth, and rubber shoes with leather buttons, the latter being soon substituted by the Goodyear "metallic" or all rubber shoes, for though Mr. Goodyear had a patent it was not respected, the process immediately becoming common property.

Before this process of vulcanization was understood the rubber had to be dissolved in turpentine and acids. The caoutchouc was received from Para in three forms,— in sheets, in bottles, and in rough shoes made by dipping clay moulds in the sap. These three forms were all utilized by Mr. Meyer; the rough shoes were fur-tipped and prepared for sale, the gum bottles were dissolved and spread over cloth for carriage-cloths, the imported sheets were cut into fore-uppers and joined with cloth quarters to cover leather soles for shoes. In this manner the works turned out some one thousand pairs of shoes per week. They also turned out rubber ponton-bridges and boats for government use in the Mexican war. In 1845 the factory was burned down with Mr. Meyer’s residence, leaving him absolutely without a cent of capital or stock or machinery. Mr. John R. Ford then came in and furnished capital to start the works anew, and under the name of Ford & Co. they continued in operation for several years. The new buildings measured twenty-five by one hundred and thirty and thirty by forty feet, and with them the business steadily grew and improvements were made until 1851, when a second fire visited the works. In the following year a stock company was formed named the Ford Rubber Company, and the present buildings were occupied. In 1858 the name of the company was changed to the Meyer Rubber Company, and so it still remains.

The process of manufacturing boots and shoes we have already described in detail, and for all its branches this factory is perfectly equipped, even sawing its own boards and making its own packing-boxes.

As we have already remarked, it is at this factory that most of the improvements in machinery have been invented and perfected. For example, the sole of a rubber shoe was formerly made in three parts, because there were needed three different thicknesses for the sole, the shank, and the heel. Here a machine was invented which converted a sheet of rubber at once into shoe-soles of three thicknesses in one piece all ready for the uppers. The machinery for making the present style of sandal was prepared here, and also the patent engraved steel-roll, by which a permanent impression is made upon the upper to resemble the ridge effect obtained in other factories by laying rubber cords on top of the fore-upper. This machine, by saving the manufacture of the cord, cheapens the cost over a cent and a half per pair, and saves a large amount per year to the companies who have the right to use it. Altogether the Meyer Rubber-Works are interesting, not only for the large extent of their business, but as the birthplace of most of the improved machinery for making rubber shoes, and as the origin of all the new styles of shoes which the market brings out.

CHRISTOPHER MEYER, son of John Christopher Meyer, was born in Hanover, Germany, Oct. 15, 1818. At the age of fifteen he left his native country thinking to better his condition in life, and, as others had done before him, find in America a reward for faithful toil and a competency for the industrious and self-reliant man. He landed in New York in 1834, where he remained for two years. Being of a naturally ingenious turn of mind, and having some knowledge of machinery, he, in 1836, went to Newark, where he engaged in a machine-shop, and had worked one year when he was intrusted with the superintendence of setting up a mill at Ramapo for Hugh Maxwell. In 1838 he was selected by Mr. Connoson, his employer at Newark, to assist Horace Day, of New Brunswick, in perfecting patterns, machinery, etc., for operating in the manufacture of rubber goods. Mr. Day found in young Meyer a valuable assistant, who not only designed but completed just what was wanted for the purpose, and engaged his services for two years, promising him large returns. When this time was nearly served, Mr. Meyer, saw that his most valuable talent was being used for the benefit of his employer with out any prospects of the promised return, and he resolved, although without capital in money, to start business for himself.

He spent his evenings, after days of hard labor, in making his patterns, and soon had his machinery ready for a beginning. Through the assistance of James Bishop, who lent him three hundred dollars, he started business in a small way at Landing Bridge, on the canal, and manufactured rubber shoes and rubber carriage cloth. After six months he removed to Weston’s Mills, and that location not proving suitable he rented of Peter C. Onderdonk the upper part of his saw-mill at the upper lock, where he carried on business for two years, and sold the business to Peter C. Onderdonk, which was the germ that developed into the New Brunswick Rubber Company. Mr. Meyer then rented a place of Messrs. Ackerman & Bishop, erected on purpose for him at Milltown, which, after he had carried on business one year, burned down, and swept with it nearly his entire effects. He rebuilt the works, and associated with him in business in 1845 John R. Ford, a dry-goods merchant of New Brunswick, and the firm of Ford & Co. continued business until 1850, when the company was organized under the general law as a joint-stock concern, under the name of "Ford Rubber Company," with Judge Ford as president and his son, John R. Ford, as treasurer. After four years the name was changed to "Meyer Rubber Company," and Mr. Meyer has been president since, with John R. Ford as treasurer, they holding and controlling since its organization the majority of the stock.

In 1853, Messrs. Meyer & Ford built the Novelty Rubber Company Mills at New Brunswick, which after one year they sold, transported their machinery to Edinburgh, Scotland, and organized the North British Rubber Company in 1854, in which they held a controlling interest until 1872, and since have been only stockholders.

In 1868 they purchased the New Jersey Rubber Company’s works at New Brunswick, with which Mr. Day had been connected, as before alluded to, which, however, soon after were destroyed by fire. In 1877, Mr. Meyer organized a new company, "The New Jersey Rubber Shoe Company," and erected commodious brick buildings on Little Burnet Street, in New Brunswick. He was also chosen president of this company, and controls a large part of its capital stock, which is used in the manufacture of rubber boots and shoes and pipes, canes, etc.

Mr. Meyer became interested in the rubber business of New Brunswick when in its infancy, and to him alone is largely due its development, which has made such rapid strides among the most important manufactures of America. This interest has increased under his management and superior executive ability from a business of a few thousand dollars until it reaches several millions annually. He persevered and met every obstacle to its success at the beginning, and by persistency of effort, good financiering, and judicious management has placed his manufactured goods in the principal markets of the world, ranking among the best of their kind.

Mr. Meyer may be safely classed among the self-made business men of the times, and an example of what properly directed ambition and a will to succeed under adverse circumstances may achieve.

Outside of his rubber interests, Mr. Meyer has been identified with many other important interests in New Brunswick and other places. He was a director and large stockholder in the old State Bank of New Brunswick, is a director of the New Brunswick Gaslight Company, was one of the projectors and owners of the Painesville and Youngstown Railroad, which he built in 1868 in connection with Mr. Ford, and sold out the same in October, 1881; a director of the New York and Boston and New York and Northern Railroads, a director and president of the Nashua-nick Company, of the East Hampton Rubber Thread Company, and of the Glendale Elastic Fabrics Company of East Hampton, Mass; a director of the German-American Fire Insurance Company, of the Municipal Gaslight Company, and of the American Bank-Note Engraving Company of New York.

Mr. Meyer was united in marriage in 1840 to Margaret Evans, of Belleville, N. J., who died in 1877, leaving the following children: Martha, widow of the late William A. Gray, of New York; Mary, deceased, was the wife of Henry A. Taylor, of New York; John C., a stockholder in, and manager of, the New Jersey Rubber Shoe Company’s works at New Brunswick; Kate, wife of George Lowther, of New York; Margaret; Clara, wife of Charles Greer, of New York; and Howard Meyer, confidential secretary for his father at their business office, 114 Duane Street, New York City.

THE NOVELTY RUBBER COMPANY.— This company was established in 1855. The works are in Neilson Street above the railroad bridge. They are manufacturers of hard rubber, etc. President, Christopher Meyer; Secretary, Nicholas Williamson.

The following is an interesting account of this company and the manufacturing of hard rubber goods for the market: The buildings were erected two years previous to 1855 by Mr. John R. Ford and Christopher Meyer, and used for a month or two for grinding the Milltown factory’s rubber, the machinery being subsequently removed to that factory; since that time the works have been in almost constant operation. The buildings are of good size, some thirty by one hundred feet, two stories; forty by one hundred feet, five stories. The engine-room is forty feet square. The goods manufactured amount to nearly S600,000 per annum, and include every possible variety of hard rubber goods, as the following list will show: buttons in great variety of styles; smokers’ requisites, such as pipes, pipe-stems, and bowls in great diversity of shapes, sizes, and prices, tobacco and pipe-boxes, cigar-cases, match-boxes, etc.; crochet-hooks, knitting-pins, and tatting-needles; a variety of articles used in trimming ladies’ dresses. In the line of stationery goods they manufacture round rulers of all sizes; also poker, hotel, restaurant, billiard, and jewelers’ checks in great variety; key tags and business of all kinds; elegant canes in immense variety, with plain crooks or ornamented with ivory or rubber trimmings, knotted crooks with carved rubber heads and ivory trimmings; canes of innumerable variety, and many other goods, under the name of "Yankee notions."

These goods are shipped to all parts of the world. Germany and England is a large market, also Cape Town, South Africa, Australia, Central and South America, where these goods are in large demand, and these in addition to the large quantities of goods sold to pipe manufacturers and dealers in this country.

The upper story of the main building is used for a paper-box manufactory, to supply the works with boxes for the shipment of their goods, so that from the reception of the caoutchouc gum to the packing and shipping of the goods the factory is completely furnished with all facilities for setting new styles and making great quantities of them. The company is working with a capital stock, which is all paid in, and is in a very prosperous condition, having the monopoly of its specialties and not abusing its powers.

THE NEW BRUNSWICK RUBBER COMPANY.— This company was established in 1849. Their buildings are in Washington Street near Peace. They manufacture rubber boots and shoes. President, Johnson Letson; Secretary and Treasurer, K.T.B. Spader.

They are among the best manufacturers who supply the American trade, some years exceeding five hundred thousand pairs of rubber boots and shoes, amounting to nearly $700,000, and employing nearly three hundred hands.

The company bought out from Onderdonk & Letson the Goodyear rights in 1849, and organized under a charter early in 1850, with the following corporators: Johnson Letson, Charles P. Dayton, James Hutchirigs, D.B. Stelle, P.C. Onderdonk, J.C. Ackerman, John Acken, M.A. Howell, William McDonald, P.P. Runyon, Lewis Stout, and James Bishop. The capital stock was at first placed at $60,000, but is now increased to $200,000. J.P. Langdon has been made superintendent since 1854. There were then but one or two other factories in America and none in England. Afterwards English works were started, the export trade stopped, and other works were established. In 1865 the rear four-story brick building, one hundred and twelve by forty feet, was erected, owing to the great increase of production. For the first ten years shoes were all plain rubber and sandals; boots began to be made in 1853, and "Arctics" not till about 1866. If it were not for the tariff of thirty per cent., there would be no production in America at all. The English make shoes at a cost of four or five cents each, while here they cost from twelve to fourteen. The caoutchouc in its raw state is received from South America. The sap from the trees is dipped upon a piece of clay, dried and lightly smoked on the exterior, which prepares it for packing. When cut open the interior is found to be of a light yellow color. These bottles are soaked in hot water, and then placed between two heavy iron cylinders and crushed, bringing out the rubber in clean sheets. This is dried thoroughly, and is then ground by a similar process, the rollers in this case being smooth and hollow, heated by steam. These sheets have to be ground three-quarters of an hour before sufficient smoothness is obtained, and they are then brought to other rollers for mixing, etc. This is only part of the process, but is the mode that all the gum has to undergo before being fit for the purposes of the manufactory. New machinery is being invented and adapted to its further use continually, and the demand for the goods is generally greater than the supply.

BUCKRAM AND MOSQUITO NETTING MANUFACTORIES.— One of the important commercial pursuits of this city is the manufactory of Messrs. D. McNair & Son, a large substantially built brick factory on the corner of Hamilton and Union Streets. For over twenty years Mr. McNair, Sr., has been actively engaged in the manufacturing of buckram, mosquito netting, and light muslin, having a large number of hands employed weaving these materials, which have a continual demand upon the market. The manner of arranging and preparing the threads which are woven in muslin is very interesting to those interested in the mechanism and complications of machinery.

OTHER INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS.— To complete the list of the industries or manufactories of New Brunswick not found in the census returns or in the directory, a thorough private census has been necessary to obtain the proper information. A full and reliable report will be found of the numerous companies as follows: The Consolidated Fruit Jar Company organized in 1870, with the following officers: President, S.R. Pinckney; Vice-President, H.C. Wisner; Secretary and Treasurer, H.E. Shaffer; Superintendent, M. O’Connor. The present officers are R.W. Booth, president, and A.L. Fisher, secretary. They commenced running under the combine patents of three or four former factories, with a paid up capital stock of five hundred thousand dollars. Their business has largely increased, orders being received from all over Europe as well as the Southern isles of the sea, where large quantities of fruits are prepared and put up in these jars and sent back to the Northern markets.

The machine-works are three in number, of which one, the National Iron-Works, makes a large proportion of the machinery in this vicinity and all the newly patented powder-making machinery; another the Empire Machine-Works, makes all the improved knitting-machines made in the world, and a third, the Waldron Machine-Works, is devoted to the manufacture of paper-hanging machinery, being a very important establishment, to which nearly every paperhanging factory in the United States pays tribute.

The rubber business is very largely represented in three large factories, of which an account has been given. The hosiery, also the carpet company, Star Oil Company, and a white lead manufactory. The paper-hanging manufacture of the city is quite extensive, one old and very large factory being in constant operation, and another having started a few years ago, destined to make a large business of its specialty of French moulding and stripes. The shoe industry has a large representation here, there being four factories, one of which is the largest in the State. The pottery establishment of Mr. A.J. Butler in Burnet Street is quite celebrated in its line of terra-cotta manufacture.

Other industries may be thus enumerated: boat-building, 4; bookbinding, 1; box-making, 2; brewery, 1; carriage, 4; cigar-making, 1; confectionery, 2; corset, 1; foundries, 3; hair-net, 1; lime-kiln, 1; marble-works, 4; printing, 3; sail-making, 1; sash and blind, 2; saw-mill, 1; scouring-mill, 1; slate roofing, 1; soap and candles, 1; spice and coffee-mills, 1; stair-making, 2; taxidermist, 1; weaving, 6; wine sauces, 1; bakers, cake and cracker, 15; blacksmithing and wheelwrighting, 21; boot and shoemakers and dealers, 42; broom manufacturers, 1; mosquito netting, 1; carpenters and builders, 21; carpet-weavers, 8; cedar cooper, 1; cement, lime, and sand, 2; clothiers and tailors, 19; coal, brick, and stone, 10; corsets, 1; cutlery-grinding, 2; dentists, 4; druggists, 9; dry-goods, 10; dyers, 2; foundries, 2; fruit dealers, 3; fur goods, 4; furniture dealers, 7; groceries, 84; hardware, 4; harness-makers, 7; hats and caps, 6; hides, 3; house and sign painting, 11; jewelers and watchmakers, 8; leather shoe findings, 2; locksmiths, 2; marble-works, 5; masons and builders, 9; mineral waters, 2; Oil dealers, 2; picture frame dealers, 2; plumbing and gas-fitting, 8; plow manufactory, 1; pump-factory, 1; roofers, 3; root beer, 5; sail-maker, 1; cigars and tobacco, 29; sewing-machine, 3; ship-yards, 2; small boat-builder, 1; soap-works, 1; stoves, tinware, etc., 13; team towing, 2; teas, coffee, and spices, 3.

The Toy Rifle Company, engaged for a while in the manufacture of newly patented toy guns and pistols, have ceased operations and are getting rid of a stock on hand, but will probably not again start in this city. A specimen of their work was sent to the exhibit at Vienna.

It would be interesting, if it was feasible, to give the prominent industries, the corporate or firm-name, the capital stock, the value of the annual products, the number, sex, and age of hands employed, the aggregate and average wages paid, with other remarks of general interest, giving in sums total statistics and statements which would be valuable; and we hope that some day New Jersey will have a commission similar to that in Massachusetts, whose duty it will be to investigate and publish such valuable contributions to social science.

MOTISHER & SHYERS, SHOE MANUFACTURERS.— This firm were among many others who came out of the strike in 1871, and commenced in that year to do work in manufacturing of shoes upon the co-operative plan, and afterwards Mr. Griggs came in, the firm-name becoming Motisher, Griggs & Co., and later Mr. Griggs withdrew and Mr. Shyers came in as the junior partner, as Motisher & Shyers. It was equipped with all the necessary rolling, splitting, skiving, channeling, the McKay, Howe, and Singer sewing-machines, and about twenty-five persons were employed. New Brunswick at that time promised to become quite celebrated for the extent of her shoe manufacture, leather as well as rubber.

VOSPER & KRAMER, SHOE MANUFACTURERS.— There was a considerable strike in the shoe manufactories in February, 1871, and some of the malcontents failed to return to their old work at the shops. In the excitement which followed six men, among whom were two very intelligent young men, Messrs. Vosper and Kramer, started a shop on the co-operative plan on Burnet Street, near New Street. Full of enthusiasm, they held on for a while, and were doing well, when dissensions arose among them as to the details of management, and the result was that in December of the same year Mr. T. Vosper bought out the concern, and soon after associated with him Mr. T. Kramer. This shoe firm commenced to employ about forty hands, turning out about eight hundred pairs of shoes per week. They did considerable business, when Mr. T. Vosper established a shoe manufactory in Hamilton Street, near Division, in 1879, and is carrying on quite an extensive shoe trade. 

THE NEW BRUNSWICK CARPET COMPANY.— This, was once one of the leading industries in the city, but the company closed their works in 1877. They have extensive brick buildings, covering some three acres of ground. They were first established in 1871 for manufacture of tapestry Brussels carpets. Mr. James Short was the general superintendent, and on Water Street near Somerset was erected their first building, some sixty by over two hundred feet. Since 1873 they have finished two other immense buildings, fifty feet by two hundred and fourteen feet, two and half stories; forty-five by eighty-seven feet, three and half stories, besides other smaller buildings. They employed nearly three hundred hands, producing near $1,000,000 worth of goods annually. The president as well as treasurer was Mr. R.N. Woodworth, but at the present time the business has been relinquished.

FRUIT-CANNING INDUSTRY, HOLMES & CO.— The fruit and vegetable canning establishment of New Brunswick, called The Home Valley Preserving Company, established 1880, capital twenty-five thousand dollars, growers and packers of all kinds of fruits, vegetables, meats, jams, jellies, etc., Benjamin F. Holmes, proprietor, Nos. 7, 9, and 11 Water Street, New Brunswick. The factory, originally the old Raritan Steam-Mills, a brick structure, sixty by forty feet, four stories and basement, built on three lots of ground, and so convenient that their goods can be shipped aboard of the vessels on the river from the fourth story of the factory. They have a fifty horse-power engine and elevators from the basement to the top of building for delivering their goods to each store. They employ nearly two hundred hands during the fruit season and half that number in winter, and from which hundreds of thousands of cans are sent into the markets of our large cities every year, and such is the fact, however, and this industry bids fair to rival any. About two years ago Mr. Benjamin F. Holmes, of Kentucky, a gentleman of vast experience in the fruit business, having been engaged in the enterprise for some years in New York, came through this section of the country in search of a proper location for a manufactory of this description. In prospecting about the State he came upon a spot which for natural advantages could not be equaled in another county. The farm on which stand the various buildings comprising the works is situated about three miles from the Pennsylvania Railroad in this city, and here he commenced this business, and now in the spring of 1882, he has also secured the Raritan Steam-Mills of this city, increasing his business double, and the apparent cleanliness with which the masses of fruits and vegetables are handled preparatory to sealing the same for the shipping department is worthy of notice.

All the cans are manufactured upon the place. Appliances in machinery are abundant. Large quantities of tin are purchased. The pig lead prepared running into moulds one foot length, three-cornered in shape, and about a third of an inch in thickness. The moulds are then carried to the solder-cutter, manipulated by a girl, when they are cut into "drops," three of which are necessary to put the can together, and enough drops can be cut by her in one day to make twenty thousand cans.

In the shearing- or cutting-machine the body of the can is cut from the sheet-tin, hundreds of cases of which are consumed weekly, and a boy at this machine will cut out the bodies of ten thousand cans in ten hours. The same boy, while stationed at a combination die and stamping-machine, cuts out the tops and bottoms for a like number of cans in one-half the time. Next in detail is the capping machines. These stamp out the little cap for the cans, and one drop of solder is sufficient to place the cap firmly on the can. Considerable dissatisfaction has heretofore arisen regarding the soldering of cans on the inside, which left particles of lead in the preserves, but by the Holmes method this is happily done away with. The six females have soldered seven thousand two hundred cans in one day. There are three sizes,— Nos. 2, 3, and 4, or pint- and quart- and gallon-cans. They are thoroughly washed, passed to the fillers, and when filled they are carefully wiped and sent to the cappers, who finish four thousand cans daily. The caps are soldered on in a neat manner.

At the Home. Valley Farm there are nearly two hundred acres in a high state of cultivation, and in a measure supplies a great deal of the fruit and vegetables for the works, besides some three hundred or more acres in the immediate vicinity are now in cultivation under contract, and a fair price being paid for every fruit or vegetable which finds its way hither. The business increasing from a shipment of two hundred thousand cans in 1880 now increased to some six hundred thousand cans, comprising fruits— apples, pears, peaches, the varieties of plums and grapes, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, gooseberries, blueberries, etc.— and vegetables,— corn, asparagus, peas, tomatoes, pumpkins, squash, beans, string and lima, etc.; also preserve poultry, beef, and mutton, and manufacture jams and jellies.

SASH AND BLIND FACTORY.— Mr. A.J. Butler is one of the leading manufacturers of sash and blinds. This business was established in 1856, and is situated in John Street, foot of Morris Street. They turn out a large amount of work during the year, much of which is ordered outside of this city. Mr. George Butler is the head manager.

MACHINE - WORKS (WALDRON’S).— One of the largest machinery works was established by William Waldron in the year 1848. It has been engaged largely in the building of machinery for the manufacture of paper-hangings, this being one of the important branches of business in this city. The Waldrons have exported some of these machines to Europe. The present proprietor, John Waldron, is manufacturing a large amount of machines at their brick building, No. 31 Dennis Street.

JOHN BOUNDEY, SHOE MANUFACTORY.— It was about 1861 or 1862 that machines for making shoes began to displace hand-sewed work, and since that time the whole character of the business has changed. So far from the labor-saving machines tending to drive out operatives, they appear, in this trade at least, to call them in, and machines come to be not only labor-saving but labor-creating. Mr. John Boundey started first in the old court-house, moved subsequently to where the Fredoniam office now is in Dennis Street, and later still, in 1866, removed to Bayard Street. He employs some fifty or more hands, and supplies the New York and other markets. He has a large amount of machinery for cutting and sewing, besides trimming-machines, etc. The McKay machine carries upon it a meter, which registers every stitch, and by inspection its agents can discover the average number of stitches in a pair of shoes. The factory is on Spring Street, near Albany Street.

MANUFACTURERS OF PAPER-HANGINGS, JANEWAY & CO.— Since the death of William R. Janeway this firm comprises the following gentlemen, under the firm-name of Janeway & Co.: Henry L. Janeway, Frank L. Janeway, and William R. Janeway.

KILPATRICK SHOE MANUFACTORY,— In the year 1877, Frank E. and James T. Kilpatrick, forming the firm of Kilpatrick & Co., manufacturers of leather shoes. Their large brick factory on the corner of Neilson and Hamilton Streets. This building, sixty by one hundred and two feet, four stories high, with engine-room, thirty horse-power, has all the appliances and improvements for manufacturing of medium class, of good solid leather throughout, and no other material used but leather. Women’s, misses, and children’s grain, pebble, goat, and kid, and men’s, youths’, and boys’; a calf and fine calf splits. They have an extensive home trade East and South, a business amounting to $350,000 per annum.

THE NEW BRUNSWICK CARPET COMPANY.— Among the industries of this city, established in 1871, was the New Brunswick Carpet Company, and for a number of years or until 1877 carried on an extensive manufactory of Brussels carpets. Immense brick factories, covering some three acres of ground, on Water Street and Somerset Streets. They extended their business to nearly a million dollars, employing a large number of skilled workmen. The process of manufacture of tapestry Brussels was not only a curious and intricate process. They also manufacture seamless druggets, crum-cloths. The superintendent, Mr. James Short, came from England and designed much of this machinery, which descriptions were published in the Scientific American, and were copied into the English papers at that time.

CONSOLIDATED FRUIT-JAR COMPANY; NEW BRUNSWICK.— Sole proprietors and manufacturers of the Mason fruit-jar trimmings, Boyd’s and Chace’s oilers, can-screws, and general metal goods. R.W. Booth, president; A.L. Fisher, secretary; Jacob Smith, Jr., treasurer. These factories are situated near the railroad bridge and canal office, in Water Street near Railroad. Running under the combined patents of three or four former factories, with a paid-up capital stock of five hundred thousand dollars. They established themselves about the year 1870.

RARITAN SOAP-WORKS.- For more than a century has this branch of the industry of New Brunswick been established, and in that time has had a number of proprietors. Among the chief have been B.V. Ackerman, who for a number of years made the bar soap which found a ready sale all over the country, and since then John Belcher became proprietor, but in 1880 the works were sold to the present firm of Max Lederer and Michael McKenna. They employ some twenty workmen.

THE EMPIRE MACHINE-WORKS.— The hosiery company must he credited with bringing to New Brunswick, besides their own factory, the important machine-shops of G.B. Mann & Co., called the Empire. Mr. Munn in 1856 was closeted with his townsman, Mr. E.E. Kilbourn, in Norfolk, Conn., in working out the latter’s new ideas with reference to improving knitting-machines. After a year and a half of secret toil, the Messrs. Kilbourn developed and patented these machines, and the Norfolk company was founded. Mr. Munn was engaged to construct the machinery for the factory. This he continued up to the time of the war, when for two years he engaged in the manufacture of guns. At the close of the conflict he began work for the hosiery company, which had meanwhile been reincorporated as the Norfolk and New Brunswick Company and located in this city. He came here in 1867 and formed a partnership with his old fellow-laborer, E.E. Kilbourn, under the firm-name of G.B. Munn & Co. One year thereafter Mr. Johnson Letson, Mr. L.P. Porter, and Mr. Kilbourn joined with him in the formation of the New Brunswick Machine Company, which continued operations for two years, being succeeded by Mr. Munn alone in 1872, and in July of the same year the firm again changed to G.B. Munn & Co., and so remained until now. Mr. George B. Munn has become the proprietor, situated at No. 13 Water Street, near Albany Street. They have nearly fifty men employed. The works have been somewhat enlarged since they began operation, and will be steadily extended and improved as the amount of business increases. A large amount of their knitting-machines not only supplied the hosiery factory here, but for other factories in other places and States.

THE NATIONAL IRON-WORKS.— They were established by Elijah Kelly in 1847. About nine lots were secured on New Neilson, Morris, and John Streets. He carried on this important and extensive manufactory, and gradually enlarging it, until Jan. 1, 1870, when he sold out to his son, William E. Kelly, who changed the name from the Eagle Foundry and Machine-Works to the National Iron-Works. Under the new energetic management the works have gone on enlarging and increasing in efficiency, until now with a large force of men nearly five hundred tons of pig iron are used up during the year.

The works are particularly adapted to making heavy machinery, and for years have made a specialty of rubber-goods machinery, such as that used in the manufacture of rubber boots and shoes, belting, packing-hose, car-springs, etc., and hard rubber. They now manufacture a great proportion of the machinery for the United States, nearly every rubber factory in the country containing some of their production; besides which they make all the machinery for the New Jersey brick-yards, and besides numerous other machinery for manufacturing purposes in this city and distant places. As a specimen of what they do in the National iron-Works, they have turned out as many as fifty thousand pieces used in the manufacture of sewing-machines, and as a specimen of their heavy castings we may mention a rubber-machine weighing forty thousand pounds, and a powder-machine weighing sixty thousand pounds, which we saw under way in our visits to the works. The works are heated by steam, lighted with gas, supplied with city water, and well sewered, while the protection against fire is well-nigh perfect. Hose is ready in every part of the works with attachment pipes near, while pipes are laid throughout the building, so that any floor can be flooded in a few minutes by merely pulling a wire on the bottom floor, giving a great advantage in case a fire should gain headway up-stairs before discovery. And such is a brief account of one of our largest manufactories, whose machines supply many of our city factories, may be found in most of the rubber factories in the United States, and have been sent to Montreal, London, Manchester, Edinburgh, St. Petersburg, and to cities in France, South America, and Panama.

CARRIAGE MANUFACTORY.— At the head of the industries for antiquity stands the carriage manufactory of Lyle Van Nuis. In the year 1810—11 his father, John Van Nuis, but recently deceased, having learned his trade of a Mr. Rowland (grandfather of William Rowland, Esq.), at his place on the corner of Richmond and Dennis Streets, left the paternal mansion on Livingston Avenue, the Van Nuis farm, against his conservative parent’s advice, and built a carriage-factory on Albany Street. It consisted of several frame buildings ranged around a quadrangle on the south side of thoroughfare; the woodwork, blacksmithing, trimming, and painting each having a separate building, while in front there was a large building used as the repository for finished work. This carriage-house in 1839, upon the removal of the factory, was remodeled into the present substantial residence, and Mr. Van Nuis afterwards erected the other two houses next it. After the establishment of the factory Mr. Van Nuis joined the late Col. Scott’s light infantry in the war of 1812, and the business was carried on by a partner. Upon his return in 1813 many of his carriages were sent to the South, and the name of Van Nuis carriages in 1840 was in general repute all over the Southern States. Soon after the three sons, Lyle, Robert, and James, joined with their father under the name of Van Nuis & Sons. Later the firm became L.J. & R. Van Nuis, then J.R. & J. Van Nuis, then L. & J. Van Nuis, and since 1867, Lyle Van Nuis alone, James having died in 1867.

This reputation of thorough excellence has been borne down to the present, and among the fine assortment of exceedingly handsome carriages on hand now not one inferior one can be found. The factory of Lyle Van Nuis, Nos. 33 and 35 Washington Street, can be confidently recommended as one not surpassed in the reputation and quality of its work, nor in the length of its term of favor, by any State or county.

SASH AND BLIND FACTORY.— The sash and blind factory of William S. Van Doren, situated midway between Morris and Somerset Streets, on Neilson Street near Oliver Street, is nearly a score of years old, having been started by William Wright about the year 1852. After ten years’ operations Mr. Van Doren succeeded him, the date being 1866, and for the six years following he has gone on enlarging his works and increasing their capacity to double what it was when he took charge of them. November, 1872, he received a serious check by a fire which burned through half his premises, yet he pluckily had the factory in operation again within a month, and it has since been running. The business includes lumber-dressing, sawing, turning, moulding, and sash and blind making. Mr. Van Doren, previous to his beginning the business, had more than fifteen years’ experience in the carpenter trade, and is therefore ready to give plans and advice to all who propose building, as well as to prepare the materials. Over two hundred thousand feet of lumber is used, coming in the rough, and go out finished for building and ornamentation.

THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOES.— There is in this city the largest shoe manufactory in the State of New Jersey, that of Felter & Co. The senior member of this firm started business as long ago as 1856, in a shop at the head of Delevan Street, employing two hands in the making of hand-sewed shoes. Gradually enlarging each time, the factory was located successively in the old court-house, corner of Neilson and Bayard Streets. Their present factory is situated in Bayard Street, between Neilson and George Streets. They employ over three hundred hands, and nearly half are females.

From an interesting article published some few years ago the following account is taken: At this time they turned out over five thousand pairs of boots and shoes each week, including men’s and boys’ boots and shoes, and ladies’, misses’, and children’s shoes, sewed and nailed, the yearly value of the production being about four hundred thousand dollars. The factory at this time was divided into four departments, the bottom stock and cutting-room, the upper stock and cutting-room, the upper fitting-room, and the buttoning- or making-room. In the first the rough sole leather is cut into strips as wide as the shoe is to be long, and then passed under a knife which renders the strips of uniform thickness and body; next these are passed between heavy iron rollers, which take the place of the shoemaker’s hammer and lapstone and give solidity to the leather. These strips are then cut into separate inside and outside soles by a die-machine, the die being in sizes, and the leather being reversed as it is fed to them, in order to get rights and lefts. The edges of the sole are then "feathered," or made sharp, and the "shanks" or in-steps are cut away. The soles are next pressed in a mould to give the bulging shape of the human foot, and the outsoles are channeled and grooved ready for stitching. Thus before the sole alone is ready for the upper it is handled by a dozen different men. The heel lifts are cut out by hand-dies in the same room and tacked together ready to be shaped into heels, and the "counters" or stiff leather heel linings are also cut.

The next department is where the uppers are cut from morocco and other leathers by hand, according to brass-bound pasteboard patterns, which change in style twice a year. The uppers are cut by hand, because it is found that no machine can by automatic motion take the place of the judgment which requires to be exercised in order to save material. These patterns are for "quarters," or the part of the shoe which in-closes the instep and ankle. "Vamps," or fore uppers, linings to correspond, trimmings and bindings, and various little pieces to be fitted over seams, and to be used in various parts as the shoe is put together,— all these are gathered in bundles, labeled according to their size and the case in which they are placed, and rolled in boxes across to the third department in the northern building. Here are nearly one hundred sewing-machines of the Howe and other patents, guided by girls and run by steam-power. Each girl has a special line of work to do, some sewing together the backs, or "closing" them, some sewing on the flies, some sewing the button-holes, etc. The flies of the button shoes are cut for the button-holes, the holes sewed around by machine, and underbraided or strengthened by a stay of strong thread, and the buttons sewed on by hand. For the ordinary balmoral or "Polish" shoe, the eyelet holes are cut by one machine and the metal eyes put in by another, when the backs are sewed together and the other parts ready to be fitted. They are pasted together so as to be properly held for the operation of sewing, the pasting corresponding to the basting of tailors’ patterns. After the paste has dried in rooms devoted to that purpose the parts are stitched together, and the now completed uppers go to the fourth department to be joined to the bottoms. First they are placed over an iron-plated last and tacked by hand to the inner sole, then they are taken to the cable-screw-wire-tacking-on-machine, which fastens the outside sole to the upper preparatory to sewing. This machine cuts and drives tacks from coils of wire fed to it. Thus prepared the lasts are removed and sewing-machines are brought into use which in a short space of time securely sews on a sole to an upper. Then "the channels" which were made for the stitching are pasted and laid by the American beating-out machine, and the shoes are relasted. Next the edges and shanks are trimmed and blacked by hand and burnished by machine. The heels are nailed on and then trimmed by hand by the Joyce machine, and also blacked and burnished, the soles being shaved off with sand-paper; the finishing blacking is laid on and burnished and the process is complete. The large amount of stock turned out every week by Felter & Co. is shipped to New York, where it is sold to jobbers, the firm keeping no warehouse, and the articles it puts on sale bear a high reputation with the trade.

Banks.— The first bank organized in the city was THE BANK OF NEW BRUNSWICK, locally known as Hardenbergh’s Bank. It was founded by Jacob R. Hardenbergh and others in 1807, and did business till about 1834, when it was suspended. Mr. Hardenbergh, the president of this bank, was an active business man and member of the bar of Middlesex County, to which the reader is referred for a fuller sketch. Martin A. Howell was one of the directors in this bank, as he has also been in all the banks which have had an existence in New Brunswick. The Bank of New Brunswick was located on the corner of George and Paterson Streets.

THE STATE BANK OF NEW BRUNSWICK was chartered by "An Act to Establish State Banks," passed at Trenton Jan. 28, 1812. It also chartered the State Banks of Camden, Trenton, Elizabeth, Newark, and Morris at Morristown. The commissioners named to receive subscriptions to stock in New Brunswick were Squire Martin, Robert Lee, Asa Runyon, Bernard Smith, and Henry V. Low. The directors named in the charter were Robert Lee, Bernard Smith, Phineas Carman, Henry V. Low, John Outcalt, John Bray, Jonathan Hutchings, Jonathan Squire, John Brewster, Daniel Perrine, Robert McChesney, Jacob Snyder, Jacob Van Winckle.

Daniel W. Disbrow was the first cashier. The presidents have been as follows: Charles Smith, F.R. Smith, John B. Hill, John R. Ford, and Abraham Voorhees.

This bank did business in the old State Bank building on the corner of Peace and Albany Streets, erected about 1820.

The State Bank of New Brunswick failed Sept. 13, 1873. It paid all its liabilities, and was resuscitated in October following by means of contributions from the stockholders and friends of the bank to the amount of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, all of which was paid in excepting about five thousand dollars, which was not collected in consequence of the donor being unable to pay his subscription. It failed the second time March 31, 1877, and was placed in the hands of Col. John W. Newell as receiver.

PETER SPADER was born in Somerset County, N.J., about half a mile from Middlebush Church, on Thursday, 29th September, 1785, the only son and child of John Spader and his second wife, Jane Vanderbilt. His ancestors came from Holland. The first records we find of them are deeds and leases (now in possession of Peter Vanderbilt Spader) in the purchase by Johannes Spader of one hundred and ninety-six acres of land on the Millstone River of Samuel Royse on Sept. 20, 1718, and two leases, one of two hundred and

ten acres in 1722, and the other of nine hundred and eighty acres in 1730, from Clem. Plumstead, the heir of one of the original East Jersey proprietors. This Johannes Spader was the great-grandfather of Peter Spader.

The next record we have is when Lord Howe’s army was retreating from Millstone to New Brunswick in 1777; the barn and outbuildings and part of the house of John Spader, father of Peter Spader, were destroyed by fire by the British army.

Peter Spader left his home at the age of twelve years and came to New Brunswick, where he obtained employment as a clerk with John Bray, one of the leading merchants of New Brunswick, with whom he remained until 1805. At that date he commenced a general mercantile business for himself in a building (now removed) at about No. 20 Albany Street. Here he remained until 1816, when he bought the lot on the northwest corner of George and Church Streets, where he erected the building now owned and occupied by his son, Peter Vanderbilt Spader, and carried on the same business until 1830. On June 14, 1820, he married Nelly Voorhees Quick, daughter of Tunis Quick and Aletta Van Doren Voorhees.

Tunis Quick, a farmer, miller, and large landowner, lived near Flemington, Hunterdon Co., and was the son of Col. Abraham Quick, of Somerset County, who was the colonel of Second Battalion of Somerset County militia during the Revolutionary war.

In the spring of 1830, Peter Spader was elected cashier of the "State Bank at New Brunswick," and, from his well-known reputation and large business acquaintance with the people of Hunterdon, Somerset, and Middlesex Counties, was largely instrumental in building up the standing and prosperity of the bank. Dr. McDowell, of Somerset County, in an article published in Our Home in May, 1873, says, "We had no bank in the county (Somerset), and were all delighted when we saw an old ‘State Bank at New Brunswick’ note with Peter Spader’s name to it." He resigned his position as cashier of the bank in the spring of 1841, and retired wholly from business, excepting to manage several estates of which he was trustee or executor, and to hold the treasurership of the First Reformed Dutch Church, and of Rutgers College, each of which he held for thirty years. The only public offices he ever held were alderman of the city and freeholder for the county. He died on Sept. 9, 1855, aged sixty-nine years, eleven months, and ten days, leaving a widow, who survived him until April 1, 1873, aged eighty-five years, seven months, and nine days. He left two sons. The elder, James Voorhees Spader, born on Oct. 2, 1825, died Nov. 12, 1871, aged forty-six years, one month, and ten days. The younger, Peter Vanderbilt Spader, born Dec. 1, 1829, resides in the house his father built, and in which he (the son) was born. With truth it may be said of Peter Spader he left the name of an honest man,— 

"A wit’s a feather, and a chief a rod,
An honest man’s the noblest work of God."

ABRAHAM VOORHEES.— Steven Coerte, or Coerten, the common ancestor of the Voorhees or Van Voorhies family of Long Island and New Jersey, emigrated with his family from Reinen, Dreuthe, in the Netherlands, in April, 1660. This family by old letters can be traced back one generation in the Fatherland, and, like most of the early settlers, had no proper surname, adopting as such the name of the village or locality from whence they emigrated. Minne Van Voorhees, son of the emigrant, born in Flatlands, L.I., married, April 25, 1717, Antie, daughter of Garret Pieterson Wyckoff, removing to New Brunswick, N.J., the same year. He afterwards married Lemitje Stryker, widow of Jacob Wyckoff, of Six-Mile Run. Three of his brothers came to New Jersey with him, viz.: John, Roeloff, and Albert, and also two sisters, Catrinche and Wellentje. From these have sprung a numerous family, whose descendants are settled largely in Hunterdon, Somerset, and Middlesex Counties, N.J., and members of this family are found among the most substantial business men, and prominent in the professions and legislation of the State and country.

Albert Voorhees, recently a judge of the Court of Appeals and also Lieutenant-Governor of Louisiana, traces his ancestry to Middlesex County, N.J., and Daniel W., United States Senator from Indiana, is the great-grandson of Stephen of New Jersey. A detailed history of the Voorhees family may be found in the history of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Lucas L. Voorhees, and his maternal grandfather, Isaac I. Voorhees, both residents of Somerset County, near Millstone, who reared large families of children. Isaac L., father of Abraham Voorhees, married Abigail, daughter of Isaac I. Voorhees, who bore him the following children: Lucas, John, Abraham, Isaac, Peter, William, Sarah Ann (wife of Cornelius Gulick), Jane (wife of William Williamson), Joanna (wife of Garret Garretson), Matilda (second wife of Garret Garretson), Emma (wife of John Garretson), and Maria (wife of Jacob Veghte), all of whom settled in the vicinity of their birth after their marriages. Isaac L. Voorhees was a farmer by occupation, and resided near Six-Mile Run, in Franklin township, Somerset County. He was much interested in church matters, and reared his family under the influences of the Reformed Dutch Church at Six-Mile Run, now Franklin Park, in which he served as precentor for over thirty years.

Abraham Voorhees was born near Millstone, Somerset Co., N.J., Sept. 18, 1817, and spent his boyhood in the routine of attending the district school and on the farm. At the age of fourteen he went to Morristown, N.J., and for four years was an apprentice in learning the trade of a silversmith. In 1835 he came to New Brunswick, and established himself in the watch and jewelry business, which he carried on successfully for twenty-five years, during which time he became identified with very many of the local enterprises of the city, and has ever taken an active part in church, school, and kindred interests.

Upon the failure of the State Bank in New Brunswick in 1873, Mr. Voorhees was the first one to make a move to rescuscitate the bank, an institution which had stood for sixty years, and he contributed liberally, giving twenty-six thousand dollars towards this object.

At the alumni dinner the year before the centennial celebration of Rutgers College, in 1870, Mr. Voorhees was the largest donor to the centennial fund, and President Campbell, in referring to the matter in an address delivered on that occasion, said, "The work in reality began last year at the alumni dinner, when Mr. Abraham Voorhees, of this city, presented a property worth ten thousand dollars to the college. That gift was the first fruit, and for all time Mr. Voorhees has the honor of being the first subscriber to the centennial fund." The continuation of this subscription by others raised a fund of one hundred and five thousand dollars.

Abraham Voorhees was baptized by Rev. James S. Cannon upon the occasion of the first sermon preached in the Reformed Church at Franklin Park after its erection, and from early manhood has been engaged in Sunday-school and church work. For twenty-nine years he was superintendent of the First Presbyterian Church Sunday-school in New Brunswick, and energetic and faithful in the discharge of his duties, always entering upon and continuing his services with fervor, zeal, and earnestness. In connection with the same church he is one of its ruling elders. His first wife was Jane, daughter of Jesse Jarvis, of Rye, N.Y., who died April 8, 1875, leaving one surviving child, Willard Penfield Voorhees, who graduated at Rutgers College, studied law with Judge Woodbridge Strong, of New Brunswick, and is practicing his profession in that city. His present wife is Mattie J., daughter of John Van Nostrand, of New Brunswick, by whom he has two children,— Howard Crosby and Florence Eliot.

THE FARMERS’ AND MECHANICS’ BANK OF NEW BRUNSWICK was incorporated by act of the Legislature passed Feb. 26, 1834. Its first president was James F. Randolph, who was succeeded by Charles Dunham, and he by Abraham Suydam. Lewis Carman was the first cashier. This bank first did business where the post-office is now situated, on Barnet Street, and subsequently removed to Church Street, where it remained until its suspension.

THE BANK OF NEW JERSEY was chartered Feb. 24, 1837, John Van Dyke, president; Moses F. Webb, cashier. It was changed into the National Bank of New Jersey in 1864. THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF NEW BRUNSWICK, which had been previouslyorganized with a capital of $100,000, and which did business under the presidency of Israel H. Hutchings, was, about 1870, merged with the State Bank, and became obsolete in that institution. Nov. 22, 1864, the Bank of New Jersey was reorganized as THE NATIONAL BANK OF NEW JERSEY, with a capital of $250,000, and is the bank now doing business in the city. It was organized with the following directors: Andrew Agnew, Isaac Fisher, John B. Hill, Lewis T. Howell, Isaac L. Martin, Simeon W. Philips, Garret I. Snekeker, Garret G. Voorhees, and Peter A. Voorhees.

The fine banking building is situated on the corner of Church and Neilson Streets. The following are the directors, 1882: Mahlon Runyon, president; Charles H. Hill, cashier; Peter A. Voorhees, Johnson Letson, Lewis T. Howell, William C. Stoddard, William Rowland, Mahlon C. Martin, Isaac L. Martin.

We subjoin the following figures, showing the increase of footing and deposits from the charter as a national bank to the close of 1881:

JOHN B. HILL, son of Thomas Hill, was descended from a highly respectable English family that settled in New Brunswick when it was in its infancy. While yet a mere youth John B. Hill entered the office of Col. James Neilson in the capacity of a clerk. Mr. Neilson was at that time treasurer of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, and young Hill was afforded an excellent opportunity to become familiar with the various details of an extensive business. After serving them for some time he accepted the position of book-keeper in the State Bank in New Brunswick, where he entered upon his duties Oct. 3, 1835. In that capacity he served faithfully and to the satisfaction of both the public and the officers of the institution, until 1841, when he was promoted to the responsible position of cashier of the bank. In this position he won golden opinions and high laudations in recognition of his close attention to business, uncompromising integrity, and great urbanity. On Nov. 1, 1852, he was elected president of the bank, and under his administration the bank met with almost unprecedented prosperity, and its name for reliability became second to no bank in the State. He held this position until Feb. 1, 1864, when he resigned his official place as president, and soon after accepted the presidency of the National Bank of New Jersey, a position which he held until his decease, Feb. 28, 1874, being then in his sixty-ninth year. Mr. Hill was a modest and unassuming man, and never sought political place or the emoluments of office, yet he served the city as mayor for one term prior to the war, and during his term of office sought to introduce certain improvements which, had the people co-operated with him, would have greatly enhanced the prosperity of the city. He was a candidate for State senator, but his party being greatly in the minority he was defeated. He was a warm supporter of the Union during the late civil war. His patriotism was strong and uncompromising, and he made many personal sacrifices in behalf of the soldiers in the field. His wife, Henrietta B. Chapman, of Holmesburg, Pa., died a few years before him. Their children are T. Wilton Hill, cashier of the First National Bank of Jamesburg, N.J.; John T. Hill, president of the Ninth National Bank of New York; Charles S. Hill, cashier of the National Bank of New Jersey at New Brunswick, and serving his second term as county clerk of Middlesex; Edward Hill, discount clerk of the Ninth National Bank of New York; and Sarah C. Hill.

     "At a special meeting of the board of directors of the National Bank of New Jersey, held on the second day of March, 1874, it was resolved and declared— "That this board of directors are deeply impressed with the loss of this institution in the death of our beloved and honored president, John B. Hill, whose wise forecast, sound judgment, unswerving rectitude of heart and life, and conscientious devotion to duty established him firmly in public confidence, and contributed largely to the prosperity and usefulness of this bank.
     "That in a wider sphere of duty the community in which he lived so long and honorably will miss and mourn him as a sagacious and valuable associate in the administration of public affairs.
     "That we bear testimony to his uniform gentleness, courtesy, forbearance, charity, and liberality, and that personally to each of us his memory will ever be that of a friend, trusted and honored, who bore to the end of his long and useful life a conscience void of offense, and of whom at the close of his earthly record, we confidently say, ‘Behold the hones man, the noblest work of God.’
     "That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the family of the deceased that they also be published in the newspapers of this city, and that this banking-house be suitably draped in mourning.
     "That we meet at the banking-house at eleven o’clock A.M. on Tuesday, March 3d, for the purpose of attending the funeral in a body.

"PETER A. VOORHEES.
"MARTIN A. HOWELL.
"JOHNSON LETSON.
"JAMES DAYTON.
"LEWIS T. HOWELL.
"MAHLON RUNYON.
"H.C. STODDARD.
"ISAAC L. MARTIN." 

MAHLON RUNYON.— The homestead of this brand of the Runyon family has been in the township of Piscataway, Middlesex Co., N.J., for a century and a half, and the progenitor of the family in this country is supposed to have been among the French refugees who fled their country following the revocation of the famous Edict of Nantes in 1685, whereby so many Protestants were driven to Holland, and thence to the New World.

John Runyon, a native of Piscataway, and a carpenter and farmer by occupation, resided in that township during his active business life. His wife Christiana Stelle, bore him three sons,— Abel S. father of our subject; Ephraim, a farmer in his native township during his life; and Clarkson, who was for many years a merchant in New Brunswick, and subsequently a manufacturer of rubber goods both in New Brunswick and Newark, N.J. He died in the former place.

Abel S. Runyon, born in Piscataway in 1795, died there in 1875. His first wife was Catherine, daughter of Jeremiah Manning, of the same place, whose ancestors were old settlers of the township. She died in 1826, leaving two surviving children,— John, of Piscataway, and Mahlon.

Abel S. Runyon was a farmer and carpenter. He purchased a part of the Manning homestead after his marriage, and there resided most of his life afterwards. He was a man of decided and positive convictions plain and unostentatious in his ways, and possessed sterling integrity in all of his business relations. He never sought political place among his fellow-towns men, and never held office except to fill some minor offices in his township, although he was always interested in local matters and somewhat active in promoting measures tending to the best interests of his political party and the election of honest men to official place. He was a contributor to and promoter of religious work in the community where he resided, and for many years a member of the First Baptist Church of Piscataway. For his second wife he married Mercy, daughter of Reune Runyon, of the same place, who died in 1841, leaving the following children: Catherine A., widow of Henry Brantingham, who was killed at the battle of Fredericksburg in the late civil war; Julia A., wife of George Drake, of Piscataway; Adeline, wife of George Heath, of Tarrytown, N.Y.; and Mercy, wife of Lewis Walker, of Piscataway.

Mahlon, son of Abel S. Runyon and Catherine Manning, was born March 29, 1824. His boyhood was spent in the routine of farm-work and attending school during the winter months. At the age of sixteen he came to New Brunswick and became a clerk in the store of his uncle, Clarkson Runyon, with whom he remained one year, when, his uncle selling out his goods, he remained in the same store for two years more. In 1843 he established mercantile business in New Brunswick on his own account, which he successfully carried on until 1856. For eleven years following he was a grain merchant here, and in 1867 he purchased a country residence in his native township on the Raritan River, which he has improved and made one of the most desirable outside of the city, and which he has kept as his family homestead since. Since his first coming to New Brunswick Mr. Runyon has been interested in the various enterprises of the place and a contributor to its worthy local objects. He was elected a director of the National Bank of New Jersey at New Brunswick on May 7, 1867, and succeeded Mr. James Dayton as its president on Dec. 7, 1875, which position he fills in 1882.

Mr. Runyon was united in marriage in 1848 to Susan, daughter of Judge Peter P. Runyon, of New Brunswick, who was alderman and recorder of the city for several years, justice of the peace, and for thirteen years served as judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was one of the most zealous and influential members of the Baptist Church in the State, a Sunday-school worker and superintendent for many years of his life, and from 1830 until his death in 1871, at the age of eighty-four, treasurer of the Baptist State Convention.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Mahlon Runyon are Mary, wife of F.R. Stout, of New Brunswick; Charles H., a lawyer of the same place; Deborah A., wife of Dr. Samuel Long, of New Brunswick; and Lillie A.

NEW BRUNSWICK SAVINGS INSTITUTION.— This savings institution was incorporated March 15, 1851, by an act of the Legislature that Littleton Kirkpatrick, John Acken, Peter Spader, James Parker, John W. Stout, David F. Randolph, Peter Conover, William Dunham, John R. Ford, Charles D. Deshler, Robert Adrain, Moses F. Webb, Theodore G. Neilson, David Bishop, Peter V. Miller, William Boylan, and their successors shall be and are hereby constituted a body corporate and politic by the name of "The New Brunswick Savings Institution," and by that name shall be capable of purchasing, taking, holding, and enjoying to them and their successors any real estate in fee simple or otherwise, etc. Their banking house is No. 17 Albany Street. President, Garret G. Voorhees; Vice-President, Clifford Morrogh, M.D. Secretary and Treasurer, Neilson Dunham; Manager Theodore G. Neilson, Henry H. Palmer, Clifford Morrogh, M.D., Lewis T. Howell, Henry L. Janeway, Daniel M. Vail, Garret G. Voorhees, Azariah D. Newell, M.D., William Rust, Andrew Agnew, Abraham Voorhees, William H. Acken, Gustavus Auten, John T. Hill.

DIME SAVINGS-BANK.— An act to incorporate the Dime Savings-Bank of the city of New Brunswick N.J., approved Feb. 7, 1871: Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, that Levi D. Jarrad, Lyle Van Nuis, A.V. Schenck, Henry De Hart, Henry K. How, Garret G. Voorhees, Jehiel K. Hoyt, Robert G. Miller, Peter I. Stryker, Uriah De Hart, John V.H. Van Cleep, Henry N. Marsh, Adrain Vermuele, George C. Ludlow, Amos Robins, Joseph L. Mulford, Jacob E. Stout, Garret Conover, John M. Connell, Miles Ross and their successors shall be and are hereby constituted a body corporate and politic by the name of "The Dime Savings-Bank" of the city of New Brunswick. Their place of banking business is situated at 137 George Street. Open daily from 9 A.M. to 1 P.M. and from 2 to 4 P.M., and on Monday evening from seven to eight o’clock. Deposits receive from ten cents upwards, and interest allowed on deposits from the first of every month, and the interest credited on the second Tuesday of January and July. Lyle Van Nuis, president; Arthur G. Ogilby, secretary and treasurer; John Wycoff, assistant secretary Board of Managers, Lyle Van Nuis, Henry R. Baldwin, Willard P. Voorhees, James P. Langdon, Adrain Vermuele, Runyon R. Outcalt, Robert J. Hannah.

New Brunswick Gaslight Company.— About the year 1850, our city having about ten thousand inhabitants, was looked upon as a proper place for the introduction of gas, and a company was formed an chartered, the majority of whose corporators were residents of other places. They had estimates made, but these were so large that the company relinquished their franchises, and in 1851 the following residents were authorized by legislative charter: John W. Stout, E.M. Patterson, Peter Spader, David Bishop, Benjamin D. Steele, and Moses F. Webb, and in the same year the company organized with the following officers: President, John W. Stout; Secretary, Superintendent, and Engineer, John G. Hall; Treasure Jonathan C. Ackerman; Board of Directors, J.W. Stout, J.R. Ford, J.C. Ackerman, M.A. Howell, an David Bishop.

The erection of the works was immediately proceeded with, and were built at less than half the cost of the estimates of the former company. Since 1868, when Col. J.W. Newell was appointed, and who still retains the position of secretary, treasure, superintendent, and engineer, the works have been improved beyond recognition. Nearly ten miles of pipes have been laid in the city, and about one hundred thousand dollars have been spent, including the new holder at a cost of fifty thousand dollars, on the corner of Water and Washington Streets, of nearly one hundred and seventy thousand feet capacity, and Col. Newell has brought the company to a very prosperous condition. There are several minor points about the works it is not necessary to mention. It is sufficient to say that with an ample force of twenty or thirty men the works are kept in good condition. The present board of directors are: President, Henry Richmond; Secretary and Superintendent, John W. Newell; Treasurer, Lewis Applegate; Directors, Henry Richmond, Henry L. Janeway, A. B. Newell, Christopher Meyer, Johnson Letson.

Water Supply.— The water for the supply of the city is taken from Lawrence’s Brook, at Weston’s Mills, southeast of the city limits. The water is raised by two pumps. One is driven by a fifty-four-inch turbine-wheel, and supplies the city from November 1st to June 1st, or during that portion of the season when there is sufficient water to run the wheel. The other is a steam-pump (capacity two million four hundred thousand gallons per twenty-four hours), used when pumping by water is not practicable. The reservoir is located at the head of Comstock Street, two basins, total capacity fourteen million gallons. The works were constructed in 1864. There are at present twenty-two miles of mains. For fire purposes steam fire-engines are employed.

The New Brunswick Water Company transferred their works to the city on April 30, 1873. Since then they have been managed by a board of water commissioners, two of whom are appointed each year to serve for three years.

Present officers: Joseph Fisher, president; Arthur G. Ogilby, secretary; A. J. Jones, treasurer and superintendent.