The last number of our series of articles upon this highly interesting
subject--interesting both as concerns the various features of the
manufacture, and as indicative of the progress of the art in the
successive ages of the world's history--closed the sketch of the rise
and progress of the manufacture of flint glass. Our sketch has covered
the ground so far as time would allow, from the introduction of the art
into Egypt, through its transfer to Tyre and Sidon, and from thence, in
its order, to Rome, Venice, France, and finally into England.
The reader will notice that this progress, like that of many others, is
almost identical, for a time at least, with the gradual extension of
conquest, and especially with this, as connected with the extension of
the Roman sway.
We now reach the period of its introduction into the Western continent,
and propose giving an outline of its gradual extension and
characteristics in our own land.
Our opportunity of research as to the period of the introduction of
glass manufacture into this country, induce the belief that the first
effort was made some years before the American Revolution.
This attempt was by a company of Germans, who selected the town of
Quincy, in this State, as the place in which to establish the
manufacture.
We are acquainted with little beyond the fact, that such an attempt was
made; their success, or the length of time during which they carried on
the work, are matters equally beyond our knowledge. Some specimens of
their articles still exist, showing mainly that they engaged in the
manufacture of what is called black metal only; these also are of the
rudest style of the art.
The place in Quincy in which their manufactory was established acquired
the name from them of "Germantown," which name it retains to the
present time. The site of their manufactory is now occupied, we
believe, by the institution called "The Sailors' Snug Harbor."
A Connecticut paper states a patent was granted by that State, in 1747,
for twenty years, to Thomas Darling, for the exclusive privilege of
making glass. This Act appears to have become void, because of the
patentee not fulfilling its conditions, and at various times after this
special grants were made to others to introduce the manufacture of
glass.
The Historical Society of Brooklyn, N.Y., has in their cabinet "a
glass bottle, the first one manufactured at a glass-works started, in
1754, near the site of the present glass-works in State Street. This
enterprise, we are informed, was brought to an untimely end for want of
sand,--that is, the right kind of sand." From this we infer, it must be
a flint-glass bottle, as the sand suitable for green or black glass
abounds on their shore.
Shortly after the close of the Revolutionary struggle, we think about
the year 1785, the late Robert Hewes, a well-known citizen of Boston,
made, probably, the first attempt to establish a window-glass
manufactory on this continent. This manufactory was modelled upon the
German system. Mr. Hewes carried his works to the fuel, and erected his
factory in the then forest of New Hampshire. The writer well remembers,
when a boy, hearing Mr. Hewes relate, that when building his
glass-works the tracks of bears were frequently seen in the morning in
and around his works.
From the best information in our possession, we think that to Mr.
Robert Hewes must be conceded the first attempt to establish
window-glass making in the United States, or in the western world. The
aim of Mr. Hewes was doubtless to supply the most important and
necessary article made of glass, and called for by the immediate wants
of the people, viz., window-glass. It ended, however, in disappointment
to the projector, probably from the frequent error of carrying such
works into the interior, to the vicinity of fuel, or from lack of skill
on the part of the workmen.
This attempt was followed, about the year 1787, by Messrs. Whalley,
Hunnewell, and their associates, and by the workmen Plumback and
Cooper, who erected a large factory in Essex Street, Boston (where
Edinboro' Street now is), for the purpose of making the Crown Window
Glass. This was without success, until a German, of the name of Lint,
arrived in the year 1803, and from this period there was great success
in the manufacture, for the State of Massachusetts, to encourage the
manufacture of window-glass, paid the proprietors a bounty on every
table of glass made by them. This was done to counteract the effect of
the bounty paid by England on the exportation of glass from that
kingdom. The State bounty had the effect to encourage the proprietors
and sustain their efforts, so that by perseverance many difficulties
were overcome, and a well-earned reputation supported for the strength
and clearness of their glass; a glass superior to the imported, and
well known throughout the United States as "Boston Window-Glass." This
reputation they steadily sustained, until they made glass in their new
works at South Boston, in the year 1822. Their charter from the State
was highly favorable to the stockholders; among the privileges it
granted an exclusive right to manufacture for fifteen years, and to
manufacture glass without their consent subjected the offender to a
fine of five hundred dollars for each offence. Their capital was exempt
from taxation for five years, and the workmen exempted from military
duty.
From the founding of this establishment may be dated the founding of
all the Crown and Cylinder, Window and Flint Glass-Works in the
Atlantic States. Indeed, this may be considered the fruitful parent
tree of the many branches now so widely spread abroad.
The wonderful mystery attached to the art of glass-making seems to have
followed its introduction into this country. The glass-blower was
considered a magician, and myriads visited the newly-erected works, and
coming away with a somewhat improved idea of an unmentionable place and
its occupants; and the man who could compound the materials to make
glass was looked upon as an alchemist who could transmute base metal
into pure gold.
The fame of the works spread into a neighboring State, and in 1810 or
1811 a company was formed in Utica, to establish glass-works in that
place, and quite a number of workmen in the Essex Street Works were
induced to leave their employ and break their indentures from the offer
of increased wages; while, however, on their way, and just before they
reached the State line, they, with the agent, were arrested, brought
back, and expensive lawsuits incurred. The Utica Works were abandoned,
and, we believe, never revived.
Subsequently another company was formed in New York, being influenced
by a fallacious view of the silicious sand. This company erected their
works at Sandy Lake, a locality abounding both in silex and fuel. A few
years' trial convinced the proprietors the place was ill chosen, and,
after the experience of heavy losses, it was abandoned.
A Doctor Adams, of Richmond, Virginia, made large offers of increased
wages to the workmen of the Essex Street Works, who were then induced
to abandon their place of work and violate their indentures. They
succeeded in reaching Richmond to try their fortune under the auspices
of the Doctor. A few years' experience convinced them of the fallacy of
increased pay; for, after very heavy losses, the works were abandoned
and the workmen thrown out of employ. The proprietors of the Essex
Street Works had engaged workmen in the mean time, at a very heavy
expense, from England--a most difficult task, for the English
government made it a penal offence to entice workmen to leave the
kingdom at that period.
In 1811 the proprietors of the Essex Street Works erected large and
improved works on the shore at South Boston. To supply the workmen
enticed away, and also to meet the wants of their factory, an agent was
sent to England to procure a set of glass-workers. By the time they
reached this country the war with England broke out, and the enterprise
was thus defeated; for it became difficult to procure fuel and the
various means for carrying on the Essex Street Works.
The making of window-glass in Boston led to the introduction of the
manufacture of flint-glass, arising from the excess of window-glass
blowers, brought into the country by the enterprise of the Boston
Window-Glass Company; many among the number from Europe had worked more
or less in flint-glass works (no unusual thing in England), for a good
flint-glass blower, with manual strength, can fill the part of a
window-glass blower, and exceedingly well.
Among the number was a Mr. Thomas Caines, now living at South Boston,
having retired from the business with an independent property, the
honest fruit of his skill and industry; he may be truly considered as
the father of the flint-glass business in the Atlantic States.
Mr. Caines proved competent to the task, not only as a first-rate
workman, but possessed the art of mixing the materials and being able
to sustain all the other departments appertaining to the business. He
prevailed upon the proprietors to erect a small six-pot flint furnace
in part of their large unoccupied manufactory in South Boston.
At that time the articles of flint-glass imported by the earthenware
trade were confined to a very few articles, such as German straw
tumblers, cruets, salts, and plain decanters of cheap fabric; of the
finer articles, to cut finger tumblers, sham diamond cut dishes, and
Rodney decanters; a quality of glass and cutting that would not at the
present day command one-fifth of their then cost.
War having interrupted the importation of glass, the manufactory
supplied the then limited demand, and gave full employ for their
factory.
Contemporaneous with the South Boston enterprise, a company was formed
and incorporated under the title of the Porcelain and Glass
Manufacturing Company. Their factory was located at East Cambridge,
then called Craigie's Point. Their china department was directed by a
Mr. Bruitan, but for want of proper materials it proved an entire
failure. Their glass-works were under the direction of a Mr. Thompson,
who built a small six-pot furnace, similar in size to the one at South
Boston. Thompson brought out a set of hands, at a heavy expense, to
work the furnace, but the result proved he was in no way qualified for
the task, nor possessed of the least practical skill or knowledge of
the business, and of course proving an entire failure. The attempt to
make porcelain and glass was abandoned by the company.
In 1815, some of the workmen left the South Boston Factory and hired of
the Porcelain Company their six-pot furnace, and commenced the making
of flint-glass under the firm of Emmet, Fisher & Flowers. They
succeeded for a time very well, and turned out glass suitable for the
trade; but want of concert of action prevented a successful result, and
they dissolved without loss. The Porcelain Company, discouraged by so
many failures, agreed to wind up their concern, and in November, 1817,
they disposed of their entire property at public auction.
As one manufactory dies out only to give place to another, so the
present New England Glass Company was formed, and became the purchasers
of the Porcelain Works. That company, from 1817, to the present time,
have pursued the business with signal success; beginning with the small
capital of forty thousand dollars, they have from time to time
increased it, until it amounts at the present time to half a million of
dollars. They commenced business with a small six-pot furnace, holding
seven hundred pounds to each pot; employed, all told, about forty
hands, and the yearly product did not exceed forty thousand dollars.
They now run five furnaces, averaging ten pots to each, capacity of two
thousand pounds to each pot. They employ over five hundred men and
boys, and the yearly product is not less than five hundred thousand
dollars.
In 1820 some of their workmen left them, built a factory in New York
City, and conducted their business under the firm of Fisher &
Gillerland. In 1823 Gillerland dissolved the connection and built, on
his own account, a manufactory in Brooklyn, N.Y., which he conducts at
this period with great skill and success, and is considered the best
metal mixer in the United States.
In 1825 a Flint-Glass Manufactory was established by individual
enterprise in Sandwich, Mass. Ground was broke in April, dwellings for
the workmen built, and manufactory completed; and on the 4th day of
July, 1825, they commenced blowing glass--three months from first
breaking ground. In the following year it was purchased of the
proprietor, a company formed, and incorporated under the title of
Boston and Sandwich Glass Company. Like their predecessors, they
commenced in a small way; beginning with an eight-pot furnace, each
holding eight hundred pounds. The weekly melts at that period did not
exceed seven thousand pounds, and yearly product seventy-five thousand
dollars; giving employment to from sixty to seventy hands. From time to
time, as their business warranted, they increased their capital until
it reached the present sum of four hundred thousand dollars. Their
weekly melts have increased from seven thousand pounds to much over one
hundred thousand pounds; their hands employed from seventy to over five
hundred; their one furnace of eight pots to four furnaces of ten pots;
and yearly product from seventy-five thousand dollars to six hundred
thousand dollars.
In 1820 another secession of workmen from the New England Glass Company
took place, to embark on their own account their savings of many years
in the doubtful enterprise of establishing flint-glass works in
Kensington, Philadelphia, under the title of the Union Flint-Glass
Company. The proprietors, being all workmen, were enthusiastic in the
project, happy in the belief that they could carry it on successfully,
work when convenient, and enjoy much leisure. All was _then_ to them
sunshine. Ere long they realized the many inherent evils attendant on
flint-glass works; the demon of discord appeared among them, and they
discovered, when too late, that they had left a place of comfort and
ease for a doubtful enterprise. Death thinned their ranks, and the
works, after passing into other hands for a short trial, have years
since ceased to exist.
From 1820 to 1840 very many attempts were made, by corporations and
firms, to establish the manufacture of flint-glass in the Atlantic
States, but almost with entire failure. The parent tree, the old South
Boston concern, failed; the works were revived from time to time by at
least five different concerns, and all ended in failure; and for years
the works remained closed, till the present occupant, Mr. Patrick
Slane, hired the premises, and by his enterprise and great industry has
greatly enlarged the works, and is now carrying on a large and active
business. In his factory we learn the old system among the operatives
he does not allow to have a foothold, and the individual industry of
his hands is not cramped or limited by the oppressive system of the old
school operative.
As a record of the past and a reference for the future, we find, in
reviewing the various attempts to establish flint-glass works in the
Atlantic States, that it would not be just to place the names of those
identified with them before the reader; for many were deluded by the
projectors with promises of the most flattering success, but realized
only disappointment and loss.
In enumerating all the concerns, companies, and corporations that have
been engaged in the manufacture of flint-glass in the Atlantic States,
we find the number to be forty-two; of which number two concerns have
retired, and ten are now in operation, viz., two at East Cambridge,
three at South Boston, one at Sandwich, three near New York City, and
one at Philadelphia; leaving two concerns who retired with property,
and twenty-eight out of the forty-two concerns entire failures,
involving the parties interested in heavy loss, the fate of the
existing ten to be determined by future events.
Before closing, we may allude to the repeated failure of permanently
establishing window- and bottle-glass works in this vicinity. The
primary cause has been in the construction of the furnaces, no
improvement for centuries having taken place, but the old defective
plan being adhered to by workmen from Europe. A casual observer must
see they are defective, and consume double the quantity of fuel really
required for the weekly melts. The rate of wages for experienced
workmen, about threefold over the German rates, has heretofore checked
success, but at the present time is more than compensated by machinery
and materials.
The manufacture of plate-glass offers a profitable and inviting field
that should be improved. The consumption in this country is large and
increasing yearly. Materials are cheaper than in Europe, and as the
most essential part is performed by machinery and motive power, this
will more than equalize the extra rate of wages that may be taxed upon
a new undertaking.
We have recorded the rise and progress of the Glass Manufacture in the
Atlantic States, showing its course from its introduction in 1812 to
the present period, _i.e._ 1852, covering a space of time of just forty
years.
We now turn to the introduction of the manufacture in the Western
States, for the account of which we are indebted to Mr. Thomas
Bakewell, of Pittsburg, Penn. Mr. Bakewell advises us, that, prior to
the year 1808, glass-works were established by a company of Germans,
near Fredericktown, Maryland, under the direct control of a Mr.
Amelong, for the purpose of manufacturing glass in all its branches. We
have not ascertained the precise year in which Mr. Amelong commenced
the manufacture; but previous to the year 1808 the establishment was
broken up, and the workmen dispersed. Most of them reached Pittsburg,
Penn., and a part of them were engaged by Col. James O'Hara, in the
establishment of the first window-glass factory in the Western States.
The same factory is in operation to the present day, and others of the
Fredericktown company were instrumental in introducing the same branch
of the glass business into Pennsylvania, at New Geneva, upon the
property of the late Albert Gallatin. Others of the number, previously
mentioned, established themselves in Baltimore, and in all of the
places noticed. Some of their descendants still continue the business.
There are at this time ten window-glass factories in the vicinity of
Pittsburg, and fifteen in the river towns,--in all twenty-five
works,--manufacturing over 220,000 boxes of window-glass of 100 feet
each annually.
We now proceed to examine a more interesting topic, viz., the rise and
progress of the flint-glass business in the West. We have shown that
most of the workmen, on the breaking up of the glass-works in
Fredericktown, migrated to Pittsburg, attracted there, doubtless, by
the coal mines. Some of these persons were successful in establishing
the manufacture of window-glass, while a portion of the workmen, in the
spring of the year 1808, attempted to establish a flint-glass
manufactory upon part of the premises now occupied by Bakewell & Pears,
extensive flint-glass manufacturers. The persons engaged in the
enterprise, however, were deficient, both in the requisite knowledge
and capital; the effort proved abortive, the parties quarrelled, and
the establishment, in an incomplete condition, was offered for sale.
In the August following, a Mr. Bakewell and his friend, Mr. Page, being
on a visit to Pittsburg, were induced to purchase the concern, under
the representation of one of the owners that he possessed the
information and skill requisite for the proper pursuit of the business,
having been engaged (as he stated) in the business before he left
England. Mr. Bakewell had scarcely entered upon his new pursuit before
he discovered that the qualification of the person alluded to had been
entirely misrepresented, and that to succeed he must rely upon his own
experience and diligence in the attainment of the peculiar knowledge
indispensable to the success of his undertaking. In this the fortune of
his family and friend were, of course, deeply involved, and he
therefore set himself to the accomplishment of his task most manfully.
Those only who have practical experience of the character of the
undertaking can fully appreciate the various and almost insurmountable
difficulties to be encountered and overcome before success could be
attained.
His first difficulty arose from want of skill in the workmen, and the
inferiority of the materials employed in the manufacture of
flint-glass. So little were the resources of the West developed at that
day, that Mr. Bakewell had to procure his pearlash and red lead from
Philadelphia, the pot clay from Burlington, N.J.,--the whole being
transported over the mountains in wagons to Pittsburg. The only sand
then known was the yellow kind, obtained in the vicinity, and used at
this time only for window-glass. For many years Mr. Bakewell obtained
the saltpetre needed from the caves of Kentucky, in a crude state,
which article he was obliged to purify, until the period of 1815, when
the required supply was obtained from Calcutta.
The few workmen then in the country were not well instructed in the
making of glass articles, after the glass was prepared, to which was
added the great evil (which has too usually prevailed among the
imported workmen) of a determination to prevent the instruction of
apprentices by the most arbitrary and unjust means, and, so far as it
was in their power, endeavoring to prevent competition, by not only
controlling the hours of work, but the quantity of manufacture; in
fact, doing the least amount of work possible for the largest amount of
pay that could be coerced from the proprietors. Experience, however,
showed Mr. Bakewell how to construct his furnaces, or, at least, to
improve on the old; and he discovered better materials in his immediate
vicinity, and succeeded in making purer glass than he had before made.
The oppressive acts of the workmen, in the mean time, compelled Mr.
Bakewell to resort to England for new workmen, at a time when the
prohibitory laws there in regard to mechanics leaving England were in
full force,--an undertaking requiring great secrecy, and at the risk of
long imprisonment if detected.
Such were some of the embarrassing circumstances with which Mr.
Bakewell had to contend. Of the full force and extent of these, those
only can conceive who have been under like necessities and
circumstances. But a brighter day was dawning upon his exertions, and
at length his arduous and untiring labor was crowned with the desired
success. Good clay was procured from Holland, and purer materials
discovered; competent workmen were either imported or instructed, and
the flint-glass manufacture was firmly established at Pittsburg. From
this first establishment there originated, in a few years, many other
glass-works, erected chiefly by persons who had acquired the art with
Mr. Bakewell, or had obtained the requisite means while in his employ.
We may well consider Mr. Bakewell as the father of the flint-glass
business in this country; for he commenced the work in 1808, and by
untiring efforts and industry brought it to a successful issue.
For the skill, judgment, labor, and perseverance devoted by him to the
progress of the art, he truly merits the "Artium Magister" so often
bestowed on those least worthy of its dignity and honor. Theory in
Science too often receives the meed which practical progress in its
walks so richly deserves. Mr. Bakewell lived to realize an ample
fortune as the fruit of his industry, and his sons still carry on a
profitable business on the premises originally occupied by their
father. By father and sons this has covered a space of forty-four
years, a length of time rarely finding a business in the same family in
America. May the factory be always occupied and conducted by a
Bakewell.
The furnace built by Mr. Bakewell in 1808 contained only six pots,
twenty inches in diameter, which were replaced in 1810 by a ten-pot
furnace of a larger capacity, and in 1814 another furnace was added to
the works, of like capacity.
In 1809 another concern sprung up, and carried on the business on a
limited scale; in 1812 another succeeded, making three concerns
carrying on the business; and in 1810 another company was formed, but
failed in a few years.
There are now in Pittsburg nine concerns manufacturing flint-glass,
running thirteen furnaces and one hundred and five pots. There are also
three concerns at Wheeling, running five furnaces and forty-five pots.
There are also at Wellsville, Steubenville, and Cincinnati one or two
factories each, besides several manufactories for green glass jars, and
one for the making of porter bottles; one also for mineral-water
bottles.
The first glass-cutting works were opened in 1809 by a German of the
name of Echbaum, who had settled in Pittsburg some years previously.
Mr. Bakewell also carried on glass-cutting, and among his workmen was
an Englishman who had served as a soldier in Canada, being taken as a
prisoner in one of the battles on the Lakes in 1813. He proved not only
a good glass-cutter, but an excellent mechanic, in various branches;
but still a dissipated and idle man, and of course of but little
service in the manufactory.
One of the amusing incidents connected with the manufacture occurred
when General Clark (then Governor of Missouri) took a party of Osage
Chiefs to Washington. On their way they visited Bakewell's Glass-Works,
and their attention was greatly excited; they watched with great
curiosity the process of making various articles, and the mode of
affixing the handle to a glass pitcher quite disturbed the equanimity
of the head chief, who, after shaking hands with the workmen, said,
through the interpreter, "That man must have had some intercourse with
the Great Spirit."
The following, from Sigma's pen, shows a decanter-stopper can be made
to point a moral or illustrate a satire:--"Mr. Flint, in his 'Ten Years
in the Valley of the Mississippi,' tells a pleasant story of an Indian
who told him he had _big diamond_, for which he had given trader _much
beaver_. A time was appointed, and Mr. Flint visited the wigwam to
examine the diamond, which, after considerable mystery, was brought
forth from its place of concealment, and proved to be a broken glass
decanter-stopper. When an individual, eminent for his talents and
learning, has been justly decorated with the degree of LL.D., and finds
the same mark of distinction bestowed upon others who are remarkable
for neither, he cannot fail to perceive an amusing resemblance between
his diploma and Kunkerpot's diamond."