All About Coffee Part 91

Between 1855 and 1865 there were only half-a-dozen wholesale coffee roasters on Manhattan Island, and Thomas Reid was their leader. Much of his work was roasting for the trade, and this undoubtedly interfered with the logical development of his package-coffee ideas.

The firm became Pupke, Reid & Phelps in 1882. In 1885, it became the original Eppens-Smith Co.; later, the Eppens, Smith & Wiemann Co., and lastly, the Eppens Smith Co. Thomas Reid was vice-president of the Eppens, Smith & Wiemann Co., and continued in that position until his death in 1902. Julius Eppens is the present head of the business.

Other package coffees of the sixties were Government coffee put out by Taber & Place's Rubia Mills, 353-355 Was.h.i.+ngton Street, in "tin foil pound papers," and L. Bruckmann & Co.'s London Club, packed at 107 Warren Street.

Another old-time New York coffee-roasting business is that of Samuel S.

Beard & Co. This business was founded in 1834 on Front Street by Eli Beard (father of Samuel S. Beard,) and W.A. c.u.mmings as Beard & c.u.mmings. In 1872, the firm moved to Duane Street, where it was joined by Messrs. S.S. Beard and Cottrell, and the new firm became Beards & Cottrell. Mr. Cottrell retired in 1883, and the firm became Samuel S.

Beard & Co. Upon the death of S.S. Beard in 1905, James H. Murray, who had been with the concern for many years, became head of the house. Mr.

Murray died six months later. The business moved in 1913 to 92 Front Street, where it continues as a stock company, with J.R. Westfal as manager.

Austin C. Fitzpatrick, well known among New York coffee roasters, is a graduate of the Thomas Reid school, having entered the business of this pioneer roaster in 1865. He was western salesman for Pupke & Reid until 1871, when he became a.s.sociated with Rufus G. Story under the firm name of R. G. Story & Co. Later, he formed a partners.h.i.+p with Howard E. Case, buying out the old house of Beard & Howell. When Mr. Case retired in 1887, the firm became A.C. Fitzpatrick & Co. This t.i.tle continued for twelve years, when the Knickerbocker Mills were taken over, and the business was incorporated as the Knickerbocker Mills Co., with Mr.

Fitzpatrick as president. The Knickerbocker Mills, acquired by the corporation, had been founded in 1842 and were for more than forty years at 154-156 Chambers Street. The business is now at 196-198 Chambers Street.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JULIUS A. EPPENS, NEW YORK]

Many of the pioneers in the coffee roasting business of this country were men who came from the British Isles and Germany. A notable figure from the latter country was Bened.i.c.kt Fischer, who knew coffee in Germany before coming to New York in his nineteenth year. He started at 323-329 Greenwich Street, near Duane Street, in 1859. His first roaster was a primitive affair built under the E.J. Hyde patent by the Coffee Roaster & Mill Manufacturing Co. of Philadelphia. It was turned by hand by Fischer and his helper. This was about 1862. In 1864, the business required larger quarters, and was removed to the corner of Duane and Greenwich Streets. A new plant was erected at the corner of Beach and Greenwich Streets in 1894, and the present plant was erected at the corner of Franklin and Greenwich Streets in 1906. Upon the death of Bened.i.c.kt Fischer in 1903, the business pa.s.sed under the control of William H. Fischer, son of Bened.i.c.kt, and Bened.i.c.kt's son-in-law, Charles E. Diefenthaler, for many years a.s.sociated with the house. At present, the company is a corporation, with C.E. Diefenthaler, president; T.F. Diefenthaler, vice-president and treasurer; and T.O.

Budenbach, secretary.

Bowie Dash, a commanding figure in the New York green coffee trade, founded the Holland Coffee Co., roasters, in 1885. He placed H. Bartow in charge. Mr. Dash himself was never active in the affairs of the company. J. Bowie Dash, son of Bowie Dash, entered the Holland Coffee Co. as a boy. Bowie Dash died in 1894. Mr. Bartow left The Holland Coffee Co. in 1897 and J. Bowie Dash became president. He sold the company in 1917 to S.B. Morrison, who consolidated it with his Esperanza Coffee Co. The business is still conducted as the Holland Coffee Co., with Mr. Morrison as president, at 162 Front Street.

George Fisher was a well known coffee roaster of the sixties. He began in the old Hope Mills, 71 Fulton Street, and, at the age of thirty, entered into partners.h.i.+p with D.C. Ripley, establis.h.i.+ng the Hudson Mills. The firm became Sanger, Beers & Fisher in 1868; Mr. Fisher retired in 1882; and died in 1896.

Peter Haulenbeek began work as delivery boy in a grocery store. He entered the coffee business in the sixties in the employ of Wright Gillies, and went into the wholesale coffee-roasting trade under his own name at 170 Duane Street in 1876. His son, John W. Haulenbeek, Sr., came into his father's business in 1887. Peter Haulenbeek died January 15, 1894, and the firm name was changed to John W. Haulenbeek & Co. The business remained in the same building up to 1916, when it was moved to its present location at 393 Greenwich Street. John W. Haulenbeek, Jr., of the third generation, is now active in the business.

A leading figure in the sixties was James Brown, who started as an engineer, rose to a partners.h.i.+p, and retired after the Civil War, a wealthy man. He was a partner with Thomas Reid in the old Globe Mills.

He was also a.s.sociated with B. Fischer in the firm of Fischer, Kirby & Brown, and established the firm of Brown & Scott in Duane Street, where Peter Haulenbeek succeeded to the business. Afterward, he continued in the firms of Brown & Jones and Bisland & Brown, and died in 1898.

Van Loan, Maguire & Gaffney was a formidable combination in the coffee-roasting business in its day. Thomas Van Loan was for thirty years a partner in the firm of W.J. St.i.tt & Co. (William J. St.i.tt was in business at 173 Was.h.i.+ngton Street in the fifties). Joseph Maguire was a practical spice grinder. Hugh Gaffney was with Brown & Scott until the firm retired in 1879, and for ten years thereafter he traveled for B.

Fischer & Co. Then he became a member of the firm of Benedict & Gaffney. Ill health caused his temporary retirement; but he returned to the business in 1897 when he organized the firm of Van Loan, Maguire & Gaffney. Joseph Maguire died in 1904.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THOMAS VAN LOAN, NEW YORK]

Mr. Gaffney died on March 20, 1912, and the name of the business was changed to Van Loan & Co., with Thomas Van Loan as the head of the business, under which name and management it still continues at 64 North Moore Street.

O'Donohue is a well known name in the development of both the green and roasted coffee trade of New York City. John O'Donohue was a leader in the green coffee business in 1830. It was John O'Donohue's Sons in 1873.

John B. O'Donohue, son of Peter O'Donohue and grandson of the original John, after leaving John O'Donohue's Sons, formed a partners.h.i.+p with Robert C. Stewart (the present head of R.C. Stewart & Co.) to engage in the green coffee jobbing business as O'Donohue & Stewart. This partners.h.i.+p was dissolved in 1893. For a few years, John O'Donohue was a.s.sociated with the coffee-roasting firm of Wing Bros. & Hart. About 1898, he formed the O'Donohue Coffee Co. at 284 Front Street. In 1910, this was consolidated with the Potter Coffee Co. and Bennett, Sloan & Co. to form the Potter, Sloan, O'Donohue Co. The firm dissolved in 1915.

Ellis M. Potter came to New York from the Potter-Parlin Spice Mills in Cincinnati. Mr. O'Donohue died in 1918.

In the seventies Frederick Akers was proprietor of the oldest and best known trade roasting establishment in New York. The plant was known as the Atlas Mills, and was at 17 Jay Street. Mr. Akers died in 1901. The same year, William J. Morrison and Walter B. Boinest, former employees of Akers, formed a partners.h.i.+p to carry on the same kind of business at 413 Greenwich Street. It is still at that address under the name of Morrison & Boinest Co.

Col. William P. Roome, a Chesterfieldian figure among New York coffee roasters, came into the trade in 1876, when he established the firm of William P. Roome & Co., with T.L. Vickers as partner. In the Civil War that had preceded, young Roome (he was then nineteen) had distinguished himself as a conspicuous hero of the Sixth Army Corps, having entered the service as a second lieutenant in the Sixty-fifth New York Volunteers.

William P. Roome & Co. first engaged in the importation of tea, but they added coffee to the business in 1889. Col. Roome disposed of it in 1903 to a.s.sume charge of the tea and coffee department of the Acker, Merrall & Condit Company, a position which he still holds.

Frederick A. Cauchois, another picturesque figure among New York coffee roasters, entered the trade as a clerk in the New York office of Chase & Sanborn in 1875. After further tutelage under Frank Williams in the coffee brokerage business, he bought the old Fulton Mills (Colgate Gilbert & Co., 1848), in Fulton Street, where he did some of the most original advertising for coffee that the trade has seen. His Private Estate coffee in little burlap bags, his donkey train that carried the bags of green coffee through the streets of the metropolis, his system of delivering fresh coffee daily to the grocery trade, and his j.a.panese paper filter device to insure the proper making of the coffee, made him famous. He brought something of the spirit of the old English coffee house to America, and incorporated it in Keen's Chop House in New York.

He died in 1918.

The business of Russell & Co. was founded by Robert S. Russell & Frank Smith at 107 Water Street in 1875. In 1895, S.L. Davis, one of the present owners, formerly with Merrit & Ronaldson, became a partner. In 1900, Frank C. Russell, son of the senior member, was admitted to a partners.h.i.+p; and upon the death of his father in 1904, he and Mr. Davis became owners of the business.

Ross W. Weir, who, in addition to being a successful New York coffee roaster, has also attained prominence as president of the National Coffee Roasters a.s.sociation and chairman of the Joint Coffee Trade Publicity Committee, handling the million dollar coffee advertising campaign, was born in New York in 1859, the son of J.B. Weir, one of the pioneer forty-niners, who at one time was engaged in the export commission business in San Francisco.

Mr. Weir began his business career as a general utility boy in the jobbing grocery house of S.H. Williamson, 36 Broadway, New York, in 1875. Then he was a clerk for Park & Tilford, office man with Arbuckle Bros, and with Geo. C. Chase & Co., tea importers, for two years, afterward being admitted to a junior partners.h.i.+p. In 1886, the firm of Ross W. Weir & Co. was formed to engage in the roasting of coffee and importing and jobbing of teas at 105 Front Street. In 1887, the business was removed to 58-60 Front Street. When the corporation of Ross W. Weir, Inc. was formed in 1915 to take over the business of E.J. Gillies & Co.

Inc., Mr. Weir became president and treasurer of the combined organization.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COL. WILLIAM P. ROOME, NEW YORK]

_Pioneer Wholesale Coffee Roasters_

A reference to other pioneers in the wholesale coffee-roasting trade may not be amiss here, even though it involves a repet.i.tion of some names that have been given special mention in the case of New York. In the list that follows are included the most prominent firms and the best known names that helped make roasted coffee history in the United States in the nineteenth century, particularly from 1845 to 1900:

NEW YORK. The most prominent firms in the business in New York in the sixties were: Thomas Reid & Co., Globe Mills; Geo. A. Merwin & Co.; Levi Rowley, Star Mills; A.B. Thorn; Fischer & Lehmann, later Fischer & Thurber, and Fischer, Kirby & Brown; Knickerbocker & Cooke; A.D.

Thurber; Wm. J. St.i.tt & Co.; Samuel Wilde's Sons.

In the seventies, in addition to most of the above list, there were: Pupke & Reid; Arbuckle Bros.; Edward A. Phelps, Jr.; Bonnett, Schenck & Earle; Fischer & Lansing; J.G. Worth; Jackson & Co.; Charles Conway; Neidlinger & Schmidt; James L. Arcularius; S.M. Beard, Sons & Co.; H.K.

Thurber & Co.; Wright Gillies & Bro.; Bennett & Becker; Great American Tea Co.; Brown & Scott.

Between 1876 and 1900 the following well known names appeared in the trade: Frederick Akers; Eppens-Smith Co., afterward Eppens, Smith & Wiemann Co., and later Eppens Smith Co.; B. Fischer & Co.; R.P. McBride; Fitzpatrick & Case, afterward A.C. Fitzpatrick & Co.; Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.; Loudon & Johnson; Edwin Scott; Peter Haulenbeek, afterward Haulenbeek & Mitch.e.l.l, and Haulenbeek Roasting & Milling Co.; Joseph Stiner & Co.; Austin, Nichols & Co.; Bennett, Sloan & Co.; Gillies Coffee Co.; Benedict & Gaffney, afterward Van Loan, Maguire & Gaffney; Ross W. Weir & Co.; Union Pacific Tea Co.; Hillis Plantation Co.; Edwin J. Gillies & Co.; Jones Bros.; Holland Coffee Co.; Samuel Crooks & Co.; Benedict & Thomas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PIONEER COFFEE ROASTERS OF THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN UNITED STATES

1--W.F. McLaughlin, Chicago; 2--J.G. Flint, Milwaukee; 3--Frank J.

Geiger, Indianapolis; 4--Samuel Mahood, Pittsburgh; 5--Henry A.

Stephens, Cleveland; 6--W.H. Harrison, Cincinnati; 7--Albert A. Sprague, Chicago; 8--D.Y. Harrison, Cincinnati; 9--William Grossman, Milwaukee; 10--Edward Canby, Dayton; 11--Thomas J. Boardman, Hartford; 12--Francis Widlar, Cleveland; 13--O.W. Pierce, Sr., Lafayette. Ind.; 14--A.M.

Thomson Chicago; 15--Samuel Young, Pittsburgh; 16--Alvin M. Woolson, Toledo; 17--Martin Hayward, Boston; 18--George C. Wright, Boston; 19--William Boardman, Hartford; 20--James S. Sanborn, Boston; 21--James Heekin, Cincinnati; 22--James F. Dwinell, Boston; 23--Caleb Chase, Boston]

BOSTON. Among the pioneers in the coffee-roasting business in Boston were: N. Berry & Sons; Blanchard & Bro.; Carter, Mann & Co.; Noah Davis & Co.; Dyer & Co.; E. Emerson; Flint Bros. & Co.; J.T. & N. Glines; Hayward & Co.; Geo. W. Higgins & Co.; Hill, Dwinell & Co.; H.B. Newhall; Richardson & Lane; N. Robinson & Co.; Russell & Fessenden; Stickney & Poor; E.H. Swett; the Tremont Coffee & Spice Mills; Swain, Earle & Co.; and the Martin L. Hall Co.

Between 1876 and 1900 these names were among those added: Shapleigh Coffee Co.; Gilman L. Parker; W.S. Quinby & Co.; Thomas Wood & Co.

Dwinell & Co. and Hayward & Co. both engaged in the coffee roasting business about 1845. In 1876, they, James F. Dwinell, Martin Hayward, and his brother-in-law George C. Wright, joined hands under the name of Dwinell, Hayward & Co. In 1894, Mr. Hayward having previously retired, the name of the firm was changed to Dwinell, Wright & Co. Mr. Dwinell died in 1898; and in 1899, Mr. Wright formed a Ma.s.sachusetts corporation under the present name, Dwinell-Wright Co. George C. Wright died, 1910, and his son, George S. Wright, who had been treasurer, became president.

A grandson, Warren M. Wright, and a nephew, G. E. Crampton, together with R.O. Miller and Charles H. Holland, are active in the present conduct of the business.

Caleb Chase with Messrs. Carr and Raymond founded the firm of Carr, Chase & Raymond at 32 Broad Street in 1864. The name was changed to Chase, Raymond & Ayer in 1871. James S. Sanborn, who had formerly been in the coffee and spice trade at Lewiston, Me., with a branch office in Boston, combined with Caleb Chase to form Chase & Sanborn in 1878.

Charles D. Sias was admitted to the firm in 1882. A Montreal office was opened in 1884. Charles E. Sanborn, son of James S., was admitted in 1888. James S. Sanborn died in 1903, and Charles E. Sanborn died two years later. Charles D. Sias died in 1913.

Swain, Earle & Co. were established about 1868. In the same year, Byron T. Thayer entered the employ of the firm as a bookkeeper. He was taken into partners.h.i.+p in 1884, and upon the death of Mr. Earle, became managing partner. In 1915, he was the sole surviving partner of the company. He died in the latter part of 1921; and the business was absorbed by Alexander H. Bill & Co. in January, 1922.

PHILADELPHIA. The following were the most prominent Philadelphia coffee roasters in 1861: Grever & Bro.; Henry Hinkle; William Johnston; George Kelly; Thornley & Ryan; Thornley & Bro.; Vankorn, Guggenheimer & Co.; D.J. Chapman; Bohler & Weikel; Charles Kroberger; and James R. Webb & Son.

Later came: Robert J. Rule & Bro.; G. Boyd & Co.; Nutrio Mfg. Co.; C.J.

Fell & Bro.; R.R. & A. Deverall; C. Thomas; William H. Cheetham, Jr.; Hill & Thornley; George Ogden & Co.; Weikel & Smith; and Alexander Sheppard.

Between 1876 and 1900 these names appear; Henry A. Fry & Co.; Robert Smith & Sons; B.S. Janney, Jr. & Co.; and Weikel & Smith Spice Co.

Robert Smith came as a country lad to Philadelphia, and drove a wagon for Jesse Thornley, a coffee roaster. In a few years, he had secured an interest in the firm; and in 1860, the name was changed to Thornley & Smith. Mr. Thornley died in 1872, and Mr. Smith bought out the Thornley interests and traded as Robert Smith until 1889. In that year, he admitted his eldest son, Robert A. Smith, into the firm, which became Robert Smith & Son. William T., another son, was admitted in 1889, the firm name being changed again to Robert Smith & Sons. Robert Smith, Sr., retired in 1902. In the same year his youngest son, George H. Smith, was admitted to the firm, and it became Robert Smith's Sons, the active members being William T. and George H. Smith.

James R. Webb established the coffee roasting business of James R. Webb & Son in 1833. It was taken over by Alexander Sheppard in 1870. Later it became Alex. Sheppard & Sons, Inc. Mr. Sheppard died in 1916, and the business has been conducted by a corporation in which his four children are the princ.i.p.al stockholders.