All About Coffee Part 93

J.G. Flint and Wyman Flint founded the business known as W. & J.G. Flint in 1858. J.G. Flint bought out his brother in 1880 and continued as the J.G. Flint Co., owner of the Star Coffee and Spice Mills. He died in 1896. The business was incorporated in 1901 as the J.G. Flint Co., with W.K. Flint, a son of J.G., as president. The Jewett & Sherman Co. took control in 1911.

Professor Milo P. Jewett, Professor S.S. Sherman, and his brother, William Sherman, founded the firm of Jewett, Sherman & Co. in 1867, and continued under that name until 1875, when it was incorporated as Jewett & Sherman Co., with Milo P. Jewett as president, and Henry B. Sherman, secretary and treasurer. Professor S.S. Sherman and his sons, Fred and Henry B., sold out their interests in 1878 and formed a new business in Chicago under the name of Sherman Bros. & Co. William M. Sherman then became president of Jewett & Sherman Co., and Charles A. Murdock, a nephew of S.S. and William Sherman, was made secretary and treasurer.

Mr. Murdock withdrew in 1881 and established the C.A. Murdock Mfg. Co.

in Kansas City. In that same year, William H. Sherman, another nephew, became a stockholder and one of the directors of Jewett & Sherman Co.

Dr. Lewis Sherman succeeded his father as president of the company in 1891, and served in that capacity until his death in 1915, when he was succeeded by his son, Lewis Sherman, who is president of the company at the present time (1922). John Horter, who is now secretary, joined the business in 1877.

William Grossman started in the wholesale grocery business in 1886. John and Henry Dahlman were admitted to partners.h.i.+p in 1889. About three years later, the latter closed out his interests to J.F.W. Imbusch. The present corporation was established in 1892 as Wm. Grossman & Co. The firm was incorporated August 1, 1916, as the Wm. Grossman Co., with Wm.

Grossman as president, George A. Grossman as vice-president, and Paul E.

Apel as secretary and treasurer.

Another old-time coffee man of Milwaukee was Charles A. Clark, who had been in the coffee business for nearly twenty years before he organized the present business of Clark & Host Co.

TOLEDO. The pioneer roasting firms here seem to have been: Warren & Bedwell; and J.B. Baldy & Co. Later, after 1876, we find added the Bour Company, and the Woolson Spice Co.

The latter company was founded in 1882 by A.M. Woolson, who up to that time had conducted a successful retail grocery business for several years. The Woolson Spice Co. was sold to H.O. Havemeyer of New York in 1896, the reputed sale price being $2,000,000. A.M. Woolson retired from business at that time. Upon the death of Mr. Havemeyer, the company pa.s.sed into the hands of Hermann Sielcken; and when he died, an American company secured control.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GROUND COFFEE PRICE LIST OF 1862]

The Bour Company was incorporated in 1892, following a partners.h.i.+p which had succeeded to a small business concern under the name of the Eagle Spice Company. The princ.i.p.al stockholders were: J.M. Bour, F.G.

Kendrick, and Albro Blodgett. Mr. Blodgett bought the Bour interests in 1909 and with S.W. Beckley, who had been sales manager for a number of years, acquired practically all the other outside interests. The name was changed in 1921 to the Blodgett-Beckley Co., the officers being Albro Blodgett, president, S.W. Beckley, vice-president and manager, and Henry P. Blodgett, secretary and treasurer.

CLEVELAND. Pioneers in Cleveland were: Smith & Curtis; A. Stephens & Sons; John H. Ganse; and W.D. Drake & Co. In 1870, we find Edwards, Townsend & Co.; Knight, Eberman & Co.; Talbot, Winslow & Co.; Williams & Tait; and Lemmon & Son, added.

Beards & c.u.mmings, coffee roasters of New York City, established a branch in Cleveland under the management of Alvan Stephens in 1855.

Later, Stephens took over the business for himself and changed the name to Frisbie & Stephens. In 1861 Alvan's sons, Henry A. and Samuel R., were admitted and the firm became A. Stephens & Sons. Alvan Stephens died in 1873, and Samuel moved to Chicago to open a branch. He died in 1878. Henry A. continued the business until 1881, when Francis Widlar was admitted to partners.h.i.+p, and the name was changed to Stephens & Widlar. Henry A. Stephens died in 1897, and A.L. Somers, H.H. Hewitt, and D.D. Hudson, all old employees, were admitted, and the firm name was changed to F. Widlar & Co. Carl W. Brand, a nephew of Francis Widlar, joined the company in 1898. Upon the death of his uncle, the business was incorporated as the Widlar Co., and Mr. Brand became president in 1910.

PITTSBURGH. Next to New York, Pittsburg was one of the first cities to forge to the front as a coffee-roasting center. These are the firms that were among the leaders in the period between 1860 and 1870: Arbuckles & Co.; W.T. Bown & Bro.; Dilworth Bros.; Rinehart & Stevens; T.C. Jenkins & Bro.; Carter Bros. & Co.; J.S. Dilworth & Co.; Jesse H. Lippincott; s.h.i.+elds & Boucher; and Haworth & Dewhurst.

Samuel Young, Samuel Mahood, and E. B. Mahood formed a partners.h.i.+p as Young, Mahood & Co. in 1879. E.B. Mahood withdrew in 1890. Samuel Mahood retired in 1906, and the company was incorporated as the Young-Mahood Company, with Samuel Young as president, and W. James Mahood as vice-president and general manager.

PORTLAND, OREGON. Early roasters in the trade of this city were: J.F.

Jones; H. C. Hudson & Co.; Marden & Folger; Verdier & Closset; and Closset & Devers.

Joseph and Emile Closset formed a partners.h.i.+p as Closset Bros, in 1880.

A.H. Devers, who had been a salesman with Folger, Schilling & Co., San Francisco, and later with A. Schilling & Co., bought out Emile Closset in 1883, and the firm became Closset & Devers. Joseph Closset died in 1915.

BALTIMORE. Pioneer roasters in Baltimore were: Joseph Braas; Daniel Many; George Pearson; Sylvester Ruth; and John G. Siegman. These were quickly followed by Barclay & Ha.s.son; Zoller & Little; Benjamin Berry; Jesse Lazear; and others.

Later, after 1876, came: E. Levering & Co.; the Enterprise Coffee Co.; C.D. Kenny; J.W. Laughlin & Co., now Le Morgan Coffee Co.; and the Saxon Coffee Company.

DETROIT. In Detroit in 1860-70 were: Evans & Walker; Farrington, Campbell & Co.; A.R. & W.F. Linn; J.H. Riggs; and Palmer, Warner & Co.

After 1876 were added Sinclair, Evans & Elliot; Huber & Stendel; and J.A. Parent & Co.

OTHER CITIES. Names of pioneer roasters of other towns in 1860 and 1870 were: George Boardman, Albany, N.Y.; Chubuck & Saunders, Binghamton, N.Y.; George W. Hayward, and P.J. Ferris, Buffalo, N.Y.; Lorimore Bros., and George R. Forrester, Elmira, N.Y.; Hatch & Jenks, Jamestown, N.Y.; N.B. Beede, Newburgh, N.Y.; A.F. Booth, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Ethridge, Tuller & Co., Rome, N.Y.; M.N. Van Zandt & Co., L.B. Eddy & Co., and C.T. Moore, Rochester, N.Y.; Ostrander, Loomis & Co., and Jacob Crouse & Co., Syracuse, N.Y.; C.H. Garrison, Troy, N.Y.; Hinchman & Howard, and J. Griffiths & Co., Utica, N.Y.; B.F. Hoopes, Bloomington, Ill.; C.P.

Farrell, and Charles Richards, Peoria, Ill.; Slemmons & Conkling, Springfield, Ill.; Henry Wales, Bridgeport, Conn.; A.B. Gillett, Wm.

Boardman & Sons, Hartford Steam Coffee & Spice Mills, and Park, Fellowes & Co., Hartford, Conn.; Benj. Peck & Kellum, and Steele & Emery, New Haven, Conn.; W.S. Scull & Co., Camden, N.J.; Theo. F. Johnson & Co., and the Pioneer Mills, Newark, N.J.; Charles A. Dunham, New Brunswick, N.J.; James Ronan and Wm. Dolton & Co., Trenton, N.J.; Butler, Earhart & Co., Columbus, Ohio; C.A. Trentman & Bro., and J.D. Beach & Co., Dayton, Ohio; W. & S. Stevens, and F.C. Dietz, Zanesville, Ohio; J.E. Tone, Des Moines, Iowa; H.P. Hess, Cornell & Smith, and E. Warne, Easton, Pa.; E.S. Forster, Erie, Pa.; Haehnlen Bros., Harrisburg, Pa.; D.G.

Yuengling, Pottsville, Pa.; A. G. Zilmore & Co., Scranton, Pa.; Granger & Co., t.i.tusville, Pa.; Huestis & Hamilton, and B. Trentman & Son, Ft.

Wayne, Ind.; S. Hamill & Co., Keokuk, Ia.; H.H. Lee, and Maguire & Gillespie, Indianapolis, Ind.; Joseph Strong, Terre Haute, Ind.; Curtis & Burnham, Leavenworth, Kan.; Yates & Dudley, Lexington, Ky.; A. Turner, Wheeling, W. Va.; Granger & Hodge, and Nathaniel Crocker, St. Paul, Minn.; W.W. Totten & Bro., Nashville, Tenn.; Henry Burns, Savannah, Ga.; A. McFarland, Springfield, Ma.s.s.; Alexander Wills & Co., Montreal, Canada; and Peter Hendershot, St. Catherine, Canada.

Between 1876 and 1900, many other names came into prominence, and among them mention should be made of: H. Hulman, Terre Haute, Ind.; A.B. Gates & Co., and Schnull & Krag, Indianapolis, Ind.; O.W. Pierce Co., and Geiger-Tinney Co., Lafayette, Ind.; Twitch.e.l.l, Champlin & Co., Portland, Me.; Nave-McCord Mfg. Co., Mokaska Mfg. Co., and the Midland Spice Co., St. Joseph, Mo.; Beaham-Moffatt Mfg. Co., and C.A. Murdock & Co., Kansas City, Mo.; Clarke Bros. & Co., T. S. Grigor & Co., Consolidated Coffee Co., and McCord, Brady Co., Omaha, Neb.; Dayton Spice Mills Co., and Canby, Ach & Canby, Dayton, Ohio; Ohio Coffee & Spice Co., and Butler, Crawford & Co., Columbus, Ohio; Bacon, Stickney & Co., Albany, N.Y.; Charles R. Groff Co., St. Paul, Minn.; John G. Schuler, Covington, Ky.; J.W. Thomas & Son, Nashville, Tenn.; Geo. F. Hanley & Co., Los Angeles, Cal.; C.S. Morey Mercantile Co., Denver, Col.; and W.G. Lown Coffee Co., Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.

William Boardman, founder of Wm. Boardman & Sons Co., Hartford, Conn., began roasting coffee at Wethersfield in 1841 with a hand-power roaster, using wood for fuel. He moved his plant to Hartford in 1850. In the same year, his son Thomas J., after serving a fifteen-year apprentices.h.i.+p in a country store, entered his father's employ. Three years later, he and his brother, William F.J. Boardman, were admitted to the firm, the name being changed to Wm. Boardman & Sons. Howard F. Boardman, a son of Thomas J., began working in the business in 1880, and was admitted to partners.h.i.+p in 1888. The same year, the founder died and William F.J.

retired. The business has since been conducted by Thomas J. and Howard F. Boardman.

The company was incorporated in 1898, and John Pepion was admitted. The president of the company, Thomas J. Boardman, is at the time of writing ninety years old. He still takes a very active interest in the business, and his "cup sense" is as acute as ever.

The O.W. Pierce Company, Lafayette, Ind. was founded in 1847 by Oliver Webster Pierce, Sr. Except for three years in the fifties, when the firm was known as Reynolds, Hatcher & Pierce, it has been known as the O.W.

Pierce Company since it was established. The company was incorporated in 1905 with O.W. Pierce, Jr. as its head. The senior Mr. Pierce died in 1921. The firm first roasted coffee in 1891. Prior to that time it had been in the wholesale grocery business.

The William S. Scull Co., Camden, N.J., was established in 1858 by William S. Scull, whose father had been in the retail tea and coffee business. William Scull died in 1916. H. Newmark founded H. Newmark & Co. in Los Angeles in 1865. He retired in 1886, and Maurice H. Newmark was made a full partner. The present name is M.A. Newmark & Co.

In 1868, Major David B. Hamill entered, as junior partner, the firm of S. Hamill & Co., Keokuk, Iowa, of which his father, Smith Hamill, was the head. Smith Hamill died in 1890, and David B. became head of the firm. He died in 1916.

William Tackaberry was a junior partner in the firm of S. Hamill & Co., Keokuk, Iowa. He began a business of his own in the same city in 1868.

Ten years later, he moved the company to Sioux City, and continued there as the Wm. Tackaberry Co.

Joel O. Cheek began traveling for the wholesale grocery house of Webb, Hughes & Co., Nashville, Tenn., in 1873. Later, he was admitted to partners.h.i.+p, the firm becoming Webb, Cheek & Co., and then Cheek, Norton & Neal. He formed the Nashville Coffee & Mfg. Co., in 1899. It was merged in 1901 into the Cheek-Neal Coffee Co.

Jekiel and Isaac E. Tone began the business of Tone Bros. at Des Moines, Iowa, in March, 1873, with one roaster and one spice mill. The business was incorporated in 1897. Jekiel Tone died in 1900, and Isaac E. Tone in 1916. The business is now (1922) carried on by W.E. and Jay E. Tone.

Edward Canby began business in Dayton, Ohio, in 1875, succeeding the firm of J.D. Beach & Co. He retired in 1886, and the business was left in charge of Frank L. Canby and P.J. Ach. The latter had entered the employ of Canby in 1877. He secured an interest in the business in 1882, and became a partner in 1890. When the company was incorporated as Canby, Ach & Canby in 1904, he was elected president. Mr. Ach has been very prominent in the affairs of the National Coffee Roasters a.s.sociation since its organization.

Frank J. Geiger began in the tea, coffee, and spice business in Lafayette, Ind., under the name of Culver & Geiger. Mr. Culver, who had never been active, died in 1889, and in 1892 the Geiger-Tinney Company was formed with F.J. Geiger as president. The plant was moved to Indianapolis in 1901 with William L. Horn as vice-president, and Henry C. Tinney as secretary and treasurer. The name was changed to the Geiger-Fishback Co. in 1912, and Mr. Geiger retired. Frank S. Fishback acquired all the stock of the company in 1918, and the name was changed to the Fishback Co. with F.S. Fishback, president; John S. Fishback, treasurer; and F. C. Fishback, secretary.

S. Holstad joined the Thomson & Taylor Spice Co of Chicago in 1892. He left in 1901 and went to Minneapolis, where he became a member of the firm of Atwood & Hoisted. He withdrew in 1908 to form the firm of S.

Holstad & Co., with Charles Ekelund and Alexander W. Kreiser as partners. After the withdrawal of Mr. Holstad from Atwood & Holstad, Mr.

Atwood continued as Atwood & Co.

F.P. Atha began work as a coffee salesman with Holman & Co., Terre Haute, Ind. He went to San Francisco in 1899 and entered the employ of J.A. Folger & Co., and introduced Folger products east of the Rockies.

He opened the Kansas City branch in 1907; and a year later, he was admitted to the firm and made vice-president and general manager.

_The National Coffee Roasters a.s.sociation_

The first effort to organize the coffee roasters of the United States dates back to 1885, when several St. Louis coffee roasters came together in a kind of gentlemen's agreement not to cut the price of roasting green coffee, which had declined, owing to ruthless compet.i.tion, from $1.00 to 10 cents a bag. The various parties to the agreement posted $500 checks each as forfeits, not to violate the price as fixed. After one year, a check was cashed; but the princ.i.p.al claimed his lapse was clerical and not in violation of the agreement. However, as a result of the argument that followed, the organization was disbanded.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MEMBERS OF THE ORGANIZATION CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL COFFEE ROASTERS a.s.sOCIATION, ST. LOUIS, MAY 26, 1911

Reading from left to right: W.B. Johnson, St. Louis; W.T. Jones, New Orleans; George Schulte, St. Louis; C.F. Blanke, St. Louis; Ben Casanas, New Orleans; Carl Stoffregen, St. Louis; Edward D. Hanly, Kansas City; H.C. Grote, St. Louis; James Menown, St. Louis; Frank P. Atha, Kansas City; Henry Petring, St. Louis; J.M. McFadden, Dubuque, Iowa; Joseph Maury, Memphis; T.F. Halligan, Davenport; F.J. Ach, Dayton; Carl Brand, Cleveland; Wm. Fisher, St. Louis; M.H. Ga.s.ser, Toledo; Julius J.

Schotten, St. Louis; E.W. Bockman, Paducah, Ky.; Louis Christopherson, St. Louis; Felix Coste, St. Louis; W.E. Tone, Des Moines; Robert Meyer, St. Louis; Fred Roth, St. Louis; M.E. Smith. St. Louis; J.B.

Dubrouilett, St. Louis; Floyd Norwine, St. Louis]

As early as 1900, leaders of the trade's best thought began to urge the need of a national organization among coffee roasters.

As a result of informal meetings between men like Robert M. Forbes, Julius J. Schotten, Robert Meyer, and Messrs. Roth and Homeyer, around the luncheon table in St. Louis, to discuss trade abuses and bring about better trade co-operation, the subject of a St. Louis organization of coffee roasters began to be agitated about 1906. It was not until four years later, however, that the idea took definite form.

On September 14, 1910, the Traffic a.s.sociation of St. Louis Coffee Importers was organized, starting out with a members.h.i.+p of ten firms, its chief object being to obtain an adjustment of freight rates to and from St. Louis as advantageous as those prevailing for Chicago and New York.