Wistarburgh Glass Works

Wistarburg Glass Works roadsign

The Wistarburgh Glass Works , also known as the United Glass Company, was the first successful glass factory in the United States. It was also the first joint venture enterprise in the US. It operated from 1739 until 1782.

Background

Casper Wistar (1696–1752) moved in 1717 to Philadelphia from Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he had owned iron forges. He took up the trade of making brass buttons professionally. One day he was on a business trip in Salem County, New Jersey, to sell buttons and noticed Alloway in the county having an abundance of the items needed to make glass, white sand, clay, and wood. He had previous experience with heat forges so knew these amenities of the area made it a good location to develop a glass factory. Water transportation that was needed was not far away, Deep Run and Alloway Creek.[1] Wistar bought about 2,000 acres of land some eight miles from Salem, New Jersey.[2]

Wistar then went about in 1739 to build a glass factory, which became the first commercially successful glass factory to operate in America.[3][4][5] He first arranged with John Ladd on a lease of fifty acres that had 18,000 cords of wood on it.[6] He then arranged to have certain experienced professional European glass artisans come to America to build and run the factory that he decided to build.[6]

He had homes built near the factory area for additional workers. When he needed more experienced workers he brokered them with agents in Europe. The factory foreman that directed the other workers received a mansion. It also served as a convenient place to stay when Wistar made a business trip to the factory from Philadelphia. A company store was also constructed there for the workers' needs. It served as a place of credit for the workers and was used in exchange for wages. The store also served the local residents in Alloway.[3]

Joint venture

Wistar immediately put into place a profit sharing arrangement with the four professional European glass makers C. Halter, S. Griessmeyer, J. Wentzel, and J. Halter to motivate their continued support. He set up a joint venture from the beginning between him and these other four. This was the first cooperative manufacturing joint venture business in America. The umbrella company was called the United Glass Company. It consisted of three separate entities within this company. Wistar was the primary share holder. He held two-thirds majority ownership in each of the three entities. The four European artisan glass makers held one-third ownership. They shared in the loss and profits of the three companies. The first entity under the umbrella company was between Wistar and J. Wentzel. The second entity was that of Wistar and C. Halter. The third entity was between Wistar and two artisans, S. Griesmeyer and J Halter. The joint venture worked until Wistar's death.[7][8][9]

History

Glass globes for Benjamin Franklin's electrostatic machines were made by Wistarburgh Glass Works for research.

The glass factory made glass bottles at about 15,000 per year. Wistar’s bottles were of the Waldglas style. However, the facilities made mostly window glass and at the time was the main source for the Colonies.[3] Waldglas was a greenish-yellow glass with impurities. This was an inexpensive traditional glass that had been made in Europe since the Middle Ages. Wistar had unlimited access to white silica sand and as much wood as he needed which benefited him to success. The low taxes in New Jersey at the time helped also, so he could obtain more assets for the business.[10]

Wistar did not work much in Alloway; he had skilled artisans work with the molten material to make the glass products. He ran the business affairs from Philadelphia and had a friend, Benjamin Franklin, there.[3] He made the glass globes for Franklin's electrostatic machines that were used for electrical scientific research.[11] Franklin had built for Cadwallader Colden and Lewis Evans several of his machines of which they paid between ten and twelve pounds each which used these glass globes.[12]

Because Wistar lived in Philadelphia he was aware that English Law forbid the manufacture of certain items that were in competition with imported products from England. Consequently, he downplayed the profitability of his glass business.[12] When Wistar died his son Richard inherited the glass factory. Richard also mostly ran the business from Philadelphia, but he worked on increasing the volume and making additional glass products to sell. Richard also did not work with the furnaces nor the molten material to make the glass products. The glass enterprise was in operation until early 1781 when Richard died. His son John took over the business and mismanaged it. It soon failed, closing its doors December 29, 1781.[13]

Prior glasshouses

The first glasshouses that were built in colonial America were at Jamestown in 1607 and 1621. They were made so that glass items could be sent back to England. These enterprises were a failure and little, if any, glass was ultimately made.[14]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Pierce 1960, p. 97.
  2. ↑ "The Wistars and their Glass 1739 – 1777 / Factory Operations". WheatonArts. 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Wistarburgh". wistarburg.org. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  4. ↑ Davidson & Stillinger 1985, p. 251.
  5. ↑ Cantele & Kaplan 2010, p. 275.
  6. 1 2 Beiler 2008, p. 155.
  7. ↑ "Bottle with the Seal of Richard Wistar". Corning Museum of Glass. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  8. ↑ Atkinson, Stephen; Meyer, Ferdinand, V, (September 24, 2013). "The United Glass Company located at Wistarburgh". Peachridge Glass. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  9. ↑ "The United Glass Company located at Wistarburgh". Historical American Glass. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  10. ↑ Kummer, Insa (2014). "Caspar Wistar established the first successful glass manufacturing business in North America". Immigrant Entrepreneurship. German Historical Institute. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  11. ↑ Lemay 2014, p. 65.
  12. 1 2 Lemay 2014, p. 75.
  13. ↑ Ahl, Zachary (2013). "A Foundation Can Be Built on Sand, well, at least in Salem County". News of Salem County, LLC. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Glassmaking at Jamestown". Historic Jamestowne. National Park Service. Retrieved July 22, 2015.

Sources

Further reading

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