American Wire Nail Company, Anderson.
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Picture above courtesy of Richard Bowman at the:
Madison County Historical Society, Inc.
Picture below from the Indiana Memory Collection online, Indiana Room,
Anderson Public Library
Anderson Public Library
A new plant was built in Anderson and The American Wire Nail Company was relocated to Anderson from Covington, Kentucky in 1891 (This was due to the natural gas boom of the time). The new plant was built in 1889. The plant had 3 heating furnaces, one rod mill, and 150 wire nail machines; products, were wire rods, wire, and wire nails; annual capacity, 45,000 gross tons of rods and 600,000 kegs of nails. Fuel used, natural gas and coal.
In 1943 during World War II the now closed plant would be used by Chevrolet in its war time manufacturing efforts. Chevrolet and Defense Plant Corporation officials arranged to alter the forging buildings and create a new factory for machining engine parts.
The information below is from "THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN ALL AGES"
By James A Swank; 1832-1914
The story of the manufacture of iron from colonial time to 1891
Internet Archive
Digitizing sponsor: msn
Book contributor: University of California Libraries
By James A Swank; 1832-1914
The story of the manufacture of iron from colonial time to 1891
Internet Archive
Digitizing sponsor: msn
Book contributor: University of California Libraries
The wire nail as a substitute for the cut nail did not, however, come into notice in this country
until a very few years ago, in 1883 or 1884. Mr. E. J. Buffington, treasurer of the American
Wire Nail Company, whose works are now located at Anderson, Indiana, sends us the following
interesting account of the organization of his company, which was the first company to give the wire nail a start
in American markets as a competitor of the cut nail.
The origin of the present American Wire Nail Company dates back as far as 1871, when a few German residents of Covington, Kentucky, contributed to a fund for importing three German machines. These three machines made nothing larger than a 3d fine nail, and were kept busy principally on cigar-box nails and small wire brads. For several years the promoters of this new industry met with no success. However they were not discouraged from adding to their then surplus capacity. The American Wire and Screw Nail Company, which was the predecessor of our present company, was organized in 1875, and its management passed into the hands of men with enthusiastic views as to the future of wire nails in this country. The trade in cigar-box nails had grown to be of considerable importance to them, and the plant was increased to twenty machines. Very great difficulty was experienced in inducing the hardware trade to recognize the wire IRON IN ALL AGES. pg 451 brad and wire nail as a salable commodity. From 1878 to 1880 the growth of the wire nail was very slow and was attended with many difficulties. Deep-rooted prejudices of all kinds had to be overcome. It was not until the year 1883 or 1884 that the wire nail came into the market prominently as a competitor of the cut nail, and it was at this time that the standard wire nail was instituted. Each successive year after this the demand for wire nails increased phenomenally, and, in fact, passed beyond the wildest hopes of the most sanguine.
Down to 1883 all the cut nails manufactured in this country in commercial quantities were made of iron, but in that year cut nails made of Bessemer steel and others made of combined iron and steel were sold in American markets.
Eventually they succeeded in banding together all but one prominent wire company into what Gates called the American Steel and Wire Company. The capital stock of this organization was more than $100,000,000.
The origin of the present American Wire Nail Company dates back as far as 1871, when a few German residents of Covington, Kentucky, contributed to a fund for importing three German machines. These three machines made nothing larger than a 3d fine nail, and were kept busy principally on cigar-box nails and small wire brads. For several years the promoters of this new industry met with no success. However they were not discouraged from adding to their then surplus capacity. The American Wire and Screw Nail Company, which was the predecessor of our present company, was organized in 1875, and its management passed into the hands of men with enthusiastic views as to the future of wire nails in this country. The trade in cigar-box nails had grown to be of considerable importance to them, and the plant was increased to twenty machines. Very great difficulty was experienced in inducing the hardware trade to recognize the wire IRON IN ALL AGES. pg 451 brad and wire nail as a salable commodity. From 1878 to 1880 the growth of the wire nail was very slow and was attended with many difficulties. Deep-rooted prejudices of all kinds had to be overcome. It was not until the year 1883 or 1884 that the wire nail came into the market prominently as a competitor of the cut nail, and it was at this time that the standard wire nail was instituted. Each successive year after this the demand for wire nails increased phenomenally, and, in fact, passed beyond the wildest hopes of the most sanguine.
Down to 1883 all the cut nails manufactured in this country in commercial quantities were made of iron, but in that year cut nails made of Bessemer steel and others made of combined iron and steel were sold in American markets.
Eventually they succeeded in banding together all but one prominent wire company into what Gates called the American Steel and Wire Company. The capital stock of this organization was more than $100,000,000.
Time line:
| 1871 | A single machine brought here from Germany by a German priest, Father Goebbels, of the Augustinburg church, Covington, Kentucky, in the early part of 1875. This machine was operated by hand in the back room attached to the saloon of Mr. Members, on the south west corner of Madison and Willow streets, for a short time, while a frame building sixty by ninety feet was being erected for its reception, on the west side of Washington street, south of Willow. In August, two more machines were brought over from Europe, and the name: Kentucky Wire Nail Works" adopted. In November, 1875 a stock company (The American Wire and Screw Nail Company) was formed, with an authorized capital of $100, 000, divided into shares of $100.00 each. |
| 1876 | "The American Wire and Screw Nail Company," as the stock company was to be known, took possession of the Kentucky Wire Nail Works on January 3, 1876, when the location was changed to the building. |
| 1877 | Early in 1877 a large amount of stock changed hands and all the purchasable shares were bought up by young and enterprising men, who saw the bright future in store for the company, and on the 12th day of February a meeting of the stockholders was held and the company re-organized under the name of "The American Wire Nail Company." |
| 1889 | A new plant was built in Anderson and The American Wire Nail Company was relocated to Anderson from Covington, Kentucky in 1891 (This was due to the natural gas boom of the time). |
| 1892 | Consolidated Steel and Wire Company,
formed and eventually consisted of 7 plants. The plants of the I. L. Ellwood Manufacturing Company, and of the Ellwood Wire and Nail Company, at De Kalb, 111. The plant of the American Wire Nail Company, at Anderson, Ind. Two plants of the Salem Wire Nail Company, one at Salem, Ohio, and one at Findlay, Ohio. The plant of the H. P. Nail Company, at Cleveland. The plant of the American Wire Company, at Cleveland. |
| 1899 | American Steel and Wire Company of New Jersey - Eventually they succeeded in banding together all but one prominent wire company into what Gates called the American Steel and Wire Company. The capital stock of this organization was more than $100,000,000. |
| 1901 | The United States Steel Corporation was incorporated on February 25, 1901, under the laws of the State of New Jersey. Its authorized capital stock is $1,100,000,000, of which $550,000,000 Ib 7 per cent. cumulative preferred and $550,000,000 is common. It had issued to July 1, 1901, about $508,000,000 of preferred and $506,000,000 of common stock. In addition it has outstanding $304,000,000 of 5 per cent. collateral trust gold bonds. It owns practically all the stock of; The Carnegie Company; Federal Steel Company; National Steel Company, National Tube Company, American Steel and Wire Company of New Jersey, American Tin Plate Company, American Steel Hoop Company, The American Sheet Steel Company, The American Bridge Company, and the. |
| 1942 | The last operation at the Anderson factory was the production of fabric weld, which was a new process at that time and was used for reinforcing concrete. This operation kept the plant open until 1942. |
The early history of
The American Wire Nail Company.
submitted by Nancy Bray.The American Wire Nail Company.
rootsweb.ancestry.com: Papers from the past
"The American Wire and Screw Nail Company," as the stock company
was to be known, took possession of the works
on the 3rd day of January, 1876, when the location was changed to the building now occupied. The removal was
made with four machines, one manufactured at the works, the other three imported. Steam was first applied
when the removal was made.
The officers and directors at this time were: Jos. Goebbels, President; M. Backs, General Manager; J. B. Mecklenborg, Secretary and Treasurer; Jos. Goebbels, H. Weweler, Chas, Eymann, B. Biestmann, C. L. Dengler, J. B. Mecklenborg and M. Baackes, Directors.
Early in 1877 a large amount of stock changed hands and all the purchasable shares were bought up by young and enterprising men, who saw the bright future in store for the company, and on the 12th day of February a meeting of the stockholders was held and the company re-organized under the name of "The American Wire Nail Co."
The following gentlemen were elected officers and directors for the ensuing twelve months: J. L. Stephens, President and Treasurer; H. Terlau, Vice President; J. B. Mecklenborg, Secretary; M. Baackes, General Manager; J. C. Ernst, R. G. Hemingray, H. Terlau and B. Biestmann, Directors.
Now the Company has ten machines in operation, all but three made at their works under the direction of Mr. Baakes, who remained with the institution through these several changes, and by the master mechanic, Mr. Henry Meyers. These ten machines range in size from the largest, through which wire is worked from a thickness of three-sixteenths of an inch to three-thirty-seconds of an inch, to the smallest, which is capable of working wire from one eighteenth of an inch to one thirty-second of an inch in thickness; the length of the nail manufactured by either machine being regulated by a guage.
FACILITIES:
The company is prepared to make six hundred different varieties of nails, among them the "Eureka cigar-box nail" and the "barbed nail," for which they have applied for patents. An engine of fourteen horse power furnishes the motive force for the whole establishment, yet every piece of machinery used, with the single exception of casting, is made on the premises; even the wooden shipping cases are made by the company's carpenter. The wire used is purchased principally from Messrs. Roebling & Sons, Trenton, N. J., some small lots being brought from the Globe Rolling Mill of Cincinnati. Quantities of wire all the way from 500 to 2,000 pounds per day pass through the machines of the company; the larger machines making one hundred nails per minute, and the smallest, one hundred and eighty per minute. The modus operandi of preparing the wire for screw nails is very simple, with the facilities that the company can now command. The different sizes of wire go through almost the very same process but are prepared by different machines. A coil of thicker wire is thrown over a neat but simple wooden spool turning on a pivot in an upright stand. One end of the wire is fed into what is called the "screw threading machine," where a somewhat complicated combination of cogs and pistons revolves round it gradually drawing it through, when the end is fastened to another spool which then turns in unison with the machine winding the wire off as it comes from the machine threaded; that is, with a groove running through it like that of a screw. The "screw threading machine" although improved to that degree that it presses the wire in, instead of chipping it out as when first invent smaller machine, the "notching machine," an invention of Mr. Baackes, can prepare 800 pounds. The "notching machine," through which the finer wire is prepared is altogether different from the other in construction. It is simply a series of wheels and levers that mold or press the wire into grooves or notches as it passes through taking nothing from it but rather adding to its strength and durability by compressing it.
The officers and directors at this time were: Jos. Goebbels, President; M. Backs, General Manager; J. B. Mecklenborg, Secretary and Treasurer; Jos. Goebbels, H. Weweler, Chas, Eymann, B. Biestmann, C. L. Dengler, J. B. Mecklenborg and M. Baackes, Directors.
Early in 1877 a large amount of stock changed hands and all the purchasable shares were bought up by young and enterprising men, who saw the bright future in store for the company, and on the 12th day of February a meeting of the stockholders was held and the company re-organized under the name of "The American Wire Nail Co."
The following gentlemen were elected officers and directors for the ensuing twelve months: J. L. Stephens, President and Treasurer; H. Terlau, Vice President; J. B. Mecklenborg, Secretary; M. Baackes, General Manager; J. C. Ernst, R. G. Hemingray, H. Terlau and B. Biestmann, Directors.
Now the Company has ten machines in operation, all but three made at their works under the direction of Mr. Baakes, who remained with the institution through these several changes, and by the master mechanic, Mr. Henry Meyers. These ten machines range in size from the largest, through which wire is worked from a thickness of three-sixteenths of an inch to three-thirty-seconds of an inch, to the smallest, which is capable of working wire from one eighteenth of an inch to one thirty-second of an inch in thickness; the length of the nail manufactured by either machine being regulated by a guage.
FACILITIES:
The company is prepared to make six hundred different varieties of nails, among them the "Eureka cigar-box nail" and the "barbed nail," for which they have applied for patents. An engine of fourteen horse power furnishes the motive force for the whole establishment, yet every piece of machinery used, with the single exception of casting, is made on the premises; even the wooden shipping cases are made by the company's carpenter. The wire used is purchased principally from Messrs. Roebling & Sons, Trenton, N. J., some small lots being brought from the Globe Rolling Mill of Cincinnati. Quantities of wire all the way from 500 to 2,000 pounds per day pass through the machines of the company; the larger machines making one hundred nails per minute, and the smallest, one hundred and eighty per minute. The modus operandi of preparing the wire for screw nails is very simple, with the facilities that the company can now command. The different sizes of wire go through almost the very same process but are prepared by different machines. A coil of thicker wire is thrown over a neat but simple wooden spool turning on a pivot in an upright stand. One end of the wire is fed into what is called the "screw threading machine," where a somewhat complicated combination of cogs and pistons revolves round it gradually drawing it through, when the end is fastened to another spool which then turns in unison with the machine winding the wire off as it comes from the machine threaded; that is, with a groove running through it like that of a screw. The "screw threading machine" although improved to that degree that it presses the wire in, instead of chipping it out as when first invent smaller machine, the "notching machine," an invention of Mr. Baackes, can prepare 800 pounds. The "notching machine," through which the finer wire is prepared is altogether different from the other in construction. It is simply a series of wheels and levers that mold or press the wire into grooves or notches as it passes through taking nothing from it but rather adding to its strength and durability by compressing it.
American Steel & Wire Co. (of Illinois):
The properties purchased and owned by the original American Steel & Wire Co. (of Illinois), comprised the following: Consolidated Steel & Wire Co., Allentown, Pa.; Rankin, Pa.; Joliet, III.; Rochdale, 111.; St. Louis, Mo., and Beaver Falls, Pa.; Salem Wire Nail Co., Salem, O.; H. P. Nail Co., American Wire Co., Consolidated Steel & Wire Co., Cleveland, O.; Salem Wire Nail Co., P'indlav, O.; American Wire Nail Co., Anderson, Ind.; I. L. Ellwood Manufacturing Co., Ellwood Wire & Nail Co., De Kalb, III.; McMullen Fence Co., Evanston, 111. The company has acquired some additional properties, including the fleet of the Zerith Transit Co., and in 1900 will have 12 lake steamers with a carrying capacity of over 2,000,000 tons of ore. In November, 1900, it was understood the company had arranged the acquisition of the American Steamship Co., with its Lake fleet, and would guarantee a $5,000,000 bond issue of the Steamship Co.
The properties purchased and owned by the original American Steel & Wire Co. (of Illinois), comprised the following: Consolidated Steel & Wire Co., Allentown, Pa.; Rankin, Pa.; Joliet, III.; Rochdale, 111.; St. Louis, Mo., and Beaver Falls, Pa.; Salem Wire Nail Co., Salem, O.; H. P. Nail Co., American Wire Co., Consolidated Steel & Wire Co., Cleveland, O.; Salem Wire Nail Co., P'indlav, O.; American Wire Nail Co., Anderson, Ind.; I. L. Ellwood Manufacturing Co., Ellwood Wire & Nail Co., De Kalb, III.; McMullen Fence Co., Evanston, 111. The company has acquired some additional properties, including the fleet of the Zerith Transit Co., and in 1900 will have 12 lake steamers with a carrying capacity of over 2,000,000 tons of ore. In November, 1900, it was understood the company had arranged the acquisition of the American Steamship Co., with its Lake fleet, and would guarantee a $5,000,000 bond issue of the Steamship Co.
The New York Times
Published: September 13, 1895
Copyright © The New York Times
It was announced a few days ago that the American Wire Nail Company, at Anderson,
Ind., operating the largest plant of its kind in the country, and employing 1,000 men, had given notice that it would
reduce its force of workmen in the wire-nail department by one-half. “This means," said the press dispatch,
“that the company is unable to place all the nails which it is making." The experience of this concern directs
attention to the manner in which certain combinations have sought to take advantage of the recovery of business by
taxing consumers unreasonably.Published: September 13, 1895
Copyright © The New York Times
While it is true that the large increase of prices in certain branches of the iron industry, and in some other industries, has come about naturally, on account of notable increase of consumptive demand, inability of producers to satisfy that demand promptly, and higher cost of production, (as in the case of Bessemer pig' iron, for example,) it is also true that in many instances prices have been increased sharply and greatly by combination agreements designed to suppress competition. The purpose of some of these combinations appears to have been to take all possible advantage of existing tariff duties, and not to be governed by the prices of their raw materials.
The manufacturers of wire nails (and also the makers of cut nails) are effectively united in a combination, and they have almost multiplied the price of nails by three. Wire nails were sold in February last at 90 cents per keg in Chicago; the price there now is $2.40 per keg. Last Winter's price was too low, but the present combination price is not warranted by the advance in raw materials and cost of production. It is an unnatural price, and the announced reduction of force in the largest of the mills indicates that greed has overreached itself.
By Beth Oljace.
Anderson Public Library
ANDERSON, Ind. — In 1888, the smart entrepreneur thought Anderson looked pretty good. Natural gas had just been discovered in east central Indiana and a factory could be operated here very cheaply.
The officials of the American Wire Nail Company of Covington, Ky., thought that Anderson sounded like a good deal. The company bought land on Anderson’s west side between Sycamore and Locust Streets in the Hazelwood area, built a factory and began operations.
Its initial luck in Anderson, however, was bad. Within two years, a major fire destroyed a good part of the plant. The company was underinsured, and it wasn’t unusual for companies to look for greener pastures after fires, but company officials decided they liked something about Anderson and they rebuilt.
Within a few years, the Wire Nail Company was the largest employer in Anderson. The factory’s name would change a few years later when it was bought by Illinois-based American Steel and Wire.
Barbed wire for Army
The American Steel and Wire factory processed raw steel, which was brought into the factory by train in 150-pound chunks called billets. In the factory’s Rod Mill, the steel was heated to an extreme temperature and rolled into rods, thin sheets and coils.
It was quite a sight to watch a workman with long tongs seize a white-hot steel rod from a set of rollers, whip it around in the air and send it through another set of rollers, and to see the sheets of rolled, red-hot steel.
The processed steel was then sent to one of several divisions, where it was made into wire of all types, wire fences, barbed wire, staples and nails. The Nail Factory was the noisiest division in the plant; the sound made by the machines punching out nails was likened to a dozen thunderclaps at once.
The Rod Mill’s heyday was probably during and just after World War I. During the war, the factory produced barbed wire for the Army. Employment at the plant shot up to 750 and the company had the busiest day in its history when the factory processed 250 tons of steel in one day.
The Rod Mill wasn’t just a place to work — it was the center of a community. Several foreign-born workers came to Anderson to work there and the company took its responsibilities to them seriously. They hired a teacher who taught Americanization and English classes that employees could attend on company time.
There was a visiting nurse, who treated employees and their families and held a baby clinic to help screen for children’s diseases. There was a company band, a company newsletter, an annual company picnic at Mounds Park in the summer and a children’s Christmas party with Santa Claus. There was a company bowling league and baseball and basketball teams. (In the mid-1920s, the ASW basketball team went unbeaten for two years.)
Hit by Depression
The Rod Mill could be a dangerous place to work and accidents were common in the early years. The management was seriously concerned about the welfare of its employees and worked hard to reduce the number of injuries. They also tried to help injured employees and find alternative roles for them. When wire drawer Joseph Weasel was disabled by a plant injury, he was given a life job as mill watchman. A serious campaign to reduce accidents and promote workplace safety ran throughout the 1920s. By 1932, the campaign had been so successful that ASW’s Anderson plant established a world record for industrial safety by going six years and over 5 million work hours without a serious accident.
American Steel and Wire’s Anderson plant did well through the 1920’s, but the Depression destroyed the market for many of its products. During the early thirties the factory operated a few days a week. By that time, the factory was beginning to age and the company began moving some of its divisions to plants in other cities rather than rebuild in Anderson. The Rod Mill was moved to another factory in 1937, and the galvanizing, nail and fence operations shut down here in 1940.
The last operation at the Anderson factory was the production of fabric weld, which was a new process at that time and was used for reinforcing concrete. This operation kept the plant open until 1942. Some workers were offered transfers to plants in Illinois. Still others found jobs at Delco-Remy as it took on workers during World War II. The busy Rod Mill, which had once been the center of life in Hazelwood, was quiet and only a night watchman was left to guard the empty plant.
Beth Oljace works in the Indiana Room at Anderson Public Library. She can be reached at boljace@yahoo.com.
Anderson Public Library
ANDERSON, Ind. — In 1888, the smart entrepreneur thought Anderson looked pretty good. Natural gas had just been discovered in east central Indiana and a factory could be operated here very cheaply.
The officials of the American Wire Nail Company of Covington, Ky., thought that Anderson sounded like a good deal. The company bought land on Anderson’s west side between Sycamore and Locust Streets in the Hazelwood area, built a factory and began operations.
Its initial luck in Anderson, however, was bad. Within two years, a major fire destroyed a good part of the plant. The company was underinsured, and it wasn’t unusual for companies to look for greener pastures after fires, but company officials decided they liked something about Anderson and they rebuilt.
Within a few years, the Wire Nail Company was the largest employer in Anderson. The factory’s name would change a few years later when it was bought by Illinois-based American Steel and Wire.
Barbed wire for Army
The American Steel and Wire factory processed raw steel, which was brought into the factory by train in 150-pound chunks called billets. In the factory’s Rod Mill, the steel was heated to an extreme temperature and rolled into rods, thin sheets and coils.
It was quite a sight to watch a workman with long tongs seize a white-hot steel rod from a set of rollers, whip it around in the air and send it through another set of rollers, and to see the sheets of rolled, red-hot steel.
The processed steel was then sent to one of several divisions, where it was made into wire of all types, wire fences, barbed wire, staples and nails. The Nail Factory was the noisiest division in the plant; the sound made by the machines punching out nails was likened to a dozen thunderclaps at once.
The Rod Mill’s heyday was probably during and just after World War I. During the war, the factory produced barbed wire for the Army. Employment at the plant shot up to 750 and the company had the busiest day in its history when the factory processed 250 tons of steel in one day.
The Rod Mill wasn’t just a place to work — it was the center of a community. Several foreign-born workers came to Anderson to work there and the company took its responsibilities to them seriously. They hired a teacher who taught Americanization and English classes that employees could attend on company time.
There was a visiting nurse, who treated employees and their families and held a baby clinic to help screen for children’s diseases. There was a company band, a company newsletter, an annual company picnic at Mounds Park in the summer and a children’s Christmas party with Santa Claus. There was a company bowling league and baseball and basketball teams. (In the mid-1920s, the ASW basketball team went unbeaten for two years.)
Hit by Depression
The Rod Mill could be a dangerous place to work and accidents were common in the early years. The management was seriously concerned about the welfare of its employees and worked hard to reduce the number of injuries. They also tried to help injured employees and find alternative roles for them. When wire drawer Joseph Weasel was disabled by a plant injury, he was given a life job as mill watchman. A serious campaign to reduce accidents and promote workplace safety ran throughout the 1920s. By 1932, the campaign had been so successful that ASW’s Anderson plant established a world record for industrial safety by going six years and over 5 million work hours without a serious accident.
American Steel and Wire’s Anderson plant did well through the 1920’s, but the Depression destroyed the market for many of its products. During the early thirties the factory operated a few days a week. By that time, the factory was beginning to age and the company began moving some of its divisions to plants in other cities rather than rebuild in Anderson. The Rod Mill was moved to another factory in 1937, and the galvanizing, nail and fence operations shut down here in 1940.
The last operation at the Anderson factory was the production of fabric weld, which was a new process at that time and was used for reinforcing concrete. This operation kept the plant open until 1942. Some workers were offered transfers to plants in Illinois. Still others found jobs at Delco-Remy as it took on workers during World War II. The busy Rod Mill, which had once been the center of life in Hazelwood, was quiet and only a night watchman was left to guard the empty plant.
Beth Oljace works in the Indiana Room at Anderson Public Library. She can be reached at boljace@yahoo.com.