Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/379

 COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES l«m y f a iM in 1883 and Grove, G rier & Com­ pan y, a limited partnership, b ^ am c the pur­ chasers of the property and opcrateil the plant until 1886. T he North Branch Steel Company, incor|K>nited Ju n e 9, t88f), took over the plant and ojierated the same until 1899. when the Dan­ ville Bessemer Comj>any was incorporatecl and at once Inrgan operating the plant and building a steel pLint in connection with it. A large amount o f money was sneni in the erection of the new* buildings and fitting them up fo r the m anufacture o f steel. The plant, however, w as never operated as a steel plant, and the buildings erected were dismantled and remain a monument to the wonderful power of the steel trust. F o r some little time a part of the property w as devoted to the manufacture o f shovels, under the management o f Jam es L . Barhcr. On 5. 191c* the property was sold at shcrifl^'s sale and p u rch as^ by Thom as J . P rice, as trustee fo r a number of the business men in Danville. Subsequently a portion of the pro|)cily was teased to the Pennsylvania B rake llcam Company, which for a number o f years has operated the same under the man­ agement o f E. M. Applebaugh. T he site of the old Danville Fum aces was subsequently sold to Howe & Samuel, who have erected their new mill thereon. G r w c s Furnaces Among the iron works of the earlier davs were the Columbia Furnaces, operated by tfie G rove Brothers. Those brothers were such in m ore than nanK. There w as a close bond be­ tween them that united (hem in business as w'ell as in fam ily life. There were five broth­ e r s : Michael J .. John Peter, John, Jacob W. and Elias. Michael J ., John Peter and John were the three that were most active in the Danville busincs.s. Jacob W ., somewhat later, came to Danville: but Ritas remained in I.^banon county, where (hey had all been resi<lents. In 1840 these brothers bought a furnace that had been built by George Patterson in 1839. T his they operated very successfully and in (844 built what was called the "Little Furnace.” In 18O0 they built, alongside of the others, a very large furnace with modem im­ provements, bringing the capacity up to 12,000 tons a year. T he Grove Brothers' F u r­ naces ranked high in the quality o f iron pro­ duced. For many years they were an impor­ tant industry of the town. They were located

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at the end o f East Mahoning street, where also a large and commodious brick office was erected. John Grove and K. M. Grove, sons o f Mich­ ael J. Grove, were much interested in the iron business and contributed greatly towards the success of the same in the latter days of the o])eration of these furnaces. T he Grove brothers built the handsome resi­ lience on the hill 1 >cyond the Philadelphia & Reading station, where they resided until their deaths. T his mansion passed into the hands o f John R . Bennett, who married a daughter o f John Peter G ro v e; and who, at his death, left it to his widow (a second w ife). T he Grove Fum aces w'cre shut down in 1891 and subsequently were dismantled. £)ont*i//r Iro n W orks T his plant w as fam iliarly known, in the davs o f its operation, as the "C ock Robin” milt. It was built in 1873 by William Fau x and was located on the canal and Church street. The business had a checkered career, but Mr. Faux was a man o f indomitable encrg)' and w*as able to keep his mill going even through the triaU and vicissitudes of the panic of 1873. It gave employment to a lai^e num­ ber o f men and it was with regret that* in 1877, the entire plant was removed to Pueblo. Colo. Twenty-eight railroad cars were used in its transportation. Later it was moved to Denver. Donxnlle S to ve & M anufacturing Co* The Danville Stove & Manufacturing Com­ pany w*as incorporated Aug. 7, 1882, with a capital o f $20,000. T his has been increased from time to time until at present the author­ ized capital has reached the sum o f $345,000. The first president of the plant w*as Henry lames Foster. The present officers arc W il­ liam B. Chamberlin, president: William L. McClurc, treasurer; A exan d er Foster, secre* tary and general manager. The company manufactures a complete line o f wood and coal stoves, ranges, hot air fu r­ naces and gas stoves: the pft^uct being mar­ keted in ail sections of the United States and a good portion exported. The total yearly output of .Htoves is 2t).ooo. the value o f whicfi ranges from $300,000 to $350,000. The num­ ber o f molders engaged at present ts 10 2 : other employees, 96. The average yearly pay­ roll in the past two years has been $150,000.
 * incent: the first secretary and treasurer,