Manufacturer Notes: Adams, Allison & Company1860 Ohio Summit Middlebury Census290 579 Frank Adams 41 M Pipe Maker 700 Vermont Sarah " 34 F "" Julia " 7 F O Mary " 5 F " No Allison _______________________________________________________________________________________ Byron Allison' Enlistment May 2, 1864, as corporal Company D, 164th Infantry Regiment Ohio, age 19; Mustered out August 27, 1864 Ancestry.com _______________________________________________________________________________________ 1870 Ohio Summit Middlebury Census 18 18 Adams Frank 57 M W Sewer Pipe Man 15000 1300 Vermont 89 93 Hine D. A. 62 M W Nurseryman 7000 3500 Connecticut .... Allison Byron 24 M W Stone W. manuf. Ohio _______________________________________________________________________________________ 1880 Ohio Summit Akron District 165 Census Allison Byron W M 35 Head Ohio (image missing) Adams Frank W M 61 Head Manufacturer VT _______________________________________________________________________________________ 1889 Akron Directory Allison, Bryon M., secretary and treasurer Akron Fire Brick Co., office and works, 105 to 11 Bank, res. 1047 E. Market. (See card, page 179) _______________________________________________________________________________________ AKRON FIRE BRICK COMPANY. Works 105 Bank street, Sixth ward. Established in 1873 by Byron M. Allison and Delos Hart. Mr. Hart retiring in 1877, Mr. Allison continued alone until incorporation of company, March 30, 1882. Standard fire brick, specialties, etc. Capacity of works 10,000 per day. Capital stock $50,000. Officers: C. A. Allison, president; B. M. Allison, secretary, treasurer and manager. .......................... FRANK ADAMS born in Windsor County, Vt., July 5, 1819; common school education ; came to Ohio in 1838 ; in 1839, '40, printed maps for Samuel and Levi Manning in Akron ; 1841, clerk in post office ; 1843, printed maps ; 1843, '44, clerk in post office ; 1845, partner in map business with Samuel Manning-, the latter selling out to Lorenzo Eggleston in 1846 ; Adams & Eggleston burned out June 9, 1848 ; postmaster, by appointment of President Zachary Taylor, from March, 1849 to May, 1853 ; in hat trade on Market street till again burned out April 30, 1855 ; manufacturer of sewer-pipe, and for many years president and superintendent of Akron Sewer Pipe Company, retiring in 1886 ; during the war was a member of the Middlebury military committee, and treasurer of soldiers' relief fund ; for many years member and treasurer of Middlebury Council and School Board ; 1872, commissioner on annexation of Middlebury to Akron; now active member of Akron Board of Trade, president of Akron Water Works Company and financially and officially connected with several other industrial enterprises of Akron and vicinity. January 21, 1846, Mr. Adams was married to Miss Sarah Hyde Gale, of Akron, who died January 11, 1863, leaving two daughters (now Mrs. Julia Latham and Mrs. May Perkins); September 12, 1863,was again married, to Mrs. Janetta L. Murphy, who has borne him two children Frank H., and Belle M. Adams. Soon after taking possession of the office, Mr. Adams bought the property now known as Bennett's Block, and removed the office to the room now occupied by Orson H. Remington, the jeweler, Howard street at that point having been cut down, after the erection of the building, leaving the floor of the office about four feet higher above the sidewalk than it now is. ........................... In 1849, the late Col. Reuben McMillan, David E. Hill and Robert Foster, converted the famous old "Black Mill" into pottery works, under the firm name of Hill, Foster & Co. In 1851, Mr. Foster retired, being succeeded by Edwin H. and Calvin J. Merrill and Mr. Hezekiah Camp, the firm name being changed to Hill, Merrill & Co., this firm also engaging in the manufacture of the smaller sizes of sexangular -water pipe, formed in moulds, the orifice being bored out by machinery adapted to that purpose while the section was yet in the mould. About two years later, Messrs. David E. Hill and Calvin J. Merrill got up improved patterns of the rude machinery then in use in England for the manufacture of sewer pipe, a part of the original "Black Mill" plant being devoted to that branch of the business by Hill, Merrill & Co., the clay especially adapted to this business being found in almost inexhaustible supply, within the city limits. In 1855, Hill, Merrill & Co. were succeeded by Merrill, Powers & Co. the two Merrills, Henry G. Powers and Frank Adams. About 1858 the Merrills retired, Mr. Hill again taking an interest in the business, the firm name being changed to Hill, Powers & Co. A year later, Messrs. Hill and Adams became the sole owners, under the firm name of Hill and Adams, by whom the business was greatly extended, and the capacity of the works doubled. In 1868, with David E. Hill, Frank Adams, David L. King, Lorenzo B. Austin and Ozias Barber as stockholders, a stock company was organized under the title of the HILL AND ADAMS SEWER PIPE COMPANY. Under this arrangement, the business was still further greatly extended, a new two-story brick shop 50x240 feet being erected on the opposite side of the river, below the bridge, and supplied with first-class machinery, with drying facilities, kilns, etc., to match. These works were the first of their kind west of New York, and the second in the United States, and from the excellence of the material used, and their superior workmanship, gave to Akron its firmly grounded reputation of furnishing the very best sewer pipe produced in the world. ..................... THE AKRON SEWER PIPE COMPANY. In 1871, Mr. Hill retired, and the company was reorganized, under the above title, with a paid up capital of $175,000, of which corporation Mr. Frank Adams was president, and David L. King, Esq., secretary and treasurer. Under this administration, the works were highly prosperous, a large demand being created for their wares, for sewer and drainage purposes, in all of the principal cities and villages of the country, east, west and south. Messrs. King, Adams and others, having subsequently disposed of their respective interests in the business, the present members of the company are David E. and George R. Hill, James Viall, L. S. Ebright and John Harrison, with David E. Hill as president and George R. Hill as secretary and treasurer. Capacity 1200 carloads per year. Hands employed, 125. Lane, Samuel A.; Fifty Years And Over Of Akron and Summit County (Akron, Beacon Job Department, 1892) _______________________________________________________________________________________ The Akron Fire Brick Company was established in 1873 by Byron A. Allison and Delos Hart. Since 1877 Mr. Allison continued the business alone until the incorporation of the company in 1882, with .a capital stock of $50,000. ..................................... Mr. Adams was born at Akron, Summit County, Ohio, in I860(?), and is a son of Frank Adams, who came to Akron as early as 1838 and who still survives, being a representative pioneer citizen. Doyle, William; Centennial History of Summit County, Ohio (Chicago, Biographical Publishing Co., 1908) _______________________________________________________________________________________ W. B. Allison & Co., Middlebury, c. 18651875; stoneware, bottles, etc.; no mark. (128) Allison & Hart, c. 1875-1880; same; no mark. (26-128) Ramsey, John; American Potters and Pottery (Clinton, Colonial Press Inc.,1947) _______________________________________________________________________________________ ADAMS, ALLISON & CO. Akron (Middlebury), ca. 1860; stoneware. mark is "Adams, Allison & Co., Middlebury, Summit Co., O.", impressed. Blair, C. Dean; The Potters and Potteries of Summit County: 1828-1915 (Akron, Summit County Historical Society, 1966) _______________________________________________________________________________________ Go To North American Soda & Beers Home |