The Beginning of Atlas Iron

The earliest mention of Atlas Iron that I have found is the announcement of the formation of the company in the Real Estate Record, 7 Feb 1891, p199.  It took me a while to track this down, but I was recently able to get a good photo from the original publication thanks to the archives of the New York Public Library.

Their advertisement appeared later in that same issue:

Atlas Iron's incorporation was also announced in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on 12 Feb, and in The Engineering Record and the Engineering News on 14 Feb.

The Men of Atlas Iron

I've been curious about the men who worked together at Atlas Iron.  Henry Williams had no expertise in building, and he joined forces with three younger men who did in order to start the company.  I've discovered that those other three men - Philip Raqué, Frank Harrison and Frederick Youngs - all worked at Union Iron Works just prior to founding Atlas Iron.  They very likely worked on the Columbia Building, which was the third skeleton-framed building in the city, and brought that knowledge with them to Atlas Iron.

As they formed their company, Henry Williams was 52, Philip Raqué was 35, Frank Harrison and Frederick Youngs were both 23, and Henry's son Frederick Williams was 22.  I've also discovered that Frank Harrison, Fred Youngs and Fred Williams lived within a block of each other for a short time - more on that below.

Henry C. Williams with his sons,
Fred (left) and Henry (right), circa 1879

Henry C. Williams was the company's president and put up most of the money for the venture.  He was born in Lower Sandusky, Ohio in 1838.  His parents both passed away while he was young.  He later followed his older brother to New York City.  He served in the Civil War, and then had a very successful career as a stock and bond broker.  He and his wife Mary E. Harrison had two sons: Frederick in 1868 and Henry Jr. in 1869.  His son Frederick described him as "one of those successful 'self-made' men we used to read about; a good, honest, kind-hearted, generous man; clean-living, courteous and chivalrous to a degree not often seen to-day [in 1945],--a gentleman at heart as well as in manners. He was extremely punctilious in keeping his word,--always a little ahead of time for an appointment,--never failing to pay a bill when promised,--and expecting the same in others."

Henry sold his seat on the New York Stock Exchange and retired right around the time he turned 49.  However, he "was of too active a disposition to settle down and live on his income."  He began looking for a new business venture, which ultimately became Atlas Iron Construction.

After Atlas Iron went out of business at the end of 1895, Henry Williams retired to his vacation home in Castine, Maine.  The failure of the company - and his own finances, which he used to try and save it - came as a heavy blow, and his family believed that contributed to his death the following September.


Philip E. Raqué was the company's vice president and engineer.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1855.  He was in the second graduating class of the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1876, earning a degree in mechanical engineering.  His thesis was titled "Design for Iron Foundery", and he was in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.  He and his wife Eliza Ferritt had at least one son, Arthur, in 1888.  They may have had another son in 1896, and I have seen mention of a daughter.  It has been difficult to find clear information about his family or life.

After Atlas Iron, Philip Raqué continued to work as an engineer in New York and New Jersey.  He worked on the Ansonia Apartment Hotel, the Newark Armory and the Jersey City Armory, among other projects.


Frank S. Harrison was the company's secretary, engineer and superintendent.  He was also the cousin of Henry Williams' first wife, Mary Harrison.  Frank was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1867, grew up there and attended Yale's Sheffield Scientific School.  He graduated in 1886 at the age of 18 (it was a three-year program and, while he was young for his class, this was not unprecedented).  His focus was on civil engineering and his thesis was on cantilever bridges. 

Frank worked as an engineer for several years throughout New England.  Fred Williams described him as "a genius as an engineer", and wrote of his inventing an advanced derrick and devising the roof of an armory drill hall, both for Atlas Iron.  He and Harriet H. Eyster were married in 1892 and they had three daughters: Elizabeth in 1894, Helen in 1896 and Margaret in 1901.  He was "good natured, easy going, and had the knack of getting along well with the men on the various jobs, as well as with everybody else."

After Atlas Iron, Frank Harrison moved to Halltown, West Virginia where he became managing partner and eventually president of Eyster & Son, his father-in-law's paper box board company.


Frederick T. Youngs was the company's treasurer and a builder by trade.  He was born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1867, the eldest son out of eleven children.  By 1880, his family was living in New Rochelle, New York.  I don't know where he went to school.  He and Kate C. Davis married in 1889.  They had a son, William, that same year and another, Frederick Jr., in 1894.

Frederick's father was William H. W. Youngs (sometimes listed as Henry Walmsley Youngs), a prominent architect at the time in New York City.  Most notably, he and his partner William A. Cable - as Youngs & Cable - designed Aldrich Court and the Columbia Building.  Atlas Iron ended up working on a number of buildings designed by Youngs and/or Cable.

After Atlas Iron, Fred Youngs shifted his career focus from steel construction to general construction.  He partnered with Leonard Jacob Jr. as Jacob & Youngs, and devoted much of his career to building the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Frederick H. Williams
as an undergraduate

Frederick H. Williams is also worth mentioning here.  He was my great-great-grandfather, and he wrote many of the details which have been passed down through the family about Atlas Iron, Henry Williams (his father) and Frank Harrison.

Fred was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1868.  He graduated from Yale in 1891.  Having no career plans yet except to enter business, he took a job at Atlas Iron.  His duties included copying and typing letters, checking prices and information, and sometimes answering the telephone (which he tried to avoid).  When not busy with his own work he would watch and learn from the men in the drafting room and sometimes assist them with their blueprints.  He was later put in charge of the company payroll.  He and Alice E. Corbett married in 1893.  They had two sons and a daughter: Marshall in 1894, Mary in 1896 and Harrison in 1901.

After Atlas Iron, Fred Williams moved to Binghamton, New York where he had a long career teaching high school history, civics and government.


Fred Williams wrote that he lived near Frank Harrison, and in checking for details I found that not only did they live within a block of each other for a short time, but that Fred Youngs lived nearby as well.  The Harrisons lived briefly at #335 Lafayette Ave. in Brooklyn before moving to New Jersey.  The Williams family lived at #345 Lafayette and the Youngs family lived at either #343 or #341.  Meanwhile, Henry C. Williams lived about a dozen blocks away at #28 Lafayette Ave., and Philip Raqué lived in Jersey City.


In my research, I've only come across a few other names of men involved with the Atlas Iron Construction Company.  They were:

Thomas O. Horton, a civil engineer who graduated from Sheffield Scientific School in 1891.

S. J. Johnston, an engineer.

Edward Raqué, Philip's younger brother, an assistant engineer.

And a Mr. Shulte, who had charge of the company's Jersey City workshop.


Selected Sources:
Philip Raqué obituary, New York Sun, 24 Nov 1936, via FindAGrave.
For Frank Harrison: Obituary Record of Yale Graduates, 1920-21.
I am grateful to Diane Gravlee for sharing her research on Frederick and William Youngs, and to the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen for providing details on Frederick Youngs (who was a member).
Family papers.

The Williams Family Distillery

Here's another recent find.  The following text comes from the History of Sandusky County, Ohio, published in 1882.  It describes a distillery run by my 4x great grandfather Ezra Williams, and his cousin or uncle Ammi Williams Sr.  It's worth noting that Ammi was married to Sallina (or Salina) Eastman, and after he passed away in 1826 she married Ezra.  The book lists several other details about Ammi and Ezra (and unfortunately nothing about Sallina, my 4x great grandmother).  They were respected members of the community.

Ammi and Ezra Williams began operations in 1825, in a log building standing where Ammi Williams, jr., now resides. Nothing now remains of the structure or the apparatus of the still, the last vestige —- a great, heavy, black-walnut trough, into which the still swill was poured —- having been chopped for firewood only two years since. Ammi Williams, sr., died suddenly in 1826. In the following year Ezra Williams, having completed a building at the foot of the east side-hill on the south side of State street, moved his still therein, and continued operations.

The building was a substantial, unpainted frame one, of two stories in height. It was close to the foot of the hill, and afforded a fine basement in which the high-wines and whiskey were stored. The furnace and steam tubs were also below, On the main floor was located the mash tubs and worm, and the second story was used as a grain floor. This structure was afterwards torn down in 1839. Ezra Williams was a very conscientious man. The whiskey he manufactured was absolutely pure, and although even preachers drank in those days, no cases of delirium tremens were ever known to result from even an over-load of this early-day liquor. The whiskey jug had its place with more necessary articles of consumption in the cabin of the settler, and at meal time helped set off the table. The Indians were great imbibers of "fire-water," and bought it at the distillery by the pint, quart or gallon. They were generally very much excited under its influence, and Williams avoided selling to them as much as possible, this course being agreeable to the old chief, Hard Hickory, who was desirous to altogether prevent the sale to them.

The article manufactured was distilled from corn and rye -- two-thirds of the former to one-third of the latter. Copper boilers were not used, but to render it better it was distilled by steam in air-tight wooden tubs or casks. Joseph Edwards was the head distiller, and under his experienced management one bushel of grain produced from eleven to thirteen and one-half quarts of whiskey. From twelve to thirty-three bushels of grain was distilled per day, the distillery running generally all the year round, with from two to three men in attendance. In those days corn was worth from twenty-five to fifty cents per bushel, and rye from sixty to ninety cents. The whiskey retailed at from thirty-five to fifty cents per gallon, and from twenty-eight to forty cents per gallon by wholesale. It was of the color of purest spring water, and held a good bead for the length of a minute. Burnt sugar was the only foreign material used in its composition, and this was introduced to give it the rich, yellow color, indicative of mellow old age.

A treadmill, to do the grinding, was connected with the establishment. Williams also occupied himself with farming, and was necessarily a butcher, as he raised large numbers of hogs and kine on the refuse matter of the still.

It seems that the subject of temperance was little discussed, at least not openly, in those days, and no demonstrations of a crusade nature ever disturbed the serenity of these primitive distillers; but about 1830 a temperance society, known under the name of the Washingtonians, began to exert some influence in the county. Religious revivals were held here in ensuing years, and with this movement the temperance organization grew stronger. In 1837 Ezra Williams joined the church, and the same year, deeming that spiritual and spirituous matters (in spite of the seeming paradox), could not consistently blend together, he, in keeping with his recent profession of faith, abandoned a pursuit which was opening to him a sure road to wealth.

The manufacture of whiskey was of considerable benefit, in a commercial light, to the county. It was the chief source of revenue to the farmers. Corn was then the principal production, and the rates of transportation were so high that any undertaking to convey it to the markets of the East assured financial failure on the part of the operator. The distillery acted as a medium. The corn was sold to the distillers; the whiskey was exchanged for goods with the traders and merchants, and then easily shipped to the metropolis.

Source:
History of Sandusky County, Ohio: with Portraits and Biographies of Prominent Citizens and Pioneers (1882), p425-26

Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn

My latest find is this pair of photos of the block in Brooklyn where several of my ancestors lived.  This is the south side of Lafayette Avenue, between St. Felix Street and Ashland Place (formerly Raymond Street).  The eight houses on this block were built in 1857.  From left to right, they were #36 through #22.  The block was razed in 1905 to make way for the new Brooklyn Academy of Music building which still stands there today.

The condensed family history on this block: #28 was home first to the Harrison family - Frederick H. Harrison, his second wife Caroline Cutler, and two daughters from his first marriage: Mary and Hattie.  Mary E. Harrison met Henry C. Williams at a dance, and he called on her at the house.  They were married there by none other than Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.  In 1878, Mary and her father Frederick passed away within a few months of each other.  Two years later, Henry C. Williams moved into #28 with his second wife Mary Sellers, and his and Mary Harrison's sons: Freddie and Harry.  Caroline Cutler Harrison still lived with them for a time.  Meanwhile, the Corbett family - Marshall J. Corbett, Alice Waldron, their son and four daughters - lived next door at #26.  Frederick H. Williams courted one of those daughters, Alice E. Corbett, and they married in 1893.  After setting up house nearby and having their first child (Marshall), they moved into #28 to help take care of Fred's father.  The Corbetts left #26 and moved to Corbettsville, New York, in 1893.  The Williamses left #28 and also moved to Corbettsville, in 1898.

Frederick H. Williams described the house at #28:

It was one of those red brick, three story and basement houses, in the center of the block. ... The dining room and kitchen occupied the basement, about three feet below sidewalk level.  On the next floor, a huge parlor with an "extension" ran the length of the house, used only when callers came or on Sunday evenings when father and mother sang hymns and simple little songs like "Annie Laurie".  At the front end of the parlor between two large windows was a "pier glass" extending from near the floor almost to the ceiling and framed in gilt.  On either side in the corner stood a couple of busts on their pedestals, one of John Bright and the other of [Richard] Cobden, for my grandfather was a "free trader" and admired those two Englishmen.  Some of the chairs and sofas were covered with a rose colored silk plush which we thought very right and beautiful.

On the second floor front was a large bedroom with an alcove used by father and mother; this was also the family sitting room where we played or studied our lessons.  Back of this was another large bedroom -- Harry's and mine.  All rooms were large and high ceilinged in those old houses.  On the third floor were four more bedrooms -- [two for guests, one for the cook and one for the housemaid]. ... Our houses were lighted by gas, a chandelier having from two to four jets and the light so dim by modern standards that I wonder our eyes did not give out early.  As the lights were quite high, we sometimes had a bright oil lamp on the center table to study or read by.

Richard Cobden

John Bright

Sources:
Special thanks to the Brooklyn Historical Society - I found these photos by searching their image database.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 10 Jan 1905, illustrated supplement page 1.
New-York Tribune, 19 Feb 1905, page 7.
Wikimedia Commons.
Family papers.