All about coffee by William H. Ukers

Bros, and with Geo. C. Chase & Co., tea importers, for two years, afterward being admitted to a junior partnership. In 1886, the firm of Ross W. Weir & Co. was formed to engage in the roasting of coffee and importing and jobbing of teas at 105 Front Street. In 1887, the business was removed to 58-60 Front Street. When the corporation of Ross W. Weir, Inc. was formed in 1915 to take over the business of E.J. Gillies & Co. Inc., Mr. Weir became president and treasurer of the combined organization. [Illustration: COL. WILLIAM P. ROOME, NEW YORK] _Pioneer Wholesale Coffee Roasters_ A reference to other pioneers in the wholesale coffee-roasting trade may not be amiss here, even though it involves a repetition of some names that have been given special mention in the case of New York. In the list that follows are included the most prominent firms and the best known names that helped make roasted coffee history in the United States in the nineteenth century, particularly from 1845 to 1900: NEW YORK. The most prominent firms in the business in New York in the sixties were: Thomas Reid & Co., Globe Mills; Geo. A. Merwin & Co.; Levi Rowley, Star Mills; A.B. Thorn; Fischer & Lehmann, later Fischer & Thurber, and Fischer, Kirby & Brown; Knickerbocker & Cooke; A.D. Thurber; Wm. J. Stitt & Co.; Samuel Wilde's Sons. In the seventies, in addition to most of the above list, there were: Pupke & Reid; Arbuckle Bros.; Edward A. Phelps, Jr.; Bonnett, Schenck & Earle; Fischer & Lansing; J.G. Worth; Jackson & Co.; Charles Conway; Neidlinger & Schmidt; James L. Arcularius; S.M. Beard, Sons & Co.; H.K. Thurber & Co.; Wright Gillies & Bro.; Bennett & Becker; Great American Tea Co.; Brown & Scott. Between 1876 and 1900 the following well known names appeared in the trade: Frederick Akers; Eppens-Smith Co., afterward Eppens, Smith & Wiemann Co., and later Eppens Smith Co.; B. Fischer & Co.; R.P. McBride; Fitzpatrick & Case, afterward A.C. Fitzpatrick & Co.; Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.; Loudon & Johnson; Edwin Scott; Peter Haulenbeek, afterward Haulenbeek & Mitchell, and Haulenbeek Roasting & Milling Co.; Joseph Stiner & Co.; Austin, Nichols & Co.; Bennett, Sloan & Co.; Gillies Coffee Co.; Benedict & Gaffney, afterward Van Loan, Maguire & Gaffney; Ross W. Weir & Co.; Union Pacific Tea Co.; Hillis Plantation Co.; Edwin J. Gillies & Co.; Jones Bros.; Holland Coffee Co.; Samuel Crooks & Co.; Benedict & Thomas. [Illustration: PIONEER COFFEE ROASTERS OF THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN UNITED STATES 1--W.F. McLaughlin, Chicago; 2--J.G. Flint, Milwaukee; 3--Frank J. Geiger, Indianapolis; 4--Samuel Mahood, Pittsburgh; 5--Henry A. Stephens, Cleveland; 6--W.H. Harrison, Cincinnati; 7--Albert A. Sprague, Chicago; 8--D.Y. Harrison, Cincinnati; 9--William Grossman, Milwaukee; 10--Edward Canby, Dayton; 11--Thomas J. Boardman, Hartford; 12--Francis Widlar, Cleveland; 13--O.W. Pierce, Sr., Lafayette. Ind.; 14--A.M. Thomson Chicago; 15--Samuel Young, Pittsburgh; 16--Alvin M. Woolson, Toledo; 17--Martin Hayward, Boston; 18--George C. Wright, Boston; 19--William Boardman, Hartford; 20--James S. Sanborn, Boston; 21--James Heekin, Cincinnati; 22--James F. Dwinell, Boston; 23--Caleb Chase, Boston] BOSTON. Among the pioneers in the coffee-roasting business in Boston were: N. Berry & Sons; Blanchard & Bro.; Carter, Mann & Co.; Noah Davis & Co.; Dyer & Co.; E. Emerson; Flint Bros. & Co.; J.T. & N. Glines; Hayward & Co.; Geo. W. Higgins & Co.; Hill, Dwinell & Co.; H.B. Newhall; Richardson & Lane; N. Robinson & Co.; Russell & Fessenden; Stickney & Poor; E.H. Swett; the Tremont Coffee & Spice Mills; Swain, Earle & Co.; and the Martin L. Hall Co. Between 1876 and 1900 these names were among those added: Shapleigh Coffee Co.; Gilman L. Parker; W.S. Quinby & Co.; Thomas Wood & Co. Dwinell & Co. and Hayward & Co. both engaged in the coffee roasting business about 1845. In 1876, they, James F. Dwinell, Martin Hayward, and his brother-in-law George C. Wright, joined hands under the name of Dwinell, Hayward & Co. In 1894, Mr. Hayward having previously retired, the name of the firm was changed to Dwinell, Wright & Co. Mr. Dwinell died in 1898; and in 1899, Mr. Wright formed a Massachusetts corporation under the present name, Dwinell-Wright Co. George C. Wright died, 1910, and his son, George S. Wright, who had been treasurer, became president. A grandson, Warren M. Wright, and a nephew, G. E. Crampton, together with R.O. Miller and Charles H. Holland, are active in the present conduct of the business. Caleb Chase with Messrs. Carr and Raymond founded the firm of Carr, Chase & Raymond at 32 Broad Street in 1864. The name was changed to Chase, Raymond & Ayer in 1871. James S. Sanborn, who had formerly been in the coffee and spice trade at Lewiston, Me., with a branch office in Boston, combined with Caleb Chase to form Chase & Sanborn in 1878. Charles D. Sias was admitted to the firm in 1882. A Montreal office was opened in 1884. Charles E. Sanborn, son of James S., was admitted in