My Genealogy Hound

CHESTER F. and THEODORE H. WICKWIRE of Cortland, N. Y., are to-day among the largest manufacturers in the county, and are known over the United States as the proprietors of the plant that goes by the name of Wickwire Bros.’ Wire Works of Cortland, N. Y. This industry was established in Cortland in 1873 by the above named gentlemen. Previous to that year they had carried on a retail hardware store on Main Street, and while engaged in that business they took it upon themselves to enter upon the production of the wire-cloth that forms a part of so many household articles, for there were very few factories engaged in this sort of work then, and the
product commanded a high price. They, thereupon, started their business in the rear of their store, making use of only one hand loom at first. They did not suffer from lack of trade, for in a few years the press of orders was so great, and the demand so extensive, that they disposed of their hardware store, and turned their whole attention to the manufacturing of wire-cloth. In 1880, the enterprise required more space, and they accordingly purchased of Mr. W. R. Randall a site on South Main Street, where they erected a plant, which from time to time in the last seventeen years has been improved and enlarged in many ways. In their new home they entered upon an innovation, that of drawing their own wire, for before that the wire-cloth factories had bought their wire already drawn. In the wire drawing mills, that have been recently enlarged, so that the dimensions of the main building are 308 feet by go, the wire is drawn from one-fourth of an inch in diameter down to the thinness of a hair. The wire, a few years ago, was worth four cents a pound when it came from Sweden, and the value was increased to twenty-five cents a pound when it was finished and woven into wire-cloth. By such advanced methods of production and by many ingenious mechanical contrivances employed in their works, they have cut so far into the cost of preparing their goods for the market and by using American steel in place of Swedish iron, that the cost to the consumer has been lessened by over one-half. The mechanical skill of both Chester F. and Theodore H. Wickwire is very marked, especially that of the elder brother and president of the company; they have invented and made nearly all the machinery used for weaving, spooling, painting and finishing wire-cloths; and what is more, their process is now being used throughout the United States, and because of this significant fact great credit should be given to the Messrs. Wickwire for the reduction in the prices of goods. Their factory and mill products include an extensive line of wire-cloths in painted, bronze and galvanized wire of highest quality and in all the standard sizes, also wire nettings, fencing, and a variety of wire goods for domestic and household use, such as coal sieves, flour sieves, corn poppers, dish covers, etc. They are by great odds the largest manufacturers of flour sieves in the United States. Their greatest product, however, is cloth suited for door and window screens, which is made of steel wire, either painted or galvanized. Wickwire Bros.’ bronze cloth has a national reputation, while their name on a label is a sufficient guarantee of the excellence and superior quality of the goods.

In addition to their wire mills, already referred to, there is also a large group of buildings that have been erected since 1884. The main building, in which the greater part of the weaving is done, extends 480 feet on the Lehigh Valley R. R. side, with a frontage of 190 feet on Main Street, and a depth of forty-five feet; the structure is built of brick, three stories high, not including the basement. Then there is the box shop and sieve building 45 x 80 feet, and also boiler houses and engine rooms attached to the rear; a paint tower of brick, 32 x 60 feet and seven stories high; annealing and cleaning houses, consisting of two circular buildings, 60 feet in diameter; and a store house 70 x 130 feet, two stories high. These buildings are located on a lot, that is almost six acres in extent, three acres being purchased when the new wire mill was erected in 1893. A powerful Corliss engine of 1,000 horse-power does the most of the work of the establishment, and also supplies power for the electric lights, with which the whole plant is furnished, thus making it possible to run night and day in several shifts. It is not infrequently, such is the demand, that this is resorted to. The buildings throughout are heated with steam. At 50 Main Street are located the general offices of the company, which are furnished with every convenience and supplied with a plentiful supply of light. There are on an average about 400 hands employed, with a pay-roll of about $4,000.00 a week the year round. The looms have a capacity of fifty miles of wire-cloth one foot wide per day. The company has the best equipped factory and largest capacity for manufacturing goods in its line in the United States, and probably in the world. It was the very first concern to manufacture wire-cloth for window screens with two selvedges for all widths, also the first to manufacture wire-cloth from hard drawn steel wire. Beside this enterprise, mammoth in itself, Messrs. Wickwire own and operate the Wickwire Flour Mills at Cortland, and have built many buildings, among which number is the Grand Central Block. They have both erected beautiful stone residences on Tompkins Street, which do not have their equal in cities of ten or twenty times the size of Cortland in the great Empire State. They have taken a very active interest in the progress of Cortland, and the growth of that village has been identified with the growth of the firm, for Cortland when they began their enterprise was a sleepy little country village of about three thousand inhabitants, and now is a thriving little city of perhaps twelve thousand. They are very liberal and open-handed in their beneficences, and many charitable institutions have cause to remember them with thankfulness in their hearts. They own one of the largest and best appointed stock-farms in the county. During the past few years, the Wickwire Brothers have established a name in the manufacturing world, that reflects the highest credit on themselves and their native county, conferring such substantial benefits upon Cortland as will ever cause them to be remembered with pride by its citizens.