J. Casale W2NI
Part TwoE. S. Greeley & Co.
Edwin Seneca Greeley was Luther Tillotson's primary partner since the beginning of the firm L.G. Tillotson & Co. He was born on May 20, 1834 in Nashua, New Hampshire where he attended common schools. When he was twelve, he had to work on a farm and in a cotton mill to help support his parents. His father, Seneca, was a cousin of the famous New York Tribune publisher, Horace Greeley. His grandfather, Joseph Greeley, advanced from the rank of private to Colonel in the New Hampshire Militia during the American Revolution. Young Edwin S. Greeley trained to be a machinist, first in Manchester, N.H. and later in Schenectady, N.Y. where he completed his technical education. He was employed at the Schenectady Locomotive Works and the Rogers Locomotive Works in Paterson, N.J. as a machinist before moving to New Haven, Conn. in 1855. He worked for the railroad in New Haven until the start of the Civil War. During this time he assisted in building the first locomotive built in New Haven. He was one of the first to respond to the call of troops in New Haven at the beginning of the Civil War. He followed a path that was very similar to his grandfather's military service by enlisting as a private on August 31, 1861. Two months later, on October 22 he was promoted to first lieutenant and helped organize the 10th Connecticut Infantry Regiment. Greeley advanced through the ranks as a field commander during the war and saw heavy combat action. In December of 1862, he marched to join with the famous Goldsboro Expedition participating in the battle of Kinston where the Regiment received heavy casualties. In 1863, then Major Greeley, commanded the 10th Regiment at the siege of Charleston. On June 15, 1864, Lt. Colonel Greeley and the 10th Connecticut were at the front based by the James River during the assault on Petersburg, Virginia where he filed this report: We engaged the enemy, and drove him from his rifle-pits; taking as prisoners three commissioned officers and twenty six men, with thirty stands of small arms. We then advanced, and took possession of the enemy's main works....I then brought up my reserves, and again advanced the skirmish-line; and, after a sharp engagement, drove the enemy from this line, and took possession of it also. Later in 1864, Greeley was promoted to the rank of full Colonel and by March of 1865 was brevetted Brigadier General. He was honorably discharged from the military on September 5, 1865 and returned to New Haven. Shortly after his return home, he became associated with Luther Tillotson. With his background and connections in the military and railroad industry, General Greeley seemed to be a good match to compliment Tillotson in a business venture. They formed a partnership and on November 1, 1865 reorganized the firm of Tillotson & Co. as L.G. Tillotson & Co. The first factory for L.G. Tillotson & Co. was originally established and run by their shop superintendent, Edward Pierson in New Haven, Conn. but within a year it was moved to New York City. Several Inventors SponsoredDuring the years of 1865-1885, Tillotson and Greeley had three respected telegraph inventors on their staff. In addition to Jesse H. Bunnell, who was with them 1875-1878, (mentioned in Part 1) they also had Miles W. Goodyear and Henry Splitdorf.
Henry Splitdorf, who previously was a partner with James Clark, patented a box sounder design that was marketed as the "Tillotson's Patent Combination Key on Base." This design elevated a small box above a wooden base so it could resonate in all direction when stuck by a lever and not be smothered on the bottom by being mounted on a base like most box sounders. Tillotson's regular box sounder, though, was the model preferred the U.S. Army-Signal Service in 1872. L.G. Tillotson & Co. were dealers for several companies. They also became agents for inventors who patented new telegraph key designs during the 1880s; partly because of the competition they were feeling from Partrick & Carter and J.H. Bunnell & Co. Tillotson responded to this competition by introducing new telegraph key designs by their own staff inventor Miles Goodyear and by inventors; Walter P. Phillips, (The Phillips Patent Key) George Cumming, (The Cumming Periphery Contact Key) Edgar G. Stevens (Steven's Top Contact Key) and Emery M. Hamilton. (Victor Key) Goodyear actually filed for a telegraph key patent on February 16, 1881, the day after Jesse H. Bunnell received his historic and very successful steel lever key patent. Goodyear's key looked almost identical to Bunnell's but he used a brass lever with steel pins pressed into the axle of the lever as the bearing points. As it turned out, Tillotson's most successful key of this group was the Victor Key. Emery Hamilton's design eliminated traditional trunnion screws and bearing points all together and instead used a lever that pivoted on a rib and corresponding groove.
The E.S. Greeley & Co. EraLuther Tillotson passed away on January 31, 1885 at age 50. General Greeley took over the business with the initial plan to keep the Tillotson name for the firm but the name soon changed to E.S. Greeley & Co. Some ads though still showed L.G. Tillotson & Co. for several months after Luther's passing. Many of the Greeley instruments manufactured during this period were marked "E.S. Greeley & Co. successors to L.G. Tillotson & Co." Greeley later made a subtle change to the name by formerly adding "The" making it "The E.S. Greeley & Co."Two years after Luther Tillotson passed away, shop superintendent, Edward Pierson retired due to ill health. His son, Henry G. Pierson, who had been working with his father since 1882, took over the manufacturing responsibilities for General Greeley. All during this time, General Greeley was on the board of directors for several companies, many of them located in New Haven. He was the president of the New Haven Car-trimming Co. in New Haven. They made coach lamps, signal lanterns and railroad car accessories. Many of these items were included in the E.S. Greeley & Co. product line.
General Greeley also purchased The Electric Manufacturing Company of Troy, N.Y. and its factory in Greenbush, N.Y. This firm, established in 1884, gave Greeley a line of high quality electrical test instruments including a variety of expensive galvanometers. This firm was known as the "Greeley Electrical Laboratory." The Depression of the 1890sThe American economy went into a nose-dive during the 1890s. Several railroads went into receivership, and some of them were customers of E.S. Greeley & Co.Both L.G. Tillotson and E.S. Greeley relied heavily on the railroads for their business. In the 1890s, they also faced heavy competition from J.H. Bunnell & Co. and Western Electric. The Panic of 1893 and the years of depression that followed, caused numerous bank failures, foreclosures and liquidations. The E.S. Greeley & Co. was one of the casualties of this depression. General Greeley also had internal accounting problems. It was discovered that the secretary of The E.S. Greeley & Co., James W. Sands, a close friend, had been falsifying the books for years. By the end of 1896, it was the opinion of New York courts that E.S. Greeley & Co. ...became financially embarrassed to such an extent that, in the opinion of its officers and directors, it was practically insolvent, and, being of the opinion that a further effort to prosecute its business could only operate still more disastrously for all concerned, its officers and directors decided to wind up its affairs. The disposal of their assets and liabilities was somewhat complicated and had to be resolved by the courts. The firm had considerable property in New York including their factory, a leased building on 5&7 Dey Street, tools, raw materials, manufactured and partly manufactured articles, and cash in the bank. But the company was incorporated in the state of Connecticut. The courts allowed E.S. Greeley & Co. to complete the manufacture of articles under contract. They were also allowed to work up any of their raw materials and partly manufactured goods into finished products. After nearly 32 years first as L.G. Tillotson & Co. then as E.S. Greeley & Co., the firm officially ended operations on May 1, 1897. General Greeley was appointed to sell the uncollected claims of the insolvent concern at a public auction. Two firms emerged and benefited from the failure of E.S. Greeley & Co. First, The Manhattan Electrical Supply Co. of New York (Mesco) acquired most of Greeley's inventory. Their ads in August of 1897 stated: We have purchased the entire stock of telegraph instruments, and about 75 percent of the entire stock from the assignee of the late E.S. Greeley & Co....We can supply nearly all the goods illustrated in the Greeley catalogue at very low prices. The acquisition of this inventory appears to have catapulted Mesco as an important supplier of telegraph instruments and electrical supplies. Secondly, the manufacturing assets and factory of The E.S. Greeley & Co. were acquired by Greeley's former employees: Charles Freeman, George L. Foote and shop superintendent, Henry G. Pierson. Together they formed the successful firm of Foote, Pierson & Co. After E.S. Greeley & Co., General Greeley remained active for several years in other businesses and as an officer in the Yale National Bank of New Haven, Conn. He passed away at age 87 on January 10, 1920 and left an estate valued at nearly $400,000.00 L.G. Tillotson & Co. / E.S. Greeley & Co.
Sources: New York City Directories, "The Telegrapher" and the "Journal of the Telegraph." |
Follow this link to see ads of The E. S. Greeley & Co. ----> E.S. Greeley & Co. Ads
