YorksPast

My post Friday contains background sources concerning Jacob Loucks affiliations with Four Paper Mills.  He was involved with these paper mills from the early to mid-1850s through the late 1860s, or possibly into the early 1870s; i.e. Jacob Loucks, from the age of his mid-20s into his mid-40s.

The locations of these Four Paper Mills are highlighted on this 2013 Road Map showing Baltimore County, Maryland, between the Baltimore Beltway and Pennsylvania State Line.  In this post I delve into the sequence of events leading up to Jacob Loucks relative wealth.  This ties into Loucks’ $10,000 cash buy-in as a founder of the York Manufacturing Company in 1874.

Other posts in this series on The Origins of the York Manufacturing Company include:

• S. Morgan Smith’s Success Washing Machine; Origins of the York Manufacturing Company
• S. Morgan Smith, patentee Success Washing Machine, at 436 West Market Street in York
• S. Morgan Smith learns a valuable lesson about patents; at the hands of McGinnes & Carter
• Jacob Loucks; Family History of a Founder of the York Manufacturing Company
• Jacob Loucks learned the Paper Making Trade near Hunt Valley, Maryland; P. H. Glatfelter followed in his footsteps
• Oliver J. Bollinger brought Manufacturing Experience to the York Manufacturing Company in addition to contributing his patent on a Turbine Water Wheel
• Oliver J. Bollinger and his initial Patented Bollinger Turbine Water Wheel
• O. J. Bollinger & Co. plus S. Morgan Smith and Jacob Loucks form the York Manufacturing Company in 1874

 

 

Many published and Internet accounts of Jacob Loucks’ affiliation with William H. Hoffman in the papermaking firm Loucks & Hoffman often group everything, from Loucks’ apprenticeship to his being a co-owner, as solely occurring at one paper mill.  My post Friday uses U.S. Census and tax documents, in concert with other sources, to show Jacob Loucks’ career with Hoffman spanned at least two paper mills.  These two paper mills are shown as the 1st and 2nd Mill Locations on the map.

1st Mill Location

The 1st Mill Location is centrally located in Baltimore County on The Great Gunpowder Falls northeast of Cockeysville, Maryland.  Marble Vale Paper Mill was the name given of this paper mill by its builder John Hunter.  William H. Hoffman purchased this paper mill about 1850.  Upon acquiring a partner in 1851, this was Mathews & Hoffman Paper Mill until at least 1865, although Marble Vale Paper Mill continued to show up in records.

As this paper mill and group of houses grew near the Paper Mill Covered Bridge over the Gunpowder at that location, the settlement took on the informal name Hoffmansville; not to be confused with Hoffmanville in the northwestern part of Baltimore County, Maryland.  I could not find a photo of Mathews & Hoffman (or Marble Vale) Paper Mill, however the following picture shows the nearby 1866 Paper Mill Covered Bridge below a 1922 steel bridge placed to accommodate Loch Raven Reservoir.

A previous Paper Mill Covered Bridge would have existed during Jacob Loucks time at this paper mill; i.e. from when he started his apprenticeship through rising to the position of Mill Foreman.  Col. Harry Gilmor’s Confederate raiders burned that bridge during July of 1864.

The 1866 Paper Mill Covered Bridge was removed in 1923.  The white 1922 Paper Mill Road Steel Bridge could no longer handle increasing traffic loads and was replaced in 2001 by a new steel bridge beside the old bridge.  The white 1922 bridge may eventually be used to extend the rail trail eastward.

We know that Jacob Loucks was still at Hoffmansville (1st Mill Location) on August 10, 1860 and during September 1862 he was at Hoffmanville (2nd Mill Location) and was already in the Loucks and Hoffman partnership.  When Jacob makes the move is anybody’s guess.

Loucks’ younger sister Amanda probably was visiting Jacob and his family at the 1st Mill Site when she first met paper mill worker Philip H. Glatfelter.  Amanda Elizabeth Loucks married Philip Henry Glatfelter during 1861.  It would be interesting to discover where and exactly when this marriage occurred; it might shed some light on when Jacob Loucks makes the move from 1st to 2nd Mill Site.

I discovered an interesting coincidence by doing a little family history research on William H. Hoffman (1810-1888).  William married Margaret Shunk in 1835.  Margaret was from York, PA; did she or her family have some connection with Jacob Loucks, and then Philip Glatfelter, pursuit of the paper making trade at her husband’s paper mill in Maryland?

2nd Mill Location

The 2nd Mill Location is in vicinity of Hoffmanville in the northwestern part of Baltimore County, Maryland.  Hoffmanville is still noted on the 2013 map, since some of the town lies outside the boundaries of Prettyboy Reservoir.  The Loucks & Hoffman paper mill location is positioned in the reservoir based upon information on page 269 of the 1985 book by John W. McGrain; From Pig Iron to Cotton Duck, A History of Manufacturing Villages in Baltimore County.

Jacob Loucks, the widower in 1864 (Catherine died Sept. 3, 1863) and his children, were definitely at this 2nd Mill Location until May 27, 1864; which is the day his young son Sylvester Jacob Loucks drowned in the mill race (Baltimore County Advocate issue of June 4, 1864).  The widower Jacob Loucks does remarry, about 1864, to Mary E. Hauer.

Mary Hauer was born during 1839, she is the daughter of Jacob and Susan Hauer.  In 1852, it was Mary’s father Jacob Hauer who bought the forge buildings in Spring Forge (now Spring Grove) and converted them into a paper mill.  Jacob Hauer died during 1855, resulting in Susan hiring a paper mill operator from Philadelphia.  Susan Hauer died July 8, 1863 and less than a month later, the paper mill operator died.

Some published accounts have Jacob Loucks leasing the paper mill in Spring Forge for a short period of time after it was in need of an operator.  Did his partner William H. Hoffman inform Jacob Loucks this might be a good second mill for him to eventually own and Jacob leased it first to check it out?  This account does make some sense because it provides the opportunity for Jacob Loucks to meet his future wife Mary E. Hauer in 1863.

Many have made the supposition that the Civil War had something to do with Jacob Loucks giving up the lease of the Spring Forge paper mill and suggesting to Mary Hauer and her siblings they would be better off if the mill was sold through an Orphans’ Court Sale.  I think the reason is simpler.

Jacob’s wife Catherine died Sept. 3, 1863; probably after he was leasing the Spring Forge paper mill for barely a month.  I think that was the reason that Jacob pulled back and only continued to be co-owners at the Loucks and Hoffman Paper Mill in Hoffmanville.  When the Orphans’ Court Sale was held Dec. 23, 1863, one would think that Jacob Loucks let his brother-in-law P. H. Glatfelter know about this opportunity, if Philip did not already discover it on his own.

3rd Mill Location

The 3rd Mill Location is in Richmond, Virginia.  General Lee surrenders to General Grant on April 9, 1865 and the Civil War is over.  Anytime thereafter would be when Jacob Loucks commenced conducting a paper mill in Richmond Virginia; per an article in the January 15, 1913 issue of PAPER, A Weekly Technical Journal Devoted to Manufacture, Sale and Use of Pulp and Paper.

Possibly Jacob bought a paper mill that had been damaged in the war, then repaired and got it back up running.  I know I have a few readers in Richmond, since I’ve seen YorksPast quoted in some of their Blogs; primarily in reference to my Kline Kar series of posts.  If anyone discovers more details about this Jacob Loucks Paper Mill in Richmond, Virginia, during the mid to late 1860s, please post a comment.

4th Mill Location

The 4th Mill Location is the King Paper Mill in York, PA.  This is again through information in the January 15, 1913 issue of PAPER.  I suspect this connection with the King Paper Mill is right before 1870 or right after 1870.  This is the paper mill nestled between the Codorus Creek and Kings Mill Road southwest of the city.  By those dates, the Estate of George King had already sold the paper mill to Alfred D. Jessop and school book construction paper was the principal product.

The title of this post is Jacob Loucks affiliations with Four Paper Mills make him Relatively Wealthy; prior to providing Start-up Cash for York Manufacturing Company.  Lets look at the 1870 U.S. Census for Jacob Loucks.

Jacob Loucks has returned to a farm in West Manchester Township, York County.  He is relatively wealthy with $43,600 in real estate and $75,427 in personal property.  He definitely has more than enough cash for a $10,000 buy-in as a founder of the York Manufacturing Company in 1874.

One might think $43,600 in real estate and $75,427 in personal property is not very wealthy.  Remember these amounts in 1870 are equivalent to $791,000 in real estate and $1,370,000 in personal property in terms of money today.

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