YorksPast

I promoted putting more historical pieces in family history books while attending the 4-day National Genealogical Society 2013 Family History Conference in Las Vegas.  I told attendees to checkout YorksPast for a series on how to research the place of business where an ancestor worked.  This is part 2, the other posts in this series include:

• The First PULLMAN Company in York made Ventilators; Part 1
• Patented by Pullman in 1901 and Made in York
• Made in YORK, Pullman Automatic Ventilators; How they Worked
• YORK Pullman’s at The White House
• York made 1901 Pullman Ventilators installed in White House

I selected Pullman Ventilators because of local interest.  The Pullman identity ties into my post on Albert P. Broomell, he was responsible for the fabrication of the first motorcar in York, Pennsylvania.  The 1903 six-wheel Pullman Motor Car however was not the first Pullman named product in York; those honors go to products of The Pullman Automatic Ventilator Company.  Every now-and-then one uncovers surprises during research; this ventilator company in York was started by a man named Pullman, with direct ties to the originator of the Pullman name for railroad cars.

I occasionally purchase items on eBay in which I have some connection; my want-list included “Earliest Pullman Automatic Ventilator Ad.”  The seller of the above ad claimed it came from a 1906 magazine, however I could not verify and the seller could furnish no proof.  Beware, I have purchased magazine ads on eBay where I eventually proved the year of the ad was advertised incorrectly; lesson: you still need to verify sources.

 

In part 1, I discovered that the trade publication The Iron Age, issue of April 20, 1922, noted that (my distant relative) Walter B. Gilbert & Co., York, Pa. took title to the plant and business of the Pullman Automatic Ventilator & Mfg. Co.  The construction buyers-guide National Builder, issue of December 1922, lists the address of this company as 201 Roosevelt Ave., York, Pa.

In this post, my goal is to find the earliest evidence and extent of the business of The Pullman Automatic Ventilator Company in York, Pa.  A Google-book-search of turn-of-20th-Century books and trade publications resulted in the following article.

By January 10, 1903, The Pullman Automatic Ventilator Company of York, Pa. already had a 32-page catalogue that contained a long list of places and testimonials from prominent users of the system.  A few days ago I discovered a potential source for this 32-page catalogue in Delaware; I’ll be making a visit in June and will report my findings in a future post.

The description in the January 10, 1903 article indicates a well-established company; at the very least they were in business during 1902.  Therefore the 1903 six-wheel Pullman Motor Car was not the first Pullman named product in York; those honors go to products of The Pullman Automatic Ventilator Company.

Check back next week as I continue my research into The Pullman Automatic Ventilator Company.  In Part 3, I’ll investigate how the Pullman name of the company leads to a man named Pullman with connections to the originator of the Pullman name for railroad cars.

Reading the Headlines: A Quick Index to All YorksPast Posts