J. L & B

25 Nov 2021, last revised 12 May 2022

Similar to most squat sodas from the Copper County, we are left with only initials embossed on the bottle. The J. L. initials also occur on the J. L. bottle from L'Anse and the B. initial also occurs on the B. & N bottle from Red Jacket. Do they represent the same persons?

The J. L & B bottle from Houghton has the A & D H C maker's mark for Alexander & David H. Chambers, which dates to 1860 - c.1884 (1). Given that it is a squat soda without a pontil mark, we can narrow our search to 1865-1880. The Michigan State Polk directory did not list a bottler with these initials, although we do not have access to the 1869 nor 1871 volumes. Browsing the Portage Lake Mining Gazette luckily turned up ads and articles for Joseph Lloyd as a soda water manufacturer.

In Nov 1869, Geo. C. Shelden (see S. & S. page) sold his pop and soda works to "J. & S. Lloyd", and bottles belonging to Shelden were requested to be returned to the new owners (9). The first ad, running from Dec 1869 to Jan 1870, stated that "J. Lloyd & Bro." were proprietors of City Bottling Works at the corner of Isle Royale St. and Shelden St. in Houghton. Shelden previous ran an identical ad other than the name of the proprietor(s).

The next ad, dated 10 Jan 1870, announced that they had purchased an operation in Red Jacket from Wanzer, and will carry on the business of making soda-water. They then ran a consolidated ad from Feb 1870 to Jul 1871, stating that J. Lloyd & Bro. now had operations in Houghton and Red Jacket. They supplied the Fourth of July celebration in 1870 with between two and three hundred dozen bottles of soda (11). They were the only soda manufacturer and bottler in the Copper Country at this time. On 16 May 1871, Joseph and Samuel dissolved their firm, J. Lloyd & Bro. (8).

During the latter half of 1871 or the early part of 1872, Lloyd formed a partnership with Bennie, since by Apr 1872, Lloyd & Bennie had establishments in Red Jacket and L'Anse, and were scheduled to start a factory in Hancock on the 1st of May (13). It is unknown when the L'Anse branch was established. A subsequent ad for Joseph Lloyd suggests that the Houghton branch still existed. Joseph Lloyd and Peter Bennie dissolved their firm on 01 May 1872 (2). They settled that Lloyd will continue the business in Houghton, Hancock, and L'Anse, while Bennie will supply Calumet, Red Jacket, and Keweenaw County (14).

Given his two partnerships, we cannot be sure who the "B" on the bottle represented, since it could abbreviate "Bro." or "Bennie". The J. L & B initials, however, better match the firm name, J. Lloyd & Bro. The firm with Bennie was called Lloyd & Bennie, which should have been abbreviated as L. & B., or J. L. & P. B. If the bottle represents J. Lloyd & Bro., we can narrow its date range to 1869-1871.

Now that we have a name for J. L., we found that Joseph Lloyd was born on 02 Mar 1830 in Gloucestershire, England (3) and immigrated to the U.S. in 1868 (4). The 1870 U.S. Federal Census placed him in Calumet and recorded his occupation as a pop manufacturer (5).

Samuel Lloyd was born on 10 Dec 1836 (6). It is unknown when he immigrated to the U.S., but based on his children being born in Houghton (ancestry.com), he was in Houghton at least from 1865 to 1870. He resided in Portage Township as a saloon keeper for the 1870 U.S. Federal Census (5) and in L'Anse as a hotel keeper for the 1880 census (7). He then died on 22 Nov 1893 in Minnesota at the age of 56 (12), but was buried in the L'Anse Township Cemetery (6), perhap because his father was buried there (10).

After Joseph Lloyd and Peter Bennie dissolved their partnership, they each continued to be soda manufacturers. We continue their histories with their subsequent bottling operations: J. L. in L'Anse, Houghton, and Hancock, and B. & N in Red Jacket.

References

1. Lockhart, B., C. Serr, B. Schriever, and B. Lindsey. 2013, revised 2021. The glass factories and bottles of Alexander and David H. Chambers. In: Encyclopedia of Manufacturer's Marks on Historic Bottles. posted on Historic Glass Bottle Identification & Information Website. https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/A&DHChambers.pdf
2. anonymous. (1872, May 09). Dissolutions. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
3. Find a Grave. accessed Nov 2021. Joseph Darvel Lloyd Jr. findagrave.com/memorial/68400457/joseph-darvel-lloyd
4. U.S. Census Bureau. 1910 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
5. U.S. Census Bureau. 1870 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
6. Find a Grave. accessed Nov 2021. Samuel Lloyd. findagrave.com/memorial/55262607/samuel-lloyd
7. U.S. Census Bureau. 1880 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
8. anonymous. (1871, May 25). Dissolutions. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
9. anonymous. (1869, Nov 25). untitled. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
10. Find a Grave. accessed Feb 2022. Joseph Darvel Lloyd Sr. findagrave.com/memorial/68398156/joseph-darvel-lloyd
11. anonymous. (1870, Jul 07). untitled. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
12. anonymous. (1893, Nov 21). untitled. The Native Copper Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 3.
13. anonymous. (1872, Apr 18). New Pop Factory. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
14. anonymous. (1872, May 16). Business Changes. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.