J. L.

25 Nov 2021, last revised 29 Jun 2024

The soda company of Joseph Lloyd had its roots with pioneer operations in Houghton. Thomas Smith (see T. Smith) and Shelden & Sheffer (see S. & S.) started pop factories in their drug stores. The pop factories were consolidated at the S. & S. location as City Bottling Works with Geo. C. Shelden as proprietor. Shelden then sold the pop factory to J. Lloyd & Bro. (see J. L & B). They acquired a pop factory in Red Jacket and ran it as a second branch. Lloyd then formed a partnership with Peter Bennie. At some point, a L'Anse branch was established. Under Lloyd & Bennie, a Hancock branch was established. Lloyd and Bennie dissolved their partnership with Lloyd taking the L'Anse, Houghton, and Hancock branches and Bennie taking the Red Jacket branch. We are now left with one bottle from L'Anse bearing Joseph Lloyd's initials.

Joseph Lloyd was born on 02 Mar 1830 in Gloucestershire, England (1) and immigrated to the U.S. in 1856 (12) or 1868 (2). The 1870 U.S. Federal Census placed him in Calumet as a pop manufacturer (3). After dissolving the partnership with Peter Bennie on 01 May 1872 (4), Lloyd ran an ad from May 1872 to Apr 1874 stating that he had operations in Houghton, Hancock, and L'Anse.

Newspaper ad - May 1872

We have yet to find any information specific to the L'Anse branch. With his ad, we can date his L'Anse bottle to 1872-1874. It is a wonder why he did not also have embossed bottles for Houghton and Hancock.

It is unknown when his soda business ended, but Lloyd announced in Jan 1874 that he had established a brick yard in L'Anse and would start manufacturing brick in spring (11). In Apr 1874, he was making preparations at the brick yard (13) and was ready to receive orders (14). On 13 Aug 1874, he dissolved a partnership with Roberts for the L'Anse Brickyard Company and continued the business (15). On 10 Jul 1875, he dissolved a partnership for the brickyard, with George Woolliscroft continuing the business (16). On 01 Apr 1878, he dissolved a partnership with Mahlan Mauger, who continued the business, but the type of business was not specified (17). The 1880 U.S. Federal Census placed him in L'Anse as a lumberman (5). He was then in Duluth for the 1885 Minnesota Census (6). Interestingly, hutchbook.com lists a Hutchinson bottle embossed, J. L. / DULUTH / MINN. The site states that the bottle has a base mark of WIS. GLASS CO. MILW. and attributes J. L. to Joseph Lloyd. Thus, apparently, he was a bottler again in the early 1880s. At some point, for many years, he was "captain and owner of the Lloyd line of steamboats that traversed the Great Lakes", but retired 25 years before his death (12). He continued to reside in Duluth (7,8) until his death on 08 Feb 1917 at the age of 86 (1,9).

References

1. Find a Grave. accessed Nov 2021. Joseph Darvel Lloyd Jr. findagrave.com/memorial/68400457/joseph-darvel-lloyd
2. U.S. Census Bureau. 1910 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
3. U.S. Census Bureau. 1870 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
4. anonymous. (1872, May 09). Dissolutions. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
5. U.S. Census Bureau. 1880 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
6. Minnesota, 1885 Minnesota State Census. U.S., Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905. accessed on ancestry.com.
7. U.S. Census Bureau. 1900 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
8. U.S. Census Bureau. 1910 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
9. Minnesota, U.S., Death Index, 1908-2017 (accessed on ancestry.com)
10. anonymous. (1869, Nov 25). untitled. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
11. anonymous. (1874, Jan 08). untitled. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
12. anonymous. (1917, Feb 17). Aged pioneer dies. The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, MI). p. 8.
13. anonymous. (1874, Apr 25). Local. The Industrial Age (L'Anse, MI). p. 1.
14. anonymous. (1874, Apr 16). untitled. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
15. anonymous. (1874, Aug 20). Notice of dissolution of partnership. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
16. anonymous. (1875, Aug 12). Dissolution of co-partnership. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
17. anonymous. (1878, Apr 24). Notice. Northwestern Mining Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 3.