Jos. James Bottling Works

24 Nov 2021, last revised 15 Sep 2023

Jos. James Bottling Works c.1900

Jos. James had one of the most successful bottling works in the Calumet/Laurium area. He started in the pop business with the firm, Northey Bros. & James, and then ran his own business for at least 23 years.

Joseph James was born in Mar 1842 in England and immigrated to the U.S. in 1864 (9). He was an engine driver in Copper Falls in 1870 (1), and then a pop manufacturer in Red Jacket in 1880 (2), which would have been with the Northey Bros. (3). He was first listed as a bottler on his own in the 1887 Polk directory (4). The 1895 directory listed the address as 703 Pine St. (5), which was on the northwest corner with 7th St. The Sanborn maps show that his bottling works remained at this location throughout its existence, although the address changed twice due to re-numbering of the street.

Sanborn map - Jul 1888

Sanborn map - Dec 1893

The Polk directories continued to list James as a soda water manufacturer (6) or a mineral water manufacturer (7). Interestingly, the Michigan State Polk directory in 1897 and 1903 listed his wife, Salome instead of him (16,17), so apparently, she was also involved in the business.

In Mar 1896, James was appointed as Copper Country's exclusive agent for the Red Cross electrical natural mineral water (8). The water came from a 1,300-ft deep well, and when diluted and carbonated, it became a refreshing drink that was preferred over ordinary seltzer or apollinaris particularly for its health-giving properties (8). It was supplied by the Big Rapids Mineral Water Company (19). In Jun 1900, James sported a new wagon specifically made for the trade (28). In Nov 1904, he advertised being the sole agent for Iron Brew. In 1908, he advertised Cascade Ginger Ale (32) and the newly-released Wina-Vina (33). The company had six employees in 1904 (20), seven in 1905 (21), and five in 1906 (22).

Newspaper ad - Apr 1896

Newspaper ad - Nov 1904

In Feb 1910, James announced that he sold the business to Benhard Westerberg and Rudolph Beiswanger, former employees of the firm, Joseph James & Co. (9). The notice stated that they would conduct the business in the future and James was leaving for San Diego, CA (9). The 1910 U.S. Federal Census placed him, his wife, and son in San Diego and stated his occupation as manufacturer of carbonated drinks (15). His wife, Salome died on 08 Jun 1912 (11). James was living with his daughter, Elizabeth Persons in San Deigo and he listed no occupation in the 1920 and 1930 U.S. Federal Censuses (12,13), suggesting that he had retired. He then died on 10 Feb 1932 at the age of 89 (14).

Newspaper ad - Dec 1910

Newspaper ad - Dec 1910

Newspaper ad - Jul 1912

We could not find documentation of when N. & J. dissolved or when Jos. James started, or if they were the same bottling works. Since we do not have access to the 1885 Michigan State Polk directory, the best we can estimate is that James' bottling works started between 1883 and 1887. Perplexingly, the blob-top quart bottle (#s78) has a C V G Co MILW. mark, which dates to 1880 (27), but James was listed with Northey Bros. & James in the 1881 and 1883 Polk directories (3,31). The most likely explanation is that Wisconsin Glass Co. continued to use the molds from Chase Valley Glass Co., and thus the bottle is not as old as the maker's mark.

Some of the annual reports of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics recorded business start dates, but the dates were often contradictory across different annual reports. Joseph James listed a start date of 1873 (21) and Beiswanger listed start dates of 1880 (24), 1902 (29), and 1910 (30). The 1873 date may have cited the start of B. & N, with the date perhaps being off by a year. The 1880 date may have cited the start of N. & J. The 1902 date may have been erroneous. The 1910 date was the actual start of Beiswanger & Westerberg. Thus, the earlier dates seem to connect same bottling works across a succession of proprietorships.

James' proprietorship ended in 1910. Beiswanger & Westerberg was listed for the bottling works in 1912 (10), and then only Beiswanger was listed in 1916 (17). The bottling works had three employees in 1913 and 1914 (24,25) and only two in 1915 (26). The 1917 Sanborn map labeled the building "auto painting", so the bottling works probably closed in 1916 or 1917. By 1918, Beiswanger was working as a pop manufacturer for F. M. Kinsman (23). No bottles have been discovered to bear Beiswanger & Westerberg's names. Because they were only listed by their firm name and not a bottling works name, they may have retained the Jos. James Bottling Works name and bottles. However, bottles from this later time period (particularly ABMs) have not been discovered.

References

1. U.S. Census Bureau. 1870 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
2. U.S. Census Bureau. 1880 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
3. R. L. Polk & Co. 1881. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1881. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
4. R. L. Polk & Co. 1887. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1887-88. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
5. R. L. Polk & Co. 1895. Houghton County Directory 1895-96. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
6. R. L. Polk & Co. 1897. Houghton County Directory 1897-98. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
7. R. L. Polk & Co. 1903. Houghton County Directory 1903-04. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
8. anonymous. (1896, Mar 21). The Red Cross Mineral Water. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 4.
9. anonymous. (1910, Feb 01). Local Brevities. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 8.
10. R. L. Polk & Co. 1912. 1912 Calumet, Hancock, Houghton and Laurium Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
11. Find a Grave. accessed Nov 2021. Salome J Northey James. findagrave.com/memorial/112173130/salome-j-james
12. U.S. Census Bureau. 1920 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
13. U.S. Census Bureau. 1930 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
14. California Department of Health and Welfare. California, U.S., Death Index, 1905-1939 (accessed on ancestry.com)
15. U.S. Census Bureau. 1910 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
16. R. L. Polk & Co. 1897. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1897. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
17. R. L. Polk & Co. 1903. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1903-1904. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
18. R. L. Polk & Co. 1916. Houghton County Directory 1916-17. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
19. The Historical Marker Database. accessed 2021. www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=106717
20. Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. 1905. State of Michigan Twenty-Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics Including the Twelfth Annual Report of State Inspection of Factories. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
21. Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. 1906. State of Michigan Twenty-Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics Including the Thirteenth Annual Report of State Inspection of Factories. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
22. Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. 1907. State of Michigan Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics Including the Fourteenth Annual Report of State Inspection of Factories. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
23. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (accessed on ancestry.com)
24. Michigan Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. 1914. Thirty-First Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
25. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1915. Thirty-Second Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
26. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1916. Thirty-Third Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
27. Lockhart, B., B. Schriever, C. Serr, and B. Lindsey. 2014. Chase Valley Glass Co. In: Encyclopedia of Manufacturer's Marks on Historic Bottles. posted on Historic Glass Bottle Identification & Information Website. https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/ChaseValleyGlass.pdf
28. anonymous. (1900, Jun 08). untitled. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 4.
29. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1915. Thirty-Second Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
30. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1916. Thirty-Third Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
31. R. L. Polk & Co. 1883. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1883. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
32. anonymous. (1908, May 18). untitled. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 8.
33. anonymous. (1908, May 26). untitled. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 8.