N. & J.

24 Nov 2021, last revised 02 Aug 2024

The N. & J. initials embossed on the bottles provided a starting point in identifying the proprietors of this bottling works. Given that the bottling works was located in Red Jacket, Joseph James was a likely suspect for "J.". Matthew Northey was a possibility for "N.", although his bottling works during a later time period was located in Houghton. Confirmation came with the 1881 and 1883 Michigan State Polk directories, which listed Northey Bros. & James as pop manufacturers in Calumet, with the firm consisting of William Northey, Matthew Northey, and Joseph James (1,2).

William Northey was born in 1853 in Cornwall, England (3). It is unknown when he immigrated to the U.S., but the 1870 U.S. Federal Census placed him as a copper miner in Copper Falls (4). Matthew Northey was born on 08 Nov 1846 (7), also in Cornwall, England (3). His obituary stated that he immigrated to the U.S. in 1867, moved to the Copper Country in 1870 and stayed for three years, lived in California for about three years, moved to Red Jacket, and then moved to Houghton in 1877 (8). The 1877 and 1879 directories listed William and Matthew as the Northey Bros. for a saloon in Calumet (5,6). The 1880 U.S. Federal Census placed Matthew in Houghton, where he worked in the sheriff department with his older brother, Henry, who was the jailer and sheriff (9). This means Matthew was living in Houghton when the saloon and bottling works operated in Red Jacket.

Joseph James was born in Mar 1842 in England (10). He married Salome Northey in 1863 (11), who was the older sister of Matthew and William (10). James then immigrated to the U.S. in 1864 (12). He was an engine driver at Copper Falls on the 1870 U.S. Federal Census (4).

It is unknown if the bottling works of Northey Bros. & James was a continuation of the bottling works of Northey & Benny. The firm "Northey & Bennie" (13) consisting of "Henry Northy" and "Peter Benney" dissolved on 04 Mar 1878 and Henry was to continue the business (14). It is unknown if this Henry was Matthew and William's older brother. The 1879 directory listed no bottling works in Red Jacket (6).

We could not find a notice in the newspaper documenting the start of the N. & J. bottling works. The first indication of its existence came from James being a "pop merchant" in Feb 1880 (15). The census then recorded both William and James as "pop manufacturer" in Jul 1880 (9). If N. & J. was in fact a continuation of B. & N, they could have started as early as 1878. Otherwise, they certainly existed by 1880. They were then listed in the 1881 and 1883 Polk directories (1,2).

It is also unknown when the bottling works closed. William Northey died on 12 Aug 1883 in Calumet at the age of about 30 and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Houghton (18). While in Bastian's saloon, he complained of not feeling well, slipped into unconsciousness, and died before medical help arrived (19). The coroner determined that he died of excessive alcohol use (19). With William dead, Matthew in Houghton, and only James in Red Jacket, the firm may have ended shortly after. We do not have access to the 1885 directory to see if the bottling works still existed then, and if it did, who was running it. Joseph James and Matthew Northey went on to be proprietors of their own pop factories with the 1887 Polk directory listing Joseph James as a bottler in Red Jacket (16) and the 1887 Holland directory listing Matthew Northey as a soda water manufacturer in Houghton (17).

The bottles mark the transition from blob tops to Hutchinson tops. Three bottles are squat sodas with blob tops. Two bottles are unusually-shaped quarts with Hutchinson tops. One (#88) has a squatty shape and the C V G Co MILW. mark for Chase Valley Glass Co. The other (#s45) has a short champagne-beer shape and the WIS. G. Co mark for Wisconsin Glass Co.

Citations

1. R. L. Polk & Co. 1881. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1881. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
2. R. L. Polk & Co. 1883. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1883. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
3. Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1851. (accessed on ancestry.com)
4. U.S. Census Bureau. 1870 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
5. R. L. Polk & Co. 1877. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1877. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
6. R. L. Polk & Co. 1879. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1879. The Detroit Free Press Company. Detroit, MI.
7. Find a Grave. accessed Nov 2021. Matthew Northey. findagrave.com/memorial/58758954/matthew-northey
8. anonymous. (1905, Aug 24). Death of Matthew Northey. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 7.
9. U.S. Census Bureau. 1880 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
10. Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1861. (accessed on ancestry.com)
11. England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915. (accessed on ancestry.com)
12. U.S. Census Bureau. 1900 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
13. R. L. Polk & Co. 1875. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1875. The Tribune Printing Company. Detroit, MI.
14. anonymous. (1878, Mar 07). Dissolution of copartnership. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
15. anonymous. (1880, Feb 05). Out on the Range. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
16. R. L. Polk & Co. 1887. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1887-88. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
17. Holland, A. H. 1887. 1887-8 Hand-book and Guide to Houghton, Mich. Mining Journal Book and Job Print. Marquette, MI.
18. Find a Grave. accessed Nov 2021. William Northey. findagrave.com/memorial/36766500/william-northey
19. anonymous. (1883, Oct 16). untitled. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.