I. & S. Wendell
Superior Bottling Works

21 Dec 2021, last revised 29 Nov 2023

The bottles exhibit four embossing designs, suggesting a succession in what has been assumed to be one bottling works.

1. I. & S. WENTEL
2. I. & S. WENDELL
3. SUPERIOR BOTTLING WORKS
4. SUPERIOR BOTTLING WORKS / WENDELL & LUOMA

Historical records confirm this was in fact one bottling works, but operated by two firms.

In Feb 1901, a worker from Hooper's bottling works accepted a position at a new bottling works that would "start in business this week in Hancock" (20). The name of the bottling works was not specified, but given the time period, it could only be Wendell's bottling works. The 1901 and 1903 Polk directories then listed "Wentell Bottling Works" with Isaac and Samuel Wentell as proprietors (1,2). The bottling works was located at 1038 Minnesota St. (1,2). Isaac resided at the "Finnish College" in 1901 (1), and then he joined Samuel at 1040 Minnesota St. by 1903 (2). Bottles #68 and #69 show a similar WENTEL spelling of the surname.

In the 1905 to 1912 directories, they were called "I & S Wendell's Bottling Works" at 1038-1040 Minnesota St. (3,4,5,6). In addition to Isaac and Samuel, James Wendell was listed as a driver in 1907 (4). The next series of bottles (#66, s37, 67, 70) were embossed with this spelling of the surname. The Sanborn map shows the bottling works on the south side of the street, between Ethel Ave. and Michigan St.

Sanborn map - Nov 1907

Polk Directory ad - 1905

The newspaper on 23 Dec 1910 stated, "Wendell & Luoma will shortly open a new pop factory at 1040 Minnesota Street." (7). Given the same address, this was not a new pop factory but instead a new firm running the factory. The 1916 directory then listed "Superior Bottling Works" with Jacob Wendell and John Luoma as proprietors at 1038-1040 Minnesota St. (8). The next two series of bottles bear the SUPERIOR BOTTLING WORKS name, with or without the names of the new proprietors. The series with the proprietor names extent into the ABM period, so we can place this series last in the sequence.

In 1910, the State of Michigan Dairy and Food Department tested the following sodas from Wendell & Luoma: White Pop, Red Pop, and Soft Drink (19). The bottling works was a small operation, with only three employees in 1912 and 1913 (21,22), and two in 1915 (23). It is unknown when the bottling works closed, but they were not listed in the 1921 directory (10).

Both the bottles and business directories show different surname spellings. At first, it seemed that one was a misspelling, but it turns out, even genealogical records show different surname spellings. This occurrence, as well has having multiple people with the same names, made it difficult to track their ancestry. Yet we have pieced together the records in order to resolve their family relations.

Isaac's death was announced in The Calumet News (9). The article stated that he was a member of Superior Bottling Works, which confirms this was the correct Isaac Wendell. It stated that Isaac was a pioneer Finnish resident of Hancock, and was better known as "Isaac Wendell Ojala". He died at the age of about 65 on the same day of the article, 13 Oct 1913. His death certificate stated his name as "Isaac Vendelin 'Ojala'" (11). We determined this was the same person based on him having the same death date and his place of death was 1040 Minnesota St., the residence specified in the directory. It stated that he was born in Dec 1847, died at the age of 64, and was buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Hancock (11). The 1900 U.S. Federal Census listed "Isaac Ojala", who immigrated in 1898, resided at Suomi College in Hancock, and worked there as a janitor (12). His age and birth date match those of Isaac Wendell, and residing at the college matches the 1901 directory listing.

The 1910 census was pivotal for determine his family relations (13). Their surname was listed as "Wentela". The key to identifying them as the Wendell family was that they resided at the addresses specified by the directories: 1038 and 1040 Minnesota St. It stated that Isaac immigrated in 1889 (different from the 1900 census), worked as a contractor, and was married to Wilhemina. Samuel E. Wentela was likely their son, but his middle initial did not match the directory listings. Samuel was born in Finland, immigrated in 1892, was 35 years old, and had the occupation of pop maker. Jacob Wentela was their son, who was born in Finland, immigrated in 1902, was 21 years old, and had the occupation of driver. It seems his name was mistakenly written as James on the 1907 directory. John Luoma was their son-in-law, who was born in Finland, married their daughter, Alina, immigrated in 1902, was 40 years old, and had the occupation of stone mason.

After the bottling works closed, they held other jobs. Samuel was a laborer for the city from the 1920 census (14). He died in 1955 at the age of about 81 and was buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Hancock (15). Jacob married Martha Huovinen on 16 May 1912 (16), and was re-married to Hilma Ruutila on 28 Oct 1922 (16). He was a miner from the 1920 census (14), and resided in Laurium from the 1930 census (18). He died by drowning in Chassell Bay on 15 Jun 1930 at the age of 41 (11). John Luoma was a laborer from the 1920 census (14) and died in 1954 (17) at the age of about 83. Interestingly, his death record specified his spouse's name as "Alina Ojala" (11).

Citations

1. R. L. Polk & Co. 1901. Houghton County Directory 1901-02. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
2. R. L. Polk & Co. 1903. Houghton County Directory 1903-04. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
3. R. L. Polk & Co. 1905. Houghton County Directory 1905-06. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
4. R. L. Polk & Co. 1907. Houghton County Directory 1907-08. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
5. R. L. Polk & Co. 1910. 1910 Calumet, Houghton, Hancock and Laurium Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
6. R. L. Polk & Co. 1912. 1912 Calumet, Hancock, Houghton and Laurium Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
7. anonymous. (1910, Dec 23). Hancock briefs. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
8. R. L. Polk & Co. 1916. Houghton County Directory 1916-17. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
9. anonymous. (1913, Oct 13). Death of Isaac Wendell. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
10. R. L. Polk & Co. 1921. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1921-1922. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
11. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records (accessed on ancestry.com).
12. U.S. Census Bureau. 1900 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
13. U.S. Census Bureau. 1910 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
14. U.S. Census Bureau. 1920 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
15. Find a Grave. accessed Dec 2021. Samuel Wendell. findagrave.com/memorial/167488558/samuel-wendell
16. Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952 (accessed on ancestry.com).
17. Find a Grave. accessed Dec 2021. John Luoma. findagrave.com/memorial/167486049/john-luoma
18. U.S. Census Bureau. 1930 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
19. State of Michigan Department of Dairy and Food Department. 1910. Bulletin No. 173-178, Jan-June 1910. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
20. anonymous. (1901, Feb 03). Houghton brevities. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 8.
21. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1913. Thirtieth Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
22. 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.
23. 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.