The Glass Industry Comes to Clayton
HELP US PRESERVE CLAYTON and SOUTH JERSEY GLASSMAKING TRADITION. If you have any old bottles or glassware, please consider donating to the Clayton Historic Museum, 29 East Ave., Clayton, NJ 08312. Glass bottles, other artifacts, photos or documents and other related items are all welcome.
BECKETT & FISLER
MOORE BROTHERS
FISLER & MORGAN COMPANY
MISCELLANEOUS GLASS ENTERPRISES
NON-UNION GLASS BLOWERS
- 1850: Benjamin Beckett and Jacob P. Fisler, great grand-son of Felix Fisler, bought 80 acres of land and began to erect buildings needed for a glass factory. The firm of Beckett & Fisler built five dwelling-houses, a storehouse and barn. In less than one year, the company dissolved when Mr. Beckett withdrew from the enterprise.
- 1851: Jacob P. Fisler, then joined forces with Edward Bacon and the firm of Fisler & Bacon prospered.
- 1856: Mr. Bacon was killed in a railroad accident and the company was dissolved.
MOORE BROTHERS
- 1856: John Mayhew Moore, of Milllville, NJ, purchased the Fisler & Bacon firm, the stock and business, and rented the property as a sole owner of the business. In a few months, he purchased all the real estate owned by the factory and started manufacturing glassware.
- 1859: John Mayhew Moore took two partners, George C. Hewitt and Jeremiah D. Hogate. The firm operated under the name of John M. Moore & Co.
- 1863: George C. Hewitt sold his interest to D. Wilson Moore, a brother of John Mayhew Moore, changing the firm's name to Moore Brothers & Co., Fislerville Glass Works.
- 1863: Moore Brothers & Co. issue scrip, non-cash vouchers, to their employees for use at their company store. Scrip printed "Moore Brothers & Co., Fislerville Glass Works."
- 1864: Jeremiah D. Hogate sold his interest to both brothers, John M. and D. Wilson, now establishing the firm of Moore Brothers. The firm grew steadily especially during the American Civil War. Moore Brothers covered fifteen acres, with a gristmill, sawmill, a machine shop, a carpenter shop, five storage warehouses, a large general store, offices and railroad tracks that ran the entire grounds.
- 1880: The two brothers associate themselves with Francis M. Pierce, Harry Steelman and Charles F. Fisler and the firm took the name of Moore Brothers & Co.
- 1888: "John M. Moore, Wilson D. Moore and Frank Pierce purchased the old glass works known as Fisler & Morgan Works." (The Post, Camden, N. J. Feb. 14, 1888)
- 1912: The Moore Brothers & Co. ended production with the arrival of automation in glass manufacturing.
FISLER & MORGAN COMPANY
- 1880: Charles F. Fisler withdraws from Moore Brothers, and along with Albert S. Fisler, Henry Morgan and Walter Morgan start the new firm Fisler & Morgan Glass Company and begin operations in the north end of town.
- 1888: "The Fisler & Morgan Glass Works were sold by the assignees to Mrs. Fisler, for $8,100.00." (West Jersey Press, Feb. 08, 1888)
MISCELLANEOUS GLASS ENTERPRISES
- 1881: "It is stated that a new glass factory is about to be put in operation in Clayton, under the firm title of Iszard, Fisler & Co." (Camden Democrat, Jan. 08, 1881)
- 1886: "A company has been organized at Clayton to conduct the Fisler glass works. The new enterprise has a capital of $25,000.00 and will be known as the Clayton Bottle Works. Operations will begin as soon as the factory can be put in proper condition” (Courier Post, Nov. 22, 1886)
NON-UNION GLASS BLOWERS
- 1890: "Trouble between the glassblowing firms of South Jersey and the union blowers continues, and some half dozen firms have held out against the union. Green glass blowers are on strike for a 10% increase. Among these are Bodine, Thomas & Co. of Williamstown; Moore Bros., of Clayton, and the Whitney Glass Co. of Glassboro. All three firms report that they will never employ union men again. Many union men have gone elsewhere to seek employment, and there are fifty vacant houses in Clayton." (Camden Daily Telegram, March 01, 1890)