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Planer, Braunsdorf & Co.
The Aetna Sewing Machine
Manufactory
85, 87, 89 Elizabeth Street New York
Pearl River, Rockland Co., New York
Pearl River
Braunsdorf was the "Father of Pearl River" and established Aetna Sewing Machine Company to produce his patented home sewing machine in 1872.
In 1696, Pearl River was originally part of a larger portion of land known as the Kakiat Patent that was granted to two Irish businessmen, Daniel Honan and Michael Hawdon.
In 1713, the land was split into north and south plots. After the Revolutionary War, the land was further divided and sold. Pearl River was a portion of land made up of woods and swamps originally called Muddy Creek. In the 18th and 19th centuries, this was a region of farms, mills, and peaceful everyday life.
In the early 1870's, the town was divided into five different parts: Middletown, Sickletown, Pascack, Muddy Brook, and Naurashaun.
There are conflicting accounts on how Muddy Creek came to be named Pearl River. According to some historians, a town resident named Dr. Ves Bogert found small pearls in mussels that thrived in Muddy Brook and, upon hearing this, Mrs John Demarest, the wife of the president of the New Jersey and New York Railroad, suggested the name "Pearl River" to her husband. Another account was that the name change was made to make the station stop sound more appealing on the railroad passenger schedules. The third account was that Julius Eduard Braunsdorf wanted to enhance the hamlet's business image by renaming it Pearl River.
In 1870 Muddy Creek was purchased by industrialist Julius E. Braunsdorf, a German immigrant and donated a long strip of land right through the center of his property to the New Jersey and New York Railroad to enable them to bring an extension of the line from Hillsdale, New Jersey north to Nanuet.
In 1872 Julius E. Braunsdorf opened the Aetna Sewing Machine Company to produce his patented home sewing machines. That same year he established the first post office here, and from then on, the hamlet was known as Pearl River.
In 1873 , 6 years prior to Thomas Edison, Branusdorf invented a carbon-arc light bulb (they were installed and used on ships in New York harbor for loading and unloading operations) and designed generators, one of which powered the first electric lights in the nation’s Capitol.s, remains today.
When Braunsdorf designed the street layout, the only existing streets were Pearl Street and Washington Avenue. He drew a wide main street through the middle of town and called it Central Avenue. Parallel to Central Avenue he drew Franklin, after his hero, Benjamin Franklin. To connect Washington, Central, and Franklin he drew three streets and named them William, John and Henry after his three sons.
In 1894, Talbot C. Dexter moved his Dexter Folder Company to Pearl River.
The Dexter Folder Company
1894 - 1975
The Dexter Folder Company at one time employed as many as 500 residents of Pearl River at the height of production. From 1894 through 1975 the company produced folding, stitching and wiring, feeding and bundling machines for the newspaper, magazine, and book industry. At the helm of this company was an inventive genius named Talbot Chambers Dexter. Dexter took over the defunct Aetna Sewing Machine factory from Julius E. Braunsdorf to be closer to the newspaper and publishing business. The company was known for its innovation and held over 100 patents for the machines they created and sold. Its employees, mostly German and Scandinavian, made up the bulk of this community where they set down roots and raised families.
sources:
wikipedia
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1859
LOUIS PLANER & JOSEPH ANGER
93 Elizabeth Street New York
US 24.359 (June 7 1859)
Elizabeth Street is a street in Manhattan, New York City, which runs north-south parallel to and west of the Bowery. The street is a popular shopping strip in Manhattan's Nolita neighborhood.
The southern part of Elizabeth Street was constructed in 1755 and it was extended north to Bleecker Street in 1816.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Elizabeth Street was filled with tenement buildings, largely populated by Italian immigrants.
1860
LOUIS PLANER & JOSEPH ANGER
93 Elizabeth Street New York
US 29.224 (July 17 1860)
1861
LOUIS PLANER & JOSEPH ANGER
93 Elizabeth Street New York
1862-1863
84 Bowery New York
The Bowery
Once one of the most fashionable streets in the city, by the end of the Civil War the Bowery had become the home of popular theaters and German beer gardens. A 1892 Century Magazine about the Bowery had the following to say:
"It is an enormous, crowded, noisy street of retail shop, lodging houses, and museums."
In addition to "respectable" shops like grocer's, baker's and a shop for "the supply of firemen's goods" there were a abundance of cheap jewelry stores and pawnbrokers.
www.maggieblanck.com
1864
LOUIS PLANER & CHARLES KAYSER
84 Bowery New York
US 43.927 (August 23 1864)
1865
LOUIS PLANER & CHARLES KAYSER
84 Bowery New York
1866-1867
Office, 194 Gran Street New York
Office, 332 Washington St. G. W. Folts, Agent Boston, Mass.
Production of machine under Howe patent 2.958 (1867)
1868
Office, 194 Gran Street New York
Office, 318 Washington St. H. S. Williams, Agent Boston, Mass.
Production of machine under Howe patent 3.500
1869
In 1869, (December 30) a German immigrant named Julius E. Braunsdorf won a patent court fight against the holders of the patent for the Singer sewing machine. This victory helped give him financial backing to buy 95 acres of flood-prone land along the Muddy Brook.
Office, 194 Grand St. New York
Office, 24 Temple Place H. S. Williams, Agent Boston, Mass.
Production of machine under Howe patent 4.548
1870
In 1870, Julius E. Braunsdorf purchased land in Muddy Brook and invited the railroad through his property. A year later, he began manufacturing generators, printing presses, and sewing machines, which attracted skilled workers and businesses
Office, New York
Office, 24 Temple Place H. S. Williams, Agent Boston, Mass.
Production of machine under Howe patent 5.806
1871
Office, 1 Catharine Street New York
Office, 24 Temple Place H. S. Williams, Agent Boston, Mass.
Manufactury 85, 87, 89 Elizabeth Street New York
Production of machine under Howe patent 4.720
1872
Office, 262 & 264 Bowery, New York
Office, 24 Temple Place H. S. Williams, Agent Boston, Mass.
Manufactury 85, 87, 89 Elizabeth Street New York
Production of machine under Howe patent 4.262
The Aetna sewing machine factory was built in 1872 by Julius Braunsdorf, it produced sewing machines, printing presses, electrical generators, and carbon arc lamps.
1873
Office, 262 - 264 Bowery, New York
Office, 24 Temple Place H. S. Williams, Agent Boston, Mass.
Manufactury 85, 87, 89 Elizabeth Street New York
Production of machine under Howe patent 3.081
1874
Office, 262 - 264 Bowery, New York
Office, 24 Temple Place H. S. Williams, Agent Boston, Mass.
Manufactury 85, 87, 89 Elizabeth Street New York
Production of machine under Howe patent 1.866
1875
Office, New York
Office, 24 Temple Place H. S. Williams, Agent Boston, Mass.
Production of machine under Howe patent 1.447
1876
Office, 264 Bowery, New York
Office, 24 Temple Place H. S. Williams, Agent Boston, Mass.
Manufactury Pearl River, Rockland Co., New York
Production of machine under Howe patent 707
Total 32.895
1877
Office, 24 Temple Place H. S. Williams, Agent Boston, Mass.
Manufactury Pearl River, Rockland Co., New York
J. BRAUNSDORF & C. KAYSER US 187.806 (February 27, 1877)
Improvement in printing-presses
Assignors to J. E. BRAUNSDORF & CO.
1978
Office, 24 Temple Place H. S. Williams, Agent Boston, Mass.
Manufactury Pearl River, Rockland Co., New York
1880
Julius Eduard Braunsdorf US 226.483 (April 13, 1880)
Julius Eduard Braunsdor US 227.478 (May 11, 1880)
Julius Eduard Braunsdor US 235.203 (Dec 7, 1880)
Julius E. Braunsdorf died at Pearl River, Rockland county, New York , on the 30th day of August, 1880
