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Henry Esler & Co.
Company typePrivate
IndustryEngineering (steam)
Founded1852
Founders
  • Henry Esler
  • William H. Mason
  • Joseph H. Anderson
Defunct1863
FateFailed
Headquarters
Brooklyn, New York
,
United States
ProductsMarine and stationary steam engines, boilers etc.
Number of employees
350 (1862)




Background

[edit]

Henry Esler was born in White Plains, New York, in about 1810. Little is known about his early life and career, other than the fact that he trained as a machinist. According to a contemporaneous letter published in the Railroad Gazette, Esler was unofficially the first person to run a locomotive in the United States. The letter states that Esler was sent to Honesdale, Pennsylvania, in 1829 to assemble the locomotive Stourbridge Lion, and after doing so, tested it by running it for a few feet along the rails. Officially however, the honor of running the locomotive for the first time went to Horatio Allen, for whom Esler had prepared the machine.[1] The account indicates that Esler was at the time an employee of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, which owned the locomotive.

By 1840, Esler had joined forces with another engineer, Jeremiah S. Bunce,[2][1] to establish the firm of Esler & Bunce.[3] This company was initially located at No. 26 Washington Street, Brooklyn,[3] but later added a second facility at 17 West Street. Esler & Bunce specialized in the production of high-pressure stationary steam engines, the only type of engine it built.[4] Though it built no marine engines, it did construct boilers for all applications including marine. It also made boiler repairs, and at one stage was evidently engaged in regular maintenance of the boilers of the leading coastal steamers Empire City and Crescent City.[4]

Henry Esler & Co.

[edit]

In 1852, Esler resigned from Esler & Bunce to establish his own firm, Henry Esler & Company.[5] Esler's partners in this concern were William H. Mason, former foreman of the boilermaking shop at Esler & Bunce, and an investor from White Plains, New York, Joseph H. Anderson.[5] The new firm's plant was located at the corner of Washington and Morris Streets, and consisted of "an extensive Machine Shop, with the most improved Machinery and Tools".[5] This plant was originally named the Atlantic Steam Engine and Boiler Works,[5] but was later renamed the Atlantic Dock Iron Works. From this premises, the company declared its readiness "to execute orders for Stationary, River and Marine Engines of every description, Sugar Mills, Mill Works & etc."[5] and for a wide range of boilers.[5] As the plant was located dockside at the city's Atlantic Basin, it was also in an advantageous position for making repairs to steam vessels.[5]

There is scant record of Henry Esler & Co.'s activities in its early years, but the company is known to have made small production runs of stationary and portable steam engines of from 4 to 50 horsepower (3.0 to 37.3 kW), which were sold as far afield as Georgia. In 1859, the company built at least four marine engines, including one for the Stamford Line steamer Ella (later the dispatch boat USS Ella). The company also built the engines for a sugar mill in Puerto Rico in 1859,[6][7] along with an 80 horsepower (60 kW) steam engine for a stationary Brooklyn grain elevator. In 1861, the company built the engine for the steamer Flambeau, originally intended for China service, but requisitioned by the Union Navy in November 1861 for use as a gunboat in the American Civil War[8][9] which had broken out the previous April.

USS Commodore McDonough, one of five converted-ferry gunboats powered by an Esler engine

1862 was a most productive year for the company, during which it completed no fewer than seventeen marine engines. Five of these were for five large merchant screw steamers ordered by the Neptune Steamship Company, but all were requisitioned by the Navy while still on the stocks and converted to gunboats for service in the ongoing civil war. Five new ferryboats of the Union Ferry Company with engines built by Esler & Co. were also acquired by the Navy and converted into gunboats during this period, while another steamer, Henry Burden, was requisitioned by the war department for use as a transport and as the personal dispatch boat for General John A. Dix. In all, twelve vessels powered by Esler engines were requisitioned for wartime service.[a]

Esler & Co.'s workforce by this time had expanded to 350 employees, with the company set to expand its workforce by another 180 in a newly opened facility. In August 1862 however, the company abruptly failed. The reasons for the failure are unknown, but many marine engine and shipbuilding companies in this period are known to have had difficulties with high wartime inflation, which made contracts signed earlier in the conflict unprofitable.

After the failure of his company, Henry Esler appears to have done no more work of historical interest. There is some evidence that he later rejoined Jeremiah Bunce in another company. A company called "H. C. Esler & Co.", which limited its work to "boilers only", is listed in an 1874 business directory, but a link with the earlier Esler has not been confirmed.

Reuben Riley, co-founder of the later marine engineering firm of Riley & Cowley, served his five-year apprenticeship as a machinist and engineer with Henry Esler & Co.[2] [3]

List of marine engines

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[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]


[25] [26] [27] [28]

[29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35]



Marine steam engines built by Henry Esler & Co.[b]
Ship Engine Ship notes; references
Name[c] Type[d] Yr.
[e] 		Builder[f] Tons
[g] 		Ordered by[h] Intended service[i]
Type
[k] 		Cyl.
(ins)
[l] 		Str.
(ft)
[m]
Steamboat 1859 Thomas Collyer 230 Stamford Line Long Island Sound 1 36 8 [6][7] USN picket, patrol and dispatch boat, 1862–65. Redocumented for merchant service, 1865, out of service ca. 1875.[37]
Steamboat 1859 St. Johns River 2 "[A] small steamer to ply on the St. Johns River, Florida"[7]
Steamer 1859 South America 1 "[A] small steamer for South America"[7]
Dredge 1859 1 "[F]or harbor purposes"[7]
Steamship 1861 Lawrence & Foulks 800 P. S. Forbes & Co. Coast of China 1 GB 50 5 [8] USN gunboat, 1861-65; merchant Flambeau postwar; stranded off New Inlet Bar, North Carolina, 1867[9]
  • Khechong y [n]
  • Kiangse [o]
  • Haesan 77
 Steamship 1862 Lawrence & Foulks 1086 P. S. Forbes & Co. Coast of China 1 VB 50 11 [38][39][40] Built for both coastal and river service, and considered by the owners a "very satisfactory boat". Dismantled 1882.[41]
Szechuen [p] Steamship 1862 Lawrence & Foulks 1100 P. S. Forbes & Co. Coast of China 2 GB 50 6 [38] Converted to hulk, 1875.[42]
Excelsior Elevator 1862 F. V. Tucker Atlantic Marine RR Co. 2 18 1.5 Floating grain elevator.[38]
Henry Burden Steamboat 1862 Webb & Bell 290 P. A. Burden & Co. New York Harbor 1 VB 32 8 [38] To US War Dept., 1862; served as transport, and as dispatch boat for Gen. John A. Dix, 1862–65;[43] sold private 1865; reacquired by USGov, date unknown; converted to dredge, 1873; last mention in shipping registers 1886.[44]
Ferry 1862 538 Union Ferry Co. East River 1 38 10 [38] USN gunboat, 1862-65; ferry Somerset postwar; abandoned 1914.[45]
Ferry 1862 552 Union Ferry Co. East River 1 38 10 [38] USN gunboat, 1862-65; ferry Huntington, 1865-68; destroyed by fire at Hunter's Point, Queens, 1868.[46][47]
America Ferry 1862 Webb & Bell 580 Union Ferry Co. East River 1 Inc 38 10 [39] Sold to Camden interests, date unknown; abandoned 1903.[q]
Union Ferry 1862 Webb & Bell 562 Union Ferry Co. East River 1 Inc 38 10 [39] Sold to City of New York 1922; destroyed by fire at Port Richmond, Staten Island, 1929.[48][49]
Hamilton [r] Ferry 1862 Webb & Bell 532 Union Ferry Co. East River 1 Inc 38 10 Hamilton and Whitehall were purchased by the navy on completion and converted into the gunboats USS Commodore Morris and USS Commodore McDonough, though which ferry became which gunboat is not known.[s]
Whitehall [r] Ferry 1862 Webb & Bell 532 Union Ferry Co. East River 1 Inc 38 10
Hamilton Ferry 1862 Webb & Bell 584 Union Ferry Co. East River 1 Inc 38 10 [38] Second Hamilton built immediately after the original Hamilton was requisitioned by US Navy; served entire career with Union FC and abandoned 1918.[48]
Ferry 1862 Webb & Bell 555 Union Ferry Co. East River 1 Inc 38 10 Second Whitehall built immediately after the original Whitehall was requisitioned by US Navy, but was similarly requisitioned.[t][u] USN gunboat, 1862–64; destroyed by Confederate mine, James River, 1864.[38][48]
Steamship 1863 J.B. & J.D. van Deusen 1200 Neptune Steamship Co. 2 IDA 44 3 [38][v] USN gunboat, 1863-65; merchant Allegany, 1865; wrecked in fog off Long Island, New York, 1865[54]
Steamship 1863 J.B. & J.D. van Deusen 1200 Neptune Steamship Co. 2 IDA 44 3 [38][v] USN gunboat, 1864-65; merchant Worcester, 1865; broken up at Boston, 1894.[54]
Steamship 1863 J.B. & J.D. van Deusen 1200 Neptune Steamship Co. 2 IDA 44 3 [38][v] USN gunboat, 1864–65; merchant Somerset, 1865; broken up, 1887.[54]
Steamship 1863 J.B. & J.D. van Deusen 1200 Neptune Steamship Co. 2 IDA 44 3 [38][v] USN gunboat, 1864–65; sold to Haiti, 1865; Haitian gunboat Alexandre Pétion, 1865–69; captured by Haitian rebels, 1869; blew up and sank off Haiti coast, 1893.[54]
Steamship 1863 J.B. & J.D. van Deusen 1200 Neptune Steamship Co. 2 IDA 44 3 [38][v] USN gunboat, 1864–65; merchant Carroll, 1865; broken up 1894.[54]


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Footnotes

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  1. ^ i.e. including Flambeau, requisitioned by the Navy the previous year.
  2. ^ Blank fields in this table indicate that the property is not known.
  3. ^ Name = name of ship. Where the ship had more than one name during its career, the names are listed chronologically in descending order, with each name followed by two digits (in superscript) representing the last two digits of the year the rename took place, where known. Names followed by a "y" (in superscript) indicate a yard name, ie, a name used by the shipyard to identify the ship prior to it receiving its official name.
  4. ^ Type of ship. The elevator Excelsior, along with all vessels listed as steamships in this column except Kiangse, were screw propelled. All other vessels (including Kiangse) were sidewheel propelled, not including the vessels built in 1859, for which the propulsion method is not known.
  5. ^ Year of ship launch.
  6. ^ Shipbuilder.
  7. ^ Registered tonnage where available; otherwise as noted.
  8. ^ Party that ordered the ship.
  9. ^ The originally intended service for the vessel. This may not correspond to the actual initial service, for example, for those ships requisitioned by the US Navy before entering commercial service.
  10. ^ # = number of engines. Sources from this era tend to make no distinction between number of cylinders and number of engines; thus, a two-cylinder engine may be described as such, or as two single-cylinder engines—the difference is usually semantic.[36]
  11. ^ Engine type abbreviations are as follows: VB = vertical beam; GB = geared beam; Inc = inclined; IDA = inverted direct-acting.
  12. ^ Cyl. = cylinder size, ie engine bore. Cylinder sizes are expressed in inches.
  13. ^ Str. = engine stroke. Stroke sizes are expressed in feet.
  14. ^ Spelled Kee-Chong in some sources.[38]
  15. ^ Spelled Kiang-Tzse in some sources.
  16. ^ Spelled Sze-Chuen in some sources.
  17. ^ [48] The source does not specify which Camden the buyers were from. The most likely candidate is Camden, New Jersey, but another possibility is Camden, Delaware.
  18. ^ a b See "ship notes" column for this vessel for further details of her career.
  19. ^ Pierrepont states that the US Navy purchased four newly-built ferryboats from the Union Ferry Company in 1862;[50][51] these were Somerset, Fort Henry, Hamilton and Whitehall. The first two retained their original names in navy service, while the other two ferries purchased from the company were renamed Commodore Morris[52] and Commodore McDonough.[53] (Commodore Morris was reacquired by Union FC in 1865 and renamed Clinton; Cudahy refers to the original yard name of this vessel as Clinton rather than Whitehall,[45] but expresses doubt about the accuracy of the name in a footnote).
  20. ^ In addition to the four ferryboats previously mentioned (Somerset, Fort Henry, Hamilton and Whitehall), Pierrepont states that the company built a further seven ferryboats in 1862–1863;[50] these were America, Union, New York, Baltic, Republic[48]—and a second Hamilton and Whitehall, which were built to replace the original pair. Pierrepont notes that one of these vessels was purchased by the navy in 1863, which became the gunboat Commodore Jones.[53] Since the service records of the other six vessels are fully documented, the boat purchased by the navy was evidently the second Whitehall.
  21. ^ Commodore McDonough foundered and sank while under tow to New York, 1865. Commodore Morris was repurchased by the Union Ferry Co. in 1865 and renamed Clinton; became USAT General John Simpson during World War I; returned to civilian service as Clinton in 1920 and was scrapped in 1931.
  22. ^ a b c d e Tonnage is only approximate for this vessel as she was requisitioned as a US Navy gunboat before receiving an official registered tonnage (see ship notes column for this vessel for references). Her tonnage was registered when she entered merchant service after the war, but this would not be the same as her original tonnage as the ship underwent modifications in the hands of her new owners, including the addition of deck cabins (see associated images).

References

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  1. ^ "The First Locomotive". Railroad Gazette. Vol. 18. New York. 1886-12-31. p. 912.
  2. ^ Longworth's 1840. p. 128.
  3. ^ a b Longworth's 1840. p. 234
  4. ^ a b Walworth, Reuben Hyde (1851). Order of Reference of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Case of the State of Pennsylvania (Complainant) against the Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company and Others (Defendants) (Report). Saratoga Springs, New York: Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company. pp. 199–200.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Notices" (PDF). Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer. 1852-12-18. p. 3.
  6. ^ a b "Stamford Steamboat Line" (PDF). New-York Daily Tribune. 1859-06-06. p. 7.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Henry Esler & Co, South Brooklyn". The New York Herald. 1859-10-10. p. 2.
  8. ^ a b Frazer, John F., ed. (Jan 1863). "The Steamer Flambeau". Journal of the Franklin Institute. 3. Vol. XLV, WN Vol. LXXV. Philadelphia. pp. 43–44.
  9. ^ a b Silverstone 1989. pp. 90–91.
  10. ^ {{cite news}}: Empty citation (help)
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  25. ^ Frazer, John F. (ed.). Journal of the Franklin Institute. 3. Vol. XLV. Philadelphia: Franklin Institute. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  26. ^ Frazer, John F. (ed.). Journal of the Franklin Institute. 3. Vol. XLV. Philadelphia: Franklin Institute. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  27. ^ Frazer, John F. (ed.). Journal of the Franklin Institute. 3. Vol. XLV. Philadelphia: Franklin Institute. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  28. ^ Frazer, John F. (ed.). Journal of the Franklin Institute. 3. Vol. XLV. Philadelphia: Franklin Institute. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  29. ^ {{cite magazine}}: Empty citation (help)
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  36. ^ Silverstone 2016. p. xii.
  37. ^ Lytle, Holdcamper 1975. p. 62.
  38. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Shipbuilding, &c., in New York" (PDF). The New York Herald. 1862-10-27. p. 2.
  39. ^ a b c "Our Ship-yards" (PDF). New-York Daily Tribune. 1862-08-14. p. 8.
  40. ^ Frazer, John F., ed. (Mar 1863). "The Steamer Kiang-Tzse". Journal of the Franklin Institute. 3. Vol. 75, no. 447. Philadelphia. p. 178.
  41. ^ Haviland, Edward Kenneth (Oct 1956). "American Steam Navigation in China 1845–1878: Part II". The American Neptune. Vol. 16, no. 4. Salem, MA: Peabody Museum of Salem. p. 247.
  42. ^ Haviland, Edward Kenneth (Oct 1956). "American Steam Navigation in China 1845–1878: Part II". The American Neptune. Vol. 16, no. 4. Salem, MA: Peabody Museum of Salem. p. 249.
  43. ^ Frazer, John F., ed. (May 1863). "The Steamer Henry Burden". Journal of the Franklin Institute. 3. Vol. XLV. Philadelphia: Franklin Institute. p. 347.
  44. ^ Eighteenth Annual List 1886. p. 330.
  45. ^ a b Cudahy 1990. p. 429.
  46. ^ Cudahy 1990. pp. 341, 446.
  47. ^ "Burning of a Ferry Boat". Harrisburg Telegraph. Harrisburg, PA. 1868-02-22. p. 2.
  48. ^ a b c d e Cudahy 1990. p. 428.
  49. ^ "3 Boats, Dock are Destroyed in N. Y. Blaze". Miami Daily News. Miami, FL. 1929-07-18. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  50. ^ a b Pierrepont 1879. p. 93.
  51. ^ Pierrepont 1879. p. 104.
  52. ^ Daniels 1921. p. 64.
  53. ^ a b Daniels 1921. p. 63.
  54. ^ a b c d e Silverstone 1989. pp. 78–79.

Bibliography

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  • Cudahy, Brian L. (1990). Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor. New York: Fordham University Press. pp. 341, 428–429, 446. ISBN 0823212459.
  • Daniels, Josephus, ed. (1921). Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. 2. Vol. 1. Washington: United States Government.
  • Eighteenth Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States. Washington: Bureau of Navigation. 1886. p. 330.
  • Longworth's American Almanac, New-York Register and City Directory. New York: Thomas Longworth. 1840. pp. 128, 234.
  • Lytle, William M.; Holdcamper, Forrest H. (1975). Mitchell, C. Bradford (ed.). Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1790–1868 (The Lytle-Holdcamper List). Staten Island, New York: The Steamship Historical Society of America, Inc. OCLC 22040526
  • Pierrepont, Henry Evelyn (1879). Historical Sketch of the Fulton Ferry, and its Associated Ferries. Brooklyn: Union Ferry Company. pp. 93, 104.
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (1989). Warships of the Civil War Navies. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. pp. 78–79, 90–91. ISBN 0870217836.

Category:1852 establishments in New York (state) Category:American companies established in 1852 Category:Defunct marine engineering companies of New York City Category:1852 disestablishments in New York (state)

refs

[edit]
  • small engine runs 1854[4]
  • standard engines to savannah[5]
  • 3 pine steamers, excelsior[6]
  • stationery elevator 1859[7]
  • p. says 4 boats built in 1862 in addition to union, america, hamilton, and whitehall. Boats taken: somerset, fort henry, 1st hamilton and whitehall?
  • p. says took 4 boats in 1862, plus atlantic and unnamed boat in 1863
  • aug 62, american, union "recently completed", could mean anything.
  • union, america completed jun 62[8]
  • aug 62, hamilton, whitehall purchased by gov just after completion.[9]
  • 2 ferries at webb&bell 582 tons 15 nov 62 other builders[10]
  • 2nd hamilton launched 18 nov 62[11]
  • 2 more purchased 25 nov 62, one to be "commodore porter"[12]
  • building, oct 62 - engines for hamilton, whitehall (both gov chartered). 2 more engines for two new ferries, unnamed. somerset, fort henry engines completed "since january". no mention of america or union.
  • somerset inclined engine




  • two ferries and 3 steamers, latter for china, sep 1862[13] nov[14] 3 china steamers jul 1862[15]
  • fulton ferry[16]
  • official records[17]

(No full search yet for plain old "henry esler)"



  • fort henry bore and stroke[18] [19]
  • fort henry somerset[20]
  • whitehall hamilton webb & bell engines etc[21]
  • the earlier whitehall purchased from union fc[22]
  • webb & bell yard? for sale 1864[23]
  • webb & bell established 1856[24]
  • webb & bell steamer also seth grosvenor allaire[25]
  • g w bell 1885[26]
  • e webb obit[27] another[28]
  • primeria[29]
  • burtis does coffer dams[30]
  • bell director fire insurance co[31]
  • eckford obit[32] another[33]
  • bell half brother of englis[34]
  • eckford street[35]
  • conversions[36]


  • union america finsiehd june 1862[37]
  • hamilton whitehall done august; purchased by gov. "for gunboats"; company about to commence two more to replace![38] - they became uss commodore morris and commodore mcdonough (see official records)[39] but which was which?
  • second hamilton! launched by webb & bell november 1862[40]
  • ferry "commodore porter" purchased by navy, one other, 18 nov 1862[41]
  • alleged ferryboat histories[42] part ii inc. ft henry prizes[43]
  • c morris/clinton prang 1916[44]
  • ellen whitehall (1850?) commissioned late 1863 no 1861 filed under wrong date at the site[45]

h burden

[edit]
  • launch?[46]
  • trial trip may 16? 1862[47]
  • deployed by war dept virginia 1863[48]
  • flag of truce boat, dix transport, mid-1863[49]
  • december 1864 transport[50]
  • burden government service summary 1865[51]


  • for sale jan 1866[52] still for sale march[53] jul[54]
  • 1866 h burden back in private hands jul[55]
  • charleston towboat? 1868[56]
  • runs between st. aug and jacksonville 1870[57] 3x per week, description[58] safe and comfortable[59]
  • 1871 baltimore to providence, accident[60]


  • dredge 1872[61]
  • gov charter 1873[62]
  • channel work 1880[63]
  • savannah harbor improvements 1880[64]
  • improvements 1881[65]
  • sinks sep1883[66]


  • with engineers 1875 or earlier; used as dredge[67]
  • henry burden sidewheel tug sold by US engineers dept 1884[68]
  • under charter to the us 1871, purchased 1873[69]
  • dredge brief description[70] another[71]
  • description of "rebel" steamer h burden[72] "very fast"; see also other pages[73]
  • prisoner exchange[74]
  • summary rebels[75]
  • John Adams Dix
  • burden bringing prisoners to lafayette[76]
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