John Dwight (manufacturer)

John Dwight, circa 1900

John Dwight (August 1, 1819 – November 25, 1903) was an American manufacturer and philanthropist. He was a pioneer manufacturer of bicarbonate of soda in the United States. He was known in the merchandising industry for selling cleaning and baking products to grocery stores.

Life

Dwight was born in South Hadley, Massachusetts on August 1, 1819. His father was a medical doctor in the state of Connecticut. His mother was Lydia (White) Dwight, daughter of William White of Springfield, Massachusetts. Dwight's grandfather was Nathaniel Dwight of Belchertown, Massachusetts. Nathaniel, a captain in the French and Indian war, and his wife, Hannah Lyman were the parents of Elihu Dwight (Dwight's father). Nathaniel's father, Dwight's great grandfather, was Captain Timothy Dwight. Timothy's father was one of the founders of Dedham, Massachusetts – an Englishman by the name of John Dwight who had immigrated to America before 1635.[1]

Dwight attended school at Hopkins Academy in Hadley, Massachusetts. Just before graduating from high school he received an appointment to West Point, but declined it and decided to enter into the business world instead.[1]

Career

John Dwight "bicarbonate of soda": trade card advertising of 1870–1900

Dwight moved to New York City in 1846. Then in 1847 he went into partnership with his brother-in-law, Austin Church, for the manufacture of bicarbonate of soda, under the firm name of John Dwight & Company. His firm was the first to manufacturer this product in the United States.[2] Prior to this, the baking and medical product could only be bought from England as an expensive imported product.[3]

Dwight and Church sold the powder product in red paper bags first under the Cow Brand trademark. The firm had traveling sales agents that promoted the product.[4] They packaged the product this way for hygiene and personally filled the bags themselves. The paper bags were intentionally made in that packaging style and colorful bags to promote sales.[5] Their competitors continued to sell dry goods in open unhygienic kegs.[6]

Church adopted the Arm & Hammer trademark from the Vulcan Spice Mills company that was owned by one of his sons and used it to sell baking soda (one of the uses for bicarbonate of soda).[6][7][8][9] It was the same product as Cow Brand was selling. Dwight continued selling the original baking product under his Cow Brand trademark and in a similar packaging style as Arm & Hammer baking soda.[10] Arm & Hammer baking soda dominated the market in the United States, while Cow brand was preferred in only a few places. The descendants of Church and Dwight united the two firms in 1896 into Church & Dwight Company.[6]

Organizations

Dwight was interested in several other enterprises and was for many years a director of the New York board of trade and transportation.[1] Dwight was a trustee of the American Seamen's Friend Society for 30 years. He was involved with the Hampton Institute of Hampton, Virginia, and founder of the Dwight School at Erwin, Tennessee for the education of poor children. Dwight was active in church organizations and gave money to public organizations like libraries and museums.[1]

Family

Dwight was married two times. His first marriage was January 13, 1841, to Nancy Shaw, daughter of Capt. Metcalf Everett of Foxboro. They had two sons and three daughters. Dwight's first wife died in 1892 and he then remarried in 1894 to Mrs. Clara (Leigh) Freeborn of St. Louis, Missouri.[1]

Later life and death

He died in New York City on November 25, 1903.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 White 1935, p. 310.
  2. ↑ "Left $1,000,000 All Made in Soda". The Evening World. New York, New York. December 2, 1903. p. 2 – via newspapers.com . Will of John Dwight, First Manufacturer of Bicarbonate in this Country, Gives Children Equal Shares
  3. ↑ "Baking Soda / The household 'geni' in a box". Logansport Pharos-Tribune. Logansport, Indiana. September 28, 1984. p. 6 – via newspapers.com . Bicarbonate of sada has been made in America since 1839. Prior to that it was imported and expensive. Rochester, N.Y., is where made-in-America baking soda first was concocted by Austin Church. He teamed up about seven years later with his brother-in-law, John Dwight, in New York City in what became a multi-million dollar company.
  4. ↑ Allen, Ida Bailey (October 14, 1961). "Ordinary Baking Soda Kitchen Fire-Fighter". Tyrone Daily Herald. Tyrone, Pennsylvania. p. 5 – via newspapers.com .
  5. ↑ Williams 2017, p. 66.
  6. 1 2 3 Jorgensen 1994, p. 16.
  7. ↑ "What is the origin of the Arm & Hammer trademark". Alton Evening Telegraph. Alton, Illinois. January 6, 1947. p. 4 – via newspapers.com . Q. What is the origin of the Arm & Hammer trade-mark used on boxes of baking soda? A.The firm of Church and Sons was established by Austin Church and two sons to produce soda in about 1846. One of the sons had owned the Vulcan Spice Mills which had the arm and hammer trade-mark. This was adopted by the new firm.
  8. ↑ Rice, p. 55.
  9. ↑ Grant 2005, p. 78.
  10. ↑ Williams 2017, p. 67.
  11. ↑ "Death of John Dwight /Pioneer Manufacturer of Bicarbonate of Soda in this Country". November 26, 1903 – via newspapers.com .

Sources

  • Grant, Tina (1 February 2005). Directory of Company Histories. St. James Press. ISBN 978-1-55862-543-3.
  • Jorgensen, Janice (1994). Encyclopedia of Consumer Brands. Saint James Press. ISBN 978-1-55862-336-1. Austin Church had good reason to wnt to hire his sons – both men had experience running successful businesses. While Elihu D. Church oversaw an axe-handle factory, James A. Church owned the Vulcan Spice Mills. In addition, the now-familiar Arm & Hammer logo – a picture of a man's arm wielding a hammer just before striking an anvil, representing the Roman god Vulcan, a blacksmith skilled in forging weapons – was originally used by James Church. The trademark was adopted for use with one of several brands of baking soda that Church & Company originally sold. It soon became clear, however, that the Arm & Hammer brand was the most popular choice,and the other brands were abandoned. In 1878 Arm & Hammer baking soda was patented; Dr. Church died the following year.
  • Rice, Randall Peter. Beyond The Bottom Line... Randall Peter Rice. The Arm & Hammer trademark came from another Church family business, Vulcan Spice Mills.
  • White, James T. (1935). Cyclopaedia of American Biography. James T. White & Company, Volume 24.
  • Williams, Robert Jr and Helena (21 April 2017). Vintage Marketing. Palgrave Macmillan US. ISBN 978-1-137-38721-9. Dr. Church joined with his brother-in-law, John Dwight, and in 1847 the pair began manufacturing baking soda in Dwight’s Massachusetts kitchen. John Dwight & Co. became the first company to make and sell baking soda in the United States. Prior to this, baking soda was still being imported from England.
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