Difference between revisions of "Scheidler Machine Works"

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Scheidler Machine Works at First Street

The Scheidler Machining Company was one of several machinery repair shops and production firms in Newark to grow during the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth. Reinhard Scheidler, a German immigrant who arrived in the United States in the 1850s and worked at the Newark Machine Works, founded a machinery repair shop in 1861 during the Civil War. ^[1] The business began as a partnership with fellow machinist John Mcnamar and the two operated together for twenty years before opening separate shops. The Scheidler Machining Company factory was built in 1881 at 55 South First Street in Newark, taking advantage of a fortuitous location positioned between First and Second Streets and the depots for both the B&O and Pennsylvania Railroads. Items produced by Scheidler included traction, portable and stationary engines and circular saw mills and separators. All stages of production—molding, casting, and woodworking-were completed onsite by the staff of sixty. ^[2] Their most popular product was the Scheidler Traction Engine which sold throughout the country. ^[3]

Reinhard Scheidler was a mechanic and inventor who took an active part in the work of his business. Such hands-on involvement in the day-today operation of his company led to Scheidler's death in 1903 in a tragic accident at his factory when repair work on an older Scheidler threshing engine resulted in an explosion. Scheidler, around 70 years of age, was killed instantly as engine pieces damaged buildings as they scattered around the facility. ^[4]

Scheidler's son Henry would succeed him in the management of the company. Henry Scheidler had previously held control of the Newark and Granville Company which managed the interurban lines, a business venture also organized by his father. Henry would manage the company until his death in 1917 ^[5] Henry was assisted by his brother Oscar, who had been trained in mechanical engineering at the Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago. Oscar would follow Henry as the company's manager but there would be a steep decline in the company in the 1920s ^[6] Oscar Scheidler remained president of the company at least until 1924 and it remained in some form of operation in 1926, but Oscar had already branched out into the automobile business with the Scheidler-Nash Company. ^[7] By July 1927, the company was no more and a George Hermann, son-in-law of Reinhard Scheidler, posted a rental notice in the Advocate for the building at First Street as "formerly occupied by Scheidler Machine Works." ^[8]

Oscar Scheidler moved into the automotive business and the site was occupied by the Newark Warehouse and Storage Company in 1929. ^[9] The core structure of the Scheidler Machine Company survives today as The Works.

J.G.

References

1. ↑ Brister, E. The Ohio Magazine, 1907, 41
2. ↑ The Newark Daily Advocate, June 30, 1896, 5
3. ↑ Newark Manufacturing and Business Review, 1896, 9-10
4. ↑ "One Dead and Nine Hurt," The Newark Advocate, April 30, 1903, 5; "Richard Scheidler Met with Appalling Death this Afternoon," The Newark Advocate, April 30, 1903, 1.
5. ↑ "Henry Scheidler is Dead; Managed First Car System," The Newark Daily Advocate, January 23, 1917, 8.
6. ↑ "Newark Man Dies After Long Illness," Newark Advocate and American Tribune, December 10, 1946, 12.
7. ↑ Newark City Directory, 1924, 418; Newark City Directory, 1926, 461
8. ↑ The Newark Advocate and American Tribune, July 28, 1927, 14
9. ↑ The Newark Advocate and American Tribune, March 22, 1929, 5