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:

www.orangetownmuseum.com

www.pearlriverlibrary.org

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

 US  47.171 (April 4 1865)  

US  48.204 (June 13 1865)

     US  48.206 (June 13 1865)     

US  50.157 (Sept. 26 1865)

 

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