The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1902-08-14
A WONDERFUL TRUE STORY
The First Plate Glass Factory Estab.
lished in America.

Louis Ludlow writing from New
Albany to the indianapolis Sentinel
says:
New Albany is the cradle of the
plate glass industry of the United
States. The first polished plate glass
manufactured in this country is still
in use in the front window of a New
Albany clothing store. There are two
plates, each about six by fourteen feet.
This glass is as nearly perfect as any
manufactured today and it has been
in use since 1872. Capt. John B.
Ford, who erected here the first fac
tory in the United States for the
manufacture of polished plate glass
and whose name is household word
throughout southern Indiana, is still
living at ninety-one years of age at
Tarentum, Pa. He has not visited
the scenes of his early struggles for
ten or twelve years. He came origi-
nally from Kentucky and located at
Greenville, near here. He was nat
ural born" inventor and invented and
manufactured machine for chopping
straw. He soon moved to New AL
bany. where he built steamboats,. His
attention was attracted by little
factory at Lenox, Mass, which was
manufacturing a crude form of rough
plate glass for Skylights. He set his
wits at work and designed the first
machinery for the manufacture of pol
ished plate glass. This machinery was
made at New Albany foundrieS. He
interested his cousin, Washington G.
DePauw, a man Of large means, and
they operated the first plate glass
mandatory, which was huge sue
cess, but they could not agree as to
business policy and Ford sold his in
est to DePauw. Ford then establish
ed factories at Louisville and Jeffer-
sonville, which failed.
Capt, Ford IS history from this time
furnishes the most remarkable in
stance on record of a man building up
an immense fortune in his old age. He
was seventy-eight years old when he
started for New York, but he was
smooth-shaved and looked much
Younger. He did not have money
enough to buy to buy his railroad
ticket.
He arrived in New York penniless,
but his wonderful genius for Organiza-
ton enabled him to interest big New
York capitalists, who furnished the
money with which he built and put in
operation two immense plate-glaSs fac
tOries-one at Tarentum and the 9TH
er at Creighton, Pa. Later he found
ed Ford City, sixty miles east of Pitts
burg, establishing there factory en-
ploying $500 men, erecting an opera
house and churches and introducing
all modern accessions of a thriving
city. About four years ago he sold
his factories, which were all in his
own name, to the plate-glass trust,
for SIC, 200, 600. and he has been liv-
ing In retirement since. He was the
first man In the United States to dis
cover that natural gas could be used
as fuel for manufacturing purposes.
He built his factory at Tarentum
along side coal bed, expecting to use
coal for fuel. His workmen, in max
ing Soundings, discovered gas and he
was not long in Harvesting the new
fuel and making it do his work. In
his long career of large manufacture
ing endeavers he never had a strike,
because he always paid the highest
wages that could be paid in the bust
HCoo' IL ID UlIlCulU luz NEW AlUduy
people to realize that the old man who
left here without penny, borrowing
money to buy his railroad ticket. is
now a multi-millionaire. He is affiict-
ed with a cancer, which will soon end
his noted career. He has built at
Greenville, Ind, his old home, one of
the finest Methodist churches in the
state and his other requests within
the last two years amount to half a
million dollars.
Many interesting stories are told
here Of the late Washington e. De-
PAW who, as financial genius was
fully the equal of Capt. Ford. Mr..
DePauw, who was product of Wash
ington county, started In life as a
driver of an OK team at 10 cents a day
and he built up a fortune of about
$40, 900, 900.