website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown,
Wisconsin
Beals & Torrey Shoe Co.
Established 1904 in Watertown
1904, established
Orbit, Watertown High
School, 1921
Scarcely
had the guns of the Civil War ceased firing when two young men from
Massachusetts, E. F. Beals and I. G. Mann (the former
a wounded and discharged soldier) stopped off in Milwaukee looking for a
satisfactory location for a shoe jobbing house. Milwaukee seemed to impress the
young men as being the place they were looking for, and they at once completed
arrangements for a store at 91 Huron Street, and opened business as Mann & Beals. Later results
proved that the selection of Milwaukee was a wise one, but after one year's
experience Mr. Mann concluded to retire from the business and his place was
filled by J. L. Beals, a brother of E. F. Beals. Their father,
E. S. Beals, and Alexix
[Alexis] Torrey having connected themselves with the
firm, it was known as Beals, Torrey & Company.
Alexis
Torrey (1828-1915)
Alexis
went to San Francisco at 21 for the gold rush, came back and started the shoe
business and was clearly very successful.
He invested in many things and enjoyed a long and full life.
The
Torrey’s were in the shoe business in Weymouth, MA. Alexis Torrey was very successful and
invested in many things of the day.
Alexis’
sister, Emily, married Elias Franklin Beals of
Milwaukee. Emerson Torrey, Alexis’ son,
went to Milwaukee to work with his uncle and remained there. The inventory of Alexis’ estate listed 500
shares of Beals and Torrey Shoe Company.
Alexis’
obituary stated that he retained an interest in the wholesale house of Beals, Torrey & Co., Milwaukee. DT email, 12 29 2011
Elias Franklin Beals
Elias
Franklin Beals was born in Weymouth in 1841 and died
there in 1906. He married Emily
Catherine Torrey, sister of Alexis and daughter of Lemuel
and Nancy S (Bicknell) Torrey. She was
born in 1846. Elias Franklin Beals' father Elias Smith Beals
had three surviving sons. Augustus stayed in Weymouth. James, born in 1848, is
listed as removed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Elias is not listed as moving to Milwaukee. James presumably went before him. Their father Elias Smith Beals
(1814 – 1897) held many prominent positions in Weymouth and was a shoe
manufacturer for many years.
Weymouth,
which is fairly near Plymouth, is one of the oldest settlements in the United
States and has very extensive historical records. This information pretty much
confirms to me that the family name is correctly Beals
as opposed to Beal as listed in some places in your writeup.
- 1923 History of Weymouth Massachusetts [four volume set]
______________________________________________________________
At
this time the firm opened a factory where were manufactured men's work shoes
and women's turned shoes, both high and low cut. This factory was in a building occupying the
site of what became Child's Restaurant on Grand Avenue. Upon the removal of the
firm to West Water Street in 1888 to a building since razed to make room for Gimbel Brothers Store, the factory was also removed to that
building, and was continued there until the entire floor space was required for
the increased jobbing business, when it was located on Clybourn
Street between West Water and Second Streets and afterwards removed to Fourth
Street between Clybourn and Fowler.
In the
early days of the firm its goods were sold in Wisconsin, northern Iowa and
southern Minnesota, E. F. Beals and J. L. Beals covering the territories twice a year mostly by team.
Goods sold on the spring trip were collected in the fall, and those sold in the
fall were paid for in the spring. In
1897 the business had so developed that it was deemed advisable to incorporate,
and so in the spring of that year the corporation known as Beals
& Torrey Shoe Company came into existence.
In
1904 a desire which E. F. Beals had long been
possessed of was consummated and the company erected its own factory at
Watertown. For a short time the same
class of goods was manufactured in the new factory as had been in the old, but
after the death of E. F. Beals in 1906 the new
management decided on making a radical change, and devoted the entire effort of the factory to the
production of Men's Fine Goodyear Welt Shoes.
Those
in active control of the business since 1906 are:
F. E. Beals ..........President
J. H. Pratt
............Vice-President
J. G. Hafemeister ....Treasurer
R. W. Tait ............Secretary
F. W. Pfeifer
..........Superintendent
Under
their regime the business so increased that it became evident a larger factory
was necessary, but before plans could be carried into effect the war came on
and building operations had to be laid aside. As soon as permitted to do so
work was commenced on a modern factory, up-to-date in every respect and its
completion was reached early in 1920.
This
factory has a capacity of 2,500 to 3,000 pairs a day and is known as Beals-Pratt Shoe Manufacturing Company. The company is now covering the entire United
States and also includes in its territory, Cuba, Mexico and Central America.
1904 06 24
The Beals & Torrey Shoe Co. of Milwaukee has decided to
remove their manufacturing plant to this city. The officers of the Watertown
Advancement Association have been negotiating with the company for some time
and finally closed a deal with them last week. A cash bonus of $8000 will be
given the company, and they will erect a plant here to cost $30,000, and as
soon as it is completed 100 men and 50 women will be put to work.
The
factory will be built on a piece of land just northwest of Milwaukee Street bridge. It is to be four stories high, 200 feet long and
about 60 feet wide.
Mayor
Wertheimer and Fred A. Hoffmann, the soliciting committee, are at present
taking subscriptions from our business men and others and it is hoped they will
be generously dealt with. This company will from the start pay out about $1 000
a week in wages, which will be of great benefit to Watertown.
John
Buckley of Emmet has signed $20 to the enterprise, taking an interest in our
city because it is his market town and he wants to see it prosperous. We want
more John Buckleys in and around Watertown to give a
good active boom on this city.
1904 11 08
The
shoe factory at West Milwaukee and Water streets, completed for the Beals & Torrey Shoe Company of Milwaukee, will be in
operation about December 1 and employ about 125 persons.
The
factory is of brick, four stories in height. It is 150 feet long and 41 feet
wide, with an additional boiler room and coal bunker at the north end, together
with a steel water tank, seventy feet from the ground, which will be used in
the operation of an automatic sprinkler system in case of fire. There are 225 windows in the building and gas
and electricity have been installed, the latter to be used for power. It will
be heated by steam. The building is constructed with a view to perfect sanitation
and comfort of employees.
The
cost of construction was about $30,000.
C. Huenefeld of this city was the contractor
and the workmanship throughout is of the best character. F. L. Lindsa, was the architect.
1904 07 12
Saturday
morning the writer visited the Beals & Torrey
Shoe Co's factory and was surprised at the amount of work performed and the
exceeding friendliness of the factory in each and every department. The factory
is located at the corner of Milwaukee and Water streets, is built of white
brick, and there stories above the basement and is an imposing structure and a
credit to both the company and the city.
At the
present time over one hundred and twenty-five hands are employed in the
factory, and footwear for men women, youths and children are manufactured, there
being several grades of each, running from the common up to the very finest
shoes being made, such as any lady or gentleman would wear with the
satisfaction of knowing that they were well shod. The daily out-put is 800
pairs each working day, each passing through the several departments and
finally and lastly to the polishing department under Foreman Devine, where they
are finished for the trade.
The
machinery in use is of the latest, and is a marvel of the ingenuity of man, and
many of the machines work as if possessed of intelligence, which one can watch
with interest by the hour. The wages paid monthly amounts to a large sum and is
a great help to the city in furnishing employment for many people at good wages
which are promptly paid.
1905-6 Wrights Watertown Directory
1908
08 07 Beals & Torrey fire alarm box 36. WG
10 02 GORDER FACTORY RENTED. Wm.
Gorder has leased his factory in First [Water?]
Street, just vacated by the M. D. Wells Shoe Co., to the Van
Camp Packing Co., receiving $600 a year rental. The Van Camp Co. intended enlarging their
factory in Milford Street, but for the present will not do so, but will use the
Gorder factory for storage purposes, there being no
room in their factory for that purpose.
WG
1909 M. D. Wells Company, Mastiff
Shoe Factory, Watertown, 1909
1913
Milwaukee Street Bridge with Beals
& Torrey in distance, c 1913
1917c
Beals &
Torrey in distance, Rock River, view south of Milwaukee St Bridge, west
bank of river, c1917, WHS_006_Semrich_104
Later the firm name was changed to the Beals
Pratt Shoe Manufacturing Company.
1936
The
present factory building of the Walter Booth Shoe company was built by this
firm in 1919, and operated by it until 1925, when it became the Walter Booth
Shoe Company. From less than 100
employees when Waller Booth affected the organization in 1925, the firm now
employs approximately 500 men and women and at one time had as high as 600
employees. W. A. Schumann is the factory superintendent.
The
Walter Booth Shoe Company makes men's dress shoes exclusively that retail from
$4.00 a pair to $7.50 a pair. The
distribution is national. There are 26
salesmen selling the shoes throughout the entire United States. It also has distribution in the Hawaiian
Islands.
The
trade names used by the Walter Booth Shoe Company are "Walter Booth"
shoes, "Crosby Square Authentic Fashions," and "Crosby Square
Flexible shoes."
The
"Crosby Square" name has been nationally advertised for several yours
in magazines like, Esquire, Time and the Saturday Evening Post. The name is well known throughout the United
States by people in the shoe business as well as consumers.
"Crosby
Square" shoes are retailed by some of the finest stores in the United
States. An example of a few of them
are: Mabley
and Carew, Cincinnati, Ohio, M. R. Baker Company, Toledo, Ohio: Maurice L.
Rothschild, Chicago; Minneapolis and St. Paul; Daniels and Fisher, Denver,
Colorado, Sommer and Kaufmann, San Francisco. Calif., Glide's, Los Angeles, Calif., Bon Marche, Seattle,
Washington, Stone Shoe Company, Cleveland, Ohio; Sakowitz
Brothers, Houston, Texas and Dreyfuss and Sons,
Dallas, Texas.
Cross-References:
Beals & Torrey building became site for Kusel Dairy Equipment
