Richard M. Atwater
Encyclopedia
Richard Mead Atwater, Sr. (August 10, 1844 – 1922) was a chemist
and public official in New Jersey
and Pennsylvania
involved in early scientific glass-making.
, in 1844 into a Quaker family. His father, Stephen Atwater, was a civil engineer working on the Erie Canal
, and later became the City Surveyor for Providence. His mother
was Mary Weaver, who came from Hamilton, New York
, the daughter of a Quaker minister. Atwater spent his first 21 years in Providence.
After graduating, he taught for a term at a public school in Wakefield, Rhode Island
, meeting local industrialist Roland Hazard
, then moving on to teach at a local private school, where he met his future wife Abby Sophia Greene. He attended Brown University
and graduated in 1865, and was made Quaker Trustee
of Brown University in 1878. Immediately after graduating, he found employment in Millville, New Jersey
as a tutor. He served a short term as Superintendent
of Schools in Millville.
glassworks of Whitall Tatum Company
. In 1874, he was appointed traveling agent and was responsible for writing many contracts, visiting all the large cities in the north of the US, and as far west as San Francisco. In 1876, attending the
Centennial Exposition
, he saw an exhibit of foreign-made chemical glassware. He took the prompt to devise and patent accurate methods for constructing graduated cylinders, as well as reagent bottles with an embossed ground label, which were widely used. He also patented a portable finishing furnace for making glassware, and a variety of patterns for dispensing bottles in general use. In 1889, wanting to enhance his career and give his children better opportunities for education, he moved Germantown
, a section of Philadelphia, where he worked at the main office of the Whitall Tatum glassworks.
. Her family had lived in Greenwich
since the Rhode Island colony
was started by Roger Williams
. Atwater and his wife had nine children, and as their family grew, purchased one of the first oceanside lots at Sea Isle City, New Jersey
, where in 1881 he constructed the first summer beach house on the island. It was a simple square structure, built among the dunes, with an open cathedral ceiling two stories high, and bedrooms at the corners of both floors. The family vacationed there for four decades. Atwater was involved in many aspects of life in the town, became the Commodore of the
Yacht Club for nine years, and was elected as Mayor of Sea Isle City from 1913-1917.
lagged behind Europe. In 1890, Atwater took a leave of absence from the glassworks
and went to Europe to learn more about glassmaking. Leaving his capable wife with her nine children for several months, he went to Berlin
, where he studied the scientific
manufacture of glass. Realizing that the subject would require more than a summer vacation, he rented an apartment and a piano and sent for his family who he enrolled in local schools. They enjoyed the German culture, enjoyed concerts and opera, found many new friends, and had many visits from relatives.
, where Atwater was recruited by Roland Hazard, the President of the Solvay Process Company
(later Semet-Solvay Co.), eventually being appointed Secretary-Director and Field Agent, where he took an active part in the introduction of by-product coke
oven
s in the United States. During this time his older children went off to college, with two of the daughters attending Bryn Mawr College
outside Philadelphia. In 1893 Atwater was a judge of glass at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago
. After eight years, he was given a leave of absence from Semet-Solvay with full pay in appreciation of his work.
with his wife. He was offered the position of Director of the Europe
an office for the Johnson Harvester Company, which after some consideration of the challenge he accepted. Again, he entered into the local culture, and after several months sent for his family. They resided in Paris
for six years. The business, very different from his earlier experiences in the glass and chemical industry, was a general retail and wholesale operation in France
and throughout Europe into Russia
. Through his earlier experience in Berlin, Atwater had become familiar with the continental way of doing business, but he found the French language
and customs unfamiliar. He ran the Paris office where only one clerk could speak English, learning French without any formal instruction. His freight and docking facilities for the shipping and receiving of goods were so well organized that when relief shipments were sent to France after World War I
, the Harvester Docks in Paris were used for this purpose. During this time Richard and Abby Sophia were very active, enjoying tandem bike rides to destinations outside the city. The years were also successful for the business. At the end of the six year term, the Johnson Harvester Company asked him to extend his contract, but by then all of the children had returned to America
, and he had adequate savings for retirement.
to present a paper on his work on glass graduates in Millville, New Jersey (from 1886), and was elected honorary Vice-President of the Congress. He was elected president of the American Chamber of Commerce
in Paris
and held that honor there until his return to the United States
in 1906. Atwater retired in 1906 to a large farm in Chadds Ford in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
, which contained the site of the Battle of Brandywine
, eventually given to the state of Pennsylvania
for Brandywine Battlefield State Park. Atwater put all of his 9 children through college, and 7 of them survived him, as well as 20 grandchildren. He died in 1922.
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and public official in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
involved in early scientific glass-making.
Early years
Atwater was born in Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, in 1844 into a Quaker family. His father, Stephen Atwater, was a civil engineer working on the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
, and later became the City Surveyor for Providence. His mother
was Mary Weaver, who came from Hamilton, New York
Hamilton (town), New York
Hamilton is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 5,733 at the 2000 census. The town is named after American patriot Alexander Hamilton....
, the daughter of a Quaker minister. Atwater spent his first 21 years in Providence.
Education
Atwater lost his father at the age of 10. He was obliged to work and help his widowed mother carry on with her five children, getting up before dawn six days a week to fold and deliver newspapers. The work did not pay much but he learned the value of networking. He attended public school until he was 15, then attended the Friends Boarding School of Providence.After graduating, he taught for a term at a public school in Wakefield, Rhode Island
Wakefield, Rhode Island
Wakefield is a village in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, and the commercial center of the town. Together with the village of Peace Dale, it is treated by the U.S. Census as a component of the census designated place identified as Wakefield-Peacedale, Rhode Island. South Kingston was...
, meeting local industrialist Roland Hazard
Solvay Process Company
The Solvay Process Company was a pioneer chemical industry of the United States in the manufacture of soda ash and a major employer in Central New York...
, then moving on to teach at a local private school, where he met his future wife Abby Sophia Greene. He attended Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and graduated in 1865, and was made Quaker Trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
of Brown University in 1878. Immediately after graduating, he found employment in Millville, New Jersey
Millville, New Jersey
Millville is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city population was 26,847. Millville, Bridgeton and Vineland are the three principal New Jersey cities of the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area which...
as a tutor. He served a short term as Superintendent
Superintendent (education)
In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....
of Schools in Millville.
Glass works
Atwater was soon hired as Assistant Manager in the manufacture of scientific glassmaking at the MillvilleMillville, New Jersey
Millville is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city population was 26,847. Millville, Bridgeton and Vineland are the three principal New Jersey cities of the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area which...
glassworks of Whitall Tatum Company
Whitall Tatum Company
The Whitall Tatum Company, or Whitall Tatum, was one of the first glass factories in America. Located in Millville, New Jersey, it operated from 1806 through 1938...
. In 1874, he was appointed traveling agent and was responsible for writing many contracts, visiting all the large cities in the north of the US, and as far west as San Francisco. In 1876, attending the
Centennial Exposition
Centennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...
, he saw an exhibit of foreign-made chemical glassware. He took the prompt to devise and patent accurate methods for constructing graduated cylinders, as well as reagent bottles with an embossed ground label, which were widely used. He also patented a portable finishing furnace for making glassware, and a variety of patterns for dispensing bottles in general use. In 1889, wanting to enhance his career and give his children better opportunities for education, he moved Germantown
Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Germantown is a neighborhood in the northwest section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, about 7–8 miles northwest from the center of the city...
, a section of Philadelphia, where he worked at the main office of the Whitall Tatum glassworks.
Marriage, family life, and mayor
Atwater married Abby Sophia Greene in 1867 in Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. Her family had lived in Greenwich
West Greenwich, Rhode Island
West Greenwich is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 6,135 at the 2010 census. West Greenwich was named for Greenwich, Kent, England...
since the Rhode Island colony
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
was started by Roger Williams
Roger Williams (theologian)
Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
. Atwater and his wife had nine children, and as their family grew, purchased one of the first oceanside lots at Sea Isle City, New Jersey
Sea Isle City, New Jersey
Sea Isle City is a city in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 2,114. Visitors raise the population to as much as 40,000 during the peak summer season from Memorial Day...
, where in 1881 he constructed the first summer beach house on the island. It was a simple square structure, built among the dunes, with an open cathedral ceiling two stories high, and bedrooms at the corners of both floors. The family vacationed there for four decades. Atwater was involved in many aspects of life in the town, became the Commodore of the
Yacht Club for nine years, and was elected as Mayor of Sea Isle City from 1913-1917.
Berlin
In the late 19th century, glass manufacturing in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lagged behind Europe. In 1890, Atwater took a leave of absence from the glassworks
Whitall Tatum Company
The Whitall Tatum Company, or Whitall Tatum, was one of the first glass factories in America. Located in Millville, New Jersey, it operated from 1806 through 1938...
and went to Europe to learn more about glassmaking. Leaving his capable wife with her nine children for several months, he went to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where he studied the scientific
manufacture of glass. Realizing that the subject would require more than a summer vacation, he rented an apartment and a piano and sent for his family who he enrolled in local schools. They enjoyed the German culture, enjoyed concerts and opera, found many new friends, and had many visits from relatives.
Syracuse
After three years the family returned to Syracuse, New YorkSyracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, where Atwater was recruited by Roland Hazard, the President of the Solvay Process Company
Solvay Process Company
The Solvay Process Company was a pioneer chemical industry of the United States in the manufacture of soda ash and a major employer in Central New York...
(later Semet-Solvay Co.), eventually being appointed Secretary-Director and Field Agent, where he took an active part in the introduction of by-product coke
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
oven
Oven
An oven is a thermally insulated chamber used for the heating, baking or drying of a substance. It is most commonly used for cooking. Kilns, and furnaces are special-purpose ovens...
s in the United States. During this time his older children went off to college, with two of the daughters attending Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
outside Philadelphia. In 1893 Atwater was a judge of glass at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. After eight years, he was given a leave of absence from Semet-Solvay with full pay in appreciation of his work.
Paris
In August 1900 Atwater attended the Paris ExpositionExposition Universelle (1900)
The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from April 15 to November 12, 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next...
with his wife. He was offered the position of Director of the Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an office for the Johnson Harvester Company, which after some consideration of the challenge he accepted. Again, he entered into the local culture, and after several months sent for his family. They resided in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
for six years. The business, very different from his earlier experiences in the glass and chemical industry, was a general retail and wholesale operation in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and throughout Europe into Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Through his earlier experience in Berlin, Atwater had become familiar with the continental way of doing business, but he found the French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and customs unfamiliar. He ran the Paris office where only one clerk could speak English, learning French without any formal instruction. His freight and docking facilities for the shipping and receiving of goods were so well organized that when relief shipments were sent to France after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Harvester Docks in Paris were used for this purpose. During this time Richard and Abby Sophia were very active, enjoying tandem bike rides to destinations outside the city. The years were also successful for the business. At the end of the six year term, the Johnson Harvester Company asked him to extend his contract, but by then all of the children had returned to America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, and he had adequate savings for retirement.
Honors and retirement
In 1904 Atwater attended the meeting of the International Chemical Congress in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
to present a paper on his work on glass graduates in Millville, New Jersey (from 1886), and was elected honorary Vice-President of the Congress. He was elected president of the American Chamber of Commerce
United States Chamber of Commerce
The United States Chamber of Commerce is an American lobbying group representing the interests of many businesses and trade associations. It is not an agency of the United States government....
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and held that honor there until his return to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1906. Atwater retired in 1906 to a large farm in Chadds Ford in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 558,979, making it Pennsylvania's fifth most populous county, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, and Bucks counties....
, which contained the site of the Battle of Brandywine
Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of the Brandywine or the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American army of Major General George Washington and the British-Hessian army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777. The British defeated the Americans and...
, eventually given to the state of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
for Brandywine Battlefield State Park. Atwater put all of his 9 children through college, and 7 of them survived him, as well as 20 grandchildren. He died in 1922.