History and Culture by Bicycle: brief

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Friday, December 11, 2020

Bachmann Trains, A Brief History

This is the third of four articles about the history of Kohrs Meat Packing Company, Red Ball Ltd HO scale model railroad kits, Bachmann Trains and a replica of a Kohrs Meat Packing Company reefer inspired from a Red Ball kit.

Bachmann has been in business for over 133 years. Starting out as a hair accessory manufacturer they became one of the first model train companies to use styrene for their model products.

1833: Founded by Henry Carlisle, the Philadelphia based company originally fashioned horn, ivory, and tortoise shell into Spanish combs for the Southern aristocracy.

Post Civil War, 1865: The company manufactured other hair ornaments and umbrella handles.

1899: The company merged with a competing company operated by Henry G. Bachmann and his son, Walter J. Bachmann.

1912: Adapting to changing times the company began using a new synthetic material called celluloid to manufacture eyeglass frames.

1914: Henry G. Bachmann passed away. The company changed its name to Bachmann Brothers.

1929: Bachmann Brothers moved to more spacious headquarters at 1400 East Erie Avenue, Philadelphia, PA. The company continued to specialize in injection molding and was the first American company to manufacture prescription sunglasses.

1941 - 1945: During World War II Bachmann Brothers manufactured products to support the war effort including sunglasses for U.S. Army and U.S. Army Air Force personnel along with protective eye devices and submarine battery caps. The growing company came under the control of J.C. and B.H. Crowther, nephews of the Bachmanns.

Post WWII: The Bachmann product line included Birds of the World Model kits, shooting glasses, and ski goggles. Its popular Solarex® sunglasses were worn worldwide. The company used its expertise in injection molded plastic to enter the model train field with Plasticville® U.S.A.

The growing company came under the control of J.C. and B.H. Crowther, nephews of the Bachmanns.

1948: Kader Industries, Ltd was founded in Hong Kong, and was established to produce models and toys for export.

1960's and 1970's: Bachmann continued to diversify. The product line included: lot cars, toy airplanes, plastic animal sets, robots, and cassette cases. As model railroading became more popular Bachmann supplied everything from trains to scenery to whole villages. They eventually turned to Kader Industrial, Ltd for manufacturing support.

1969: Kader started producing model trains for Bachmann. The two companies worked hand in hand to create quality model railroading products for hobbyist's.

1981: Kader acquired Bachmann from the Crowthers and renamed it Bachmann Industries. Kader has grown to become one of the world's largest manufacturers of model railroad products.

1988: Bachmann introduced its premium Spectrum® line, emphasizing highly detailed, faithfully reproduced locomotives and train sets. The company also created the Big Haulers™ line in Large Scale.

2002: Bachmann was delighted to become the distributor of Thomas & Friends™ in the United States. They now deliver these beloved locomotives, train sets, and accessories to aspiring engineers in both HO and Large Scale.

2007: Bachmann acquired Williams Electric Trains. Now known as Williams™ by Bachmann to expand its offering of O gauge three-rail trains. We are the only model train company to offer HO, N, On30, O, and G scale lines.

Bibliography:

Bachmann Trains, About Us, History of Bachmann Industries, https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/history.php

Related Articles:

Kohrs Meat Packing Company, 40' Reefer Railcars, A Brief History

Red Ball Ltd, A Brief History

HO Scale Model Railroad Railcars, Inspired Replica of a Kohrs Meat Packing Company Reefer

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Freedom and Civil Rights in Iowa: Two Controversial Decisions, The Story of David Rorer

The Story of David Rorer

David Rorer was Ralph Montgomery's attorney who successfully argued the very first Iowa Territorial Supreme Court case in 1839.

David's life as a pioneer, lawyer, and a former slave owner conflicted with his conscience ahead of the Civil War. He received legal training in Virginia and later practiced in Arkansas before he moved to Iowa.

His daughter Delia wrote: "Still under 30 years of age, he was rapidly making a name for himself in the South, but he found himself entirely out of sympathy with the people over the slavery issue."

He credited a conversation with a member of Congress for his decision to leave. David made a prediction 20 years before the Civil War that the South would leave the Union. According to Delia "He went home and talked the matter over with his wife. He would throw in with the free North and the Union." He called his servants together, told them they are free and invited them to come with his family to the north where they would be free.

Delia wrote: "But one volunteered to go. She was the children's nurse, 'Nin,' and she came with the Rorer family to Burlington."

Iowa was still a decade away from statehood and Burlington not yet a town when Rorer and his family arrived in the territory in 1836. In 1837 Burlington became the capitol of the Territory of Wisconsin and in 1838 the capitol of the Iowa Territory. David constructed the first brick building in Iowa, helped craft Burlington's city government, draft the town ordinances, and helped lay out the city streets.

Rorer's legal career ended almost before it began. He ran, unsuccessfully, for the U. S. Congress in 1838. His opponent, Peter Engle, was elected over him. One of Engle's backers, Cyrus Jacobs, took offense at Rorer's comments about Engle. He met Rorer on the street after the election, produced a pistol and hit Rorer in the head with a cane. According to the Biographical Dictionary of Iowa: "Rorer reeled and fired his own pistol, with fatal results." The shooting was ruled self defense.

With the success of the 1839 Iowa Territorial Supreme Court decision behind him Rorer represented another client in 1850 on the opposite of the slavery issue. Ruel Daggs was a Missouri slave owner who, with the help of David Rorer sued members of the Quaker community of Salem, Iowa in federal court of harboring nine of Daggs' slaves, including a pregnant woman. According to court documents Daggs offered a reward for the capture and return of his property. Slave catchers Samuel Slaughter, James McClure, Henry Brown and Thomas Cook went after and found the runaways hiding in the bushes near Salem, Iowa.

The people of Salem discovered what was happening and a crowd of 100 people gathered to protect the slaves before the men could capture them. A local, Moses Baldwin threatened: "he would wade up to his knees in Missouri blood before surrendering the men, women and children." David Rorer later argued: "It was a riotous assemblage. It was a conspiracy to injure the plaintiff, and all who were present were guilty."

Local magistrate Nelson Gibbs ruled he had no jurisdiction and refused to hold any of the slaves. According to the later law suit four of the nine slaves were returned to Daggs, but how is not explained. Daggs, not satisfied with this, sued 19 of the Quakers for $10,000, claiming the financial damage for the loss of the loss of the other five slaves.

Though Rorer was a former slave owner and Ralph Montgomery's champion he represented Daggs with zeal and passion. In his closing argument he did express concern for people in bondage: "I do not complain of it -- I, too, have feelings of sympathy -- nor do I complain of the offices of humanity which such feelings may have dictated, but our sympathy should manumit our own, and not other people's slaves." He called on jurors to recognize the U.S. Constitution, which Iowa agreed to follow by becoming a state, and did not at that time prohibit slavery. He stated: "Shall we now repudiate the contract we have made? Shall we be the first to violate it ... when we have ourselves sanctioned the institution of slavery, by entering, with full knowledge, into a contract of which it forms part?"

Daggs was awarded a hefty sum of $2,900 against five of the defendants. But according to the Iowa Law Review, he never collected. The law review also noted: "After five years of litigation, Daggs remained uncompensated for the loss of his slaves. In a final blow, the judge ordered Daggs to pay $33.56 in court costs."

In June 1855, Rorer defended a person detained and presumed by a man hunter to be a fugitive slave out of Missouri. The townspeople of Burlington demanded the slave catcher prove "Dick" was the fugitive they sought. The issue went before Judge George Frazee but ended quickly when the slave owner's son could not identify "Dick."

David Rorer left a historic mark on the state of Iowa. He appeared 163 times before the Iowa Territorial and State Supreme Court, he wrote several legal reference books and is credited with branding Iowans as Hawkeyes, a nickname he favored. According to the Biographical Dictionary of Iowa: "the attorney wrote several letters to Iowa newspapers. He signed each, "A Wolverine among the Hawkeyes." Rorer also complimented Iowans as "hospitable Hawkeyes" and praised "the enterprise and industry of the Hawkeye farmer."

Six years later Abraham Lincoln was president and the north and south were beginning their bitter struggle. During the Civil War Rorer's true views on slavery came to light when he switched from Democrat to Republican and advocated for emancipation.

David Rorer died in 1884 at the age of 78.

In 1910 an edition of the Morning Sun News stated: "As these letters contained many criticisms of prominent men, including public officers of the territory, they created much interest and the name 'Hawkeye' was ever after adopted to designate the people of Iowa."

Despite the fact David Rorer was a slave owner himself and represented slave owners during his career as an attorney were it not for his defense of Ralph Montgomery and others, and were it not for Rorer advocating for emancipation the freedom and civil rights in the then Iowa territory and now state of Iowa would not have progressed as they have.

References:

THE BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF IOWA, University of Iowa Press Digital Editions, Rorer, David, (May 12, 1806–July 7, 1884)

University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Sequoyah Research Center, David Rorer

AfriGeneas Slave Research Forum Archive, David Rorer

To Go Free A Treasury of Iowa's Legal Heritage, Richard Lord Acton, Patricia Nassif Acton, Iowa State University Press/Ames, 1995:

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Freedom and Civil Rights in Iowa: Two Controversial Decisions, The Story of Ralph Montgomery

Story of Ralph Montgomery

Rafe Nelson was born into slavery in about 1795. His name was changed to Ralph Montgomery, for his slave master, early on in Virginia. It was common practice and tradition for slaves to have their names changed by their owners/masters. He was in his 20's when he was taken to Kentucky by his owner and sold to his owners brother, William Montgomery. In about 1830 Ralph was then sold to William's son, Jordan Montgomery who took Ralph and moved to Palmyra, Missouri. After about two years of servitude Ralph met Ellis Schofield, who had but just returned from a trip to the lead regions of the upper Mississippi River Valley. Ellis told Ralph of the fortune that could be made working in the lead mines. This inspired Ralph to procure his freedom from Jordan Montgomery. In 1834 he worked out an agreement with his owner for $550 and Ralph moved to Dubuque, Iowa and began working in the lead mines.

After about 5 years Ralph had not been able to purchase his freedom for the agreed upon amount he made with Jordan Montgomery. Ralph was barely able to support himself let alone pay for his freedom. Around this same time Jordan was also experiencing financial difficulties as he had a $4,000 bank loan to repay. The contract Ralph made with Jordan was no secret. Two Virginians heard of his predicament and offered to return Ralph for $100. Jordan agreed not wanting to write Ralph off as a bad debt. The two Virginians swore an affidavit in front of a justice of the peace that Ralph was a fugitive, and the court official ordered the local sheriff to assist Montgomery's men. They found Ralph at his claim and arrested him.

A farmer and business man, Alexander Butterworth was plowing his field nearby and witnessed the kidnapping. He quickly went to associate judge Thomas Wilson in Dubuque who drafted a writ of habeas corpus preventing Ralph from being taken away. Alexander and an officer of the law made it just in time to provide the writ as the Virginians were getting ready to board a boat with Ralph.

The case was sent to Burlington to be heard before the Iowa Territorial Supreme Court.

The writ was only a temporary injunction preventing Ralph from being relocated to Missouri as Jordan Montgomery and his attorney's challenged the document under the Missouri Compromise Act of 1820. They argued when Ralph relocated slavery was not specifically prohibited in the territory at the time. When Ralph failed to fulfill his contract he became a fugitive slave.

David Rorer, a Virginia native and former slave owner in Arkansas was Ralph's attorney. He argued Ralph was neither slave nor fugitive because he entered a contract that presupposes a state of freedom and Ralph became a free man when, by consent of his master, moved to Iowa. Rorer also cited Chapter 23 of the Book of Deuteronomy in the Bible, which says, in part: "Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee: He shall dwell with thee, even among you."

The justices ruled Ralph shall pay Montgomery with a stipulation that he should repay the debt but even if he does not he can be sent back into slavery. Chief Justice Charles Mason wrote: "It is a debt which he ought to pay, but for the non-payment of which no man in this territory can be reduced to slavery", and he concluded: "should be discharged from all custody and constraint, and be permitted to go free while he remains under the protection of our laws." The ruling was delivered on Independence Day, July 4, 1839.

Ralph's case stood for 17 years, and was followed in Iowa lower courts. But the principle of law In The Matter of Ralph was annulled in 1857 by the United States Supreme Court ruling of the Dred Scott v Sanford. Abraham Lincoln called this: "astonisher in legal history". Ralph's case was not cited by any of the justices in the Dred Scott v Sanford case and despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling no one attempted to take Ralph back into slavery. In 1906 the very eminent jurist, Honorable Jon F. Dillon considered the place of In the Matter of Ralph in history. He stated: "True it is that the Dred-Scott decision after-wards rendered was in direct conflict with Judge Mason's decision on Ralph's case. But in the civil war, a higher body than either of those courts, namely the American people, in their primary and sovereign capacity, overruled the Dred-Scott decision and re-establised the doctrines of the Iowa court in Ralph's case."

Despite the ruling by the Iowa Territorial Supreme Court and that Ralph did indeed benefit from it by freed from slavery there were still many laws that were against blacks and people who were against the supreme court decision. Such congressional acts included: only whites had the right to vote, schools were opened only to whites, the militia was confined to free white males, blacks coming to the Iowa Territory had to produce a certificate of freedom and a %$500 bond, blacks were prohibited from being witnesses against whites in court cases, the marriage of blacks and whites was illegal, relief of the poor was denied to blacks and 6 months after the supreme court decision Ralph was even denied the vote in his own town of Dubuque. To Ralph his freedom from slavery was the most important thing.

The next year Ralph showed in Associate Justice Wilson's garden working and explained: "I ain't paying you for what you done for me. But I want to work for you one day every spring to show you that I never forget."

This decision of the Iowa Supreme Court was a major news item. It was reported by both Burlington newspapers. One of the papers, the Iowa Patriot, stated: "This decision will doubtless receive approbation of all who profess to be the friends of humanity and law throughout the Country, and obtain for the Judiciary of the Infant Territory of Iowa a name abroad which not, under and circumstances, have been granted." The reaction of slave owners in the Iowa territory is not recorded. The following year several heads of eleven Dubuque families announced their defiance of the law to the assistant marshal who the federal census. Sixteen slaves were enumerated from these 11 households. Reports of slavery continued in the territory. In 1852 L.P. "Tune" Allen brought two young slaves to Iowa from North Carolina and sold them to someone in Missouri.

Ralph stayed in Dubuque for the rest of his natural life and continued to mine lead. He was credited with several profitable loads. He became a familiar figure around town often appearing dressed in a suit ready for business. Ralph eventually fell on hard times. There are contradictory reports he was either swindled or gambled his money away. The Dubuque Times stated: "His latter years were passed in comparative poverty," and he lived in the county poor house. Ralph was laid to rest in an unmarked plot in Linwood Cemetery, buried next to dozens of others in a mass grave.

The cemetery manager Kandi Perry stated: "We know he's buried here because his name is on a list." A visitor to the cemetery in 2014 told Perry: "Ralph was responsible for me having my freedom," here's $20. In the spring, plant some flowers for him."

Ralph's story continues and is told with a permanent reminder which stands outside the Judicial Branch on the Iowa State Capitol Grounds in Des Moines. In 2009 a sculpture, "Shattering Silence", designed by artist James Ellwanger, was installed on the 170 years anniversary of the 1839 decision made by the Iowa Supreme Court. The artwork stands 30 feet tall and features a ring made of limestone quarried in Dubuque.

Though it was not without controversy and there was resistance to the decision this was the first of many such decisions made by the Iowa Supreme Court. Over time things would get better for blacks under the laws in Iowa.

References