Ohio County, West Virginia THE WHEELING SANITARY MANUFACTURING COMPANY. This file was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 465 Ohio THE WHEELING SANITARY MANUFACTURING COMPANY. The initiation of the pottery industry in the City of Wheel- ing is to be credited to Charles W. Franzheim, George K. Wheat and W. A. Isett, who enlisted the services of J. Pearson, a practical pottery man from England, to assume active charge of the new enterprise. Operations began in the old Wheat tannery plant, which occupied the site of the present Wheeling Tile Company. Later the company erected the La Belle pottery plant, in the south end of the city. In the early days Messrs. Hearne and O'Brien also engaged in the manufacturing of general lines of pottery at Wheeling, but they were not successful and their plant passed into the possession of Anton Reyman, who brought from Germany an expert potter, with the intention of pro- ducing pure porcelain. He continued operations a few years, and about 1890 the Wheeling Potteries Company was organized and took over the plants of the two concerns men- tioned above. Under this title the business was continued until adverse trade conditions resulted in the concern's be- ing placed in the hands of a receiver. Within a short time thereafter a reorganization was effected, the result being the incorporation of the Wheeling Sanitary Manufacturing Company, which initiated operations on the basis of a capital stock of $750,000. With progressive industrial policies, careful and well ordered commercial methods, and ample capital this company has developed a substantial and prosperous manufacturing enterprise, which contributes much to the commercial prestige of Wheeling. The modern manufactory of the company turns out vitreous china prod- ucts of the best type, and the output includes toilet tanks, lavatories and bathtubs of vitreous china, as well as porce- lain bathtubs, laundry trays, kitchen sinks, etc., together with similar products of enameled type. The company now operates three well equipped manufacturing plants, two of which are established in the City of Wheeling and the third at Tiltonville, Ohio. The corps of employes in the plants averages 450 under normal trade conditions, and three salesmen are retained in representing the company to the jobbing trade of the United States, besides which an appreciable export business has been developed. The company's annual payroll at Wheeling aggregates $300,000. The company is at the time of this writing, in the winter of 1921-2, preparing to expend approximately $100,000 in improvements on the Wheeling plants, the principal im- provement being the installing of a new type of kiln, made up of a group of sixteen chambers, instead of individual kilns, a type but recently introduced into this country from England and one that greatly conserves fuel. Of this progressive industrial corporation John E. Wright is presi- dent, and S. P. Alpaugh the secretary and treasurer. Wil- liam F. Stifel, a director of the company, had likewise been a director of the old Wheeling Potteries Company. Mr. Wright, the president of the company, was appointed re- ceiver of the Wheeling Potteries Company in 1910, and he was the primary force in effecting the reorganization and placing the industry on a substantial and profitable basis.