John Adams (glassmaker)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other people named John Adams, see John Adams (disambiguation).

John Adams, pioneer American glass manufacturer, and the founder of Adams Glass was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in 1823. He began working in glass manufacture at the age of 14.^[1]

Life and work

He developed the technique of using lime in place of lead to make glass. This significantly lowered the cost of glass production. He made good use of this advantage, turning his factory, located in Pittsburgh, into a large and successful operation.^[2]

He was a major producer of kerosene lamps. Along with his sons Adolphus and William, he produced numerous artistic table glassware designs. They also made such unusual items as glass plow-shares, washboards, and coffins.

John Adams also served on the Pittsburgh City Council, was a director of the Iron & Glass Dollar Savings Bank, street railway companies and Flint Glass Association. He was an ardent Methodist, and lifelong Sunday school teacher.

After death

Five years after John Adams’ death, his sons sold out their holdings in Adams & Company (also known as Adams Glass). The Adams & Company factory become “US Glass, Factory A”.

His daughter, Jennie Adams, became a well known missionary to China. She founded an orphanage, and supported it by her second occupation which was discovering and trading in Chinese antiquities.

There is an oral tradition among his descendants that John Adams was a related to the presidential Adams family. However, no evidence has been found to substantiate this claim.

John Adams and family remain united, oddly, in death. Their tombstones are arranged in a circle, around a large Adams Family obelisk, located in the Pittsburgh, Southside Cemetery.

References

↑ American Pressed Glass and Figure Bottles By Albert Christian Revi. Nelson, 1964. p.15
↑ Knittle, Rhea Mansfield. Early American Glass. Garden City, N.Y.: Garden City Pub. Co, 1948. OCLC 2177302 p.346

v t e Glass makers and brands

Contemporary companies	Anchor Hocking Arc International Ardagh Armashield Asahi Aurora Glass Foundry Aventas group Baccarat Berengo Studio Blenko Glass Company Bodum Borosil Cox & Barnard Corning Dartington Crystal Daum Edinburgh Crystal Effetre International Fanavid Fenton Art Glass Company Firozabad glass industry Flabeg Franz Mayer Glava Glaverbel Guardian Industries Hadeland Hardman & Co. Heaton, Butler and Bayne Holmegaard Glassworks Holophane Hoya Kingdom of Crystal Kokomo Opalescent Glass Works Kosta Glasbruk Libbey Owens Ford Liuli Gongfang Iittala Luoyang Johns Manville Mats Jonasson Målerås Moser Glass Mosser Glass Nippon Sheet Glass Ohara Orrefors Osram Owens Corning Owens-Illinois Paşabahçe Pauly & C. - Compagnia Venezia Murano Phu Phong Pilkington PPG Preciosa Riedel Royal Leerdam Crystal Saint-Gobain Saint-Louis Samsung Corning Precision Glass Şişecam Schonbek Schott Sterlite Optical Technologies Steuben Swarovski Tyrone Crystal Val Saint Lambert Verrerie of Brehat Waterford Watts & Co World Kitchen Xinyi Glass Zwiesel

Historic companies	Bakewell Glass Belmont Glass Company Boston and Sandwich Glass Company Brockway Glass Carr Lowrey Glass Company Cambridge Glass Chance Brothers Clayton and Bell Duncan & Miller Dunbar Glass Fostoria Glass Company General Glass Industries Alexander Gibbs Grönvik glasbruk Hartford City Glass Company Hazel-Atlas Heisey Hemingray Glass Company J. H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company Knox Glass Bottle Company Lavers, Barraud and Westlake Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs Morris & Co. Nachtmann Novelty Glass Company Old Dominion Glass Company James Powell and Sons Ravenhead glass The Root Glass Company Seneca Glass Company Shrigley and Hunt Sneath Glass Company Venini & C. Ward and Hughes Westmoreland Glass Company Wheaton Industries Whitall Tatum Company White Glass Company Worshipful Company

Glassmakers	A. H. Heisey Alastair Pilkington Antonio Neri Asahi Glass Co. Dante Marioni Edward D. Libbey Frederick Carder Friedrich Henry Clay Fry Henry Crimmel Irving Wightman Colburn John Adams John M. Whitall Lino Tagliapietra Michael Joseph Owens Otto Schott Paolo Venini Richard M. Atwater S. Donald Stookey Salviati Tomasz Urbanowicz W. E. S. Turner

Trademarks and brands	Bohemian glass Bomex Duran Endural Burmese glass Chevron bead Corelle CorningWare Cranberry glass Cristallo Dragontrail Favrile Fire-King Gorilla Glass Macor Millefiori Murano glass Opaline glass Pyrex Ravenhead glass Tiffany glass Vitrite Vitrolite Vycor Waterford Crystal Wood's glass Zerodur

Persondata
Name	Adams, John
Alternative names
Short description	Glassmaker
Date of birth	1823
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.