Documentary History of American Water-works

Hyatt Filter Company

Isaiah Smith Hyatt (1835-1885)	John Wesley Hyatt (1837-1920)
From The quest for pure water; the history of water purification from the earliest records to the twentieth century by Moses Nelson Baker , Pages 182, 184 (1948)

Patrick Clark was appointed engineer of the Rahway water board in May, 1878, where the water works plant pumped water from the north branch of the Rahway river and left heavy sedimentation in the plant and distribution piping.  Clark installed a filter in December 1879 that solved the problem, and the following June he obtained a patent for a process of cleaning filter beds.

John Wesley Hyatt, Patrick Clark and Albert Westervelt incorporated the Newark Filtering Company on December 30, 1880 in New Jersey. Hyatt was a prolific inventor who held more than 200 patents, of which about 50 were related to water filters.

Hyatt's older brother, Isaiah Smith Hyatt, went to New Orleans in 1883 to test the ability of their filters to clean Mississippi river water.  He was unsuccessful, but L. H. Gardner, superintendent of the New Orleans Water Works Company, had studied and experimented with coagulants to clarify water, and suggested to Hyatt that he employ such an agent, which Hyatt had earlier ridiculed.

Commercial Bulletin (New Orleans, Louisiana), August 25, 1883, Page 4.

This proved successful, and Isaiah obtained a patent in February 1884 that employed a broad definition of clarifying agents to be used with the filter. 

From Statistical Tables of American Water Works, Volume 2, Page 36 (1885)

The company changed its name to the Hyatt Pure Water Company in 1887.

From Manual of American Water Works 1:xxxii, page (1888)

The New York Filter Company was incorporated in New Jersey on December 5, 1891 with a capital stock of $1,500,000.  On February 15th of the following year it was announced that the Hyatt Pure Water Company of Newark, N. J., the National Water Purifying Company of New York city, and the American Filter Company of Chicago, Ill., were consolidated under the corporate name of the New York Filter Company.  Shortly thereafter the National Water Purifying Company signed a contract for $134,000 to build a large filter plant for the New Orleans Water Works Company.

Engineering News 38:xxxvi (July 7, 1892)

The New York Filter Company went into receivership in January, 1895 for debts that it was unable to pay due to the failure of the National Water Purifying Company's filters in New Orleans.  The company had, however, recently distributed an unearned dividend to its stockholders.  The company lost the New Orleans case and was sold and reorganized.

The New York Filter Manufacturing Company was incorporated in New Jersey on May 15, 1896 by Jos. Bushnell, Newark, N.J.; Wm. M. Deutsch, Elizabeth, N.J. Nelson B. Warden, Philadelphia, Pa. Deutsch would gain control of the Continental Filter Company in August, 1898.

Engineering News 36:xix (July 2, 1896)

After winning several patent infringement cases against the Jewell filter company, the latter chose to license the Hyatt patents and join forces in March, 1898..

Fire and Water 23:x (March 3, 1898)

In 1900 the O. H. Jewell Filler Co. and the Continental Filter Co. consolidated with the New York Filter Manufacturing Company to form New York Continental Jewell Filtration Co.

Fire and Water 28(26):i (December 19, 1909)

Isaiah Smith Hyatt's 1884 patent would expire in February, 1901, and attempts were made to have Congress pass a bill to allow the term to be extended for ten, and later seven years.  This prompted much opposition from water system owners and neither the House nor Senate Patent Committees reported bills to extend the patent, which then expired.

The New York Continental Jewell Filtration Co. was sold at a receiver's sale held at Nutley, N.J., March 26, 1925. The purchaser was the American Water Softener Co., of Philadelphia, through George F. Hodkinson, who for many years was manager of the latter company's filtration department.

Information on the various patent infringement lawsuits can be found on the filtration page.

John Wesley Hyatt Wikipedia page

References
1879 Rahway Weekly Advocate and Times, December 20, 1879, Page 2.
Our ingenious townsman, P. Clark, Esq., has constructed a water filter, one of which he has introduced into the City Water Works, which is a great improvement on any heretofore made. Most persons who have employed a filter for domestic use, have found its value lessened by the deposition of sedimentary matter on its inner surface. Unless frequently cleansed the filter becomes clogged or the silt, unable otherwise to escape, is forced through the filter, thus destroying the value of the appliance.  For these reasons many persons have discontinued the use of such articles entirely, and prefer accepting the water in its natural state to the care and trouble of keeping a filter in good working order.
Tho improvements made by Mr. Clark obviate all the above-mentioned objections.  His new filter clears itself of all impurities, as it separates them from the water. By an ingenious arrangement the silt and sediment which accumulate in ordinary filter», are carried away by a separate flow of water, and thus tho instrument never becomes foul and cannot become clogged. We believe Mr. Clark thinks of securing a patent for his filter, though he proposes to allow the city tho free use of its advantages, having, as we said, already introduced one into our Water Works, at which place he would be pleased to explain its workings to any one interested in such matters.

1880 Rahway Weekly Advocate and Times, November 13, 1880, Page 3.
We are informed that a patent has been granted to our townsman, Patrick Clark, Esq., for an improvement in filters similar to the one built by him for our Water Works about sixteen months ago, and which during that time has furnished the city with unobjectionable water.  The improvement being fundamental is considered valuable by by those who are competent judges.  [Clark had filed an application for a patent on October 18, 1880, which was granted the following June.]

1880 Newark Filtering Company incorporated December 30, 1880, capital stock $300,000

1881 "Water," by Patrick Clark, Rahway Weekly Advocate and Times, May 7, 1881, Page 1.
It's various relations to animal and vegetable life, and especially to mankind when living in large numbers on limited areas of the Earth's surface.
The writer took charge of the Rahway water-works on the first of June, 1879. The pumping station is on the north branch of the Rahway river, which furnishes a minimum supply of ten million gallons of water every twenty-four hours. The works have no reservoir or stand pipe, but pump directly against the mains. Two duplex compound engines are used alternately month about each engine being capable of pumping one and one-half millions every twenty-four hours.  The daily consumption of the city is about five hundred thousand, but the amount for short periods occasionally runs up to on million gallons. The water remaining in the reserve pumps and mains always became grossly offensive at the end of three or four days after the stoppage of the pumps. In June, 1880, a sand filter was placed between the works and the river. The result was that the water remaining in the idle pumps and mains at the end of a month was sweet and palatable.

1881 "Water," by Patrick Clark of Rahway N.J., Morning Journal and Courier (New Haven, Connecticut), May 13, 1881, Page 1. | also here |

1882 "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D., June 1, 1882, Special Agent, from Statistics of power and machinery employed in manufactures: reports on the water-power of the United States, Part 2, by W. P. Trowbridge, Chief Special Agent, United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880 (1887).
Page 226:  New Jersey.  Rahway: Filtering apparatus:  Clark filter, 16 feet square; sand, 6 inches deep, on fine-wire cloth; cleaned once in 24 hours. 1882 History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Their Pioneers and Prominent Men, by W. Woodford Clayton
Page 253:  The water is filtered by an improved filter (a very ingenious contrivance), invented by Patrick Clark, engineer of the Rahway gas-works.

1884 History of Essex and Hudson Counties, New Jersey, Volume 1
Pages 618-619:  Newark Filtering Company and biography of John W. Hyatt
Newark Filtering Company was chartered in December, 1880, with J. W. Hyatt, A. C. Westervelt and Patrick Clark as incorporators. These, with Orrin N. Baldwin, were the first directors. The business of manufacturing and setting the Hyatt filter is carried on at 141 Commerce Street. The directors in 1884 were J. W. Hyatt, A. C. Westervelt, Patrick Clark, O. N. Baldwin, J. S. Hyatt, John D. Harrison and Peter Kinnear, with J. W. Hyatt, president and treasurer; O. N. Baldwin, secretary.

1885 "The Clarification and Purification of Public Water Supply," by L.H. Gardner, Supt. Water Works, New Orleans, Scientific American Supplement 20(510):1846-8147 (October 10, 1885)
In 1883, Mr. I. S. Hyatt, of Newark, N. J., visited New Orleans with a filter, the principal and must valuable feature of which was a self-cleansing device. The courtesies, privileges, and facilities of the yards and works of the New Orleans Water Works Company were extended to him for some four months. During that time he experimented on an extended scale with every known filtering medium or material, and utterly failed in the filtration of Mississippi River water in such a manner as to deliver continuously a colorless water. Meantime I was experimenting with lime, alum, and the various salts of iron, with a view to reservoir clarification. These experiments were the subject of his pleasant ridicule. Toward the close of his stay in New Orleans, I prevailed upon him, in his disappointment, to try a precipitating agent or coagulant in the water previous to its introduction into his filter. He experimented in this direction, succeeded, and I believe obtained a patent upon the combination. Several of the Newark filters embodying this feature are in use in manufacturing establishments in and about New Orleans.

1886 Water Purification by the Hyatt System, June 1886, by Newark Filtering Company | pdf |

1886 "The Hyatt Pure Water System," advertisement, The Sanitary Era 1:2 (July 31, 1886)

1887 Morning Journal and Courier (New Haven, Connecticut), March 7, 1887, Page 2.
Died at Rahway, New Jersey, On Saturday, March 5, of pneumonia, Patrick Clark, in the eightieth year of his age.  Newark Filtering Company.

1887 Newark Filtering Company name changed to Hyatt Pure Water Company, May 23; 1887

1887 "Hyatt Pure Water System," advertisement, The Sanitary Era 1(330):335 (August 1, 1887)

1887 Descriptive Circular of the Hyatt Pure Water System 

1888 "United States Circuit Court - New Suits," Chicago Tribune, August 14, 1888, Page 8.
Hyatt Pure Water Co. vs. Jewell Pure Water Co.  Bill to restrain use of titles, "Jewell Pure Water Company" and "Jewell Pure Water System."

1889 "The Courts - U.S. Circuit," Chicago Inter Ocean, February 14, 1889, Page 10.
Hyatt Pure Water Co. vs. Jewell Pure Water Co; lv to complts to dis c c and case disd.

1891 New York Filter Company incorporated in New Jersey, December 5, 1891, Capital Stock $1,500,000.

1892 "New York Filter Company," Fire and Water 11(8) (February 20, 1892)
We are in receipt of the following communications which explain themselves: 145 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, February 15, 1892. DEAR SIR—The Hyatt Pure Water Company of Newark, N. J., the National Water Purifying Company of New York city, and the American Filter Company of Chicago, Ill., beg to announce that they have consolidated under the corporate name of the New York Filter Company.

1892 Engineering News 27:167 (February 20, 1892)
The consolidation of the Hyatt Pure Water Co., of Newark. N. J., the National Water Purifying Co., New York City. and the American Filter Co., Chicago, I11., has just been officially announced. The new company has incorporated under the laws of New Jersey with a capital stock of $1,500,000, and with the name, the New York Filter Co. The full list of Directors is as follows: C. C. Worthington. John W. Hyatt, Henry P. Jones. A. C Westervelt, Peter Kinnear, W. M. Deutsch, Albert R. Leeds, .Theodore F. Miller and John D. Harrison. The officers are: President, C. C. Worthington. of the Worthington Pump Co., New York City; Vice-President, John W. Hyatt, of the Hyatt Pure Water Co., Newark, N. J.; Treasurer. Henry P- Jones, Newark, N. J.; Secretary, John C. Symons, of the National Water Purifying Co.. New York City. The new company acquires all the patents, about one hundred in number, of the old companies. Its office is at 145 Broadway, New York City.

1892 "Trade Publications," Engineering News 27:506 (May 19, 1892)
Mechanical Filters - New York Filter Co., New York; oblong, pp. 85.
This pamphlet describes and illustrates in detail the filters heretofore made by the Hyatt Pure Water Co., United States Water Supply Co., National Water Purifying Co. and American Filter co.  These companies were recently consolidated as the New York Filter Co.  Prices for various sized filters of the different types are given and many testimonials from individuals, manufacturing firms and water-works officials having the filters in use.  [Note:  no copy of this has been found.]

1893 New York Filter Co.: capital $1,500,000, owning the patents (over one hundred in number) of Hyatt Pure Water Co., U.S. Pure Water Supply Co., National Water Purifying Co. June 1, 1893.

1894 Albert C. Westervelt (1832-1894) grave.  Incorporator of the Newark Filtering Company in 1880.

1895 "A Final Decision on a Mechanical Filtration Patent," Engineering News 33:44-45 (January 17, 1895)
Involves use of alum or other coagulant.

1895 "Attachment Against the Filter Trust," The Sun (New York, New York), January 24, 1895, Page 5.

1895 "Big Filter Company in Trouble," The Inter Ocean, January 31, 1895, Page 2.
Receiver appointed for New York Filter Company

1895 New York Tribune, November 19, 1895, Page 8.
John R. Hardin, receiver of the New-York Filter Company has received information that the courts in Louisiana have rendered a decision against the company.

1896 New York Filter Manufacturing Company incorporated in New Jersey, May 15, 1896, capital stock $600,000

1896 "New Companies," Engineering News Supplement 35:176 (May 28, 1896)
New York Filter Mfg. Co., Newark, N.J.; $600,000; Jos. Bushnell, Newark, N.J.; Wm. M. Deutsch, Elizabeth, N.J.; Nelson B. Warden, Philadelphia, Pa.

1896 Engineering News Supplement 36:21 (July 16, 1896)
The New York Filter Manufacturing Company, 145 Broadway, New York city, has been organized to succeed the New York Filter Co.  The new company will control all the patents held by the old one, known as the Hyatt, United States, National, American, and Blessing, and including the Hyatt patent No. 293,740, of Feb. 19, 1884.  The company announces that it proposes to prosecute all infringers of its patents, past and future.

1897 Reprint from official copy of proceedings, City of Albany, N.Y. in Common Council, Monday, March 1, 1897. Showing differences in cost between the American system of mechanical filtration and the European plan of sand filtration.

1897 New York Filtering Company, September 1897

1898 Engineering News 39:37 (March 3, 1898)
The Consolidation of Two Mechanical Filter companies after several years of bitter conflict, as noted from time to time in this journal, has been effected as set forth in the following official statement:
Within the past few days, and as the result of the long and successful litigation of the New York Filter Manufacturing Co. against the Jewell filter, the O. H. Jewell Filter Co., of Chicago, Ill., has made settlement for its past infringements and taken a license under the Hyatt patent, by the terms of which it becomes the exclusive licensee under the Hyatt patent for all territory west of Pennsylvania, north of the Ohio River and west of the Mississippi River, including Tennessee and Kentucky. Hereafter the New York Filter Manufacturing Co. will confine its business to the eastern territory, and within that territory will supply the Jewell filter. The Morison-Jewell Filtration Co., of New York and Philadelphia, has likewise made a settlement, and is to retire from business. The New York Filter Manufacturing Co. has elected as its President, Mr. W. G. Warden, of Philadelphia, and as General Manager, Mr. Samuel L. Morison, heretofore Vice-President and General Manager of the Morison-Jewell Filtration Co. The emcee of the company will continue for the present to be located at 120 Liberty St., New York city.
In the some connection it may be noted that the Loomis filter, manufactured by the Loomis-Manning Filter Co., of Philadelphia, has been declared to be an infringement on the Hyatt patent, in so far as the use of alum is concerned. This declaration was made on Feb. 26, in connection with a preliminary injunction granted by Judge Lacombe of the United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York.

1898 "Filtration Companies Agreement," Fire and Water 23:76 (March 3, 1898)
Within the past few days, and as the result of the long and successful litigation of the New York Filter Manufacturing Company against the Jewell filter, the O. H. Jewell Filter Company of Chicago, Ill., has made settlement for its past infringements and taken a license under the Hyatt patent, by the terms of which it becomes the exclusive licensee under the Hyatt patent for all territory west of Pennsylvania, north of the Ohio river and west of the Mississippi river, including Tennessee and Kentucky. Hereafter, the New York Filter Manufacturing Company will confine its business to the eastern territory, and within that territory will supply the Jewell filter. The Morison-Jewell Filtration Company, of New York and Philadelphia, has likewise made a settlement, and is to retire from business. The New York Filter Manufacturing Company has elected as its president, Mr. W. G. Warden, and as general manager, Mr. Samuel L. Morison, heretofore vice-president and general manager of the Morison-Jewell Filtration Company.

1898 "Announcement," advertisement, Fire and Water 23:x (March 3, 1898)
The New York Filter Manufacturing Co. of New York and the O.H. Jewell Filter Company of Chicago respectfully inform the public that their respective companies will in future control the manufacture and sale of Gravity and Pressure Filters constructed under the Hyatt, Jewell and New York Filter Manufacturing Co's Patents.

1898 New York Tribune, March 4, 1898, Page 3.
After long and successful litigation, the New-York Filter Manufacturing Company has compelled the O. H. Jewell Filter Company, of Chicago, to take out licenses under the Hyatt patent.  An amicable arrangement has been made by which the former corporation confines its operation to Eastern territory, and the laater to a part of the West.  The Morrison Filter Company retires from business, and its head becomes a vice-president in the New-York company.  Meanwhile, the Loomis-Manning filter, of Philadelphia, has been found guilty of infringing the Hyatt patents, as least in so far as alum is used in their products.

1910 Colonel Livingston Hall Gardner Sr (1836-1910), grave.  Superintendent of New Orleans Water Works Company.

1910 "L. H. Gardner, Dead," Fire and Water Engineering 48:386 (December 7, 1910)

1939 "New Jersey Birthplace of the Filter," by M. N. Baker. Engineering News-Record 122:777 (June 8, 1939)

1948 The quest for pure water; the history of water purification from the earliest records to the twentieth century, by Moses Nelson Baker
Chapter VII. Inception and Widespread Adoption of Rapid Filtration in America includes substantial information on Hyatt filters | pdf with references |

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