Simon J. Loewenthal

NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

Simon J. Loewenthal

Source: History Morris County New Jersey, Volume II, Lewis Publishing Co., 1914

The activity and the enterprise of a growing center of population is most clearly indicated by the class of it manufacturing and industrial concerns. A well conducted plant that gives employment to hundreds of workmen and that turns out useful articles is an important addition to any community, inasmuch as it draws to itself men of sober, industrious habits, whose citizenship is a notable adjunct to that place. Such a concern is the Liondale Bleach, Dye & Print Works, which was established at Rockaway, New Jersey, in the year 1896, and which, with the passage of years, has increased the scope of its operations until it is now recognized as one of the most thriving industries of its kind in the entire State. Simon J. LOEWENTHAL, whose name forms the caption for this article, is president of this corporation and he was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Rockaway of which reliable institution he is likewise president. While he has risen high in the business world he has not neglected his duties as a citizen but has served Rockaway as it mayor for two terms. Diligent and persistent in his course of achievement, he has laid well his plans and the inevitable outcome has been success of unusual order.

Jacob LOEWENTHAL, father of Simon J. LOEWENTHAL, whose demise occurred January 1, 1913, was the original founder of the Liondale Bleach, Dye & Print Works. Born in the great empire of Germany, he there grew to manhood and he immigrated to the United States in the year 1848. For a number of years he was a resident of Evansville, Indiana, but in 1865 located in New York City, in which latter place he became interested in the cotton goods converting business, there forming the nucleus for this large and flourishing establishment. Up to 1884, Jacob LOEWENTHAL was a member of the converting firm of Adolph Bernheimer & Company, which dissolved partnership in that year, at which time the concern known as Jacob LOEWENTHAL & Sons was formed, with headquarters in New York. In 1896 the Liondale Bleach, Dye & Print Works was incorporated, with Jacob LOEWENTHAL as president and at that time the factory was erected at Rockaway, deviating or changing to the finishing. An office for marketing the goods was maintained in New York, that end of the business being cared for by Jacob LOEWENTHAL and his son Adolph. The other two sons, Simon J. and Emil M., took charge of the factory at Rockaway, the former as general manager and the latter as head of the office department.

This finishing business represents one of the largest industries of its kind in New Jersey and was established at an immense cost to its owners. There are two main buildings, standing on thirty-five acres of land, and they are eighty by 400 feet in lateral dimensions; they are connected by bridges. There are several other smaller buildings for blacksmithing and repairs. The tower is six stories in height and forty feet and it is surrounded by a steel flagstaff, sixty-five feet in height, from which floats the United States flag. On the roof of the tower is a complete weather bureau and the top story contains a Seth Thomas clock of four dials and also tanks for sprinklers. The fifth floor is used for storage of various models and castings: the fourth floor is arranged with shelving for reference samples of the work; the third floor is used for old files; the second floor is occupied by general and private offices; and on the first floor are located the superintendent’s offices and laboratories. The tower is entirely fireproof and each of the floors has fireproof partitions and safes. The machinery is modern throughout and the main power is generated by one large McIntosh engine of 400 horse power, and two Ridgeway compound engines of 250 horse power each, also a small engine of forty horse power. All three of the engines are connected with eight boilers and a cromanizer and have a total capacity of over 2,000 horse power. The machinery in the different rooms is run by electricity and each room is supplied with one or more motors controlled independently of each other. On each floor are elevators for the carrying of freight. The entire building is heated and cooled by the Sturtevant air system and is lighted by its own electric plant. The buildings have fireproof partitions and doors and the entire plant is protected by the Grinnell & Esten systems of sprinklers. Part of the water supply is obtained from a reservoir fed by springs, which is enclosed by a stone wall of the best masonry. The excavation in some places thirty-five feet deep, is sufficient to secure a 5,000,000 gallon supply of pure, fresh, soft water. The two main buildings are far enough apart to permit of a railway siding and wagon road between them and the raw material is taken from cars at one end of the building and all the manufacturing goods are loaded directly upon the cars at the other end, thus avoiding the necessity of extra haulage. The raw material comes in bales, from which it is taken and sewed together until a weight of from three and a half to four tons is attained, when it is passed through the different processes which transforms it into the finished product. All the goods manufactured at the works are consigned then and when finished are returned to these consignors, who then sell them to their various trades.

Jacob LOEWENTHAL, with the assistance of his three sons, planned and erected the above complex and wonderfully convenient works. He was president of the Liondale Bleach, Dye & Print Works until his demise, January 1, 1913, at the venerable age of eighty-four years. He was a noble example of unusual business ability, well balanced judgement and perseverance. He reached the close of his life with undimmed alertness and clearness of mentality. He was a man of great philanthropy but there was a modesty and lack of ostentation in his work as a benefactor. His deep sympathy and innate kindliness of spirit make his memory an enduring monument more ineffaceable than polished marble or burnished bronze. "To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die." Mr. LOEWENTHAL married Mary GUMBERTS, a native of Evansville, Indiana, and to them were born the following children:

Adolph, died April 1, 1912;
Anna, wife of Joseph LEVI;
Simon J., of this notice;
Emil M., vice-president and treasurer of the Liondale Bleach, Dye & Print Works.

The mother died May 18, 1911.

Simon J. LOEWENTHAL was born at Evansville, Indiana, May 10, 1863. To the public schools of New York he is indebted for his preliminary educational training, which was supplemented with a course of study in Charlier Institute, of New York, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1880. Upon leaving school he began to work for his father as a clerk in the latter’s cotton-converting business in New York City. After 1884, he was a member of the firm of Jacob LOEWENTHAL & Sons, and in 1896, on the incorporation of the Liondale Works, he became secretary and general manager of the plant at Rockaway, as previously noted. At the present time the official corps of the Liondale Bleach, Dye & Print Works is as follows: Simon J. LOEWENTHAL, president; Emil M. LOEWENTHAL, vice-president and treasurer; Alfred S. LEVI, secretary; the board of directors includes the above officials and in addition to them Harry R. WATSON and Elmer KING, of Morristown. A force of three hundred are employed in the Liondale Works and at the present time an enormous business is controlled. March 4, 1907, Simon J. LOEWENTHAL helped organize the First National Bank of Rockaway, of which he has since been president. Mr. LOEWENTHAL is interested in many other business ventures in Rockaway and throughout the country. He is a member of Hebrew Orphan Asylum, Montefiore Home, Mt. Sinai Hospital, and other charitable institutions. His benefactors are many, all done in an unostentatious manner. He is a Republican in his political convictions and takes an active part in community affairs. He has served on the Rockaway fire department, and for two terms, from 1907 to 1909, he was mayor of the city. During his administrations as mayor many reforms were enacted, among which the telephone, electric lights, fire alarm system, road building and repairing, also the classification of the expenditures of the city’s finances. His efforts have been a potent element in the business progress of this section of Morris county and nothing projected for the benefit of his home community fails of his most zealous support. His father held a pew in Temple Bethel, of New York City.

Mr. LOEWENTHAL married Mrs. Carrie RICE, daughter of Joseph COUPLES, a prominent citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. Mrs. LOEWENTHAL has one daughter, Pearle.

This biography was transcribed by John Cresseveur (1949-2003).