Hemingray widely known for glass products

Hemingray widely known for glass products

Excerpt from Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky

By Glenn Drummond

Robert Hemingray joined Ralph Gray to found the Gray & Hemingray Glass Works in 1848. They were pioneer industrialists in the Northern Kentucky region, providing a product eagerly welcomed by a market hungry for a local source of quality glassware.

Ralph Gray died in 1863, and a few years afterwards, in 1870, the glass works was incorporated as the Hemingray Glass Co. The company became recognized worldwide as a leader in the production of domestic and industrial glassware.

Robert's parents, William and Ann Hemingray, arrived in the U.S. (ca. 1818) from England, settling on the Conemaugh River, near Johnstown, in western Pennsylvania. William found work making salt from the saline springs that abounded in the area. Robert Hemingray was born in a salt-camp cabin in 1820.

William Hemingray moved his family to Pittsburgh in 1825. There he opened a small general store. Unfortunately, William drowned in 1832 at the Second Avenue Locks on the old canal; Ann subsequently died in 1834, leaving Robert orphaned at age 14.

Despite trying circumstances, Robert managed to obtain a sound education, completing a college course prior to marriage and embarking on his life's work. He was employed by the Phillips Glass Works, located in "Pipetown," an eastern industrial Pittsburgh suburb located along the Monongahela River. Because of his education, Robert was engaged in the business aspects of the company rather than the actual manufacturing of glass.

"The Great Fire of 1845" destroyed essentially all of industrial Pittsburgh and most of its residential neighborhoods. The Phillips Glass Works was consumed by the fire, as was most likely the residence of the young Hemingray family. Conditions in Pittsburgh became grim as thousands were put out of work and many were left homeless.

Soon after the fire, Robert joined forces with Ralph Gray, a glass blower living in Birmingham, Pa., an industrial community across the Monongahela River from Pittsburgh. Together, they descended the Ohio River to Covington with hopes of starting their own glass works.

Robert and Ralph were unsuccessful in immediately acquiring a suitable site in Covington and were forced to lease a small lot in Cincinnati. They quickly constructed a furnace for making glass, obtained the necessary raw materials, and procured molds with which they began producing glassware in late 1848. In 1852, they purchased a small lot near the intersection of Second Street and Madison Avenue in Covington and moved the production of glassware to Covington while maintaining the sales room in Cincinnati until 1881, when it also was relocated to Covington.

Robert was progressive as well as innovative in the art of glass manufacturing. Once he and Ralph had overcome the obstacles confronting them in their start-up of the glass works, he was able to focus on improvements in operational efficiency and product quality. Robert received a number of patents for improvements in machinery and product design from 1860 to 1887. He encouraged his partners and employees to seek enhancements resulting in additional patents assigned to the glass works.

Robert married Mary E. Carroll in 1842 in Pittsburgh. Eight children were born of that union.

Ralph Gray's younger brother Anthony married Susan Carroll, a sister of Robert Hemingray's wife, Mary. Anthony died in 1865; Susan died two years later. Robert and Mary Hemingray took the five Gray children into their home to be raised to adulthood. The oldest son, John C. Gray, became superintendent of the Hemingray Glass Co. in 1897 and was elevated to the position of general manager upon the death of Robert Hemingray.

Robert was not politically active. While he voted with the Whig Party, he did not seek public office, nor is there any indication that he played a role in politics behind the scenes. Northern Kentucky had strong pro-Union feelings during the time leading up to, and during, the Civil War. When the area was threatened by an attacking Confederate force in September 1862, Robert joined Amos Shinkle's Covington militia company as a sergeant. Robert's leadership capabilities were sorely tested during the war years, especially after the death of his partner Ralph Gray; however, Hemingray managed to hold the company together.

Robert Hemingray was popular among his peers and was affectionately known as "Uncle Bob" within western glass-manufacturing circles. No doubt he drove his employees hard in the performance of their jobs, but his fairness was demonstrated by a small celebration of his and Mary's golden wedding anniversary in 1892.

Robert died at his home at 219 Garrard St. in Covington in late 1898; Mary died in 1901. They were buried in the Hemingray lot at Highland Cemetery in Covington.

Each Monday The Post prints excerpts from the forthcoming "The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky," edited by Paul A. Tenkotte and James C. Claypool. Visit www.nkyencyclopedia.org.