Leverett Candee
Encyclopedia
Leverett Candee was an industrialist, businessman, and pioneer rubber manufacturer.
at the age of fifteen after receiving a minimal education at the local school in Oxford, Connecticut
. There he obtained employment first with a Gad Peck who was a merchant in foreign trade. His next position was with a firm named Root & Atwater. They were dealers in dry-goods. This began his twenty-five year career with the dry-goods business.
Candee soon organized the firm of "Candee, Dean & Cutler" with two co-workers named James E. P. Dean and William Cutler. They then took over the business of their employer. Candee retired from the company in 1833 and moved to New York. In New York Candee he was a partner in a dry-goods jobbing house
for two years. He then returned to New Haven in 1835 and entered into a partnership with Timothy Lester and Abraham Murdock. They all formed a general merchandise business which they ran for a few years before they dissolved it. Candee was then interested in the manufacture of book paper at Westville, Connecticut
which he did for several years. This firm was called "Candee, Page & Lester" and later changed to "Candee & Lester." The business was unsuccessful and failed in 1842. It wiped out Candee's fortune he had accumulated over a period of twenty-five years.
Candee then started manufacturing elastic suspenders. He became interested in rubber and rubber products. In the same year of his previous business failure he started to manufacture rubber footwear. Charles Goodyear
offered Candee a license to use the rubber vulcanization process he had just discovered. Henry and Lucius Hotchkiss of New Haven put up the money to put Candee into the manufacture of rubber footwear at Hamden, Connecticut
. Candee became the first person in the world to manufacture rubber footwear
. Candee used Goodyear's patent on rubber. These first overshoes were crude and needed much refining which his early years of manufacture took up in research and development
. Candee improved the market for his rubber footwear and by the late 1840s his firm was on good footings. The name of the firm was established in 1852 as "Candee & Company" which consisted of four partners; the Hotchkiss brothers, Timothy Lester, and Candee as president.
Life
Candee went to New HavenNew Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
at the age of fifteen after receiving a minimal education at the local school in Oxford, Connecticut
Oxford, Connecticut
Oxford is a town located in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,272 at the 2010 Census. There are several areas in Oxford: Quaker Farms, Riverside and Oxford Center. Oxford belongs to the Naugatuck Valley Economic Development Region and the Central...
. There he obtained employment first with a Gad Peck who was a merchant in foreign trade. His next position was with a firm named Root & Atwater. They were dealers in dry-goods. This began his twenty-five year career with the dry-goods business.
Candee soon organized the firm of "Candee, Dean & Cutler" with two co-workers named James E. P. Dean and William Cutler. They then took over the business of their employer. Candee retired from the company in 1833 and moved to New York. In New York Candee he was a partner in a dry-goods jobbing house
Jobbing house
A jobbing house is a type of wholesale merchant business that buys goods and bulk products from importers, other wholesalers, or manufacturers, and then sells to retailers. Jobbing houses can deal in any commodity destined for the retail market. Typical categories are food, lumber, hardware,...
for two years. He then returned to New Haven in 1835 and entered into a partnership with Timothy Lester and Abraham Murdock. They all formed a general merchandise business which they ran for a few years before they dissolved it. Candee was then interested in the manufacture of book paper at Westville, Connecticut
Westville, Connecticut
Westville is a neighborhood of the city of New Haven, Connecticut located in the western part of the city west of the West River. The official neighborhood planning area for Westville is defined to be the area bordered by the neighboring town of Woodbridge, Connecticut on the west , by the Amity...
which he did for several years. This firm was called "Candee, Page & Lester" and later changed to "Candee & Lester." The business was unsuccessful and failed in 1842. It wiped out Candee's fortune he had accumulated over a period of twenty-five years.
Charles Goodyear
Charles Goodyear was an American inventor who developed a process to vulcanize rubber in 1839 -- a method that he perfected while living and working in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1844, and for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844Although...
offered Candee a license to use the rubber vulcanization process he had just discovered. Henry and Lucius Hotchkiss of New Haven put up the money to put Candee into the manufacture of rubber footwear at Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant." Hamden is home to Quinnipiac University. The population was 58,180 according to the Census Bureau's 2005 estimates...
. Candee became the first person in the world to manufacture rubber footwear
Galoshes
Galoshes , also known as boat shoes, dickersons, or overshoes, are a type of rubber boot that is slipped over shoes to keep them from getting muddy or wet. The word galoshes might be used interchangeably with boot, especially a rubberized boot...
. Candee used Goodyear's patent on rubber. These first overshoes were crude and needed much refining which his early years of manufacture took up in research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
. Candee improved the market for his rubber footwear and by the late 1840s his firm was on good footings. The name of the firm was established in 1852 as "Candee & Company" which consisted of four partners; the Hotchkiss brothers, Timothy Lester, and Candee as president.