Williams-Brown Fruit Company
| Business |
dried fruit packer |
|---|---|
| Main Location |
San Francisco |
| Active |
1894- |
The Williams-Brown Fruit Company was a San Francisco-based dried fruit packer or agent. The company was incorporated in February 1894 in San Francisco with $50,000 in capital stock[1]. Principals were Harry A. Williams, Charles G. Bonner, Donald Mackenzie, and W.H. Wright, all of San Francisco, and Nicholas G. Kittle of Fresno. Bonner ran packing houses in San Jose and the San Joaquin Valley. Kittle was a purchasing agent for Porter Brothers[2]. Mackenzie might be the owner of the San Jose Foundry and founder of the San Jose Water Company along with Bonner and A. Chabot of Oakland[3].
The company appears to be both a wholesaler and packer. Some California state documents from 1893 show Williams Brown & Co. displaying catsup and cocoa at a trade fair, but an 1896 appeals court case argued that a contract for raisins bought from Williams-Brown could not be rejected in parts. In that case, a Chicago wholesaler bought 11 carloads of raisins from Williams-Brown, but found their customers who received the carloads directly were refusing them[4]
The company may actually have been the marketing agent or wholesaler for one or more dried fruit packers; an 1895 episode noted that workers had been solicited for the Bonner Packing raisin plant in Fresno, but pay was less than promised and lodgings were not available[5]. The article specifically refers to Williams-Brown as "this company's San Francisco agent."
Locations
| Location | Years | Address | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 1895 | 116 California Street[6] | |
| San Jose | 1895 | River St. at Ryland St. | 1895 San Jose City Directory |
References
- ↑ February 20, 1894 Sacramento Daily Union
- ↑ Nicholas G. Kittle Expires In Fresno: November 25, 1902 San Francisco Call. Kittle was the head of the "old-time mercantile firm of N. G. Kittle & Co. at the time of his death; he'd been a purchasing agent for Porter Brothers, and then purchasing manager for Johnson-Locke Mercantile Company. "He was an expert on dried fruits and his services were greatly in demand."
- ↑ When San Jose Was Young: Beginning of the Water Company. In September 15, 1917 San Jose Evening News.
- ↑ Williams-Brown & Co. vs John H. Leslie & Co., Appelate Court of Illinios v. 66, opinion filed June 29, 1896.
- ↑ The Shameful Story of the Girls Confirmed: Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald Very Angry at the Behavior of Bonner & Co.: October 8, 1895 San Francisco Call
- ↑ The Shameful Story of the Girls Confirmed: Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald Very Angry at the Behavior of Bonner & Co.: October 8, 1895 San Francisco Call