The
Year was 1856
Jacob Stauffer Overholt
(1814-1859), son of West Overton distiller Abraham
Overholt, and his cousin Henry O. Overholt (1813-1880),
son of Abraham's older brother Martin, build a distillery
at Broad Ford, Pennsylvania, where they produce Monongahela
Whiskey.
1859
Jacob Stauffer Overholt
dies; Abraham Overholt buys his son's 2/3 interest in the
Broad Ford distillery, and with his nephew, Henry O.
Overholt, he replaces his existing distillery at West
Overton with a new six-story brick mill/distillery
building; they are operating as A. Overholt and
Company, with a daily capacity increases to 200
bushels of grain and 860 gallons of whiskey.
1864
Abraham Overholt makes his
grandson, Abraham Overholt Tinstman (1834-1915) a partner
in his firm A. Overholt and Company.
1866-67
Jacob Stauffer Overholt's
distillery at Broad Ford is torn down and replaced with a
new facility owned by Abraham Overholt and his nephew,
Henry O. Overholt.
1868
Henry O. Overholt leaves A.
Overholt and Company, and A. O. Tinstman buys his
interest in the firm. Tinstman gives his young cousin,
"Clay" Frick, a job as an office boy at the
Broad Ford distillery, paying him $25 per month. Later,
Tinstman pays Frick roughly $83 per month "to take
care of the office."
1870
Abraham Overholt
(1784-1870) dies the morning of January 15, on his West
Overton farm.
Henry Stauffer Overholt
(1810-1870), the oldest of Abraham's children -- joint
owner of the West Overton distillery, mill and farm --
retires and dissolves the brief partnership between
himself and his father's three executors (his brothers
Christian and Martin, and cousin Jacob Overholt Tinstman.
Henry dies on June 18.
A. O. Tinstman organizes
and builds the Mt. Pleasant & Broad Ford Railroad
connecting with the Pittsburgh & Connellsville
Railroad at Broad Ford.
1874
Acting alone and on his
own initiative, Henry Clay Frick tracks down the
stockholders of his cousin A. O. Tinstman's Broad Ford
Railroad, obtains their signatures on options, then
offers the B & O Railroad a deal they cannot refuse
-- the Broad Ford Railroad at Cost ($200,000), earning
for himself a $50,000 commission in the bargain.
1875
Abraham Overholt Tinstman
purchases his deceased grandfather's 2/3 interest in the
firm A. Overholt and Company, including the
right to use the name as a brand and trade mark.
1876
Abraham Overholt Tinstman
sells his interest in A. Overholt & Co. to
brother Christian Stauffer Overholt Tinstman
(C.S.O.Tinstman, another son of Abraham Overholts
daughter Anna), together with the right to use the firm
name as a brand & trade mark.
c.1876
Christian Stauffer
Overholt Tinstman & Christopher Fritchman become
partners in the firm A. Overholt & Co.
1878
Christian Stauffer
Overholt Tinstman & partner Christopher Fritchman
(owners of an undivided 2/3 interest in the firm A.
Overholt & Co. and lessees of the other 1/3
interest from the First National Bank of Uniontown) take
into co-partnership with them James G. Pontefract for the
term of one year (from August 1, 1878 to August 1, 1879)
& by renewal to April 1, 1881.
1880
Building project #3
commences at Broad Ford distillery; by utilizing coal for
steam power, the daily capacity increases to 800 bushels
of grain and 3,450 gallons of whiskey.
1881
First federal
trademark law, which enables producers to
register & protect brand names.
With a document dated
March 1, Henry Clay Frick obtains from the executors of
Abraham Overholt (i.e., Martin Stauffer Overholt &
Christian Stauffer Overholt) the right to use the A.
Overholt & Co. name at the distillery
property in Connellsville township, Fayette County,
PA, for the consideration of one dollar and
other good and valuable considerations.
On March 12, partners C.
S. O. Tinstman & Christopher Fritchman enter into
another agreement with James G. Pontefract, granting him
(for 2 years, until April 1, 1883) the right to use the
name of the firm A. Overholt & Co. and the
various brands at the distillery.
According to Henry Clay
Frick, before the lease expires on April 1, he has
purchased the undivided 1/3 interest in the firm A.
Overholt & Co. from the First National Bank of
Uniontown and others.
By March 23, Henry Clay
Frick owns the undivided 2/3 of a certain tract of
land in Connellsville Township, Fayette County, PA
on which are erected a distillery, warehouse, and other
improvements, and known as the A. Overholt & Co.
Distillery and James G. Pontefract owns the
undivided 1/3 interest; Frick leases the site to
Pontefract for 5 years to manufacture, storage and
sale of whiskey on said premises.
According to Henry Clay
Frick, by the latter part of March 1881, he has purchased
the undivided 2/3 interest in the Broad Ford distillery
property, including all brands and marks from C.S.O.
Tinstman & C. Fritchman.
According to his
testimony, on April 1, Henry Clay Frick leased the firm A.Overholt
& Co. to James G. Pontefract to make and mark
whiskey manufactured thereat.
On or about April 1,
according to their own testimony, C. S. O. Tinstman &
C. Fritchman acknowledge that they ceased to own the
business & distillery property [at Broad Ford?],
but they still maintain the validity of their lease
granted to James G. Pontefract for the use of the firm
name A. Overholt & Co. until April 1, 1883.
1883
On April 1, C. S. O.
Tinstman and C. Fritchman expect James G. Pontefract to
surrender the rights leased to him for the use of the
name A. Overholt & Co. but Pontefract does
not comply; Tinstman & Fritchman sue Pontefract.
1886
The suit filed by C. S. O.
Tinstman and C. Fritchman against James G. Pontefract
reaches the Supreme Court on June 17. [U.S. Supreme
Court or PA Supreme Court?]
1888
On August
1, a "portrait of A. Overholt, now deceased" is
first used in commerce in association with Overholt
Whiskey.
1899
Another building project
commences, with the entire plant at Broad Ford being
dismantled and reconstructed, and adding new rack
warehouses; the construction is finished by 1905.
1905
The plant at the Broad
Ford distillery has a daily capacity of 1,500 bushels of
grain & 6,450 gallons of whiskey.
1918
Henry Clay Frick & R.
B. Mellon are partners in the firm A. Overholt &
Co. at Broad Ford; on March 28, Mellon writes to
Frick about the 110,000,000 gallons of beverage
spirits of all kinds, and speculates about profits
after being ordered to shut down, due to Prohibition.
Prior to
December 12, A. W. Mellon, R. B. Mellon, and H. C. Frick
each own one-third of the entire capital stock of two
distilling corporations -- A. Overholt & Company
and West Overton Distilling Company. On that day
they form two partnerships in which each partner is to
have a one-third interest.
Neither
corporation has distilled any whiskey after 1916. The
process of liquidating the businesses of each is begun by
the two corporations -- the partnerships are organized
for this purpose.
1919
In
January, A. W. Mellon, R. B. Mellon, and H. C. Frick
cause to be transferred to the partnership called A.
Overholt & Company all the assets of the
corporation of that name; and to the partnership called West
Overton Distilling Company, all the assets of that
corporation, which include large whisky inventories in
bonded warehouses.
The
business of the two distilling corporations -- A.
Overholt & Company and West Overton
Distilling Company -- consists in the sale of
whiskey certificates and the storage, bottling, casing,
and sale of the stock of whiskey.
Overholt Distillery at
West Overton is shut down due to Prohibition,
but the Broad Ford distillery remains in operation
for medicinal purposes, with a capacity of
1,800 bushels of grain & 7,700 gallons of whiskey per
day; later the capacity rises to 2,270 bushels of grain
& 9,760 gallons of whiskey per day.
On December 2, Henry Clay
Frick dies at his home in New York City, and is buried
three days later in Pittsburgh, PA, following a private
funeral that is attended by Andrew Mellon, the executor
of his will; Frick leaves one-sixth of his fortune to his
family, and the rest is bequeathed to charitable
institutions in New York, Pittsburgh, and the West
Overton-Connellsville Coke Region.
1920
The
business activities of A. Overholt & Company
and West Overton Distilling Company consist of
the sale of whiskey certificates and the storage,
bottling, casing, and sale of the stock of whiskey.
1925
The assets
of the Mellon partnerships then remaining are sold in
bulk, and the proceeds are distributed among those
entitled to them.
1929
On October
30, A. Overholt and Company files for trademark
rights to the label Old Overholt with "a
portrait of A. Overholt, now deceased," which is
achieved and registered on March 11, 1930.
1933
21st Amendment is
ratified and repeals Prohibition.
1938
On May 13, the U.S.
Supreme Court enters a judgement against the Mellons in
their action against D. B. Heiner, former Collector of
Internal Revenue, which was filed to recover an amount
paid by them under protest -- taxes on profits made from
their partnerships in A. Overholt & Company
and West Overton Distilling Company.
1949
On June 16, Karen Rose
Overholt is born in Pittsburgh, PA, the first daughter of
Arthur Frederic John Overholt, and the great-great-great
granddaughter of Abraham Overholt, master distiller.
1957
National Distillery
Products Corporation, holder of the trademark rights
to Old Overholt, changes its name to National
Distillery and Chemical Corporation.
1984
Seminary student K. R.
Overholt Grainger visits West Overton for the first time,
and is given an abbreviated tour of her ancestor Abraham
Overholt's house and distillery building. She is 35 years
old, and has longed to visit West Overton since she was
about ten years old.
1987
National
Distillers and Chemical Corporation assigns the
entire interest in the trademark rights to Old
Overholt to James B. Beam Distilling Co.
1988
One
hundred years after a portrait of the deceased Abraham
Overholt is used on the Old Overholt label, the
holder of that trademark, James B. Beam Distilling
Co., files a "change of name" with the
USPTO -- its corporate name changes to Jim Beam
Brands Co.
1998
Beginning
at the Carrick branch of the Carnegie Library, K. R.
Overholt Critchfield begins searching the Internet for
all things Overholt, hoping to discover the roots and
lost heritage of her family, and connect with long-lost
relatives.
1999
K. R.
Overholt Critchfield launches a genealogical web site on
AOL, The Overholt Family Tree ~~ Karen's Branches.
2000
K. R.
Overholt Critchfield launches a new web site on Yahoo!
Geo-Cities, naming it The Overholt Family Tree
~~ Karen's Branches.2, which eventually supplants
the AOL version.
2004
K. R.
Overholt Critchfield goes on a brief safari to explore
Broad Ford for the first time with family friend Susan
Karas. Equipped with only a few one-time-use cameras,
they take memorable photographs of what is left of the A.
Overholt and Company distillery site.
Through
the efforts of K. R. Overholt Critchfield, the Broad Ford
Overholt Distillery site is included in the Pennsylvania
At Risk 2004, the annual listing of the
Commonwealth's Most Endangered Historic Properties.
2005
K. R.
Overholt Critchfield files a trademark application for
the mark OLD FARM PENNSYLVANIA PURE RYE WHISKEY, the
original name of Abraham Overholt's whiskey, hoping to
establish a small batch artisan distillery at West
Overton or Broad Ford, and reclaim the heritage of the
Overholt family.
2008
Through
the efforts of K. R. Overholt Critchfield, the A.
Overholt and Company Distillery at Broad Ford is
included in the 2008 Top Ten Best Historic
Preservation Opportunities, the annual listing made
by the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh.
2009
K. R.
Overholt Critchfield files a trademark application for
the mark OLD FARM, still hoping to establish a small
batch artisan distillery at West Overton or Broad Ford,
and reclaim the heritage of the Overholt family.
At Broad
Ford, the last-standing bonded warehouse and a few other
buildings are dismantled by new owner of the site, Terry
Shallenberger of Shallenberger Construction,
Connellsville, PA.
K. R.
Overholt Critchfield launches her own URL for the long
running web site, The Overholt Family Tree ~~ Karen's
Branches. Via Yahoo! Small Business Web
Hosting, Karen's Branches returns as a dot-com.
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