THE CRADLE OF THE MODERN NAVY. S 



Going back to the story of the plant itself: in 1842 Mr. Cunningham decided to 

 go to California, which was rapidly developing as a state and where his shipping 

 interests were increasing, and having no kin who wished to take up the business, he 

 called in his superintendent, Hogg, and young DeLamater, who were then both 

 about twenty-one years of age, and asked them if they would take the busi- 

 ness ofif his hands. Each stated that he had no capital to carry out such a venture, 

 but Mr. Cunningham, having confidence in their industry and integrity, offered to 

 make the transfer an easy one and persuaded them to undertake it together, ar- 

 ranging to accept notes for $25,000, payable in one, two, three, four and five years. 



With some $600 in hand and letters of endorsement from Mr. Cunningham to 

 the various supply houses with which he had been doing business, the young men 

 started out together in 1842 to conduct the fortunes of the Phoenix Foundry under 

 the name of Hogg & DeLamater. Hogg moved down from 507 Washington Street 

 to 59 Vestry Street so as to be near at hand, as Cunningham had found the need 

 for close proximity existed, and the new firm started. 



James Cunningham was a thrifty Scotchman with a pioneering spirit. He had 

 a savings bank in Boston before coming to New York and his venture in the Phoe- 

 nix Foundry was secondary to his shipping interests. He had Ericsson fit up the 

 Senator, one of his vessels, as a steamship, and it was the first of that type to round 

 the Horn. He sailed for California with his family and became an important element 

 in the development of San Francisco and made a large fortune. Later his eldest 

 daughter Jane sailed to join him and on the voyage became acquainted with a fellow 

 passenger by the name of Darius O. Mills who was a banker in San Francisco and 

 they subsequently were married. 



Mr. Mills rose to be a great financial figure in California and later in the world 

 at large. In New York City the Mills Building, a modern office building in the 

 center of the financial district, and the three Mills Hotels, located respectively on the 

 lower East and West sides and in the uptown center, for the accommodation of the 

 working-man, attest the diversity of his character. 



With the Phoenix Foundry business thrived under the new regime. Times 

 were good and there was an increasing demand for steam-driven machinery. Erics- 

 son brought in work, some of which were commissions and some were ventures of 

 his own. Ericsson's business relations with the firm were of such a nature that the 

 financial risk of these experimental enterprises were largely shared equally. By 

 1844 he had become the guiding engineering spirit of the place and moved his resi- 

 dence up to 95 Franklin Street to be closer to his work, some of which demanded 

 his constant supervision and even then did not always prove to be as successful as 

 he had expected. 



For instance, there was the Iron Witch, the first iron steamboat built complete 

 in New York City. It had compound steam engines, and twin-screw propeller 

 wheels. It was run as a passenger boat between New York City and Albany, but 

 making only 17 miles per hour did not prove satisfactory and was withdrawn from 

 service. 



