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The Peltier Glass Company The following information was taken from -Ottawa: Old And New, A Complete History of Ottawa, Illinois, 1823-1914, The Republican Times, Ottawa, Illinois, 1912-1914 – From, The LaSalle County Historical Society. This was written before the Peltier Glass Company started to make glass marbles by machine. This started sometime in the year of 1927. Victor J. Peltier. Victor J. Peltier, founder of the
opalescent glass works in Ottawa, arrived in the city in 1882, without
capital, and secured employment in one of the glass factories then in
operation here. After filling about all the positions in the factory, from
the lowest to that of superintendent, he began the manufacture of novelty
glassware at his own home. To make novelty ware he needed color in the
glass, and then been a series of experiments that finally resulted in the
only opalescent glass factory in Illinois. Victor J. Peltier was born in the
province of Loraine, France, in 1833. After a few Years in the schools of
France Mr. Peltier learned the glassblower's trade, which pursuit had been
followed by his father, and after finishing his apprenticeship he was
employed in Lyons, France, as a journeyman. In 1859 he came to America,
and spent twenty years at this business in New York. Later he was employed
in Pittsburgh, Pa., and subsequently at Keota, Iowa, being manager of the
Variety Glass Co. at that place. After a few years in Ottawa his superior
ability was recognized, and he was made superintendent of the Ottawa Flint
Glass & Bottle Co., a position which he filled until the factory was
permanently closed. In 1862 Mr. Peltier married Miss
Mary Peltier, daughter of Francis Peltier. While Mr. Peltier and his wife
bore the same family name they were not blood relatives. Following the death of Victor J.
Peltier, in June of 1911, the glass business fell to the management of his
sons, who now continue the business under the name of the Peltier Glass
Company. The fine old Peltier home, at No.
540 Fourth Street, is occupied by the widow of Victor J. Peltier and other
members of the family. The surviving children are Sellers H.; Joseph A.
married Maud Cunningham in 1902, who died in 1905, and in 1907 he married
Hannah Nevins; Louise, who married Theodore Zellers, of Ottawa; Emma, who
married William F. Zeller; Mary, who married Pied Heiser, of this city;
and Katherine, who married Charles Pyle, of Aurora. Peltier Glass
Company. The Peltier Glass Co., manufacturer
of opalescent art glass, had its beginning in Ottawa more than a quarter
of a century ago, being founded in 1886 by Victor J. Peltier, father of
the present managers-Sellers H. Peltier, who is the manager, and Joseph
A., the superintendent. These two young men learned the
glass business from their father, and long before his death they were
practically shouldering the whole load of factory management. The business
had been developed by the father, and when fortune came his way he retired
from active connection with the factory and to a certain degree led a
retired life. Under the management of the two
sons the business grew and prospered. From a small beginning, a few years
ago, it has grown without capital or financial backing to be one of the
most important of Ottawa industries. In the beginning the Peltiers, father
and sons made the art glass by hand, but to day the Peltier Glass Co. owns
a large, modern factory covering more than an acre of ground, equipped
with all the modern machinery known to the manufacture of their peculiar
line of glass. This is the only factory in the
state making opalescent glass. There are but few such factories in the
United States. The glass made by the Ottawa factory is used for library
lamp shades, domes, and other decorative pieces. It is used in Pullman
cars, forming beautiful panels between windows and over them. A vast
amount of the glass is used in the decorative parts of the new interurban
cars of the Chicago, Ottawa & Peoria Company. It is used in thousands
of churches throughout the United States. Peltier glass is shipped to art
glass dealers in Chicago and New York, and often finds its way back to
Ottawa worked into the most beautiful home articles. The glass of this
company is to be seen in every display of art goods shown in the Ottawa
windows. In the juvenile department of the
Reddick's public library in Ottawa are some of the most beautiful
decorative art lamps in the country, the gift of the Peltier company. Glass from this factory goes into
every state in the Union. It is shipped into Canada extensively, and also
to other countries. Sellers H. Peltier and Joseph A.
Peltier are thoroughly conversant with every phase of the glass-making
industry. Ottawa is fortunate to have such a factory and such a family make this city their home. Sellers and Joseph Peltier would soon turn the Peltier Glass Company into a glass marble making powerhouse. Later Berry Pink or "The Marble King" would also team up with the Peltiers to market more marbles then could be made for the industrial and toy markets.
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