Richard Teller Crane I (May 15, 1832 – January 8, 1912) was the founder of R.T. Crane & Bro., a

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

-based manufacturer, later Crane Co.

Biography

Richard T. Crane was born on May 15, 1832, in Paterson, New Jersey (on the Tottoway Road, near the Passaic Falls) to Timothy Botchford Crane and Maria Ryerson. Crane was a nephew of Chicago

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

dealer Martin Ryerson. He moved to Chicago from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

in 1855. Richard and his brother Charles soon formed R. T. Crane & Bro., which manufactured and sold

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...

goods and

plumbing Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses pipes, valves, plumbing fixtures, tanks, and other apparatuses to convey fluids. Heating and cooling (HVAC), waste removal, and potable water delive ...

supplies. The new company soon won contracts to supply pipe and

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...

-heating equipment in large public buildings such as the

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

courthouse and the state prison at Joliet. In 1865, R. T. Crane and Brother was incorporated and the name of the company was changed to the Northwestern Manufacturing Company. It began to manufacture a full line of industrial valves and fittings in cast iron, malleable iron and brass. By 1870, when it employed about 160 people, it was making elevators as well. After the

Chicago Fire of 1871 The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 1 ...

, the company decided to expand its operations. Just after the firm became Crane Bros. Manufacturing Co. in 1872, it employed as many as 700 men and boys and manufactured over $1 million worth of products per year. In 1890, when it had sales branches in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest c ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, the company changed its name to Crane Co. By this time, Crane was supplying much of the pipe used for the large

central heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (short: HVAC) systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces. ...

systems in Chicago's new skyscrapers, and it was also selling the enameled cast-iron products that were soon found in bathrooms in residences across the country. In 1910, when Crane had begun to manufacture in a plant at

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequo ...

, its Chicago plants employed more than 5,000 people. A large new Chicago plant on South Kedzie Avenue was built in the 1910s. During the 1920s, when Crane expanded overseas, the company was the world's leading manufacturer of valves and fittings. During the next few decades, Crane continued to employ thousands of Chicago-area residents at its Kedzie Avenue plant, and the company's annual sales rose to over US$300 million by the mid-1950s.

Contraction in Chicago

In 1959, however, the company was acquired by

Thomas Mellon Evans Thomas Mellon Evans (September 8, 1910 – July 17, 1997) was an American financier who was one of the country's early corporate raiders, as well as a philanthropist and Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder who won the 1981 Kentucky Derby a ...

, its first owner who was not a member of the Crane family. Evans proceeded to turn Crane into a global conglomerate that made aerospace equipment as well as plumbing supplies; the headquarters eventually moved from Chicago to Bridgeport. By the mid-1970s, Crane employed only about 1,000 people in the Chicago area. By the end of the century, Crane was doing annual sales of about $2 billion, but it was no longer a leading company in the city in which it was born. The Crane Plumbing unit was sold off in 1990. Crane Plumbing is now a unit of

American Standard Brands American Standard Brands is a North American manufacturer of plumbing fixtures, based in Piscataway, New Jersey, United States. It is principally owned by the Lixil Group, with Bain Capital Partners holding a minority stake. The company was fo ...

Personal life

Crane was also a member of the famous

Jekyll Island Club The Jekyll Island Club was a private club on Jekyll Island, on Georgia's Atlantic coast. It was founded in 1886 when members of an incorporated hunting and recreational club purchased the island for $125,000 (about $3.1 million in 2017) from John ...

(aka The Millionaires Club) on

Jekyll Island, Georgia Jekyll Island is located off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia, in Glynn County. It is one of the Sea Islands and one of the Golden Isles of Georgia barrier islands. The island is owned by the State of Georgia and run by a self-sustaining, ...

. Crane was married three times, the last at age 73 to 35-year-ol
Emily Hutchison
Crane lost two nieces
Barbara and Mary Gartz
at the

Iroquois Theatre fire The Iroquois Theatre fire occurred on December 30, 1903, at the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is the deadliest theater fire and the deadliest single-building fire in U.S. history, resulting in at least 602 deaths. The ...

in Chicago in 1903. He hired fire insurance expert, engineer

John Ripley Freeman John Ripley Freeman (July 27, 1855 – October 6, 1932) was an American civil and hydraulic engineer. He is known for the design of several waterworks and served as president of both the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Socie ...

to conduct a study to determine th
various causes of the fire

Death

Crane died on January 8, 1912 in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Legacy

Philanthropist and diplomat

Charles R. Crane Charles Richard Crane (August 7, 1858 – February 15, 1939) was a wealthy American businessman, heir to a large industrial fortune and connoisseur of Arab culture, a noted Arabist. His widespread business interests gave him entree into domestic a ...

was one of Richard T. Crane's sons. Actor/comedian

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of '' Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...

is Crane's great-great-grandson (due to Richard T. Crane's grandson, Cornelius Vanderbilt Crane having adopted his step-daughter, Chevy Chase's mother, Cathalene). Crane also has numerous great great great grandchildren living in Georgia including Sarah Crane, Hunter Crane, Tanner Crane and Cierra Crane. His children were:

Charles Richard Charles Richard (10 March 1900 – 31 May 1978) was a Progressive Conservative party member of the House of Commons of Canada. Born in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, Quebec, he was a dental surgeon by career. Richard's first attempt at a Hou ...

(b.1858); Herbert Prentice (b.1861); Katharine H. (Gartz) (b.1865); May Ryerson (Russell) (b.1866); Frances Williams (Lillie) (b.1869); Emily Rockwell (Chadbourne) (b.1871); Richard Teller Crane, Jr. (b.1873).https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20041110/richard-teller-crane His grandson, Cornelius Vanderbilt Crane, was an explorer and philanthropist. His grandson, Richard Teller Crane II (b.1882) was the first United States diplomat accredited to Czechoslovakia, under the Woodrow Wilson administration.

References

External links

Crane Co. Records
at

the Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rela ...

*
Crane: 150 Years Together
'' 128-page PDF of a book celebrating the company's 150th anniversary. (2500 copies printed in Bloomfield, CT, 2005. See last page for authors, editors, printer, etc.)