OLIVER WILLIAMS. To Mr. and Mrs. David Williams, in South Wales, was born a son, named Oliver, April 23, 1831. When an infant of two years, his parents brought him to America and located in Schenectady, N. Y. His father traveled extensively in this country and Mexico and published a series of articles entitled "Cymro in Mexico." These articles gained for him a national reputation.

Oliver received his early training in rural schools. During 1843 he attended the old Allentown Academy, then under the care of Prof. McClenachan. Later he spent one session under the tutorage of Prof. Bleck of Bethlehem, Pa. He learnt the trade of an iron moulder at which he worked until 1849, when he entered the optical establishment of McAllister and Company, of Philadelphia, which he served for three years. In 1853 he joined James W. Queen, one of the McAllister firm, in establishing the J. W. Queen Company.

In 1855 Mr. Williams went to Milwaukee where he came in contact with Chester A. Arthur through whom he met R. L. Hardenburg, who induced him to enter the leather business in Chicago in 1858. He remained in Chicago until 1867, when his life long friend, David Thomas, offered him the position of manager of the Catasauqua Manufacturing Company. He served this company for 25 years, during which time this plant became the largest merchant iron mill east of the Alleghenies. He was also one of the originators of the Bryden Horse Shoe Works, serving as President and Treasurer of the Company for many years. He was President of the Union Foundry and Machine Company, Vice-President of the Whitehall Portland Cement Company at Cementon and President of the Cement National Bank at Siegfried, Pa. He was President of the National Iron Association, of the Eastern- Bar Iron Association, and was a member of the American Institution of Mining' Engineers.

Mr. Williams was united in marriage with Anna, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.John Heilig of Germantown, Pa. Three daughters were born to them: Mrs. D. L. Emanuel, Mrs. R. O. Koehler and Mrs. George E. Holton. He was an active Church worker and was Superintendent of the Sunday School of Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church at the time of his death. His activities and interest in musical circles was marked by his liberal support of the local Amphion Choral Society and the Oratorio Society of Allentown, Pa. He was a close student, a rare conversationalist, an observant traveler, a ready speaker, a graceful writer, a liberal giver and an energetic business man. He died September 17, 1904, and his body was interred in the family plot in Fairview Cemetery.




Oliver Williams organized the Bryden Horse Shoe Company in 1882. He had moved to Catasauqua two years previously at the urging of long-time friend, David Thomas, and assumed the position of president of the Catasauqua. Manufacturing Company.

Williams sought other uses for the iron products from his rolling mills and settled upon the manufacture of Bryden Horse Shoes. He obtained the patent rights from George Bryden of Hartford, Connecticut. Under Bryden's process the shoes were completely formed under the blows of a heavy hammer, where as other shoes were rolled and the heel and toe-caulks welded on by a blacksmith.

With a capital investment of $60,000 Williams erected a one story brick building on the north-west corner of Railroad and Strawberry Alleys. This lay adjacent to the Union Foundry and Machine Shop, another company owned in part by Oliver Williams. Joshua Hunt served as president; Oliver Williams, secretary-treasurer; and Peter F. Greenwood, superintendent. Tilghman F. Frederick subsequently replaced Greenwood, serving until 1889. Williams equipped the plant with two forge hammers and employed approximately thirty men. They produced a daily sum of 2-1/2 to 3 tons of horseshoes. In 1884 Oliver Williams assumed the position of president.

So successful was the plant that by 1888 expansion was necessary. The company increased its capital stock to $100,000 and purchased land along the west side of Front Street, straddling the Borough boundary with what would later become North Catasauqua. Williams engaged Jacob Roberts, then part owner and superintendent of Phoenix Horse Shoe Company, Poughkeepsie, New York, as superintendent of the new facility. Roberts moved to Catasauqua in 1889 and immediately began to build and equip the plant, eventually operating a complete rolling mill plus bending and pressing irons for the exclusive manufacture of horse and mule shoes. Roberts served as superintendent until his death, November 18, 1905. He was succeeded by his son, William and later by Paul E. Miller.

Oliver Williams died September 17, 1904. The Bryden's ownership passed to his three daughters: Grace Kohler, Winifred Emanuel and Jessica Holton. George Holton assumed the president's position and became the virtual owner of the plant. Tilghman F. Frederick accepted the secretary's post until his death, March 31, 1909, when Holton's brother, H. Morley Holton was appointed.