AJ Hedges
|
Founded by Andrew J. Hedges, Wallace M. Hedges, and John Obrig. in 1877 in Newark, New Jersey AJ Hedges turned into one of the largest and most prominent manufacturers of Victorian Jewelry in the United States. Andrew Jackson Hedges (1828-1902) started his jewelry career early in 1837 when he started with Alling, Hall, and Dodd (later Hall and Dodd) founded their firm then he left and began working for Aaron Carter in 1844 before opening his own firm shortly there after. In 1862 Hedges partnered with Moses Field and together they made up Field & Co. Hedges left the company when Field passed away in 1865 and joined Daniel Colton, Chester Colton, and Daniel Baker to create their own manufacturing jewelry firm. This partnership was short lived and after a year Hedges left to join David Dodd to create Dodd and Hedges in 1866. The partnership worked and the business grew over the next 11 years adding a showroom at Maiden Lane in New York City. In 1877 Hedges took control (officially Jan 1 1878) and named the firm AJ Hedges and Co having a manufacturing jewelry company in Newark at 90 Mechanic Street in Newark and the location on Maiden lane. The company changed locations a few times both on Maiden Lane from 9 to 6 and also in Newark outgrowing their location several times. Wallace M Hedges (his brother) and John Obrig joined the firm and they continued to grow. Obrig retired from the company just two years later in 1900. Andrew Passed away November 10, 1902 at 74 years old and was said by the New York times to be "the pioneer jewelry manufacturer in that city" referring to Newark which was the largest and most important jewelry manufacturing city in the county. AJ Hedges JR took control of the company and partnered WM Kaas who was a former employee. They ran the company until Kaas passed away in 1916 growing greatly since the onset. Andrew Jr ran the business successfully and passed it to the third generation who ran it until sometime after 1950 when the firm closed for good. The firm became one of the largest and most important jewelry manufacturers in Newark Jewelry history and until recently was relatively forgotten. We are proud to announce that we have acquired the manufacturing books and sketches from AJ Hedges.
|
