Jacob Johann Vollrath (September 19, 1824 – May 15, 1898) was an industrialist in the city of
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Sheboygan () is a city in and the county seat of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a populatio ...
in the United States. He founded
The Vollrath Company.
Vollrath was born on September 19, 1824
in
Dörrebach in the Prussian
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
,
where he learned the trade of molding (casting of
wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
).
He migrated to the United States in the 1840s and settled in Sheboygan in 1853. In 1874 he began to manufacture porcelain
enamelware
Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between . The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating. The word comes from the Latin ...
made of cast iron coated with ceramic glaze. In 1884 founded the
Jacob J. Vollrath Manufacturing Company, which grew steadily under his leadership
and which he headed until his death in 1898.
Vollrath invented "gray enameling"
(which describes a particular method of manufacture, not a color).
Vollrath married Elizabeth Margaret Fuchs in 1847 and had six children.
He was the father-in-law (twice)
of
Kohler Company
Kohler Co., founded in 1873 by John Michael Kohler, is an American manufacturing company based in Kohler, Wisconsin. Kohler is best known for its plumbing products, but the company also manufactures furniture, cabinetry, tile, engines, and g ...
founder
John Michael Kohler
John Michael Kohler II (November 3, 1844 – November 5, 1900) was member of the Kohler family of Wisconsin and was a prosperous industrialist and mayor of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Kohler founded what later became known as the Kohler Company, a lar ...
and helped him get started in business. He was succeeded as president of The Vollrath Company by his son, Carl August Vollrath, grandson Jean C Vollrath (1894–1976), and great-grandson
Walter Jodok Kohler Jr
Two other sons, Jacob Vollrath Jr. (1894–1964) and Walter J. Vollrath Sr, (1897–1964) had served as officers of the Polar Ware Co., of Kiel, WI.
The Vollrath family which he founded was long prosperous and prominent in Sheboygan affairs.
References
External links
Brief description of Jacob J. Vollrath at Vollrath Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vollrath, Jacob Johann
People from Bad Kreuznach (district)
German emigrants to the United States
People from Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
1824 births
1898 deaths
People from the Rhine Province
19th-century American businesspeople