The National Carbon Company was founded in 1886 by the former

Brush Electric Company Brush Electrical Machines is a manufacturer of electrical generators typically for gas turbine and steam turbine driven applications. The main office is based at Loughborough in Leicestershire, UK. History Charles Francis Brush, born in Eucli ...

executive W. H. Lawrence, in association with

Myron T. Herrick Myron Timothy Herrick (October 9, 1854March 31, 1929) was an American banker, diplomat and Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the 42nd governor of Ohio and United States Ambassador to France on two occasions. Biography Herrick was bor ...

James Parmelee James Parmelee (1855-1931) was a Cleveland financier. In 1886, he co-founded the National Carbon Company as part of a group that included Webb Hayes, Webb C. Hayes, the son of U.S. president Rutherford B. Hayes. The company figured prominently in t ...

, and

Webb Hayes James Webb Cook Hayes (March 20, 1856 – July 26, 1934) was an American businessman and soldier. He co-founded a forerunner of Union Carbide, served in three wars, and received the Medal of Honor. Early years and family James Webb Cook Hayes ...

, son of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes, in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

.Eveready Battery Company Records Collection at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
/ref> In 1890, National Carbon merged with Thomson-Houston, Standard Carbon, and Faraday Carbon.

History

In 1894 the company began marketing Leclanché wet cells. At the same time, E. M. Jewett, was working in the company's Lakewood plant on the west side of Cleveland, under the direction of George Little. Jewett became interested in

dry cell upLine art drawing of a dry cell: 1. brass cap, 2. plastic seal, 3. expansion space, 4. porous cardboard, 5. zinc can, 6. carbon rod, 7. chemical mixture A dry cell is a type of electric battery, commonly used for portable electrical devices. Un ...

s and, in his free time, conducted experiments in the laboratory. He developed a paper-lined, 1.5 volt cylindrical dry cell which he showed to Lawrence, who gave Jewett and Little a green light to begin manufacturing commercial dry cells. The trademark "Columbia" was proposed by Nelson C. Cotabish, a sales manager at NCC. In 1896 the company marketed the very first battery intended for widespread consumer use: the sealed, six-inch, 1.5 volt Columbia. NCC was the first company to successfully manufacture and distribute sealed dry cell batteries on a large scale. The company introduced the first D cell battery in 1898. The existing National Carbon Company grew significantly in 1899. The firm "incorporated under New Jersey laws January 16, 1899 as a consolidation of the following companies engaged in the manufacture of lighting carbons, carbon brushes for generators and motors, carbon batteries, carbon diaphragms and back plates for telephones, carbons for electrolytic purposes and kindred products. * American Carbon Co Noblesville Ind * Brush Carbon Works Cleveland Ohio * Faraday Carbon Co Jeannette, Pennsylvania * Globe Carbon Co Ravana Ohio * National Carbon Co Cleveland Ohio * Partridge Carbon Co Sandusky Ohio * Phoenix Carbon & Mfg Co St. Louis Mo * Solar Carbon & Mfg Co

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

* The Standard Carbon Co Cleveland Ohio * Thomson Houston Carbon Co Fremont, Ohio * The Washington Carbon Co Pittsburgh The company supplied approximately 75% of the US carbon market in the world. In 1906, National Carbon Company, which had been supplying

Conrad Hubert Conrad Hubert (15 April 1856 – 14 March 1928) was a Russian-American inventor''Who Was Who in America. Historical Volume, 1607-1896''. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1967. pg. 678 known for electric flashlights. He was the son of Belarusian Jew ...

's ''American Electrical Novelty & Manufacturing Company'' (maker of ''Ever Ready''

flashlight A flashlight ( US, Canada) or torch ( UK, Australia) is a portable hand-held electric lamp. Formerly, the light source typically was a miniature incandescent light bulb, but these have been displaced by light-emitting diodes (LEDs) since the ...

s and

batteries Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

) with materials for batteries, bought half interest in the company for $200,000. The name was changed to ''The American Ever Ready Company'' and the trademark was shortened to one word - ''Eveready''. In 1914, The American Ever Ready Company became part of National Carbon Company now forming a manufacturer making both batteries and lighting products. In 1917,

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befor ...

acquired National Carbon Company. From 1917 until 1921 Eveready used the trademark "DAYLO" for their flashlights and on their batteries. The American Chemical Society designated the development of the Columbia dry cell battery as a National Historic Chemical Landmark on September 27, 2005. The commemorative plaques at Energizer in Cleveland and at Energizer headquarters in St. Louis read: ''In 1896 the National Carbon Company (corporate predecessor of Energizer) developed the six-inch, 1.5 volt Columbia battery, the first sealed dry cell successfully manufactured for the mass market. The Columbia, a carbon-zinc battery with an acidic electrolyte, was a significant improvement over previous batteries, meeting consumer demand for a maintenance-free, durable, no-spill, inexpensive electrochemical power source. Finding immediate use in the rapidly expanding telephone and automobile industries, the Columbia launched the modern battery industry by serving as the basis for all dry cells for the next sixty years''. In 1940, the company supplied highly purified carbon for the role as nuclear graphite in

nuclear fission Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radio ...

experiments carried out by

Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and ...

and Leo Szilard.

Legacy

Over the years, the company has had many names: the

Boulton Carbon Company The Boulton Carbon Company was a manufacturing company located in Cleveland, Ohio, US, from 1881 to 1886. It was devoted to the manufacture of carbon points (or carbons) used for arc lighting. The company was organized in 1881 by W. H. Boulton an ...

, the National Carbon Company, the Carbon Products Division of

, the UCAR Carbon Company, UCAR International, and is now known as GrafTech International. A division spun off in 2017, NeoGraf Solutions, LLC, retains the original National Carbon factory in Lakewood, Ohio. Notable offspring from the company include KEMET Laboratories (capacitor technologies),

Cytec Industries Cytec Industries Incorporated, based in Woodland Park, New Jersey was a speciality chemicals and materials technology company with pro-forma sales in 2004, including the Surface Specialties acquisition, of approximately $3.0 billion. Cytec is a ...

', Engineered Materials group (carbon fiber products),

Energizer Holdings Energizer Holdings, Inc. is an American manufacturer and one of the world's largest manufacturers of batteries, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces batteries under the Energizer, Ray-O-Vac, Varta, and Eveready brand names, and for ...

(batteries), and National Specialty Products (carbon and graphite specialty products).

References

{{reflist Battery manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Ohio Companies based in Cleveland Energy companies established in 1886 Manufacturing companies established in 1886 1886 establishments in Ohio Recipients of the Scientific and Technical Academy Award of Merit Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners