EXWACO JAR

[dano]

My son just found an EXWACO jar that`s green with a porcelain centered lid. It`s about 7 inches tall and maybe 2 and a half inches across. Can see a swirl with some bubbles in the jar and there is a 4 on the base. Any idea what it was used for or if it has much value? Kind of pretty after he cleaned it up.

 

[dano]

EXWACO Jar

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Dano,

Welcome to the Forum & thanks for bringing this nice green guy. Did your son dig it?

"Mustard jars with original Exwaco (Exley, Watkins & Co, Wheeling, WV) product labels."

"Exwaco style tall colored pint mustard jars." From.

"W. H. EXLEY, a prominent resident of Wheeling and a member of the board of
education, is president of Exley, Watkins & Company, extensive
manufactures of and wholesale dealers in preserves, jellies, catsup,
mustard and sauces. Mr. Exley was born at Wheeling, Ohio county, West
Virginia, in 1867, and is a son of W. H. Exley, Sr.

W. H. Exley, Sr., was also born in Wheeling, and for some years was
associated with his father, also names W. H. Exley, in contracting, house
building, etc. In this line of business he continued until 1878. He then
retired from active work, and devoted the latter years of his life to
travel. He died on October 8, 1900.

W. H. Exley, Jr., was the only child born to his parents, and at an early
age attended the public schools. He subsequently entered Eastman's
Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, and completed the course of
study in 1884. Immediately thereafter he returned to Wheeling and entered
the employ of Mr. Hunter, in the line of business in which he is now
engaged. In 1896, with three other employees of this firm, namely, C. H.
Watkins, Jr., W. B. McGavin and John M. Vollinger, he established his
present business, now conducted at Nos. 86-88 Nineteenth street. The
building first used stood across the creek, and was destroyed by fire
September 15, 1898, after which the present plant was erected, which is
practically fireproof. The main building has about 30,000 square feet of
floor space, and the other building about 20,000 square feet. The
copartnership of the four men continued until May 18, 1899, when Exley,
Watkins & Company was incorporated, with the following officers: W. H.
Exley, president; W. B. Mcgavin, vice-president; C. H. Watkins, Jr.,
secretary; and John M. Vollinger, treasurer. These four officers, with C.
H. Watkins, Sr., compose the board of directors. They employ on an average
60 girls and 25 men, but through the busy season can easily use double
that number. The trade of the company extends from California to Maine,
and one or two men are constantly on the road, one of them always being a
member of the firm. The business is conducted through brokers and by mail
orders and is exclusively wholesale. The plant is complete in all its
details, modernly equipped and run by steam. The vegetables, such as
tomatoes, etc., are contracted for with neighboring farmers, and mustard
seed is bought in car lots along the California coast. The necessary
vinegar is brought in tank cars from the West. In the rear of this
extensive plant is a regular depot, with a dside track sufficent in length
for four cars. There has been a wonderful growth in the business
transacted by this company,--a fact due solely to judicious management and
practical methods of doing business.

Mr. Exley was united in marriage with Lizzie Lindsay, of Steubenville,
Ohio, and they have two children: Charlotte C. and Howard L. They reside
at No. 40 Thirteenth street, where Mr. Exley owns a comfortable home. In
politics he is a Republican, and in November, 1900, was elected a member
of the city board of education from the third ward or Clay district.
Fraternally he is a member of Nelson Lodge, No. 30, A.F. & A.M.; Wheeling
Union Chapter, No. 1, R.A.M.; Wheeling Commandery, No. 1, K. T., and is
a thirty-second-degree Mason. He also belongs to the Royal Arcanum.
Religiously, he is an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church." From.

"...Charles Hamilton Watkins, Jr., was born on Wheeling Island, March 7,
1871. Watkins is a very old American family of Welsh ancestry. There were
three brothers, named Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego Watkins, who came from
Wales and settled in the colonies of Delaware and Maryland, whence their
descendants have scattered to all parts of the country. The
great-great-grandfather of the Wheeling business man was Peter Watkins, who
was born in Delaware, December 30, 1712. During the Revolutionary war he
held letters of marque from the Continental Congress. He was killed on board
a United States Man o' War, April 12, 1788. His son, Thomas Watkins, was
born March 8, 1771, and was an early pioneer of Southern Ohio, locating in
Guernsey County, where he followed farming until his death on August 7, 1844.
On November 2, 1802, he married Elizabeth Worley, who was born in Belmont
County, Ohio, October 12, 1786, and died in Guernsey County, March 11, 1831.
Their son, John Watkins, grandfather of C. H. Watkins, Jr., was born in
Guernsey County, Ohio, November 11, 1804, and as a young man settled on
Wheeling Island, thus having a home convenient to his business as a steamboat
engineer and river pilot. The last years of his life he was toll taker at
the old bridge between Bridgeport and Wheeling Island. He died at the age of
seventy-two. December 12, 1828, John Watkins married Sarah Dillon Hunter,
who was born December 12, 1800, and died on Wheeling Island in 1866.
Charles H. Watkins Sr., was born on Wheeling Island March 21, 1841, and
spent all his life in Wheeling. He was an accountant, and for a number of
years was manager of M. Marsh & Son. He died at Forest View, Elm Grove,
Wheeling, in October, 1908. He had a record as a soldier of the Union Army
in the Civil war, having enlisted in 1861 in Carlin's Battery D, First West
Virginia Light Artillery. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Lexington,
and was in Libby Prison until he and a companion, William Pebler, made their
escape from that famous warehouse prison. As a result of his stay there he
was incapacitated for further duty, and after 1864 was not in the army. He
served three years as city clerk of Wheeling, but after resigning would never
seek another political office. He was one of the founders of the Thompson
Methodist Episcopal Church of Wheeling and very active in its affairs. C. H.
Watkins, Sr., married Rachel Ann Marsh, who was born at East Wheeling in
1844, and died in 1906. A record of their children is: Mifflin Marsh and
William Brown, both of whom died in infancy; Charles H., Jr.; John Wagner,
who died at the age of twenty years; Harry Adams, owning and operating a
ranch near Fruita, Colorado; Edna Rachel, wife of French D. Walton, former
city editor of the Wheeling Intelligencer and now conducting a successful
publicity business at Wheeling; Joseph Jacobs, a dealer in automobile
accessories at Clarksburg, West Virginia; Roy Naylor, who died at the age of
four years; and Wilbur Whally, who was associated with his brother, Charles,
in business and died of the influenza, January 30, 1919.
Charles H. Watkins, Jr., attended the public schools of Wheeling, but at
the age of sixteen left school to go to work in a retail store. For a short
time he was assistant bookkeeper of L. S. Delaplain Son & Company, and then
kept books for J. W. Hunter until 1896. His first independent effort in a
business was as member of the firm Exley, Watkins & Company, operating a
preserving plant, and Mr. Watkins retained his financial interest in this
business until 1907. However, after 1900 he was not active in the
management, having, as noted above, acquired the interests of his partner in
the firm Foster & Watkins, with which he had been previously associated as a
silent partner. Then the firm Foster & Watkins was changed to C. H. Watkins,
Jr., & Company, and Mr. Watkins has been the leading spirit in the successive
changes and increases in this great mercantile and department store. He has
direct personal charge of the undertaking department of the business. There
are seven departments altogether...." From.

 

[dano]

I a box, cleaning out an old shed. Thanks for the reply.