A.F. SNYDER

125 Churchill Street

DUSHORE, PENNSYLVANIA , 18614

 

April 11, 1978

 

Dennis Harrington

Grayslake Illinois

 

Dear Mr. Harrington:

     Your recent letter to Dr. Shoemaker requesting information concerning the Harrington’s of Dushore, was referred to me. The name Harrington has been related to the dairy industry since the early 1900’s. James S. Harrington was a dealer in farm products, and particularly cream for the manufacturing of butter. His son, Maurice J. Harrington took over the business of buying cream and established a butter manufacturing plant in Dushore in 1907. Later, in 1912, Maurice J. Harrington started a Dairy Manufacturing Plant, which included the manufacture of ice cream, condensed milk, powder milk, and fluid milk processing and bottling.

     In 1919 he organized a corporation called Harrington & Co. of which he was President, E.M. Dunne, Vice-president and his sister Mildred was Secretary and Treasurer. It was during the next 27 years that the company developed with milk receiving plants in Benton, Rushville, Leraysville, New Era, Estella and Fairdale.

     Ice cream distributing plants were established in Sayre, Towanda, Wellsboro, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. In 1929 a new milk dispensing plant was built in Newark, New Jersey to which 2 cars of bottled milk were shipped via railroad from Dushore daily. The Wilkes-Barre plant was enlarged and modernized to handle both ice cream and milk. Several small dealers were purchased by Harrington and Co. in the Scranton area in order to enlarge the Scranton plant.

     The Harrington milk was sold under the trade name of Glendale Farms in the cities of Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Newark. The ice cream was always sold as Harrington’s Ice Cream.

     During the peak of the Harrington operations, the milk from over 1200 farms was purchased, processed and sold. The daily intake exceeded 750,000 pounds of milk, during the flush season. During the Second World War, the company operations were somewhat restricted, although all operations continued.

     In April, 1946, after a series of negotiations, the Harrington & Co. interests were merged into the Philadelphia Dairy Products Co. The operation continued with some changes in policy and aims until April, 1956, when the P.D. Co. merged into the Foremost Dairies Co.

     The Foremost Dairies ran into difficulties with the Federal Trade Commission and was forced to divest itself of ____ of its more recent acquisitions resulting in complete chaos in certain areas. Dushore was one area which was badly affected. The large manufacturing plant has been closed. The farmers were required to seek a new market for their milk, and the employees had to find new employment.

     Even the 125 foot brick stack, purchased and erected in 1935, bearing the name HARRINGTON & CO. in dark bricks, was torn down recently.

     There are many more things which could be said of the Harrington name with which I am familiar, having been connected with the company for 36 years, and also, having married a Harrington.

     Maurice Harrington, the real founder of the dairy industry in this area, left the company in 1946, and still lives in Dushore at the age of 91 years.

     If you are interested in the Harrington roots, please advise.

     Our daughter with her husband, Jerry Donahue, and family lived in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff for about ten years. They recently moved to Pittsburgh, then to Moorestown, New Jersey. Jerry is affiliated with RCA.

 

     I hope that I have not overburdened with detail.

 

Very truly yours,

A.F. Snyder