Electric Sugar Refining Company
The hoax remained in the national media spotlight for years as the matter wound through the court system in Washtenaw County, Michigan[1] and in New York.
Then Emma's daughter, Olive VanNess Tibado, came to Chicago to visit, and apparently there was an attraction between her and Friend, ultimately leading to their marriage.
[4] He approached Theodore Havemeyer, whose family controlled much of the sugar refining industry, to secure backing for his invention.
After a couple hours or so, Friend invited the prospective investors into his room where they could admire the results of his wonderful machine—a clean barrel full of beautiful white refined sugar.
[4] In December 1883, Friend finally met W. H. Cotterill, a former London solicitor, and convinced him of the utility of the sugar refining process.
Members of the public wanted to believe that an electric process could dramatically cut the costs of sugar production, so they ignored possible warning signs along the way.
[citation needed] As early as 1885, after one of the first larger demonstrations, a commentator wrote in The Sugar Cane, Likewise, Bradstreet said in 1885 that "the process of Prof.
"[3] At a meeting of the Society of Chemical Industry in Liverpool in late 1886, to which a representative of the company had been invited, one presenter noted that "I think you will all agree that the practical difficulties of sugar refining prevent any likelihood of electricity being advantageously in the process.
Early that year, J.B. Wallace, a sugar-dealer from Liverpool, investigated the New York "refinery" of the Electric Sugar Refining Company.
He still refused to tell anyone else the secret of his process, explaining that it wasn't patentable, and he dare not reveal it until a full-scale refinery was built.
He was seen speeding around New York streets and parks, riding his sleighs in winter and his carriages in summer, slugging down bourbon, as reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
It was later suggested that the officers of the Electric Sugar Refining Company had attempted to conceal his death so as to not scare investors.
[4] Olive assured Cotterill and the other investors that she knew the secret of Friend's refining process, but made no visible progress toward setting up a factory.
In early 1888 Olive realized that the scam would undoubtedly come to light at some point, and she would need a place to live after the problems "hit the fan."
Olive moved into her Milan home with her son, leaving her uncle, Henry Harrison Hack, to auction off her furniture and other property back in New York.
Still clinging to any signs of hope, Cotteril and the other officials still believed that Olive Friend might have the secret to her late husband's refining process.
In December he travelled to Michigan to bargain for the secret, but Olive Friend was evasive, even after Cotterill bluntly asked if "the refined sugar was made direct from the raw or not.
"[18] Olive Friend's evasiveness left Cotterill deeply suspicious, and he immediately telegraphed the officers of the company and returned to New York.
On January 2, 1889, Cotterill and other officers of the Electric Sugar Refining Company broke into the secured room in the factory, at 18 Hamilton Street, Brooklyn.
The refined sugar had obviously been poured down from the secret room to the area where visitors were gathered, to impress potential investors.
In a post-mortem an industry commentator noted: It is simply astonishing what magical effect "electrical" attached to the name of an invention or swindle has upon the community.
That afternoon, Cotterill made a big showing of the fact that he was taking the train to New York, as if he had given up on arresting Olive or her family.
On the evening of Feb. 16, Olive was at her fancy new home on County Street with her mother, step-father, along with her shirt-tail cousins George and Gus Halstead.
Sheriff's deputies sneaked up on them at night and arrested the whole lot, transporting them in wagons or carriages to a jail in Ann Arbor.
He was in several military campaigns and his battery fought in two battles, May 15, 1863, at Union Mills, VA and April 2, 1865, at Petersburg, VA. William's older brother, Joseph, went to Saline, Michigan, which is near Milan.
His obituary mentions that he had two sons by a previous marriage, Charles H. and Clarence, referring to the children he left behind in Rhode Island.
After selling his shop, he went to Chicago to help his sister, Emily, with the Electric Sugar Refining Machine venture.
He took time off from his family to go to New York to work in the Electric Sugar venture with his wife's uncle, Lyman Burnham.
Then Hack arranged for the auction and sale of Olive's furniture and belongings while she left New York and went to Milan with her son.
Hack was an important person in Milan, on the board of the Farmers and Merchants Bank, and serving as a Justice of the Peace.
