1921: ASHTON MILL SUPPLIES

The article above relates to a story with which I am very familiar. My career was spent in a dead end job in the bearing and power transmission industry with the Brown Bearing and Supply Company. I spent 42 years as a non-engineer specialist in bearings and power transmission equipment; the latter equipment including power transmitting belting of all types, roller chain, sprockets, pulleys, "V" belts and really, anything that was used to power the equipment of the many industrial factories in the Trenton - Mercer, and Delaware Valley area. The Ashton company began way way back in the mid 19th century with a center city Trenton location. The above article describes the new building which still stands on the corner of Spruce Street and New York Avenue. You will note that one of the employees was Lee Wiley. Lee was to take over the business and form the Wiley Hughes Supply Company which was in business right up into the 1960's. One of the monstrous errors I made in my career was to decline the offer to move from the bearing company to the Wiley Hughes company where I would get benefits and a salary increase. I opted to stay with a company that ultimately placed their sons in the positions my partner and I should have had and the company went Chapter 11 in less than 2 years.