Jean Esterbrook.

[bfg]

According to Wikipedia Richard Esterbrook moved to the US in 1856 to make steel nibs not fountain pens.

[esterbex]

Right...Wikipedia.

Edit to add....But back then, nib and pen were synonymous.

[ANM]

There were no fountain pens in 1856. At least not any that were commercially successful. And esterbex is correct. A nib is also a pen.

Edited April 11, 2014 by ANM

[spaceink]

That's an amazing story. As a person relatively new to Esties, thanks for sharing and introducing me to it.

Edited November 16, 2014 by spaceink

[Truffle Finder]

I don't come onto this thread very often, but I'm pleased to see that some people are still interested in the story about Jean Easterbrook.

Welcome Spaceink!

Truffle Finder

Edited March 31, 2015 by Truffle Finder

[PenjaminFranklin]

This entire thread fascinated me! I am going to keep returning to it, to see what more transpires!

 

Mike

[Truffle Finder]

Just recently, the builders have been working [doing restoration work to two corners of my workshop] and now that the work has been completed, my sister has taken it upon herself to 'help' with the 'sorting out' of all the things which have been stored in this room for a very long time!!!

She has done some admirable work, and one of the things which has immerged from the chaos is a small folder which Jean Easterbrook sent to me shortly after I spent a week at her home in Bronxville, New York. It was obviously written in a light hearted manner, referring to the few days that I spent with her at her home, which includes a few photographs, with captions hand written by Jean.

In the next few days, I will send the folder to my good friend Neal, [who understands how to post pictures on FPN!] so hopefully it will appear here very soon.

Truffle Finder.

[AAAndrew]

Excellent! I just clicked on the link further up the thread by Musorah that takes you directly to a page listing the graves in the cemetery. There is a grave for a Richard Esterbrook, died at age 64 in 1846.

 

The Esterbrooks first came to the US not long after that. First Richard Esterbrook Jr. (the son) came and tried to make a go of steel pen making in New York. He eventually brought over his father (Richard Esterbrook Jr. the father, also known as the founder) who brought workmen from Birmingham skilled in the pen trade. The company was founded in 1858. After Richard Esterbrook Jr the founder died, it was run by his son, Richard Esterbrook Jr. (the son), and then after his death it was run by Richard Esterbrook Jr. (the grandson). A rather confusing family in terms of names.

 

I suspect the grave for Richard Esterbrook there in Cornwall may well be for the founder's father. Very interesting.

 

The whole early history of Esterbrook is quite fascinating and totally tied up in the very beginnings of the steel pen industry in America. They were one of the first, and eventually became the largest, producer of steel pens (what we call dip nibs today) in the US. They were a Goliath employing over 300 workers in their large factory in Camden, N.J. and selling 250+ different models of pens all over the continent when L.E. Waterman was a one-man operation in a cigar shop.

 

It's great to see the family's traditions and values lasted as long as they did. Thanks so much for sharing.

[esterbex]

That Tardis just keeps coughing stuff up. Carry on.

[noyesville]

Gotta' start reading more of these posts! Fascinating bit of history ("Musings" above) and interesting questions about surviving Esterbrook family members. Wish I had more time....

[Skrip]

Great story!! More of a Sheaffer guy myself, I wasn't really aware of the Esterbrook story, or even of its product line, to be frank. Having looked up some pen pics online, I'll definitely be looking to pick one up whenever I next come across a fine specimen. Thanks to Truffle Finder for the story (love your Snake pen, BTW), and to ANM for the article. I can only imagine what a great background story this thread provides for any Esterbrook collector!

[Truffle Finder]

Sadly, I have some disappointing news. My photographer friend has informed me that the images of Jean and myself are so poor that it would not be doing either of us any favours posting them on this thread!!!

Sorry about that.

Truffle Finder.

[esterbex]

[Truffle Finder]

In my workshop, I have several draw-cabinets, for storing 'donor-pens' and spare parts for the different makes of fountain pens.

I had reason to 'delve' into the Easterbrook/Stephen's pen draw over the weekend, and got inspired to sort the contents of the draw out, as it was becoming difficult to close the draw every time I had finished searching for things!

The end result was that I found over a dozen pretty coloured Esterbrook pens, which basically just needed re-sacking, and a good clean and polish. They are all done now, and are ready to go in to my stock this coming weekend.

I have 'sonic-cleaned' all the spare nib units, so I will be able to offer my customers a good selection of nib choices.

I'm a happy bunny now, and the draw now closes quite easily!

Truffle Finder.

[JFB]

A fascinating thread. Unfortunately the links to the Pen World are no longer active. Does anyone have an updated link to it? I'd love to read it. I have used fountain pens off and on for decades in a sort of vacuum knowing very little of the hobby and amazingly (embarrassingly) I'd never heard of Esterbrook pens 'til a few months ago.

 

I now own three and am very interested in learning all I can about them and the company. They are fantastic pens.

 

Thank you "Truffle Finder' for sharing your experiences.

 

Pax,

John

[Truffle Finder]

You're welcome JFB!

I'm always amazed when I have a look on here, to see just how many people have come on here, [and presumably read it in it's entirety].

Over 16,000 views since I first wrote about Jean Easterbrook, and it looks as though there will still be some new-comers who might like to go through it and even post their thoughts on it!

Thank you for 'posting something on here John.

BTW, there is an Easterbrook Collectors Club [i believe] in the USA, so perhaps they might even have a web-site which might give you more information about the company, although just 'Googling' the name might well keep you busy for quite a while!!!

Truffle Finder.

[JD-Be]

What an interesting storyline here! It convinces me to dig into Esterbrook (Easterbrook) history and maybe find on old one ... (or my friends in the US will look after it)

[Truffle Finder]

I'm pleased that you enjoyed reading it!

Truffle Finder.

[AAAndrew]

Thought I’d add just a bit here to this great thread. The grave in Cornwall is Richard Esterbrook (the pen guy)’s father. Richard Esterbrook the founder (often called Sr. to differentiate him from his son Jr.) is buried in Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/117839415/richard-esterbrook

Richard Esterbrook Jr. lived in Plainfield, New Jersey, next door, and Richard Sr. spent many summers up there, away from the noise and heat of more Urban Camden. In the same cemetery is also buried wife Mary, as well as daughter Mary and her husband Frank Woods, who also ran Esterbrook for many years. But Richard Jr. is buried in the Hamptons

The control of the company passed from Sr. to Jr., who died before his father, to Frank Wood. I haven’t filled in the next part, but by the 50’s the company is headed by Sidney Longmaid, also a dependent of Richard Esterbrook.

Esterbrook as a company made steel (dip) pens from their founding in 1858 until about 1952 or so. They dabbled in fountain pens made by someone else (they made the nibs) in the 20’s but didn’t start making fountain pens on their own until 1931.

 

For those interested in where other Esterbrooks are buried, Richard Sr. (the founder of the company), and Richard Jr. (his son) are buried in New Jersey and New York respectively. I am capturing important sites to early steel dip pen history on a Google Map. I have included the cemeteries where the Esterbrooks are buried as well as their homes and factories and offices of the Esterbrook company.

 

You can find the map here.

Edited April 15, 2018 by AAAndrew

[AAAndrew]

This thread inspired me to do more digging. I found a bunch of early Esterbrook history and posted it in this thread including pictures of Richard Sr.'s old stationery shop in Liskeard, Cornwall, Richard Sr. Sr.'s grave in Liskeard, some of when Richard Sr. and Jr. were in Canada, and much more.

 

I've also been mapping out the family tree. I found more information on Jean.

 

Here full name was Dorothy Jean Esterbrook but she was known by Jean from very young, probably to differentiate her from her mother, Dorothy (nee Schumann). Jean was born in 1922 in Yonkers, NY. She lived until 1995 when she passed away in Bronxville, NY. Her father passed away in 1960 and her mother in 1995.

 

She was the daughter of Richard Esterbrook (1893-1960) who was the son of Richard Esterbrook (1864-1910), who was the son of Richard Esterbrook Jr. (1836-1892), who was the son of Richard Esterbrook Sr. (aka The Founder) (1813-1895). It's The Founder's father (who I call Sr. Sr.) who is buried in Cornwall. So, Jean was the Great-Great-Granddaughter of the founder.

 

Up towards the top of this thread is a link to a thread by another descendant, Polly McConnell. She's actually two generations below Jean, and over a line. Polly mentions that her grandmother is Caryll Esterbrook, who was Jean's father's sister, so Jean's aunt. I think that would make Jean and Polly 2nd cousins, twice removed? Or something. Regardless, they share ancestors two generations above Jean and four above Polly.

 

Jean was the last direct descendant with the name of Esterbrook. Her father, Richard Esterbrook (Jr. Jr. Jr.) was the only boy of his family, and he only had one child, Jean. But other lines like the Longmaids and McConnell's continue.

 

If you're on Ancestry.com you can search for Richard Esterbrook Family Tree. It's visible to the public.

 

Cheers

Andrew

Edited May 14, 2018 by AAAndrew