R. Esterbrook & Company is formally organized

In 1860, we formally organized R. Esterbrook & Company as an American steel pen business. Historical research records the company as filing for incorporation that year, with its Philadelphia warehouse and office at 403 Arch Street. The original partnership comprised Richard Esterbrook Sr., Philadelphia businessman Joel Cadbury Jr., and experienced steel pen manufacturer James Bromsgrove. Richard Esterbrook Jr. served as an officer of the business rather than as one of the original partners. ©The Esterbrook Project The organization of the company established the business structure from which manufacturing operations developed across the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey. Contemporary and later records place the beginning of Esterbrook's American steel pen manufacturing in 1860, with the Camden works operating by 1861. The Philadelphia address remained an important commercial base: a surviving 1865 city directory identifies R. Esterbrook & Co. as steel pen manufacturers at 403 Arch Street and names Richard Esterbrook, Joel Cadbury Jr. and James Bromsgrove as the partner