Ashby Corbin, Page One

Two young carrying-in boys in Alexandria (Va.) Glass Factory. Frank Clark (on left) 702 N. Patrick St., could neither read nor write, having been to school only a few weeks in his life. Two older brothers work in glass factory, and his father is a candy maker. Frank is working on night shift this week. Ashby Corbin (on right), 413 N. St. Asaph St. Has had only four terms of schooling. Location: Alexandria, Virginia, June 1911, Lewis HIne.

The following appears on the website of the Alexandria Archaeology Museum.

Alexandria experienced astonishing growth as a manufacturing center from 1899 to 1915, leading every city in Virginia except Lynchburg in the increased production of goods. The value of the city's products nearly tripled between 1899 and 1909. The most important industries produced glass, fertilizer, beer and leather. There were 54 manufacturing establishments which employed 1,713 persons. In 1899 salaries paid to all persons employed in these industries amounted to $374,000, and the figure increased to $919,000 in 1909 - Alexandria Gazette, June 4, 1912.

Central to this phenomenal growth were Alexandria's glass factories. Major production of glass began in the early 1890s by the Virginia Glass Company, located on the south side of the 1800 block of Duke Street in West End. A large percentage of the firm's business was the manufacture of bottles for the Portner brewery on St. Asaph Street.

On February 18, 1905, tragedy befell the company when its plant was entirely destroyed by fire. In January 1901, German-American entrepreneurs and local glassblowers announced they would soon erect a new glass works on the river front along the old Alexandria canal locks on the 800 and 900 blocks of North Fairfax Street near Montgomery Street. Known as the Old Dominion Glass Company, it had scarcely been in operation a year when it too was ravaged by fire. Soon reconstructed, however, the plant manufactured an assortment of beer and soda bottles, flasks, and medicine and food bottles for the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, McCormick and Company and others.

The Belle Pre Bottle Company, situated on the west side of Henry Street between Madison and Montgomery Streets, was organized in 1902 by a group of Washington businessmen. It owned a patent on a type of milk bottle and was one of the largest producers of such bottles in the U.S. Beset by financial setbacks in 1912, Belle Pre declared bankruptcy and subsequently auctioned off its equipment.

Finally, the Alexandria Glass Company, begun about 1900, was located on the northwest corner of Henry and Montgomery Streets. Purchased by the Old Dominion Glass Company in 1916, fire completely devastated the glass works despite the vigorous efforts of the firemen. As a result of this blaze, 175 men and boys lost their jobs, and company officials estimated the damage at $75,000. - Alexandria Gazette, February 2, 1917.

This photograph would be more appropriate for the cover of Huckleberry Finn than Oliver Twist. But buddies Ashby and Frank probably shared few light moments at the factory. This is one of two Lewis Hine photos at the Alexandria Glass Company that I have researched. At the end of this story, see the link to my research on Robert Kidd, which includes a telling description of the often harrowing working conditions for "carrying-in boys."

With the help of Amy Bertsch, researcher at the Office of Historic Alexandria, I had little trouble obtaining Ashby's obituary and locating his daughter Anna, who had never seen the photograph. My interview with her follows on the next page.

On this late spring day, across the Potomac from Washington, Ashby Aurelius Corbin was about to celebrate his 14^th birthday. He was in born in Alexandria on July 2, 1897, the son Edward Corbin and Regina Lyons. They had married in 1891, and by 1909, they had lost three of their first seven children. In the 1910 census, Edward was listed as working in an iron foundry, 17-year-old daughter Jeannette was a basket maker, and Eugene and Ashby, 15 and 13, worked at the glass factory.

Ashby married Elizabeth Simpson in 1919, and they had five children. Elizabeth passed away in January of 1935, and their youngest child, Agnes, died less than 10 months later. In February 1936, Ashby married Elizabeth Pullen, and they had one child. Ashby died on December 26, 1945, at the age of 48.