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Unsurprisingly Andrew J. Joyce’s main customer
was the
US Government
for whom he built, refinished and repaired numerous carriages and
wagons during
the second half of the nineteenth century.
His clients included the Treasury Dept.,
Dept. of the
Interior, Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park. During the
later part of its history the firm employed Hermann A. Brunn who in
1907 designed at least one body for a horseless carriage. Further
automobile body construction is likely, but unknown at this time.
Andrew J. Joyce was born in Virginia in 1821
to an Irish
immigrant father and DC-born mother (first name Hannah). After a
limited
education he was apprenticed to a local D.C. blacksmith, Charles
Lenman, whose
shop was originally located on C Street. In 1844 he became a member of
the firm
which was subsequently located at 22 Ohio Av. and conducted in the
style of
Joyce & Lenman.
Sometime after October 7, 1843 (date of
license) he married
Frances Marion Norris and to the blessed union were born nine children:
Albert
B. (b.1844); Frances Marion (b.1846-d.1922); Andrew J. (b.1848);Lula
(b.1851);
Amanda I.(b.1855); George W. (b. May 21, 1857-d.Apr. 8, 1908); Margaret
(b.
1859); Robert Edwin (Aug. 21, 1863-d. Jan. 22, 1927); and Jesse M. (b.
Sep.19, 1866,
m. McGlinchey) Joyce.
In the ensuing years Joyce embarked upon the
manufacture of
wagons and carriages in his own style and established a carriage
manufactory at
477 14th Street West. His listing in the 1862 Washington
D.C.
business directory indicated he was still involved with Lenman at the
time:
“Joyce, Andrew J. (Joyce & Lenman),
blacksmith, 22 Ohio
Av, and coachmaker, 477 14th West, h. 219 F North.”
The following year’s (1863) directory
indicates the two men
were no longer partners and that Joyce’s sole occupation was carriage
maker,
his listing under the ‘Carriage and Coachmakers’ heading being:
“Andrew
J.
Joyce, 14th West cor E North, h 479 12th West.”
The 1866 D.C. directory indicate he had
taken on a partner,
F.A. Jackson, and lists him under Carriage and Coachmakers as:
“Andrew J. Joyce
& Co. (F.A. Jackson & & A.J. Joyce), Carriage
Manufacturers, 477 14th West.”
A third partner, John L. Joyce, appears in
the firm’s 1868
directory listing under Carriage and Coachmakers:
“Andrew J. Joyce & Co. (A.J. Joyce, F.A.
Jackson, John
L. Joyce), Carriage Manufacturers, 477-479 14th West.”
John L. Joyce was Andrew’s nephew, the son
of his brother John
J. Joyce, who was a well-known Washington grocer and partner in P.
White &
Co. - of which Andrew was a silent partner - and its successor, Joyce
&
Fisher.
A.J. Joyce & Co. was a founding member
of the Carriage Builders
National Association, formed in 1872, its listing in the 1870-1876 D.C.
Directories were identical:
“Andrew J. Joyce
& Co. (A.J. Joyce, F.A. Jackson, John L. Joyce), Carriage Factory,
412,414
& 416 14th NW.”
The January 9, 1874 Elkhart Democrat Union
reported on the
sale of a Joyce landaulet to the Justice Dept.:
“All over the country, people are asking
where the money
goes. The following bills, rendered to and paid by the 'Department of
Justice,'
out of the public moneys, and which have been unearthed by the
inquiries into
the fitness of Mr. Attorney General Williams to preside on the Supreme
Bench,
show where some of the money went to:
‘WASHINGTON, January 27, 1872 — United States
Department of Justice to Andrew
J. Joyce & Co., Dr. — To one
landaulet,
No. 94, $1,600. Received payment, ANDREW J. JOYCE & Co.’
‘WASHINGTON, July, 1872 — United States
Department of
Justice to Andrew J. Joyce & Co., Dr. — One pair stitched
pole-straps and
good slip-buckle, $8; new silk lining in landaulet, $35,75 ; painting
and
varnishing landaulet, $42,60; various other items same nature, $124,88;
total,
$211,13.’
“A good many other bills of like character
were also
discovered, among them bills for more repairs to that 'landaulet' to
the amount
of about $1,130. And this public swindler, this embezzler and thief of
the
people's money, is the man Mr. Grant has sought to 'reward' with the
office of
chief justice of the United States!”
The 1877-80 D.C. directories list Joyce
under ‘Carriage
Builders’:
“Andrew J. Joyce, Carriage Manufacturer,
Nos. 412, 414 &
416 14th Street, Washington, D.C., Agent for Brewster &
Co., (of
Broom Street,) 84 5th Ave. N.Y.”
1881-82 directories list his two eldest
sons, Andrew J.
Joyce jr. and George W. Joyce, as clerks at 1124 11th NW
which was
also Andrew’s home address which most likely served as their carriage
repository.
A second, unrelated, George W. Joyce
(b.1847–d.1895), was
also living in D.C. at the time. He owned a cigar shop at 824 18th SW
and remains notable today for his illustrious career as an amateur
and
professional baseball player, who played centerfielder for the 1886
Washington
Nationals.
The firm’s founder and namesake, Andrew J.
Joyce, passed
away in 1882, and control of the firm passed to his widow, Frances, the
1883 D.C.
directory noting the change:
“Andrew J. Joyce (Frances M. Joyce),
carriagemaker,
repairing a specialty, agent for Brewster & Co., of Broome St., NY.
412,
414 & 416 14th NW.”
Frances M. Joyce home address was listed as
1124 11th NW, the same as Andrew Jr. and George W. Joyce, and it's
included in the
firm’s
1885 directory listing:
“Andrew J. Joyce (Frances M. Joyce),
carriagemaker,
repairing a specialty, agent for Brewster & Co., of Broome St., NY.
412,
414 & 416 14th NW, h. 1124 11th NW.”
The 1886 directory now lists Andrew’s son
George W. Joyce as
manager of the firm:
“Andrew J. Joyce, Carriage Builder, agent
for Brewster &
Co., (of Broome St., NY). Geo. W. Joyce, Manager. Nos. 412, 414 &
416
Fourteenth Street Northwest.”
The 1890 directory lists the name of the
firm as Andrew J.
Joyce’s Sons and also marks the first appearance of the 1028 and 1030
Connecticut Ave. wareroom and no longer includes the Brewster
representation:
“Andrew J. Joyce’s Sons, Carriage Builders,
Harness Makers.
Warerooms: 1028 and 1030 Connecticut Ave. Office and Factory, 412, 414
&
416 Fourteenth St. Complete Line of Whips, Robes. Blankets, and Stable
Belongings. Special attention paid to the repairing and repainting of
fine
carriages and the repairing of fine harness. Orders left at our
warerooms will
receive prompt attention.”
The 1892 directory lists R. Edwin Joyce on
the masthead
alongside Geo. W. Joyce, with no other changes.
The firm’s listing in the New York
Mercantile Illustrating Co.’s
1894 publication, ‘Washington, D.C., with its points of interest,’
follows:
“ANDREW J. JOYCE'S SONS. — In America,
one of the
oldest firms of carriage builders is Andrew J. Joyce's Sons, whose
office
and factory in Washington are located at 412, 414 and 416 14th
Street, and
1400, 1402 and 1404 E Street, N. W., and the wareroom is at 1028
and 1030
Connecticut Avenue. This business was established in 1844 by
Andrew J.
Joyce, who died in 1882, when his sons succeeded to the interest
and
goodwill of the founder. The factory is one of the largest and
most
completely equipped in the South East, and contains four floors,
each 80
by 150 feet in space, or a total of 48,000 square feet. The first floor
is
devoted to office and repository purposes; on the second and third
floors
the manufacturing is done; while the fourth floor is devoted to
trimming, finishing and painting. The warerooms in Connecticut
Avenue
are commodious, and a large stock is kept on view for supplying
the wholesale and retail trade. This is the oldest carriage-building
house
in the
city, and its reputation, which has never wavered since Mr. Joyce
founded
it in 1844, is in safe hands, for the sons, Messrs. Geo. W. and R.
Edwin Joyce,
are men of distinct honor, having inherited their father's
qualities for
sterling integrity. They are natives of Washington and among the
most
energetic and enterprising of this city's young men. They are practical
carriage builders; each, after receiving an academic education, having
served his time as an apprentice and mastered his trade. They turn
out the
finest carriages that are made, including the latest styles
of landaus,
Victorias, etc.; also, road wagons, traps, buck-boards, etc. They
manufacture light harness, whips and driving paraphernalia to
order,
and carry a heavy stock of horse clothing, rugs, blankets, etc.,
and also
act as the special agents of Brewster & Co., carriage builders of
New York.
Their trade is a high-class one, and covers Maryland, West
Virginia,
Virginia and the District of Columbia. They employ forty of the
most skillful
men that high wages can control, and a competent superintendent and
foremen
are in charge of the various departments, over all of which the
Messrs. Joyce exercise a personal supervision. The material used
in their
products is the best, the styles are the latest and the
workmanship is of
a superior order.”
Andrew J. Joyce’s Sons listing remains
unchanged until 1898
when it lists Geo. W. Joyce separately under carriage dealers, but not
under
manufacturers, and removes the firm’s 1028-1030 Connecticut Avenue
warerooms:
“George W. Joyce, carriages, 456 Pa av NW,
h. Chevy Chase.
Md.
“R. Edwin Joyce, vice-president, the Andrew
J, Joyce
Carriage Co., h. 1627 R NW.”
“Andrew J. Joyce Carriage Co. 412-414 14th
NW.”
George W. Joyce’s 456 Pa av NW listing
vanished by 1902, the
Andrew J. Joyce listing remains the same.
Hermann A. Brunn, the legendary Buffalo, New
York
coachbuilder and designer, briefly worked for the firm after he
completed his
employment at the H.H. Babcock company in Watertown, New York. I’ve
seen an 11”x14”
rendering of a ‘horseless carriage’ he made for the Joyce works, signed
by him
and dated 1907 – the only evidence I could locate that confirms that
Joyce
engaged in the manufacture of automobile bodies.
Brunn was in charge of the firm’s design
department from
1907-1908 when the closure of the firm due to the unexpected death of
George W.
Joyce on April 8, 1908 prompted his return to his hometown of Buffalo
where he
founded Brunn & Company later in the year.
In order to settle his brother’s estate R.
Edwin Joyce was
forced to sell the firm’s Fourteenth and E Streets factory after which
he
associated himself with the American Multigraph Sales Co. for whom he
served as
their US Government sales representative. A the end of the First World
War he
was taken ill for a couple of years, and on recovering took a position
with the
Federal Board for Vocational Education, 1410 Pennsylvania Avenue,
Washington
D.C.
He was pictured in the January 20, 1923
issue of Radio
World:
“Smallest Tube Radio Set in Hospital Service
“Presented with the smallest tube receiving
set ever built,
by his associates on the Federal Board for Vocational Training of War
Veterans,
in Washington, R. Edwin Joyce is photographed listening to a concert
broadcast
from St. Louis. Mr. Joyce was taken to a hospital in Washington where
an
operation made it necessary that he remain in bed for an indefinite
period. To
while away the weary hours and keep his mind active, his friends
presented him
with a small set —one that wouldn't require a large cabinet. This
miniature tube-set
is the invention of Barney J. Foy, in charge of the electrical training
courses
at the Washington Bureau for Disabled War Veterans. Tests prove that it
has a
remarkable receiving-range notwithstanding that it belongs to the army
of pygmy
radio-sets. The complete set, batteries and all, may be held easily in
one
hand. As will be seen in the photograph, the inductance is the familiar
honeycomb type and the 1½ volt tube is used. The fact that it is small
necessitates, of course, that it be of the single-circuit type; but it
has
recently been found that this type of receiver is remarkable in its
selectiveness and is easier to manipulate than the multi-control type.
The use
to which this set is being put is another phase of the wonderful work
that
radio is performing in keeping the minds of those who are sick and
ailing off
their ills. Another instance of radio's heroic service!”
Born in August 21, 1863, Robert Edwin Joyce
passed away on
January 22, 1927 at the age of 63.
© 2013 Mark
Theobald for Coachbuilt.com
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