Two Swedish names have been synonymous with the success of the Sheridan Iron Works in the Village of Champlain during the first half of the 20th century. The names are Bredenberg and Linder. Both families are buried at Glenwood Cemetery.
Sheridan Iron Works on Elm Street in the Village of Champlain was founded by James Averill Jr. (who is buried in Glenwood Cemetery) when he purchased a shuttered iron foundry in the early 1880s. He made waterwheels and bookbinding equipment there for several years. In 1887, the Sheridan brothers of New York City purchased the plant and it became the principal iron foundry for their bookbinding company. In the mid-1960s, it became Harris Intertype and was in operation until 1988. The plant employed thousands of workers over its 100-year existence.
In 1890, Alfred Bredenberg, a recent immigrant from Sweden with generations of family activity in the iron industry, was hired by the Sheridan company in Champlain. He quickly became chief engineer and designed many types of bookbinding equipment that were used around the world. He worked at Sheridan from 1890 to the early 1930s.
Alfred Bredenberg had a cousin named Isaac in New York City who was also hired at Sheridan in Champlain. He worked there until he died of tuberculosis in 1907.
Isaac Bredenberg’s son was named Oscar Bredenberg and he was hired by Sheridan in 1910 as an office boy. He retired in 1958 as the plant manager with 48 years of employment. He is credited with running the Sheridan plant during the lean war years when it stopped making bookbinding equipment and made military equipment for the war effort.
Isaac Bredenberg’s daughter, Hulda (and sister of Oscar), was a longtime secretary at Sheridan. She married Woody McLellan in 1950.
Alfred Bredenberg’s son, Victor Bredenberg, worked as a mechanical engineer at Sheridan and retired at the age of 70.
All of the noted Bredenbergs are buried in Glenwood Cemetery.
Another Swede by the name of John Linder started employment with Sheridan in 1898 and was a design engineer for decades. He was also prominent in community affairs in Champlain.