Background
John Matthews was born in London, England in 1808. He is said to have been christened John Henry, but apparently never used the middle name.
John Matthews was born in London, England in 1808. He is said to have been christened John Henry, but apparently never used the middle name.
After gaining a common-school education he became an indentured apprentice in the machine shops and manufactory founded in London by the distinguished engineer Joseph Bramah. After completing his apprenticeship and working as a machinist for a few years in the Bramah establishment, he emigrated to the United States at the age of twenty-four.
Settling in New York, he immediately opened a modest shop and began general machine repairing. In England he had gained a thorough knowledge of the Bramah system of manufacturing soda water and of the apparatus with which to make it. Within a year after coming to New York he began to manufacture these products. At the time soda water was commonly made by individual druggists in copper fountains. One of Matthews' first improvements was to construct his fountains of cast iron and line them with tin. At first he had considerable difficulty in marketing his apparatus because of the druggists' prejudice, but by manufacturing soda water for use in his fountains and peddling them, filled, about the city, he gradually built up a prosperous business, and at the time of his death, soda water manufactured by him was sold at more than five hundred places in New York alone. Matthews, however, was much more interested in improving the manufacturing and dispensing machinery. Leaving the fountain peddling to others, he devoted his whole time and a large portion of his income to experimental work looking toward the improvement of the apparatus, though he never patented any of his inventions. In his generators, which were made of cast iron lined with lead, the carbonic acid was produced from marble dust and oil of vitriol. After being purified by passing through water in a purifying chamber it was conducted to the fountain where it was combined with water by means of a revolving agitator. The dispensing apparatus was a simple draft-tube projecting up from the counter, beneath which the fountain lay incased in ice. The flavorings were kept in glass bottles on the counter. Matthews' manufacturing business grew by leaps and bounds, his products were used all over the world, and in 1865 when he retired and turned over the business to his sons, his plant at First Avenue between Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh streets was of immense proportions. He was buried in Brooklyn, N. Y.
Matthews was known as "The Soda Fountain King". He created a fountain apparatus that could be positioned on a pharmacist’s counter to dispense carbonated drinks. He also invented a method to put carbonated soda water into pressured bottles. Manufacturing the carbonating machinery, his fountains were placed in pharmacy store counters to dispense carbonated drinks, which led to its rapid growth in popularity. He was a member of the Antique Bottles Hall of Fame. His elaborate monument was designed by Karl Muller at the cost $30, 000.
He had married in 1830, before coming to the United States, Elizabeth Chester of Bristol, England, and at the time of his death was survived by his widow and two sons.
