Charles Augustus (Aldolphus) Rippman, who was the first Rippman to own the Millerstown Tannery, came to American in 1855 when he was just sixteen. He learned the trade of tanning as an apprentice to Mr. Greenwalt of Harrisburg, PA. Charles was encouraged by Mr. Greenwalt to save every penny he had to buy hides and tan them late at night after his sixteen hour workday ended. (Asper n.p.) After working there for nine years and saving every penny he could, Charles was able to buy his first tannery with his savings and some borrowed money. The first tannery was on Walnut Street in Newport in 1865. Later, he purchased and operated another tannery in Monterey, Toboyne Township. In 1882, Charles Rippman sold the tannery in Newport, that same year purchasing the tannery in Millerstown at a foreclosure sale.

The Rippman Tannery business card.. a piece of leather, what else!

The origin of the Millerstown Tannery dates back to 1814, many years before Charles A. Rippman purchased it. Originally, the tannery was built by three brothers, William, Caleb, and Joshua North, and was known as the Jordan Tannery. Joshua North operated the Jordan Tannery in Millerstown for 16 years (Rippman, J.J. 2). Joshua North then sold the tannery to Isaac McCord, who operated it for 33 years. Next, Henry Hopple purchased it in 1849 for $2,500. He improved the tannery by putting in a steam plant, which powered the operation. This plant later provided hot water for the Rippman bathroom, which included the first bathtub in the area. Hopple sold the business in 1869 to Joseph Howell, who made major renovations to the building in 1881 and 1882. Then, in 1883, Charles A. Rippman purchased it and immediately outfitted the tannery with new equipment. Christine recalled that, as a child, her "great-grandfather Charles A. Rippman was always looking for new machinery and new equipment to improve the tanning process."

She also recalled from visiting the tannery when she was a child that one of the first steps in the tanning process was fleshing the hides that they received from local farmers. The workers would take a big knife and cut off all the flesh and hair. After the hair was taken off, it was sold as stuffing for mattresses and furniture. The hides were then put into vats to soak for a few months, after which they would be taken out and hung to dry. There were 50-60 vats, each 6 feet deep, and Christine remembered that they had a rather aromatic smell that wasn't very pleasant. She also remembered her father telling her not to go near the vats because he was afraid she might fall in and die.

1876 International Exhibition award while tannery was still located on Walnut Street in Newport, PA

The vats contained the secret oak-bark liquor that only the Rippman brothers knew how to make. It is said that their secret recipe was the major reason why they won the highest award for oak sole leather at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. They also won a medal and a diploma at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition for an exhibition of leather processed at the tannery (Rippman, J.H. 3).

Although the recipe for the tanning liquor is not known, Christine recalled that large quantities of oak bark were needed, which the Rippman brothers purchased from farmers in the surrounding communities. Early in the morning the local farm boys would line up at the tannery with their wagon loads of bark. Charles would be there to pay them so they could go back to their regular chores (Asper n.p.). There was a young man from Richfield who regularly awoke at 2:00 a.m. in order to deliver bark; he had to then turn around and get back to Richfield in time for school. Christine recalled, "When I was a little girl, there were these big bark sheds in back of the building that's an apartment house right now. There were scales between the tannery and that brick place, and they would weigh everything. I mean the people were paid by weight, and that was more or less a weigh station building. In back of that, I would say, there were four or five big, long buildings that were the bark sheds, which were about as high as two stories."

1st Place in Chicago's World's Fair, 1893

The tannery was, in fact, a two-story building constructed of wood. They kept the vats on the first floor, and the hides were kept on the second floor. There was also an office where the bookkeeper would do his arithmetic. They had a basement that housed their pumping station. These pumped the used tanning liquor into what was known as the "Tanning Stream," which flowed to the river (Juniata). The "Tanning Stream" ran through the area where Jo Jo's pizza shop is today. (a.d. 2000)

Millerstown tannery in 1902

Christine also remembered that Charles routinely received cash from a bank in Philadelphia, which shipped it by railroad. One of Charles's daughters, Bertha, would go to the railroad station across the river from Millerstown each Saturday morning to get the payroll. Bertha carried the cash in a basket, and covered it with a napkin. Her mother would always worry about her carrying the undisclosed sum of money.

In 1901, Charles sold his tannery to his two sons, C. A. Rippman, Jr. and J. G. H. Rippman. They operated the business for 24 years and sold their product in every state in the Union and also in Canada. In 1927, Charles Eugene Rippman, Harry's son, died, thus ending the tannery business. According to Christine, the tannery never reopened. The 15-20 employees were out of work. Another son of Charles', Ed Rippman, sold a lot of the machinery to businesses in South America.

A later C. A. Rippman's Sons business card.. this one on paper

The property was sold to R.C. Savercool in 1945 and was leased by Percisionware to make cabinets. Percisionware's operation was destroyed in a fire in 1954. All that is left today of the Rippman Tannery is the boiler room and the chimney behind Savercool Brick.

The Rippman Tannery was very popular and was one of the the most prosperous tanneries in the world. The Guide had this to say about Charles Augustus Rippman: "Having died in 1923, he left a legacy of community service and one of the finest tanning process mills in the world."

Return home