Austin Church was an American medical doctor and a pioneer of bicarbonate of soda manufacturing. He was a co-founder of the company that first made the product in America. His company was the first to use the Arm & Hammer trademark to sell the product as a baking soda.
Early life
Church was born in East Haddam, Connecticut on January 8, 1799. He was the son of Oliver Church, a school teacher, and Elizabeth Church. His mother and father died while he was still a child, leaving him an orphan with little means. However, Church did finish high school and put himself through Yale Medical School to become a medical doctor. He began his medical career in Utica, New York in 1824. In 1826 he moved and practiced in Cooperstown, New York, and in 1829 he moved to Ithaca, New York.
Career
In 1834, Church began to experiment with sodium carbonate and carbon dioxide to try to find a yeast substitute for making bread rise while being baked. Bicarbonate of soda became a replacement of the potash then used for baking. Church gave up his medical practice and established a factory to make pearlash and saleratus in Rochester, New York. He partnered with his brother-in-law John Dwight in 1846 and started manufacturing baking soda from Dwight's farmhouse. Church and Dwight moved their business, called John Dwight & Company, to New York City, just west of 10th Avenue at 25th Street. Their product became the first commercially produced bicarbonate of soda manufactured in the United States. Church and Dwight packaged the product themselves in brightly colored bags for grocery store shelves. The sales increased from one ton of production in 1846 to over 10,000 tons a year thirty years later. The factory that produced the baking soda was in Brooklyn, where Church lived for twenty-five years. The main office of the company was on Front Street in Rochester, New York. In the mid-1860s, Church and Dwight showed an interest in their sons becoming partners in their company, but a recent investor in the company objected. Church resigned from the company, and founded Church & Company of Massachusetts with his sons in 1867. They used the Arm & Hammer trademark from the Vulcan Spice Mills company, which was owned by one of Church's sons, and used it to sell baking soda. It was the same product as Dwight's product, which he continued selling, under the Cow Brand trademark. Church and Dwight remained friends and competed for 29 years. The two firms joined back together again in 1896 and became Church and Dwight Company. The Cow Brand and Arm & Hammer Brand were seen by the public as one and the same, so both logos were used after the merger. For example, they gave away recipe books with both trademarks on the cover. For fifty years, the company was one of the most well known grocery store supply vendors in the United States. Dwight was the first president of Church and Dwight Company and kept his position until his death in 1903.
Philanthropy
Church was known as a generous contributor to various charities across the country.
Church retired from the bicarbonate of soda manufacturing business in 1876. He lived to celebrate his golden wedding anniversary in 1877. Church died in Brooklyn, New York, on August 7, 1879. His two sons, E. Dwight Church and James Austin Church, managed Church and Dwight Company after his death.
