Name/Title
Handwritten History of Creamery in Campbell HallEntry/Object ID
002098Tags
Nathaniel Woodhull, George Gouge, Campbell Hall, R W WoodhullDescription
Creamery at Campbell Hall started by R.W.
Woodhull of Blooming Grove in 1848 with George Gouget from western-
butter and cheese maker. In 1860 his
son Nathaniel D. Woodhull formed a
partnership with George Gouge and bought
his father, R.W. Woodhull, out of both city
distributing and country receiving business.
This partnership continued until 1870 with
Mr. Woodhull supervising the city end,
where he gained the name of the New York
City "Milk King" and was also president
of Milk Dealers Union of New York. In 1870
Mr Gouge & Mr. Woodhull dissolved partnership.
Bought out business
Mr. Gouge taking over the creamery
at Campbell Hall and Mr Woodhull remained
in wholesale milk trade in N.Y.
Mr. Gouge conducted business successfully
for many years and upon his death
left a comfortable estate to his widow
who having no children did many
kind and charitable things for for her neighbors and at which the educated
a colored man for ministry, gave ground on
which church was built and a large
house near for a parsonage. On her
death she willed her large residence
to make a more comfortable home
for pastor and her 180 acre
farm along with $5,000 in bonds
to church.
So much for history of owners and
etc. now for what I’ve learned of
methods of operation. When cream was
first started milk + cream and skim milk
cheese made. In 1856 Butter first made
but as yet I've found out nothing regarding
process of making. Milk and products
hauled to Goshen, about 6 miles west
on main line of Erie to N.Y.C. Milk
and cream packed in tubs and shipped
like we pack ice cream in tubs now-
days. Packing milk & cream in long
large square boxes a good deal
on the style of present day hardening
vats worked but used in ice
cream making. This method proved
to heavy and therefore discarded for
old. Milk supplied by farmers
within a radius of 5 miles making
one of Orange Co. first finest and
largest developed dairy sections.
Buildings erected over a spring that
was unusually cold. People would
come there with jugs in hot weather
for a cool drink of water and it would
be so cold it would actually
crack the jugs. Therefore with this
spring which was very large, great
quantities of milk was cooled and
a saving in ice resulted necessitating
only a small icehouse for cooling during shipping.
Farmers milk associations caused slump
in business and at last ended
