Part 3 of 4_Alfred Dolge Mansion and Daniel Green Factory_Dolgeville, NY_July 20th, 2000

Alfred Dolge (December 22, 1848-January 5, 1922) was a New York City and Dolgeville, New York industrialist, inventor, and author.[1]

He was originally an importer and manufacturer of piano materials and later became a manufacturer of felt products. In 1874 Alfred Dolge went to Brockett's Bridge, Fulton County, New York, prospecting for spruce wood to be used for piano sounding boards. In 1887 the citizens unanimously petitioned the authorities at Washington to change the name of the place from Brockett's Bridge to Dolgeville, New York.[2]

Contents [hide]
1 Biography
2 Philiosophy
3 Legacy
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biography
Alfred Dolge was born December 22, 1848 in Chemnitz, Saxony. He attended public school in Leipzig until he was 16 when he entered his fathers' business, the A. Dolge and Co., Piano Manufacturers, as an apprentice. He pursued high school studies in a night school conducted by the Free Masons in Leipzig and received his diploma from them. He first came to the United States when he was 17. He remained permanently in 1868 and worked in piano making and importing in New York City.[2] He first came to Brockett's Bridge, now Dolgeville, in 1874 in search of a suitable location for more felt manufacturing. In April 1875, he began manufacturing in the old tannery which he purchased, which later became the Dolge Company Factory Complex. Within a few years Dolgeville grew from 325 to over 2,000, many of whom were German immigrants whom he had interested in the area by advertisements and agents. Eventually, Dolge built felt mills, made felt shoes, autoharps, piano cases, piano sounding boards, piano hammers, ran lumber yards, and contributed to the local physical infrastructure and educational needs.[2] Alfred Dolge failed financially and left Dolgeville in May of 1899. He lived in California and started a business there. He died in Milan, Italy on January 5, 1922 on a round the world tour. He is buried in the Dolgeville cemetery.[2]

[edit] Philiosophy
Inspired by his early readings of Liebnecht, Marx, Mill, and Adam Smith, Dolge instituted at Dolgeville a form of what we now call social security in his attempt to create an idealistic socialistic utopia. About 1876, when the factory was first well established, Dolge began to set up his Pension Plan which remained almost exactly the same throughout his tenure. It was extremely generous, ranging from 50 percent of wages for disability after 10 years service up to 100 percent after 25 years.[2] Later he added a system of life insurance paid for by the firm. He also instituted a program of Earning-Sharing whereby an employee received a portion of the earnings according to his contribution in brains or the value of his work. This was not to be turned over until retirement, but was to be reinvested. The Pension Plan was non-contributory by the employee. The employer paid all. When Dolge's business

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Education

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• Dolgeville
• 2000 Part 3