Wallace & Tiernan Company

Wallace & Tiernan Company was founded by Charles F. Wallace and Martin F. Tiernan in 1911. Housed in a single-room shop in New York City, the company's research focused on sanitation products. For the first couple of years, Wallace worked in the shop developing new products, while Tiernan worked several outside jobs to raise funds for the company. The team's first breakthrough came in 1913, when the Jersey City Water Supply asked them to install their newly invented "chlorinator" to help sanitize that local watershed. On April 15, 1915, Wallace and Tiernan brought in their first employee, William Orchard. By 1921 the company had outgrown the New York City shop and was relocated to Belleville, NJ. The organization continued to grow, as Wallace & Tiernan Company established itself as a worldwide leader in water sanitation equipment. Charles F. Wallace (1885-1964) was born in Kansas City, Missouri on July 1, 1885 to Charles and Nellie (née Galehouse) Wallace. After briefly attending Wooster College in Ohio and the University of Michigan, Wallace moved to New York City in 1908. He met Tiernan while working at the Gerard Ozone Processing Company, when the two roomed together at a local YMCA. Wallace married Florence Murray, a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology's Domestic Science Department, in 1914 and the couple had three daughters. During his lifetime, Wallace was granted over 80 patents for his inventions. He died on June 3, 1964 in Summit, NJ. Martin F. Tiernan (1882-1968) was born in Rochester, NY on October 15, 1882 to Christopher and Mary (née Farnan) Tiernan. After graduating from the University of Rochester in 1906, Tiernan attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied sanitary engineering. As an assistant bacteriologist for the Pittsburgh Typhoid Fever Commission, Tiernan developed an interest in water sterilization. He married Purcell Carroll in Brewster, NY on September 2, 1916 and they had five children. Tiernan died in March 1968 in Garwood, NJ. Wallace and Tiernan were jointly honored with the Edward Longstreth Medal of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia in 1922. Wallace also received the Modern Pioneer Award of the National Association of Manufacturers in 1940.