American Sugar Refinery Company.

San Francisco-based sugar manufacturer, founded by Claus Spreckels. It was bought in 1897 by Havemeyers and Elder, New York, and taken over by the American Sugar Refining Co. trust.

From the description of American Sugar Refinery Company records, 1879-1903. (California Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 122381679

Institutional History

The American Sugar Refinery was formed in 1879 with the purchase of the Bay Refinery, which had initially been established by Claus Spreckels in 1864. Spreckels (the "sugar king of California") "organized" the Bay Sugar Refining Company in 1863, his start in the sugar industry. He bought the machinery in New York and returned to San Francisco to build the refinery. Soon thereafter he sold his interest with a good profit.

Hittell, writing in 1882, places the plant at Union and Battery. He reports the owner then to have been C. Adolphe Low, whose name appears on the first bylaws in these records. Shuck reports in 1897 that the company was then bought by Havemeyers and Elder, New York. Ironically perhaps, Henry O. Havemeyer was Spreckels' rival, having organized the American Sugar Refining Co., which was a cartel, or trust, of sugar producers.

The American Sugar Refinery Company should apparently not be confused with the American Sugar Refining Co., although the journal, general ledger and cashbook in these records do have the name of the cartel stamped on the pages from 1897 on. According to Adler, the trust, based largely on the East Coast and in the Midwest, wanted to share the West Coast market with Spreckels. When Spreckels declined, the American Sugar Refining Co. then gained control of its near namesake. Adler reports that the state of California filed suit in 1888 (?) against the American Sugar Refinery for selling out to the cartel. During the court fight the refinery was closed, but reopened in 1890.

Spreckels retaliated against the American Sugar Refining Company cartel by building his own refinery in Philadelphia. A price war ensued, with the trust selling sugar below cost on the West Coast. The price war ended in 1891, when the cartel bought controlling interests in Spreckels' Philadelphia and Bay Area refineries. Hearings were held in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1911 regarding price-fixing ("the great sugar war between old man Claus Spreckels and Havemeyer" - p. 1928) and other monopolistic practices by the American Sugar Refining Co. The California companies figure in minor ways, but Spreckels' son and other sugar magnates were questioned in detail.

From the guide to the American Sugar Refinery Company Records, 1879-1903, (California Historical Society)