Alfred Dolge

Alfred Dolge (December 22, 1848 – January 5, 1922) was a German-born industrialist, inventor, and author.

Originally an importer and manufacturer of piano materials he later founded his own factory, manufacturing felt products at Brockett's Bridge, Fulton County, New York, which in 1887 was renamed to Dolgeville.

Biography

Alfred Dolge was born December 22, 1848, in Chemnitz, Saxony. He attended public school in Leipzig until he was 17 when he entered his father's 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 in 1865, when he was 17. He remained permanently in 1868 and worked in piano making and importing in New York City. He purchased the old Herkimer County Tannery and in April 1875, he began manufacturing felt in it, later known as the Dolge Company Factory Complex. Within a few years Brockett's Bridge grew from 325 to over 2,000 inhabitants, 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. In 1881 the citizens unanimously petitioned the authorities at Washington to change the name of the place from Brockett's Bridge to Dolgeville, New York. In 1912 he was reported as living in Covina, California. on a round the world tour. His ashes are interred in the Dolgeville, New York cemetery. Volume II followed in 1913.

Legacy Because of Dolge, Dolgeville had the: