Rand, Daniel Curtis, 1820-
Biography
Daniel Curtis Rand was born February 1, 1820, and grew up in Charleston, New Hampshire. He attended from Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire, and graduated with the class of 1839. Rand attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and graduated in the class of 1843. After a short traveling tour in New York and Connecticut he settled in Middletown for a little while longer and worked with his sister Lucia at the powder mill his family owned. An informal ledger of mill accounts can be found in the middle section of Rand's journal. Rand eventually settled in Pittsford, New York where he opened his own powder mill, manufacturing blasting powder used in New York stone quarries and Pennsylvania coal mines, in addition to regular gun powder. Rand entered into a business partnership with Mortimer Wadhams, and they named their plant Rand and Wadhams Manufacturing of Mining, Blasting and Sporting Powder. It remained so until 1900 when it was renamed the D. C. Rand Powder Co. Daniel married Wadhams' daughter Stella in 1864, and the couple had four sons, Mortimer, Robert, Samuel, and Phillip, and three daughters, Lucia, Lucy, and Stella. Upon Rand's death, Stella and her 14-year-old son Phillip took over the business, which continued to operate until about 1910 after a series of unfortunate explosions. The site of the Rands' home was called Oakridge, and this property is now a part of a county park, aptly named "Powder Mills Park."
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Daniel Curtis Rand journal
The Daniel C. Rand journal has accounts of his expenses and savings as a Wesleyan University student from 1839 to 1843. The journal also includes written accounts of business conducted at the Rand family's powder mill in 1844 and 1845, and the minutes, constitution, and by-laws of the Union Eloquium's Society in Meriden, New Hampshire.