John M. Whitall

In 1824, Whitall was contracted by Whitton Evans to oversee the construction of a new sailing ship, New Jersey, the largest Indiaman yet constructed in Philadelphia, and was given command as captain. Whitall was a ship's captain at age 24, which was unusual for the time. Because the ship sailed through distant relatively unknown waters in a time when privateering and piracy was common, it was required to carry arms, which initially caused Whitall some consternation because at that time Quaker society generally prohibited carrying arms. The young captain decided to forbid the sailors on board from using profane language, and this worked to his advantage when dealing with men older and more experienced. The voyage to Canton was uneventful, and the ship returned to Philadelphia in April 1826. He made two more very profitable but anxious voyages as captain of the New Jersey carrying ginseng to Canton, returning with silk and tea. The voyage to Canton lasted about four months and the selling and buying of cargo took 2 months, giving each trip a total duration of about ten months. Due to the danger and hardship of life at sea, Whitall had been undecided about whether to continue as a ship's captain. Upon returning to Philadelphia in 1829, Whitall found that the ship's owner Whitton Evans had died, and the ship was then sold.

With his savings from his life at sea, in 1829 Whitall entered into the dry goods business in Center City Philadelphia. Whitall had courted Mary Tatum during his interludes in Philadelphia between ship voyages and he proposed in 1829. She was the daughter of John and Hannah Tatum of Woodbury, New Jersey and a friend of Whitall's family from his childhood. They were married at a Friends Meeting in Woodbury, New Jersey on November 5, 1830, and lived with his parents in Cemnter City Philadelphia but soon after found another residence nearby. He went into partnership for five years but found the dry goods business meager for his needs because he was accustomed to dealing with men on board ship and a little more excitement.

Being relatively uneducated and naive to the business world, Whitall attempted to deal in business honestly but found that some of his business clients had taken unfair advantage of him. Instead of attempting to secure further loans, Whitall in 1837 chose to sell out and settle with his creditors. He found that he could only settle his accounts at 75 cents per dollar. He paid this off in a period of 12 months and promised to pay the remaining 25% with interest, which he did successfully by 1850.

In 1838, G.M. Haverstick, Whitall's brother in law, and his partner William Scattergood offered Whitall partnership in their business manufacturing glass bottles in Millville, New Jersey. Whitall continued to live in Philadelphia and worked there at the main headquarters of the company, called "Scattergood & Whitall" after Haverstick retired. Whitall found the work agreeable and the business went well. The company manufactured bottles in special order for drug stores across the country, and perfume-makers, with the store's logo imprinted in the glass. The bottles are prized by collectors today. In 1845, Scattergood retired, and Whitall's brother Israel "Franklin" Whitall joined the partnership to oversee the work in Millville. The company rapidly expanded, developing new industrial processes, refining the recipes for glass, and discovering more efficient ways to cast bottles. During the next several years the glass business prospered and Whitall and his brother built a new storehouse at 4th and Race Streets in Philadelphia. In 1848, Edward Tatum joined the partnership and the firm was renamed Whitall, Brother & Company; in 1857, the name was changed to Whitall Tatum & Company. The company continued producing glass bottles and insulators for telegraph poles under the direction of IF Whitall and Edward Tatum and their descendants until 1938 when it was purchased by the Armstrong Cork Company.