The Root Glass Company The Root Glass Company The Root Glass Company originated as Root Glass Works in Vigo County, Indiana. Businessman and Pennsylvania native Chapman J. Root (November 22, 1864 - November 20, 1945) opened the original glass company on May 27, 1901, at Third and Voorhees Streets a year after he moved to the city of Terre Haute, Indiana. By 1904 the company was manufacturing beverage bottles for Coca-Cola as well as several other beverage companies in the area. Between 1905 and 1912 the Root Glass Company workforce increased from 600 to 825 employees. In 1915, Root's company entered a Coca-Cola contest
Seneca Glass Company to buy the soon-to-be vacated Fostoria glass works. The German investor group selected another German, Otto Jaeger, to be their leader. Jaeger had been part of the Fostoria Glass Company management team, and was experienced in glass etching and engraving. The Fostoria plant and its permanent equipment were sold for $20,000 (over $500,000 in 2013 dollars) to the German investors during the Fall of 1891. Although the company's plant was in Fostoria, Ohio, it was granted its charter in West Virginia on December 4, 1891. One commonly made mistake is the assumption that Seneca Glass Company was located in Ohio's