"Our Heritage"
Mt. Olive Tribune
By Claude Moore

In 1985, the Dewey Brothers, Inc., of Goldsboro, observed its 100th anniversary of operation & at that time, I attempted to gather data on the history of the company. After sifting through newspapers & other sources I was able to get enough information to compile a booklet of which I could be proud. I did find much information & one of the findings was that the company had at one time built locomotives.

During their 100 years the company has built steam engines, boilers, saw mills, cotton gins, grist mills, cotton presses, shingle machines & wood working machinery. They made parts for all kinds of machinery.

Dewey Brothers built bridges in the 1920's & during World War II they furnished materials for military bases & ship building. Since World War II they have made castings for utilities & other projects.

It was after 1900 that Dewey Brothers began to make small locomotives for the logging & lumber business. They could be used on iron rails or on wood rails. The first were built with funnel stacks & were wood burning & later they made several types which could use coal. During this period the lumber industry was flourishing from North Carolina to Florida.

There were stands of long leaf pines & virgin cypress. Large saw mill operations had tram roads which used this type of steam locomotive. After World War I, many of these operations were closed. The Roller Lumber Company at Bowden in Duplin County used the Dewey Brothers locomotives. They had a tram road from Giddensville to Bowden to Warsaw.

Dewey Brothers made most of their own castings for these locomotives. Some were built for a 36 inch gauge track & others for 56 1/2 inch gauge track. One advertisement stated that the 56 1/2 inch gauge locomotives had the following specifications: diameter of wheels, 33 inches; water capacity, 400 gallons; length of boiler, 12 feet 3 inches; fuel capacity, one ton of coal, one cord of wood; weight, 12 ton hauling capacity, four to six loaded boxes or flat cars.

During the 100 years, Dewey Brothers has survived & thrived because of its excellent managerial leadership & the fact that as times changed, they were able to meet the new challenges & needs of progressive business & industry.

Dewey Brothers has been an important part of our past & still contributes valuable resources for our present & future.