Table of Contents
The Kamendrovsky Family
Click here.
The most important people in Nizhny Lomov
Click here here.
The Match Factories
In 1885, Stepan Kamendrovsky switched to the production of phosphorus matches. He invited chemical engineers and technologists and significantly increased the number of workers, but did not abandon homeworkers and even increased their number.
From 1887, Stepan began to consistently mechanise the production of matches. A stone building and a wooden boiler house were built, woodworking machines were purchased and installed. Stepan became a merchant of the second guild.
The production of matches was already fully mechanised, but the boxes were still glued at home, and the number of homeworkers continued to grow.
In the early 90s, Father took over the factory and continued to mechanise production with renewed vigour. In 1898, he began the electrification of production; in 1901, electric lighting was mainly introduced, electric motors drove transmissions, and he bought machine tools.
In 1899, another large stone building was commissioned, production expanded, matches entered various markets and began to compete in quality with matches of the best foreign companies.
By 1900, Nizhny Lomov had become the major supplier of matches in the South of Russia. In that same year, Father made his first visit abroad, to the Paris World’s Fair, and won his first foreign medal. In total, there were ten medals. In 1896, he won a gold one at the Nizhny Novgorod fair, in 1900 at the Penza fair, in 1901 at the Paris exhibition, in 1902 in London and in 1903 in Rome. The factory was given a trademark, and Feodor Kamendrovsky became a merchant of the first guild.
In 1899, Father began the construction of a second match factory in the village of Verkhniy Lomov, Nizhnelomovskiy district, on the left bank of the Lomov River. All buildings and the engine room are built of bricks; the equipment was ordered from abroad. In 1901, the new Verkhnelomovskaya factory produced matches worth more than 30 thousand rubles. And both – more than 100 thousand rubles.
The Tarantass
A four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle.
[Father Kamendrovsky] usually travelled through the city on a tarantass pulled by one horse, over long distances he used two grey horses. And before the war, he bought a car.
Kablukov Yu.V. Leafing through the pages of past years (Years, events, facts in the history of the Nizhnelomov region) 2nd edition, corrected and supplemented Penza 2015
The Car
The Old Kazan Church
The old Kazan Church, first it was made of wood – since 1839 made of stone. It was located in the market square.
In Soviet times, the church was closed, then destroyed and the graves – including the Kamendrovsky’s – razed to the ground. Nowadays there are two-story residential buildings and a market.
Kablukov Yu.V. Leafing through the pages of past years (Years, events, facts in the history of the Nizhnelomov region) 2nd edition, corrected and supplemented Penza 2015
The Match Box
The Kamendrovsky War Hospital
On 8 March 1915 Kamendrovsky opened a shelter for orphans of parents who had died in battle or who had died from wounds received on the fronts of the First World War. And, at his own expense, he opened a hospital for wounded and sick warriors.
Ю. Каблуков, Годы,события,факты в истории Пензенского края (к 350-летию г. Пензы), Нижний Ломов 2012.
Sources
Tatyana Kadomtseva “The Fate of the Manufacturer” (English translation, for the original in Russian, see here.)
https://plyguard.com/#history – The website of the Match Factory, which still exists today. It used to contain more information about my family, but after I reached out to them, that information was removed. However, it can still be found here and here.
История Нижнеломовского края в лицах и достопримечательностях прошлого и настоящего Нижний Ломов 2020 (History of the Nizhny Lomov region in the faces and sights of the past and present Nizhny Lomov 2020)
Каблуков Ю.В. Листая прошлых лет страницы (Годы, события, факты в истории Нижнеломовского края) Издание 2-е, исправленное и дополненное Пенза 2015 (Kablukov Yu.V. Leafing through the pages of past years (Years, events, facts in the history of the Nizhnelomov region) 2nd edition, corrected and supplemented Penza 2015)
1895 Russian Empire Business Directory, Vsia Rossiia, vol. 2
1897 Moscow Address-Directory
With gratitude
With special thanks to Andrey Lang for translating, helping me find the above Russian websites and for his support.