Benson. Brick Manufacturing – J. C. Hancock. Second Inspection 1900. Adults – Male - 11. Total No. Employed - 11. No. Hours Labor Each Day - 10. Average No. Weeks Employed in Year - 26. (Seventh Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of Minnesota, 1899-1900, Pioneer Press Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1900, Page 124)
Benson. Brick Mfrs. Hancock J. C. 1901. None. 1902. Adult Males - 13. Boys Under 16 Years – 1. Total – 14. Number of Working Hours Each Day - 10. Average Number of Weeks in Year – 22. Number of Persons Working Sundays - 2. (Eighth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of Minnesota, 1901-1902, Pioneer Press Company, St. Paul, 1902, Page 171)
We have a small country yard, running a horse-power Horton machine, making 750,000 each season, which we sell here at home for $7 a thousand, kiln run. However, our trade is growing to such an extent that we will soon have to change to steam power. J. L. Hancock. Benson, Minn. (The Clay Worker, T. A. Randall & Company, Indianapolis, October 1902, Volume XXXVIII, Number 4, Page 356)
Page 248. Benson. Brick and Tile – 1903. The Hancock Brick Yard. Total Number Wage Earners - 11. Adult Males - 10. Males Under 16 Years – 1. Number of Hours Each Day - 10. Number of Hours Each Week - 60. Average Number Weeks Operated During 1902 - 15. Number Employed between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. – Not Listed. Number Persons Regularly Employed Sunday – Not Listed. Established in Year – Illegible.
Page 249. 1904. Total Number Wage Earners - 8. Adult Males (Excluding Office Force) - 8. Number of Hours Each Day – 10. Number of Hours Each Week – 60. Average Number Weeks Operated Last Year - 9. Number Employed between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. – Not Listed. Number Persons Regularly Employed on Sunday – Not Listed. Changes in Name of Firm or New Inspections – None. (Ninth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of Minnesota, 1903-1904, Volume 2, Great Western Printing Company, 1904)
J. C. Hancock, Benson, Minn., is dismantling his brick works and will not operate same any more. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, August 14, 1909, Volume XXXV, Number 3, Page 33)
At Benson some sandy surface clays in the nature of outwash or loess and surface wash were used for red brick, but were found too full of limestone for good products. (Clays and Shales of Minnesota, Frank F. Grout and E. K. Soper, The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1914, Page 160)