USA > Connecticut > Connecticut as a colony and as a state; or, One of the original thirteen, Volume III > Part 14
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The introduction of lock-making in Connecticut is credited to Stephen C. Bucknell, an Englishman, who in 1832 settled
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in Watertown, and made locks for cabinets by the English method of hand labor. His progress was necessarily slow, and he disposed of his interests to those engaged in clock- making, but their machinery was not adapted to manufacture locks in competition with foreign labor. The Mallory Wheeler Company of New Haven, established in 1834, com- bine lock manufacturing with that of hardware; door locks and latches, knobs, padlocks, and bronze door furniture are made in numberless designs.
The William Wilcox Manufacturing Company was estab- lished at Middletown in 1845. Plate locks, padlocks, wood hames, etc., are among its products.
One of the earliest industries of South Norwalk was the Norwalk Lock Company, who made locks and builders' hard- ware in endless variety. The Smith & Egge Company of Bridgeport furnish the post-office mail locks that are used by the national government.
The company that has given Connecticut a world-wide rep- utation in this industry is the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, which located at Stamford in the spring of 1869. The flat keyed lock which is known as the "Yale lock" is the invention of Linus Yale, Jr. He and his father were known as manufacturers of bank locks of superior construc- tion. This invention marked an era in lock manufacturing, - the substitution for the heavy lock and cumbersome key of a small flat key and a light-weight lock that can be applied to the heaviest door. Additional security from burglars is also obtained, as the key openings are much smaller than in the old-style locks. The company's vault door, with its time and combination locks and its automatic bolts, challenges the admiration of the world, though it fills the criminal operator with despair. The manufacture of fine locks suggested to
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the company fine hardware; and all sorts of door and cabinet hardware in bronze and iron, are among its productions. Their buildings, which are models of factory construction, extend over twenty acres; and when running in full capacity, employment is given to fourteen hundred hands.
While in gas and lamp fixtures Connecticut only ranked fourth in 1900, in the total production of the United States in lamps and reflectors she stands first; her nine establish- ments in this line furnish one-fourth of the total amount man- ufactured.
One of the most important factors in the State in this line of industry is the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Com- pany of Meriden. A half-century ago marks the inception of this great enterprise, when with a capital of only $5,000, a joint-stock company entitled Bradley, Hatch & Co. was organized. Various changes were made in the personnel of the company, from this time until 1875, when a new joint- stock company was formed under the present name. Their various styles of lamps, with the celebrated "B. & H." burner, are sold throughout the United States and foreign countries.
In addition to this line, oil stoves, gas fixtures, combina- tion gas and electric fixtures, bronze statuary, bronzes, brass tablets with onyx tops, and a great variety of other articles in brass and bronze, are manufactured. From a small wooden building, and a working force of less than a dozen hands, has arisen a hive of industry consisting of substantial brick build- ings, in which about one thousand five hundred operatives are employed. Among the other important industries in this line in Meriden are the Miller Lamp and Parker Lamp.
That the early colonists of Connecticut were artisans and artificers in iron and steel, is fully evidenced by the fact that
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scattered throughout her limits are manufacturers of edge tools, which by their superiority have not only gained a repu- tation in this country but also in foreign lands. The imperial armories and private-gun factories of Germany, after the close of the Franco-German War, were equipped with tools and machinery of Hartford make. This, however, was only the beginning of a trade which has developed until shipments are made to most of the European nations.
Axes and edge tools were manufactured about 1812 by Wakeman Bradley in the town of Weston. About the same time gimlets were made in Chester by Ezra and Joseph L'Hommedieu; and three years later the former invented his ship auger. It was not until 1826 that any attempts were made by the manufacturers to sharpen the dull edges of the hand-made axes; these required several hours' work from the purchasers to fit them for use. In that year Samuel W. and David C. Collins, clerks in a hardware store, decided to undertake the manufacture of axes, ready ground and pol- ished, for the market. They established their first shop at Hartford, and made eight axes a day. They subsequently moved some fifteen miles west of that city, on the Farmington River, and a village sprung up around their works which was named Collinsville. The company's wares, on account of their superior quality, have large sales in foreign countries. Not only axes are manufactured, but adzes, machetes, sugar- cane knives, railway tools, cast-iron ploughs, agricultural and mining implements, and many other iron and steel tools.
The pins manufactured before the Revolutionary War were very crude. They were drawn from wire by hand, and the head made by twisting fine wire around the top of the body of the pin. About 1824 a machine was invented that made solid heads to the pins, by a process on the same prin-
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ciple as that used for making nail heads, by driving a portion of the pin itself into a countersunk hole. In 1831 Dr. J. S. Howe succeeded in perfecting a machine that made a pin by one operation; this was afterwards improved so that a solid- headed pin was produced. This was soon followed by the pin-sticking and paper-crimping machines, which so facili- tated matters that the business steadily increased to its present large proportions.
That Connecticut is the largest producer of needles and pins of any State in the Union, is due to the fact that the man- ufacturers of these articles were attracted to the State on account of her metal industries and the ingenuity of her citi- zens. In 1900 her productions in this line were not exceeded by any other State; in fact, she manufactured sixty-five per cent. of the entire output of the United States. One of the largest pin manufactories in the country is located at Winsted, where it was established in 1854; three years afterwards it was incorporated under the name of the New England Pin Company. The American Pin Company of Waterbury was organized in 1846, and was an outgrowth of an industry started at Poughkeepsie, New York. The company after- wards purchased the Fowler Pin Machine.
The making of needles by the cold-swaging process, which reduces the wire without heating, annealing, or grinding, is successfully carried on by the Excelsior Needle Company at Torrington.
The largest concern in the world for manufacturing eyelets is the Schneller, Osborne & Cheeseman Company of Ansonia ; a specialty is made of eyelets for corsets and shoes.
The Union Thimble Company of Naugatuck enjoys the distinction of having the only manufactory of steel thimbles
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in the country; there are but few concerns making thim- bles of any kind.
In the manufacture of stamped ware, Connecticut ranked fourth in 1900, and in electrical apparatus and supplies eighth, in the total amount produced in the United States.
In the insulation of electric wires, the manufacturers of the "Kerite" at Seymour, and the New York Insulating Wire Company at Wallingford, are important factors.
The manufacture of silver spoons and other articles of lux- ury was carried on before the Revolutionary War, by John Austin, at Hartford. The next party to engage in this indus- try was Jacob Sargent, who manufactured silverware on a. more extensive scale. He included gold beads, ear-drops, sil- ver spoons, ladles, sword trimmings, and old fashioned tall clocks among his productions. Mr. Sargent was the leading merchant in this line in Connecticut. He was succeeded by Job Q. and Walter Pitkin, who, besides carrying on the jew- elry business, operated an outside shop where solid silver spoons, forks, and spectacle frames were made.
The tinware industries of the State having become largely extended by peddling in the South and West, a demand was created for a better class of goods. This caused the introduc- tion of pewter, which was composed of four parts lead to one of English block tin; from this combination of metals both flat and hollow tableware were made. Among the pioneers of this industry were Ashbel Griswold at Meriden, and Charles and Hiram Yale at Wallingford. The business of the latter firm steadily increased, which caused them to import from England skilled workmen, who in that country had used a compound where a metal of harder and finer texture had been substituted for lead, making the articles manufactured from it susceptible of a more durable polish. This composite metal
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was known as britannia, and by the adoption of its use the Yales became the largest manufacturers in the country of a large line of hollow ware, such as tea sets, communion ser- vices, etc.
The pioneer in Meriden carried on the business for a num- ber of years; eventually other firms became interested, and in 1850 there were four important manufacturers of britannia ware in Meriden, whose merchandise was all marketed by one of their number. To facilitate the management of affairs and curtail expenses, they were organized under one head as the Meriden Britannia Company. At the time of the organiza- tion of this company, all articles were cast in moulds. Four years later the rolling of metals was begun and the formation was by spinning and stamping; electroplating was introduced in 1856. In the early sixties, metal or nickel silver was sub- stituted for britannia as a base metal. In late years sterling silverware has also been produced.
The discovery of electro silverplating at Hartford in 1846, by Asa H. William and Simeon S. Rogers, marks an era in the manufacture of silver-plated articles. The business began in a small way, in a cellar in Hartford. In 1857 a factory was built; in 1858, William Rogers having retired from the firm, the other two brothers removed to Waterbury and started a rival concern. In 1862 the three brothers again united in business at Meriden; they adopted as a trademark "1847 Rogers Brothers." This was sold to the Meriden Britannia Company, who still retain it.
William Rogers resumed business at Hartford in 1865, un- der the firm name of William Rogers Manufacturing Com- pany. In 1871 Asa H. Rogers and his nephew began manu- facturing in the same city under the name of Rogers Cutlery Company; eight years later the two firms were consolidated
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as the William Rogers Manufacturing Company. They use all the steel blanks manufactured by the Norwich Cutlery Company, in which they are interested. The industry at Wa- terbury, after the withdrawal of the Rogers brothers, was en- larged and improved from time to time, and their "The Olive" was among the first fancy patterns in electro-silver plate made in America. Their trade-mark "(Star) Rogers & Bro. AI" has become celebrated.
The Yates factory at Wallingford was purchased by Sam- uel Simpson, who in 1847 sold it to John Munson, and it af- terwards became consolidated with the Meriden Britannia Company. Mr. Simpson re-engaged in business, adopting the electro-plating process, but in 1854 sold his two factories to the Meriden Britannia Company. The following year he formed a partnership with Robert Wallace, who in 1834 compounded the first german-silver ever made in America. As Wallace had no means, he entered the employ of Hall, Elton & Co., who utilized the new method, and thereby became the pioneers in the manufacture of german-silver tea and table spoons in America.
The manufacture of flat and hollow silver ware is one of the largest industries in Wallingford; this is largely due to the enterprise of Samuel Simpson, Robert Wallace, Almer Hall, William Elton, G. I. Mix, and others. Meriden, which has acquired the soubriquet of "The Silver City," is replete with manufactures of every description of plated silver ware, and to some extent of the sterling article.
At Derby there is a factory which makes a specialty of novelties for hotel use : clocks, table, and sideboard plate. At Shelton borough, a full line of silver-plated forged-steel table cutlery is produced. Middletown also has a silver- plated ware industry. The Holmes & Edwards Silver Com-
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pany of Bridgeport, are the owners of a process of inlaying with sterling silver.
The combined productions of the twenty-six establishments engaged in manufacturing plated and britannia ware, in Con- necticut, is equal to over three-fourths of the aggregate pro- duced in the United States, which in 1900 amounted to $12,000,000. Nearly forty-five hundred of her citizens are wage-earners in this industry.
During the early part of the nineteenth century there were spasmodic attempts to manufacture watches. In 1838 Pitkin Brothers established a plant at Hartford, and after produc- ing eight hundred movements by machinery were compelled to abandon the project. Nelson P. Stratton, who was con- nected with them, afterwards became identified with the Waltham Watch Company.
The low-priced watch that is not a sham dates from the experimenting of Charles Benedict, who in the fall of 1879 placed upon the market a watch which attracted public atten- tion on account of its astounding cheapness. This was due to an invention that dispensed with about three-fourths of the wheels and small parts. The Waterbury Watch Company was organized in 1880, and has established agencies in every quarter of the globe. Although the production was at first confined to the cheap "Waterbury watch," today expensive and handsome designs, as well as a variety of movements of various sizes, are manufactured.
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CHAPTER XVII THE DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES
N OT only in textile and metal industries has Con. necticut taken an important place in the man- ufacturing world: from 1870 to 1900, in pro- portion to her population, she led all other States in the number of patents granted her citizens, with the exception of four years when she was sec- ond. Prior to 1870 the Patent Commissioner's reports are incomplete, there being no record of patents taken out by States. This inventive genius led to the establishment of numerous varied industries, which have tended to make Con- necticut the home of a diversity of manufactured articles, both novel and unique in their designs.
The success of the rubber industry is due to the inventive genius of one of her sons. Native rubber had been used for a number of years for waterproof wearing apparel, also for cloth for carriage tops; but it was only in 1832 that a Ger- man chemist discovered that sulphur would deprive rubber, dissolved in oil of turpentine, of its lack of pliability. About this time Nathaniel Hayward, a citizen of Massachusetts, noticed that flowers of sulphur scattered upon leaves of rub- ber weakened their adhesive powers. It remained, however, for Charles Goodyear to discover in 1839 the method by which rubber could be put to practical use. While experi- menting with rubber and sulphur, he accidentally overturned a small quantity of the composition upon a hot stove; this proved that heat was the one thing necessary to vulcanize rub- ber. Previous to this, shoes made of this material, even when partially sulphurized by oil of vitriol, melted in summer and were stiff and odorous in winter. Goodyear was deco- rated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor by the French Emperor. He inherited his inventive genius from his father,
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who resided at Naugatuck, and was the author of several inventions.
Hayward, who was an associate of Goodyear, was visited at his works in Woburn, Massachusetts, by Leverett Candee, a manufacturer of elastic suspenders at Hampden in that State; he requested Hayward to make him a rubber shoe; on receipt of samples he established in 1842 a factory at New Haven. Shortly after this, Mr. Hayward removed to Connecticut, and in 1844 established himself at Lisbon, where he commenced the manufacture of rubber shoes. Three years later he organ- ized the Hayward Rubber Company at Colchester, with a second factory at Bozrah for the preparation of the crude rub- ber.
Identified with the promoter in this plant was William A. Buckingham, afterwards war Governor of the State; he had charge of its financial management from its inception until his death. The plant was the largest of the kind in the coun- try, having a capacity of 10,000 pair a day. The Hayward Rubber Company closed its works in 1885 ; three years after- wards it was succeeded by the Colchester Rubber Company, which was finally absorbed by the United States Rubber Company, which closed the plant and removed the machinery.
Goodyear, after perfecting his patents in 1845, granted a license for manufacturing purposes to the Naugatuck Rub- ber Company. They immediately began to make shoes, drug- gists' sundries, army and navy equipments, etc. The outbreak of the California fever gave them the opportunity to furnish pioneers' outfits; and during the Civil War, millions of blankets were made. The business was then conducted under the name of the Phoenix Rubber Company. The name of the corporation was changed in 1848 to the Union India Rubber Company, and a factory was opened at Middletown for the
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manufacture of rubber clothing. It afterwards became known as the Goodyear Rubber Company, and the production was changed to a high grade of foot-wear.
The Goodyear Metallic Rubber Shoe Company was started at Naugatuck in 1843; it was the first concern to introduce the popular Arctic shoe. The next year saw the organization of the Goodyear India Rubber Glove Manufacturing Com- pany, which located at Litchfield, but three years afterwards removed to Naugatuck. At this time they employed seven hands, and gloves, mittens, and finger-cots were manufac- tured. Gradually their line was extended, until clothing, boots and shoes, surgical and druggists' sundries were pro- duced. In 1881 the plant of the Phoenix Rubber Company was purchased.
The infant industry at New Haven had had a phenomenal growth. In 1850 Mr. Candee organized a trust known as the Goodyear Shoe Association for making shoes under Good- year's patents; he also incorporated the business at New Haven, and interested the Hotchkiss brothers in the new enterprise.
There are now five establishments in Connecticut engaged in the rubber boot and shoe industry; this is an increase of three in the last decade. Employment is given to over 5,000 hands, and in 1900 they furnished one-fourth of the total production of the United States, Connecticut being exceeded only by Massachusetts in the aggregate amount manufactured.
The process of solidifying rubber, making it susceptible of polish and also of being moulded into any desired form, the product of which is designated as vulcanite or hard rubber, was patented in 1851 by Nelson Goodyear, a brother of Charles. This discovery, which was simply using an increased
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amount of sulphur and subjecting the compound to a higher temperature, was developed at a factory in Newtown. Among the first licenses issued for its use was that to the Beaver Dam Company at Beaver Dam; they were succeeded by the American Hard Rubber Company, which was afterwards con- solidated with New York interests of a like nature.
The principal manufacturers of hard rubber in Connect- icut are H. P. & E. Day of Seymour, who make fountain pens, and the Johns-Pratt Company of Hartford, who pro- duce a compound called "Vulcabeston." The Seamless Rub- ber Company of New Haven, organized 1879, manufacture an extensive line of druggists' sundries. The Metropolitan Rubber Company located at Wallingford in 1890, for the manufacture of rubber clothing.
There are two novel rubber industries in Bridgeport. One of these, the Canfield Rubber Company, does an annual busi- ness of over a million dollars in dress shields; another estab- lishment produces bath-tub plugs, closet flanges, plumbers' rings, and various other articles used for mechanical and - sanitary purposes.
The practical use of the bicycle caused a rapid growth of the pneumatic rubber-tire industry. The earliest manufac- turers were John S. Gray & Co. of Hartford, who made solid and cushion tires for the pioneer bicycles. These works were afterwards purchased by Colonel Albert A. Pope, who enlarged them, and incorporated the Hartford Rubber Com- pany.
The reclaiming of rubber from worn-out goods dates from the time that the success of vulcanization was demon- strated. The factory at Naugatuck operated by the United States Rubber Company is the largest and most complete in the world. Connecticut had in 1900 twenty-five establish-
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ments engaged in the production of rubber and elastic goods; about 3,000 hands were employed, and she ranked third in the Union in her productions.
The introduction of the manufacture of firearms by Eli Whitney at Whitneyville made it one of the permanent indus- tries of the State. The parent company, the Whitney Arms Company, was absorbed in 1858 by the Winchester Arms Company, of which the Winchester Repeating Arms Com- pany is an outgrowth. About 1810 the manufacture of fire- arms was begun by Oliver Bidwell at Middletown, and four years later Colonel North started a pistol factory in that city. The government placed large orders with him, and also for swords manufactured by parties in that locality.
An impetus was given to the manufacture of firearms, when in 1835-36 Samuel Colt perfected his patents in Great Britain and the United States, for a pistol having a rotary cylinder containing several chambers, to be discharged through a single barrel. The United States government refused to adopt the weapon, and this caused the failure of a New Jer- sey company formed for its manufacture. At the outbreak of the Mexican war, through the solicitations of General Zach- ary Taylor, the government ordered one thousand pistols, their efficiency having been demonstrated in the battle for Texan independence and in the Seminole War.
The government contract, for lack of facilities, was assigned to Eli Whitney; but in 1848 a plant was provided in Hartford, and business came in ceaseless and swelling streams, due to the Mexican war and California gold craze. Orders were received from foreign countries, also from the remote outposts of civilization. Ten years afterward sixty thousand revolvers were made in a single year; these were largely used by the English in the Crimean War, and by Gari-
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baldi in Italy. The Colt Patent Fire Arms Company was incorporated in 1856, and in addition to pistols, has from time to time added the manufacture of gun machinery, rifles, shot-guns, Gatling guns, and the Colt automatic machine gun, besides other articles.
The Sharp's Rifle Manufacturing Company had at one time a factory at Hartford. The Hotchkiss gun, which is used mostly to form the secondary batteries for war vessels, is also manufactured at Hartford. The Marlin Firearms Com- pany is a feature of New Haven's industrial world. The American Ordnance Company was incorporated in 1896; it is located at Bridgeport, and manufactures heavy ordnance for the United States government. The Parker breech-load- ing shot gun, made at Meriden, has gained a world-wide rep- utation. Connecticut ranks third in the Union in the produc- tion of firearms.
Late in the eigheenth century a powder mill was established at Middletown, and since that time the manufacture of ammu- nition has been one of the leading industries of the State. In 1900 she ranked first in the Union in this manufacture, pro- ducing three-quarters of the total output, and employing more than 4,500 wage earners.
The first manufacture of friction matches under an Ameri- can patent was begun in 1836 at Hartford. The Diamond Match Company, which dates its birth from 1854, is among the important industries of the world; its headquarters are at Westville.
One of the most important inventions of the nineteenth century was the sewing-machine. For the ingenuity of its construction the public is indebted to a poor mechanic, who, though not a native of Connecticut, served during the War of the Rebellion as a common soldier in one of her volunteer reg-
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iments. Elias Howe perfected his patent in 1846; but receiv- ing no encouragement in this country, went to England, where he disposed of the rights to that country. On his return to America, he found that others had utilized the foundations he had laid, and had made many valuable improvements.
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