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A PIONEER
COPIEIT & LANDER
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WALTHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY
WALTHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 4867 00163 3066
Thelma Brand
AARON L. DENNISON The Father of Interchangeable Watch Material.
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HISTORY OF THE
American Waltham Watch Company
OF WALTHAM, MASS.
Reprinted from the History of
THE WATCH FACTORIES OF AMERICA
BY HENRY G. ABBOTT.
CHICAGO : AMERICAN JEWELER PRINT
1905
GIFT / MRS. H. C. TOWNE /10.11
Copyrighted 1904
by
Hazlitt & Walker.
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.
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1
INDEX.
American Horologe Co., The 17
American Watch Company, The 20
Appleton, Daniel Fuller 45
Appleton, Tracy & Co. 19
Astronomical Observatory
95
Baker, Jas. 50
Bartlett, P. S.
75
Boston Watch Co., The 19
Buildings, Construction of
26
Church, Duane H. 59
Compressed Air, Use of
62
Dennison, Aaron L.
17,31
Departments, Organization of
94
Duncan, H. E.
. 90
First Dividend
21
First Watches, The
9
Fitch, E. C.
Fogg, Chas. W.
Goddard, Luther
Howard, Edward
Hull, Edgar A.
88 88 48
Marsh, E. A.
67 48 82
Moseley, Chas. S.
Nashua Watch Factory, The
21
Pitkin, James and Henry 15
Robbins, Royal
58
Robbins, Royal Elisha 40
Shepard, Jas. T
52
Sherwood, N. B. 71
Stratton, N. P.
51
Tracy, Baker & Co.
19
Waltham Factory, Location of
18
Waltham Improvement Co. 20
Warren Mfg. Co., The 18
Webster, Ambrose
77
Woerd, Chas Vander 86
7
55 84 14 16
Logan, John
Marsh, David S.
Marsh, Oliver
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Appleton, Daniel Fuller 44
Astronomical Clock
105
Barometer and Level Tester
98
Bartlett, P. S. 74 17
Boston Watch Co., Factory of
Chronograph
101
Church, Duane H.
60
Clock Room, Section of
96
Dennison, Aaron L.
Frontispiece, 32 91
Eight-Day Watch
49
Fitch, E. C. 54
Goddard Watch
14
Hull, Edgar A.
89
Marsh, David S.
50
Marsh, E. A. . 66
Moseley, Chas. S. . 83
Observatory, Interior of 96
Outer Passage 103
Pitkin Watch
15
Robbins, Royal
57 40 70
Robbins, Royal Elisha
Sherwood, N. B.
Waltham Factory in 1857
18
1863
..
1865
..
.. 1870
22 23 24 27
Watch of 1500
10
Webster, Ambrose
78
Woerd, Chas. Vander
87
8
1904
6 6
.. 1905
29
Duncan, H. E.
There were great craftsmen in the old days, but occasionally even they made mistakes, the ghosts of some of their errors having just been fished to light from the bottom of the Charles River in Waltham. The evidence was sucked out of oblivion and into the light by a newly-installed apparatus that pumps water from the river to the factory. Because, along with the water and the mud came the works of two watches that examination showed were made about the time that Ralph Waldo Emerson said of some dis- tinguished gentleman of the time: "He is put together like a Waltham watch."
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The mystery that confronted the executives of the factory was: How did these works get into the river? They dismissed the implausible theory that in an emergency some worker in those early days cast the instruments into the water from the work bench to conceal an attempted theft. What other motive? The executives say in all probability the proud and careful craftsmen of that day were trying to conceal a mistake in workmanship from the impartial scrutiny of the , higher experts. It was a moral mistake added to an error in workmanship. And rather than be discovered the distressed craftsman threw the whole business out in the river into the adjacent waters of the Charles-a very dramatic answer to a few delicate bits of rusted and intricate machinery.
The innards of these watches date back some 50 years or so. Manufac- turing methods, as well as the size and design of watchmaking has changed a whole lot since then. Our story is really all done except that nowadays such is the system of check and double- check that it would be impossible for so nearly completed works like these to disappear out of a window without creating something of an "investiga - tion.' Boston Post, 9/30/30
FOREWORD.
Under the title, "Watch Factories of America," sixteen years ago, the writer prepared a series of articles for THE AMERICAN JEWELER, and it was later published in book form. The edition was a limited one of one thousand copies and the book has long been out of print, but the demand for it has been steadily going on.
During the lapse of time new factories have been started and many of the old ones have failed and gone out of busi- ness or been given a new lease of life under other names. Men who were then prominent in the trade have passed away and new men taken their places. Factories have been expanded, new machines and methods have taken the places of the old, and so great have been the changes taking place that a new volume must needs take the place of the old to accurately chronicle the changes of sixteen years.
This work presents nothing that is new or startling, but is simply a collection of facts, recorded in presentable shape, in connection with the rise and development of one of the most marvelous growths of a mechanical business that the world has ever seen. In less than one hundred years this branch of industry has grown from the humble factory of Luther Goddard of Shrewsbury, with its weekly product of two watches, to the mammoth Waltham and Elgin factories, with their daily output of as many thousands of the finest productions of mechanical precision that has ever been seen. Surely such a development deserves a history.
The first watches were made in 1500 in Nuremberg and were round, not oval, as has been erroneously stated. They
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IO
FOREWORD.
were made of iron; the staffs, pinions, wheels, cocks, pillars, plates and even the dial being niade of this material. The fuzee was not employed until 1509; brass plates were sub- stituted for iron ones in 1530 and oval or egg-shaped watches, known as "Nuremberg eggs," came into vogue in 1550. In 1570 watches of hexagonal and octagonal shape began to be fashionable and in 1575 the mechanism for tak- ing up the mainspring was first applied. It was not until 1587 that the Swiss began the industry of watchmaking,
A Watch of 1500.
and the fuzee chain was the first important improvement made by that nation, it being invented by Gruet in 1590, though not generally used until 1600, a catgut cord being employed up to this time. Watch crystals of glass were first made in 1615; enamel dials were invented in 1635. The balance spring was invented in 1676, the minute mechanism and hand in 1687, and watch jewels and the first keyless watches did not make their appearance until 1700. The
II
FOREWORD.
compensation balance was invented in 1749, the duplex es- capement in 1750, the chronometer escapement in 1760 and the lever escapement in 1765. The very thin watches of Lepine were first marketed in 1776, the helical balance spring and the seconds hand were first used in 1780
From the above it will be seen that important rudimentary inventions in connection with the watch were not of Ameri- can origin, and even the thin watches in favor to-day were put upon the market as early as 1776, when this country was still fighting for its independence.
What, then, have we done in the watchmaking line that the people of other countries have not done? We have im- proved upon the inventions of the European, have made a watch so well that the people of the world demand and use it, have placed them on the market so cheap in price that the laborer may possess them, and, above all, have made them interchangeable so that a part may be taken from one watch and placed in another without changing it in any way and both watches give perfect results. Aside from this, we have invented new forms of springs, more perfect balances, safety pinions and devices too numerous to mention. While the makers of Europe were having their trains made by one man or family, their balances by another, their assembling done in one house and their adjusting done in another, we have been erecting modern factories in which the watch was manufactured complete and ready to be placed upon the market, a monument to American genius.
Lepine made watches as thin as any now in the market and various Swiss makers have turned out watches as small or smaller than any we now make, but, alas! their useful- ness was in doubt, for as timekeepers they were failures, and not being made on the interchangeable plan, it cost about as much to repair one as it did to purchase a new movement.
When our watches have been entered in any of the Euro- pean tests we have never failed to secure a creditable show-
12
FOREWORD.
ing, and all this has been brought about by intelligent effort and work done by automatic machinery-machinery which performs the work in an almost human manner and per- forms it so well that all the hand work of Europe has never surpassed it. This is a few, a very few, of the things that American watch factories have been doing. Europe in- vented, but it required the skill of the American to bring the watch to its present high standard of perfection and low price.
CHAPTER I.
The term watchmaker, in America, does not necessarily imply one who manufactures watches, but is more generally applied to those who make a business of repairing and clean- ing timepieces. In days gone by a watchmaker was a me- chanic of no mean order, capable of making and fitting any part of a watch, no matter what make the watch might have been or how complicated its construction, which, through negligence on the part of the owner, became deranged or broken. To-day a watchmaker need be possessed of only ordinary mechanical skill and intelligence in order to repair any watch of American manufacture, and all this change has come about by the manufacturers of the various move- ments working on the interchangeable system, first applied to watchmaking by Mr. Aaron L. Dennison in 1850.
Mr. Dennison is widely known as "the father of American watchmaking," a title which cannot justly be applied to him, as he was not the first manufacturer of watches in this country, neither was he the first person to make watches in this country by machinery, as we will demonstrate presently. The claim is made, and perhaps justly, that he was the originator of the idea of making watches on the interchange- able system and finishing the parts entirely by machinery. This claim the English and Swiss dispute and bring for- ward proofs to the contrary. However, it is not our inten- tion to argue this matter either pro or con, but simply to record facts which are beyond dispute.
It would be a very hard thing to determine who the first
I3
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THE WATCH FACTORIES OF AMERICA.
manufacturer of watches in America was, since in the be- ginning of the nineteenth century many of the trade manu- factured movements in small quantities, either to order or for the purpose of carrying in stock until such time as a purchaser might turn up. These watches were of necessity hand-made, and the manufacturers depended considerably upon Europe for supplies, such as hands, springs, jewels, balances, etc., and therefore to that extent they cannot be regarded as complete manufacturers, although they may have delivered completed watches.
Goddard &0
Č
The Goddard Watch.
In 1809 Luther Goddard of Shrewsbury, Mass., com- menced to manufacture watches of the verge pattern, in somewhat larger quantities than had been attempted before. Mr. Goddard could not compete with the cheap foreign watches, however, and retired from the business in 1817, having manufactured about 500 watches. This was the greatest number of watches ever made by one manufacturer in America up to this time.
Following closely in the wake of Mr. Goddard, in 1812 an establishment for the manufacture of watches was started in Worcester, Mass. The establishment was small, and was suspended shortly after for want of ready funds. In 1838 the first machine-made watch ever made in America was placed upon the market. It was known as the Pitkin watch and was manufactured by two brothers, James and Henry
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THE WATCH FACTORIES OF AMERICA.
Pitkin of Hartford, Conn. These movements were three- quarter plate, slow train and about the diameter of the mod- ern 16-size. The machinery with which they were manufac- tured was very crude and was all made by the Pitkin Bros. The Pitkin watch, however, suffered the same fate as its pre- decessors. The cost of manufacture was too great to com- pete with those made by the Swiss, and shortly after mov-
Detached
LEVER.
The Pitkin Watch.
ing the factory to New York, which they did in 1841, the enterprise was abandoned. The total product of the Pitkins was about 800 movements.
Following Pitkin Bros. came several other small manu- facturers, but nothing of importance in this line was at- tempted until the year 1849, when the nucleus of what is now known as the American Waltham Watch Company was formed.
CHAPTER II.
A person standing on Crescent street, Waltham, and gaz- ing upon the mammoth structure occupied by the American Waltham Watch Company, as a factory, a building whose frontage occupies nearly 800 feet, and which, with its con- necting wings, would equal a four-story building over half a mile in length, within whose walls 3,600 employes are daily employed, and from which 16,000 timekeepers are turned out weekly, can scarcely realize that the company has seen failure and disaster staring them in the face on more than one occasion, but such is the fact. The road to success is not always strewn with roses, and although the company is now a large and prosperous one, yet it has struggled with adversity, and has seen the time, when, it might be said, the toss of a penny would have decided whether they would continue, or give up in despair.
In the fall of the year 1849, Aaron L. Dennison com- menced to study out machinery for the manufacture of watches on the interchangeable system. Mr. Dennison, who was a dealer in watches, jewelry, tools and materials, in Boston, and who had been educated as a practical watch- maker, undoubtedly got his ideas in regard to manufactur- ing on the interchangeable system from the Springfield Armory, having visited that institution on numerous occa- sions, and inquired into their mode of manufacture. He re- vealed his ideas to Mr. Edward Howard, a manufacturer of clocks at Roxbury, then a suburb of, but now a part of Boston. Mr. Howard agreed with him that the scheme was a plausible one, and a small room was divided off in Mr.
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THE WATCH FACTORIES OF AMERICA.
Howard's factory, and there Mr. Dennison commenced work on his machines. In 1850 a small factory was built opposite Mr. Howard's shop, and some English and Swiss watchmakers put to work. Mr. Dennison's machinery did not prove a success, however, and one of Mr. Howard's
Factory of The Boston Watch Co., 1853.
men was detailed to help Mr. Dennison, and after numerous attempts, they finally succeeded in getting together a few tools and machines of anything but perfect construction.
In the summer of 1850 Mr. Dennison completed the model of the first watch, which corresponded with the full plate 18 size of to-day. This watch was made to run eight days, but was pronounced to be impracticable, and its place was filled by a one-day watch. At this time the firm was known as "The American Horologe Company," and con- sisted of A. L. Dennison, E. Howard and Samuel Curtis. Mr. Curtis took no active part in the management of the
18
THE WATCH FACTORIES OF AMERICA.
concern, but furnished most of the money with which the buildings and machinery were built. After a lapse of about one year the name of the company was changed to "The Warren Manufacturing Company," and the first hundred watches bore that name. The first watches were actually placed upon the market in 1853. The name "Samuel Cur- tis" was substituted for "Warren" on the next six or seven hundred watches; the reason being that the name "The Warren Manufacturing Company" was abandoned as being unfitting, and the name "Boston Watch Company" was used
The Waltham Factory in 1857.
instead. These watches were 18 size, full plate, slow train and were sold at $40. About this time Mr. Dennison be- came dissatisfied with the location of the factory, as it was very dusty in summer and was not fitted as a site for a watch factory. He accordingly started to look up a new location for the factory, and going to Waltham he visited a locality known as Stony Brook, which was then quite active through the work done at Sibley's machine shop. After viewing the piece of land he was not quite satisfied with it and came to Waltham to take a train to Boston. While waiting for this train he met an acquaintance, Samuel Pay- son Emerson, then foreman of the machine shop of the Bos- ton Manufacturing Company. In the course of conversa- tion Mr. Dennison explained what he was in search of, and
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THE WATCH FACTORIES OF AMERICA.
Mr. Emerson told him he could show him just the spot he wanted. They left the station and Mr. Emerson pointed out to him the plot of ground on which the factory is at present located. After examining it Mr. Dennison decided it was exactly the spot he was looking for, and steps were taken to secure the property. At the suggestion of Mr. Dennison a stock company was formed to purchase the property, and this company was known as "The Waltham Improvement Company."
This company was incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000, "The Boston Watch Company" owning thirty shares of $100 each. The building for the watch factory was started at once, and was ready for occupancy in the fall of 1854. At this time the company were making about five watches per day, and employed about ninety hands. After removing to Waltham, the movements were engraved "Dennison, Howard and Davis." The fall of 1856 found the watch company in desperate circumstances. All the ready money of the company had been expended, and the sales of the watches were very slow. Matters went from bad to worse until the spring of 1857, when the company made an assignment. The assignee offered the property for sale, and it was bid in by Mr. Royal E. Robbins, for $56,500, for himself, and the firm of Tracy & Baker of Philadelphia, who were creditors of the defunct company, having furnished them with cases. The property consisted of the real estate, factory, and numerous other buildings, the machinery, steam engine, shafting, etc., together with the material manufactured and in process of manufacture.
The new firm was known as Tracy, Baker & Co., but Messrs. Tracy & Baker having a case business of their own to look after, and having a good offer made them by Mr. Robbins, decided to sell out their interest. Mr. Robbins then associated himself with Mr. James Appleton, and the firm was known as Appleton, Tracy & Co., Mr. Tracy's name being retained, because he was well known to the
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THE WATCH FACTORIES OF AMERICA.
trade, although he had no moneyed interest in the concern. The winter of 1857 proved a rough one for the new com- pany. Money was scarce and times hard, and in the spring following, Mr. Robbins made up his mind to remove the factory nearer to New York, which was then the market for his goods.
In the spring of 1858 trade revived somewhat, and Mr. Robbins proposed the consolidation of the watch company and the Waltham Improvement Company, which had been organized to assist the Boston Watch Co. Notwithstand- ing their previous unfortunate experience their faith in the watch-making enterprise had revived so that they believed that real success in the business was to be expected. They therefore wisely decided to accept the proposal of Mr. Rob- bins, who sold out to the improvement company, taking his payment largely in shares of the company, but reserving to himself the stock of manufactured watches which he had deposited in certain banks as collateral for borrowed money. Those watches he gradually redeemed and sold, with the result of a fair profit for his two years of anxiety and hard work. When the Waltham Improvement Company pur- chased the watch factory it paid $100,000.00, plus a bonus of $20,000.00. It also voted to increase its capital to $200,000, and Mr. Robbins subscribed the additional capital. Dr. Horatio Adams was president of the company, W. H. Keith was clerk, and Mr. R. E. Robbins was elected treas- urer and general manager. He continued to hold the office of treasurer until three days before his death, which oc- curred on July 22, 1902.
When this consolidation occurred the firm of Appleton, Tracy & Co. disappeared, but the name has been a popular one on watch movements made by that company and its successors, and is still in use.
On February 8, 1859, the name of the company was changed, by act of the legislature, to The American Watch Company, and on March 31 of that year the officers of
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THE WATCH FACTORIES OF AMERICA.
the improvement company were formally chosen to like po- sitions in the new company. On May 19, 1860, the capital stock was increased to $300,000, and in the same year a dividend of 5 per cent was declared, it being remarkable as being the first dividend declared on American watch making. Mr. Dennison remained with the new company until Decem- ber, 1861, serving in the capacity of superintendent. During this year came the outbreak of the Civil War, which brought the business to a standstill, and threatened to again bankrupt the enterprise. There was little hope of finding a market for the factory product unless it should be so reduced in quan- tity as to be manufactured at a loss. It was therefore de- cided to reduce expenditures to the lowest point, but to keep the factory in operation to such an extent as to hold the leading operatives. The hours of labor were therefore re- duced, and some of the machinists were employed in the manufacture of small lathes, for which a market was found. Some of the workmen enlisted in the volunteer army, others were discharged, and a very few were kept at work on watch movements and cases. But the calamity of war from which so much was feared became the occasion of great prosperity ; for the soldiers in the army wanted watches, and the watch company exerted itself to meet the demand. In common with everything else the prices of watches at that time were high, perhaps relatively higher than at any time in the history of American watch making. As a result the profits were large, and a goodly surplus was gradually accu- mulated, and in 1865 the capital was increased to $750,000 ; the additional stock being distributed to the stockholders in the form of a special dividend.
In 1859 the outlook for American watch making was so promising that a number of men left the Waltham factory and organized another factory in Nashua, N. H., with a capital of $100,000, but after less than three years of effort they were compelled to abandon their undertaking for lack of money, and in 1862 Mr. Robbins purchased the entire
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THE WATCH FACTORIES OF AMERICA.
plant, save the real estate, and moved it and the unfinished watches (numbering about 1,000) to Waltham. To acccm- modate this additional machinery the Waltham factory was enlarged, and the prominent men of the Nashua factory were given good positions in the Waltham factory. Among those men were Mr. N. P. Stratton (who went from Waltham as one of the originators of the Nashua factory), Mr. C. H. Moseley and Mr. C. Vander Woerd. Of these Mr. Stratton acted for a time as assistant superintendent of the Waltham
The Factory in 1863 from a Photograph.
factory, and later was sent to London as agent for the pur- chase of supplies. Mr. Moseley remained in Waltham until 1864, when with several others he went to Illinois and estab- lished the Elgin National Watch Company. Mr. Vander Woerd was given the charge of the Nashua machinery, which constituted a separate department of the factory. He continued in this position till 1874, in the meantime having the opportunity to exercise his inventive faculty by the de- vising of several semi-automatic machines of much value. Recognizing his ability in this direction Mr. Robbins, in 1874, assigned to him the position of mechanical superin- tendent of the entire factory, and in 1876 he succeeded Mr. A. T. Bacon as general superintendent of the factory, which
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THE WATCH FACTORIES OF AMERICA.
position he held till 1883, when he severed his connection with the American Waltham Watch Company. Mr. G. H. Shirley acted as assistant superintendent from 1874 till 1893, when he retired.
The Factory in 1865 from a Photograph.
In 1865 quite extensive additions were made to the factory buildings, including a wing devoted to the manufacture of silver cases, which manufacture was gradually increased, and continued till 1890. A gold case factory also was estab- lished in New York City, and run under the supervision of the company's selling agents, Robbins & Appleton.
The success of the Waltham company naturally created or aroused a desire in the minds of others to engage in a line of manufacture which gave such promise of profitable returns, so that quite a number of new watch factories were organized, and existed for a time. Of these various factories mention is made elsewhere. They did, however,
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