History of Richland County, Ohio : (including the original boundaries) ; its past and present, containing a condensed comprehensive history of Ohio, including an outline history of the Northwest, a complete history of Richland county miscellaneous matter, map of the county, biographies and histories of the most prominent families, &c., &c., Part 71

Author: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Mansfield, O. : A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 968

USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio : (including the original boundaries) ; its past and present, containing a condensed comprehensive history of Ohio, including an outline history of the Northwest, a complete history of Richland county miscellaneous matter, map of the county, biographies and histories of the most prominent families, &c., &c. > Part 71

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

"THE BEST IS THE CHEAPEST"

TRADE MARK.

GINES

AULTMAN - TAYLOR

THRESHEP

HORSE.POWERS & FARM ENGINES

THRESHERS &

OFFICE

HORSE POWERS.

AND GROUNDS WHICH OCCUPY BETWEEN THIRTY AND FORTY ACRES OF LAND PHOTO EME COM! À BIRDSEYE VIEW OF THE AULTMAN-TAYLOR WORKS

501

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

one thing in the way of material can be singled ont as going to make up the world-wide reputa- tion of The Aultman-Taylor Thresher, it is the unapproachable quality of the lumber used in it. 2. Its central location and rail- road facilities. A glance at the map of the United States will serve to show how well located the factory of The Aultman & Taylor Company is with regard to the shipping facili- ties its now immense business requires, for, to- day, comparatively little business between the East and the West, or between the great prairie regions of the Northwest and Europe, but passes through Mansfield, where the three great American systems of railway (the Baltimore & Ohio, the Pennsylvania and the Erie) greet each other, while the only two other routes of importance pass at short distances to the north and south. Having decided to build the factory at Mansfield, it only remained to get conven- iently located lands, which were secured near all the depots, where the shops were built and so arranged that machinery can be loaded upon every railroad entering Mansfield without leav- the grounds of The Aultman & Taylor Com- pany. The next thing was to see to the pat- ents. This was the special business of Mr. Aultman, whose familiarity with patents marked him as the proper person to attend to this delicate branch of manufacturing. He soon discovered that the patents owned by some friends, and which the firm expected to use, were really of no importance, if, indeed, of any actual value. So, setting himself to it, he bought, consolidated, re-issued and com- pleted the entire vibrator patent system, grant- ing to several shops in Michigan and in Miss- onri, and one in Southern Illinois, the privilege of using the line of patents which are known as the vibrator patents. Of course, all this was attended with great expense, and, some years afterward, a Michigan company paid The Aultman & Taylor Manufacturing Company for, and became half owner in, the patents as

they existed at that date. They are particular in giving this scrap of history because others have, without proper regard for the truth, or carelessly perhaps, and overlooking the conse- quences of their misstatements, somewhat fool- ishly claimed to be the original inventors of the vibrator style of machines. The truth is that no one now engaged in the business can be so considered ; but the public can very easily see to whom the honor of secur- ing, consolidating, re-issuing, adding to and completing the vibrator patents belongs, if it can be said to belong to any one. While all this has been true, they call the attention of the buying public to the fact that, while they have occasionally felt it their duty to briefly

THE VIBRATOR STYLE OF THRESHING MACHINE BEFORE IT BEGAN TO BE BUILT BY THE AULTMAN & TAYLOR COMPANY.

speak of the risks run by farmers in buying any vibrator style of thresher not authorized to be built under the consolidated patents. they have always depended upon the merits of their goods to sell them, and never had a customer who bought because they frightened, forced or blackmailed him into purchasing.

After getting the patents fairly under way. the next thing was to improve what was then known as the vibrator style of machine. and which was built by several concerns of consid- erable prominence. This required so many changes in general and in detail before it be- came " The Aultman-Taylor." that they are not named for fear of wearying the reader. Suffice it to say that those who remember what this style of machine was before they commenced

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

building it, will be inclined, when they look at it now, to regard the Company as the creators and inventors of the vibrator style of thresher -a claim they are not entitled to any more than any other builder, for, as they have often stated, no person, firm nor corporation now in exist- ence can truthfully claim to be either the in- ventors of, or the original builders of, vibrator

THE AULTMAN

THE STANDARD MACHINE OF THE VIBRATOR CLASS, THE AULTMAN-TAYLOR THRESHER FOR 1879.

style of machines ; but that they deserve the reputation they have, as the perfecters of the entire race of this (vibrator) style of machine, none will be disposed to dispute.

Before Messrs. Aultman & Taylor were long in the business, they became convinced that the style of horse-power then in use was behind the wants of the times, and bought the only valid patents in existence upon mounted horse- powers, and, in 1869, began building them upon a large scale, being the first concern in America to build largely and introduce widely what has now become the universally popular " mounted " horse-power.

In 1869, they built about four hundred threshers and horse-powers ; not a very large number, it is true, but enough to revolutionize the thresher trade of America, and from that day to this, by constant improvement, steady advancement and honorable business manage- ment. they have held the practically undis- puted position of being the builders of the leading threshing machines in America, and to-day ambitious manufacturers everywhere measure their advances in excellence by com-

paring them with the universal American stand- ard of excellence in threshing machines.

The first horse-powers built by them were the Triple-Gear, and so long as they built them they managed by great care in their construc- tion. and by nsing a great deal of machinery invented by them expressly for building them, to keep them in the forefront; but while cer- tain of their good qualities, when properly and carefully managed, they finally became con- vinced that there was room for improvement, especially in the direction of securing a power which would not require quite so much good management and care as the Triple-Gear Power. For years they had liked the Double- Gear (or Woodbury) Power, but it seemed like an impossible thing to mount it properly on four truck-wheels. After expending much time, labor, experimenting, and invention upon it, and making many changes, they were finally rewarded by finding themselves in posses- sion of what threshermen everywhere told them was the best horse-power in the mar- ket, and a better one than they had ever hoped to see. This power, now called the Aultman- Taylor Double-Gear Horse-Power, and by many "the Horse-power of the Century," in recogni- tion of its surpassing excellence, they have built ever since, and it at present stands with-

THE AULTMAN -TAYLOR

DOUBL

POWER.

out a successful rival among horse-powers. It probably will always continue to be the favor- ite horse-power in this country, as, in the three necessary qualities of strength, light draft and durability, it is unequaled by any other horse- power in use.

Early recognizing the fact that in many sec- tions engines would be preferred to horse-pow-

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

ers, the Company watched with anxiety the progress of perfecting the farm engines built throughout the country, and often expected to find the next season's production of this or that engine-builder just the thing needed by the trade; but their hopes were never fully realized, so that, in 1876, they determined to take a hand in the matter themselves. Select- ing the portable engine in market nearest per- fection, they made such changes in it as to render it just what was wanted for threshing, wood-sawing and general farm purposes, and called it "The Aultman-Taylor Farm-Engine." The demand for it has shown that the great farming public have felt as they did, and, find- ing an engine so fully meeting its wants, has

THE AULTMAN-TAYLOR FARM-ENGINE.

never yet allowed the Company to meet the demand. The call for them has been so large as to finally compel the Company to build ad- ditional shops for the exclusive building of " The Aultman-Taylor Farm-Engines," and the ad- dition of a traction or self-propelling engine to their list of goods will probably crowd even their new facilities to the uttermost.

For a great many years, the subject of clover- hulling has been one of great importance to the American people ; invention has lagged far be- hind the wants of the public in this particular, and, up to 1878, the nearest approach to filling the demand of the public for a clover-huller has been what will. from 1878 on, be called the old-style, double-cylinder clover-huller. This machine, while an improvement on earlier de-

vices, was essentially faulty, and never suc- ceeded in doing proper cleaning, so that to fit the seed for obtaining a good price in market, it was necessary, after threshing it, to run it through a fanning-mill. As a result, a thresher- man, to fit himself out to do the work of his customers properly, was obliged to have a grain- thresher, a clover-huller and a fanning-mill, making the entire outfit very costly and very inconvenient. The Aultman & Taylor Com- pany have seen for years that any one who could supply an attachment for a threshing machine which would do away with the costly, awkward and inconvenient clover-huller, and its parasite, the fanning-mill. would confer a favor on his race. This has finally been accomplished in the " Allonas Clover-Hulling Attachment," patented by Joseph Allonas, the Superintendent of The Aultman & Taylor Company.

At no time since the Company commenced business in 1868, with the exception of one year, have they been able to supply the demand for any article made by them, thus attesting, in a remarkable degree, the popular appreciation of The Aultman-Taylor goods.

In 1878, The Aultman & Taylor Company was among the largest producers of threshing ma- chinery in the world, and sold all the goods it built, with the exception of less than $9,000 worth of odd-sized machinery, and during the season was compelled to add to and increase its production several times. Even then, by working early and late with an increased force on extra time, it was unable to fill its orders. The Aultman & Taylor Company is the only large thresher concern in America which can truthfully make the above statement; and it is only proper to say that nearly every other large thresher builder in the country has been each year building more machines than he has sold. and has been enabled to keep up the reputation of being a large builder, by having scores of unsold machines at his place of manufacture and scattered around among his agents. oftentimes

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

504*

in nearly every State in the Union, while dozens stand at railroad stations exposed to the weather. This is overproduction, and intending buyers can draw their own conclusions, as to whether it will pay them to buy machines for which the demand is steadily and surely falling off. But it was not only in 1878 that The Ault- man & Taylor Company could not fill its orders for Aultman-Taylor goods-in only one year of its entire history has this Company been able to fully supply the demand for its goods, and though each year straining every effort to turn out goods enough, and though it has, by new buildings and new machinery and increased mechanical force, enlarged its production, yet the supply of Aultman-Taylor goods has ever been below the demand. In other words, while other builders have failed to sell what they built, this Company has not been able to build enough. Comment is hardly necessary, such facts are eloquent, they speak louder than words, and in a language which all can understand ; and while the Company have, by the erection of new works, and by every other means in their power, arranged to build heavier than ever be- fore for the season of 1880, they must warn all parties intending to buy either threshers, horse- powers, clover-hullers or engines, that the only way to make sure of getting the best is to order early, for while the stock of Aultman-Taylor threshing machinery may last until the season's demand is over, yet it is quite likely that they will be unable to fill late orders.

Although, in 1868, they started out with large works and occupying over seven acres of land, the increasing volume of the business of The Aultman & Taylor Company has compelled extension after extension, here a little, there a little, until they now occupy, with their shops, warehouses, offices, lumber-yards, etc., between thirty and forty acres of land ; and while they employed, in 1868, only $150,000. they have been compelled to put in fresh capital and add to and increase their means from time to time,

in order to accommodate the demand for their goods, until, in 1878, they employed over $1,400,000 ; and as a little index of what such a business as theirs is, they would say that from using less than $200 worth of postage stamps in 1868, their expenses for postage alone, in 1880, will be over $5.000.

The warehouse was built in 1869, and is probably the largest frame building having three or more floors in America. It is 252 fect long, 90 feet broad and 4 stories high, and con- tains 90,720 square feet of storage capacity- but this enormous warchouse is insufficient to accommodate their business, and it bursts out into sheds and other improvised storage, in every direction. Travelers will probably re- member this huge warehouse, with its “ starved rooster " painted on each end, but will hardly be prepared to suppose that a line drawn from the head of said rooster to his farthest extrem- ity would not be far from one hundred feet in length. It will repay a visit to Mansfield to, look through this warehouse and see its giant elevator, which hoists a threshing machine from the ground to the top floor as easily as a man would lift a baby.

From what insurance men, other manufactur- ers, and reporters for the great city papers write, the Company must have an unusual lum- ber-yard, as its size and what every one calls their stupendous stock of lumber, seems to ex- cite wonder among all who visit it. Undoubt- cdly they do carry an unusually large stock of lumber, and it has always been known that their qualities are very much better and more costly than most manufacturers think it worth while to work up into threshing machines; but the Com- pany believe they have made money by their course in this respect, as to-day their reputation as the builders of the most durable threshing machines on the continent is largely due to their using such grades of lumber as are usually only found in furniture and other fine work. By carrying the enormous stock they secure the

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

driest lumber which open-air drying can fur- nish, and, besides this, they have their own pat- ented steam-drying apparatus, by which they can take out even the little dampness which at- taches to all lumber dried exclusively in the open air. The coming season, a large propor- tion of the ash and pine they use in the most important parts of their goods will be over four and a part of it over five years old, and there- fore about as dry as a bone. They are now in- creasing their stock of lumber constantly and very largely, and, before many months are past will have a supply of lumber, such as has never before been dreamed of by thresher build- ers. They are often asked, " Does it pay ? Do not interest, insurance and taxes make it very costly lumber by the time you use it ?" They answer that it does pay, and they believe other manufacturers besides themselves would find it pays. It pays in increased reputation for their goods, in an enlarged demand, and only this last summer they have found a new profit in it. As is well known, the climate in some parts of the Far West Territories is so very dry and trying, that lumber in machinery which will stand the climate east of the Rocky Mountains will not withstand the atmosphere there. They sold a number of machines there last year, and the unusual way in which the lumber in their goods withstood exposure there seems to have excited almost as much wonder as satisfaction. They repeat, " It does pay." It always pays to have the best thing in the market. They would say to all, they are always in market for choice lumber, and when any particularly nice ash, hickory, poplar. rock-elm, oak, or pine is for sale, write them, giving lowest cash price, delivered free on board cars at Mansfield. But it must be strictly first-class in every way, free of knots, heart, sap and checks, or if not free, will have to be measured free, as they cannot pay for or use any lumber not strictly up to standard.

As the business grew, it became evident that new and more and enlarged engine-shops would

be needed. They were immediately erected. Until some one builds better ones, which, in such an enterprising land as America, will not, perhaps, be many years, The Aultman-Taylor Engine Shops will be not only the most com- plete, but really the model engine-shops of the country. Every process connected with turn- ing an engine out, from the bending of the boiler-plates to the painting of the finished en- gine, is here done under one roof, and by a sys- tem of division of labor, aided by the newest and latest machinery, and the whole facilitated by small railroad tracks and cars, all carried on under one roof. Visitors engaged in various lines of manufacture go away saying they never

THE HOME OFFICE OF THE AULTMAN & TAYLOR COMPANY FROM 1868 TO 1879.

saw so complete a shop, even on paper, before. It will be surprising if, with these new shops and their wonderful machinery and many con- veniences, the Company will not be able to in- crease their present reputation as the builders of the leading farm engines in the American market.

Those who have visited Mansfield have often spoken about the Company's old office-of its inconvenience. crowded condition-and won- dered how they ever carried on so large a busi- ness in such cramped and hampered-up quar- ters ; and, indeed, they have often wondered at it themselves, and now, when they have left it for new quarters, their wonder is increased.

In buying the land for the new engine-shops, the Company also bought the large brick residence

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

BAKER

OFFICE OF THIE AULTMAN & TAYLOR CO.

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

on the hill opposite their old office, across Main street and main track and switches of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. This house will be remembered by many old Ohio people as the MeCombs place, having been built many years ago by Mr. McCombs, a brother-in-law of Sec- retary Sherman. Others who were at Mansfield during and since the war, will remember it as the Hickox place, having been the property of Mr. Hickox during the years that he was Presi- dent of the First National Bank of Mansfield. This old place, built substantially in the old- style ante-war days, of brick and stone, they have changed and fitted up in a suitable man- ner for the' general offices of the Aultman & Taylor Company, and they will be glad to show their visiting friends through them. They are now able to have their different departments separated from each other, in roomy offices conveniently adjoining each other ; while they have built such fire-proof vaults and provided such safes as give them a security against fire and theft such as they, of course, never had before.

They are, from their size and arrangement (being divided into four distinct departments, upon two separate floors), an object of interest. Their size is also something worth recording,, as in this respect they are not, it is believed, equaled by those of the Bank of Montreal, or those of the National Bank of Commerce, in New York.

Commencing, as the Company did in 1868, on so modest a scale of manufacture, and pos- sessing no remarkable or unusual business ability in these particulars, only aiming to hold their own among the general average of busi- ness men, their business has, nevertheless, grown to its present enormous proportions by a steady increase from season to season, and from a small concern in 1868, using but a mod- erate quantity of materials, their cash pur- chases now each year probably exceed those of any other threshing-machine factory in the land.

To give an idea of how many goods The Aultman & Taylor Company buy, and the amount of material they use a year in building "Aultman-Taylor " Threshing Machines, a men- tion of the quantities of a few leading articles which they buy for one year, in addition to the more or less large amounts of each of the same kind of goods which they have on hand as a surplus stock of material, will not be out of place. It is here appended in the form of a table :

Molding-sand, fire-clay, etc. 50 cars.

Coal. 800 cars.

Oil and varnish. 8 cars.

Sail and wire cloth 7 cars.

Lumber, belting, etc. 507 cars.

Hardware.

9 cars.

Iron .. 326 cars.

making a total of 1,207 cars, which would make a train fifteen miles in length, farther than from Mansfield to Crestline ..

The Aultman-Taylor Threshers are well sup- plied with the various attachments, for thresh- ing clover, timothy and flaxseed, cleaning it thoroughly, and saving all expenses in the line of extra mills, making the grain ready for the buyer as soon as it leaves the machine.

A very valuable adjunct to their thresher is the self-propelling engine, which they have lately perfected. It is known as The Aultman- Taylor Traction Engine, and was first made after they had been making and using regular farm- engines.

The traction engine is distinguished by the same excellence of material and finish, and by the same nice attention to details, which has given their standard farm engine such a reputa- tion and distinction, as the safest, best, most economical in the use of fuel and water, as well as the most durable ; but the feature which will, of course, attract the most attention, is the traction or propelling arrangement. This seems to be perfect, as far as experts can tell, and at any rate is so much in advance of other engines

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

of the same class, as to insure for the traction- engine a large sale and great popularity. By using a traction engine, four horses, or two teams, are dispensed with, as it needs but one team, which does not pull the engine, but merely guides it while the engine itself draws along the water-tank, thresher, etc., up and down hill as well as on the level, and with the greatest ease.

These engines prove very taking when ex- amined by all, as they are very attractive in ap- pearance, and the locomotive or traction prin- ciple cannot help but please.

Another point which takes is the great saving of expense by the use of them. Though the charge is $150 more for them than a standard farm engine ; the doing-away of four horses saves the buyer at least $200, and generally fully $300, which results in making the trac- tion engine actually cheaper by from $50 to $150 than the standard.

When to this is added the saving of feed for the four horses dispensed with, the saving of the care of them, and that the thresherman has four sets of harness less to buy, it really makes the traction engine far cheaper than the stand- ard, the real difference in price being not much, if any, less than $300 in favor of the traction engine.

After finishing the first traction engine and satisfying themselves that it was superior to any other in market, the Company invited the following gentlemen to come and see it: S. Gottshall, of Fayette, Ohio; E. S. Downey, of Aurora, Ind .; Edward Smith, of La Gro, Ind .; Oscar Adams, of Parkman, Ohio; Daniel Har- mon, of Fort Wayne, Ind .; C. F. Adams, of Park- man, Ohio, and R. R. Blair, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Those familiar with the traction engine trade will recognize these gentlemen as being the best authority upon traction engines in this country ; at any rate, seven men knowing as much about traction engines could hardly be got together in America.

Before this committee the Company gave an engine a severe test in every way, and then asked them to record their opinion. As this is the opinion of men peculiarly fitted to judge of the merits of traction engines, it is likely to have more weight with the buying public than anything which could be written, and it is therefore presented herewith in full :

The undersigned have each had a very wide and at the same time intimate acquaintance with traction or self- propelling engines in market ; have each of us sold them and operated them and are practically familiar with them and can, without claiming any unreasonable amount of shrewdness, say we are competent to give an intelli- gent opinion on the subject, and think it will be safe for all parties who intend buying traction or self-propelling engines, or who intend to sell traction engines to others, to accept our judgment in the matter. While we wish cordially to admit the merits of other traction engines, and while we do not criticise any other make, neverthe- less it is our unanimous opinion the Aultman-Taylor Traction Engine is to-day the most perfect and desirable in the American market. In every point and feature, the Aultman-Taylor is at least abreast of the best, while in general workmanship, neatness in detail and perfection in finish, we have never seen its equal, and in some very important points it is absolutely without a rival :

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Author: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848- Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Mansfield, O. : A. A. Graham & co. Number of Pages: 968

Author: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Mansfield, O. : A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 968