The brass industry in Connecticut;

RUSSEL A. COV^LES

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fe. ^^^ YORK, N. Y.

THE BRASS INDUSTRY

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THE BRASS INDUSTRY

IN

CONNECTICUT

A Study of the Origin and the Development

OF THE Brass Industry in the

Naugatuck Valley

WILLIAM G. LATHROP

Shelton, Conn.

1909

COPYBIGHT, 1909,
BY

William G. Lathkop.

Press of

The Price, Lee & Adkins Co.

New Haven, Conn.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introduction. i

CHAPTER I.

Introductory.
Localization of the brass industry in Connecticut as indicated
by census returns. Brass; its qualities and history.
Ancient and modern processes S

CHAPTER II.
Early Industrial Conditions in Connecticut.
Agriculture and its limitation. Emigration. Trade and its
difficulties. Attempts to develop mineral resources : lead,
copper, iron. Other early industrial ventures. Household
industry and its development. Tinware, clocks, pewter
britannia and German silver. 13

CHAPTER III.
Beginning of the Brass Industry in Waterbury.
Early ventures in brass. Cast buttons. First rolling of brass.
Beginning of competition. Improved machinery and pro-
cesses. Rolling for market. ^ Establishment of the industry.
Factory system. Other ventures. The market in 1820.
Reasons for the establishment of the industry in Water-
bury. 36

CHAPTER IV.
Growth and Development.
The market in 1832. A new firm. Manufacturing the product
of the rolling mills ; butts, kettles. Extension of the indus-
try. Beginning in Wolcottville, Derby and Ansonia. Roll-
ing copper. Pins. Photographic plates. New plants.
Reasons for the localization and success of the industry;
enterprise of the pioneers, labor conditions, the tariff. . 49

vi THE BRASS INDUSTRY

CHAPTER V.

The Market. page

Salesmen and agencies. Sources of raw material; copper, zinc.

Roads and railroads ys

CHAPTER VI.
Organization.
Individual initiative. Capital involved. Partnerships and cor-
porations. Labor. Machinery, mechanics and processes
imported. Training a native force. Division of labor.
Wages. Profits 83

CHAPTER VII.
Later Developments.
Review of growth and development. The telegraph and elec-
tricity. The metallic case cartridge. Coinage. Foreign
trade. 98

CHAPTER VIIL
Competition and Combination.
Notable development of the brass industry in the Naugatuck
Valley. Factors which influenced the development. Out-
side competition. Roll of mills in 1895. Pools and agree-
ments. American Brass Company. Review and conclusion, no

Bibliography 133

Index I39

INTRODUCTION.

THE attempt to write the story of the beginnings and
the development of American industrial undertak-
ings is attended with increasing difficulty. Some of
these difficulties may be specified.

I. Many enterprises now of notable consequence run
back to humble and obscure beginnings. At the time theSe
attracted no attention and the circumstances are entirely lost
to record.

II. Two generations ago books were loosely kept or not
at all. A sense of perspective was rarely encountered.
Matters of little consequence were carefully noted, while
facts of permanent value failed of record. Those who en-
gaged in industrial undertakings were neither historians nor
philosophers; and historians were occupied with aflfairs of
state.

III. A change in public opinion regarding some phases of
corporate activity has recently appeared. This has led to
the wholesale destruction of books and papers, some of
which are of inestimable value from the standpoint of in-
dustrial history.

IV. The records of government investigations, in census
and other inquiries, are not of final value and authority.
These records were usually formulated and compiled by
those who were ignorant of the industrial processes which
the inquiry was supposed to cover, and hence are full of in-
accuracies and have been made the basis of false conclusions.

2 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

V. Those whose personal activity and recollection cover
the period of birth and development have largely passed
from the stage of action.

These difficulties have all been encountered in this present
inquiry.

The census returns and the results of other inquiries un-
dertaken by the government are in the schedules relating to
the history of the brass industry singularly misleading. For
example; the printed results of inquiries made regarding
manufacturing enterprises as ordered by Congress, March
30, 1822, and later under date of January 27, 1824, contain
no reference to the existence of the manufacture of tinware
in the State of Connecticut ; although it is probable that at
the time the value of tinware made within the State and sold
outside of its boundary exceeded the value of any other
manufactured product exported from the State. And in
those reports only passing mention is made of the clock in-
dustry which in the value of its exported product was second
to, even if it did not exceed, that of tinware. In the later
returns, the attempt to enumerate the different branches of
the brass industry under different schedules, such as brass
and copper rolled, brassware and brass casting and finishing
has brought about a most unsatisfactory result.

Fifty years ago practically all of the brass mills in the
State both rolled brass and manufactured brasswares. This
condition persisted until 1900, and still obtains in several im-
portant instances. To include the entire product of a given
mill in either schedule is misleading. For example ; in 1850,
there were returned for Connecticut 22 brass foundries
with an annual output of $1,250,481, and in i860, seven
brass foundries with an output of $64,000. In i860, no
manufacture of brassware is returned for the State, and, in

INTRODUCTION 3

1870, only one establishment for the rolling of brass. After
1880, an attempt at a more exact classification was made
with results which are hardly more satisfactory. In 1880,
the returns for the State are brass and copper rolled, $10,-
985,471, and brassware, $1,134,884: in 1890, the figures were
brass and copper rolled, $6,393,998, and brassware, $10,711,-
945 : and in 1900, the returns were given brass and copper
rolled, $29,787,282, and brassware, $9,269,159. It is im-
possible to take these figures as they stand and reach any
valuable result.

This inquiry would have been impossible and the results
reached would have been much less valuable, if the writer
had not commanded some unusual facilities for investigation.
There are only two sources of information now in print of
considerable value. These are, first, a brief article by Mr.'
A. A. Cowles, President of the Ansonia Brass and Copper^
Company, on_^'Copp€r and Brass", printed in 1895, in Vol- ^
ume I of "One Hundred Years of Americaii Commerce'
edited by C. M. Depew; and second, the "History of the*
Town and City of Waterbury", compiled by Rev Joseph An-
derson, D.D., in three volumes, printed in 1895. Without
this last any attempt now to- construct the early history of
the industry as it actually developed would be entirely impos-
sible. Dr. Anderson had able collaborators, was a thorough
student, had a good historical sense, and was personally ac-
quainted with many of those who had made the industry
what it is to-day and whose recollection covered the entire
period of its development. His history is second to none of
its kind.

The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to
many present and former workmen in the mills who have
given him valuable information; particularly to Mr. Fred-

4 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

erick J. Kingsbury of Waterbury, who graciously revised
this manuscript, whose contributions to Dr. Anderson's
history contain practically all of consequence in those vol-
umes as far as it concerns the brass industry, and who stands
alone of men now living in his personal acquaintance with
those who made the industry what it is and with the condi-
tions under which it was developed ; and also to Mr. Charles
F. Brooker, President of the American Brass Company, and
who is clearly the leading factor in the industry to-day, who
has placed in the hands of the writer papers of unique and
commanding importance.

CHAPTER I.

Introductory.

Localization of the brass industry in Connecticut as indicated by
the census returns. Brass; its qualities and history. Ancient
and modern processes.

THE brass industry in Connecticut affords a notable ex-
ample of concentration.* In 1880, 76% ; in 1890,
70% ; in 1900, 71% ; and in 1905, 73% of the rolling
of brass and copper and the manufacture of the same was
returned by the census as centered in the State of Connecti-
cut.f This concentration has been accomplished notwith-
standing the entire absence of raw materials within the
State, and without any near absorbing market, except as
such has appeared in the course of the development of the
industry itself.

The gross product of the brass mills is now more than
seventy million dollars a year. There was, in 1900, no
example of specialization involving so large a product which
was as notable. It is true that in that year 54% of the
manufacture of iron and steel was localized in the State of

*See a suggestive study of the theory of concentration as illus-
trated by the cotton industry in England. "Der Grossbetrieb",
G. von Schulze-Gavernitz, Leipzig, 1892. Confer also "Evolution
of Modern Capitalism", J. A. Hobson, Chaps. II-IV and "Philoso-
phy of Manufactures", Andrew Ure, Chap. III.

fSee census reports 1880 to 1905. See Bibliography for titles.
These returns as given are misleading and unsatisfactory. To reach
the results above, the iigures in the schedules brass and copper
rolled and brassware have been added together. Brass casting
bears no intimate relation to brass rolling as will be noted. This
schedule has been disregarded. See critique in introduction.

6 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

Pennsylvania and 45% of the manufacture of boots and
shoes was localized in Massachusetts, but the later returns
indicate that in both of these lines of manufacture the per-
centage of concentration is decreasing while Connecticut is
retaining her hold upon the brass industry in increasing
rather than in diminishing proportion.

Within the State itself the brass industry is by far the most
important branch of manufacture. At the beginning of the
nineteenth century the textile industry was the most impor-
tant. It is claimed that the second cotton mill in the country
was erected in 1794 at Manchester; being preceded only by
Slater's mill at Pawtucket, R. I.* In 1845, when the first
statistics which are even approximately satisfactory are
available, it appears that the manufacture of woolens was the
most important single branch of industry.f At that time
the output of the woolen mills alone was 58% larger than
the output of the copper and brass mills; and the gross
product of the brass industry with its allied branches of
manufacture^ was but 37% of the gross textile product.

*See Gallatin's report, 1810, and "History of Conn.", T. Dwight,
Jr., pp. 413-414. "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, pp. 419-
421. "Gazetteer of States of Conn, and R. I.", Pease and Niles,
Hartford, 1819, pp. 16-17.

t"Report of Sec. of State relative to certain branches of industry",
1839, (Conn.) House Rep. Doc. No. 26. "Statistics of certain
branches of industry in Conn.", Oct. i, 1845, D. P. Tyler, Sec. of
State, and later U. S. census returns.

JThe census returns, as already noted, are not consistently classi-
fied. Only approximate conditions can be derived. The "allied
branches of manufacture" appear as clocks, hardware, needles and
pins, hooks and eyes, ammunition and foundry products. The rela-
tion of some of these to the brass industry is indicated on the follow-
ing pages. In Conn, brass machinery is an important item in foun-
dry products and in this State brass enters largely into the manufac-
ture of hardware.

INTRODUCTORY 7

Tn 1850 the textiles combined were 50% more important,
measured by the gross value of product, than the brass in-
dustry. For the next three decades this relative develop-
ment remained constant. Then came a great change. The
woolen manufacture declined not only relatively, but abso-
lutely; so that in 1900 the output was actually smaller than
in 1880. In 1900 the product of all the textile mills com-
bined did not equal that of 1880. On the other hand in 1890
the brass manufacture took the leading place in the list of
Connecticut industries and with its allied branches of manu-
facture had a gross product which was 25% larger than that
of all the textiles. In 1905 the gross product of the rolling
mills alone was nearly equal to that of the entire textile in-
dustry, and the gross product of the brass industry with its
allied branches was more than twice that of the textiles. Of
the increase in the value of the annual gross product of all
the industries of the State from 19CX) to 1905, the brass in-
dustry with its allied branches contributed more than one-
third, and the total product in 1905 was nearly one-third
of the value of the entire manufactured product of the State.

It is the purpose of this paper to study the beginning and
the development of the brass industry as thus centered in the
State of Connecticut.

Brass is the most valuable alloy known. It bears some-
what the same relation to copper, though for different rea-
sons, that steel bears to iron. Brass is harder than copper
and takes a high polish. It possesses a high degree of duc-
tility and of malleability. It is easily fusible and not a good
conductor of heat. It is not subject to marked change on
exposure to the atmosphere. Since its cost is higher than
that of iron or steel, it is not adapted for heavy castings, nor
for construction work. It can not be tempered nor hard-

8 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

ened like steel, and hence is not adapted for bearings in gen-
eral,* nor for cutting tools. But for an endless variety of
small wares, or for purposes for which its color or dura-
bility makes it attractive, it is the most available and widely
useful metal now known.

It is impossible to determine when brass was first used.
The origin of the English word is lost to record.f An in-
vestigation is made particularly difficult because both the
Greeks and the Romans used the same word for copper,
brass and bronze.J

Copper was early found on the island of Cyprus and also
in Spain and in Cornwall, England. § Tin was obtained
from Cornwall. Both of these metals were articles of
Phoenician commerce. 1 1 On the other hand zinc was not
known to the ancients, nor was it an article of trade until
about the middle of the eighteenth century.^ Tin and cop-
per are found practically pure in a native state. Zinc is
not so encountered.

Copper was softer and more easily worked than iron, and
when hardened with tin formed the weapons and tools of

*Alloys of which copper is the chief constituent, other and harder
than brass proper, may be used for bearings.

fArticle "Brass Founding", Walter Graham, "British Mfg. In-
dustries", edited by G. P. Bevan, London, 1876, p. 126.

JBrass is the alloy of copper and zinc.
Bronze is the alloy of copper and tin.

§Pliny, "Naturae Historiarum", bk. 34, Chap. 2. "The Industrial
Arts", W. Maskell, N. Y., 1876, p. 37 and fol.

1 1 Both copper and tin were articles of Phoenician commerce
before 500 B. C. See F. C. Movers, "Die Phoenizer", Vol. II, p. 66
et al. O. Meltzer, "Geschichte der Karthage." Rawlinson, "His-
tory of Phoenicia."

11"The Metallic Alloys", W. T. Brannt, London and Philadelphia,
1889, p. 56.

INTRODUCTORY 9

primitive man. It is probable that this hardening of the
pure copper with tin or with other metals is the so-called
lost art of tempering copper. Bronze was made and cast in
China and Japan earlier than recorded history. Articles of
copper and of its alloys have been found in Egyptian tombs
dating from before 2000 B. C. In one of the earlier books
of the Bible, written by 500 B. C, and possibly depending
upon an earlier source, it is stated that vessels of brass were
cast for Solomon's temple, erected just after 1000 B. C*
The composition of this metal is of course unknown.

The Elder Pliny in his Natural History devotes a whole
book to the metals. He declares that brass was known and
used shortly after the founding of Rome.f Numa recog-
nized the workers in copper and its alloys as a trade order.
Pliny distinguishes between cuprum, orichalcum and aes, but
he does not make the distinction sufficiently plain that we can
identify them. He declares that several alloys of copper
were in use, but he does not give their composition. Proba-
bly this was not known by him. That the most widely used
alloy was bronze appears from the coins and ornaments
which have survived. That which is the most frequently
encountered is compQsed of from 80% to 85% copper and the
rest tin.$ But after the beginning of the Christian era in-
creasing amounts of lead, zinc, and antimony appear, proba-
bly due to impurities in the ore from which the metals were
obtained.

About 900 A. D. the art of casting bronze and other alloys
of copper was lost, and for three centuries no original work

*I Kings 7:13-39. The Hebrew word apparently applies to copper
and bronze, never brass.

fPliny, book 34, Chap. 2-5.

tSee analysis of ancient coins from 500 to 70 B. C, in Revised
Harper's Latin Dictionary, 1879, under "aes."

10 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

was made. After 1200 true brass appears, the composition
of which was now deliberately undertaken. Copper fuses
readily with tin, zinc, lead, antimony and other metals in
widely varying proportions, and it does not appear that be-
fore this time the effort was made to secure a definite result
by carefully selecting the proportions of the metals to be
fused.

During the middle ages brass was formed by fusing gran-
ulated copper with calamine, the constitution of which was
not then known. Calamine is a zinc silicate, a natural ore,
found in some cases close to copper ore. When it is heated
with copper globules of brass appear. The process is
improved by adding charcoal and by granulating the cop-
per. To this end molten copper is poured into water. Be-
cause both calamine and natural copper vary somewhat in
richness, the product at the first was an uncertain compound.
After a time a desired result was secured by remelting the
first product and adding calamine or copper as indicated.

It has been quite reasonably suggested that the production
of brass thus, thought to be an entirely new metal, and pos-
sessing widely differing properties with slight variations in
the constituent materials, was one of the factors inspiring
the search for the philosopher's stone, which should trans-
form base metal into gold.

About the middle of the eighteenth century the composi-
tion of calamine became known, and zinc appeared in metal-
lic form in the market.

In 1 78 1 the modern process of making brass by the direct
fusion of copper and zinc was invented by James Emerson
in England.*

♦Article on "Brass Founding", Graham, "Brit. Mfg. Ind.", Bevan,
P- 134-

INTRODUCTORY 11

Brass is ordinarily composed of two parts of copper to one
of zinc, but frequently for special purposes these proportions
are varied and other metals are introduced. Even in the
present trade much confusion remains because of the use of
secret formulas, practically the same mixture being given
different names by different manufacturers or in different
localities.

For casting lead is added, which makes the casting
sharper. When antimony is present the alloy is harder but
more brittle. Lead diminishes ductility. Malleability and
ductility vary with different proportions of the metals.
Some compounds are malleable and may be rolled when hot,
some when cold, and some not at all. Copper itself is always
rolled hot, and brass is rolled cold.*

In ancient times and during the middle ages bronze, brass
and other alloys were cast. The modem process is first to
cast the metal in the form of pigs or ingots which are then
rolled into sheets or strips, then blanks are cut which are
manufactured into wares as desired.

The selected metals in the proportions chosen are weighed
and placed in crucibles holding a hundred pounds or more.
Copper melts at about 2,200° Fah., and zinc at 770°. Brass
melts at from 1,000° to 2,000°. It might be expected that
there would be some loss of zinc by volatilization or com-
bustion, and this is experienced to some degree ; but in prac-
tice the zinc combines with the copper so readily that the
loss is not large. When brass is remelted there is a loss of
weight of from 4% to 6%.

*For lists of different alloys and their properties see Article by
Graham above, p. 134. Spon, "Encyclopedia of Indust. Arts", Vol.
I, pp. 321-323. W. T. Brannt, "The Metallic Alloys." Arthur H.
Hiorns, "Mixed Metals or Metallic Alloys", London, 1901, pp.
100-130.

12 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

The molten metal is poured into moulds or run into pigs
between marble slabs. The dimensions of the pigs are de-
termined by the use for which the metal is designed. Brass
for rolling is never cast in sand. As brass is rolled it be-
comes hard and brittle and a scale of oxide forms. The
scale is removed by running the sheets into dilute sulphuric
acid and the hardness is corrected by annealing.

It is the manufacture of brass by such modern processes,*
thus briefly indicated, which was introduced into Connecticut
shortly after the beginning of the nineteenth century and
which at the close of the century had become the most im-
portant industry in the State.

*See Article by A. A. Cowles in "loo Years of American Com-
merce", C. M. Depew, Vol. I, p. 335. "Great Industries of the
U. S.", pp. 1048-1054. Scientific American, May i, 1880.

CHAPTER II.
Early Industrial Conditions in Connecticut.

Agriculture and its limitations. Emigration. Trade and its diffi-
culties. Attempts to develop mineral resources; lead, copper,
iron. Other early industrial ventures. Household industry
and its development. Tinware, clocks, pewter britannia and
Grerman silver.

THE early settlers of Connecticut, as of the other col-
onies, were agriculturalists. The soil, especially in
the river valleys, was good, returns were attractive,
and hence the clearing and the cultivation of the soil was
the first effort. The result was a scattered population.
The State remained essentially rural and agricultural until
well after 1800.

It is the uniform testimony of travelers of the period that
the people of the State lived well ; they were well fed, warmly
clad and comfortably housed.* The abundance of provi-
sions in contrast to prevailing conditions in England and
Europe occasioned remark. But it is equally certain that
commodities other than the bare products of the land were
much less in evidence. In the earlier period such posses-

*"Letters of an Englishman" in Conn. Magazine published in
1801. "Travels in North America in years 1827 and '28", Capt.
Basil Hall, Phila., 1829. See also "The American Gazetteer", Jedi-
diah Morse, Boston, 1797. "Town and City of Waterbury", Ander-
son, Vol. I, pp. 520-547. "Travels through the Northern parts of
the U. S. in 1807 and 1808", E. A. Kendall, Vol. I, pp. 85-88, 231,
236, 248, 311. "History of Conn.", T. Dwight, Jr., Vol. I, pp. 135,
136, 268, 269. "Society in America", Harriet Martineau, Vol. II,
p. 220. "View of the U. S. Historical, Geographical, etc.", Wm.
Darby, p. 492.

14 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

sions as beds, "sithes", saws and axes were carefully handed
down from father to son.* Later on warming pans, and-
irons, wooden trenchers, pewter basins and other vessels,
simple tools, such as tongs, a brass skillet, chisels, dividers,
a vise,t also bells, "a walking staff with a silver head", ap-
pear as carefully treasured. Articles of wearing apparel
other than coarse homespun are severally bequeathed down
to silk aprons and ribbons, cambric gowns, linen handker-
chiefs and a fan. Men, too, valued coats with brass buttons,
silver buckles, beaver hats, silk jackets and breeches, boots
and spurs.J After the Revolution chaises, watches, clocks,
silver cups, tankards and other plate were taxable and found
only in the possession of the richer families. §

Before 1800 the river valleys were well settled, || and the
possibilities of the agricultural development of the State
under conditions which then prevailed were pretty well de-
fined and found to be limited. There were two possibilities of
improvement: to emigrate to the North or West, where the
agricultural opportunities were said to be more promising;
or to enlarge economic opportunity by engaging in trade or
in manufacturing.

*"New Haven Colonial Records", 1653-1664, Hoadley, pp. 258,
358, et al.

f'Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. I, p. 371.

JSee e. g. "History of Norwich, Conn, to the year 1866", F. M.
Caulkins, pages from 2nd. edition, 1874, PP- "^S?' I7S. I9i> 248, 333.

§"North Haven Annals", S. B. Thorpe, New Haven, 1892, p. 258.

I |"T ravels in No. Amer. in the years 1780, 1781 and 1782 by the
Marquis de Chastellux. Translated with notes by an English gen-
tleman who resided in America at that period", 2 Vols., Dublin,
1787, Vol. I, pp. 44-47. "Remarks made on a short tour between
Hartford and Quebec in 1819", James Silliman, New Haven, 1824,
pp. 11-36.

EARLY INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 16

The first response which the natives of the State made to
the limitation of agricultural possibility was emigration. At
the time it was estimated that 700,000 had emigrated by
1820.* But since the movement could not have been large
before the Revolution, and since the population of the State
did not exceed 250,000 until about 1800, this estimate must
be a very liberal one. That the emigration was, however,
proportionately large is apparent from the following table,
which gives a comparison of the increase of the population
of the State of Connecticut in the first column, with that of
the whole United States in the second.f

1756-1774 51.5%

1774-1790 20.2%

1790-1800 5.5% 35.1%

1800-1810 4.3% 36.4%

1810-1820 5.1% 33-1%

1820-1830 8.1% 33.5%

1830-1840 4.1% 327%

1840-1850 19.6% 35.9%

1850-1860 24.1% 35-6%

1860-1870 16.8% 22.6%

1870-1880 15.5% 30-1%

1880-1890 19-9% 24.9%

1890-1900 21.7% 20.7%

The gross increase in the population of the State in the

*"New Travels", 1788, J. P. Brissot de Warville, London, 1792,
Vol. I, pp. 135, 136. "Gazetteer of States of Conn, and R. I.",
Pease and Niles, Hartford, 1819, p. 11. Confer also "Early Trans-
portation and Banking Enterprises of the States, etc.", Prof. G. S.
Callender in Jour, of Economics, Vol. 17, pp. 115, 117.

fSee "Travels through the Northern parts of the United States
in 1807 and 1808", E. A. Kendall, 3 Vols., N. Y., 1809, Vol. I, pp.
194, 195; and census reports of U. S. from 1790.

16 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

eighteen years from 1756 to 1774 was 67,000, and in the
eighteen years from 1782 to 1800 was 42,000, while during
the twenty years from 1800 to 1820 the increase was but
24,000, and from 1820 to 1840 but 35,000. During the forty
years from 1800 to 1840 the gross increase was less than
59,000 as compared with 67,000 in the eighteen years from
1756 to 1774. After 1840 a decided change appears, the
increase being over 60,000 in the next decade, and this rate
was well maintained except during the Civil War, rising to
above 160,000 in the last decade of the century, when for the
first time the rate of increase was larger than that of the
country as a whole.

Further evidence of depopulation may be noted. In 1782
it appears that there were nine towns with a population of
6,000 and upwards, containing 25.5% of the total of the
State. They were in order. New Haven, with 7,966, Nor-
wich, New London, Farmington, Hartford, Stratford,
Woodbury, Fairfield and Stonington. In 1800 there were
six with 5,000 or more, containing 12.4% of the total. These
were Stonington, with 5,437, Hartford, New Haven, New
London, Norwalk and Middletown. In 1820 there were only
three with more than 5,000, together 7.9% of the total popu-
lation of the State, New Haven, Hartford and Middletown.

Those who emigrated did nothing to solve the question of
the local needs ; they rather evaded it.

For those who remained the escape from the limitation of
economic opportunity was to enlarge the scope of industry
by engaging in trade* or in manufacturing. Trade was not

*Brissot de Warville in his observations on the commerce of
America with Europe argues that America must engage in trade
because "having no manufactures they cannot themselves supply
these wants, and they can have no manufactures for a long time to
come." 2nd. Volume of travels, London, 1792, p. 66.

EARLY INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 17

promising. Agricultural products were available for ex-
port.* New Haven was early interested in trade with the
West Indies, but this was more largely in the hands of New
York and Boston merchants and practically controlled by
them.f New London and Stonington were interested in
whaling,! but this did not contribute to more than local
prosperity. Away from the coast conditions were unfavor-
able for trade. The possibilities of trade by barter were
limited, and there was but little coin or currency in circula-
tion. The interior towns were only scattered villages. In
1780, Hartford, one of the most important of the interior set-
tlements, consisted only of one long street parallel with the
river and did "not merit attention either in traveling through
it or in speaking of it."§ Internal means of communication
were either absent or were very defective. Transportation
charges were prohibitive. Imported goods consisting mostly
of large value in small bulk might have found their way in,
but bulky farm produce was not easily carried out. As late
as 1780 the roads were so bad as to admit of a progress of
only ten miles a day, even for a light load.| | During the next
decade considerable improvement was made, so that a single
horseman under very favorable circumstances could make

♦"The United States Gazetteer", Joseph Scott, Phila., 1795.
"Travels", E. A. Kendall, Vol. I, p. 9. "Travels", Brissot de War-
ville, Vol. II, pp. 66-75 et al. As late as 1840 the State relied upon
agricultural products in the main for export. "Hist, of Conn."
T. Dwight, Jr., pp. 268, 269.

t"Belcher papers". Collections Mass. Hist. Society, Sixth Series,
Vol. VI.

^"History of Conn.", T. Dwight, Jr., p. 445.

§"Travels in N. A. in 1780-82", Chastellux, Vol. I, p. 36; also
pp. 21, 48.

I ["Travels", Chastellux, Vol. I, p. 36; H, pp. 296, 452.

18 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

fifty miles a day.* But it was not until 1790 that turnpikes
began to be constructed, and the incorporation of turnpike
companies was not begun until just before iSoo-f After
the beginning of the century decided improvement
was made, so that by 1820 the roads were in fairly
good condition.! Capital which might have been available
for other purposes was at the turn of the century demanded
for the improvement of transportation,§ and just as the prob-
lem was in a fair way of being solved the policy of the
national government dammed the stream of foreign com-
merce. After 1815 an active and profitable internal trade
was carried on.

Of the period during which foreign trade was largely
stopped, a contemporary, in 1819, wrote: "The late war had
a favorable influence in stimulating the naturally enterprising
spirit of our citizens to engage in various manufacturing pur-
suits, thereby developing our resources and opening a more
extensive and varied field of industry. Many of the germs of
manufacture, to which the war afforded life and growth,
have been blighted with the mildew of foreign goods with
which the peace inundated the country. Many establish-
ments have fallen, and many individuals who had invested
their whole capitals in the business have been sacrificed and
others severely injured. The seeds of manufacture were
sown in this country during the war. Those who engaged

*"Travels", Brissot de Warville, Vol. I, p. 143.

t'Travels", Kendall, Vol. I, pp. 97, 129, 235, 255, 302, 303.

^''Remarks on Tour", Silliman, pp. 11-36.

§Prof. G. S. Callender, "Early Transportation and Banking Enter-
prises of the States, etc." in Journal of Economics, Vol. 17, p. 131
fol. See Note *, page 23.

EARLY INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 19

in the business upon a moderate scale and conducted it upon
principles of economy have best withstood the shock."*

While it is true as will be later noted that many of the
seeds from which the important manufacturing establish-
ments of the State developed were planted about 1800, yet
it is not true that this was the first indication of such enter-
prise on the part of the people of the State. From the early
settlement of the colony attempts were made to supplement
its agricultural products by a development of its mineral
resources, and during the colonial period several attempts
were made to establish manufactures.

The mineral resources of the State were at the first
thought to be very promising. It has been said that every
known mineral could be found within its limits, but in quan-
tity just under the point of profitable production.! Copper
and iron were widely encountered. An ore containing lead,
zinc, copper, silver and bismuth was exposed near Middle-
town.:]: Cobalt was discovered in Chatham, § manganese in
Lebanon, 1 1 and gold, silver, nickel and copper in Ledyard.f
The only deposits which were ever continuously worked
were the lead mines in Middletown, copper in Granby and
iron in Salisbury and vicinity.

The lead mines at Middletown were exploited by English-

*"Gazetteer of the States of Conn, and R. I.", Pease and Niles,
pp. 135, 136.

t"In Olde Connecticut", C. B. Todd, N. Y., 1906, p. 156.

^''Historical Collection of the part sustained by Conn, during the
war of the Revolution", R. R. Hinman, Hartford, 1842, p. 264.
"Centennial Address", D. D. Field, Middletown, 1853, pp. 70, 159-161.

§"Travels", T. Dwight, Vol. I, pp. 34 35- "Centennial Address",
Field, pp. 274-276.

H "Travels", T. Dwight, Vol. I, pp. 34, 35-

^["History of the town of Ledyard", Avery, 1901, p. 10.

20 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

men before the Revolution. At the outbreak of the war the
mines were seized by the colony and a few hundred pounds
of metal were used for bullets. But in 1778 operations
ceased, because considered unprofitable, and were never
again resumed.

In 1705 a vein of copper ore was discovered in Simsbury.
In 1712 another vein was exposed in what is now Cheshire.*
Other undertakings were for a short time carried on in East
Hartford,t Bristol^ and at other points. At Cheshire the
paying ore lay only in small pockets and the shafts were
soon abandoned. § More extensive operations were carried
on at Simsbury. 1 1 The oldest mining charter in the country
was given in 1709 to the company which worked this mine.^
For thirty years from 1707 these operators were actively en-

*T. Dwight, "Travels", Vol. II, p. 50. "Complete History of
Conn.'', Benj. Trumbull, D. D., 1818, Vol. II, pp. 40-46. "History
of town of Hamden", Blake, pp. 70-74.

t"East Hartford, Its History and Traditions", Goodwin, Hartford,

1879, P- 157-

{"Centennial Celebration of Incorporation of town of Bristol", p.
46. Connecticut Quarterly, Vol. HI, 1897, p. 23.

§"Historical Sketches of Meriden", G. W. Perkins, pp. 76-82.
"Olde Historic Homes of Cheshire", Brown and Paddock, 1895, pp.

133, 134-

||For the Simsbury mine see; "History of Newgate of Conn.",
R. H. Phelps, Albany, i860. "Connecticut Historical Collections",
J. W. Barber, 2nd. edition. New Haven, 1837, pp. 93-96. "In Olde
Connecticut", C. B. Todd, pp. 153-156. Farmington Magaine, Vol.
II, No. 2, Apr., 1902, p. II. The profits of the Simsbury mine ac-
crued to capitalists elsewhere. Much ore was shipped by Boston
merchants. For notices of such shipments see "Belcher papers",
in Collections Mass. Hist. Society, Sixth series, Vol. VI, pp. 30, 40,
50, 80, 124, 269 et al. Also "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. I, pp.
S08-510.

l["The Great Industries of the U. S.", p. 480.

EARLY INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 21

gaged. They reported that £15,000 had been expended by
them. The legislature passed several bills designed to en-
courage the workers. Since the laws of England forbade
smelting the ore here, the product of the mine was shipped
thither, many consignments being made. Small amounts
were smelted here, notwithstanding the prohibition. After
1737, the returns not being satisfactory, the energy of the
undertakers flagged and the deposit has been worked but in-
termittently since. For a short time in 1837 and again in
1857 operations were carried on.

The iron mines were more to the purpose. The first iron
produced in Connecticut, as elsewhere in New England, was
smelted from bog ore. John Winthrop erected the first
smelter in the colonies at Lynn, Mass., in i6z^.* Five years
later he located the first in Connecticut at Montville.f In
1655 another plant was erected at East Haven,:|: and many
others were subsequently located, some of which continued
in operation until well after i8oo.§ Notwithstanding the
Act of Parliament which ordered that after June 24, 1750,
the colonies should be forbidden to erect or to operate forg-
ing, rolling or slitting mills, or to make steel, it appears
that many forges were in operation all through the colonial
period. 1 1

The important development of iron mining and manufac-

*"Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. I, p. 472.

f'History of Montville", H. A. Baker, Hartford, 1896, p. 622.

t"The East Haven Register", Stephen Dodd, 1824, pp. 23-27.
"History of the Colony of N. H. etc.", Lambert, 1838, p. 84.

§"History of Middlesex County", N. Y., 1884, pp. 178, 566. Digest
Amer. Mfrs., 1823.

ll'Travels", Kendall, Vol. 1, p. 231. "History of Norwich",
Caulkins, p. 606. Preface, "History of American Clock Business",
Jerome. "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. I, p. 514, 507.

22 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

turing was in Litchfield County.* Here is found an exten-
sive deposit of brown hematite or limonite ore. Just after
1730 these beds were located and explored. In 1734 the
first furnace and forge was erected,! and in 1762 another ex-
tensive plant was organized by Ethan Allen of Massa-
chusetts.$

At the outbreak of the Revolution the works in the vicinity
of Salisbury were seized by the Government and it was
ordered that they should be operated for the good of the
cause. § A committee of safety expended ;£ 1,450 in fitting
them up and a considerable force was constantly employed.
These men were freed from militia engagements, and the
plant was considered one of the most important in the hands
of the Government. Here the cannon for the "Constitution"
were cast, with other war material such as cannon, shot and
shell, anchors, pots, kettles and also the chains which were
stretched across the Hudson River. 1 1 Just after the Revolu-
tion these ore beds were thought to be the most important in
the country, and it was said that Salisbury was destined to
become the Birmingham of America.^ After 1800, how-
ever, Pennsylvania came to the front and the Connecticut
production rapidly dwindled into insignicance.**

*"History of Kent", Atwater, pp. 86-99.

f'Historical Address at the Commemoration of looth Anniversary
of Salisbury", Samuel Church, New Haven, 1842, p. 53. "Hist. Amer.
Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. I, p. 511.

|"Historical Address", Church, p. 54.

§"Historical Address", Church, pp. 42, 43. "Historical Collection",
Hinman, pp. 239, 264, 265. "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. I, pp.

Sii, 512.

1 1 "Life of Jonathan Trumbull", Stuart, pp. 255, 256.
i["Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. I, p. 512; Vol. H, p. 259.
**Bishop states that the first iron foundry in Pittsburg was erected
in 1804. Bishop, Vol. HI, p. 105.

EARLY INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 23

Impelled by their need the colonists from the early days
sought to establish industry other than agricultural. Be-
cause of the lack of capital* and as well in view of the ab-
sence of a large or reliable market, the first adventurers gen-
erally looked to the colony for assistance. What appears
to be the first patent granted by either the Connecticut or
New Haven colonies is dated May 25, 1647. At that time a
certain Mr. Whiting was given the exclusive right to take
whales in the Connecticut River for seven years, he being
granted two years in which to prove his ability to exercise
this right.f The subsequent value of this concession does
not appear. With this worthy precedent many were the
efforts to secure aid from the colony for doubtful undertak-
ings.

No original papers referring to the setting up of manu-
factures in the state survive for the period before 17 16.
But all through the eighteenth century the Colonial Assem-
bly was appealed to for assistance. These enterprises, how-
ever, although some of them were undertaken and prose-
cuted with commendable energy, were in general unsuccess-
ful. Many of the promoters according to their own

*Kendall in 1807 notes the lack of capital in Conn, as compared
with Boston and N. Y. "Travels", Vol. I, p. 139. See also "Sketch
of Internal Condition of U. S. A. Result of observations in 1810-12
and 1819", By a Russian, Baltimore, 1826, pp. 115, 116. The enter-
prises in the i8th century which required considerable capital were
financed by men from other colonies. John Winthrop represented
Mass. capital. Iron smelting and Simsbury copper mine drew from
outside capital. The Middletown lead mines were exploited by Eng-
lishmen. In Connecticut capital seemed more scarce than in Massa-
chusetts.

t"Public Records of the colony of Conn, prior to union with the
N. H. colony, 1636-1665", J. H. Trumbull, Hartford, 1850, Vol. I,
p. 154-

24 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

statements lost heavily, and they were generally shortly
abandoned. It is not surprising that many surrendered and
emigrated. Notwithstanding these unfortunate precedents
there were to be found shortly after the Revolution at several
points within the State the beginnings of many enterprises
which later turned the tide of population and which raised
Connecticut to the high rank which it now occupies as an
industrial State. These beginnings are to be found in house-
hold industry, rather than in the professedly larger under-
takings.

All through the eighteenth century the household manu-
facture of iron and of the textiles was carried on largely and
successfully.* From the smelters iron was secured which
was forged into spades, plows and other farm utensils with
the assistance of wayside forges which abounded, and the
village blacksmith, if one was at hand.f The strips of iron
as they came from the slitting mills were hammered into
nails during the winter or as needed.ij: The household
manufacture of the textiles was universal. This was the
main source of the supply of the needs of the household.§

*For such industry see: "General History of Conn, prior to the
Revolution", By a gentleman of the province, London, 1781, Re-
printed New Haven, 1829, pp. 199, 200 et al. Kendall, "Travels",
Vol. I. Chastellux, "Travels", Vol. I, pp. 38, 39; H, p. 447 et al.
Brissot de Warville, "Travels", Vol. H, p. 6S et al. Also Gazetteers :
Scott, 1795; Morse, 1797; Pease and Niles, 1819. Household in-
dustry survived until towards 1850. "Hist, of Conn.", Arthur &
Carpenter, 1854, Reprinted Phila., 1872, p. 284.

fKendall, "Travels", Vol. I, p. 231.

JSee Note ||, page 21.

§Hamilton in 1790 reports that from 2-3 to 4-5 of all clothing
was supplied by the household. Gallatin in 1810 repeats this esti-
mate, applying it however particularly to the country. See respective
reports. See also "Society in America", Martineau, London, 1837,

EARLY INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 25

As a direct development of this, in 1810 Connecticut was
farther advanced than Massachusetts in the manufacture of
textiles, and this for three-quarters of a century retained
first place in the industry of the State.* Until well towards
the middle of the century the making of boots and shoes
was more nearly related to the household than to any other
form of industry.f

But in this development of iron working and of the textile
manufacture conditions in Connecticut did not differ from
those which prevailed in the other colonies. There were,
however, here some unique developments of household in-
dustry. The brass industry itself runs back into the house-
hold, as will be noted in the following chapter. This, how-
ever, was only one of many ventures which were made about
the beginning of the nineteenth century. As several of
these later came into close connection with the rising brass
industry they will first be considered.

The first in time and as well the most important both be-
cause of its immediate history and because of its indirect in-
fluence upon other manufactures was the making of tinware.

The manufacture of culinary vessels and household arti-
cles from sheet tin was begiin by William Pattison and his
brother Edward, who coming from Ireland settled in Berlin

Vol. II, p. 229. Kendall, "Travels", Vol. I, p. 89. "General Hist,
of Conn.", By a gentleman of the province, N. H. reprint, 1829, p.
199. Not only was the weaving of wool and flax carried on in the
household, but also of silk. Kendall, "Travels", Vol. I, p. 251.

*Bishop, "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Vol. II, pp. 78, 79, 419-421. Gal-
latin's Report, 1810.

t"History of Conn.", Arthur & Carpenter, Phila. reprint, 1872, p.
284. "Statistics of certain branches of industry in Conn.", Oct. i,
1845, D. P. Tyler, Sec. of State.

26 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

about 1740.* After supplying their neighbors they reached
out for a larger market. Their wares were sold from house
to house, at first by the brothers themselves, afterwards by
peddlers whom they employed. As it was easy to make a
much larger product than the local market could absorb, for
some time the brothers kept the manufacture to themselves.
After 1760, however, they consented to train a few appren-
tices, and after the Revolution their peddlers extended the
scope of their operations. At first on foot, then on horse-
back and finally by wagon they sold their wares all over the
t Inited States. After a little a type of wagon was perfected
for this trade. A one or two horse vehicle was developed
to carry prominently displayed samples of wares, strongly
built, which was driven wherever the roads allowed. The
peddlers ranged from Montreal and Quebec to Charleston
and through the South, also far to the West, even across
the Mississippi.! They traded by sale or by barter, making
use of every means which ingenuity could suggest to place
the goods which they happened to have. These Connecticut
peddlers were for the South and West the original

♦"Travels in N. E. and N. Y.", Dwight, Vol. II, pp. 51-55 ; IV, p.
483. "Gazetteer of the States of Conn, and R. I.", Pease and Niles,
PP- 15. 57- "History of New Britain", Camp, pp. 266, 267. "Con-
necticut, a Study of a Commonwealth-Democracy", A. Johnston, Bos-
ton, 1903, pp. 357-359. "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. I, p. 575.

fMany references are made to the methods of these peddlers and
the extent of their operations. See in addition to references under
Note above, the following: "Travels through U. S. and Canada in
1818 and 1819", John M. Duncan, N. Y. and N. H., 1823, p. 107. A
good description of the sharpness of the trader. Also "Travels",
Kendall, Vol. I, p. 129. The wagon described. Also "A Century of
Meriden", Gillespie, Pt. Ill, p. 39. This organization continued till
1850. "Hist, of Conn.", Arthur & Carpenter, Phila. reprint, 1872, p.
284.

EARLY INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 27

"Yankees" and became a recognized institution all through
the country.

The establishments in Connecticut were not operated con-
tinuously in the earlier period. The market did not permit
of it. The employers opened their shops during the summer
in the North, and during the winter they moved to Phila-
delphia and Baltimore, where they continued their opera-
tions. After 1800, however, the selling of the product was
fully organized, and for forty years and more Connecticut
was the center of this industry.* In 1810 two-thirds of the
product of the country came from this State.f In 1832 still
Connecticut controlled the Southern and Western trade.J
In 1845 after iron manufactures, brass wares and clocks,
the making of tinware was the most important metal work-
ing industry in the State. § But after the middle of the cen-
tury this manufacture declined and practically disappeared,
for in 1885 only two or three small shops with two or three
hands each remained. 1 1

During its most prosperous period, however, this industry

♦"Travels", Dwight, Vol. IV, p. 490. "Hist, of Conn.", T. Dwight,
Jr., p. 413-

fSee Gallatin's report, Amer. State Papers, 1832, Finance, Vol. II,
p. 429, and Tench Coxe, "Tabular Statement" and "Series of Tables."
The sheet tin was all imported. In 1815, 10,000 boxes were used by
the Berlin shops alone. "Travels", Dwight, II, p. 55. In the year
ending Sept. 30, 1823, sheet tin was imported at an invoice value of
$386,540. "Statement of the cost of mfr., etc.", i8th Cong., ist. Sess.,
Doc. 72, Feb. 12, 1824.

^"Documents relative to mfrs. in U. S.", 1832, ist. Sess., 22nd.
Cong., Doc. 308.

§"Statistics of certain branches of industry in Conn.", Oct. i, 1845.

I ["Memorial Hist, of Hartford County", J. H. Trumbull, Boston,
1886, Vol. II, p. 22.

28 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

was advanced hardly beyond the household stage. As late
as 1845 under the most favorable conditions there were
barely ten workmen to each establishment.*

The most valuable contribution which the tinware manu-
facture made to the industrial history of the State was the
trade organization which it perfected. The itinerant vendors,
who were at the first interested in the main in the sale of tin-
ware, found their occupation continued in the sale of other
small articles provided for them by Connecticut enterprise.
The sale of the product was decidedly the more important
end of the business. In 18 15 single shops sent out as many
as twenty or thirty of these peddlers,f in some cases twice
as many as the workmen in the home establishment. Until
1850 the peddlers of Connecticut merchandise were known
all over the country, and the part which they played in the
marketing of the local manufactures of small wares can
hardly be exaggerated.^ In 1850 their stock in trade was
clocks, copper tin and brass wares, hats, shoes, combs, axes,
buttons, saddlery and paper. These wares were even then
generally made in small quantities in small establishments
with limited capital, but the aggregate of production was
large.

Another industry, developed from the household, with a
much more brilliant history than the making of tinware, was
the clock manufacture. Before 1800 clocks were made of
wood. It is known that they were made on a small scale, in
the household, in several places in the State ; for example, in

*"A Century of Meriden", Gillespie, Pt. I, pp. 346-360.

f'History of New Britain", Camp, pp. 266, 267.

:|:"Hist. of Conn.", Arthur & Carpenter, Phila. reprint, 1872, p. 284.

EARLY INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS , 29

Waterbiiry, Bristol, Meriden, Plymouth and Winchester.*
The parts were roughly cut by hand saws and finished by
hand lathes and knives. The finished article was quite ex-
pensive. Good wooden clocks cost in the market from $20
upwards. A seven foot hall clock in 1810 cost $20 for the
works, and as much more for the case. As late as 1825 a
peddler could sell such a clock for $100 in Louisiana.f As
the actual cost of the raw material was small, clock making
was considered a profitable trade. A small maker would
finish two or three clocks, then peddle them on horseback,
returning to his shop when they were sold.J

Before 1800 efforts were made to use brass for the work-
ing parts. The wheels were cast and finished by hand.§
This effort was stimulated by the difficulty in securing sea-
soned wood which would resist the influence of dampness;
which difficulty made the export of clocks impossible and
interfered seriously with the Southern trade. In 1818 again

♦"Travels", Dwight, Vol. II, p. 368. "Gazetteer", Pease & Niles,
p. 15 et al. "Hist, of the American Clock Business", Jerome, N. H.,
i860. "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. ^77 et al. "Memorial
History of Hartford County", Trumbull, Vol. II, p. 57. "Hist, of
the town of Plymouth, Conn.", ,F. Atwater, Meriden, 1895, pp. 219-
239. "Recollections of a N. E. town" (Meriden), Breckenridge,
Meriden, 1899, pp. 6-9. "History of Waterbury", Bronson, p. 380.

t"Hist. Amer. Clock Business", Jerome, pp. 18, 51. It was the
practice of the peddlers to charge all that the traffic would bear.

^"History of Amer. Clock Business", Jerome, pp. 35-37. Clocks
were sold to some extent by peddlers all throtigh the South. As late
as 1840 the trade was actively in their hands. See Jerome, pp. 46, 54,

70.

§"History of Town of Plymouth", Atwater, p. 220. Clocks with
works of cast brass were at this time imported from Germany.
Such importation had begun early in the eighteenth century and the
trade continued until after 1830.

30 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

an attempt was made to use brass and iron, the casting
process still being used.* But the result was not satisfactory
and the enterprise was abandoned. The cost was prohibi-
tive, such clocks being worth from $40 to $75. f The fin-
ished article was heavy and unwieldy and could not compete
with imported metal clocks.

In 1793, Eli Terry, $ who had learned the trade from an
Englishman, came to Northbury, then a part of Waterbury,
and began the making of wooden clocks by the old hand
methods.§ Two years later, in 1795, Northbury was incor-
porated as Plymouth. On Nov. 27, 1797, he received letters
patent on certain improvements in the manufacture and en-
deavored to establish himself in the business. || He moved
from Plymouth hill into the valley by the river where Thom-
aston now is and became the first extensive maker of
clocks in the State and eventually raised the industry from
the household stage. In 1802 he began the use of water
power.]! In 1807 he introduced the making of interchange-
able parts,** and undertook to make 3,000 clocks in one year,

*Pease and Niles, "Gazetteer", 1819, p 59. Jerome, "History", p.
40.

t"History of Waterbury", Bronson, p. 436.

JTerry was born in South Windsor, Ct., Apr. 13, 1772. "Hist.
Plymouth", Atwater, p. 219. "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. I,
p. 520. See also article in Scientific Amer. Supplement, Vol.
27, June IS, 1889.

§Census 1900, Mfrs. Pt. H, Vol. VHI, p. 78. At least one clock
made by Eli Terry with wooden wheels for the tower of the Con-
gregational Church in Plymouth is still running in good order.

IIBishop, "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Vol. HI, p. 75-

IfBishop, "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Vol. HI, p. 97-

**"History of Plymouth", Atwater, p. 221. Jerome, "History", pp.
16, 36. "American Clock Making", Terry, Waterbury, 1872, p. 3.

EARLY INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 31

This was thought to be a larger output than any other shop
in the country and was considered an impossible task. In
1808 Terry sold his Thomaston shop to Seth Thomas and
the output increased notably. In 1810 in Litchfield County
alone 4,000 wooden clocks were made,* which output was
increased threefold during the next decade.f

Mr. Terry was constantly working to improve processes
designed to cheapen the product. In 1814 he invented a
shelf clock, still of wood, which could be sold at a profit for
$15 ; and after 1820 these alone were made at the rate of
10,000 a year.J Other patents were issued in 1816, 1822
and 1825, and until 1837 the wooden clock dominated the
market. At this time very few clocks were made outside of
Connecticut, and within the State Plymouth was the most
important center. §

Efforts were continually being made to secure satisfactory
results by the use of metal. Iron and steel were rejected be-
cause of rust, j I Some cast brass was used especially for ex-
pensive works. About 1825 sheet brass appears, the parts
being cut from the metal by machinery.jf At this time the

*Tench Coxe, "Series of Tables."

fDigest of Mfrs., 1823.

tThis shelf clock was a 30 hour clock, and its cheapness made
the cast brass clock an impossibility. Jerome, "History", p. 39.
"History of Plymouth", Atwater, pp. 220-221.

§See "Series of Tables", Tench Coxe. Digest of Mfrs., 1823. Ac-
cording to Bishop (Vol. II, p. 377) in 1833, $50,000 worth of
wooden clocks were made in Meriden, and (Vol. II, p. 396) in 1835,
100,000 clocks, mostly of wood, were made in Conn. See also
U. S. Gov't, report on manufactures, Jan. 19, 1832; and Statistics
etc., of certain branches of industry (Conn.), Oct. i, 1845.

1 1 In 1830 a patent was given J. P. Bakewell of Pittsburg, Pa., for
glass wheels for clocks! (Bishop, Vol. II, p. 35i)-

^"Hist. of Plymouth", Atwater, pp. 219-223. The first sheet brass
wheels were cut from old kettles.

32 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

wooden clocks were in the main of an eight day model, and
the first users of brass thought it necessary to adopt this
design. A sheet brass clock could at this time be made and
sold for $20. The constant cheapening of the wooden pro-
duct kept them from a large sale. In 1837, Chauncey Jerome,
who had been employed by Terry since 181 6, perfected a
radical and revolutionary invention as he placed upon the
market a one day brass clock, which could be manufactured
for $6, and which at the start was sold in competition with
$10 or $15 wooden clocks.* The panic of 1837 seriously
affected some of the older makers and Jerome's invention
was an instant success. In 1842 a consignment of Jerome's
clocks was sent to England, which was the beginning of a
large and very profitable trade.f The possibility of large
profits attracted other makers and the manufacture increased
notably. By 1840 a yearly output valued at nearly $1,000,-
000 was reached. Then competition lowered prices to a
disastrous extent. In 1855 Jerome's own company failed
and others also. Production decreased for a time, until the
panic of 1857 finally cleared the field and the business be-
came established on a permanent basis.

Jerome's invention in 1837 increased greatly and suddenly
the demand for sheet brass, and it came at just the time
when the brass mills were in a position to meet this demand.

Another household industry which had a notable develop-
ment, and which also was later in close connection with the

*"Hist. Clock Business", Jerome, pp. 60-64.

tjerome, "Hist.", pp. 60-64. "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. H,
p. 427. Clocks of an invoice value of $1.50 paid twenty per cent
duty and sold freely in England for twenty dollars each. Many
thousands were exported. Indeed until 1900 brass clocks were the
most important item of export in the whole list of brass manufac-
tures.

EARLY INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 33

brass industry, was the making of pewter and britannia
ware. About 1800 there were several small shops engaged
in the production of pewter wares. The most important
were in Hartford, Meriden and Wallingford.* Pewter was
a mixture of tin and lead, in the proportion of four to one.f
It fused readily. The process was to cast the metal in the
form desired, the articles being then finished by lathe or by
hand tools. The first wares were spoons, plates or platters,
basins or mugs.J The product was marketed by peddlers.

In 181 5, Charles Yale, who had been selling tinware in the
South, with his brother Hiram, in Wallingford, made a
more pretentious venture. They secured skilled workmen
with improved processes from England and it is believed
that their establishment was the largest in its line in the
country. Here britannia was first used, the formula being
obtained from the English workmen. § In this alloy anti-
mony was substituted for part of the lead in pewter. The
exact formula was considered a valuable trade secret. The
metal was harder than pewter and took a good polish. But
the antimony present under some circumstances formed a
poisonous compound, hence britannia was not adapted for
all purposes. The use of. pewter continued. The Yales
devoted themselves principally to the making of hollow
ware, with a higher finish than had hitherto been secured
in this country. The art of electro-plating was first used
by James Elkington of London and Bimiingham, England,

*"Gazetteer", Pease and Niles, pp. 126, 134. "History of Walling-
ford and Meriden", C. H. S. Davis, Meriden, 1870, p. 475.
f'Hist. Wallingford", Davis, p. 475. "Mixed Metals", Hiorns, p.

305-

t"Hist. Wallingford", Davis, p. 475. "A Century of Meriden",
Gillespie, Pt. Ill, p. 38.

§Same as Note above, and "Mixed Metals", Hiorns, p. 313.
"The Metallic Alloys", Brannt, pp. 275-281.

34 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

in 1837. Shortly after this the art was introduced into this
country* and was used by the Yales on their britannia ware
with very successful results, the outcome being a largely in-
creased demand, t

Pewter could not be rolled, nor could britannia to advan-
tage. Some rolling was attempted, with unsatisfactory re-
sults. While the Yales introduced water power for finish-
ing, the rough goods were still in general made by the old
casting process.

In 1836, Robert Wallace, who had been employed by the
Yales, secured from an Englishman in New York, for $25, a
new formula. This was an alloy of nickel, zinc and copper,
in the proportion approximately of two of copper to one of
each of the other metals. Wallace secured small amounts
of the necessary metals and fused them together.J The
product was sent to a brass rolling mill in Waterbury and
the first rolling of German silver in this country was the
result. § This was found to be harder than britannia, was

♦Before this all silver plate and the most of solid silverware had
been imported. Some silver ware had been hammered out by hand
by local silversmiths. "Hist. Wallingford", Davis, p. 477.

fin 1833 in Meriden, which till 1806 was a part of Wallingford,
britannia wares were made to the value of $225,000. See Bishop,
"Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Vol. H, p. 2,77.

^'Connecticut Historical Collections", J. W. Barber, 2nd. edition,
New Haven, 1837, p. 227. "Hist. Wallingford", Davis, pp. 479-480.
"Mixed Metals", Hiorns, p. 314.

§It is in dispute where German silver was first rolled. It is
claimed that Reed & Barton, a firm name which survives to-day as
that of a large establishment of Taunton, Mass., first used the
modern process. It is believed, however, that Wallace secured the
better formula. It is apparent that the Taunton and Wallingford
men reached nearly the same result at about the same time, and
surely independently of each other. "Hist. Wallingford", Davis,
pp. 479-480. "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, II, p. 361.

EARLY INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 35

well adapted for rolling, took a high polish, was apparently-
durable, and was successfully used from the first. The
rising brass industry found its possibilities enlarged by the
making and rolling of German silver and to this day this
has been an important item in the trade.

Other examples of the development of household industry
into notable manufacturing enterprises might be cited. The
making of combs, hats and boots and shoes would be such.
Enough, however, has been given to indicate conditions
which obtained in several important instances.

When, then, about 1800, as the economic opportunity open
to the residents of the State of Connecticut seemed some-
what less promising, many emigrated to the North and West,
these undoubtedly secured the larger immediate returns. But
those who remained in the State and who endeavored by
their enterprise, ingenuity and energy to enlarge economic
opportunity by engaging in various industrial enterprises,
contributed most largely to its development and made possi-
ble the high rank which the State now occupies as a manu-
facturing center.

CHAPTER III.
Beginning of the Brass Industry in Waterbury.

Early ventures in brass. Cast buttons. First rolling of brass. Be-
ginning of competition. Improved machinery and processes.
Rolling for market. Establishment of the industry. Factory
system. Other ventures. The market in 1820. Reasons for
the establishment of the industry in Waterbury.

OF THE various household industries to which the resi-
dents of Connecticut about the beginning of the
nineteenth century devoted their energy and in-
genuity, the most notable in its development within the State,
judging by its connection with the brass industry of to-day
and the position which this now occupies, was the making
of metal buttons. For here is to be found the germ from
which the making and the manufacture of brass has histori-
cally developed.

From the earliest days there had been some casting of
brass in the colonies. The first attempt in this line was
made by John Winthrop, Jr., at Lynn, Massachusetts, after
1644, at his iron foundry. There and at Philadelphia some
brass cannon were cast before the Revolution. For fifty
years after 1725 Caspar Wistar, his associates and success-
ors, hammered out stills and kettles of both brass and copper
in Philadelphia and cast some brass wares.* The basis of

♦Bishop, "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Vol. I, pp. 471-476, 487, 494, 573,
574. Twelfth Census of the U. S., Vol. IX, Mfrs., Pt. Ill, p. 321.
For a later enterprise, bell casting about 1800, see "History of New
Britain, 1640-1889", D. N. Camp, New Britain, 1889, pp. 268-278.

BRASS IND USTR Y IN WA TERB UR Y 37

these enterprises was the casting of the metal and finishing
it by hand. Undoubtedly others, silversmiths and watch-
makers, made use of some brass in their handiwork, but
these efforts were out of connection with the brass industry
as it actually developed.*

Before 1750 John Allen had been established as a silver-
smith and brass worker in Waterbury. He made knee and
shoe buckles, repaired watches and sold buttons of rolled
brass imported from England. At this time buckles were
worth ten shillings or more a pair, and brass buttons two
shillings apiece. f Allen died in 1749. In 1754 Joseph
Hopkins began the making of buckles and buttons of silver
and of other metals.| After the Revolution the use of pew-
ter became more general, and the making of pewter buttons
was undertaken at several places. § For example in Attle-
borough, Massachusetts,! I as well as at Philadelphia, this
industry became established before 1800.

In 1790 Henry Grilley, who had learned the process from
an Englishman in Boston, associated with his brothers Silas
and Samuel, began the making of pewter buttons in Water-
bury. At this time this was a household industry. The
pewter was cast in a mould, with the eye in a solid piece and
finished by hand. In 1800 the Grilley s improved the process

*See Hamilton's Report 1791, and Gallatin's Report 1810. Amer.
State Papers, 1832, Finance, Vol. I, p. 139, and Vol. II, pp. 426, 429.

f'Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. I, p. 371. At
this time sheet brass was valued at sixteen shillings a pound, and
copper ten shillings a pound.

tThe same, Vol. II, p. 257.

§Dr. Dwight in 1798 found the casting of buttons in Waterbury.
"Travels", Vol. II, p. 368. See also "A Century of Meriden", Gilles-
pie, Pt. I, pp. 353, 359.

1 1 Bishop, "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Vol. Ill, p. 108.

38 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

by the introduction of an eye of iron wire. Two years later
Abel Porter and his brother Levi came to Waterbury from
Southington, and associating with the Grilleys under the
firm name of Abel Porter and Company the manufacture of
buttons from sheet brass was undertaken.* Apparently
this was the first use on this continent of the modem method
of making brass by the direct fusion of copper and zincf ac-
cording to the process invented by James Emerson in Eng-
land in 1781. This also involved the first rolling of brass
in this country.^

Copper was obtained by the purchase of old stills, kettles,
ship sheathing and the like, zinc was added and brass ingots
were obtained. All the raw material was imported. The
ingots were taken to an iron mill in the town of Litchfield,
where they were roughly rolled, and then returned to Water-
bury, where they were finished by being run between steel
rolls two inches in diameter driven by horse power. The
forms were struck by dies from the sheet brass, concave,
convex, round or oval ; the face was gilded and the product
placed upon the market.

There was a brisk demand for such buttons for military
and other uniforms. Up to this time they had practically
all been imported from England, where, in Birmingham, the

*"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 261-264,
275, 276. "History of Waterbury", Bronson, pp. 411, 560.

fThe brass which was used in the country before this had either
been imported, or made by the fusion of copper and calamine. See
Hamilton's Report.

$"Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. Ill, p. 440. "One Hundred
Years of American Commerce", Depew, Vol. I, p. 330. It is claimed
that one James G. MoflFet rolled brass in New York City just before
this. The power used was a pair of cattle harnessed to a sweep.
The Waterbury venture was probably the earlier.

BRASS IND USTR Y IN WA TERB UR Y 39

manufacture by the casting process had become established
before 1700.* The American product was of good work-
manship, but it was found difficult to compete with the im-
ported article in finish and in price.f Many improvements
were made. In 1815 nine patents relating to button making
were issued to residents of the State.

The selling of the product was of the simplest character,
being sold at first from house to house until the tinware ped-
dlers added them to their stock in trade.

Slowly the enterprise became established. In 1806 Levi
Porter retired from the business. Two years later a skilled
mechanic was secured from Attleborough, where the casting
process was still employed. A larger mill was erected and
water power took the place of the horses which had been
used. The next year Silas Grilley sold out his interest.
And in 181 1 a new partnership was formed, all of the orig-
inal proprietors retiring, under the firm name of Leaven-
worth, Hayden & Scovill. From this has come directly
the present corporation, The Scovill Manufacturing Com-
pany.$

For twenty years, as far as is known, this was the only
sustained effort to roll brasg in the country. § It was not

*Twelfth Census of the U. S., Vol. IX, Mfrs., Pt. Ill, p. 321.

fAbout this time, 1810, plain brass buttons sold as low as 80 cents
a gross : when gilded or of finer workmanship, sometimes as high as
a dollar a dozen.

fHistory of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 264, 276. "His-
tory of Waterbury", Bronson, p. 560. "Great Industries of the
U. S.", pp. 1 048- 1 054.

§The manufacture of cast metal buttons persisted till after 1820.
In 1810, according to Tench Coxe, Connecticut produced four-fifths
of the metal buttons of the country, both processes being included
in the returns. At this time brass casting for other purposes was

40 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

until 1823 that the business had grown to such proportions
as to engage attention and to meet competition. In 1812
Aaron Benedict had established himself in the manufacture
of bone and ivory buttons in Waterbury. In 1823 he as-
sociated himself with four other men, raised a capital of
$6,500 and began the making of rolled brass buttons.*
From this venture has come the Benedict & Burnham Man-
ufacturing Company, the second of the Waterbury firms
to become established in the brass industry.

At first Benedict followed the example of the older firm
and had his brass rolled in the iron mill at Litchfield. The
larger capital at his command was used to organize the sale
of his goods. He placed agents at New York and at Phila-
delphia. But the effort to extend the market was not suc-
cessful. It was difficult to compete with the English goods.
Before this an attempt had been made to secure skilled
workmen from England. There the old casting process had
been set aside and rolled brass was made and used. But the
English manufacturers endeavored to prevent their work-
men from leaving the country, and the first who were se-
cured from there were hardly more efficient than the native
Americans. When Benedict found he could not meet the
English prices in the open market, his first move was to
secure better machinery. In 1824 he secured from England
rolls of much the largest capacity then in the country ;
eleven inches in diameter and thirty inches long.f He
tried to economize by rolling his own brass. But still he

also established in the State. Tench Coxe, "Tabular Statement", p.
16. "Travels in N. Y. and N. E.", Dwight, Vol. IV, p. 490.

*"History", Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 296, 297. "History", Bronson,
pp. 448, 449. "History of Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. Ill, p. 442.

fScientific American, May i, 1880, Vol. 42, pp. 277, 278.

C^VW^^J^-^^Z/ / O fyi-.-t^'C^^t^^^

BRASS INDUSTRY IN WATERBURY 41

could not successfully compete with the English makers.
The imported buttons had a color which the Americans were
entirely unable to imitate. Moreover it was understood
that the English manufacturers used six cents worth of
gold for gilding a gross, while here three dollars worth was
required for the same result. With this handicap slow
progress was made.

At the same time the Scovills were endeavoring to better
conditions. In 1820 an agent of a firm in Naugatuck was
introduced in Philadelphia to one James Croft, who pro-
fessed to have lately come from England and who claimed to
be able to secure the orange tint so much desired by the
American manufacturers. He said that he had been in the
employ of the firm in Birmingham whose goods had held the
highest rank in the American market. This information
was given to one of the partners in the Scovill firm. The
reply was received that "they had tried English workmen
enough." Mr. Croft, however, came to Waterbury and
entered the employ of the Scovills. He soon proved that he
could accomplish all that he claimed. He declared that the
machinery here in use was much inferior to that in England
and he was sent thither to secure better. He returned with
an expert toolmaker and the product of the firm was vastly
improved.

With the heavier machinery of Mr. Benedict and the ser-
vices of these two skilled men, Mr. Croft and the English
mechanic, it was found that English competition could be
met and the profits of the manufacture rapidly increased.

It was during this decade, from 1820 to 1830, that the
rising industry passed the experimental stage.* By 1830 it

*0n April 4, 1827, the firm of J. M. L. & W. H. Scovill succeeded
Leavenworth, Hayden & Scovill. W. H. Scovill at this time bought

42 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

was securely established and the first move to a larger busi-
ness was taken. Up to this time the manufacture of buttons
alone had been undertaken. In 1824 Benedict began to roll
his own brass, and in 1829 Scoyill began to roll his. Shortly
after this Waterbury rolled brass began to come upon the
market. As this extension of the operations of these firms
from the simple making of buttons to the rolling of brass
for market marks a real crisis in the industry, it will be well
to consider the condition of the trade at this time.

As the manufacture of buttons was at this time carried on
in Waterbury it involved the essentials of the factory sys-
tem.* The old processes involved only the casting of metal
into moulds and finishing by hand, and could be and were
carried on as a household industry. In Waterbury machines
were used which were unique, demanded the attention of
operatives and could not be duplicated for household use.
In this respect this industry in its organization differed from
that of the textiles. This had been on a factory basis both
in England and to some extent in this country. But this
was but the assembling under a simple organization of an
industry which had long been carried on in the household
and at the first with no essential change in the machinery
used.

In Waterbury the machinery demanded the use of power.
Horse power was used at first; water power after 1808.

There was some division of labor ; the rolling of the brass,

out his brother's partners and the capital of the new partnership was
estimated at $20,000. On Feb. 2, 1829, the partnership of Benedict
& Coe was established also with $20,000 capital, succeeding the older
firm established in 1823 by A. Benedict with $6,500 capital. "Town
and City of Waterbury", Anderson, II, pp. 276, 296.

*"Der Grossbetrieb", Leipzig, 1892, G. von Schulze-Gavemitz.
"Evolution of Modern Capitalism", J. A. Hobson, Chap. II-IV.

BRASS IND USTR Y IN WA TERB UR Y 43

operating of the dies and stamps which cut out the blanks
and the finishing being quite distinct operations.

But it must not be assumed that because the essentials of
the factory system were here, the plants were of notable
size. In 1820 twenty hands was the maximum number of
employees.*

Nor is it to be assumed that in Waterbury were located
the only establishments in the country using brass. Sheet
copper and brass and wire were imported from England, at
least one New York house making a specialty of this trade.f
From 1801 the Revere Copper Company in Canton, Massa-
chusetts, has continuously rolled copper.^ And in 18 13 the
Soho Copper Company, which has also been in continuous
operation to the present time, began to roll copper at Belle-
ville, New Jersey. § The raw material was at first old ship
sheathing, stills, boilers and so forth, which were collected,
melted into pigs and then rolled. Some pig metal was im-
ported. Until the middle of the century the only sources of
raw material were either old copper which had ultimately

*See Digest of Mfrs. ordered by Congress, March 30, 1822.

fBoth Hamilton in 1790 and Gallatin in 1810 declare that all copper
was imported. Gallatin reports the Revere Copper Co., which he
says is not prosperous, a few brass casting shops and unimportant
manufacture of small wares, including buttons.

JPaul Revere' organized this company.

§See for these ventures. Bishop, "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Vol. Ill, pp.
96, 126, 440. Scientific American, Vol. 41, Dec. 13, 1879, p. 380.
"One Hundred Years of Amer. Commerce", C. M. Depew, article
by A. A. Cowles, "Copper and Brass", Vol. I, p. Z33- The Soho
Company has been controlled by Hendricks Brothers of New York,
a firm which has been in the metal trade for more than one hundred
and twenty-five years. At this mill there are to-day the largest rolls
for copper in the country and probably in the world, 156 inches long
and 30 inches in diameter.

44 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

come from abroad, or direct importation of new metal
either in sheet or in pig form. All the zinc used for making
brass was imported till about 1870.

Rolled copper for the purposes for which it was then
used did not require as fine machinery nor as skillful hand-
ling as brass. Until after the middle of the century there
was no rolling of brass in the country in appreciable amounts
except at Waterbury.

The sheet copper imported before 1820 was used in the
main for ship sheathing; in smaller amounts copper and
brass were used for the making of stills and kettles and in
smaller amounts still in the manufacture of firearms and
small wares. Some old copper besides that which was re-
rolled, and some imported pigs, was made into brass, which
together with imported brass was used for casting bells,
cannon and andirons. The disorganized character of the
industry may well be appreciated as it is noted that one es-
tablishment in eastern Connecticut reported in 1820 that the
casting of andirons was carried on in connection with the
making of shirtings.*

The casting of brass has called for no peculiar skill, other
than that which may be required for the casting of other
metals, and has always been widely carried on. This de-
partment of the manufacture has never been centralized in
Connecticut in the same degree as the rolling of brass and its
manufacture.

In the aggregate, as far as can be determined, about 150

♦"Digest of Manufactures", 1823. According to the Report of

Sec. of State, 1824, one establishment is returned as located in

Taunton, Mass., engaged in the manufacture of copper, iron, wool
and cotton!

BRASS IND USTR Y IN WA TERB UR Y 45

to 200 tons of copper and brass were used annually in the
country in 1820, of which about a sixth was consumed in
Connecticut.* The direct importations of new metal would
not reach this amount, for the same material would be used
in some cases several times over.

The question may be asked why the rolling of brass for
the making of buttons was undertaken at Waterbury. This
may be considered under three specifications.

I. There was no intrinsic reason why the venture might
not here be made. The amount of material which was in-
volved was small. There were old articles of copper, ket-
tles, stills or such, which could be obtained almost anywhere.
This was at the start the raw material which was used.

Moreover the weight of the product was not so large as
to be a serious item in the matter of transport. A peddler
could carry on his back or in the wagons of which mention
has been made a considerable supply, with no great incon-
venience on account of either the weight or the bulk. The
cost of the transportation of a dozen buttons could hardly
figure in the selling price. At first the product was mar-
keted by peddlers. The first real crisis in the early history
of the enterprise came when after 1823 the attempt was
made to meet the English goods in the open market.

Plentiful supplies of wood were needed for the annealing
furnaces, A single plant has used in recent years upward of
eighteen thousand cords. The available supply of wood is
now near the point of exhaustion. Compelled by this fact
serious attempts are being made to find some satisfactory
substitute. To this end coal and oil are both being used.
But at the beginning wood in sufficient amount was easily

*"Digest of Manufactures", 1823.

46 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

secured near Waterbury. However, this condition was not
peculiar to this single locality.

Power was needed, but at the start the amount required
was not large. Water power was used after 1808, and
Waterbury is tolerably well supplied with streams which
could be used.* But so were many other towns. Indeed
the valley of the Housatonic River, but a few miles west of
the Naugatuck, contains available sites and a much larger
amount of available water power. Even the Naugatuck
affords many much better power sites than Waterbury.

11. The reason why the industry was started at Water-
bury seems to be that this was the residence of the pioneers.
This settlement seems to have been peculiarly confined in
its economic possibility. Just here the soil was poor. The
few good farms were all occupied. Conditions made it
necessary for the rising generation to leave, starve or en-
gage in some other industrial venture. Many left, some
remained in poverty, a few laid the foundations of the
present brass industry.

Waterbury was the home of the Grilleys who had cast
pewter buttons before 1800, of the Porters who with them
first used rolled brass, of the Scovills who succeeded them,
and of Aaron Benedict and Israel Coe who first entered into
competition with them. Indeed of those who before 1830
were at all prominent in the trade there was but one out-
sider, David Hay den, who in 1808 came to Waterbury from
Attleborough, where he had been interested in the making of
cast buttons. Mr. Hayden seems to have been the only one
of prominence who was before 1830 attracted from a perma-
nent settlement elsewhere to Waterbury because of the exist-
ence of the rising industry there.

*The Naugatuck and Mad Rivers afforded sufficient power.

^f^f^i'^J.^^

BRASS IND USTR Y IN WA TERB URY 47

III. These men working at their homes, under conditions
which were not unfavorable, brought to the venture suffi-
cient enterprise and perseverance to continue in the under-
taking until they were able to see the need and to command
the assistance of English machinery and English skill.

It was this enterprise and continued perseverance which
enabled these men in Waterbury finally to overcome English
competition and to furnish a home product in response to a
home demand. At the start no such outcome could have been
predicted. It took a year and a half for the original enter-
prise to get fairly started. This new venture might easily
have gone the way of many another and have died an un-
timely death. That success was by no means assured at the
start is apparent from two facts :

First : Those who started the enterprise after a few years
abandoned it to their successors. The original undertakers
began to drop out after four years and at the end of nine
years none of them were left. It was the second generation
which carried the business through to a successful end.

Second : The observations of visitors were almost without
exception unfavorable to the inauguration of new manu-
facturing enterprises. Two quotations will suffice, both by
Englishmen.

In 1794 it was remarked by Thomas Cooper that as a result
of a six months stay in America it was his opinion that there
was some demand for itinerant tradesmen such as silver-
smiths and watchmakers, that a brass founder, meaning a
caster of brass, might find employment, together with iron
workers, carpenters and masons ; but while "land is so cheap
and labor is so dear, it will be too hazardous a speculation
to embark a capital in any branch of manufacture which has
not hitherto been actually pursued with success in this coun-

48 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

try." And he adds in a note, "while America and England
are at peace there will be little or no temptation to set up
manufactures in the former country."*

And Lord Sheffield in his observations on the commerce
of the American states expressed the confidence of the Eng-
lish manufacturers, as he declared that manufactures of iron
and steel would be supplied for long by England. Tin
plates and copper in sheets to be wrought into kitchen and
other utensils "can be had only from Great Britain to any ad-
vantage, "f As for buttons, the possibility of any venture in
such manufacture is disdainfully set aside with the remark
that "this will be one of the last manufactures which it will
be worth the while of the Americans to attempt.''^

*"Some Information Respecting America", Thos. Cooper, Dublin,

1794, pp. I, 59-

fObservations on the Commerce of the American States", John
Lord Sheffield, London, 1804, p. 29.

|The same, p. 25.

CHAPTER IV.
Growth and Development.

The market in 1832. A new firm. Manufacturing the product of
the rolling mills ; butts, kettles. Extension of the industry. Be-
ginning in Wolcottville, Derby and Ansonia. Rolling copper.
Pins. Photographic plates. New plants. Reasons for the
localization and success of the industry; enterprise of the
pioneers, labor conditions, the tariff.

DURING the ten years from 1820 to 1830 the two firms
engaged in the manufacture of rolled brass buttons
became established. In 1820 a liberal estimate of
the capital of Leavenworth, Hayden & Scovill would be
$5,000. In 1830 each of the two firms then in the business
commanded a capital of $20,000, the most of which repre-
sented profits. A real beginning had been made. But dur-
ing this same decade all branches of manufacturing in the
country experienced something of the same expansion. We
have in hand certain statistics relating to the manufactures
of the United States collected in accordance with a resolu-
tion adopted in the House of Representatives, January 19,
1832.* While these returns are quite incomplete, yet they
are the most satisfactory in those sections where manufac-
turing was most highly developed. From these returns sup-
plemented by other investigations it appears that since 1820

^Executive Document No. 308, 22nd. Cong., ist Session, 2 Vols.,
Washington, 1833. Returns are quite complete for Mass. and Conn,
and less so for other States. The reports are only from N. E., N. Y.,
N. J., Penn. and Del., with some scattering returns from Ohio and
other States.

60 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

the consumption of brass and copper had more than doubled,
being at this time perhaps 500 tons.* It is impossible ac-
curately to separate the copper from the brass, but the
amount of brass may have been 50 to 60 tons.

Four-fifths of the copper was used for ship sheathing and
for bolts and nails, also in the main used in ship building.
More than three-quarters of the remainder was consumed
for various castings. The principal products were bells,
kettles and andirons. For some of these products the cop-
per was mixed variously with other metals; tin, lead, anti-
mony, nickel and zinc. Of the balance, aggregating not
more than twenty tons, the largest demand was for litho-
graphic plates, then came stills, engine parts, tin shops and
small hardware.

Brass was widely used, in the main in small quantities.
For casting the alloy was usually compounded by the
founder. There was a demand in the market for some thirty
tons of sheet brass and twenty tons of wire. The sheet
metal was used in the making of stills and in tin shops ; also
for clocks, plated ware, fire engines and some lithographs.
Brass wire was used in the manufacture of cards, brushes,
cages and machinery. At this time brass kettles in the main
were cast; copper kettles were hammered from sheet metal
as well as were cast. The more of alloy there was present
the greater the difficulty in hammering them into shape. All
of the wire and all but about ten per cent, of the sheet metal
was imported

Sixty per cent, of the copper was imported in the form in
which it was used. Forty per cent, of the raw material was
obtained by rolling imported pig copper and by working over
old material. There was a refinery for old copper at Taun-

*See pp. 44, 45.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 61

ton, Massachusetts, and the rolling mills already referred to
at Canton and at Belleville* were in active operation.

The only record of the use of domestic sheet brass is by
certain manufacturers in Boston, who used perhaps three
tons of Waterbury brass in the making of kettles, fire en-
gines, grates and fenders and for silver plating.f

This was the dernand which the Waterbury men under-
took to supply after providing for their own needs. To-day
it seems to be a very limited demand, but the brass industry
is as it is to-day because the Waterbury men undertook to
supply the market and finally succeeded in their undertaking.
A confirmation of the result already reached is found in the
fact that on one occasion about this time when the naviga-
tion of the Housatonic River to Derby was impeded by ice,
three four-horse teams were dispatched to New York in
order to secure metal to keep the mills in operation.

The price of sheet copper at this time was from seventeen
to thirty cents a pound ; of sheet brass from sixty to eighty
cents ; of brass wire from forty to seventy cents. All
through this period, down to 1850, the margin of profit was
large. The raw material cost for a pound of sheet brass
from sixteen to twenty cents, and the labor about eight
cents; while the product delivered at the market sold as
high as seventy-five cents.

The margin of rolled brass above their own needs which
the two existing concerns in Waterbury could put upon the
market was small. Believing that a profitable business could
be established, in 1830 a new firm was organized, intending
to roll metal and to draw wire exclusively for market. Israel

*See p. 43.

fThis was rolled plate. Electro-plate did not come in till after
1837.

62 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

Holmes, who had been in the employ of the Scovills
and who started more new enterprises in the working of
brass than any other individual, associated seven other men
with himself, raising a capital of $8,000,* and began the
manufacture of sheet metal and wire for the market. The
first firm title was Holmes & Hotchkiss. The venture
was not immediately successful. Within eight years several
changes were made in the partnership. In 1838 the name
was fixed as Brown & Elton, which was continued until
1856, when the partnership was dissolved.

The prosperity of this new firm was entirely dependent
upon machinery and workmen whom Mr. Holmes in 1831
secured from Birmingham, England. He secured three sets
of rolls and six wire blocks ; and a caster, roller, wire-drawer
and tube maker.f This was the first eflfort to draw wirej
and to make tubing in this country.

After the advent of this third firm in Waterbury it was
possible to produce sheet brass and wire in much larger
quantity than the open market could absorb. It was
difficult to compete with the imported product. The manu-
facturers were driven to the task of working up their own
product. Up to this time the making of metal buttons had
furnished the only local demand for sheet brass. Now,
however, was called into active operation the enterprise,
which having established in Waterbury the first rolling of
brass, determined that the industry should be here localized.

Holmes & Hotchkiss began the making of brazed

*"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 319, 329.

f'Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 323.

tA good description of the technique of wire drawing may be
found in Scientific American Supplement, Jan. 19, 1907, Vol. 63, p. 25,
950.

(Md^(S.

a^(yu/y\j

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 53

tubing. This was made of sheet metal, brazed at the joint.
After 1836 such tubing was used for interior work for gas,
first by the New York Gas Company. This firm also
attempted to supply the domestic demand for brass wire. At
this time twelve or fourteen tons of wire was a six months'
supply and it was all imported.* It was not easy to secure
the market. However, gradually this was accomplished and
in 1835 twenty-five hands were employed in this department
alone.f At this time no local competition had developed.
In 1836 this new firm began the manufacture 01 hooks and
eyes, the first successful attempt in this country.^

In 1810 hooks and eyes had cost $1.50 a gross.§ Attracted
by the possibility of large profit some attempt had been made
to manufacture them of imported wire ; but owing to a lack
of skill this was shortly abandoned. When Holmes &
Hotchkiss found a surplus of wire on their hands they un-
dertook this manufacture, and for some years they were the
only ones to use domestic wire for this purpose, 1 1 Shortly
after this, in 1842, the company took up the making of pins.

Another new undertaking at this time was the making of
brass butts. These had formerly been cast of iron as well
as of brass. The manufacture had been established in, Troy,
New York, before i830.j[ About 1835, Benedict & Burn-
ham, who in the previous year had succeeded Benedict &
Coe, made butts of rolled brass at a cost and with a finish
which easily rivalled those made of cast metal. At this time

*"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 262.
fThe same, Vol. II, p. 243.
f'History of Waterbury", Bronson, p. 561.
§"History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. 427.
||In 1845 the only manufacture of hooks and eyes which was re-
turned was in Conn. Sen. Doc. 444, July 23, 1846.
If'History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. 349.

M THE BRASS INDUSTRY

there was an active trade in imported butts.* In 1836 the
Scovills took up this manufacture and the local market was
gained.

At about this time, as has already been noticed, the inven-
tion of the rolled brass clock created an active demand for
sheet brass.f Also the rolling of German silver was intro-
duced.:!:

Two other ventures also were made at about this time,
which for different reasons had a large place in the subse-
quent histo'ry of the trade. The result was to add two new
plants to the industry.

In 1834 Mr. Israel Coe left his partnership with Mr. Bene-
dict and associated himself with Mr. Anson G. Phelps of
New York and Mr. John Hungerford, shortly including Mr.
Holmes, who sold out his interest in Holmes & Hotchkiss,
and organized a new industry in what was then Wolcottville,
now Torrington. Here the making of brass kettles was un-
dertaken, by the battery process, so-called. § The kettles
were hammered into shape from blanks. Before this brass
kettles had been cast. At first imported cast blanks were
used. Then the attempt was made to cast blanks, then to
use sheet brass. But the right mixture of the metal was not
discovered, nor was an annealing process which was satis-
factory found. The metal cracked badly under the ham-
mers. The hammer was a long wooden beam shod with iron.
The noise of the shop was said to have been deafening, the

*Bishop, Vol. II, p. 388.

tSee page 32.

JSee page 34.

§"History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. 388. "History of Tor-
rington, Conn.", Orcutt, Albany, N. Y., 1878, pp. 101-104. This new
mill also rolled metal for a button factory near by which was started
about the same time.

y/A^^^^^^^^^--^ ^/^rr^f't^

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 65

workmen filling their ears with cotton. At first it was
thought that the difficulty arising from the cracking of the
metal was due to defective skill on the part of the workmen
and a number of skilled men were imported from England.*
These proved to be but indifferent workmen and still the
product was not satisfactory. The new concern but barely
weathered the financial storm of 1837. In 1842 Mr. Coe
visited the only two establishments in Europe using this
processf and secured the right mixture and the proper an-
nealing process. Immediately the product was vastly im-
proved and for several years the concern was very prosper-
ous.

In 1 85 1 Mr. H. W. Hayden, then in the employ of the
Scovills, invented the process still in use of forming kettles
by spinning and turning^ and the Wolcottville concern
found its business practically gone. Before this time his as-
sociates had one by one become interested in other enter-
prises and the control of the plant had passed to Mr.
Hungerford. Later the workmen were hired away by
another concern in Ansonia. In 1863, after being practi-
cally idle for several years, the mills were sold and the men
who organized the Coe Brass Company took charge of the
plant and achieved large success in drawing wire and the
rolling of German silver, brass and copper.

The other venture had an even larger effect upon present
conditions. It marks the introduction of a new factor in

*"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 324- See
page 90.

fAnderson, Vol. II, p. 302.

tin this process a blank of metal is securely fastened to a die,
which is then made to rotate. A tool is then pressed against the
metal, which is thus shaped to the die. The patent was dated Dec
16, 1851.

66 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

the industry. Up to this time each new departure had been
taken by those already identified with the existing mills.
Mr. Anson G. Phelps was an importer of tin, brass and cop-
per in New York, and hence was in closer touch with the
domestic market than the Waterbury men. In 1834 he had
become interested in the Wolcottville venture and in 1836 he,
associated with some other men, built a mill for the rolling
of copper at Derby.*

Derby was an old settlement on the east bank of the Naug-
atuck River where it joins the Housatonic. Before 1812 it
had been the port of entry for the lower Naugatuck Valley
and it had enjoyed a profitable shipping trade. It lies at
the head of the navigation of the Housatonic, seventeen
miles below Waterbury.

Mr. Phelps had made a large fortune in the import trade
and had considerable capital at his command. He felt that
he could successfully compete with the mills up the Valley.
Smith & Phelps, as the partnership was called, located their
plant on the west bank of the Naugatuck; calling the new
settlement Birmingham, after the famous English center.
The panic of 1837 broke just as the enterprise was getting
started, but from the first the new plant was successful.
Workmen and machinery were secured from England and
men were hired in Wolcottville and Waterbury. The new
mill made a specialty of copper sheets and wire and this
manufacture was largely drawn hither. In 1838 the mill
was burnt, being immediately rebuilt.

Mr. Phelps, encouraged by the success of his venture,
thought to organize a large manufacturing community at
Birmingham and to this end sought to secure control of the

♦"History of the Old Town of Derby", Orcutt and Beardsley, pp.
349, 414-416.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 57

surrounding land. This project was arrested, as a man,!
learning of the plan, bought a farm which was considered es-
sential to its accomplishment and raised the price of it from
$5,000 to $30,000. This Mr. Phelps refused to pay and went
two miles up the river where he founded Ansonia, which (
was so called from Mr. Phelps' given name.* In 1844 a roll-
ing mill was here constructed. Later, as the Wolcottville ^
Brass Company lost its command of the market for brass
kettles, Mr. Phelps secured the most of its skilled labor, and
in 1854 the Derby mill was abandoned and the Ansonia Brass
and Copper Company was organized,f which has come to be
one of the largest establishments in the trade.

The success of Mr. Phelps' venture definitely added the
handling of copper to the already established brass busi-
Tiess.$ His enterprise also added a new branch of manu-
facture to the rising industry, namely, the making of pins
from brass wire.

The story of pins is one which well illustrates the progress
of the nineteenth century and the ingenuity of the American
inventor. From the thorn of the thicket and the wooden
skewer to the modern pin of iron or of brass wire is a long
step. The Romans used hand made pins of bronze, of

♦"History of the Old Town of Derby", Orcutt and Beardsley, pp.
416-417.

fThis company was efficiently managed from the first. It had
sufficient capital at its command. Mr. George P. Cowles was the
resident executive head. He had been in the employ of the Wol-
cottville Brass Co. Mr. Phelps induced him to come to Ansonia in
1848. From 1869 to his death in 1887 he was Vice-President of the
company. His enterprise and ability was a large factor in the de-
velopment of the company.

^''Connecticut Historical Collections", J. W. Barber, 2nd. edition,
1837, p. 198.

68 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

which some have been found. The first brass pins of Eng-
land of record were imported from France in the days of
Henry VIII.* Shortly thereafter the manufacture of pins
was undertaken in England. The greatest advance which
was made until 1800 was in the perfection of a wire wound
head. This sometimes worked loose, to the injury of the
user's fingers. Adam Smith in his "Wealth of Nations"t
illustrates from this manufacture the advantage of the divi-
sion of labor. At this time the head was made separately
and the making of the pin required eighteen separate opera-
tions. Ten persons could make 48,000 pins a day.J After
1800 various improvements were made and a solid headed
pin was perfected in England.

In this country in the colonial days pins were imported
and were very costly. One of the items in the inventory of
an estate filed in Waterbury in 1749^ in company with wear-
ing apparel, breeches, coats, knives and a razor, is a "paper
of pinns."§ In 1775 the provincial assembly of North Caro-
lina offered a bounty of £50 for the first twenty-five dozen
pins of domestic manufacture equal to those imported from
England. 1 1 At this time pins cost seven shillings, sixpence
a dozen. After 1812 pins sold at a dollar a package.^

*The cost of pins and their usefulness gave form and meaning to
the phrase "pin money", designating the sum allowed a wife by her
husband for the purchase of these necessary articles.

f'Wealth of Nations", Book I, Chap. I.

JWilliam Cowper (died 1800) in a short poem entitled "An
Enigma", and beginning "A needle, small as small can be", tells of the
making of a pin. At that time seven workmen united in the manu-
facture of the product, and the head was made separately.

§"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. I, p. 371.

ll'The Great Industries of the United States", p. 1287.

i["History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. Ill, p. 184. 12th Census of
U. S., 1900, Mfrs. Pt. IV, Vol. X, pp. 427-429.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 69

About this time an unsuccessful attempt was made to
make pins here.* Various other efforts to introduce this
manufacture into this country were made, but until after
1830 all pins were imported.

In 183 1 Dr. J. I. Howe of New York invented a pin-making
machine which was successfully operated.f He made im-
provements in 1832, 1833, 1838 and in 1841. In this last
year the solid headed pin was perfected. The earlier
machines had used the wire wound head.J At the same
time other inventors were at work and two other ventures
proved to be successful. By 1840 Slocum & Jillson in
Poughkeepsie, New York, and the Fowler Brothers in
Northford, Connecticut, were making pins for the market.
The Fowler machine proved to be in some respects superior
to the Howe machine.

The next improvement was the machine for sticking the
pins on paper. The high labor cost made improvement
necessary. Slocum & Jillson and Dr. Howe together per-
fected a sticking machine. § This gave these makers a dis-
tinct advantage over the Fowlers, notwithstanding their bet-
ter machine for making the pins.

In 1838 the Howe Manufacturing Company, which had
been organized in New York in 1835, was located in Derby,
under the influence of Mr. Phelps. 1 1 This company con-

*Twelfth Census of U. S., 1900, Mfrs. Pt. II, Vol. VIII, p. 79.

fA story of the life and work of Dr. Howe is given in "Hist.
Amer. Mfrs.", Vol. II, pp. 563-566. See also for several items, "Re-
port of Commissioner of Patents for the year 1850", House Ex. Doc.
No. 32, Thirty-first Congress, Second Session, pp. 412-414.

^"History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. 395.

§"History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. 478.

||"History of the Old Town of Derby", Orcutt and Beardsley, p. 366.
"History of New Haven County", Rockey, Vol. II, p. ^gs. "History
Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. 415.

60 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

tinued in business in Derby until 1908, when the plant and
good-will were purchased by the Plume & Atwood Company
of Waterbury.

At about this same time the enterprise of the Waterbury
men appeared in this connection.* In 1842 Brown & Elton
purchased the business of the Fowlers at Northford and
moved the machinery to Waterbury. They also bought a
third interest in Slocum & Jillson and made an arrangement
with Dr. Howe for the use of his patent in connection with
the sticking machine and began the making of pins. In
1846 Brown & Elton with Benedict & Burnham organized
the American Pin Company, bought the rest of the business
of Slocum & Jillson and removed the machinery to Water-
bury. This gave the control of the effective pin-making
machines and the sticking device to the American Pin Com-
pany and the Howe ]\Ianufacturing Company.

It was the sticking device which was the deciding factor
in the control of the American market. In England pins
were still stuck upon the papers for market by hand.

Induced by the large profit which was secured by the
earlier manufacturers many others attempted the making of
pins, but in a few years these had all disappeared. In 1848
there were only two companies in existence, the Howe Man-
ufacturing Company and the American Pin Company. As
long as their patent rights continued these controlled the
American market.

It is impossible to give from the census returns the measure
of the control of this manufacture which still abides in Con-
necticut, for since i860 the manufacture of pins and needles

*"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 320, 366-
368. "History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. 439.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 61

is given under one head, notwithstanding the fact that they
are made of different materials and by different processes
and in many cases by different firms. In 1845 ^"^ in 1850
the only returns for the making of pins are from Connecti-
cut. In i860 75% of all pins as returned are from this
State.* And according to the latest returns 64% of the na-
tional product of needles and pins is also from Connecticut.

The three establishments in Waterbury, the Scovills,
Benedict & Burnham and Brown & Elton, with the Wolcott-
ville concern and the Derby mill, were the only ventures in
the brass industry before 1840. It is believed that at this
time they were the only establishments in the country de-
voted to the mixing and the working of sheet brass.

The panic of 1837 broke just as the three newer concerns
were getting started, and had it not been for the large profits
secured in the industry it would have been impossible for
them to have continued in operation. The increased de-
mand, due largely to Mr. Jerome's clock and the control of
the business, led to rapid recovery when once the crisis had
been passed. After 1840 a season of large prosperity was
entered upon. The demand broadened considerably. The
manufacturing ventures were increasingly successful and
the next decade was relatively the most prosperous of any
until 1880.

Shortly after 1840 another industry calling for the prod-
uct of the brass mills came into being and this also was
undertaken by the mills themselves in the effort to work up
their product. The invention of Daguerre in the realm of
photography in 1839 was at first applied to silver plates.

*See Senate Doc. 444, July 23, 1846, and census returns for dates
as given.

62 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

Soon, however, it was found that copper plated with silver*
answered the purpose and in 1842 the Scovill Company un-
dertook to supply this demand-f From the first the venture
was successful. Plates considered better than the English
and nearly as good as the French were placed in large
quantities upon the market. Other manufacturers followed
this exampleif: and for many years the making of photo-
graphic plates was an important item in the trade. Many
other uses were found for copper and brass in the business
of the photograph galleries and the brass mills made it their
business to supply the demand.

The expanding trade and the large profits secured en-
couraged competition and during the next few years sev-
'eral new plants were located.

The first new concern to roll brass was the Waterbury
Brass Company. § The first step in the organization of this
company was taken by a man who owned a mill privilege on
the Mad River. He enlisted the interest of capitalists, in-
cluding Mr. Elton of Brown & Elton ; and Mr. Holmes was
induced to sever his connection with the Wolcottville com-
pany and to assume the presidency of the new concern. In
1846 the first mill was built, the largest at that date in the
country. In 1852 this company bought of Mr. Hayden his
newly invented spinning process and proceeded to com-
mand the manufacture of brass kettles in the country. The
success of the new company as well as its rapid growth is

*The first copper-silver photographic plates wer^ of rolled plate.
A thin sheet of silver was fused to a copper ingot, and rolled down
together. Later the silver was applied by the electro-plating process.

f'Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 277.
"History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. Ill, p. 441.

JSee page 65.

§"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 332, 333,

<^- (-^-"^^^^^-YT—i--^^-

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 63

indicated by the increase of its capital stock. At the begin-
ning this was $40,000, increased the same year to $50,000;
in 1848 this was $75,000; in 1850, $104,000; in 1852, $208,-
000; in 1853, $250,000; in 1857, $300,000; and in i860,
$400,000. From 1855 to i860 this concern handled the
largest weight of metal of any in the Valley.

From Mr. Phelps' venture in Derby two other companies
arose. The first was in 1848 in Ansonia. Thomas Wallace,
who had learned the trade of drawing wire in England, in
1832 removed to America.* For nine years he worked with
uncertain results at his trade in various places. In 1841 he
removed to Derbyf and until 1848 he drew wire for the pin
machines for the Howe Manufacturing Company. In that
year he began operations on his own account in Ansonia,
and in company with his sons built up a large business in
rolling metal and drawing wire. In 1853 the enterprise was
incorporated and a good business was done. After 1880
this plant was one of the largest in the Valley. Later the
company was forced into liquidation and in 1896 the plant
was bought by the Coe Brass Company.

The second outgrowth of Mr. Phelps' activity appeared in
the organization of the Humphreysville Copper Company
in Seymour, in 1849,$ with a capital of $40,000, increased to
$200,000 in 1852. The moving spirit in this company was
Mr. Thomas James, who had been first in the Derby mill,
moving to Ansonia in 1847. In the earlier years this new

♦"History New Haven County", J. L. Rockey, Vol. H, p. 485.

f'History of the Old Town of Derby", Orcutt and Beardsley, p.
664.

^'History of the Old Town of Derby", p. 482. Connecticut Quar-
terly, Vol. 6, 1900, pp. 320, 321. "Seymour and Vicinity", Sharpe, pp.
83, 87.

64 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

company was very prosperous. But in 1855, with a nominal
capital of $750,000, it was succeeded by the New Haven
Copper Company with a capital of $400,000. The new com-
pany was still over-capitalized and for nearly twenty years
financial difficulties interfered with the prosperity of the
concern. Since 1880 the company has been moderately
successful. From the first it has made a specialty of hand-
ling copper.

Again in 185 1 a new firm was organized in Waterbury
which claims to be the first to use steam power exclusively
for the rolling of brass.* Up to this time the Waterbury
Brass Company had used auxiliary steam power more ex-
tensively than any of the other concerns. Mr. Philo Brown
had been one of the original partners in Holmes & Hotchkiss
and was a member of the firm of Brown & Elton, which had
in 1838 succeeded the earlier partnership. In 185 1 he as-
sociated others with himself and the partnership of Brown &
Brothers was organized. In 1856 this new firm bought
half of the business of Brown & Elton, the other half being
purchased by Holmes, Booth & Haydens. For thirty
years the new firm secured large profit in the rolling of
brass and in its manufacture. After 1880 financial difficul-
ties were encountered and in 1886 the company ceased oper-
ations. At that time part of the plant was purchased by
Randolph & Clowes, then organized. This new firm was at
first largely engaged in the making of brazed and seamless
tubing. Being large consumers of sheet metal, after three
years they established a rolling mill, purchasing at that time
the rest of the old plant of Brown & Brothers. At the first
the new company was largely successful, but in later years it
has been less ably managed and hence less profitable.

*"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 343.

y^^^'^;^!!:^ /^i^-"^^-

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 65

The indomitable Mr. Israel Holmes, who had in 1845 as-
sumed the presidency of the Waterbury Brass Company and
had carried it to large success, in 1853 severed his connection
with that company and organized a new concern, the
Holmes, Booth & Haydens.* In 1856 this firm bought half
of the business of Brown & Elton. From the first
it has been markedly successful and now controls one
of the largest plants in the trade. This was the first
company which on a large scale started out with a de-
liberate policy to manufacture its own product. The first
concerns had begun as makers of brass buttons, and the roll-
ing of brass had developed under their hand. Holmes &
Hotchkiss began to roll brass for market. The Derby mill
was organized to roll copper. The Wolcottville concern
had been at the first interested mainly in kettles. The other
concerns had been organized with some specific object in
view. Some of these had been driven to manufacture, as
they had facilities for producing more raw material than the
open market could absorb. But Holmes, Booth & Haydens
was organized to roll metal and then to manufacture it on a
large scale. Mr. Holmes had charge of the rolling mill.
Mr. H. W. Hayden, the inventor of the spinning process
and who had demonstrated his mechanical skill, was put in
charge of the maufacture of goods. Mr. H. H. Hayden had
charge of the marketing of the product. One who had been
in the employ of Daguerre was secured from France and
the new company engaged largely and successfully in the
making of photographic plates. Also the company engaged
from the first in the manufacture of lamps and burners de-
signed for the use of kerosene oil.

The first brass lamp made in Waterbury designed to use
*"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 352-353-

66 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

whale oil of which there is a record was made by hand in
1807.* Lamps were made after this date both hammered
and cast. Mr. G. W. Burnham, who in 1834 became one
of the members of the new firm Benedict & Burnham, suc-
ceeding Benedict & Coe, had included brass lamps as an
article of trade in his occupation as a peddler of tinware.
But the demand was not large. After 1855 petroleum began
to be refined and to come on to the market. By i860 it was
generally known and rapidly came into general use. This
created the demand for lamps, which in turn was quickly
felt by the Waterbury men. Mr. H. W. Hayden of the
firm of Holmes, Booth & Haydens, and Mr. Lewis J.
Atwood, who was for fifteen years in their employ and who
later, in 1869, was active in the formation of a new company,
were the two men who led all others in the attempt to adapt
sheet brass to the making of lamps and their fittings. A
very large business was established in this line.

About this time a new company was organzed in Ansonia
as an outgrowth of an earlier venture. The Osborn &
Cheeseman Company in 1866 constructed a plant for rolling
brass and drawing wire which for a time was quite prosper-
ous.! This was an outgrowth of a manufacture of hoop
skirts which had been started at Birmingham in 1858 and
removed to Ansonia in 1859. In 1880 the concern employed
250 hands. In 1891 the company went into the hands of
a receiver. At this time it was engaged in several lines of
manufacture. The rolling mill and a portion of the brass
manufacture had been located in Shelton. This plant was
sold to the Birmingham Brass Company, organized in 1892.

*"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 265.
f'History of the Old Town of Derby", Orcutt and Beardsley, pp.
420-421.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 67

After a somewhat unsatisfactory career, in 1903 the plant
and business was sold to the Coe Brass Company, which dis-
mantled the mill and transferred the business to its Ansonia
plant.

In this connection the organization of one more concern
may be mentioned, the last of the important corporations in
the trade. In 1869 Mr. Holmes left Holmes, Booth & Hay-
dens and in company with others organized Holmes, Booth
& Atwood, a name which was abandoned by order of the
court on account of its resemblance to the older associa-
tion, and became in 1871 Plume & Atwood.* This new firm
bought a brass mill in Thomaston, which had been origi-
nally organized in 1854 to roll metal for the making of
clocks, and also a smaller concern in Waterbury, and became
one of the important factors in the trade.

Mr. Holmes died in 1874. His own personality had
bulked large in the story of the brass industry up to that
time.f Originally in the employ of the Scovills he had
been instrumental in the organization of the Wolcottville
Brass Company, the Waterbury Brass Company, Holmes,
Booth & Hay dens, and Plume & Atwood, which in 1884
with the Scovills produced more than half the gross weight
of tubing, wire and sheet metal in the Naugatuck Valley.
And at this time the Naugatuck Valley produced more than
85% of the rolled brass and brass ware of the country.

The question may again arise why this industry became
thus localized in the Naugatuck Valley. During the period

*"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 361.

fSince the death of Mr. Hohnes, until 1900, not a single concern
of first rate importance has been organized in the Naugatuck Val-
ley. Randolph and Clowes, in 1886, was only an apparent exception,
for this took over an older plant. See p. 64.

68 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

from 1830 to i860 the amount of material to be handled
came to be very large. Freight charges came to be a large
item in the business. The rolling mills early found that they
could produce more sheets and wire than the market could
absorb. And yet the industry remained and increased ex-
tensively.

Apparently the success of the enterprise was due in the
main to two factors, one of which was dependent upon the
other. The factor of prime consequence was the energy
and initiative of the men whose fortunes depended upon suc-
cess. They became convinced that it might become a profit-
able undertaking. This assurance was based to a consider-
able extent upon the advice of Mr. Croft, who had been in
touch with the industry in Birmingham, England, and who
assured his associates that the business was one of the most
profitable in which his English friends were engaged. As
the work continued this hope of large profit was confirmed
by experience. It is a notable fact that of the ten firms to
enter the business before 1865 only two were compelled to
undergo liquidation. Possibly a third should be included,
for the Wolcottville Brass Company suspended operations
for a time after the new process for making brass kettles
was invented in 1851, but the plant was later reorganized
and became conspicuously successful. The two which
failed were Brown & Brothers in 1886 and Wallace & Sons
in 1895. The expectation of financial profit was well
founded and was magnificently realized. Led by this hope
the men who were in touch with the rising industry brought
to the undertaking splendid enterprise and energy. Diffi-
culties which would have discouraged ordinary men were
met and surmounted. Numerous trips were made to Eng-
land and even to the Continent to secure processes, machin-

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 69

ery and workmen. Moreover when a surplus of metal was
at hand, the undertakers devised many new processes and
invented new applications of brass to marketable wares.

The second important factor in the localization of the in-
dustry may be found in the fact that at this time the only
labor skilled in the making and the manufacture of brass was
to be found in the Naugatuck Valley. On several occasions
new processes were established by imported labor and only
a few men were competent to do the work. An illustration
of this monopoly of skill and ingenuity is seen in the fact
that except the first two firms, Scovills and Benedict before
1830, every other new undertaking in the Valley was inaug-
urated by men who had gained experience in mills already
existing.

It is undoubtedly true that the brass men themselves be-
lieved that another factor was essential to their success,
namely, the tariiif. To the extent in which this opinion in-
fluenced their conduct the tariflf was of assistance.* It is
also clear that the tariff did make it possible to maintain
prices on a level which otherwise would have been impossi-
ble, and to that extent it did increase profits and hence ex-
tend a larger inducement to undertake the manufacture.

Brasswares figured in the earliest tariffs. In 1791 the
duty on brasswares was 5% ; on tin, pewter and copper,
7^%. Hamilton in his "Report on Manufactures" urged
that the rates on manufactured brasswares should be raised
to at least 7>4% ad valorem, and 10% would be still better.f
He also urged that copper and brass in sheets, with pig cop-

*The psychological effect and value of the tariff has not often
been realized and appreciated.

f'Report on Manufactures", Hamilton, Amer. State Papers,
Finance, Vol. I, p. 139.

70 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

per and calamine, still used in the making of brass, should be
free. By the act of June 7, 1794, the rate on all brass, cop-
per and tinwares was made 15%, which was near the highest
rate levied.*

The "embargo" and "non-intercourse acts" of 1807 and
1809, with the War of 1812, largely cut off foreign trade
and moreover precede the birth of the industry. The tariff
of 1816 fixed the rate at 20% ad valorem, which was the
maximum rate at that time, on all brass, copper, pewter,
lead and tinwares, brass wire, pins, buttons and moulds.f
The act of June 30, 1818, increased this rate to 25%.$
Many of those interested in various industries urged higher
duties from time to time and new tariffs were ordered in
1820, 1824 and 1828, But in none of these was any change
made in the brass schedules. §

According to the principle which lay at the base of the
tariff of 1833 unmanufactured articles were to be admitted
free of duty. The Secretary of the Treasury ruled that
sheet brass and wire were unmanufactured articles and
hence were to be admitted free. This decision alarmed and
aroused the Waterbury men and their action is a good illus-
tration of the alertness and energy which appears in all the
early history of the industry. Mr. Israel Holmes, of Brown
& Hotchkiss, later Brown & Elton, and Mr. Israel Coe, of
Benedict & Coe, were sent to Washington to secure a re-
versal of this decision. The Connecticut representatives
were interviewed and Mr. Clay, the author of the bill, was

*"History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. 54-

tBishop, Vol. II, p. 228.

JBishop, Vol. II, p. 242.

§Bishop, Vol. II, pp. 256-259., 291-293, 322-324.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 71

seen. It was determined that no change in the original bill
could be made, but a special bill was introduced ordering the
Secretary of the Treasury to include sheet brass and wire
in the list of manufactured articles. This bill was passed
March 2, 1833, ^^ almost the last hours of the expiring Con-
gress.* The effect of the bill was to maintain the 25% rate
established in 1818.

The bills of 1842 and 1846 made the rate with one or two
specified exceptions 30% ad valorem. Clocks, kettles, britan-
nia ware, plated ware, German silver, hooks and eyes and all
manufactures of copper, brass and tin were included under
the same rate. In 1857, 24%, which was the maximum pro-
tective rate in the bill, was levied on all manufactures of
the metals already named. In the act of July 14, 1862, the
standard rate for the brass and copper schedule was 35%
ad valorem. This remained without change till 1883. In
the tariff act of that year 45% ad valorem was levied on all
manufactures or wares composed wholly or in part of cop-
per, zinc, pewter and other metals not otherwise enumerated,
wholly or partly manufactured. From 1894 to 1897, 35%
was the rate adopted for this schedule. With the exception
of those three years the rate fixed in 1883 has remained
without change to the present.

Ingot and old copper were free until 1846, when a rate of
5% ad valorem was ordered. After 1850 the domestic pro-
duction of copper became notable. After i860 exporting
began. Those who were interested in the mining of copper,
however, seem to have feared foreign competition, for they
secured the passage of a special act, Feb. 24, 1869, relating
to this metal. By this act, copper ore was taxed three cents

*Bishop, Vol. II, p. 375. "Town and City of Waterbury", Ander-
son, Vol. II, p. 323.

72 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

for each pound of fine copper therein, old copper was assessed
four cents a pound, pig and bar copper five cents a pound
and sheet copper with all manufactures of the metal 45%
ad valorem. For pig copper the rate was about 25% ad
valorem. Later these rates were reduced to half a cent a
pound for fine copper in ore, a cent a pound for old copper
and a cent and a quarter for pig copper.

In a discussion of the effect of the tariff upon the brass
industry two facts immediately appear. First; those who
were actively engaged in the industry from 1830 to the pres-
ent time, without a single notable exception, have believed
that the tariff was an important factor in the growth and
development of the industry. It is certain that many of
those who engaged in the industry were encouraged to do
so by a belief that the tariff afforded them some protection
from foreign competition. In this belief they ventured capi-
tal in this enterprise which otherwise might have been de-
voted to some other manufacture. Second ; this industry
was singularly favored in the tariff schedules. With raw
material free during all of the early period and with never
a heavy tax upon it until the industry was practically inde-
pendent of foreign supply, together with the enjoyment gen-
erally of the highest protective rate in force upon the product
of the mills, the industry should indicate results most favor-
able for the protective policy. Such results appear. It is
quite clear, however, that the tariff was not the only factor
in the case.

If the tariff had been the only important factor to be con-
sidered, the industry should have been more widely diffused.
The more important reasons why domestic competition did
not become acute are probably the advantage of an early
start, the practical control of the supply of skilled labor and

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 73

the comparatively limited market. For from 1830 to the
present day the rolling mills existing at any one time have
generally been able to turn out more sheets and wire than
could be readily handled in remanufacture. It is impossi-
ble to say whether the industry would have become estab-
lished without the tariif , for this was an existing fact. The
value of the tariff has been different at different times.
To-day the industry would undoubtedly thrive even if con-
siderable reduction were made in existing rates.

It is probable that the tariff now in force on ore and pig
copper is entirely without effect. And probably at no time
has this been a matter of consequence to the brass industry
specifically. To-day, apart from speculation, the price of
raw copper is fixed by the mines of the United States. In
Montana, and especially in Arizona and vicinity, large masses
of ore of varying richness are available. With the rise of
every cent a pound above twelve cents the amount of ore
which can be profitably worked increases rapidly. So pro-
duction increases rapidly with the rise in price, which acts
as a balance upon the market.

It is quite certain that before 1830 the tariff was of no
large consequence. English buttons undersold American
buttons because of superior processes of manufacture. After
1830 for a few years the rolling mills were reaching after
the American market. They were only just getting estab-
lished. The tariff at that time was probably a more impor-
tant factor than at any date before i860. From 1837 to 1857
was the period which before 1890 was the time of growth
and development. And during these years it is quite cer-
tain that American inventive genius, notably in connection
with the manufacture of the brass clock, of pins, of kettles
and of burners for kerosene oil, was a far more important

74 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

factor than the tariff. During this period the industry
would have prospered, although it is quite certain that
profits were larger than they would have been had there
been no tariff. The period of greatest strain was from 1870
to 1885. At times during these years the importation of
foreign goods was relatively very large notwithstanding the
high tariff rate. It was in order to check this trade still
more if possible that the higher rate was urged in 1883.
Notwithstanding the increase, the importation of foreign
brass and copper wares was at the highest figures at about
this time. The periods of largest importations were from
1870 to 1874 and from 1880 to 1886. It is quite certain
that at these times and generally from 1870 to 1885 the
tariff was an important factor in checking foreign competi-
tion. After 1885 the expanding demand, especially in con-
nection with the development of electricity, enabled the Con-
necticut mills to perfect their organization and to gain con-
trol of the market. To-day the price of brass in sheets and
wire is usually on a parity with prices in England, notwith-
standing the higher scale of wages and the usual higher
price of zinc in the United States. The existing tariff at
least in its present rates is not an important factor in the
trade.

However, the brass industry is a part of the industrial or-
ganization of the country and has very intimate relations
with many branches of manufacture. If it be granted that
the general industrial organization of the nation is based
upon a high protective tariff, with its known effect upon
wages and prices, it is quite probable that the tariff can not
be entirely removed from the products of the brass mills
alone without some relatively injurious effect.

CHAPTER V.

The Market.

Salesmen and agencies. Sources of raw material; copper, zinc
Roads and railroads.

BEFORE 1825 the question of the supply of raw mate-
rial was not acute. The amount needed was small.
Old stills and broken kettles were to be found in suf-
ficient quantity.* The zinc needed was imported.

At the first the finished product was handled by peddlers,
and for many years various manufiactures of brass, such as
buttons, kettles, clocks and lamps, could be found in their
wagons. Shortly, however, the business outgrew this lim-
ited service. About 1820 Israel Holmes began his connec-
tion with the industry, when he entered the employ of Leav-
enworth, Hayden & Scovill, which in 1827 became J. M. L.
& W. H. Scovill. Holmes had had experience as a sales-
man in the South and was at first in charge of the company's
store in Waterbury.f When the Scovill brothers organized
their first partnership, one of them took charge of the fac-
tory in Waterbury and the other handled the sale of goods in
New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston.ij:

The later enterprises included salesmen in the organiza-
tion. From near the beginning of his interest in the metal
button business, in 1823, Aaron Benedict had as one of his
associates Mr. Benjamin DeForest, who resided in New

♦"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 275.
fAnderson, Vol. II, p. 321.
^Anderson, Vol. II, p. 280.
6

76 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

York and superintended the sale of buttons.* And later
when in 1829 Mr. Israel Coe entered the new firm of Bene-
dict & Coe, it was as a recognition of his ability proved by
three years' experience as a salesman.f And when in 1834
Mr. Coe retired and Mr. G. W. Burnham, who had been a
wagon peddler in his earlier days, became the principal
member of a new combination with Mr. Benedict, his highest
recommendation was that he was an exceptionally efficient
salesman.^ After 1835 he resided continuously in New
York in charge of the agency there.

No sooner had Mr. Holmes left the employ of the Scovills
in 1830 and organized the new firm of Holmes & Hotchkiss
than he took for his part of the business the placing of the
product and sought a market in Boston and elsewhere. §

Selling agencies were successively inaugurated as they
were needed and pushed the sale of the products of the
mills and factories.

With the expansion of the market the demand for raw
material became more insistent. Copper and zinc were im-
ported in the form of pigs. Mr. A. G. Phelps, who later or-
ganized Phelps, Dodge & Company, was the most important
factor in this trade and amassed a fortune in it. From the
beginning of this larger demand efforts were made to become
independent of foreign supply. In 1837, as already noted,
and again in 1857, copper was unsuccessfully sought in
the Simsbury mines. 1 1 The ore was rich enough, but it was
refractory and expensive to work. No relief was experi-
enced until copper began to arrive from Lake Superior.

*Anderson, Vol. II, p. 296.

fAnderson, Vol. II, p. 302.

^Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 303, 304.

§Anderson, Vol. II, p. 262.

1 1 "Newgate of Connecticut", Phelps, p. 24. See pp. 20, 21.

^^J-4^^M-t^<u''1^<

THE MARKET 77

Deposits of copper along the southern shore of Lake
Superior were known to exist before 1800.* There is no
record that they were systematically worked until just be-
fore 1850. Between 1845 ^"^^ i^S^ ^^^ who shortly inter-
ested Boston capitalists began to exploit these deposits and
small shipments of copper were made. The copper exists
in threads and flakes imbedded in rock. The rock was
roasted, the copper separated and sent to market. The
metal was originally nearly pure, but the result of the
roasting process was that impurities became associated with
the metal, and moreover the copper was not in a form to be
used in manufacturing.

These facts appearing, Mr. John R. Grout in 1849 inter-
viewed Mr. Israel Coe of the Wolcottville Brass Company,
who was in Detroit at the time, and later came to Waterbury
and interested Mr. J. M. L. Scovill and others in a smelting
project. A party of Waterbury men visited the section and
on May 25, 1850, the Waterbury and Detroit Copper Com-
pany was organized, controlled by Waterbury capital. The
first smelter to handle Lake Superior copper was erected by
this concern. In 1867 another smelter which had mean-
while been erected at Portage Lake was purchased and the
earlier company became the Detroit and Lake Superior Cop-
per Company, with a capital of $50,000, and still controlled
by Waterbury men. This company, like its predecessor, did
no mining, but simply prepared the product of the roasters
for the market. Until after 1870 the smelting of Lake
Superior copper was controlled by this company. As after

*"Travels through the interior parts of North America in the
years 1766, 1767 and 1768", J. Carver, p. 139. "Report on Manufac-
tures", Gallatin, 1810, Amer. State Papers, Finance, Vol. II, p. 429.

78 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

1865 the mining companies erected their own smelters, the
possibility of the indefinite expansion of the Detroit and
Lake Superior Company was arrested. The company, how-
ever, continued in the business, at times with large profit,
until after 1900, when it gradually sold its properties and
went out of existence in 1906.

In 1850 the production of domestic copper was 650 tons,*
practically all from the Lake Superior region; in i860 the
production was 7,200 tons; in 1870, 12,600 tons; in 1880,
27,000 tons. After 1880 other sources of supply in Montana
and Arizona were opened and the production of domestic
copper increased largely. In 1879 83% of the domestic
supply came from Lake Superior. This proportion has
steadily decreased. After i860 very little copper was im-
ported. After 1875 the export of copper began to reach
large proportions. Since then from 45% to 55% of the
total United States production has been exported. Now
the world's production is upwards of 700,000 long tons,t of
which the United States contributes from 55% to 60%.$

Zinc, the other constituent of brass, was at first imported.
In 1867 Wisconsin ores of zinc, smelted at Carondelet, Mis-
souri, began to come to the market. In that year 1,800 tons
were reported as produced. The production rapidly increased
and after 1870 the brass industry was independent of for-
eign sources. In 1869 ^^e first exploitation of the lead and
zinc fields in southwestern Missouri was begun and these

*See page 50.

fFor consumption of copper in the Naugatuck Valley see pp. 98,

lOI.

JAbout ten per cent, should be added to this proportion as given
for the United States to cover the production of Canada and Mexico,
which is practically all marketed through the United State.s.

THE MARKET 79

have since been the chief sources of supply. To-day up-
wards of 200,000 tons of zinc are annually produced in this
country, of which about ten per cent, is exported.

It was not until after 1835 that the gross amount of metal
handled by the various brass mills of Waterbury and vicinity
reached a ton a week. The development of various manu-
factures, clocks, hooks and eyes, pins and kettles, together
with the demand for German silver by the tableware and
plating shops, so enlarged the market that the gross weight
of metal in the course of six years from 1837 to 1843 in-
creased to more than five tons a week, or about 300 tons a
year. This caused an emergence of the problem of trans-
portation.*

Before 1840 there had been three routes over which the
traffic was handled. The first in importance was the road
twenty-two miles to New Haven. The first turnpike con-
nection out of Waterbury was effected in 1797 over this
road.f This was on the direct line between New Haven
and Albany. After 18 10 there was a weekly stage by this
road, which subsequently ran more frequently. This in-
volved a heavy grade, but was the ordinary line of traffic.

Another road extended south seventeen miles to Derby,
the head of navigation of the Housatonic River. After
1820 a turnpike connection was had by this route,$ and as
the brass industry grew it was increasingly used. Over this
route freight was carried by boat from New York to Derby
and thence by team up the Valley. After 1824 regular

♦Confer "Early Transportation and Banking Enterprises of the
States, etc.", Prof. G. S. Callender, Journal of Economics, Vol. 17,
pp. IH-162.

t'Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. I, p. 566.

^Anderson, Vol. I, p. 567.

80 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

steamboat connection with New York was maintained.*

A third route which was used to some extent was by road
thirty miles east to Hartford and thence by boat on the
Connecticut or further by road, as the case might demand.

From soon after 1820 the improvement of the road from
Bridgeport north to Derby and Waterbury was urged.
Occasional work was done with the result that during the
summer teaming was fairly good, but in the winter and espe-
cially for six weeks in the spring the question of transporta-
tion was a serious one. The demand for road improvement
became more insistent with the expansion of the brass busi-
ness.

If it had not been that at just this time the development
of the Derby mill was arrested by the transfer to Ansonia,
the manifest advantage in transportation would have seri-
ously affected the Waterbury men. But the Waterbury mills
had the command of the market for brass, Mr. Phelps was
shifting his location, he had several important projects under
consideration, and it was not easy for him to secure skilled
workmen ; hence he was unable to take full advantage of his
opportunity.

It was again Mr. Israel Holmes who came forward as
one of the moving spirits in the solution of the problem.
He was ably seconded by other leaders in the industry which
had so much at stake; by Aaron Benedict, W. H. Scovill,
Anson G. Phelps and others, A railroad from tide water
at Bridgeport north was chartered in 1845, which charter
was amended in 1847 and in 1848.! At first it was in-

♦"History of the Old Town of Derby", Orcutt and Beardsley, p.
272.

f'History of the Old Town of Derby", Orcutt and Beardsley, pp.
311-313. "Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 157.

THE MARKET

81

tended to build only to Waterbury and the capital was fixed
at $800,000. It was, however, decided to extend the road
to Winsted and the capital was increased to $1,200,000.
The brass manufacturers believed that no profit would be
received from the operation of the road, but they were com-
pelled to build it to get their material in and out. The
Waterbury men declined stock certificates, but raised $30,-
000 as a bonus and furnished the right of way. Work was
begun in April, 1848, and the road was opened to Derby,
May 15, 1849, to Waterbury, June 11, and to Winsted, Sep-
tember 24. This Naugatuck Railroad became a large
handler of freight and was for its length one of the most
profitable pieces of road in the United States. It was ably
managed from the first and has played a large part in the
development of the brass industry.

Those who undertook this enterprise believed that Water-
bury would be the most important point on the line. This
expectation was realized. In 1851 the passenger receipts at
Waterbury were more than twice those of any other station
north of Bridgeport, and the freight receipts more than three
times as large. In that year 29% of the gross receipts and
363^% of the freight receipts were taken at Waterbury.

The increase in the business done in the Valley is well in-
dicated by a comparison of the gross receipts of this road.
These were as follows:

1850, .... $145,261.59

1856,
1866,
1876-7,
1885-6,

237,416.09
494,026.47
503,666.97
704,336.48

In 1887 the road was leased to the New York, New Haven
and Hartford Railroad Co.

82 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

During the three years beginning- in 1905 this road was
double-tracked to Waterbury, many curves reduced and im-
provements made at a cost which exceeded the cost of build-
ing the road at the start.

Before 1850 a second railroad was projected to connect
Waterbury with the Hudson River.* This was, however,
a longer route and involved some serious engineering prob-
lems. The opening of the Naugatuck road satisfied the
pressing demand. Many difficulties were encountered and
finally the road was opened first to Hartford, January 11,
1855, the extension to the Hudson River not being finished
until January, 1882.

Later still another connection was eflFected, this time from
Ansonia to New Haven.f The various vicissitudes which
this last project encountered may be best understood as it
is noted that the road is less than thirteen miles in length
and although the company was incorporated in 1864 the
road was not opened until August 9, 1871.

*"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 160-162.
t"History of the Old Town of Derby", Orcutt and Beardsley, pp.

CHAPTER VI.
Organization.

Individual initiative. Capital involved. Partnerships and corpora-
tions. Labor. Machinery, mechanics and processes imported.
Training a native force. Division of labor. Wages. Profits.

AT THE start, and indeed until the industry was thor-
oughly established, individual initiative played an
unusually important part. It may almost be said
that the brass industry as it exists to-day in the United
States was the creation of half a dozen men. It was the
Scovill brothers and Aaron Benedict in competition with
them who first saw that the button business had in it the
possibility of enlargement and profit. From the Scovill
shop came Israel Holmes, who after ten years' connection
with the older firm became one of the organizers of Holmes
& Hotchkiss in 1830; and afterwards as has been noted was
connected with the organization of four other large con-
cerns.* Israel Coe, who in 1829 became Mr. Benedict's
partner, was a leading spirit in the Wolcottville Brass Com-
pany and was one of the prime movers in the organization
of the Waterbury and Detroit Copper Company. All of
these men were natives of Waterbury, except Mr. Coe, who
was born in Goshen, near by, and moved to Waterbury
when twenty-six years of age. And these men, with Mr.
Coe's son Lyman and A. G. Phelps, whose interest has
been narrated, were active partners and directly assisted in

*These four were the Wolcottville Brass Co., Waterbury Brass
Co., Holmes, Booth & Haydens, and Plume & Atwood.

84 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

the organization of eight large concerns,* which in 1884
together produced eighty-five per cent, of the output of the
Valley, which in turn was eighty-five per cent, of the pro-
duction of the country. With the exception of the Scovill
brothers, who died one in 1854 and the other in 1857, these
all lived until after 1870 and saw the industry firmly estab-
lished. Except Mr. Israel Coe they all died actively con-
nected with the industry to which they had given so much
of their enterprise and energy.

In the early days of the industry the amount of capital in-
volved in the business was comparatively small. In 1827,
when the firm of J. M. L. & W. H. Scovill was organized
and after their predecessors had labored for twenty-five
years to establish the business, the value of plant and good-
will was estimated at $20,ooo.t Aaron Benedict and his
associates began in 1823 with $6,500, and in 1829 the capi-
tal of the new partnership, Benedict & Coe, was fixed at
$20,000. Holmes & Hotchkiss began in 1830 with $8,000.

The capital invested increased rapidly after 1830. In 1834
the capital of Benedict & Burnham, succeeding Benedict &
Coe, was $40,000, which reached $100,000 six years later,
and while in 1856 the sum was fixed at $400,000,$ yet this by
no means represented the amount invested. In 1838, after
Brown & Elton had succeeded Holmes & Hotchkiss, the
capital involved was stated to be $75,000. In 1850 when
a consolidation of several Scovill interests took place the
capital was fixed at $200,000.

♦The eight were Scovill Mfg. Co., Benedict & Burnham Mfg. Co.,
Brown & Elton, Wolcottville Brass Co., Waterbury Brass Co.,
Holmes, Booth & Haydens, Ansonia Brass & Copper Co., and Plume
& Atwood.

f'Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 276.

^Anderson, Vol. II, p. 298.

^^^>^

ORGANIZATION 85

The concerns later organized required a larger capital in
order effectively to enter the field. For example, the Water-
bury Brass Company was organized in 1845 with $40,000,
which was increased to $50,000 the same year and succes-
sively was raised to $250,000 in 1853. In 1853, when Brown
& Brothers became a joint stock corporation after two years
as a special partnership, the capital was $200,000. Holmes,
Booth & Haydens, organized also in 1853, had $110,000 capi-
tal at the start, shortly increased to $400,000.

Regarding the capital invested in the business three facts
must be noted. Of the increase in capitalization down to
1870 and in some degree even to the present a large portion
represented undivided profits. From the beginning it has
been customary to withdraw only moderate amounts and
to devote the surplus to the extension of the business.
Probably four-fifths of the capital to-day involved in the
brass industry in the Naugatuck Valley represents undivided
profits. When in January, 1838, the capital of Brown &
Elton was temporarily fixed at $40,000, all but $12,000 had
been derived from the business.*

Further, in several prominent cases the nominal capital
was kept at a comparatively small amount. For example,
the nominal capital of the Scovill Company, Benedict &
Burnham, Brown & Elton, Waterbury Brass Company, and
Holmes, Booth & Haydens for years represented only a
small portion of the money invested. This is an indication
of the fact already noted that the industry from the start
had some of the characteristics of a close corporation.

The third fact of interest with reference to the capitaliza-
tion of the industry is that frequently, as some special de-
partment of the industry acquired sufficient importance to

*Anderson, Vol. II, p. 320.

86 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

occupy a separate plant, a new company was formed to cover
that department. As early as 1840 the making of brass
butts by the Scovill Company was set off to a separate firm.
In 1846 the American Pin Company was organized jointly
by Benedict & Burnham and Brown & Elton.* In 1849 the
Waterbury Button Company took over the button business
of Benedict & Burnham. f In 1857 the Waterbury Clock
Company was set off by the same concern.^ And as late as
1880 the famous Waterbury Watch Company was organized
as an offshoot of the same parent stock. In 1878 the
Ansonia Clock Company was formed to take over the
making of clocks by the Ansonia Brass and Copper Com-
pany. This clock company is now one of the largest in its
line in the country.

All of the older concerns began as partnerships. The law
of 1837, authorizing the organization of joint stock com-
panies in the State, defining their privileges and their
powers, was a notable achievement in the line of legislative
encouragement of industry. This made easy and practica-
ble the combining of capital in a manufacturing venture, and
the brass men in the Naugatuck valley shortly availed them-
selves of the privileges secured. The first brass venture to
be incorporated was the Wolcottville Brass Company, May
19, 1841, succeeding the partnership formed in i834.§ The
first joint stock company in Waterbury was the Benedict &
Burnham Manufacturing Company, incorporated January

*See page 60.

fAnderson, Vol. II, p. 298.

$The entire capital stock of the clock company, representing in-
vested earnings of the Benedict & Burnham Company, was given
as a dividend to the stockholders of the parent concern.

§"History of Torrington", Orcutt, p. 102.

ORGANIZATION 87

14, 1843.* I" 1850 the Scovill Manufacturing Company
was incorporated. Brown & Elton was never incorporated.
In 1853 Brown & Brothers was incorporated after two years
as a partnership. Before the incorporation of Holmes,
Booth & Haydens in 1853, only one of the earlier companies
had been incorporated from the start, namely the Waterbury
Brass Company, formed in 1845.

But if the question of capital was important, that of labor
was far more important. At the very beginning the members
of the firm had personal charge of the bookkeeping and gen-
eral management; they were also the selling agentsf and
moreover were the foremen and machinists. Members of
the firm worked in the shops directing personally the opera-
tions of their employees.:!: They drew pay as their employ-
ees, expecting to receive further remuneration from the
profits of the enterprise. The training of a force of skilled
labor was a matter of time and was undertaken under great
difficulty. It is not easy to teach another what the teacher
does not know himself ; and the best of those who were try-
ing to establish the new industry were hardly better than ex-
perimenters.

It is no exaggeration to say that the brass industry was
imported from England in machinery, processes and labor.
Except for Jerome's application of rolled brass to clock mak-
ing in 1837 and the perfection of the pin machine and stick-
ing device about 1840, there was no single radically im-
proved machine or process of large importance invented by
purely American skill until Mr. Hayden invented the spin-

*Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 297, 431.
tSee pp. 75, 76.

tWhen the first firm, Abel Porter & Company, employed altogether
thirteen workmen, four of that number were members of the firm.

88 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

ning process for making round articles from sheet brass,
December i6, 1851. After this the advance in manufactur-
ing processes inaugurated by native ingenuity was real and
rapid ; notably first in connection with the making of lamps
and fittings for burning kerosene oil, and later with the use
of sheet brass for ammunition cases and many other appli-
cations of the metal to marketable wares.

The records of the patent office reveal the fact that the
inventive ingenuity of Waterbury men was not in striking
evidence until after 1850. Twenty-seven patents are
recorded as granted to Waterbury men before 1850. Of
these two had to do with clock making and four to the but-
ton manufacture. On the other hand, during the decade
185 1 -i860, eighty-eight patents were issued to Waterbury
men, of which the most important were in connection with
the brass industry.* And in 1890 the number of patents
issued to residents of this city was in the proportion of one
to 405 of the population, while in the State as a whole the
proportion was one to 796, and Connecticut stood at the head
of all the states in this particular. It is apparent that in-
ventive genius was active at the center of the brass industry
to a notable degree.

But in the beginning the first rolling of copper in this
country by Paul Revere in Canton, Massachusetts, was
done with rolls imported from England. The Soho Cop-
per Company, established in Belleville, N. J., also imported
its machinery from England.f The process of casting
pewter buttons in Waterbury was learned from an English-
man. Both of the earliest enterprises depended for their
final success upon English machinery and English skill.

♦Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 471-472.

fSee page 43. "100 years of Amer. Commerce", C. M. Depew,
article by A. A. Cowles, Vol. I, p. 333.

ORGANIZATION 89

Leavenworth, Hayden & Scovill dated their real begin-
ning of success from 1820, when Mr. James Croft, an Eng-
lishman, entered their employ. After remaining with them
one year he was secured by Mr. Benedict and in 1829 he be-
came one of the partners of the firm of Benedict & Coe, then
organized. It was largely due to the advice and encourage-
ment of Mr. Croft that the venture was continued. Trained
in the art of making gilt buttons in Birmingham, England,
he was the first workman of technical skill whose name
appears in connection with the infant industry. His knowl-
edge of the needs of the business here and as well of con-
ditions in Birmingham led Mr. Benedict to send him seven
times to England for tools and workmen.* It was Mr. Croft
who secured for his employer the machinery which enabled
him to compete successfully with the older firm, Leaven-
worth, Hayden & Scovill.

Mr. Israel Holmes made three trips to England in search
of machinery and labor. The first was in 1822, after Mr.
Croft had left the Scovill shop for Mr. Benedict, when the
older firm saw that they needed skilled workmen and im-
proved machinery. At the time the laws of England, in
order to prevent enterprising manufacturers in the United
States and elsewhere from profiting from the industrial de-
velopment of the island, forbade under heavy penalties the
exportation of machinery or models and the enticing away
of workmen from their employers. Mr. Holmes offered an
excessive price for machinery needed and so obtained
through the manufacturers permission to export it. He
then endeavored to secure workmen and finally after much
cautious effort he assembled a party of men who with their
families numbered a full score. The outcome of the ven-

*Anderson, Vol. II, p. 315.

90 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

ture was improved machinery for the Scovills and an expert
die-sinker, gilder and burnisher.*

Again in 183 1, after the new firm of Holmes & Hotchkiss
was established, Mr. Holmes made a second trip to England
and secured the machinery and skilled labor needed for the
new plantf

His third visit was in connection with his venture in 1834
with Mr. Coe, Mr. Phelps and others in the making of brass
kettles in Wolcottville. By this time the English govern-
ment was thoroughly aroused to the danger which his pres-
ence involved. At first he hired two men, one of whom died
in Philadelphia the day after his arrival, and the other never
reached Wolcottville. He continued, however, until he had
gathered a company of thirty-eight, including all of the
members of families engaged. After great difficulty in
escaping from those who were seeking to enforce the law,
he got his company out of the country and landed them at
Hartford. This was the largest band secured by any of the
brass men at one time. The company went by road to Wol-
cottville to find that the mill was not ready. It was impossi-
ble to keep all of the men together, but enough remained to
establish the industry. However, the final success of the
venture was not' achieved until after 1842, when Mr. Coe
visited the only two known kettle factories, one in Prussia
and the other in Birmingham, and secured the right metal
mixture and the proper annealing process.^

Again, in 1836, Mr. Phelps fitted out his Derby mill with
machinery secured in England and obtained some workmen
there. Also the same year the formula for German silver

♦Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 322-323.

tSee page 52.

^Anderson, Vol. II, p. 302. See page 55.

ORGANIZATION 91

was bought from an Englishman by a workman employed
in a shop which depended for its success upon English
sources.*

Besides these efforts which were made to persuade Eng-
lish workmen to come to the Naugatuck Valley and to assist
in the organization of the brass industry, many individuals
came thither of their own initiative. Mr. Croft himself was
one such, quite probably coming to America with no deliber-
ate intention of making direct and effective use of his early
training. Mr. Wallace, who was of great assistance to Mr.
Phelps in his Derby venture and who later organized Wal-
lace & Sons in Ansonia, was a wire drawer trained in
Birmingham and had been in this country in various places
for nine years before he came to Derby.f

By no means all of those who were enticed away from
their native land were competent workmen. On one oc-
casion it was found that an Englishman whom Mr. Holmes
had secured in 183 1 for Holmes & Hotchkiss was unruly and
intractable. His passage was paid back to England in order
to prevent any competitor from securing his services.

Again, the Englishmen appreciating the importance of
their knowledge and skill, in many instances refused to
instruct native apprentices. The wire drawers whom Mr.
Holmes first secured for Holmes & Hotchkiss refused to
allow apprentices near their machines while they were in
operation. For several years the English kettlemen in
Wolcottville insisted upon occupying a separate building
into which no American was allowed to enter. But the
alertness, ingenuity and skill which had called the industry
into being was not so easily baffled, and before long a force

*See pages i:^, 34.
fSee page 63.

92 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

of workmen was trained which was able to handle the busi-
ness which might be offered.

The last important process which was secured in England
was that of making seamless tubing. This process had been
invented in England in 1838.* In 1848 a party of Boston
men sent an engineer to England, who by the payment of a
large sum of money secured the desired knowledge.f The
American Tube Works was organized in Boston in 1850 to
make use of the new process. But at that time the Water-
bury men were in a position to manufacture tubing at a
greater advantage than the Boston company, and while that
company has continued in operation, yet the process was soon
learned by the men in the Naugatuck Valley and a large pro-
duction of tubing has been made. Now the output of tubing,
both seamless and brazed, is an important item. The English
process was to cast a cylinder of brass and then to draw
it over steel arbors. This is still in general use, but the
effort is now being made to draw tubing directly from solid
ingots of metal.

While thus before 1840 the brass industry in America was
practically dependent both upon English machinery and
upon English skill, yet during the following decade it
became thoroughly acclimated and after 1850 it forged
clearly ahead of the English shops. To-day, owing in part
to the fineness of the copper and zinc which are here mined,
as well as to the ingenuity and skill of American labor, the
Connecticut mills in fineness of work and of finish rank at
the head of all those in any land in this industry.

♦"British Manufacturing Industries", Bevan, article by Graham, p.
148.

t"ioo years of Amer. Commerce", C. M. Depew, article by Cowles,
Vol. I, p. 335-

ORGANIZATION 93

From the first the labor in the rolling and wire mills has
been male. In the manufacturing departments, especially
in the smaller and finer wares, females have been freely
employed. In the rolling mills the work is too harsh and
heavy for women.

Owing to special conditions which have prevailed from
the beginning no scale of wages has ever been adopted in the
brass mills. There has never been any serious or general
strife over the question of wages or of conditions of labor
in the history of the industry. No labor union or other com-
bination of the skilled labor in the industry has ever been
effected.

At the very beginning, as has been noted, the proprietors
were the skilled mechanics, if the term may be allowed by
contrast. In the years from 1830 to 1850 there were,
roughly, three classes of labor; the proprietors actively en-
gaged in the management, the English mechanics and native
helpers. By 1850 the supplanting of the English mechanics
by American workmen, who had either been taught or had
by themselves developed skill, had been generally accom-
plished.

To the present time the number of skilled men is compara-
tively small. The division between skilled and unskilled
labor is now sharply defined. A skilled caster, drawer or
roller will have from two to five unskilled laborers under
him. A considerable amount of intelligence and ingenuity
being required, the skilled labor is of a high grade. From
1850 to 1870 native Americans predominated. Now, while
a few Americans remain, yet the best positions in the mills
are more generally occupied by the higher grade of immi-
grants of the second generation. The policy generally
adopted by the mills has been to pay skilled laborers high

94 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

wages. The result has been to attach these closely to the
plant in which they were employed. Many own their homes
and are in very comfortable circumstances. The unskilled
labor, at the first American, became Irish after 1850, and
has since followed the successive waves of immigration.

As early as 1835, ^^ it was found that the kettlemen at
Wolcottville were unwilling to train apprentices, the system
was adopted of regulating their pay by the pound of product.
Under this stimulus they were persuaded to employ Ameri-
can helpers. This system of paying a skilled mechanic a
fixed price per unit of product still obtains in some depart-
ments. The mechanic then hires his own helpers, using
machinery furnished by the proprietors. This system,
together with the fact that individual skill plays such a large
part in the value of some workmen, has made a uniform
wage scale impracticable. The first American helpers were
paid twenty dollars a month, this being increased to a dollar
a day by 1850. After the war the wages of skilled
mechanics were raised to two dollars and a half a day, and
have varied since then, running up to five and six dollars a
day in exceptional cases. Unskilled labor has received
wages also varying in amount with the value of the service
rendered, but usually averaging about the market rate for
such labor. Between 1850 and i860 the helpers received a
dollar to a dollar and a quarter a day ; since 1870 from a dol-
lar and a quarter to a dollar and a half a day.

The system adopted has tended to the development of
specialization and unusual skill in the head mechanics. To
this day some of the men having in hand some special line
of work are reluctant or absolutely refuse to impart their
special skill to others.

It has already been stated that in the early years of the

ORGANIZATION 95

industry the profit was large.* The fact that the proprietors
drew wages at a fixed rate and then allowed their profits
beyond their immediate needs to accumulate in the business
both made the accumulation of capital comparatively easy
and also in part concealed the profits of the enterprise.

The selling price of the product of the brass mills
has been determined in part by the market price
of copper. In the decade from 1840 to 1850, when the
business first came to notable proportions, at times sheet
brass and wire sold delivered at the market for three times
the price of copper. When manufactured into buttons,
kettles, pins and other wares, the selling price of the prod-
uct was even higher than this The labor cost for sheet
brass was not over fifty per cent, of the price of copper and
probably for many wares the labor cost was not more than
equal to the cost of the raw material. This indicates clear
profits of one hundred per cent, over the cost of raw mate-
rial and of labor. It is probable that at times this profit
was realized.f

After 1850 competition became more keen and profits
were lessened. Still until 1870 sheet brass and wire were
sold at least on occasions twice the market price of copper.
After this date, however, the selling price of the product of
the mills fell quite rapidly in its relation to the price of cop-
per. Competition became more keen. At times importa-
tions, notwithstanding the duty of 35%, were large. From
1870 to 1885 consumption gradually increased, yet an over-
production was hardly prevented even by strict pooling
agreements.

*See page 51.

fAllowance in this estimate is not made for charges for interest,
operation of the plant, depreciation and to a degree for transporta-
tion.

96 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

The price of copper has varied somewhat from time to
time. Until i860, when the domestic supply began to com-
mand the market, it had run from fifteen to thirty cents a
pound. Zinc had been more steady, averaging about ten
cents a pound. Through this period the price of sheet
brass, which about 1840 had been as high as sixty or eighty
cents, transportation included, worked gradually down to
from thirty-five to fifty cents a pound from 1855 to i860.
The price depended upon the thickness of the sheet. The
thinner the sheet, the higher the price. At this time brass
wire was from thirty-five to forty cents a pound. Copper wire
usually commanded about ten cents more than brass wire.
From i860 to 1875 the price of copper was subject to the
fluctuations which prevailed in all commodities and varied
from forty-six cents in 1864 to twenty cents at the end of
the period. The margin of profit in the brass mills had
been lowered by this time and the price of brass followed
the price of copper. For twenty years after 1875 the
tendency of both copper and brass was toward lower prices.
The expanding production of copper from the mines of
Montana and Arizona more than kept pace with consump-
tion. But after 1895 the largely increased use of copper for
electrical machinery consumed surplus stocks and made
speculation in the price of the metal possible. There have
been two periods of such speculation, when the price was
artificially raised, once in 1901 and again in 1904. Except
for such fluctuation the price of copper has held at between
ten and fifteen cents. The price of zinc has been more
steady throughout the period under review, having been
from seven to ten cents, gradually dropping to five cents,
as production has run a little ahead of consumption.
To-day the price of sheet brass and of wire in the coarser

ORGANIZATION 97

grades runs a little above the cost of the alloy. The differ-
ence between the price of copper and of zinc in the propor-
tion in which the two metals enter into the composition of
brass is the measure of the profit now gained. In the finer
grades of sheets and of wire the labor cost increases rapidly
and prices vary accordingly. The prices of the various
manufactured products are fixed by the law of supply and
demand. Patent rights, secret processes, special machinery,
all enter into the question of final profit. This varies with
the special conditions of the market.

CHAPTER VII.

Later Developments.

Review of growth and development. The telegraph and electricity.
The metallic case cartridge. Coinage. Foreign trade.

NOW as the beginning and establishment of the brass
industry in the Naugatuck Valley has been traced
it will be in order to note its later development.

In the early years of button making, after 1810, it was
necessary for Mr. J. M. L. Scovill, then of Leavenworth,
Hayden & Scovill, to make a monthly trip to the rolling
mill at Bradleyville to secure the rolling of the metal
needed.* In 1822, the last year in which the making of
rolled brass buttons was carried on by this firm alone, the
output was about twenty gross a day.f By 1843 there were
located in Waterbury three factories for the rolling of brass,
the Scovills, Benedict & Burnham, and Brown & Elton.
These employed together perhaps six hundred hands:]: and
used 250 tons of copper a year.§

By 1855 the industry had extended to Ansonia on the
south and to Torrington on the north, with a total annual
consumption of copper in the Naugatuck Valley of about
2,000 tons. As has been noted, at this time the Waterbury
Brass Company was the most important single concern.
This company controlled two plants and was thought to be

*"History of Waterbury", Bronson, p. 429.
t'Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 276.
t"The New England Gazetteer", Hayward.

§"100 years of Amer. Commerce", Depew, article by Cowles, Vol.
I, P- 332.

LATER DEVELOPMENTS 99

the largest in the trade in the country. Its gross output was
about 300 tons of metal a year, or not quite a ton each work-
ing day.

By 1867 the amount of copper used in the Valley had
risen to 6,000 tons a year. At this time the Ansonia Brass
and Copper Company, handling about 1,250 tons of metal a
year, had come to be the largest single concern. When just
after 1870 this company was able to report that 250 tons of
metal had passed through its mills in one month, this was
thought to be a notable achievement. This same concern
has in recent years handled more than 2,500 tons
of metal in one month. In one of the mills controlled
by this company are located what are thought to
be the heaviest rolls in the country or in the world de-
voted to the rolling of brass, 72 inches long and 24 inches
in diameter. The heaviest rolls for copper in the Valley are
also in the hands of this company, 120 inches long. Longer
copper rolls than these, however, are owned by the Soho
Copper Company, 156 inches long and 30 inches in diameter.

The casting of copper and of brass, as has already been
noticed, is an art which is relatively independent of machin-
ery and of the factory system and has never been localized as
is the rolling of brass.* The rolling of copper requires no
mixture of metal and except in its finer forms its technique
of manufacture is much less demanding, and hence this also
has never been localized as is the rolling of brass.

*See p. 44. In the years named, according to the census returns,
the following is the percentage of the total production of brass cast-
ing and finishing in the United States which proceeded from the
State of Connecticut: 1880, 10%; 1890, 30%; 1900, 31%; 1905, 10%.
Of brass casting and finishing in Conn., the following proceeded
from Waterbury: 1890, 50%; 1900, 88%; 1905, 82%.

100 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

It is worthy of note that since 1869, when the association
was organized from which the Plume & Atwood Manufac-
turing Company has developed, until 1900, only two new
concerns which are to-day in operation have been organized
in the Naugatuck Valley. One of those, Randolph &
Clowes, began business in 1886 in order to make use of the
plant of Brown & Brothers, which corporation was at that
time in liquidation. The other new company is the Sey-
mour Manufacturing Company, located at Seymour, organ-
ized in 1878 and now doing a good business.

From the first Waterbury has been the recognized center
in the country of the brass industry, and within the city
itself this has of course been the leading industry. In 1858
there were in Waterbury thirty-two corporations or partner-
ships, of which twenty-five were in the brass business,* In
1873 there were thirty-five joint stock companies within the
city, of which twenty-seven were in the brass business.f In
1896 there were one hundred and eight corporations located
in the city, of which thirty-nine, the largest single group,
were in the metal working business.^ According to the
census returns,§ in 1890, 31% of the brassware in the
United States and 40% of the brassware of Connecticut
came from Waterbury. In 1900, 48% of the brassware of
the country and 88% of the brassware of the state came
from Waterbury. For 1905 the corresponding figures are
42% and 82%.

The development of the industry may well be seen from
the following figures relative to the operations of a typical

*"History of Waterbury", Bronson, pp. 561-563.

fSee City Directory, Waterbury, 1873.

t'Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 433.

§See criticism of census schedules on pages 2, 3.

LATER DEVELOPMENTS 101

concern, the Scovill Manufacturing Company, from the
date of its incorporation.*

1850 i860 1870 1880 1892

Number of employees. . . . 190 193 338 399 1,200
Horse power used 80 200 200 340 1,400

In 1907 the company employed about 3,500 hands.

In 1880 the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Com-
pany reported that it was using 400 steam horse power and
two water wheels and employed 600 hands.f

In 1884 the gross weight of metal used in the Naugatuck
Valley had risen to 20,000 tons, increasing in 1895 to 110,000
tons, in 1903 to 160,000 tons and in 1907 to 200,000 tons.|

The rapid increase in the consumption of copper after
1885 was due to the demand for electrical purposes. To-day
nearly one-half of the total consumption of copper in the
United States is used for wire for electricity And this wire
is largely produced in the mills in the Naugatuck Valley.

It was in June, 1844, that Professor S. F. B. Morse con-
structed his first telegraph line from Washington to Balti-
more. § At the first copper wire was used exclusively and
the wire mills in Waterbury and Ansonia were the only
ones in this country which could supply this material. But
later various cheaper substitutes for copper were used and

*Scientific American, Dec. 13, 1879, Vol. 41, p. 380. "Town and
City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, p. 275-278.

fScientific American, May i, 1880, Vol. 42, p. 277.

^To some extent metal is figured twice in this gross output; as
the product of rolling mills, and again as brassware, the manufac-
tured product.

§"History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. 408.

102 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

the more imperative demand for electrical appliances did
not arise until after 1880. The telephone and the trolley
consume vast quantities of copper wire. At present elec-
trical machinery and devices demand copper sheets of such
fineness and exactness of measure that the rolling of copper
has become a much nicer operation than it was in the earlier
days. To roll copper to the thinness which is now required
demands rolls of a fine finish and skill to a high degree.

One other application of brass to marketable wares which
at the time contributed largely to the business of the rolling
mills must also be noticed. This new demand came just at
the close of the Civil War and was of large assistance to the
industry at that critical period. It is noteworthy that at the
time of the three earlier important commercial crises the in-
dustry met conditions which particularly favored it. It was
in 1837 that Jerome perfected his rolled brass clock. This
occasioned an immediate and largely increased demand for
brass. While the Derby copper mill just established and
the Waterbury men felt the distress incident to the commer-
cial crisis, yet they were able to continue in operation. In
1857 a real and extensive market had been established. By
this time the domestic demand was well known and the mills
in the Naugatuck Valley were alone able to supply that de-
mand. While for a time the mills ran light, yet the various
companies agreed to sustain prices and so divided up the
production that no one suffered severely. And in 1873 the
demand for rolled brass which arose in connection with the
making of the metal case cartridge was an important factor
in enabling the rolling mills to face unfavorable conditions.
It is worthy of note that not a single brass mill was com-
pelled to undergo liquidation in either of the three earlier
crises. Later, in 1883 and 1893, when the margin of profit

LATER DEVELOPMENTS 103

had been reduced and when competition was more keen, the
rolHng mills did not so universally escape.*

The first metallic cartridge was made just after 1861 by
Smith & Wesson in Springfield, Masssachusetts. But this
firm was more interested and skilled in the handling of am-
munition than in the making and rolling of brass. The de-
mand for arms and ammunition was very imperative and
they abandoned their experiments. The Waterbury Brass
Company took up the matter and continued the effort to
find and to use a metal mixture which was adapted to this
purpose. In 1863 Lyman W. Coe, the son of Israel Coe,
went out from the Waterbury Brass Company and, purchas-
ing the plant of the Wolcottville Brass Company, organized
the Coe Brass Company and applied himself specifically to
this problem. Here complete success was attained and
later the Coe Brass Company thus established expanded its
business and is now one of the leading factors in the trade.
It appears that between 1890 and 1895 the Coe mill at Tor-
rington operated some of the heaviest machinery in the
world used for the rolling of brass and was the most impor-
tant plant in the country devoted exclusively to the rolling of
metal and the drawing of wire.

After 1870 the business of rolling metal for ammunition
cases was taken up by other mills and for a few years was a
very important item in their trade. In i860 8% of the
national product of ammunition came from Connecticut. In

♦Before i860 the Wolcottville Brass Co. was the only one which
found itself in a critical condition, and this was due not to a com-
mercial crisis, but to the invention of the spinning process and the
subsequent securing of its workmen by A. G. Phelps. See page 55.
Later Brown & Bros, was liquidated in 1886, and Wallace & Sons
in 1895. See pages 63, 64.

104 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

1870 this proportion had risen to 85% and in 1880 to 90%.
Since that time the making of ammunition has been rela-
tively less important, Connecticut's contribution falling to
59% in 1890, rising again to 75% in. 1905.

One incident in connection with the story of the brass in-
dustry remains to be noticed ; one of not large consequence
to the industry itself, but one of practically universal per-
sonal interest.

The first copper coinage of the United States Government
was undertaken by Connecticut men and was continued by
the Scovill Company in Waterbury. As early as 1737 one
Joseph Higley made a set of dies and struck from copper
from the Granby mine the first copper coin made in
America.* These have almost entirely disappeared, but for
a time they passed current over a large part of New Eng-
land.

On October 18, 1785, Joseph Hopkins of Waterbury with
four New Haven associates applied to the State legislature
for permission to coin coppers, alleging a scarcity of small
coins in the State. He was given the privilege of making
copper coins not to exceed in value i 10,000. This privilege
was variously conveyed until June i, 1787, when it was re-
voked. Up to that time some 29,000 pounds of copper cents
had been issued, valued at nearly £4,ooo.t Granby copper
was used in the main for this coinage. A contract was en-
tered into in 1787 with the United States Government for

*"Coins, medals and seals", Prime, pp. 70-72. "Newgate of Conn.",
Phelps, pp. 15-17. "History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. I, p. 510.
New Haven Colony Historical Society Papers, Vol. I, 1865, Pt. H,
p. 181.

fNew Haven Colony Historical Society Papers, Vol. I, 1865, Pt. H,
p. 176. "Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. HI, pp.
1054-1055.

LATER DEVELOPMENTS 105

the coinage of 300 tons of copper coin. This contract was
never filled.

Later on, in 1834, it was the Scovill Company, doubtless
with this earlier history in mind, which challenged the ex-
clusive right of the United States Government to issue
coins. During the next seven years many tokens were
issued by them of nearly two hundred different designs.*
The most of these were stamped from sheet copper, although
a few were alloyed with tin. These passed as current coin
even after their manufacture ceased. In 1842 the issue was
enjoined by the Government. After 1866 the Scovill Com-
pany furnished the United States mint with blanks for the
three cent nickel and after 1890 with blanks for the one cent
bronze and five cent nickel coins. Many coins, both blanks
and fully stamped, have been issued by the Scovills and by
others for many South American states.f

The most notable achievement in the history of the coun-
try in the line of medal making was when the Scovill Com-
pany furnished the full set of medals, 23,757 ^'^ number, for
the Columbian Exposition of 1893. These were particu-
larly rich and full in design, and special machinery and
processes were devised for their manufacture.^

The brass manufacturers have been content in the main
with the effort to supply home consumption. As the nation
has grown and as industry has developed, the consumption
of copper with brass and other alloys has naturally increased
and many new uses for various alloys have been found. To

*"Town and City of Waterbury, Anderson, Vol. Ill, pp. 1057-

1059-

f'Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. Ill, p. 1059.

$"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. Ill, pp. 1060-
1061.

106 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

supply this home demand has been the effort of the rolling
mills. The foreign trade generally has not figured to any
large extent in the business.

For the year ending September 30, 1823, brass manufac-
tures at an invoice value of $259,214 were imported.* For
the year ending June 30, 1845, such imports are returned as
$120,083.^ The same year the value of brass manufactures
in the State of Connecticut was returned as $1,126,494.
From 1840 to the present time imports of brass ware have
generally been a negligible quantity. During the period
from 1867 to 1893, except for the eight years from 1880 to
1887 inclusive, when imports of brass wares averaged $400,-
000 a year, there were but two years, 1874 and 1875, during
which the invoice value of brass manufactures equalled the
amount reported for the year ending September 30, 1823.$
With the exception of the period noted, 1880 to 1887, im-
ports have not averaged one per cent, of the total consump-
tion.

It was during the period excepted, 1880 to 1887, that the
profits of the industry were probably smaller than at any
time since 1840. During some of these years some of the
largest plants were operated at a loss. It was at this time
that Brown & Brothers failed and Wallace & Sons ran so far
behind that later liquidation became necessary. Copper was
being produced in larger quantities than it was being con-
sumed, prices were falling and the trade was generally dis-

*Report of Sec. of State, Jan. 27, 1824: made to i8th Cong., ist.
Session.

fReport of Sec. of Treasury, July 23, 1845 : Senate Doc. 444, 29th
Cong., 1st Session.

^''Imports and exports, etc.", March 14, 1894: Senate Report No.
259, 53rd Congress, 2nd. Session.

LATER DEVELOPMENTS 107

organized. As has been noted, the tariff acted at this time
more effectively than at any other in the history of the in-
dustry in discouraging foreign competition. It was during
these years, from 1870 to 1874, and from 1880 to 1887, that
the imports of copper and its manufactures, and of zinc and
tin as well, reached the highest figures in the history of the
industry.

The first entry which is on record of exports of copper
and brasswares is for the year 1791, when a value of $493 is
returned. The next entry bears date of 1803, since which
time such exports have appeared in the returns of each year.*

However, the amount of such wares which were exported
was not large until after 1840. At this time the only item of
brass manufactures which was considerable was brass
clocks. This contiued until 1900 the most important single
manufacture connected with the brass industry which was
available for export. In the decade 1861 to 1870 the value
of clocks and parts exported was more than ten times as
great as that of all other brass manufactures combined.
In the decade 1871 to 1880 the export value of clocks was
more than twice as great as that of all other brasswares and
during the next decade nearly four times as great. Down
to 1900 generally the export value of clocks has been more
than twice as large as that of all other brasswares combined.

Since 1900 a consistent effort has been made to secure a
share in the foreign trade. At present the most promising
field is along the line of electrical equipment. The purity of
the metal available, together with the high degree of perfec-
tion which the machinery and skill in the Naugatuck Valley
mills have attained, furnishes a product which it is believed

*"Imports and exports", March 14, 1894: Senate Report 259. Also
House of Rep. Miscel. Doc. 29, March 3, 1883.
8

108 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

is more exact in scale measure and possesses a higher de-
gree of finish than can be obtained elsewhere in the world.
The development of this electrical demand as it came in this
country after 1885 was the most important single item
which has ever appeared in the history of the industry.
While the metal used is largely copper, yet the mills in Con-
necticut were better equipped than any other to meet the
demand when it arose.

The perfection of the brass clock and the making of Ger-
man silver, the use of wire for the making of pins and of
hooks and eyes, the manufacture of tubing and of photo-
graphic plates, the invention of the spinning process for
making hollow ware, the development of the burner for kero-
sene oil, the development of the rim fire cartridge and the
electrical demand mark the successive steps of large conse-
quence in the history of the industry. And of all these the
possibility of the application of electricity to industry and
the demand for the use of metal in large quantity in this con-
nection is easily the most important.

In this connection certain products of the mills have
already been accorded favorable notice in the world markets.
One item of special note has been the making of transmis-
sion cables for high power electrical plants. Single orders
for as much as five million pounds of such cables have been
received for export. It is believed that in this line a profita-
ble trade can be developed. Also in certain other products
of the brass mills, as they are now organized to handle cop-
per and its various alloys, it is confidently expected that an
export trade of considerable dimensions can be secured.

After i860 the export trade in raw metals, copper and
zinc, began to reach large proportions. The first entry of
pig copper specifically so itemized appears in 1864. From

LATER DEVELOPMENTS 109

that year to 1870 an average value of over $700,000 in ore
and in pig copper was exported. This average value was
more than doubled during the next decade, increased more
than three times again from 1881 to 1890 and since has
figured largely in the export trade. Since 1900, including
the product of Canada and Mexico which is marketed
through the United States, raw copper exported has
amounted to 250,000 short tons in a single year, which at
fourteen cents a pound reaches a respectable figure. This is
now the largest single item of export in the metal group.
The first export of zinc returned is 95,738 pounds in 1863.
Except for the years 1871 to 1876 and 1883 to 1889, when
as already noted the trade was somewhat disorganized, the
export of zinc has been large. Now it runs up to 20,000 or
25,000 tons a year.

CHAPTER VIII.

Competition and Combination.

Notable development of the brass industry in the Naugatuck Valley.
Factors which influenced the development. Outside competi-
tion. Roll of mills in 1895. Pools and agreements. American
Brass Company. Review and conclusion.

THUS far the story of the development of the brass
industry in the Naugatuck Valley has been written
from the outside, as it were. It remains to consider
conditions from the inside, to indicate in a measure why the
industry developed as it did, to note the relation of the differ-
ent plants to each other and the action which was taken to
control the market. The control of the market has been
extraordinarily effective from the very first. At least until
1900 the amount of rolled brass and brass wire produced
for the open market outside of the Naugatuck Valley has
been a negligible quantity, at no time amounting to ten per
cent, of the total production.

Within the Valley certain remarkable facts have appeared.
In 1870 there were from Ansonia to Torrington ten brass
mills and two copper mills. Of the ten brass mills, one had
been organized in 1869. Of the other nine, seven may fairly
be placed in the first class. The other two, while important,
were relatively smaller. Of the seven first-class mills, five
had been organized in the twenty years from 1834 to 1853.
And from 1870 to 1900 only one additional plant was
located.

COMPETITION AND COMBINATION 111

Furthermore, one man, Mr. Israel Holmes, had been inti-
mately connected with two and had been instrumental in
the organization of two more of the seven plants of first
rank and had been active in the organization of one of the
two smaller plants as well as the last one in 1869.

Moreover, if one had after 1870 attended the stockholders'
meetings of the various brass companies, of the subordinate
concerns as well as of the rolling mills, he would have met
in general the same group of men. For example, Mr. J. S.
Elton at one time had large investments in four of the larg-
est mills, as well as in many subordinate enterprises; and
Mr. G. W. Burnham was a large holder of the stock of at
least three of the most important plants. This list might be
indefinitely extended.

From the point of view of current ideas regarding the or-
ganization of industry it seems quite incomprehensible that
a man would aid in the establishment of a new plant which
might compete with himself as the owner of a mill already
in operation. There are, however, three facts which may
help to explain the development as it actually took place.

First: certain capitalists, some of whom had found the
business profitable, believed in it. They believed in the
present and in the future of the brass industry. They
argued that if one company failed another might succeed
and all could not fail.

Second: personal jealousies and internal strife caused dis-
sensions which led to splits in associations already formed
and to the organization of new enterprises.

Third: in several notable instances personal ability and
genius were important assets in a given undertaking.

It may not be easy to differentiate these three items, but
their action together may be easily illustrated. For example,

112 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

Mr. Israel Holmes possessed an unusual notion that there
were very definite limits to advantageous growth. He be-
lieved that the limit of the profitable operation of an existing
plant was attained when a certain size was reached. If fur-
ther development was to be had a new organization was
necessary. His own ability as an organizer and a salesman
was generally recognized as of a commanding order and he
easily persuaded capitalists to finance his new undertakings.

Again the possession of certain patents relating to the pin
manufacture had a direct and a large influence upon the
demand for brass wire. The single invention of Mr. H. W.
Hayden of the spinning process affected vitally the history
of four concerns : the Wolcottville Company whose business
was by it undermined ; the Brooklyn Brass Company which
failed in an attempt to infringe upon it; the Waterbury
Brass Company which temporarily became one of the most
important plants in the Valley, in part because of its control
of this patent ; and the Holmes, Booth & Haydens Company
which counted as one of its most valuable assests Mr. Hay-
den's inventive skill which had been thus illustrated and
proved.

The action of some of the influences to which reference
has been made may appear in connection with the organiza-
tion of some of the new concerns. At the start, the partner-
ship which later became the Benedict & Burnham Manufac-
turing Company was organized to compete with the older
venture simply in the making of brass buttons. The next
concern, which became Brown & Elton, was started to roll
brass and to draw wire for market, as some outside demand
had appeared at this time and the two older firms were not
directly interested in it. In this connection Mr. Holmes ap-
peared first as an organizer, as he left the Scovill firm to

.^^^^^ y/^<^-7^^

COMPETITION AND COMBINATION 113

engage in this new enterprise. His restlessness, together
with an effort to make brass kettles, was a large factor in the
establishment of the next enterprise, the Wolcottville Brass
Company. Mr. A. G. Phelps started the venture out of I
which the Ansonia Brass and Copper Company grew, in part/
because of a disagreement with his associates at Wolcottville i
and in part as an effort to supply his trade with the product |
of his own mills rather than to depend upon importations, i
The Waterbury Brass Company was born, as a man who had l
a water privilege thought to use it and enlisted the coopera- \
tion of Mr. Holmes and others who were somewhat uneasy
in their partnerships in Waterbury and in Wolcottville.
One of the reasons joined to Mr. Holmes' restlessness for the
organization of Holmes, Booth & Haydens was the belief
that the Scovills were making large profits in the manufac-
ture of daguerreotype plates. And the concern which be-
came the Plume & At wood Manufacturing Company was the
outcome of a disagreement in an older company. Thomas
Wallace started his enterprise in Ansonia, and Thomas
James his in Seymour, because they both thought they could
make more money in plants of their own rather than as em-
ployees in the established mills. After the beginning of
what came to be the Benedict & Bumham Manufacturing
Company in 1823, there was not a single enterprise in ex-
istence in 1900 in Connecticut or outside of it, except the
Manhattan Company of New York City, which had been
organized independently of the mills in the Naugatuck Val-
ley. In every case up to that time new plants were either
located by those who had gained experience in the Nauga-
tuck Valley, or were manned by workmen who were here
secured, and in almost every instance by both.

But now when once organized the various plants at times

114 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

actively competed with each other and together faced some
competition from without. The story of competition from
without will first be told and then the way in which the mills
of the Valley acted together to meet this competition and to
secure their own interests.

During the forties there were two or three small concerns
besides those which have been mentioned which were rolling
small quantities of brass and making some brasswares. At
this time a considerable proportion of the rolling of copper
was outside of Connecticut. Until after 1885 the handling
of copper was not the most important item in the business of
the Naugatuck Valley mills and while to-day the proportion
of copper which is used pure is larger than ever before in its
relation both to the whole business of the Connecticut mills
and the total consumption of the country, yet these mills do
not now exercise the same measure of control of the trade
in copper sheets and wire as they do of that in brass and
other alloys.

The early competition was in the hands of small concerns,
only one of which long lived. At no time before i860 was
such competition effective enough to call for remark. The
first pretentious effort to compete with the Naugatuck Val-
ley mills began in 1853. In that year Mr. John Davol, who
had taken the place of Mr. A, G. Phelps when he left the
Wolcottville Brass Company in 1848 to establish his own
plants in Derby and later in Ansonia, with two associates in
the Wolcottville Company, went to Brooklyn, New York,
organized the Brooklyn Brass and Copper Company and
began the rolling of brass and the manufacture of brasswares.
At that time the business of the Wolcottville Company was
being seriously affected by Mr. Hayden's invention of the
spinning process for making brass kettles. Mr. Davol also

COMPETITION AND COMBINATION 115

had had some disagreements with his Wolcottville partners.
With other wares he undertook the making of brass kettles
and infringed upon Mr. Hayden's patent. This involved
him in a lawsuit, the result of which was that he was com-
pelled to abandon this line of manufacture. This incident
inspired in him such hostility to the Connecticut men that
from that time he refused to enter into any agreement to
maintain prices. However, his own financial interest led
him in the main to follow the price list agreed upon in the
Naugatuck Valley, especially as the latter mills generally
refused to cut under Mr. Davol's prices. But the Brooklyn
Company was always independent and at times was an active
competitor. From 1870 to 1890 the plant was in full opera-
tion and a considerable product came upon the market. At
the time it was the most formidable outside competitor in
the trade. After 1890 however its business fell off and in
1903 the land was needed for the anchorage of the Manhat-
tan Bridge and the plant was sold and the company went out
of business.

In 1865 two other enterprises were started, which with the
Brooklyn Company were the only outside concerns of con-
sequence in the brass business until about 1880. One of these
is especially worthy of note because it is the only establish-
ment in the trade before 1900 which was organized inde-
pendently of the Connecticut mills. In 1865 the Manhattan
Brass Company began doing business in New York City.
This has always remained out of organic connection with
the Naugatuck Valley mills. However self interest has led
it in the main to follow the standard price list. Moreover
it has never entered the market to any large extent with the
product of its rolls. Indeed at times it has been a large
purchaser of sheet brass. The interest of the company has

116 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

been in the manufacture of various wares. It has in the
main rolled metal only for its own use.

Again in 1865 the Bridgeport Brass Company was organ-
ized. In the same building in which the Brooklyn Brass
and Copper Company had its rolling mill, there had been a
small concern engaged in the manufacture of brassware.
In 1865 this firm with the active cooperation and financial
assistance of Mr. Davol and his son, William H., established
a plant at Bridgeport. For fifteen years some business was
done, but at no time was the enterprise prosperous. In 1880
Mr. Frederick A. Mason, the son of Mr. Albert A. Mason
who had been one of Mr. Davol's associates, with others
bought out the Davol interest in the Bridgeport Company.
Mr. Mason had been since 1872 in the employ of Benedict &
Bumham and was familiar with the trade. Under his man-
agement the Bridgeport Company became quite prosperous.
However frequently it entered into trade agreements with
the mills up the Valley and was never a close competitor for
the outside trade.

Down to 1880 then there was no effective outside compe-
tion except by the Brooklyn Company. Since that date fur-
ther competition has appeared and during the last few years
this has become increasingly active.

From 1880 to 1900 there were four concerns which
emerged as worthy of notice. It is to be remembered that
from 1869 to 1900 only one strictly new plant was organized
in the State of Connecticut, the Seymour Company in 1878,
which has remained comparatively small and which while it
generally did not enter into trade agreements with the other
mills nevertheless in the main has maintained the standard
prices. The four outside companies are The Bristol Brass
and Clock Company, located at Bristol, Connecticut; The

COMPETITION AND COMBINATION 117

Rome Brass and Copper Company, organized in 1879 and
located at Rome, New York ; The Detroit Copper and Brass
Rolling Mills, organized in 1881, located at Detroit, Michi-
gan; and The Chicago Brass Company, organized in 1886
and located at Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The Bristol Company is the outgrowth of an old attempt,
begun about 1850 by men who had been interested in the
Wolcottville Brass Company, to manufacture brass clocks.
A large business in this line was developed. In the earlier
period it was in rather close agreement with the other mills
in the vicinity. Until 1890 it did not roll much more metal
than was consumed in the factory. Since that date and
particularly since 1900 it has enlarged its plant and now
actively competes for the outside trade.

The Rome Company was established by local men who
thought thus to utilize an abandoned iron rolling mill.
They were assisted in this enterprise by men who had gained
experience and a knowledge of the trade in the Naugatuck
Valley. It has been a rolling mill primarily, has been well
managed and an active competitor from the start. It now
has a large trade in sheet copper but it also handles brass in
sheets, wire, rods and tubes.

The Detroit mill was also organized by men who at the
time were in close touch with the Connecticut enterprises and
at first pooled its business with the Connecticut mills. It
was at the start primarily a rolling mill. Now sheet copper
is the largest item in its output but like the Rome Company
it produces brass in various forms. After 1890 it broke
away from its agreement with the other mills and entered
into active and effective competition with them.

The Chicago Brass Company, also a rolling mill, while at

118 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

first a competitor, was not largely prosperous. In 1901 it
was bought by the Coe Brass Company and now is abso-
lutely owned by that corporation.

Besides the concerns located as already noted in Bridgeport,
Bristol, Rome and Detroit there are but two other companies
which are to-day actively and effectively competing with the
brass mills in the Naugatuck Valley. Both of these are of
comparatively recent origin. The National Brass and Cop-
per Tube Company, located at Hastings, New York, a de-
velopment from an older concern and the Michigan Brass
and Copper Company in Detroit, Michigan, are entering the
trade and are actively competing in the open market.*

In 1900 there was established the second brass mill to be
located in the Naugatuck Valley since 1869. In 1876 the
Waterbury Manufacturing Company had been organized,
succeeding a manufacturing enterprise which had not been
largely successful but which ran back quite a number of
years in a more or less active state. The new company was
well managed and in time built up a large and profitable
trade in an extensive line of brass wares. It was consuming
considerable amounts of metal which it cast into ingots and
had rolled in other mills. In July, 1900, the Chase Rolling
Mill Company, controlled by the owners of the Waterbury
Manufacturing Company, began operations in Waterbury
and has entered the open market for sheet brass and wire.

In 1895 there were eighteen brass mills in the country, as

*In addition to the above there are two small enterprises in New
Jersey and perhaps one or two elsewhere, but none of these is of
notable proportions. There are, however, two or three concerns be-
sides those named which engage in the manufacture of a single arti-
cle such as wire or tubing.

COMPETITION AND COMBINATION

119

follows.* The first six were all in Waterbury, except that
one, the Plume & At wood Manufacturing Company, has its
rolling mill at Thomaston, while its main office and factory
is in Waterbury.

Scovill Manufacturing Company, employing. , .1,600 hands.
Holmes, Booth & Haydens, " . . .1,012

Benedict & Burnham Mfg. Co., " ... 967

Plume & Atwood Mfg. Co., " ... 791

Randolph & Clowes, " ... 550

Waterbury Brass Company, " ... 525

The other mills in the Naugatuck Valley were :
Ansonia Brass & Copper Co., employing. .. 1,135 hands.
Wallace & Sons, Ansonia, " ... 646 "

Coe Brass Company, Torrington, " ... 650 "

Seymour Mfg. Co., Seymour, " ... 220 "

Birmingham Brass Co., Shelton, " ... 206 "

Also two others were located in Connecticut.
Bridgeport Brass Co., Bridgeport, employing. . . 750 hands.
Bristol Brass & Clock Co., Bristol, " ... 455 "

The other five outside of Connecticut were:
Manhattan Brass Co., New York, organized

1865, employing 575 hands.

Rome Brass & Cop. Co., Rome, N. Y., organized

1879, employing 397 "

Detroit Cop. and Brass Mills, Detroit, organized

1881, employing 275 "

Chicago Brass Co., Kenosha, Wis., organized

1886, employing 144 "

Brooklyn Brass and Copper Co., Brooklyn, ( facts not given).

*"icx) years of American Commerce", C. M. Depew, article by A.
A. Cowles, Vol. I, p. 334.

120 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

At this time most of the mills rolled copper as well as
brass and drew both copper and brass wire and as well
handled other alloys, such as German silver and specialties.
There were in addition to the above several mills in different
parts of the country which handled only copper. No enum-
eration of these is attempted.

The hands employed as returned are for the Connecticut
companies only those in the rolling mills proper; the sheet,
wire and tube mills. Some of the companies had many more
in the manufacturing departments ; for example the Scovills
employed thus about i,ooo hands in addition to those re-
turned above.

Of the hands returned as employed, a total of 10,898,
almost exactly half, or 5,445, were in the city of Waterbury,
and more than half of the remainder were in the Naugatuck
Valley. The total for the State of Connecticut was 9,507.

But it must be further noticed: one of the marked pecu-
liarities of the industry is found in the fact that to a large
extent the original rolling mills were led to manufacture
their own product. Of the six mills in Waterbury every one
at this time not only rolled metal for the market, but also
manufactured, some on a large scale, its own wares. This
was in 1895 likewise true of all but two of the other firms in
Connecticut, the Coe Brass Company and the Seymour Man-
ufacturing Company. On the other hand, of the five rolling
mills outside of the State of Connecticut, only one, the Man-
hattan Brass Company, employing nearly one-half the force
as returned outside of the State, remanufactured its own
product.

In order to bring the list as given down to date it is neces-
sary to remember that two of the mills have been closed. In
1903 the Coe Brass Company bought the Birmingham Com-

COMPETITION AND COMBINATION 121

pany and closed its plant and in the same year the Brooklyn
Company went out of business. Also in 1896 the Coe Com-
pany bought the Wallace plant and in 1901 the Chicago
Company and has since operated both plants with its own in
Torrington. Thus four companies have ceased separate
corporate existence. The three new concerns noted as start-
ing since 1895 must then be added, giving now a total of
seventeen mills of appreciable size.

Within the Naugatuck Valley there have been times of
strenuous competition. As the industry developed the differ-
ent mills endeavored to secure their position by agreements
regarding prices and by pooling their production. What is
believed to be the earliest trade agreement in the country
was here made. The earliest date which can now be given in
this connection is February 10, 1853. It is believed that
some mutual understanding had been reached before this
time but the earliest document known to exist bears this
date. The agreement was signed by every brass mill in the
Valley together with the Bristol Brass and Clock Company.
It may be remembered that at this time there was no effective
outside competition. This earliest agreement appears to
have been concerned only with prices. Shortly after how-
ever, certainly by 1856 and probably before, the mills had
agreed not only as to prices, but also to regulate production.
The struggle to recuperate after the crisis of 1857 gave im-
petus and point to the movement.

At this time, 1856, the association was very closely organ-
ized. Prices and discounts were fixed and production was
apportioned and allotted. Penalties for violation were
agreed upon. It was agreed that three cents should be paid
into the pool by each mill for each pound of metal handled
above its apportionment and any mill could draw three cents

122 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

for each pound below its apportionment which it failed to
place upon the market A store was maintained in New
York to which any mill could ship such products as were
allotted to it and which it was otherwise unable to market.

At first Mr. George P. Cowles, at the time connected with
the Ansonia Brass and Copper Company, was the executive
officer of the pool, but as objection was made to him because
of his connection with one of the companies interested, Mr.
A. M. Blakesley of Waterbury was about 1865 made Secre-
tary of the American Brass Association, as it came to be
called. Unfortunately the most of the records relating to
the various pools have been destroyed.

From 1853 until just after 1870 the organization of the
American Brass Association was tolerably effective. Then
came the time of greatest strain. During one year the mills
would keep their agreements tolerably well and during the
next competition might be much more keen. From time to
time efforts were made to secure some binding agreement,
sworn returns being introduced. But it often appeared that
the impelling desire of each mill was to limit the operations
of the others, while retaining its own freedom. During
some of these years, as has been noted, some of the largest
plants showed losses in operation. Still the ownership of
the different enterprises remained largely in the same hands.
The office force of each mill was desirous of retaining their
positions and threw the responsibility of cutting prices upon
the salesmen ; the salesmen declared that the home office
sanctioned the prices they quoted. The holders of the stock,
if they failed of a dividend in one quarter, made it up in
another and hence did not always take resolute action.
However it was the last interest which prevented absolute
demoralization. The determining factor in the various

^

COMPETITION AND COMBINATION 123

pools was the maintenance of prices rather than the Hmita-
tion of production. From time to time certain allotments of
production were made, but the closer the detail of such
allotment the greater the enterprise of the different man-
agers in changing to some slight degree the specifications.
Then they reported production only as particularly specified,
while they manufactured as largely as possible outside of
such limit. Hence at no time after 1870 can the reported
return of any mill be taken as its total output, however care-
fully and clearly such production may appear to be stated
in the official returns. For the reason given records were not
exactly kept and many books have been destroyed. Hence
it is now impossible to determine the exact production of the
most of the mills during this period.

Earnest efforts were made in 1876, in 1884 and in 1894
to agree as to prices and production. The price scale was
generally more closely observed than the apportionment of
production. The agreements were generally recognized for
a couple of years, when more or less evasion appeared and
they really ceased to be operative before they were formally
dissolved. Since the dissolution of the 1894 pool in 1899,
nothing further along this line has been accomplished.

The agreement of 1884, regulating both prices and pro-
duction, was signed by every mill in the Valley, except the
Seymour Manufacturing Company. The Bridgeport Brass
Company and the Detroit Copper and Brass Rolling Mills
were also parties to it. The only considerable concerns in
the country which did not enter it were those in Seymour,
Bristol, Brooklyn and Rome. And at the time the Brooklyn
Company was the only one which was putting considerable
amounts of sheet brass and wire upon the market. This was
the last pool of which Mr. Blakesley was the Secretary.

124

THE BRASS INDUSTRY

The production as reported in pounds gross weight, of
sheets, wire and tubing was as follows in 1884:

Coe Brass Company,

5,189,309

Ansonia Brass and Copper Company,

4,838,203

Benedict & Burnham Mfg. Co.,

4,760,223

Holmes, Booth & Haydens,

4,740,685

Wallace & Sons, ....

4,559,693

Plume & At wood Mfg. Company, .

4,282,472

Scovill Manufacturing Company, .

3,207,506

Waterbury Brass Company, .

2,871,180

Bridgeport Brass Company, .

2,014,479

Brown & Brothers,

1,844,409

Osborn & Cheeseman Company,

1,595.463

Detroit Mill,

488,289

40,391,911

These companies produced in that year more than 90% of
the rolled brass of the country. At this time the agree-
ment was tolerably well observed and probably the reported
production was not far short of the actual production.

However the relative importance of the different mills can
not be absolutely determined by the table as given. The
first mill was practically exclusively a rolling and wire mill
and the next four were largely devoted to rolling. Whereas
the Plume & Atwood Company and particularly the Scovill
Company were largely engaged in remanufacture. Proba-
bly the last named had the most extensive plant and the
largest number of employees.

But the more extensive agreements to which reference
has already been made were by no means the only ones
which were here developed. During a considerable portion

COMPETITION AND COMBINATION 125

of the period from 1865 to 1895 the Waterbury companies
had certain agreements among themselves, at times of such
a character that they had a large influence. These mills
absolutely controlled the pool of 1884. Moreover agree-
ments were made regarding certain specific items of produc-
tion. For example, there existed at the same time as the
inclusive pool, a copper rivet association, a tubing associa-
tion, a lamp burner association and several others. In some
instances a given plant would be a member of one of the
minor pools, while declining to agree with its competitors on
certain other items of production.

Regarding these pools it may be remarked that the first in
1853 is believed to be the earliest example of such an agree-
ment to be found in the history of American industry. The
conditions in. the Naugatuck Valley were particularly favor-
able for the initiation of this experiment in industrial coop-
eration. The mills were not far from each other. There
was no outside competition of consequence. The raw ma-
terials, copper largely and zinc to a degree, were subject to
considerable and at times sudden fluctuations in price. This
made it very desirable that the diflferent companies should
agree as to the diflferential which should be observed between
the market price of copper and the selling price of the prod-
uct of the mills. Moreover a given company might happen
to have a large stock of copper with a rising market, which
would enable it to cut prices to an extent which easily might
be disastrous to other concerns. Such conditions were
actually realized at times with serious results.

Further, as has been noted, in many instances the same
men were interested in more than one mill. There was a
real community of interest, even though this was at times
obscured by the rivalry between the different companies.

126 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

Hence after the experiment of agreeing on prices and of
pooling production had once been tried with its evident
effect in stability of price and in the adaptation of produc-
tion to the demand of the market, the tendency was ever
present to return to such agreements and to confirm and
extend their scope.

From time to time after 1870 there was some discussion of
the feasibility of organic union of two or more of the exist-
ing corporations. No definite result appeared. On June 7,
1893, a special charter was obtained from the State of Con-
necticut, authorizing the formation of a new company which
should include several existing corporations. The first
holders of this charter were the Coe Brass Company of Tor-
rington and the Scovill Manufacturing Company, Benedict
& Burnham Manufacturing Company, Waterbury Brass
Company, Holmes, Booth & Haydens, and Plume & Atwood
Manufacturing Company ; all of the Waterbury rolling mills
except Randolph & Clowes. The Ansonia Brass and Copper
Company was the only important one not in the list. But it
was found to be impossible to reconcile conflicting interests.

At this time a decided difference of policy had appeared.
Several of the leading factors in the trade, notably Mr.
Lyman W. Coe who had been since 1863 the head of the Coe
Brass Company, declared that the industry had reached such
a point of development that a differentiation of function
should appear. He argued that the rolling mills should
confine themselves to the rolling of sheets and the making
of tubing and of wire and that the business of remanufac-
ture, the making of various wares of brass and of the other
metals concerned, should be turned over to other companies
either subordinate or independent. This was the most im-
portant point of difference. The Scovill Company and

-"^^t^

COMPETITION AND COMBINATION 127

Plume & Atwood were more largely remanufacturers and
by means of control of patents and the trade in certain
specialties they each had a large business which was not
really competitive. The other four companies already
named while remanufacturing to a degree were however
more important as rolling mills and were moreover more
close and direct competitors in the bulk of their business.

The original charter was extended in 1895 and in 1897.
In 1896 the Coe Brass Company by the purchase of the
Wallace plant in Ansonia became the leading corporation in
the trade. On December 14, 1899, the Coe Brass Company,
Waterbury Brass Company and Ansonia Brass and Copper
Company came together in the American Brass Company.
On August 6, 1900, the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing
Company came in and October 17, 1901, the Holmes, Booth
& Haydens Company. On this same latter date the Coe
Brass Company purchased the Chicago Brass Company and
the organization of the American Brass Company as it is
to-day was complete. The most important plants in Con-
necticut which are not members of this combination are the
Plume & Atwood Manufacturing Company, Scovill Manu-
facturing Company, Randolph & Clowes, the Bridgeport
Brass Company, the Bristol Company, the Seymour Manu-
facturing Company and the Chase Rolling Mill.

The American Brass Company is to-day the largest and
most important brass making and handling company in the
world. It makes more than two-thirds of all the brass used
in the United States, besides which it handles much copper
and various alloys, such as German silver and many mixtures
the composition of which is regarded as a trade secret. It
uses approximately one-third of all the copper consumed in
the United States and is the largest single consumer of cop-

128 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

per in the world. The center both of its corporate existence
and of its industrial activity is in the Naugatuck Valley.
About one-half of its output proceeds from Ansonia, one-
third from Waterbury and the remainder from Torrington.
The capital of the company was at the start $10,000,000,
which has since been increased to $15,000,000. Its policy is
to maintain harmony of action between the constituent com-
panies without dictating closely their internal management.
With the exception of a few specialties which it controls by
patent or otherwise it has abandoned remanufacture. The
tendency is towards specialization of output, each plant being
used more largely for such products as it can most advan-
tageously produce.

The American Brass Company illustrates the power and
efficiency of individual leadership and initiative which were
so signally in evidence at the beginning of the industry ; for
it was brought into existence largely by the enterprise and
energy of Mr. Charles F. Brooker. Mr. Brooker is a direct
product of the brass industry, having begun his apprentice-
ship with Mr. Lyman W. Coe, who was the son of Mr. Israel
Coe, one of Mr. Benedict's early partners. When Mr. L. W.
Coe in 1863 bought the plant of the Wolcottville Company,
the next year Mr. Brooker at the age of seventeen entered his
employ. Six years later he became one of the officers of the
company, succeeding in 1893 Mr. Coe in the presidency. In
1896 his company bought in the plant of Wallace & Sons
and five years later the Chicago Brass Company, thus be-
coming the largest factor in the trade and controlling nearly
one-fourth of the weight of metal in the Naugatuck Valley,
and in 1899 he accomplished the organization of the Ameri-
can Brass Company.

The reasons why the brass industry was started in Water-

COMPETITION AND COMBINATION 129

bury have been given. Water was needed for power and a
plentiful supply of wood for annealing. As the industry de-
veloped large quantities of water were needed, now not so
much for power as for washing the metal. As a rule every
time that brass is rolled it must be annealed. After anneal-
ing the scale is removed by acid and then the metal must be
washed. This consumes water in large amounts. Condi-
tions in Waterbury were favorable in these regards. But
Waterbury was not peculiar in these respects. The main
reason apparently why the brass business was started in
Waterbury was that it was the residence of the men who
allowed their enterprise and activity to lead them on from
the household manufacture of cast buttons to the larger and
more promising field of rolling brass.

Two causes besides the perseverance and activity of the
pioneers have acted to the end that the seat of the industry
has remained in the Naugatuck Valley, where it is now es-
tablished so firmly and extensively that measured by the
value of its product it has become the leading industry in the
State.

The first is the advantage of an early start. Brass is a
comparatively high priced material. To this day the unit
of production is the pound and not the ton. Also the mills
early took up the manufacture of the product of their own
rolls still further raising the market value of their product.
This has made the industry more independent of freight
charges than would otherwise have been the case. As suc-
cessive difficulties were met, the need of machinery, the need
of skilled workmen, the demand for capital, the question of
transportation, the necessity of enlarging the market by
manufacturing their own wares ; these were faced and over-
come by a singular exhibition of foresight, energy and skill.

130 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

The advantage secured by an early start has been maintained
by the activity and ingenuity of the men v^hose fortunes de-
pended upon the estabUshment and extension of the industry.

To-day a large plant is absolutely essential to the control
of the market. Machinery has come to play such an im-
portant part in the economy of production that large ex-
pense is involved in the establishment of a nev^^ plant.

The other reason for the maintenance of the supremacy
in the brass manufacture which the plants of the Naugatuck
Valley have secured is that the workmen who are skilled in
this particular industry are in the main only here to be found.
Reference has already been had to the interdependence of
the various concerns. From the beginning when the num-
ber of skilled mechanics imported from England could be
easily counted to the present a substantial control of this
class of labor has been maintained to a singularly effective
degree. It would probably be impossible for any brass plant
employing fifty mechanics to become established anywhere
in the United States unless skilled men were sought and ob-
tained in the Naugatuck Valley.

As attempts have been made from time to time to start
new enterprises elsewhere it has been found necessary to
appeal to the Naugatuck Valley for workmen. At times
wages have been offered which were double the prevailing
rates in order to secure competent help. But so well have
the mills treated their employees, so many own their homes
and so steady has been employment that even this induce-
ment has seldom been sufficient to secure help of the highest
grade fgr what was thought might be an enterprise with an
uncertain future.

However, while concerns which are located in the West
may be able to obtain more or less of the local business, espe-

COMPETITION AND COMBINATION 131

cially as with the lowering of the margin of profit freight
rates become proportionately a larger item in the cost of the
product, as yet the increase of the business which has been
offered has been so large that outside competition has not
been severely felt by the older mills in the Naugatuck Valley.
These plants to the present handle their full proportionate
share of the total business. The most important refineries
of copper are in the East, the manufacture of brasswares and
of various productions into which brass and other alloys of
copper enter more or less are established in the East and the
localization of the supply of labor is still maintained.

The brass industry then began in Waterbury as an imme-
diate development of household industry. It was there es-
tablished, that being the residence of the pioneers, by their
foresight, enterprise and energy in surmounting difficulties
as they arose, being encouraged by the promise of sufficient
financial rewards. The mills thus established in Waterbury
and its immediate vicinity have maintained their position
of commanding importance by the advantage of an early
start, control of the market and of the available supply of
skilled labor. At present the combination of capital and of
labor at the command of the existing mills is such that no
serious danger threatens their supremacy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.
I. United States Government Publications.

Report on Manufactures : Alexander Hamilton : Second Con-
gress, First Session, Dec. s, 1791. Printed in American State Papers,
Finance, Vol. I, pp. 123-144. Washington, 1832.

Report of Manufactures : Albert Gallatin : Eleventh Congress,
Second Session, April 17, 1810. Doc. No. 325. American State
Papers, Finance, Vol. II, pp. 425-439. Washington, 1832.

Digest of Manufactures : Tench Coxe : Thirteenth Congress,
Second Session, June 21, 1813. Doc. No. 407. American State
Papers, Vol. II, pp. 666-812. Washington, 1832. Statistics taken in
1810. The several parts are also printed separately: Philadelphia,
1813.

Digest of Manufactures, as ordered by Congress, March 30, 1822:
comprising a statement of the manufacturing establishments of the
United States. American State Papers, Finance, Vol. IV, pp. 28-223.
Also printed separately: Washington, 1823. (Note: The incom-
pleteness of these returns may be noted in the fact that no return is
made of tinware shops located in Connecticut, although it is certain
that such manufacture was carried on at the time.)

Letter from the Secretary of State transmitting a supplementary
return to the Digest of the accounts of the Manufacturing establish-
lishments and their manufactures : Feb. 27, 1823. Doc. No. 90.
Seventeenth Congress, Second Session.

Report of the Secretary of State of such articles manufactured in
the United States as would be liable to duties if imported, etc., with
a schedule of factories, etc. Made to Eighteenth Congress, First
Session, Jan. 27, 1824. (Note: In this report, as in the Digest of
1823, no tinware shops and only one clock shop is returned for the
State of Connecticut.)

134 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

Statement of the cost of such manufactures as are embraced in
the proposed tariff, etc. Feb. 12, 1824. Doc. No. 72. Eighteenth
Congress, First Session.

Documents relative to the manufactures in the United States, col-
lected and transmitted to the House of Representatives in com-
pliance with a resolution of Jan. 19, 1832 : By the Secretary of the
the Treasury. Executive Doc. No. 308. Twenty-second Congress,
First Session. 2 Vols. Washington, 1833.

Report of the Secretary of the Treasury relative to duties on im-
ported manufactured articles for the year ending June 30, 1845.
July 23, 1846. Senate Doc. No. 444. Twenty-ninth Congress, First
Session.

Compendium of the Sixth Census : 1840.

Statistical view of the United States : Compendium of the Sev-
enth Census: 1850. J. D. B. DeBow, Superintendent.

Abstract of the Statistics of Manufactures According to the Re-
turns of the Seventh Census. Joseph C. G. Kennedy, Superintend-
ent. Senate Executive Doc. No. 39. Thirty-fifth Congress, Second
Session. Printed in Vol. 10, Senate Documents, 1858-59.

Preliminary Report on the Eighth Census : i860. J. C. G. Ken-
nedy, Superintendent. House of Representatives Executive Doc.
No. 116. Thirty-seventh Congress, Second Session.

Eighth Census of the United States : i860. Manufactures.

Ninth Census of the United States : 1870. Industry and Wealth.

Tenth Census of the United States : 1880. Manufactures and
Mining Industries. 2 Vols.

Statement of metal manufactures in the United States with ex-
ports and imports of the same: March 3, 1883. House of Repre-
sentatives Miscellaneous Doc. No. 29. Forty-seventh Congress,
Second Session.

Eleventh Census of the United States : 1890. Manufacturing In-
dustries and Mineral Industries. 3 Vols.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 136

Imports and Exports, etc. Imports into the United States for
each year from 1867 to 1893 inclusive, and exports for that and
other periods : March 14, 1894. Senate Report No. 259. Fifty-third
Congress, Second Session.

Twelfth Census of the United States: 1900. Manufactures. 4
Vols.

Census Bulletins, Published 1906, By the Bureau of the Census,
S. N. D. North, Director. Especially No. 42, Census of Manufac-
tures, 1905, Connecticut : and No. 57, Census of Manufactures, 1905,
United States.

Confer: The Federal Census, Critical Essays by Members of the
American Economic Association. New York, March, 1899.

See also criticism of census schedules relating to copper and brass
in the introduction.

II. Technical and General.

Cyclopedia of Useful Arts, Mechanical and Chemical : Manufac-
tures, Mining and Engineering. Compiled in Connection with the
London Exposition of 1851. Charles Tomlinson. 2 Vols. London
and New York, 1852.

A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines; Containing a
Clear Exposition of Their Principles and Practice. Andrew Ure.
2 Vols, and Supplement. New York, 1868. Reprinted from English
editions.

Spon's Encyclopedia of the Industrial Arts, Manufactures, and
Raw Commercial Products. Edited by C. G. W. Lock. 2 Vols.
London and New York, 1882.

The Industrial Arts. Historical Sketches, with Numerous Illus'
trations. Edited by William Maskell. New York, 1876.

British Manufacturing Industries. Edited by G. Phillips Bevan.
London, 1876. Especially articles on Brass Founding by Walter
Graham, and Copper by J. Arthur Phillips.

136 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

The Metallic Alloys. William T. Brannt. London and Philadel-
phia, 1889.

Brass Founders' Alloys: A Practical Handbook, Containing
Many Useful Tables, Notes and Data for the Guidance of Manu-
facturers and Tradesmen. J. F. Buchanan. London and New
York, 1901.

Mixed Metals or Metallic Alloys. Arthur H. Hiorns, Head of
Metallurgical Dept. Birmingham Municipal School. London, 1901.

Coins, Medals, and Seals : Ancient and Modern : Illustrated and
Described. W. C. Prime. New York, 1861.

In the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Sixth
Series, Vol. VI, are part of the "Belcher Papers" ; the operations
of a Boston merchant from 1731 to 1733.

A History of American Manufactures from 1608 to i860; Exhibit-
ing the Origin and Growth of the Principal Mechanic Arts and Man-
ufactures, etc. J. Leander Bishop. 3 Vols. Philadelphia, 1868.

The Great Industries of the United States; Being an Historical
Summary of the Origin, Growth and Perfection of the Chief Indus-
trial Arts of This Country. By various contributors. Hartford,
Chicago and Cincinnati, 1872.

One Hundred Years of American Commerce. Edited by C. M.
Depew. 2 Vols. New York, 1895. Article by A. A. Cowles, Presi-
dent Ansonia Brass and Copper Company, Vol. I, Chap. 47, pp. 329-
336. Also article by same author in Encyclopedia Americana: Cop-
per and Brass Industry. 1903.

History of the American Clock Business for the Past Sixty Years,
and the Life of Chauncey Jerome. C. Jerome. New Haven, i860.

American Clock Making: Its early history, etc. Henry Terry,
Waterbury, 1872.

History of Clock Making in our Country, etc. James Terry.
Scientific American Supplement; Vol. 27, June 15, 1889.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 137

See also articles in Scientific American; Vol. 41, Dec. 13, 1879, p.
380; Vol. 42, May i, 1880, p. 277; Scientific American Supplement,
Vol. 62, Jan. 19, 1907, p. 25,950; Vol. 64, Nov. 2, 1907, p. 281.

The Early Transportation and Banking Enterprises of the States
in Relation to the Growth of Corporations. Prof. G. S. Callender.
Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol. 17, 1902-03, pp. 111-162.

The paucity of general literature upon the subject in hand may
appear as it is noted that in the "Repertorium der Technischen
Joumal-Literatur", published in Berlin, in the years from 1879 to
1904, only thirteen articles appear under "Messing" (brass), and of
these not one is of value in the present inquiry.

Also in "Poole's Index" from 1802 to 1907 there are only five
entries under "brass", which have to do with any phase of the sub-
ject, except archeological and descriptive of historical bronzes.

III. Local History.

Many facts of interest regarding the domestic life of the people of
the United States at the beginning of the nineteenth century may be
gleaned from the records of travels made about that time. The most
important references which concern the matter in hand may be found
in the foot-notes. The two most valuable sources are the follow-
ing:

Travels Through the Northern Parts of the United States in the
Years 1807 and 1808. Edward A. Kendall, Esq. 3 Vols. New
York, 1809. (The first vol. is entirely devoted to Conn.)

Travels Through New England and New York. Timothy Dwight.
4 Vols. New Haven, 1821.

Many references to the beginning and development of industrial
enterprises in the State may be found in State papers and local
histories.

There are on file in the State Library at Hartford many valuable
unpublished papers relating to industrial undertakings from 1716 to
1800.

138 THE BRASS INDUSTRY

The following sources may be noted as of special value :

A Statistical Account of the Towns and Parishes in the State of
Connecticut. Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences. New
Haven, 1811.

Report of the Secretary of State Relative to Certain Branches of
Industry. May Session, 1839. House of Representatives (Conn.)
Doc. No. 26, Hartford, 1839. (This report covers but little more
than Hartford County.)

Statistics of the Condition and Products of Certain Branches
of Industry in Connecticut for the Year ending Oct. i, 1845. Pre-
pared from the returns of the Assessors by Daniel P. Tyler, Secre-
tary of State. Hartford, 1846. (This report contains returns from
every town in the State with one exception.)

References to the most important passages in State and local
histories relating to the development of the brass manufacture may
be found in the foot-notes.

For a general reference list on Conn, local history see Bulletin No.
S3, Dec, 1900, New York State Library; Compiled by Charles A.
Flagg, Albany, 1900. In this list may be found the titles of prac-
tically all of the local histories of the State which were in hand at
the time it was compiled.

INDEX.

PAGE

Abel Porter & Co. . . . 87
Allen, Ethan ... .22

" John 37

American Brass Ass'n . .122

" " Co. 126-128

Pin Co. . . 60, 86

" Tube Works 92

Ansonia, manufacture in 63,128

" , settlement of . . 57

" Brass and Copper

Co. 57, 84, 86, 99,

119, 124, 126, 127

Clock Co. . . . 86

Atwood, Lewis J. ... 66

Battery process defined . 54
Benedict, Aaron 40, 46, 75, 80,
83, 84, 89, 128
" & Bumham Mfg.

Co. 40, 53, 60, 61,
66,84,85,86,98,101,
112, 113, 119, 124,
126, 127
" & Coe 42, 53, 66, 69,
84, 89
" , Charles ... 84
Blakesley, A. M. . 122, 123
Brass, casting of . . . 9
" , " " , independ-
ent of rolling 44, 99
" , composition of . .8,11
" forelocks . 29,31,32
" industry concentrated

in Conn. . 5, 100, 120

PAGE

Brass industry in Nauga-
tuck Valley .

67, 84, 114, 124
" industry, competition

in 121

industry, pools in 121-127
" , importance
of in Conn. 6

in history ... 9
mfr. beginning as

household industry 36
mfrs., export of .107
" , import of . 106
, modem process of
manufacture . . 11
" , physical properties

of .... 7

" , price of . 51.95-97

Birmingham Brass Co. 66,119

120, 121

" , England, brass

mfr. in -39
" , settlement

of . . 56,57
Bridgeport Brass Co. 116, 119,
124, 127
Bristol Brass and Clock Co.

116, 117, 119, 123, 127
Britannia, mfr. of . . .33
Bronze, composition of . 8
" in history ... 9
Brooker, Charles F. 4i 128

Brooklyn Brass and Copper

Co. 112, 114, 116, 119, 123

140

THE BRASS INDUSTRY

PAGE

Brown & Bros. 64, 68, 85, 87,

100, 103, 106, 124

Brown & Elton 52, 60, 61, 62,

64, 65, 84-87, 98, 112

" , James
" , Philo
" , William
Bumham, G. W
Button mfr. .
Butts, mfr. of

. . 6s

• 52,64
. . 64

66, 76, III

• 36-42

• • 53

Calamine used in making

brass .... 10
Capital in the brass industry

49, 63, 64, 84, 85, 128
Cartridge, metal case, devel-
opment of 102, 103
Casting of brass . .9,44,99
Casting of buttons . . -36
Census schedules misleading 2
Chase Rolling Mill Co. 118,127
Chicago Brass Co. 117,119,127,

128

Clocks, export trade in . .107

Clock mfr. in Conn. 28, 61, 73

Coe Brass Co. 55, 63, 67, 103,

118-121, 124, 126, 127

" , Israel 46, 54, 55, 70, 76, 77,

83, 84, 90, 103, 128
" , Lyman W. 83,103,126,128
Coinage in Waterbury 104, 105
Competition in the brass in-
dustry 114, 121
Concentration of brass indus-
try in Conn.

5, 100, 120

PAGE

Concentration of brass in-
dustry in
Naugatuck
Valley
67, 84, 114, 124
" of mfr. of am-

munition in
Conn. . 103, 104
" of pin mfr. in

Conn. . 60, 61
" of tinware mfr.

in Conn.
Copper, consumption of 44,
50, 79, 98, 99,
, export of . . .
in ancient times
in Conn,
mining .
, price of .
, production of
, rolling of
, source of
, tempering of .
Corporations in the brass in-
dustry
Cotton mfr. in Conn.

Cowles, A. A

" .George P. . .57

27

lOI

109

Croft, James

20

22

51.96

• 78

• 99
77.78

9

86
6

3
122
41,68,89

Daguerreotype plates, mfr.

of 61, 65, 108,

113
Davol,John. . . 114,116
Derby, mfr. in . . 56,57,59
" , shipping point . . 79
Detroit & Lake Superior Cop-
per Co. . . 77, 78

INDEX

141

PAGE

Detroit Copper & Brass Roll-
ing Mills 117, 119, 124

Electrical demand for cop-
per loi, 102, 108
Electro-plating, beginning of

33.34

Elton, J. P 62

" J.S Ill

Emigration from Conn. 15

Exports of brass mfrs. . . 107

" " copper . . .109

" " zinc .... 109

PAGE

Household industry, brass

buttons 36, 37

" " in Conn. 24

" mfr of clocks . 28

" " " iron 24

" " " textiles 24

" " " tinware 28
" " " pewter,

etc. 32

Howe, Dr. J. I. ... 59
Howe Mfg. Co. . . 59, 60, 63

Humphreysville Copper Co. 63

Hungerford, John ... 54

Factory system . . . .42

Imports of brass mfrs. . . 106

Fowler Brothers . . 59, 60

" " copper and brass

wares 74

German silver, mfr. of 34, 55,

" " copper . . 50, 76

108, 127

Interchangeable parts in clock

Grilley, Henry . . 37,38

mfr. . . 30

" , Silas . . . 39,46

Iron, household mfr. of .24

Grout, John R 77

" mfr. in Conn. . . .22

" mining in Conn. . . 21

Hay den, David . . . 39,46

" ,H.H. . . . . 6s

James, Thomas . . . 63,113

" ,H. W. 55,62,65,66,112

Jerome, Chauncey . . .32

Holmes & Hotchkiss 52, 54, 64,
65, 76, 83, 84, 90, 91
" , Booth & Atwood . 67
" , Booth & Haydens

64, 65, 67, 83-85, 87,
112, 113, 119, 124,

126, 127
" , Israel 51, 52, 54, 62,

65. 67, 70, 75, 80, 83,

89, 90, 111-113
Hooks and eyes, mfr. of -53
Hopkins, Joseph . . .37

Kettles, brass, mfr. of 36, 50,

54. 73. 90. 108, 112,

IIS

Labor, male and female . 93
" , skilled and unskilled 93
Lamps, mfr. of . . 65,66,73
Lead mines in Conn. . . 19
Leavenworth, Hay den &

Scovill 39, 49,
75. 89,98

142

THE BRASS INDUSTRY

PAGE

Machinery imported from

England 40, 52, 69,

88, 89

Manhattan Brass Co. 113, 115,

119
Manufacture, beginnings of

18,23
" of britannia

ware . . -33
" , clocks in Conn. 28
" , German silver 34
" , iron in Conn . 2 2
" , " in house-
hold 24
" , tinware in

Conn. . 25

Mason, Albert A. . .116

" , Frederick A. .116

Material, source of raw 38, 43,

50, 75. 76

Michigan Brass & Copper Co. 118

Mining in Conn. . . . 19

" of copper in Conn. . 20

" " "... 76-78

" " lead in Conn. . . 19

" " iron in Conn. . . 21

National Brass and Copper

Tube Co. . .118
Native force of labor, train-
ing a ... 91-94
Naugatuck R. R. , building of 81
New Haven Copper Co . .64

Osbom & Cheeseman Co. 66,124

Patents in Waterbury . 88

Peddlers of tinware, etc. 26, 28

PAGE

Peddlers, organization of 2 6- 2 8, 7 5
Pewter buttons . . .37
Pewter, mfrs. of. . . .33
Phelps, A. G. 54, 56, 63, 76, 80,

83. 90. 103. "3. "4
Pins, mfr. of 53, 57-60, 73, 108,

112

Plume & Atwood Mfg. Co. 67,

83, 84, 100, 113, 119,

124, 126, 127

Pools in brass industry 95,121-

127
Population, increase of, in

Conn. . . 15
Porter, Abel . . . .38
" , Levi . . 38, 39, 46
Price of product . 5 1 . 9 5

Production in 1884 . . . 124
Profits in brass industry 95

Railroads, construction of 81,82

Randolph & Clowes 64, 100,

119, 126, 127

Raw material, source of 38, 43,

50. 75. 76
Revere Copper Co. . . . 43
Roads in colonial times . 1 7
Roll of mills in 1 89 5 . . 119
Rolling of copper 44, 99, 102,

120
Rome Brass and Copper Co.

117, 119, 123

Salesmen in the brass industry

75. 76

Scovill, J. M. L. . 39, 46, 77, 98

" ,J.M.L.&W.H. 41,75.

83, 84, 98

INDEX

143

PAGE

Scovill Manufacturing Co. 39,

41, 51, 61, 62, 67, 69,

84, 85, 87, loi, 105,

119, 124, 126, 127

" , W. H. . . 42, 46, 80

Selling agents .... 40

Seymour, mfr. in ... 63

" Manufacturing Co. 100,

116, 119, 120, 123, 127

Shelton, brass mfr. in . .66

Simsbury (Granby) copper

mine . 20, 76, 104
Skilled labor, training a na-
tive force . 87, 91-94
Slocum & Jillson . . 59,60
Smith & Phelps .... 56
Soho Copper Co. 43. 99

Sources of raw material 38, 43,

50. 75. 76
Spinning, invention of 55, 62, 108
Steam power, use of . . 64
Superior Lake, copper

mines . 76-78

Tariff, influence of . 69-74

Terry, Eli .... 30, 31

Textiles, household mfr. of 24

" mfr. in Conn. . . 6

Thomaston, mfr. in . 67, 119

Tinware mfr. in Conn. . . 25

Trade in colonial times . . 17

Transportation, problem of 79

Tubing, brazed, mfr. of . 53

" , seamless, mfr. of . 92

Turnpikes, early . .18

" in Naug. Valley 79

Wages 94

Wage-scale in brass mills . 93

PAGE

Wallace & Sons 63, 68, 103,

106, 119, 121, 124,

127, 128

, Thomas . 63,91,113

Water power 42, 46, 62, loi

Water power in clock mfr. . 30

Waterbury & Detroit Copper

Co. . . . 77,83

" Brass Co. 62, 63, 64,

65. 67, 83, 84, 85,

87, 98, 103, 112,

113, 119, 124, 126,

127

" Button Co. . 86

Clock Co. . . 86

" , household mfr.

of clocks in 29,30
" Manufacturing

Co. . . . 118

Watch Co. . . 86

Winthrop, John, Jr. . 21,36

Wire, mfr. of 32, 36, 56, 63, 108,

112

" , price of . . . 51, 96

Wistar, Caspar . . -36

Wolcottville Brass Co. 54, 57,

61, 62, 65, 67, 68,

83, 84, 86, 103,

H2, 113, 114, 128

" (Torrington) ,

mfr. in 54-56,128
Wood, consumption of . 45

Woolen mfr. in Conn. . . 6

Yale, Charles

Zinc, export of .
" in ancient times
" , price of
" , production of .

33

109

8

96

78

9559

THE LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

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