HD ■ 
 U5^ 
 
 fyxuW W^xCmxnii 
 
 ^Wxm^ 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 
 ^^b 0«SLx. \i»«J''*-N'^<'>>-*^^^^ 
 
 h...i:^~j..o-^.sL 
 
 .::v^\a?^ A*^ 
 
.STORAGE -^C 
 
 % 
 
 is.vi^ 
 
 MAR 
 
 ,\9A« 
 
 ir^Hims€% 
 
 .._ Cornell University Library 
 
 HD9539.B8 U58 
 
 The brass industry in Connecticut 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 030 101 384 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 9240301 01 384 
 
THE BRASS INDUSTRY 
 
THE BRASS INDUSTRY 
 
 IN 
 
 CONNECTICUT 
 
 A Study of the Origin and the Development 
 
 OF the Brass Industry in the 
 
 Naugatuck Valley 
 
 A thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of 
 
 Yale University in Candidacy for the Degree 
 
 of Doctor of Philosophy 
 
 WILLIAM G. LATHROP 
 Shelton, Conn. 
 1909 
 T 
 
COPYKIGHT, 1909, 
 BY 
 
 William G. Latheop. 
 
 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. 5 
 
 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. . . 75 
 
 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 VIII. 
 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 139 
 
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 affairs 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 a,n 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 "Copper and Brass", printed in 1895, in Vol- 
 ume I of "One Hundred Years of American 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.! 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. IIL 
 
 tSee census reports 1880 to 1905. See Bibliography for titles. 
 These returns as given are misleading and unsatisfactory. To reach 
 the results above, the figures 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. H, 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 1900 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.f 
 
 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. || 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. 
 
 tBrass 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." 
 
 1f"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 sufiSciently 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 composed 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 modern 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 11. 
 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 
 German 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,f 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, 
 3S8, et al. 
 
 f'Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. I, p. 371. 
 
 $See e. g. "History of Norwich, Conn, to the year 1866", F. M. 
 Caulkins, pages from 2nd. edition, 1874, pp. 157, 175, 191, 248, 333. 
 
 §"North Haven Annals", S. B. Thorpe, New Haven, 1892, p. 258. 
 
 1 1 "Travels 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 15 
 
 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% 364% 
 
 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. 13s, 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. 
 Callander in Jour, of Economics, Vol. 17, pp. lis, ii7- 
 
 tSee "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, 19s; 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 
 whaling4 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. 1 1 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. 
 
 1 1 "Travels", Chastellux, Vol. I, p. 36; 11, 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.J 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. 
 
 f'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. f Copper 
 and iron were widely encountered. An ore containing lead, 
 zinc, copper, silver and bismuth was exposed near Middle- 
 town. J 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. 13s, 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- 7o, 159-161. 
 
 §"Travels", T. Dwight, Vol. I, pp. 34, 35. "Centennial Address", 
 Field, pp. 274-276. 
 
 I ["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. Ill, 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- 
 
 1 1 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-IS6. 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, 
 SO, 80, 124, 269 et al. Also "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. I, pp. 
 508-510. 
 
 1I"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 1644.* Five years 
 later he located the first in Connecticut at Montville.f In 
 1655 another plant was erected at East Haven,J 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. 
 
 ||"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. J 
 
 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.jf 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. 
 511, S12. 
 
 1 1 "Life of Jonathan Trumbull", Stuart, pp. 255, 256. 
 
 f 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. 
 
1/ 
 
 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 1716. 
 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 l8th 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.^ 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; II, p. 447 et al. 
 Brissot de Warville, "Travels", Vol. II, p. 66 et al. Also Gazetteers : 
 Scott, 179s; 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 rSio 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 begun 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, 
 184s, 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 
 United 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. t 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- IS) 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 traSer. 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- 
 
 tSee 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. SS- 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, 184S. 
 
 1 1 "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 1815 single shops sent out as many 
 as twenty or thirty of these peddlers,t 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. J 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. 
 
 f'Hist, of Conn.", Arthur & Carpenter, Phila. reprint, 1872, p. 284. 
 
EARLY INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 29 
 
 Waterbury, 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 
 
 *"T ravels", Dwight, Vol. II, p. 368. "Gazetteer", Pease & Niles, 
 p. IS et al. "Hist, of the American Clock Business", Jerome, N. H., 
 i860. "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. 377 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 Waterbur/', 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 through 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, J 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. 1 1 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. jl 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. 
 
 tTerry 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. Ft. 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. 
 
 I [Bishop, "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Vol. IH, p. 75. 
 
 Pishop, "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Vol. HI, p. 97. 
 
 **"PIistory 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. 1 1 Some cast brass was used especially for ex- 
 pensive works. About 1825 sheet brass appears, the parts 
 being cut from the metal by machinery. || At this time the 
 
 *Tench Coxe, "Series of Tables." 
 
 fDigest of Mfrs., 1823. 
 
 JThis 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 183s, 
 100,000 clocks, mostly of wood, were made in Conn. See also 
 U. S. Gov't, report on manufactures, Jan. ig, 1832; and Statistics 
 etc., of certain branches of industry (Conn.), Oct. i, 1845. 
 
 Ijln 1830 a patent was given J. P. Bakewell of Pittsburg, Pa., for 
 glass wheels for clocks! (Bishop, Vol. II, p. 351). 
 
 1["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 1816, 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. II, 
 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 1815, 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. 
 t"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.:]: 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. 
 
 tin 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. II, p. 377. 
 
 ^"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 INDUSTRY IN WATERBURY 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. J 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, 1 1 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 Grilleys 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. 
 
 JThe 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, Ft. I, pp. 353, 3S9. 
 
 IIBishop, "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 modern 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 1 78 1. This also involved the first rolling of brass 
 in this country.J 
 
 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, 
 27s, 276. "History of Waterbury", Bronson, pp. 411, 560. 
 
 tThe 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. 
 
 f'Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. Ill, p. 440. "One Hundred 
 Years of American Commerce", Depew, Vol. I, p. ^^O- 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 181 5 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.J 
 
 For twenty years, as far as is known, this was the only 
 sustained efifort to roll brass in the country.§ It was not 
 
 ♦Twelfth Census of the U. S., Vol. IX, Mfrs., Pt. Ill, p. 321- 
 
 tAbout 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. 
 
 f'History of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 264, 276. "His- 
 tory of Waterbur/', Bronson, p. 560. "Great Industries of the 
 U. S.", pp. 1048-1054. 
 
 §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 estabHshed 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. 
 
 tScientific American, May i, 1880, Vol. 42, pp. 277, 278. 
 

 1 
 
 ^HHIk'^ W/M, 
 
 I 
 
 
 ^jm^mI 
 
 ^^H^rj^^HHl 
 
 in 
 
 
 1 
 
 ^^^^^^^3f 
 
 1 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^h|||^^t>^w|^^^^^H^ ^b 
 
 ^H 
 
 ^^^HHKiii^^^^ ¥w "k- -s%.?^-,-s-»s« 
 
 Hi 
 
 Ot-'i-^S^'tU / O lyi^^-ii^. 
 
 ■.e/^tz^ 
 
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-Gavernitz. 
 "Evolution of Modern Capitalism", J. A. Hobson, Chap. II-IV. 
 
BRASS INDUSTRY IN WATERBURY 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 1 801 the Revere Copper Company in Canton, Massa- 
 chusetts, has continuously rolled copper.^ And in 1813 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. 
 
 tBoth 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. 
 
 tPaul Revere organized this company. 
 
 §See for these ventures, Bishop, "Hist. Amer. Mfrs.", Vol. HI, 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. 333. 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 INDUSTRY IN WATERBURY 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 theNpoint 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. 
 
 II. 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. 
 
'Wu.^yf^ir^ 
 
 ^r.cL 
 
BRASS INDUSTRY IN WATERBURY 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. 
 
 JThe 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 ig, 
 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 51 
 
 ton, Massachusetts, and the rolHng 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 demand 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- 
 
52 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 effort 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. 11, p. 323. 
 
 JA good description of the technique of wire drawing may be 
 found in Scientific American Supplement, Ian. 19, 1907, Vol. 63, p. 25, 
 950. 
 
&id^CS. 
 
 'iZ-tyuWrU 
 
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 of 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 1830.II 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. 11, p. 243. 
 f'History of Waterbury", Bronson, p. 561. 
 §"History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. 427. 
 1 1 In 184s the only manufacture of hooks and eyes which was re- 
 turned was in Conn. Sen. Doc. 444, July 23, 1846. 
 f History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. II, p. 349. 
 
54 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 history 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. 
 
 tSee 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/^i^^^^^Kj ^^, 
 
 '/P^T-V^ 
 

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 55 
 
 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 1851 Mr. H. W. Hayden, then in the employ of the 
 Scovills, invented the process still in use of forming kettles 
 by spinning and turningij: 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. 
 
 Jin 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. 
 
56 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 67 
 
 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 
 $S,ooo 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- 
 ness. | 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. 
 
58 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"! 
 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.ij: 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. 
 
 fWilliam 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. 
 
 1 1 "The Great Industries of the United States", p. 1287. 
 
 if"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. 11, Vol. VIII, p. 79. 
 
 fA story of the life and work of Dr. Howe is given in "Hist. 
 Amer. Mfrs.", Vol. H, 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. H, p. 395. 
 
 §"History Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. H, p. 478. 
 
 1 1 "History of the Old Town of Derby", Orcutt and Beardsley, p. 366. 
 "History of New Haven County", Rockey, Vol. H, p. 393. "History 
 Amer. Mfrs.", Bishop, Vol. H, 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 Manufacturing 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 ^^^ ^^ 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 example! 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 were 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. 
 
 tSee page 65. 
 
 §"Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. II, pp. 332, 333, 
 
f^- <-'^ti^^^'fy-~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, J 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. I" the earlier years this new 
 
 *"History New Haven County", J. L. Rockey, Vol. II, p. 485. 
 
 f'History of the Old Town of Derby", Orcutt and Beardsley, p. 
 664. 
 
 f'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 1851 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 1851 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. 
 
/^/'^2iir /3';>-^^'~'2--»^^ - 
 
(2^^^^--^ ^^' 
 
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. f 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 & Haydens, 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 brassware 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. Holmes, 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 tarifif. To the extent in which this opinion in- 
 fluenced their conduct the tariff 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, 
 yy2%. 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, in 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. 3^3- 
 
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 tariff, 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 manufactures 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.^ 
 
 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. 11, p. 275. 
 fAnderson, Vol. II, p. 321. 
 tAnderson, Vol. II, p. 280. 
 
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. :f 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. . 
 
 tAnderson, Vol. II, p. 302. 
 
 JAnderson, Vol. II, pp. 303, 304. 
 
 §Anderson, Vol. II, p. 262. 
 
 1 1 "Newgate of Connecticut", Phelps, p. 24. See pp. 20, 21. 
 
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 ^Jid 1850 rfien 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 
 possibiHty 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.f of 
 which the United States contributes from 55% to 60%. f 
 
 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 the 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 States. 
 
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 1810 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,f 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. 111-162. 
 
 f'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 aflfected 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 ^^d 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 Derb)^", 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 
 36^4% 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 effected, 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. 
 f'History of the Old Town of Derby", Orcutt and Beardsley, pp. 
 332-333- 
 
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 v^fas the creation of half a dozen men. It v^ras 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.f 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. 
 
 JAnderson, 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, 1 84 1, succeeding the partnership formed in i834.§ The 
 first joint stock company in Waterbury was the Benedict & 
 Burnham Manufacturing Company, incorporated January 
 
 *See page 60. 
 
 tAnderson, Vol. II, p. 298. 
 
 JThe 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. I03. 
 
ORGANIZATION 87 
 
 I4> 1843.* In 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, 7^. 
 
 JWhen 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, 185 1. 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 -1 860, 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. 
 
 tSee 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 1831, 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 plant.f 
 
 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. :j: 
 
 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. 
 
 tAnderson, 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 33, 34. 
 tSee 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, as 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. 
 
 fAUowance 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 handsj 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%; 190S, 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. J According to the 
 census returns, § in 1890, 31% of the brass ware 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. 
 
 f'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.J 
 
 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. 
 
 fTo 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 
 rolling 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 £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 £4,000.")" 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. II, 
 p. 181. 
 
 fNew Haven Colony Historical Society Papers, Vol. I, 1865, Pt. II, 
 p. 176. "Town and City of Waterbury", Anderson, Vol. Ill, pp. 
 I0S4-I0SS. 
 
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 in 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. J 
 
 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. 
 
 f'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 
 $120,083.1 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 brassware 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. J 
 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. 
 2S9, 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 delgree 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. 
 s 
 
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 
 
'?-^^^ 
 
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 
 which the Ansonia Brass and Copper Company grew, in part 
 because of a disagreement with his associates at Wolcottville 
 and in part as an effort to supply his trade with the product 
 of his own mills rather than to depend upon importations. 
 The Waterbury Brass Company was born, as a man who had 
 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 & Atwood 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 co5peration 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 & 
 Burnham 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 ^^^ 
 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 
 
 *Iii 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 & Atwood Manufacturing Company, has its 
 rolling mill at Thomaston, while its main office and factory 
 is in Waterbury. 
 
 Scovill Manufacturing Company, employing. .. i,6oo 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). 
 
 *"ioo 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 inust 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 limita- 
 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, 
 
 Ansonia Brass and Copper Company 
 
 Benedict & Burnham Mfg. Co., 
 
 Holmes, Booth & Haydens, 
 
 Wallace & Sons, 
 
 Plume & Atwood Mfg. Company, 
 
 Scovill Manufacturing Company, 
 
 Waterbury Brass Company, . 
 
 Bridgeport Brass Company, 
 
 Brown & Brothers, 
 
 Osborn & Cheeseman Company, 
 
 Detroit Mill 
 
 5,189,309 
 4,838,203 
 4,760,223 
 4,740,685 
 
 4,559,693 
 4,282,472 
 
 3,207,506 
 
 2,871,180 
 
 2,014,479 
 
 1,844,409 
 
 1,595,463 
 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 different companies should 
 agree as to the differential 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 
 & Bumham 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 
 
^^^ 
 
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 Torring^on. 
 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 whose fortunes de- 
 pended upon the estabhshment 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 new 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 for 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 135 
 
 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. 
 
 ix' 
 
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. 63, 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. w 
 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 "Repertqrium der Technischen 
 Journal-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 . . S7 
 
 " 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, S3, 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 
 
 m . 
 
 121 
 
 " industry, pools in 1 2 1 
 
 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 
 
 II 
 
 " , physical properties 
 
 
 of 
 
 7 
 
 " : price of S'- 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. 4, 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 . . -65 
 
 " , Philo . . . 52,64 
 
 , William. . . 64 
 
 Bumham, G. W. 66, 76, iii 
 
 Button mfr. . . . 36-42 
 
 Butts, mfr. of . 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. SS> 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. . 2 7 
 Copper, consumption of 44, 
 
 50. 79. 98, 99. loi 
 
 " , export of . 109 
 
 " in ancient times. . 8 
 " in Conn. 
 
 51 
 
 77 
 
 mxnmg . 
 
 " , 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, 
 
 22 
 96 
 78 
 
 99 
 78 
 
 86 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 122 
 
 Croft, James 
 
 41,68,! 
 
 Daguerreotype plates, mfr. 
 
 of 61, 65, 108, 
 
 "3 
 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 mf rs . 107 
 
 " " copper . . 109 
 
 " " zinc .... 109 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Household industry, brass 
 
 buttons 36, 37 
 " in Conn. 24 
 mfrof clocks . 28 
 
 iron 
 
 24 
 
 '■ textiles 
 
 24 
 
 '■ tinware 
 
 28 
 
 " pewter, 
 
 
 etc. 
 
 32 
 
 Howe, Dr. J. I. 59 
 
 Howe Mfg. Co. . 59, 60, 63 
 
 Humphreys ville 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, 
 
 108, 127 
 
 Grilley , Henry 37.38 
 
 " , Silas . 39,46 
 
 Grout, John R 77 
 
 Hay den, David . 39,46 
 
 " ,H. H. ... 6s 
 
 " , H. W. 55,62,65,66,112 
 
 Holmes & Hotchkiss 52, 54, 64, 
 
 6s, 76, 83, 84, 90, 91 
 
 " , Booth &Atwood 67 
 
 " , Booth & Haydens 
 
 64, 6s, 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 
 
 " " copper . 5°. 76 
 
 Interchangeable parts in clock 
 
 mfr. 30 
 
 Iron, household mfr. of 24 
 
 " mfr. in Conn. 22 
 
 " mining in Conn. . . 21 
 
 James, Thomas 63,113 
 
 Jerome, Chauncey 32 
 
 Kettles, brass, mfr. of 36, 50, 
 
 S4. 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, Hayden & 
 
 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, 
 
 5°. 75. 76 
 Michigan Brass & Copper Co. 1 1 8 
 Mining in Conn . 1 9 
 
 " of copper in Conn. 20 
 
 " " "... 76-78 
 " " lead in Conn. . ig 
 
 " " 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 of26-28,7s 
 Pewter buttons . . 37 
 
 Pewter, mfrs. of . . 33 
 
 Phelps, A. G. 54, 56, 63, 76, 80, 
 
 83, 90. 103. "3. 114 
 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 . . . 51,95 
 Production in 1884 . . 124 
 Profits in brass industry 9 5 
 
 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 
 RoUof mills in 189 s . .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, 
 
 5°. 75. 7<5 
 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, 
 
 112, 113, 114, 128 
 
 " (Torrington) , 
 
 mfr. in 54-56,128 
 Wood, consumption of . . 45 
 Woolen mfr. in Conn. . 6 
 
 Yale, Charles . 
 
 • 33 
 
 Zinc, export of . 
 
 109 
 
 " in ancient times 
 
 8 
 
 " , price of 
 
 . 96 
 
 " , production of . 
 
 • 78 
 
\