Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-06-25
LACONOA NOTES.


I.ag"nda, being wholly manufacturing
town. the history must necessarily be large
ly upon that subject 1t is very difficult To
gather data and facts rs they occurred. or
get them in regular order. 50 if we are a
htt!e disconnected and rambling in our notes
the reader will pardon Us and consider the
task as We have Stated-a difficult one.
About the first article manufactured in
1 I.agonda in the agricultural line. was by
| Il. II. Wardcr and J. +. WardrI. in 1870,
being what was called the "DcSmure self
rakrr. New York machine.
Their shop was a small frame about ~
I by - feet. the labor 0f which year resulted
! in more Of an experiment than otherwise,
a. they desired to test the several machines
! then in use. prior Ia Offering them Ia the
! public The strond year US5l) they added
thirty feet to their former shop, and built
/ thirty rcapcrS, but only sold fifteen of
them.
/ The third year they extended the size Of
! their shop l2S feet, and turned out over 200
rraperS. also few Of the ketChum mowers,
selling almost the entire number This
/ continued encouragement, and the increaS
/ ing popularity of their machines, induced
/ them To make every possible Improvement
which the progress of the age required, and
llNN ttltliillt ll tilt'l lillb the ldilNlliC-
t,r'ot all kinds of agricultural implements
al Il Ia open a general depot 10 the farmer.
where hr could rely upon getting almost any
! article of modern Improvement. In March.
/ 1854, MrSSrS John ". Brokaw and J. {.
: Child were added 10 the firm, it being then
/ known as Warder. Brokaw n Child. This
year they bmlt about 800 rcanerS.
| 400 mowers. together with 900 straw Gu
| trrS. 300 CultiyatOrS, 800 revolving hay
. rakcs and a number of wheat drills. They
/ then employed about 10 men and were
wholly unable Ia supply the retail demand
/ having sold non" by wholesale, although
orders were frequently received. They
/ also began the manufacture of the New
| York reaper about this time, and the fol
/ lowing year tlS55l added ANOTHER shop AK
200 feet. another. 4OXl60 feet. and employed
about 200 men. The introduction of so
much machinery and new shops into La
! gunda by these energetic pruprirturS gave
! the village new impetus, and il began fill
| ing up with an industrious population.
Some dozen new frame dwellings were
erected that season by the firm fOr their
men to occupy. From this time on up To
/ 1850 the shops grew and tiouriShed, year
/ by year. About 1857. Thomas Harding
came here from the state of Maine. and
was made superintendent and general
manager for Warder. Brnka0 & Child.
/ He owned and lived on the hill where Fred
Iieglcr now lives. Mr.. Harding was one of
the best mechanics in the country. and had
quite an inventive mind. and soon proved
himself a valuable acquisition TO his EN-
ployprS. He invented and applied new ma
Chinery and new ways Of doing work. so
that he was prominent factorin the werks
for years.
A correspondent OF the Springfield W,GCk-
IN NclrS. writing under date Of October 10,
1850, says:
IAGoNDA HEARD FROM.
We are able 10 state, from personal in
sprctiou. that Lagonda is all right.
The new factories of James F. Dane &
Co. in addition Ia the old reaper and NOW
er factory. of McSSrs. Warder Il Child.
tBrukaw having left the firm. make of the
town quite little city. Dane X Co. : fac
tory will 20 into operation Nov. lSt, 1860.
The Lagunda factories will then employ not
less than 200 hands. The foundry will have
Ia he greatly enlarged in order tO accummO-
date the business of both concerns
MrSSrs. Warder n Childs are Just
finishing off a lot of 80 reapeTS and NOW
err for the branch Of the firm in San Fran
cisco. and will soon commence upon 4 lot
of 900 for the home market.
The machinery then used by Warl"r x
Child. in their production of wood work.
consisted of one Wentworth pIaner, one
eating on and splitting saw, one bureing
machine, and one foot mOrtiSe machine.
The production of 1861 was some 900
Seymour 4 Morgan, New York
reapers and mowers. on which they
paid a ROYALTY of $40 upon each
machine. making 50. 900 paid out to a town
in New York for the privilege of just max
ing their machine. The firm also made
that year about one hundred of the old blue
hand-rakers. siN-foot cut, p0nderouS big
heavy machine.
The rude and scanty machinery In Use at
that time is in wonderful contrast Ia the
present time when the shops are filled with
new and improved machines Of all kinds
that greatly facilitates and adds Ia the
amount Of work done. and the wonder i
when or where will the Improvements stop.