New Britain herald., 1929-03-02
233RD DIVIDEND l PAID BY FACTORY
Peck, Stow < Wilcox One Of
 Oldest Companies in U. s.

i Southington continued to increase what 1t considers an unusual record. 1 While it is not definitely known just how many years this covers 1t is | believed to extend back to before the Civil war and to have been broken only once by brief suspen- sion of dividends 10 years ago. The foundation of the Southing- ton concern was laid no years ago and has a history reaching back to the earliest days of Connecticut manufacturing and continuing through three wars, post booms and periods of readjustment. and several panics.
 Berlin Once Tinware Section i The tinware history of this section began in 174O when an Edward Pat tison. tinsmith just over from Ire land. set up a shop on Hard street. Berlin. The importation of tin plate was stopped during the Revolution ary war, but supplies came again after independence had been won i and the suspended trade was re- stunned. Others learned the business from Pattison. and in 1912 1t is esti- mated that 10000 boxes of timed plates were made into culinary ves- sels within the borders Of the town of Berlin.
 In 1860 an Edward M. Converse had begun working on a folding machine for the manufacture of tin- ware. and this first tinsmith's ma- chine was patented by Converse's B brother-in-law, Seth Peck. of South ington, on August 23. 1sl9, and be- came the foundation upon which was subsequently, built the Peck, Stow & Wilcox Go Seven years lat which included the making Of mold ing, growing, wiring, turning. bur ring, and setting-down machines and had overcome the early preju- dice to labor-saving machines 30 far that he had agents throughout New England and down the Atlantic sea board as far as Alabama.
 Made by Hand, Sent by Canal The company had no steam or water power and all these products were turned out on lathes operated by hand or by foot treadles. Ship ments were made largely by the Pennington canal, as there were ID railroads in the country at that time.
 Further patents were acquired in 1881 and Seth Peck X Co. was or ganized. A new concern, Peck. smith & Co.,. was formed in 1888 10 manufacture sheet metal machin- ry. and this bought out the original company ten years later. just before the death of Seth Peck. 4 Worces- ter, Mass, monkey wrench concern
 was bought in 1855 and the line
 was manufactured in Southington
 near the present Bradley house but in 1856 the company removed to its present location.
 A Ministerial Mechanic
 Solomon Stow began the making
 of brass gear wheels In a :-nall
 plant opposite the present Plants vile railroad station In 1884. Soon
 he bough; out the slightly older
 Plant, Neal & Co. in the same bor- ough and s. Stow X Sons was organ
 ized. An interesting anecdote is told of the Neal company. It had a
 Newton double seamer," of which :. the inventor was 80 proud that one
 day. while showing minister
 named Moore through the plant. he boasted that God Almighty couldn't make q better design" The minister :, [ scoffed at the idea Of perfection was rebuffed. and year later re- appeared with design so much better that manufacture of the New. ton machine stopped at once.
 AS far back as 17s5 Elias Beck ley. Jr. had been making tools ir
 Beckley quarter. Berlin, and the
 tradition begun ty him was passed
 on until in 1si0 Franklin Roys or ganized F. Roys & Co. there. Sever years later. consequent upon the , purchase of a factory on the Matta besett river, the Toys & Wilcox Co was formed. with Samuel C. Wiico, as its first president. This concerr
 specialized in the manufacture O.
 shears, and it was by one Of it's pre-. z decessors in Berlin that the frs shears for cutting circles were made There Firms Combine
 The consolidation of these three
 concerns into Peek, Stow & Wilco, . was accomplished by Roswell A ' Neal. who was a partner in th' 2 Peck, Stow X Wilcox Co.,, ant y brought that concern into prom [. thence by the manufacture of bayo n nets for the Union armies durin, Ii the Civil war. In February, 1870 T the consolidation was brought abou | and Neal became the first presiden Of the new company. At that tim Il the American Thread Co., of Willi
 mantle was the only factory in Con k necticut which could compete wit a the Solthington company in re 8 sources. each having a capital stoc y of about $1.50O.G00.
 7. Subsequently the firm has pur s chased the Hart. Bliven, & Mea l. Mfg. Co. of kensington, the Chesh
 ire Edge Tool Co. of Cheshir, Is Johns & Co. Of Mirville (We. ,f Cheshire and other rival concerni L. In 1912 all the Pexto plants in Con e necticut except that in Plantsvill ,- were dismantled and their produc, Il were thenceforth turned out at th l. main plant in Southington. There ,r also a large division in Clevelan, q while Buffale plant was recent [: brought to the neighboring tow 10 and incorporated into the main fat is tory.
 l. The company now has represents n tives all over the world and ss or
 Of the leading manufacturers ( n mechanics hand tools and shee l. metal working machines and tools