page_title: Axe manufacturing in Pennsylvania
section_title: Axemann & Bellefonte, PA (1825-1892) ‒ Harvey Mann & Son
hierarchical_section_title: Axe manufacturing in Pennsylvania / Mann Family / Axemann & Bellefonte, PA (1825-1892) ‒ Harvey Mann & Son
caption_attribution_description: Boiling Spring, PA, postcard view (ca. 1910).
context_page_description: Axes and other edge tools have been manufactured in central Pennsylvania since before 1825.
context_section_description: William Jr. and Harvey Mann started production of axes in 1825 in Bellefonte.  They were only 23 and 21 years of age. Prior to this venture, they were living near Johnstown, New York, where William Sr., their father, made edge tools. Three years later in 1828, they moved to Boiling Spring (now Axemann) and built a modern forge on land purchased from Judge Thomas Burnside. Two dams and mill ponds were constructed to provide water power for trip hammers. Axe production at the time was largely a calling of blacksmiths, and the factory was among the first to employ machinery.
  Axe production in the 1800s was a laborious process, even with the aid of machines.  Early axes were made from two pieces of metal. The poll or head of an axe was formed by folding a bar of heated wrought iron, which also creates an eye. High carbon steel was used for the bit or cutting edge. Two methods existed for attaching a bit to the iron scarf. An early “inlay” method inserted a bit into a V-shaped cleft or “lip” in the scarf, welded in a forge, and then drawn using a trip hammer. The overlay method – patented by Harvey Mann in 1862 (no. 35,480) – welded steel on the outside of the scarf, which exposed more steel on the cutting edge.
  Around 1900, all-steel heads came into use. An online video from 1964 captures the effort required to make axes, including steeling the head and hanging ("hafting") a handle or haft. Initially, output was limited to felling (“chopping”) axes and soon grew to over 300 axe heads per day.
  The main building was 350 feet long and 70 feet wide.  Production in 1855 was carried out by a workforce of fifty men. Wages were only $2.50 to $3 per day, but this was greater than the $1 wage received by local iron furnace workers.  An axe-finishing shop at Thomas Mill in Bellefonte was established in 1832 through partnership with Franklin Smith, but this venture failed after only a year. Its failure caused a split between the brothers, with Harvey assuming the debts.  Later, a finishing plant was added near Paradise (now Fisherman’s Paradise; lower left on map above).
  The brothers’ partnership did not survive and in 1834 William sold out to Harvey, who carried on as the Harvey Mann Axe Co. Another brother, Stephen, would join Harvey, but illness limited his involvement. Upon Harvey’s death in 1870, he was succeeded by a son, Harvey Jr., but a railroad accident in 1875 resulted in the son’s early death at age 37. Factory supervision was transferred to J. Fearon Mann, a nephew and a son of William Jr., through a lease with Jane Burnside Mann, the widow of Harvey Sr.  Business slowed in the 1880s as the use of cross-cut saws expanded. Around this time, steam power was added,  and J. Fearon patented (no. D-2961) the “Red Mann” axe brand.  However, in 1890 a “monopoly-trust” movement swept the country and – as described below – consolidation included the axe industry. American Axe and Tool Co. purchased the factory and in Oct 1892 after 64 years of operation, it was closed.
  Today, a few structures remain as reminders of past activities. Axemann Spring still flows and Mann Road crosses the creek opposite the spring. A shed at the crossing was part of the factory. A large stone house, Mann’s Edgefonte, sits near the spring house. Nearby stands the United Methodist Church, built in 1882 and paid for by Mrs. Mann as tribute to her late husband.
caption: Boiling Spring, PA, postcard view (ca. 1910).
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