Alfred Henry Davenport was active in furniture manufacturing and retail from 1866 to 1905. He worked for the Ezra H. Brabrook beginning as a clerk in 1866 and eventually becoming manager. After Brabrook's death in 1880, Davenport purchased the business and renamed it A. H. Davenport Company. After Davenport passed away in 1905, the company continued under the same name before merging with Irving and Casson in 1914.

William V. Alden worked as a clerk for Kittredge & Blakes in 1849; he may have begun working for them earlier. He then entered partnership with Charles Blake and George W. Ware in Blake, Ware & Co. from 1850-1861. Blake and Alden continued in partnership as Blake & Alden until Alden's death in 1862. Charles Blake continued to operate using the name Blake & Alden until his own death in 1882.

See Also
Kittredge & Blakes, 1833-1849
Blake, Ware & Co., 1850-1861
Blake & Alden, about 1861-1882

Giles Alexander's father, William, and brothers, William and James, were also trained as cabinetmakers. Philip Zimmerman identifies Giles Alexander as the partner of Samuel Stone in Stone & Alexander (https://www.incollect.com/articles/dating-oxbow-furniture). Other scholars have identified Stone's partner as Giles' father William.

James Alexander's father, William, and brothers, William and Giles, were also trained as cabinetmakers. Philip Zimmerman identifies Giles Alexander as the partner of Samuel Stone in Stone & Alexander (https://www.incollect.com/articles/dating-oxbow-furniture). Other scholars have identified Stone's partner as Giles' father William. 

See Also
Stone & Alexander

William Alexander's sons, William, Giles, and James, were also trained as cabinetmakers. Philip Zimmerman identifies William (born 1744) as an adopter of the oxbow form. William appears in Boston taking books from 1780-1792. (https://www.incollect.com/articles/dating-oxbow-furniture) Some scholars have identified William Alexander as Samuel Stone's partner in Stone & Alexander; however, most scholars support the identification of William's son Giles as the cabinetmaker in question.

See Also
Stone & Alexander

William Alexander's father, also named William, and his brothers, Giles and James, were also trained as cabinetmakers. Philip Zimmerman identifies Giles Alexander as the partner of Samuel Stone in Stone & Alexander (https://www.incollect.com/articles/dating-oxbow-furniture). Other scholars have identified Stone's partner as Giles' father William.

See Also
Stone & Alexander

See Also
Emmons & Archbald

Alpheus Babcock established a piano-making business in Boston, Massachusetts, around 1810. Initially partnering with brother Lewis, Babcock worked with many other partners and employers throughout his career. Following a move to Philadelphia in 1829, Babcock returned to Boston around 1837. He is best known as a pioneer of the single-cast metal piano frame, receiving a related patent in 1825. He and brother Lewis were trained by Benjamin Crehore, a cabinetmaker and musical instrument maker active in Milton, Massachusetts about 1792 and in Boston, Massachusetts from about 1798 to 1800.

See Also
Mackay, George D.
Mackay, Ruth

Among Badlam's apprentices was his nephew, John Doggett.

Bailly emigrated from France. Most of his American work was completed in the Philadelphia area.

Formed following the departure of Buckley from Buckley, Bancroft & Boyden. Operated briefly from the former firm's showrooms at 503 and 511 Washington. Moved to new premises at 180 Tremont in September 1872. Last advertisement under Bancroft & Boyden made in May 1877; listings for Bancroft & Dyer appear in September 1877. Dyer worked for Bancroft & Boyden.

See Also
Bancroft, Charles P.
Boyden, Addison
Dyer, George Burton

First advertisement under this partnership occurs September 1877. Dyer previously worked for Bancroft & Boyden. Advertise cabinetwork, upholstery, and interior decoration with warerooms at 180 Tremont. Continue at this address through July 1888, when they announce that they have given up the lease and will dispose of the entire stock in 30 days. In January 1889 they announced the sale of the building and offered its remaining contents, including fixtures and counting room furniture.

See Also
Bancroft, Charles P.
Dyer, George B.
Prichard, William H.

Appears in Worcester, MA, directories as an auctioneer, sometimes in partnership with T. W. Bancroft, through 1854. Entered partnership with Joseph B. Buckley in Boston from 1848-1871 (Buckley & Bancroft); with Buckley and Addison Boyden from 1871-1872 (Buckley, Bancroft & Boyden); with Addison Boyden from 1872-1877 (Bancroft & Boyden); and George Burton Dyer from 1877-1888 (Bancroft & Dyer). Continues to reside in Brookline, presumably retired, tuntil his death in 1897.

See Also
Buckley & Bancroft, 1848-1871
Buckley, Bancroft & Boyden, 1871-1872
Bancroft & Boyden, 1872-1877
Bancroft & Dyer, 1877-1888

Horace Barnes was partnered with George W. Vose in 1852, and in the directories, both are listed as agents of the Ansonia Clock Co. in that same year. Theodore Terry was one of the founders of the Ansonia Clock Co. after 1854. Barnes and Terry were partners for a short while between 1852 and 1854. From 1852 through the rest of his working career, he is listed as working at 123 Washington St., but after 1862, he is listed as a gas engineer. Other Horace Barnes working in Boston make it difficult to verify accurate birth and death dates.

See Also
Terry & Barnes

See Also

Beal, Alexander
Hooper, George K.

Brother-in-law of James H. Beal. Alexander Beal first appears in the Boston city directory in 1850-1851, in partnership with his brother-in-law under the name James H. Beal & Brother. The partnership dissolved about 1856/57 and Beal immediately entered business at the same address with George K. Hooper under the name Beal & Hooper. Beal & Hooper continued in operation until declaring bankruptcy in 1875. Beal appears to have left the furniture trade at that point.

See Also

James H. Beal & Brother, about 1850-about 1856
Beal & Hooper, about 1857-

Son of Samuel Beal (1783-1870).

William L. Beal first appears in the Boston city directories in 1832 as a partner in Samuel Beal & Sons with his father Samuel and brother Henry Beal. About 1840, Henry left the partnership, which continued under Samuel Beal & Son. About 1844 William L. left the partnership. By 1845 he is listed in the directory as an importer of upholstery. In 1846 he is listed at 39 Cornhill, the same address as his brother Henry's furniture and upholstery business. In the 1848-49 directory, he is listed at 47 Cornhill, still in the upholstery business. In the 1850-51 directory he has relocated to 20 Tremont. About 1851, he officially entered partnership with his brother under Henry & William L. Beal, importers of upholstery goods, at 20 Tremont.

See Also

Samuel Beal & Sons, retailer, about 1832-about 1839
Samuel Beal & Son, retailer, about 1840-about 1843
Henry & William L. Beal, upholsterer, about 1851-

Brother of William Beals.

See Also
J. J. & W. Beals
J. J. Beals & Co.

Brother of Joseph Jackson Beals.

See Also
J. J. & W. Beals

William and Adam Bent moved to Boston from Milton, MA and started a partnership and took on piano manufacturing around 1799. Adam and William were located at 90 Newbury Street until 1800, when they relocated to 26 Orange Street. From 1807-1809, William is listed singularly in the Boston Directories while Adam had relocated elsewhere to pursue real estate. In 1825, 1826, and 1827, he was part of the common council. In 1829, 1830, and 1831, he was part of the Legislature and was a Deacon for the Haws Congregational Church in 1829.

See Also

W. & A. Bent

William and Adam Bent moved to Boston from Milton, MA and started a partnership and took on piano manufacturing around 1799. Adam and William were located at 90 Newbury Street until 1800, when they relocated to 26 Orange Street. From 1807-1809, William is listed singularly in the Boston Directories while Adam had relocated elsewhere to pursue real estate. After 1809, William moved to Philadelphia and worked for some time with various piano makers and then returned to Boston about twenty years later.

See Also

W. & A. Bent

See Also
Cermenati & Bernarda, carver, gilder, and looking glass maker, 1807-1808

William Bittle and James Cooper were retailers of looking glasses, picture frames, prints, and paintings in Boston, Massachusetts about 1825-1826

See Also
Bittle, William
Cooper, James

See Also

Bittle & Cooper

Thomas Blackford was a Windsor chairmaker active in Philadelphia, PA before 1784 and in Boston, MA from 1784 to 1786.

Charles Blake joined William V. Alden and George W. Ware in Blake, Ware & Co. from 1850-1861. Blake and Alden continued in partnership as Blake & Alden until Alden's death in 1862. Blake continued the business under the name of Blake & Alden, although apparently no member of the Alden family was involved. Blake & Alden closed upon Charles Blake's death in 1882. See Boston Daily Advertiser, August 13, 1861 and January 1, 1863.

See Also

A notice of the bankruptcy of Blake & Davenport was published in the Boston Daily Advertiser in May 1861.

See Also
Blake, James Gorham, Jr.
Davenport, Charles W.

James Gorham Blake, Jr. (referred to in city directories as either James Jr., James Gorham, or J. G.) and Alvah Kittredge partnered under the name Blake & Kittredge from 1830 to 1832. Previously, they had partnered with William Gridley, Jr., under the name Gridley, Blake & Co. In 1833, Charles Blake entered the partnership and the firm became known as Kittredge & Blakes.

See Also
Blake, James Gorham, Jr.
Kittredge, Alvah
Kittredge & Blakes
Gridley, Blake & Co.

Charles Blake joined James Gorham Blake, Jr. and Alvah Kittredge in the firm Kittredge & Blakes from 1833 until 1849. He then joined William V. Alden and George W. Ware in Blake, Ware & Co. from 1850-1861. Blake and Alden continued in partnership as Blake & Alden until Alden's death in 1862. Blake continued the business under the name of Blake & Alden, although apparently no member of the Alden family was involved. Blake & Alden closed upon Charles Blake's death in 1882.

See Also
Kittredge & Blakes, 1833-1849
Blake, Ware & Co., 1850-1861
Blake & Alden, about 1861-1882

James Gorham Blake, Jr. (referred to in city directories as either James Jr., James Gorham, or J. G.) partnered with William Gridley, Jr., under the name Gridley, Blake & Co. (1816-1829). From 1830-1832, Blake partnered with Alvah Kittredge under the name Blake & Kittredge. Charles Blake joined the partnership about 1833; the business was then known as Kittredge & Blakes. William V. Alden served as a clerk for the business, which operated until 1849. James Gorham Blake, Jr. continued to operate under his own name at 12 Cornhill, previously the home of Kittredge & Blakes. Amos L. Wood worked for Blake from about 1850 to about 1852, when he began work for Doe, Hazelton, & Co. From about 1859-about 1861 Blake partnered with Charles W. Davenport under the name Blake & Davenport. Blake continued business under his own name until his death in 1868.

See Also
Gridley & Blake
Gridley, Blake & Co.
Blake & Kittredge, 1830-1832
Kittredge & Blakes
Blake, Ware & Co.
Blake & Davenport, about 1859-1861

First appears in the 1872 Boston directory as a partner in John J. Vaughn & Co. Listing appears again in 1873. Blaney doesn't appear in the 1874 or subsequent directories.

See Also
John J. Vaughn & Co.

The Boston Furniture Company appears in city directories from 1867-1879. It was located at 135 Friend from 1867-1868; 135 Friend and 42 Canal from 1869-1872; 135 Friend from 1873-1874; Warwick from 1875-1877; and 615 Washington from 1878-1879. A number of individuals can be associated with the Boston Furniture Company through the city directories. Newspapers do not shed much light on the company or its organization. There seems to have been a strong connection between the Boston Furniture Company and Haley, Morse & Boyden (later Haley, Morse & Co. and Morse & Boyden) through shared spaces and some employees moving from one firm to the other. There may also have been a connection with the Boston Chair Company. Some labels for the Boston Furniture Company list patent dates; the holders of these patents were generally not employed by the firm, at least at the time the patent was granted (patent 71,045 dated November 19, 1867 held by Julius Nicolai; patent 96,139 dated October 26, 1869 held by Julius Nicolai and J. Philip Rinn; patent 102,179 dated April 19, 1870 held by Alexander W. Stewart; patent 107,708 dated September 27, 1870 held by Julius Nicolai).Some scholars have associated Albert H. Davenport with the Boston Furniture Company or confused the Boston Furniture Company with Ezra H. Brabrook's business; this is likely an error that has been copied over time. There is no evidence in the Boston directories or newspapers that the two businesses were connected.

See Also
Buckley, Bancroft & Boyden, 1871-1872

Successors to Forster, Lawrence & Co. Partners at time of founding (about 1864): H. B. Braman, Daniel W. Shaw, Sumner Applin, and Edward A. Lawrence.

See Also

Braman, H. B.
Shaw, Daniel W.
Applin, Sumner
Lawrence, Edward A.

George Croome and William M. Hixon are listed as partners in Boston city directories from 1845 through the 18448-49 edition. Beginning with the 1849-50 edition, the partnership is listed as Croome, Hixon & Co. with the addition of WIlliam Brigham as partner. The partnership appears to have dissolved about 1852.

See Also
Croome & Hixon, cabinetmaker, retailer, and upholsterer
Croome, Hixon & Co., upholsterer
Croome, George, cabinetmaker, furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer
Hixon, William M.

Son of John Bright, cabinetmaker. His shop and house were both located on Fish st. Bright is documented as one of the largest taxpayers in Boston in the late 18th century and one of few who made it through the Depression post-Revolution. He made furniture for export and he was also commisioned by John Hancock to make chairs for the new state house. In his inventory were joiner's tools, mahogany, and pieces of uncompleted furniture. (Bjerkoe, Cabinetmakers of America, pg. 49).

Son of George Bright, listed as an upholsterer in 1789 and a lace-maker in 1798. Partnered with William Bright and possibly with other members of the Bright family. Active dates based on listings in Boston directories.

See Also
John & William Bright

Son of George Bright, listed as a lace-maker in 1798. Partnered with John Bright and possibly with other members of the Bright family. Active dates based on listings in Boston directories.

See Also

John & William Bright

Newspaper advertisements begin about 1770. Newspaper accounts indicate Brown's store was on the north side of Faneuil Hall Market.

Gawen Brown was born in England in 1719 and came to this country sometime before 1749. On February 6th, 1749 he advertised in The Boston Evening Post as a “…Clock and Watchmaker lately from London, Keeps his shop at Me. Johnson’s Japanner, in Brattle Street, Boston, near Mr. Copper’s Meeting House, where he makes and sells all sorts of plain, repeating and Astronomical Clocks, with cases plain, black walnut, mahogany or Japann’d or with out.” Brown installed a clock in the Old South Church sometime between 1768 and 1770. Brown married three times and had twelve children. Brown imported a number of English clocks and watches from England. In 1789 through 1796 Boston Directories, Brown is listed as a watchmaker. In 1776, Brown enlisted in the Independent Company of Cadets. From April 15, 1777 to May 5, 1777, he served as a Corporal in the Rhode Island Expedition from and in April 1777, he was appointed the rank of Captain in a Continental Regiment lead by Colonel Henry Jackson. He resigned in October 1778. In 1779 he was made Brigade Major of the Penobscot Expedition, a position which lasted from July 1779 to October 1779. Brown ended his military career in 1781 as Lieutenant Colonel. (Information from http://delaneyantiqueclocks.com/products/maker/41/)

Advertisements beginning in 1848 for semi-monthly furniture auctions. Manufacturing and retailing operations followed. When Addison Boyden joined the partnership in March 1971, the firm's name became Buckley, Bancroft & Boyden.

See Also
Buckley, Joseph
Bancroft, Charles P.

First appeared in advertisements under this name in March 1871; followed Buckley & Bancroft. In 1872, vacated premises at 503 and 511 Washington. Before they left this address, Buckley left the partnership, which continued to operate under Bancroft & Boyden.

See Also

Buckley, Joseph B.
Bancroft, Charles P.
Boyden, Addison

See Also

Buckley & Bancroft, 1848-1871

Apprentice to John Ritto Penniman.

The Butler Furniture Co. succeeded Morris & Butler. The business, under its new name, relocated from Summer Street to 105 Friend Street on January 1, 1912. The Butler Furniture Co. filed for bankruptcy in August 1915.

See Also

Butler, George M.

See Also

Morris, Murch & Butler, furniture retailer, 1897-1908
Morris & Butler, furniture retailer, 1908-1911
Butler Furniture Co., furniture retailer, 1912-1915

Partner in Keeler & Co. from 1891-1899.

See Also

Keeler & Co.

Became a partner in Philander Derby & Co. about 1887. Married to Ella Viola Derby, daughter of Philander Derby (1815-1902) and sister of Arthur Philander Derby (1855-1910).

See Also
Philander Derby & Co.

Joseph Carter was part of the looking glass manufacturing firm with John Kidder. They were active about 1811-1820. Several looking glasses with reverse-painted panels bear the label verifying the parternship.

See Also
Kidder & Carter

See Also
Cermenati, Paul, carver, gilder, and looking glass maker, active about 1805-1810
Bernarda, John, carver, gilder, and looking glass maker, active about 1803-about 1808

See Also

Cermenati, Paul, carver, gilder, and looking glass maker, active about 1805-1810
Monfrino, G., carver, gilder, and looking glass maker, active about 1806

See Also
Delmarone & Cermenati

See Also
Cermenati & Monfrino, carver and gilder, 1806
Cermenati & Bernarda, carver, gilder, and looking glass maker, 1807-1808
Paul Cermenati & Co., carver, gilder, and looking glass maker, about 1809-1810

See Also
Kirtland, Charles F.

See Also
Chickering, Jonas
Mackay, John

See Also
Chickering, Jonas
Mackay, John

See Also

Chickering, Jonas
Mackay, John
Mackay, William H.

Among the first piano manufacturer in America and one of the largest and most successful piano manufacturers of all time, Chickering & Sons quickly was originally established in Boston in 1823. The business started as Stewart & Chickering, named after the founders, Jonas Chickering and James Stewart. From about 1830-1839 Chickering partnered with John Mackay, a sea captain who would export the pianos to South America and return with rosewood and mahogany. Chickering also partnered with John Mackay's son, William and from 1839 until 1841, they produced pianos under the name, "Chickering & Mackay's." In 1941, John Mackay was lost at sea and shortly thereafter, the partnership with Jonas and William fell through. The name of the firm because Chickering & Sons in 1852 when Jonas was joined by his three sons: Thomas, Frank, and George. Thomas took over the firm when Jonas died in 1853, and subsequently, when Thomas dies in 1871, Frank took over as head of the company. The other brothers died in the late 1800s and in 1908, Chickering was bought by the American Piano Company, which later merged with another company to become Aeolian-American Corporation (antiquepianoshop.com). Charles and Thomas are listed as working at their father's address in the 1853 Boston directory. Jonas Chickering died December 8, 1853. Co-partnership notice of the three sons published December 20, 1853.

See Also
Chickering, Jonas
Chickering, Charles Francis (Frank)
Chickering, George Harvey
Chickering, Thomas Edward

Son of Jonas Chickering. Charles and Thomas are listed as working at their father's address in the 1853 Boston directory. Jonas Chickering died December 8, 1853. Co-partnership notice of the three sons published December 20, 1853.

See Also
Chickering, Jonas
Chickering & Sons, 1853-1932

Son of Jonas Chickering. Charles and Thomas are listed as working at their father's address in the 1853 Boston directory. Jonas Chickering died December 8, 1853. Co-partnership notice of the three sons published December 20, 1853.

See Also
Chickering, Jonas
Chickering & Sons, 1853-1932

Prior to 1856, Jacob was a carpenter before finding his way into piano manufacturing, opening a shop on Essex st. His house at 28 Essex St. was still standing as of 2009. As a carpenter, he favored the Greek Revival style, which is evident in the homes he built (the first at 28 Essex and the second at 29 Essex). Jacob married Sarah Jane McMurphy of New Hampshire in 1835 and later partnered with his brother-in-law, Capt. Alexander McMurphy in the piano manufacturing business. He advertised a piano factory in 1859 at 385 Washington St. He was active in piano manufacturing from about 1850 until the 1880s (antiquepianoshop.com, wikipedia.org, findagrave.com).Jacob Chickering is a distant relative of Jonas Chickering and his descendents; although both branches of the family built pianos, they never worked together.

Jonas Chickering made and manufactured pianos under his own name and in a number of partnerships: Stewart & Chickering (1823-1826), Chickering & Co. (about 1837-about 1839), Chickering & Mackays (1839-1841), and Chickering & Mackay (1841-about 1842). Chickering's three sons continued the business as Chickering & Sons (1853-1932) following their father's death.Jonas Chickering grew up in New Hampshire and later apprenticed for three years as a cabinet maker with John Gould. Chickering relocated to Boston and worked for James Barker as a cabinetmaker, and shortly after started in the piano-manufacturing business with John Osborn at 12 Orange Street in 1819. In 1823, he partnered with James Stewart as Stewart and Chickering. In 1830, Chickering joined John Mackay (who had previously worked with Alpheus Babcock) and later, he partnered with John's sons and formed Chickering & Mackay's. The company built a large factory at 334 Washington St. and a warehouse at Franklin Square in 1837. The factory burned down in late 1852 and left in its wake devastating loss to not only Chickering or the Mackays, but hundreds of factory employees. Chickering died a year later. In his lifetime, he served as president of the Handel and Haydn Society, and was a member of Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association until his death. Beyond his death, Chickering's three sons (Thomas Edward Chickering, 1824-1871; Charles Francis Chickering, 1827-1891; George Harvey Chickering, 1830-1899), who were also pianomakers, became partners in the company and formed Chickering and Sons. The company continued manufacturing pianos in Boston until 1927, when production moved to East Rochester, NY. Chickering company purchased by the Aeolian American Corporation in 1932.

See Also
Stewart & Chickering, 1823-1826
Chickering & Co., about 1837-about 1839
Chickering & Mackays, 1839-1841
Chickering & Mackay, 1841-about 1842
Chickering & Sons, 1853-1932

Son of Jonas Chickering. Charles and Thomas are listed as working at their father's address in the 1853 Boston directory. Jonas Chickering died December 8, 1853. Co-partnership notice of the three sons published December 20, 1853.

See Also
Chickering, Jonas
Chickering & Sons, 1853-1932

DAPC_ 1969-1282, attributed to Choat based on a chalk inscription indicating that he was active as a chairmaker. The style of the chair being similar to another chair branded by W. Porter indicates that Choat was active in or around Boston (possibly Charlestown).

Lemuel Churchill is listed in Boston Directories from 1805 through 1828, located in 1805 at 26 Orange Street, where he worked, and at 114 Orange Street, where he lived, and later at High, Washington, and Newbury streets.

William Claggett was born in 1694 in London and immigrated to Boston with his family about 1714. On Oct. 21 of that year, he was married by Cotton Mather to Mary Armstrong, the daughter of Mathew and Margaret Armstrong. In 1715, he placed his first advertisement identifying himself as a clockmaker, located near the Town-House. By 1716, he had relocated to Newport, Rhode Island, where he remained until his death in 1749. There, he was admitted as a freeman and his original house is still standing, located at 16 Bridge St., and his shop, which was demolished sometime after his death to make access to Long Wharf, was located west of the Brick Market. Claggett gained his reputation as a clock and watch maker and repairer, compass maker, organ builder, engraver, printer, lecturer and author, notary public and scientist. Mary died about 1727. Sometime later, he remarried to Rebecca Clark(e) and she is named in his will. William had at least five children (as mentioned in his will), as least two of them were Rebecca’s: Thomas (1730-1767), also a clockmaker, Mary (who married clockmaker James Wady), Hannah Threadkill, Elizabeth, and Caleb Claggett. Claggett was a member of the 7th Day Baptist Congregation as well as a founding member of Newport’s local fire company. In 1738, the Rhode Island Assembly hired Claggett to engrave and print paper currency to prevent counterfeiting. In 1746, he put on a public demonstration of electricity generated by a machine he had made and the following year he performed a similar demonstration in Boston and the money generated from these demonstrations were donated to charity.

Joshua Coates, the latter half of Vose & Coates, active from about 1798 until 1819, was born in Darlington, County Durham, Great Britain, and was first documented as a journeyman cabinetmaker for Isaac Vose, Sr. in 1798, and by 1805, they had become partners in a cabinetmaking firm. In 1815, Isaac Vose, Jr. (who joined the firm) traveled with Coates to Liverpool to purchase a variety of luxury goods to upgrade the quality of their wares back in America. Vose, Jr. returned from England in 1816, but Coates remained for a few extra months and married Frances (Fanny) Fletcher Dean in August of the same year. The marriage damaged Coates’s working relationships back in America. Coates had promised to marry the daughter, Maria, of Vose’s preferred carver Thomas Wightman, who lived across the street from Vise & Coates. In retaliation, upon Coates’s return from England, the jilted fiancée’s brother, Thomas Wightman, Jr. committed assault and battery against Coates. The Wightmans moved after the incident, and less than six months after Fanny’s immigration, she died. Maria Wightman never married. Maria sued Coates for breach of a marriage contract, but on appeal, Coates won damages for the assault. Coates remained partners with Vose, Sr. and Jr., but his life came to an abrupt end in 1819, when he was thrown from a chaise. According to Coates’s probate inventory, his half of the business was valued at $9,250. According to Mussey & Pearce, after Coates’s death, Vose & Coates became Vose & Son, but Bjerkoe (pg.225) states that the partnership “apparently” ended in 1817 because Coates had opened his own shop on Roxbury St. (Robert D. Mussey, Jr. and Clark Pearce, "Classical Excellence in Boston: The Furniture of Isaac Vose, 1789-1825," in Boston Furniture 1700-1900, ed. Brock Jobe and Gerald W. R. Ward (Boston: Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 2016), 251-292.)

See Also
Vose & Coates

Maker of the earliest known dated piece of American block-front furniture (a Chippendale walnut desk and bookcase at Winterthur, inscribed by Job Coit, Sr. and Jr.). No other examples have been identified, however attributions have been made based on markings and design characteristics of other objects.

Maker of the earliest known dated piece of American block-front furniture (a Chippendale walnut desk and bookcase at Winterthur, inscribed by Job Coit, Sr. and Jr.). No other examples have been identified, however attributions have been made based on markings and design characteristics of other objects. Other documentation includes receipts indicating consumer purchases from Coit's shop and a note providing implicating a Joseph Davis as an apprentice to Coit in 1725. In 1731, he was working on Anne Street.

Charles A. Coolidge was an architect specializing in large academic buildings. He worked for A.H. Davenport & Co., which eventually merged with Irving and Casson.

See Also
A. H. Davenport Company

See Also

Bittle & Cooper

Apprentice to Stephen Badlam.

George Croome and William M. Hixon are listed as partners in Boston city directories from 1845 through the 18448-49 edition. Beginning with the 1849-50 edition, the partnership is listed as Croome, Hixon & Co. with the addition of WIlliam Brigham as partner. The partnership appears to have dissolved about 1852. Croome worked in the Boston furniture and upholstery trades between 1835 and 1877, both in partnership and under his own name. Hixon is listed in the 1844 directory as an upholsterer, but does not appear previous to 1844 or after 1853.

See Also
Croome, Hixon & Co., upholsterer
Croome, George, cabinetmaker, furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer
Hixon, William M.
Brigham, William

George Croome is listed in the furniture and upholstery trades in Boston city directories between 1835 and 1877. Croome worked in partnership with Washington Jefferson Lane (Lane & Croome, about 1835-1844), William M. Hixon (Croome & Hixon, about 1845-1849), William Brigham (Croome, Hixon & Co., about 1849-about 1852), and William Strong (George Croome & Co., 1861-1877). Croome operated under his own name from 1853-1860. In 1877, Strong & Kimball advertised as the successor to George Croome & Co.

See Also
Lane & Croome, cabinetmakers
Croome & Hixon, cabinetmaker, retailer, and upholsterer
Croome, Hixon & Co., upholsterer, about 1849-1852
George Croome & Co., upholsterer
Lane, Washington Jefferson, cabinetmaker
Hixon, William M.
Brigham, William
Strong, William

George Croome and William M. Hixon are listed as partners in Boston city directories from 1845 through the 18448-49 edition. Beginning with the 1849-50 edition, the partnership is listed as Croome, Hixon & Co. with the addition of WIlliam Brigham as partner. The partnership appears to have dissolved about 1852. Croome worked in the Boston furniture and upholstery trades between 1835 and 1877, both in partnership and under his own name. Hixon is listed in the 1844 directory as an upholsterer, but does not appear previous to 1844 or after 1853.

See Also
Croome & Hixon, cabinetmaker, retailer, and upholsterer
Croome, George, cabinetmaker, furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer
Hixon, William M.
Brigham, William

Cummens was active as a cabinetmaker and clockmaker in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Cummens trained with Simon Willard and Elnathan Taber. He stayed in Roxbury and maintained a close working relationship with the Willards. In Roxbury, Cummens had direct access to the same suppliers, case makers and dial painters that the Willards used, and because of this, his works are similar in design and construction to those made by the Willards. The only listing for Cummens in Boston Directories is 1800.

Active as a cabinetmaker in Boston, MA and had a shop on Fish st. in 1807. Listed in the Boston Directories from 1803-1809 and 1826-1828

Active as a Windsor chairmaker based on the branding of his name on the underside of a seat, made approximately in 1799.

Daniel and Nathaniel were brothers partnered from 1800 to 1807, working in Concord, MA. Daniel partnered with Ezekiel Jones in Boston until 1809, when he worked for himself. A clock with a label dated 1814 and bearing the brothers' names indicates they were rejoined as partners sometime after 1810 and worked in Concord.

See Also
Munroe, Daniel
Munroe, Nathaniel

The partnership, Daniel Pratt & Sons consisted of Daniel Pratt, Jr., his son, Daniel F. Pratt, and his son-in-law Benjamin M. Boyce. They retailed Connecticut-made brass clocks and imported clocks.

See Also
Pratt, Daniel, Jr.

Alfred Henry Davenport was active in furniture manufacturing and retail from 1866 to 1905. He worked for the Ezra H. Brabrook beginning as a clerk in 1866 and eventually becoming manager. After Brabrook's death in 1880, Davenport purchased the business and renamed it A. H. Davenport Company. After Davenport passed away in 1905, the company continued under the same name before merging with Irving and Casson in 1914.Some scholars have associated Davenport with the Boston Furniture Company or confused the Boston Furniture Company with Brabrook's business; this is likely an error that has been copied over time. There is no evidence in the Boston directories or newspapers that the two businesses were connected.

See Also
Brabrook, Ezra H.
A. H. Davenport Company, manufacturer, 1880-1914
Irving and Casson-A. H. Davenport, interior designer and manufacturer, 1914-1974

A notice of the bankruptcy of Blake & Davenport was published in the Boston Daily Advertiser in May 1861.

See Also
Blake & Davenport, about 1859-1861

James Davenport was active as a cabinetmaker in Roxbury and Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Owned and operated a furniture warehouse at 57 Newbury St.

George Davis was born in Hancock, New Hampshire on April 28, 1811 and he died in Boston on December 1, 1879. When Henry Allen retired from Hallet & Allen in 1843, Davis partnered with Russell Hallett in the Boston piano-making firm called Hallet, Davis, & Co. Likely he learned the piano-making skillset in Boston. Davis withdrew from Hallet, Davis, & Co. and formed a new company with Benjamin Hallet called Hallet & Davis. When Davis died in 1879, the firm incorporated as Hallet, Davis & Co. Davis was renowned in the piano-making business up until the end of the nineteenth century.

See Also
Hallet, Davis & Co.

Although it's been a struggle for scholars to piece together the fragments documenting Davis's life in work and residence, a 2016 study of Davis's genealogy and various documents in which Davis's name routinely appears have helped to clarify any confusion regarding the timeline of Davis's career. In 1987, Brock Jobe questioned whether Joseph Davis in Boston and Joseph Davis in Portsmouth were in fact the same person. Without sufficient evidence, Jobe couldn't not come to an answer, but through his exploration of the furniture and how the pieces reflect the maker(s) story(ies) he was able to highlight the fine regional divisions in light of aesthetic characteristics in design shared amonst objects made in different locations. Scholar Ernest H. Helliwell, III, who worked closely with Brock Jobe on the matter, was behind the 2016 study of Davis's life. According to his work, Davis was born in Ipswich on June 19, 1707, and he died in Newburyport sometimes between 1771 and May 28, 1774. By February 3, 1725, he was working with Job Coit, as documented by a receipt signed by Davis mentioning Coit as his "master." In 1728, Davis (and his siblings) inherited from his father deeded lands. He may have sold his share to fund his furniture-making career. During his career, Davis was continually sued by creditors, which may have ultimately prompted his move from Boston to Portsmouth. Davis retainted his status as a cabinetmaker as documented in tax records from 1740-1744. A deed dated February 8, 1760 and a lawsuit dated June 8, 1762 both serve as documents confirming Davis's status as a cabinetmaker. By September of 1761, Davis's second wife, Christian Green, and some of their children are documented as being in Newbury, but Davis was not with them, as he was sued again in 1762 by Cyprian Jeffry for expenses accrued between 1759 and 1762 by Davis and his son, Joseph Davis, Jr. while they were living in portsmouth away from Christian and the other children. When Davis is sued again, this time by Nathan Brown, in 1766, his occupation is listed as a chairmaker and his location as Newsburyport. Two of his sons, Davis, Jr. and Moses continued the chairmaking business after their father's death.

Robert Davis first appears in a binding book for the London Painter-Stainers Company dated January 7, 1710 for embarking on a seven year long apprenticeship with John Pinck, Jr. It is thought that after 1717, Davis relocated to Boston and eventually partnered with William Randle. Davis married Randle's daughter, Elizabeth, in 1735 and took over the business he and Randle founded with the financial backing of Charles Apthorp. Davis died insolvent in 1739. At the time of his death, he may have had Stephen Whiting as an apprentice.

See Also
Randle, William
Scottow, John
Whiting, Stephen

George Dean was primarily active in Salem, MA, operating as a hardware dealer, looking glass manufacturer, and a retailer. He sold looking glasses made by Stillman Lothrop as evidenced by the examples with labels baring the names of Dean and Lothrop.

See Also
Stillman, Lothrop

Dearborn (first name unknown) was active as a carver and gilder in Boston, Massachusetts about 1799. A printed label on a picture frame indicates that a Dearborn, carver, gilder, looking glass and picture frame manufacturer, was actively working on Milk Street. In the 1798 Boston Directory is a Benjamin Dearborn working as a schoolmaster and auctioneer on Milk Street; in the 1813 Directory, appears a Nathaniel Dearborn, who is a listed engraver and printmaker working on Russell St. and various other locations around Boston until the 1870s. Benjamin (1754–1838), who was a printer and inventor, had a son named Nathaniel (1786–1852), who worked as a printer and engraver. Nathaniel also had a son named Nathaniel who exhibited several examples of his printed work at the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association in 1850.

Delmarone & Cermenati were active as looking glass manufacturers in Boston, Massachusetts ca. 1807. Paul Cermenati was involved, but it's possible (based on dates) Barnard Cermenati is the latter half of the partnership because by 1807, Paul was partnered with G. Monfrino in Salem, MA. Little documentation is available on Cermenati's partner, Delmarone, who could not be found in city directories except listed with Cermenati in 1807, but according to Records of Deaths in Boston 1801-1848, an Italian immigrant named Nicholas Delmarone lived and, in 1808, died in Boston.

See Also
Delmarone
Cermenati, Paul
Cermenati, Barnard

Delmarone was partnered with looking glass manufacturer, Cermenati, in 1807, as per Boston Directories for that year; Delmarone & Cermenati are listed as partners working on Court St. Cermenati may have been Paul, or else it could have been Barnard, who was active in Newburyport, MA from about 1807-1809. Little documentation is available on Cermenati's partner, Delmarone, who could not be found in city directories except listed with Cermenati in 1807, but according to Records of Deaths in Boston 1801-1848, an Italian immigrant named Nicholas Delmarone lived and, in 1808, died in Boston.

See Also
Delmarone & Cermenati

See Also
Mills & Deming
Mills, William

Son of Philander Derby (1815-1902). Became a partner in Philander Derby & Co. about 1887.

See Also

Philander Derby & Co.

Company operated as Derby, Knowlton & Co. until February 1868, per Robert B. Rogers in sworn statement published in the Report of the Committee on Claims, on the Alterations and Repairs Upon the State House, 1869. Continued business as Philander Derby & Co.

See Also
Derby, Philander
Knowlton, Augustus
Knowlton, Henry
Rogers, Robert B.

See Also
Derby, Knowlton & Co.
Philander Derby & Co.

John Doane was born in Eastham, MA (on Cape Cod) in 1664 and died ninety-one years later in Boston in 1755. He was a distiller, clockmaker and property owner in Boston, Eastham, Wellfleet, and Hull near Scitute, MA, fathering children by three wives with whom he had mixed relations as is represented by ''deliberately uneven'' distribution of his estate.

See Also
Doe, Joseph M., furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, 1809-1871, active about 1836-about 1869

See Also
Doe, Joseph M., furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, 1809-1871, active about 1836-about 1869
Fowler, Richard, furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, active about 1839-about 1841
Harndin, S., furniture retailer, active about 1838-about 1841

Doe, Hazelton & Co. began about 1850 with partners Joseph Merrill Doe, Jonathan Eastman Hazelton, and Andrew Lawrence. Doe employed Hazelton in his furniture shop by about 1844 and the two operated as partners in Doe & Hazelton beginning about 1847. They employed Lawrence beginning about 1848 and made him a partner about 1850. About 1856, Amos L. Wood and Joseph D. Wilde, fomerly employees of the company, became partners. After the dissolution of Doe, Hazelton & Co. in Feburary 1859, Lawrence and Wilde continued business at the same address as Lawrence, Wilde & Co. Doe and Hazelton briefly pursued individual ventures before each becoming associated with the manufacturer John A. Ellis & Co.

See Also
Joseph M. Doe & Co., furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, about 1836-about 1838
Doe, Fowler & Co., furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, about 1839-about 1841
Doe & Hazelton, manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, about 1847-about 1850
Doe, Joseph M., furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, 1809-1871, active about 1836-about 1869
Hazelton, Jonathan Eastman
Lawrence, Andrew
Wood, Amos Lawrence
Wilde, Joseph D.

See Also
John A. Ellis & Co., manufacturer, 1857-about 1869
Doe & Charmois, 1869-

Roxbury, Massachusetts

See Also
Doggett, John
Williams, Samuel Sprague

Doggett apprenticed with his maternal uncle, Stephen Badlam (1748-1815), a cabinetmaker and looking glass maker. Doggett retired in 1850.

See Also
John Doggett & Co., about 1810-1815
Doggett & Williams, 1815-1817
John Doggett & Co., 1817-

Samuel was the younger brother of and apprentice of John Doggett (1780-1857).

See Also
John Doggett & Co., 1817-

According to Bjerkoe (Cabinetmakers, 1957), undoubtedly related to John Doggett. Of four known Doggetts to immigrate from England during the 17th century, three settled around New England, and several descendants had the first name of William. It is likely this William and John were related, but it's difficult to find supporting evidence.

James Doull emigrated from Scotland in 1806 and settled in Massachusetts, where he was active in clockmaking until about 1820. 1807 Boston tax records showing he worked as a journeyman under Aaron Willard indicate he had acquired an advanced skill set in clockmaking prior to immigration. Around 1809, he relocated to Charlestown and opened his own shop, as indicated by inscriptions on clock dials with his name and location. Philadelphia directories show he relocated and was active in the city from about 1823 until 1856. According to Brooks Palmer, The Book of American Clocks (1950), Doull was active as clockmaker in Charlestown in 1790, but this is unlikely considering baptismal records say Doull was born in 1785. Palmer and other sources also state that Doull was born in England, but he probably wasn't. The 1850 Philadelphia census lists James Doull (above his wife Louisa) as a watch-maker born in Scotland in 1785.

First appears in the Boston directories in 1871, working at 503 Washington (for either Buckley & Bancroft or Buckley, Bancroft & Boyden). Went to work for Paine in 1889, following the dissolution of Bancroft & Dyer. Listed as a salesman for Paine through 1893; thereafter a salesman at 1 Washington (business not identified).

See Also
Buckley & Bancroft, 1848-1871
Buckley, Bancroft & Boyden, 1871-1872
Bancroft & Dyer, 1877-1888
Paine Furniture Co.

George W. Dyar (Dyer) was active as a clockmaker in Boston, Massachusetts from about 1822 to 1827, when he worked in partnership with John Swain. The W stands for Wild. He was the son of Jeremiah Dyar (1771-1829). He married Mariann Pierce and they had not children. He is listed with Sawin from 1823-1827, in 1828 he is listed alone, and he is absent from later directories.

See Also
Sawin & Dyer

The Howard business has operated under a number of owners and names. Edward Howard apprenticed under Aaron Willard, Jr. He began making clocks under his own name, and with partners, about 1842. Howard first used the E. Howard & Co. name about 1857. The "E. Howard & Co." name continued to be used on the dials of clocks even while the name of the company, its operations, and owners changed over the subsequent decades. The company's clockmaking operations were headquartered in Roxbury, Massachusetts, from about 1845 until the 1930s, when they moved to Waltham, Massachusetts.

See Also

Howard, Edward

Mentioned in the Suffolk Probate Account of merchant Thomas Clarke, may be the same as ship joiner, also Edes, who died in 1730.

John A. Ellis was active as a cabinetmaker in East Cambridge, Massachusetts from ca.1851-ca.1869, and ran a successful manufacturing business that competed against the long-running shops of Boston by combining manufacturing of various goods with design services. He worked in various firms during that time. Ellis first appears in the Cambridge directories in 1851, listed as a cabinetmaker working on Gore street. He was probably working in a traditional shop with journeymen. In 1858, Ellis advertised that he had recently leased a planing mill and could provide planing, sawing, and turning. By 1860, John A. Ellis and Company has a hundred employees in a steam-powered shop. In 1867, credit agencies deemed John A. Ellis & Co. as financially successful because their wares were among the best in the city. In 1868, Ellis created his own trade catalogue advertising his wares. After his death in 1869, the company was sold to former partners, Doe, Hazelton & Co. but it went out of business in only a few years.

See Also

John A. Ellis & Co., manufacturer, 1857-about 1869

The 1847-48 Boston directory was the first to include a business address for Emerson. (Though advertisements from the 1880s state the business was established in 1849.) The business continued operation after Emerson's death under the ownership of William Moore and occasional partners (Joseph W. Ellinwood in 1872; Nathan Upham in 1874). A December 1878 fire destroyed the company's finishing factory at Wareham and Albany. Moore presumably could not rebuild on his own; in 1879 the company's name was changed to the Emerson Piano Company under its new owners, George W. Carter (the factory’s foreman), Patrick H. Powers (who was Moore’s assistant, starting in 1878), O. A. Kimball, and Joseph Gramer.

See Also

Emerson, William P.
W. P. Emerson Piano Company, 1849-
Carter, George W.
Powers, Patrick H.
Kimball, O. A.
Gramer, Joseph

First listed as "pianofortemaker" in the 1841 Boston directory. Listed intermittently for next several years. First listed with a business address (393 Washington) in the 1847-48 directory; may have been employed in another shop until this time. Listed consistently at 393 Washington from 1850-1852; at 395 Washington from 1853-1874 (the business continued under Emerson's name following his death). A December 1878 newspaper article states that Emerson sold the business to William Moore "about nine years ago."

See Also

W. P. Emerson Piano Company, 1849-
Emerson Piano Company

See Also

Archbald, George
Emmons, Thomas

See Also

Emmons & Archbald

English is listed as a cabinetmaker in city directories between 1803 and 1820.

See Also

Evans, William
Titcomb, Enoch J.

See Also

Evans & Titcomb

William Everett was born on January 26, 1821 in Roxbury, MA to Eliphalet Everett and Eliza Burrell. He married Rachel Ford on June 2, 1845. His sister, Isabel Everett, married Dudley Williams on August 1, 1808. William worked with his brother-in-law in the partnership Williams & Everett, selling looking glasses and frames. He lived in Roxbury and Dorchester. He died in Boston on August 24, 1899.

See Also

Williams & Everett

See Also

Fiske, William
Horton, Samuel H.

Isaac Fiske was active as a cabinetmaker in Salem, Massachusetts ca. 1821. A table given the approximate date of 1800 is signed by Fiske. The signature is: [I. Fisk / Boston], and it has been debated whether the 'I' is a 'S,' but likely it is the former, as the initial matches other signed examples. It is unknown whether Isaac is related to Samuel and William. The only Isaac that could be found on Ancestry was born about 1790 and died about 1813.

Brother of William Fiske. Samuel Fiske was active as a cabinetmaker in association with Stephen Badlam in Dorchester, MA, around the 1780's, then opened a shop in Salem and one later in Boston.

See Also
Fiske, William

William Fiske served his cabinetmaking apprenticeship in Watertown, Massachusetts. He worked with his father, Deacon Samuel Fiske, and with his brother, Samuel, until 1797. In 1798, William Fiske was primarily making clock cases for Aaron Willard. In 1812, he worked in partnership with Samuel Horton. He worked in Boston, Roxbury and Salem in the course of his career. He died in 1844. Forms include Federal-style side chairs, dressing tables, and card tables.

See Also
Fiske, Samuel
Fisk & Horton

Archelaus was born in Massachusetts and (possibly) died in Philadelphia, PA (although sources conflict, he may have died in Charlestown, MA - Archelaus's father of the same name seems to be confused with his son in some records). From 1803-1814, he was located in Charlestown, MA working as a cabinetmaker, as indicated by the labels on his furniture. He advertised 'House Furniture' at his shop on Main St. On September 11 1803, he married a woman named Mary, whose maiden name was also Flint (and whose biographical information also conflicts, some sources saying she died in Philadelphia and others in Charlestown). Sometime after 1814, Flint relocated to Philadelphia. He may have been a member of the American Temperance Union. His name appears on The Temperance Tales, fictional juvenile literature on cultural alcoholism as part of the Temperance Movement, published in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. According to the journal produced by the American Temperance Union, A. Flint was a facilitator of subscriptions and receiver of donations representing Philadelphia, listed at 223 Arch Street and 13 N 7th Street (located on the same block, but around the corner), house on Sansom St. (according to 1850 Philadelphia Census records).

Jonathan Clark Brown and four others founded the Forestville Manufacturing Company in 1835 in Forestville, a community near Bristol, Connecticut. Production began in 1835, but the firm failed in 1855.

Listed under Foster & Lawrence in the 1834 Charlestown Directory. The 1831 Charlestown directory lists both Charles Forster and Edward Lawrence as cabinetmakers; Forster operated in the same space as his father, Jacob Forster. No Charlestown directories were published in 1832-33, so it is not clear when Foster & Lawrence began their partnership.

See Also
Forster, Charles
Lawrence, Edward

According to Antiques (October 1944, pg. 205), up the street from that shop, he had large shops and held contracts with the state, employing convicts at the prison. He engaged in wholesale trade and had orders coming in from all over the country. When Abraham Crowninshield joined the business, it became Forster, Lawrence, & Co. Jacob occupied the rear of the building and used a portion of the front for his family. He housed apprentices and trained many prominent makers and dealers.

See Also
Forster & Lawrence
Forster, Lawrence & Co.

Born on June 23 in Berwick, York County, Maine, Jacob Forster probably apprenticed in Watertown, MA and established a business in Charlestown, MA about 1786. According to Cabinetmakers of America, Forster purchased from John Harris in 1793 a lot of land on the corner of Main and Union streets, where he had built a large building, part of which served as a furniture store. In the 1820s, Jacob and his son, Charles Forster (1798-1866), shared the space. The earliest Charlestown Directory, published in 1831, has Jacob and Charles working at adjacent addresses. The next directory, from 1834, does not list an address for Jacob, and shows Charles in partnership with Edward Lawrence. Jacob Forster presumably stopped working between 1831 and 1834.

See Also
Forster, Charles

January 1, 1840 co-partnership notice in the Boston Courier announces partnership of Charles Forster, Edward Lawrence, and A. W. Crowninshield as Forster, Lawrence & Co., located at corners of Main and Union Streets, Charlestown.

See Also
Forster, Charles
Lawrence, Edward
Crowninshield, Abraham

Jesse Foster, son of Samuel and Judith Foster, was active as a chairmaker until his death at the age of 27. He married Zerviah Emerson in 1796. Six bow-back Windsor side chairs bear the brand [J. Foster]. In 1798, Foster was listed as working on Water St. with a house on Devonshire St. (when had been named Pudding Lane in 1708 and was widened and renamed with other connected streets to Devonshire St. in 1766). In the 1790s, Foster brought a suit against Josiah Willard for defamation of character, claiming Willard accused him of stealing a note dated 1795. Chair maker William Dalton served as a witness. Foster said, "for a long time [he had] followed the art, trade, and mystery of Windsor chair-making [and was] a workman well capable of performing in a workmanlike manner any work in his trade." The court called on tradesmen, painters, turners, and other chairmakers as witnesses, but ultimately found Willard not guilty and Foster paid him $26 and received a receipt (which, as extant documentation, aside from his branded chairs, verifies Foster's profession as a Boston chairmaker). (SEE Evans, American Windsor Chairs, pg. 351-2).

Thomas Foster was active as a cabinetmaker in Boston, Massachusetts about 1800, with only a single marked federal-style card table made between 1790 and 1800, approximately.

See Also

Doe, Fowler & Co., furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, about 1839-about 1841

Simon Francis can be verified by a survey of city directories from 1789-1803, when he died. However, Rouse cannot be identified with certainty. The first initial, 'I,' incised on the chest of drawers could be 'I' or could be 'J' as is consistent with later eighteenth-, early nineteenth-century lettering. There is no listing for an 'I. Rouse' in the city directories, however James Rouse is a listed cabinetmaker in the years 1800-1817. James Rouse was part of a firm with Warren Thaxter called Thaxter & Rouse, active about 1806-1807.

See Also
Francis, Simon
Rouse, James

Listed in 1789 as a cabinetmaker on Water Street in Boston.

Advertised in January 1798 as a cabinetmaker, citing Simon Hall as his "late master." Listed in 1800 as a cabinetmaker at 40 Middle Street. Died 1803.

See Also

Francis & Rouse

The Partheimuller family began business in Boston in 1850 selling toys and imported willow wares. Subsequent generations of the family expanded into manufacturing. Frederick and Mary D. Partheimuller are listed as partners in Frederick Partheimuller & Co. beginning in the 1898 Boston Directory; Henry F. worked as a "chair reseater" in their business at 24 Harvard. They continued at the same location through 1921; in 1922 they relocated to 35 Warrenton. Frederick Partheimuller & Co. is last listed in the 1923 directory. Henry F. Partheimuller continued working as a chair reseater.

See Also

Partheimuller, Frederick
Partheimuller, Mary D.
Partheimuller, Henry F.

According to Willard's Patent Time Pieces, French's name appears in various records and documents validating his location in both Stoughton and Canton. He is listed in Stoughton as a clockmaker in 1797 and in Canton as a clockmaker in 1798 and 1805. In September 1798, French purchased an 11.5 acre estate in Canton, on the road from Boston to Taunton, possibly "Old Bay Road." French may have been in business with Henry Morse, Jr. In 1805, he sued Boston jeweller and watchmaker, Caleb Johnson, regarding payment on deliveries to Johnson of brass buckles. Morse delivered 25 of the 67 dozen buckles delivered to Johnson in Boston and was called as a witness for French at trial. After French's death in 1809, Morse made a claim as a creditor against French's estate.

Active in Boston about 1814 based on his signature on the backboard of a chest of drawers.

James Frost may has been in a partnership with William Seaver from 1800-1803, or he might have been partnered with someone with the last name of Davis (a Davis & Frost is listed in the Boston Directories around the same time as Seaver and Frost). Frost was a chairmaker active from about 1798-1831. He may not have been in the Boston area the whole time.

See Also

Seaver, William
Seaver & Frost

M. Frost is inscribed on a highboy dated approximately 1740-1770.

May have been in a partnership with William Frost from 1800-1803.

See Also

Seaver, William
Seaver & Frost

Cabinetmaker active about 1760, but little is known about his life. He was the son of Edward and Elizabeth Fullerton and was married to Abigail Fullerton, with whom he had at least two sons, Edward born in 1767 and Thomas Slean born 1770. A high chest made about 1750-1770 bears his signature. Biographical details supplied by Ancestry and an article on the high chest published on Antiques and Fine Art's website featuring the inventory for Fullerton's estate dated March 28, 1776.

See Also
Smith, George
Smith, Jacob

See Also
Gage & Hunt

Gates was likely an apprentice of Aaron Willard and related to Willard by marriage (Aaron's first wife was Catherine Gates Willard). Gates moved to Charlestown in 1812. Shortly after moving to Charlestown, a fire broke out and destroyed much of Gates' tools and stock, and in 1818 he (along with his brother Isaac) is listed as a church parishioner of Harvard Church, Charlestown.

George Croome & Co. is listed in Boston city directories between 1861 and 1877. William Strong was Croome's partner during these years. Croome had previously worked in partnership with Washington Jefferson Lane (Lane & Croome, about 1840-1844), William M. Hixon (Croome & Hixon, about 1845-1848), William Brigham (Croome, Hixon & Co., about 1849-about 1852). Croome operated under his own name from 1853-1860. In 1877, Strong & Kimball advertised as the successor to George Croome & Co.

See Also

Croome, George

Strong, William

George W. Ware ran a wholesale and retail firm under his own name from 1862 until about 1875. George A. Goodyear was a partner in this firm between about 1865 and 1872.

See Also

Goodyear, George A., wholesaler and retailer, active about 1864-about 1872

Ware, George W., wholesaler and retailer, 1808-1888

Glinn made cases for clockworks made in London by Marmaduke Storr and Thomas Hughes.

Active as a cabinetmaker around 1800. A Federal-style card table bears his name.

Goodyear was a partner in the firm of George W. Ware & Co. between about 1865 and 1872.

See Also

George W. Ware & Co., wholesaler and retailer, 1862-about 1875

William Grant was most likely an apprentice to Aaron Willard, Jr. He was born on June 14, 1800 to Joshua and Lois Grant in Wrentham, MA. He made patent timepieces and constructed time-and-strike mechanisms. In 1828, he was in partnership with Henry W. Loring. On August 14, 1831, he married Hannah Sheppard. In 1833, he was working at No. 44 Hanover St. From 1834-5, he was in partnership with Nathaniel Kimball under the name William Grant & Co. He advertised timepieces sold at No. 31 Hanover St. In 1835, he sold his business to William Pratt and purchased 30 acres of land in Dedham from Alvan Fisher, it was called Island Farm. On the property were thirty white mulberry trees for producing silk. Grant died July 21, 1836, and was buried in Cambridge. His estate inventory included $714.33 note due from William Pratt (from the selling of his business) and a $1,157.92 note to Fisher for the property. Among the items sold as an estate auction in Nov. 1836 was a set of clockmaker's tools.

See Also

Loring, Henry W.

Kimball, Nathaniel

William Grant & Co.

Pratt, William

Partnered with piano makers William and Adam Bent in 1798.

See Also

W. & A. Bent

See Also

Gridley, Blake & Co.

Blake, James Gorham, Jr.

Gridley, William, Jr.

See Also

Blake, James Gorham, Jr.

Gridley, William, Jr.

Kittredge, Alvah

See Also

Gridley & Blake

Gridley, Blake & Co.

Boston newspaper "The Democrat" announced the dissolution of Tucker & Griffin (Elisha Tucker and Asa Griffin) in November 1808. Surviving labels indicates that Tucker & Griffin worked at 14 Middle Street and 40 Middle Street, Boston. Asa Griffin appears in the Boston directories as a cabinetmaker in 1809-1810, 1813, 1822-23, 1825-31.

See Also

Tucker & Griffin

Tucker, Elisha

Abner Guild was born on August 17, 1772, in Dedham, Massachusetts, to Joseph and Miriam Guild. From about 1796-1798, he was partnered with Elisha Adams in a cabinetmaking business, located at 48 Orange Street. By 1800, the partnership had dissolved. He and Sophia Hall were married on November 27, 1800, and they had 16 children. Abner is listed in the Boston Directories from 1796-1803; he owned property and actively worked in Boston, but he lived primarily in Dedham. A side table bears his inscribed name, a date: [1818], and location: [17 Broad St]. At the age of 70, he died on July 6, 1843, in Dedham, Massachusetts.

A Windsor-style chair likely made between 1780 and 1800 is branded by C. Guild, but not other information is available.

Amos Hagget (1788-1863) was a turner and a Windsor chair maker active about 1803-1817 in Charlestown, MA and his forms of Windsor chairs are branded with his first initial and last name and [CHARLESTOWN]. An advertisement dated September 20, 1817 in an unknown publication documents Hagget’s relocation to Fredericton, New Brunswick, CA, but his stay there was short from what is known. His presence in Charlestown during his early career can be tracked through documentation indicating him as a witness to a land transaction involving Hayward in 1803, a marriage license in Charlestown 1806 (Ann Skilton), and a record of daughter Susannah’s baptism in Charlestown on September 25, 1808. The Hayward transaction was the sale of property by Thomas C. Hayward and wife, Elizabeth, to John Sweetser and George N. Vinal, July 8, 1803, filed with Registry of Deeds, Middlesex County, Cambridge. From 1820 on, he is believed to have been working in Edgecomb, ME according to census listings for a man of this name from 1820 through 1850. An 1860 Census recording an Amos Hagget, aged 72, lists him as a farmer.

Son of Oliver Hall.

See Also

Oliver Hall & Son

Oliver Hall was born to Solomon Hall and Rachel Glover on Feb 16, 1800 in Suffolk and died on Oct 27, 1890 in Boston, Massachusetts. Starting in 1826, Hall was a furniture manufacturer in Dorchester, MA, but also he served as town selectman and assessor (according to the 1850 Dorchester business directory, was president of Mattapan Bank about 1863, and he was the director of Dorchester Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In 1865, the firm became Oliver Hall & son.

See Also

Oliver Hall & Son

Hallet, Davis & Co. has continued as a brand since the company's original founding about 1835, although the company itself has existed in various iterations. Russell Hallet worked with Edwin Brown in the early years of the company, from 1836 until 1841 as Brown & Hallet at the corner of Essex and Washington. Brown has worked with Jonas Chickering. He and Hallet were honored at the Franklin Institute Fair in 1840 for their complex piano designs. In 1843, Brown left to continue working for Chickering. He also partnered with Henry Allen (who was also listed in the Boston Directories as a partner with Russell Hallet and George H. Davis). By 1846, Hallet partnered with George H. Davis and others to form Hallet, Davis, and Co. Throughout the later half of the nineteenth century, Hallet, Davis, & Co. pianos were sold in various cities. Hallet, Davis, & Co. was absorbed by North American Music, Inc. and although it has a company since the early twentieth century, Hallet, Davis, & Co. is a brand of piano available for purchase. The company partnered with international companies to continue producing pianos, according to the Hallet, Davis, & Co. website. In the 1850s, Benjamin Franklin Hallet joined the company, but it is somewhat unclear whether he and George Davis formed a separate company or a branch of the company. In 1853, William Cumston (1813-1870) partnered with Hallet to form Hallet & Cumston, and his son James was involved in that partnership and headed it, after William's retirement in 1870 and Hallet's death in 1881, until 1890. When Davis died in 1879, the firm incorporated as Hallet, Davis & Co. Horace P. Blackman is another name from the group, he worked three years for the firm of Hallett & Davis as foreman in their mill department. In 1879, after the company was no longer headed by the original owners or partners, acting president, E. N. Kimball, incorporated the business as Hallet, Davis & Co. C. C. Conway was treasurer and E. E. Conway secretary, and in 1905, the Conway family took control of the company and the company was purchased by the W. W. Kimball Company. As of the 1990s, a company in China still manufactures pianos labeled with Hallet, Davis, and Co.

See Also

Hallet, Russell

Davis, George H.

Russell Hallet was born on February 10, 1807 to Hannah and Ezekiel Hallet in Barnstable. He married Harriet Bullock Richardson (born 1822) on May 15, 1851 in Brookline, MA. Hallet founded the Hallet, Davis, and Co. brand of pianos. Initially, he worked with Edwin Brown as Hallett & Brown for four years preceeding the two years he worked independently. About 1846, he partenred with George Davis for about six years. In the 1850s, he partnered with Henry Allen and James and William Cumston, first as Hallet & Allen for about five years and then with Allen and the Cumstons for about 6 years. The longest partnership was with Hallet and Cumston for seventeen years (until William retired). In 1870, Hallett He died of cancer on September 10, 1881.

See Also

Hallet, Davis & Co.

Henry Mason and Emmons Hamlin founded Mason & Hamlin as a melodeon and organ manufactory. In the early 1880s, the company expanded into piano production. About 1874, production moved to a new factory in Cambridge. Sometime before 1932, the company moved from Boston to Neponset, Massachusetts. In 1932, it moved to East Rochester, New York. In 1989, the company moved to Haverhill, Massachusetts, where it is still located today.

See Also

Mason & Hamlin

Between 1836-1837, Boston cabinetmaker and upholsterer, William Hancock, was in a partnership with Artemas R. Holden and C.B.F. Adams with a shop located at No. 37 Cornhill St.

See Also

Hancock, William

Holden, Artemas R.

Adams, Charles B.F.

William Hancock was a well-established upholsterer active in Boston about 1819-1849. He was born on January 19, 1794 in Roxbury, Massachusetts to Captain Belcher Hancock and Ann "Nancy" Susan Ackers. In addition to his upholstery business, he sold furniture and, according to some scholars, he might have designed and built furniture. From about 1819 until 1825, Hancock worked on Orange Street, nearby his brother, Henry K. Hancock, who was a chairmaker from 1816 until 1825 and a cabinetmaker from 1826 until 1851. From 1825 until 1829, he was located at 39 and 41 Market Street according to his label on sofas and side and arm chairs. About 1836, he relocated to Cornhill and from that year until 1837, he was in a partnership with Artemas R. Holden and C.B.F. Adams. He continued to be listed in Boston Directories until 1849. He died on March 10, 1861 (10 Mar 1861) in Cambridge, MA.

See Also

Hancock, Holden & Adams

See Also

Joseph M. Doe & Co., furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, about 1836-about 1838

Doe, Fowler & Co., furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, about 1839-1841

Ebenezer Hartshern/Hartsorn/Hartshore was born on August 31, 1690 in Reading, MA to Thomas and Sarah Hartshern. He married Mary Lowden on March 6, 1711 in Charlestown, MA and they had two sons, Dr. Ebenezer Hartshorn Jr. and Thomas Hartshorn. He was working as a "joyner" as early as 1729. In 1742, he was working in Boston on Brattle St., and by 1746, he was in Concord, MA. A deed of 1746 refers to him as "late of Boston now of Concord, cabinetmaker." He died there on January 29, 1781.

Active in Cambridge, various parts of Massachusetts, Boston, New York, and Michigan throughout his career, from approximately 1870-1918, as an interior designer, architect, and a chairmaker. His name is engraved on a plaque attached to a chair gifted to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on his 72nd birthday. He is not listed in the 1876 Boston or Cambridge directories (the year of Longfellow's birthday). He's only listed in the 1879, 1881, and 1885 directories, and in the latter, he's listed as "removed to New York." He died in Detroit, MI and on his death certificate, under occupation, he is identified as a "decorator."

Harvard College Joiners was New England's only institutional joinery shop in the 17th century. Items produced by the group represent a heavy Boston influence. Established and maintained by three successive head joiners, each of the workmen is thought to have apprenticed with his predecessor. John Taylor was active from 1638-1683 and helped to build the college buildings in the 1630s and 1640s and founder of the Cambridge School for Joiners. Succeeding him was John Palfrey (working 1664-1689) and then Zachariah Hicks, Jr. (1651-1752), who took on many public building projects in Cambridge besides his college work.

See Also

Taylor, John

Palfrey, John

Hicks, Zachariah, Jr.

First appears in the Boston directories as a chair painter. From about 1840-1842, is listed as a chair painter with G. W. Haskell, likely his brother George W. Haskell. In 1846, he begins to identify himself as a settee manufacturer as well as a chair painter. In 1855, he is listed as a settee and school furniture manufacturer. From 1866-1876, he operated in partnership with his son, also named William O., under William O. Haskell & Son. By 1880, Haskell moved to Mason, New Hampshire.

See Also

William O. Haskell & Son

William O. Haskell, Jr., first appears in the Boston directory in 1865 as a clerk for his father, also named William O. Haskell. The following year, he partnered with his father in William O. Haskell & Son. About 1876, the younger Haskell left furniture manufacturing for the publishing business.

See Also

William O. Haskell & Son

See Also

Hawes, Cyrus Algier

Kirtland, Charles Frederick

See Also

Hawes & Kirtland

Thomas Cotton Hayward was active as a chairmaker in Boston, MA in 1799, and 1811 to 1817, possibly later. Hayward was active in Charlestown, MA from 1800 to 1810 and after 1817 to the late 1820s. He is listed only in the 1813 Boston Directory.

Went to work for Paine in 1889; Paine advertised that he had previously worked for Bancroft & Dyer, although directories indicate that he had ceased work for Bancroft and Dyer a few years before the firm's dissolution. In the intervening years directories list him as "Hazard crib," a patent model he developed that was advertised as early as 1872 by Bancroft & Boyden.

See Also

Bancroft & Dyer, 1877-1888

Paine Furniture Co.

See Also

Doe & Hazelton, manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, about 1847-about 1850

Doe, Hazelton, & Co., furniture manufacturer and retailer, looking glass maker, and upholsterer, about 1850-1859

John A. Ellis & Co., manufacturer, 1857-about 1869

See Also

Doe, Hazelton, & Co., furniture manufacturer and retailer, looking glass maker, and upholsterer, about 1850-1859

John A. Ellis & Co., manufacturer, 1857-about 1869

According to an article by Robert D. Mussey and Richard C. Nylander, Hedges was among many talented Boston craftsmen commissioned to decorate the rooms intended for Marquis de Lafayette’s stay in Boston in 1824. No room was deprived of luxury or extravagance; the invoice totaled to $2300. Until 1823, Hedges, who immigrated from England, worked with Isaac Vose, but by 1824, was advertising alone as an “Interior Decorator of Fashionable Apartments and General Upholsterer.” Hedges made curtains, feather beds and mattresses, and pew cushions, reupholstered furniture for clients outside the shop, but because no original upholstery survives, his work is documented by inscriptions on furniture frames. Hedges and other British immigrant journeymen working in Boston brought with them the knowledge and skills to conceive new fashions and as a result, the objects that can be traced back to the hand of Hedges and his ilk based on British characteristics of style. After Vose’s death in 1823, it was announced in the Columbian Centinel that Hedges would continue working for the firm, but by the end of that year, Hedges made his departure from the company and relocated to 29 Court St. Hedges had been training an upholsterer named Otis Packard who probably took over for Hedges in Vose’s shop. (SEE Robert D. Mussey, Jr. and Richard C. Nylander, "Classical Elegance For Lafayette’s Visit To Boston, 1824,"Antiques and Fine Art 17, no. 2 (Summer 2018): 90-7. and Robert D. Mussey, Jr. and Clark Pearce, "Classical Excellence in Boston: The Furniture of Isaac Vose, 1789-1825," in Boston Furniture 1700-1900, ed. Brock Jobe and Gerald W. R. Ward (Boston: Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 2016), 251-292.)

See Also

Beal, Henry

Beal, William L.

Partnership of brothers Henry A. and Frederick W. Turner first appears in the 1866 Boston directory. In 1865, Frederick was listed as working at the same address, but Henry's name was listed under "Upholsterers" in the directory.

See Also

Turner, Henry Augustus

Turner, Frederick W.

Vaughn, John J.

James L. Hewitt was not a piano maker, but a composer and a dealer in Boston. He was born on June 3, 1770 in England to Captain John Hewitt. On September 5, 1792, James L. Hewitt arrived in New York, the year prior both his first wife Louisa Lamb and their infant son had died. Hewitt was a driving force in the development of a music establishment in New York, Boston, and other American localities, where he was a conductor, arranger, publisher, performer, importer, teacher, and composer. He’d also been active in London for at least two years prior to emigrating. On December 10, 1796, Hewitt married Eliza King in Oswego, Oswego, New York, United States, and they had six children: James Lang Hewitt, Sophia Henrietta, Emma Ostinelli, John Hill Hewitt, Horatio Nelson Hewitt, George Washington Hewitt, and Eliza Helena Hewitt; the three sons carried on their father’s legacy with careers in music as teachers, composers, and publishers. In 1811, he relocated officially to Boston and became an organist at Trinity Church. He operated a music saloon at 34 Market St. The 1825-1829 Boston Directories and advertisements indicate James L. Hewitt & Co. as a piano manufacturing firm active in Boston about 1825 and New York as music publishers located at no. 137 Broadway, New York, taking orders from any part of the country, for music or musical instruments, executed with care and dispatch. The company also sold pianos that were manufactured by others. In the last years of his life, he dealt with face cancer, but a few of his works were published posthumously by his son and other music publishers in New York and Boston.

See Also

James L. Hewitt & Co.

Henry Allen Hinckley was born on May 5, 1810 to Allen Hinckley and Sally Lathrop in Barnstable, MA. On January 10, 1841, Hinckley married Sarah M. Sylvester in Nantucket, MA. In 1904, the Jeweler’s Circular and Horological Review - Weekly, Vol. 48, honored Hinckley as the oldest clockmaker in America when he turned 94 in May of that year; he was living in Roxbury having retired after 40 years with E. Howard Clock Co. He died only months later, on November 28, 1904. During his career, he was clockmaker and a whaler, active in Utica, NY, Boston, MA, Roxbury, MA, Nantucket, MA, and New Bedford, MA. Early on, an apprentice in Boston to Sawin & Dyer and then to George W. Dyer (after the dissolution of the Sawin & Dyer partnership). Hinckley moved with Dyer in 1828 to Utica, NY and he is listed in the 1829 Utica directory as a clockmaker at G.W. Dyer’s, however the move was not permanent and Hinckley returned to Boston and completed an apprenticeship with John Sawin. Hinckley joined Edward Howard and David P. Davis as apprentices to Aaron Willard, Jr. and eventually, he would just on to work for them under Howard & Davis after working for some time as a journeyman for J.J. Beals. Hinckley’s name pops up in records and documents verifying his existence and career in clock making. In an 1834 civil lawsuit, Hinckley was noted as a clockmaker and in 1848 in the Roxbury directory, he’s listed as a clockmaker. In 1856, he is listed as a clockmaker in Nantucket in the New England Business Directory and he made three voyages as a whaler. He returned to Roxbury and went to work for his old friend Edward Howard. For over fifty years, he worked with Howard, with Howard & Davis and E. Howard Co. During the Civil War, he served as a soldier. A few lyre clocks and patent timepieces signed by Hinckley are known to exist. (SEE Foley, Paul J. Willard’s Patent Time Pieces: A History of the Weight-Driven Banjo Clock, 1800-1900. Nowell, Mass.: Roxbury Village Publishing, 2002)

See Also

Sawin & Dyer

Dyer, George W.

Sawin, John

Howard & Davis

Howard, Edward

Howard & Davis

E. Howard & Co.

Samuel Hitchings appears in the 1803-1807 Boston Directories. He was listed as partnered with cabinetmaker John Smith in 1803. Sometime after 1807, Hitchings relocated to Maine.

See Also

Smith & Hitchings

George Croome and William M. Hixon are listed as partners in Boston city directories from 1845 through the 18448-49 edition. Beginning with the 1849-50 edition, the partnership is listed as Croome, Hixon & Co. with the addition of WIlliam Brigham as partner. The partnership appears to have dissolved about 1852. Croome worked in the Boston furniture and upholstery trades between 1835 and 1877, both in partnership and under his own name. Hixon is listed in the 1844 directory as an upholsterer, but does not appear previous to 1844 or after 1853.

See Also

Croome & Hixon, cabinetmaker, retailer, and upholsterer

Croome, Hixon & Co., upholsterer

Croome, George, cabinetmaker, furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer

Brigham, William

J. G. Russell and George C. Hodges are listed as partners of Russell & Hodges, furniture and feathers at 2 Dock Street, in Boston directories from 1831-1833. Prior, Russell is listed as a chair dealer. Hodges disappears from the directories in 1834 while Russell continues in business at 2 Dock Street.

See Also

Russell & Hodges

Became a partner in Philander Derby & Co. about 1887.

See Also

Philander Derby & Co.

Continued upholstery business in the same location as Hancock, Holden & Adams. Only listed in the 1838 Boston directory.

See Also

Holden, Artemas R.

Adams, Charles B.F.

See Also

Hancock, Holden & Adams

Holden & Adams

Joshua Holden was born on April 3, 1781, in Townsend, MA to David and Sarah Holden. Holden was first described as a chair maker in Boston tax records dated 1807 as a partner of Asa Jones. A card table and a set of four painted and gilded fancy chairs, one bearing the name [HOLDEN] feature similar decorative techniques that could be attributed to John Penniman or one of his shop workers. A pier table may be related to that set as well. The chairs were formerly attributed to New York chair maker Asa Holden, but characteristics of regional design suggest Joshua Holden of Boston is more likely to have been the maker. Holden appears in the 1810 Boston Directory as a chair maker active on Washington St., which was just over a block from Seymour’s furniture warehouse. On April 27, 1802, Holden married Mary Armstrong Mitchell (1782-1863). From about 1813 until 1818, Holden worked on Orange St. in Boston. and tax assessments indicate that he occupied space in a building owned by cabinetmaker Isaac Vose. In an advertisement posted in the Boston Intelligencer & Evening Gazette dated March 27, 1819, Vose announced Holden as an addition to their firm. Their partnership only lasted about one year, but they were well acquainted the merger and dissolution. Holden rented lodgings and a workshop in Vose’s property on Orange St. and Holden sold his furniture in Vose’s chair shop. According to 181-25 tax records, Vose rented the chair store from William Dall in a building adjacent to his primary shop, and while Holden rented the space from Vose, he made, painted, and sold fancy chairs. Boston tax records from 1819-24 list eight journeyman chairmakers who had been housed by Vose (and his heirs), but after Vose’s death and Isaac Jr.’s closing on his cabinetmaking shop in 1825, all the journeyman chairmakers dispersed except for Holden, who continued to live in properties owned by the heirs of Vose through 1831 and perhaps later. Holden died on December 17, 1852 in Westminster, Vermont. (SEE Robert D. Mussey, Jr. and Clark Pearce, "Classical Excellence in Boston: The Furniture of Isaac Vose, 1789-1825," in Boston Furniture 1700-1900, ed. Brock Jobe and Gerald W. R. Ward (Boston: Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 2016), 251-292.)

A Pembroke table formerly owned by the Henry Ford Museum was labeled by Andrew Homer. Scholars suspected that the label was inauthentic based on reasons including that Homer was listed as a merchant in Boston directories and other biographical documentation. There was an Andrew Homer who migrated to Boston from Yarmouth in 1814 and worked as a merchant. The other Andrew Homer, born in 1768, was also a merchant, born in Boston, and he died in Cambridgeport. SEE Maine Antiques Digest (February 1985) to read an article debating the theory of Homer as a maker, with the argument that dealers often unscrupulously sold objects with false labels to make them appear older than they actually are. William Ketchum of American Cabinetmakers doubts the theory.

George K. Hooper is listed in the 1848-49 Boston city directory as a clerk employed at Allen & Beal (Benjamin L. Allen and James H. Beal). Hooper continued to work under the new partnership of James H. Beal & Brother (Alexander Beal) from about 1850-about 1856. When Beal & Brother dissolved, Hooper entered partnership with Alexander Beal under the name Beal & Hooper. They continued until declaring bankruptcy and dissolving the partnership in 1875. Hooper immediately entered partnership with John B. Souther under the name Souther & Hooper.

See Also

Allen & Beal

James H. Beal & Brother

Beal & Hooper

Souther & Hooper

Chairmaker active about 1804-about 1812. Little evidence is available verify working or life dates. Journeyman to Samuel J. Tucke in 1801. In Boston partnership with William Fisk(e) as Samuel H. Horton & Co. (dissolved in 1807). In 1807, he was listed in Boston Directories as located on the Boston Neck. Re-partnered with William Fiske under Fisk & Horton, 1811-1812. See Brock Jobe, Jack O'Brien, Gary R. Sullivan, Harbor & Home: Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1710-1850 (2009), p. 362.

See Also

Tucke, Samuel Jones

Samuel H. Horton & Co.

Fisk & Horton

The Howard business has operated under a number of owners and names. Edward Howard apprenticed under Aaron Willard, Jr. He began making clocks under his own name, and with partners, about 1842. Howard first used the E. Howard & Co. name about 1857. The "E. Howard & Co." name continued to be used on the dials of clocks even while the name of the company, its operations, and owners changed over the subsequent decades. The company's clockmaking operations were headquartered in Roxbury, Massachusetts, from about 1845 until the 1930s, when they moved to Waltham, Massachusetts.

See Also

E. Howard & Co.

James Hoy, a journeyman cabinetmaker who worked in Thomas Seymour's Boston Furniture Warehouse between 1810 and 1812.

William White worked as a chairmaker at the same address as John C. Hubbard, who advertised as a chair dealer and painter. In 1878 White took over Hubbard's business under his own name. In Boston directories, White is initially listed as a chairmaker; he is later described as a chair dealer, chair manufacturer, and furniture manufacturer. White's advertisements in the directories reference the production of settees, "invalid locomotive chairs," tables, fancy chairs, rocking chairs, and office and school furniture.

See Also

White, William, chairmaker and manufacturer, about 1838-1913, active about 1857-about 1903

London-based clockmaker. Produced works used in case made by Boston-based George Glinn.

Simon H. Hunt was a partner with his brother Timothy in the cabinetmaking firm Timothy Hunt & Co. from 1820-1826 (1820-1822 at 10 Newbury; 1823 at 8 Newbury [perhaps a typo for 85 Newbury?], and 1825-1826 at 354 Washington. Simon Hunt was then employed at 472 Washington from 1827-1842. His occupation and place of work are not listed in the 1843-1845 directories. In 1846-47 he appears as a piano-forte maker; he is listed in that occupation through 1856.

See Also

Timothy Hunt & Co.

Hunt was a partner in John Treadwell & Co. (Treadwell and Asa Pratt) ending in 1817. Treadwell & Pratt is listed in the 1818 directory; an 1819 newspaper advertisement notes the dissolution of Treadwell & Hunt. The 1820-1822 directories list Timothy Hunt & Co. (Simon H. Hunt [Timothy's brother]), cabinetmakers, at 10 Newbury. In 1823 they are listed in the directory at 8 Newbury; this is a typo and should read 85 Newbury, the address listed on their stencil. By 1825, they are at 354 Washington. The 1827 directory lists Timothy continuing to operate at 354 Washington as a sole proprietor and Simon working at 472 Washington. In 1835, Timothy Hunt's address changes to 350 Washington. He is absent from the 1836 and 1837 directories. In 1838 he is in partnership with Nathaniel Brown (Brown & Hunt) as chair painters, 17 Commercial. In 1839, Hunt's place of business is not noted, and he and Brown are no longer in parternship. In 1840, Hunt is again listed as a chair painter, now at 48 Commercial. From 1841-1847, he is at 87 Commercial. The 1847-48 directory lists Hunt as a partner in Gage & Hunt (Frederick Gage), chairs, at 112 Fulton. The 1848-49 directory does not list an occupation. Hunt is listed as a painter in the 1850-51 directory; this is the last time a profession is mentioned.

See Also

Timothy Hunt & Co.

John Treadwell & Co.

Treadwell & Hunt

Brown & Hunt

Gage & Hunt, chairs

Levi Hutchins (1761-1855) was active as a clockmaker in Roxbury, MA, Concord, NH and Abington, CT and is credited as the inventor of the first American alarm clock. Hutchins was born in Harvard, Massachusetts, to Gordon and Holly Hutchins on August 17, 1761. He was actively involved in the American Revolution, serving with his father. According to one resource, Levi and Abel were apprentices starting December 6, 1777, and from 1783-86, he and his brother, Abel, were apprentices for Simon Willard. After 1786, the brothers traveled to Abington, CT for an eight-month long apprenticeship in the watch repairs. They then returned to Concord, NH and set up a shop on Main Street and in the following year, Levi created the alarm clock, which was housed in a wooden cabinet with mirrored doors and a gear set to ring an attached bell at 4 a.m. He and Abel worked in a partnership from 1786 to 1807. Levi married Phoebe Hanaford on February 23, 1789, and they had ten children together. In 1793, Levi and Abel purchased a farm, where they worked while continuing to make clocks. When their partnership dissolved in 1807, Levi kept the farm and in the next year, purchased a house on 70 acres. From about 1813 until 1815, Levi worked in the wool business. He purchased a large building and set up multiple looms to manufacture cloth, but he sold the business after only a few years and returned to clock-making, and for the next couple of decades, surveyed compasses and other precision instruments. Levi died on June 13, 1855 back in Harvard.

See Also
A. H. Davenport Company, manufacturer, 1880-1914

Davenport, Albert H., manufacturer and retailer, 1845-1906

Irving and Casson, interior designer and manufacturer, 1875-1914

See Also
Irving and Casson-A. H. Davenport, interior designer and manufacturer, 1914-1974

See Also
Vose, Isaac, Sr., cabinetmaker, 1767-1823
Vose, Isaac, Jr., cabinetmaker, 1794-1872

First newspaper advertisement appears in 1845; last in December 1847.

See Also

Beals, Joseph Jackson

Beals, William

See Also

Beals, Joseph Jackson

Southwick, Amos W.

Partnership between brothers-in-law James H. Beal and Alexander Beal.

See Also

Beal, James Henry

Beal, Alexander

James L. Hewitt & Co. was a piano retailer and manufacturer active in Boston about 1825-1828 established by James Hewitt (1770-1825). Hewitt was a driving force in the development of a music establishment in New York, Boston, and other American localities, where he was a conductor, arranger, publisher, performer, importer, teacher, and composer. He’d also been active in London for at least two years prior to emigrating. He arrived first in New York about 1792 and in 1811, he relocated officially to Boston and became an organist at Trinity Church. He operated a music saloon, under this name, at 34 Market St. The 1825-1829 Boston Directories and advertisements indicate James L. Hewitt & Co. as a piano retailer and manufacturing firm active in Boston about 1825 and in New York as music publishers located at no. 137 Broadway, New York, taking orders from any part of the country, for music or musical instruments, executed with care and dispatch. The company also sold pianos that were manufactured by others.

See Also

Hewitt, James L.

Sons of George Bright, listed as upholsterers and lace-manufacturers in 1796. In 1798, they are listed as running a lace manufactury.

See Also

Bright, John

Bright, William

John A. Ellis worked in partnership with Jonathan Eastman Hazelton and Joseph Thaxter Hazelton beginning about 1857. Jonathan Eastman Hazelton had previously been in partnership with Joseph M. Doe and Andrew Lawrence under Doe, Hazelton & Co. By 1860, John A. Ellis & Co., operated a steam-powered factory with over 100 workers. Sometime before 1866, Joseph M. Doe joined the company. Ellis died in 1869 and the company continued for several years. Joseph Thaxter Hazelton, son of Jonathan Eastman, continued in the furniture business through the early twentieth century.

See Also

Ellis, John A., cabinetmaker and manufacturer, about 1822-1869, active about 1850-1869

Hazelton, Jonathan Eastman, furniture manufacturer and retailer, 1803-1888, active about 1844-1888

Hazelton, Joseph Thaxter, furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, 1836-1916, active about 1855-about 1907

Doe, Joseph M., furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, 1809-1871, active about 1836-about 1869

"In 1818, John Doggett & Co. moved to Boston and established the Looking Glass Warehouse at 28 Market Street; the factory remained in Roxbury. In addition to manufacturing looking glasses, the firm imported ready-made examples as well as a huge quantity of glass plates for its own use and for sale to others" (Nylander 2016, 295). Beginning in 1825, the Warehouse offered carpets and table linens as well (Nylander 2016, 309)The Warehouse remained on Market Street (at several addresses) until 1837, when it moved to Tremont Row (Nylander 2016, 302).

See Also

Doggett, John

Williams, Samuel Sprague

Doggett, Samuel

Roxbury, Massachusetts

See Also

Doggett, John

Williams, Samuel Sprague

Miller, Charles

John J. Low & Co. were active watchmakers and jewelers from about 1828 until 1835, consisting of brother Francis and John J. Low. Francis Low was born in Gloucester, MA on February 8, 1806 and he died in West Roxbury, MA on December 20, 1855. Born in Gloucester, MA on June 30, 1800, John J. Low was a watchmaker, silversmith, and jeweler. He served as an apprentice to Jabez Baldwin in Salem, MA. From 1822-23, he was partnered with Edmund Putnam in Putnam & Low, but the partnership dissolved in November of 1823, so then Low opened a store at No. 11 Market Row. In 1825-27 city directories, he was listed at No. 19 Washington St. He and Francis, became partners in 1828 and in that year only, brother Daniel W. Low was a partner as well. In 1830, Francis and John, as John J. Low & Co., were the Boston agents for Curtis & Dunning’s liquidation of the jewelry stock from their Burlington, VT store. The partnership dissolved in June 1835, when Francis and John entered Jones, Lows, & Ball with George B. Jones and Samuel S. Ball. Jones left in 1841, and the partnership, joined by Nathaniel C. Poor, became Lows, Ball, & Co., but this partnership ended in 1847 and Low then continued independently until he retired in 1871. Upon his death, his estate was valued at $138,000. John died in Boston on October 23, 1876.

See Also

Low, John J.

Low, Francis

Blaney is listed as a partner in John J. Vaughn & Co. in the 1872 and 1873 directories.

See Also

Vaughn, John J.

Blaney, Charles J.

See Also

Seymour School

Seymour, John

Seymour, Thomas

See Also

Treadwell, John

Hunt, Timothy

Pratt, Asa

See Also

Pimm, John

Asa Jones was born on October 5, 1787 to Asa Jones and Elizabeth Bodfish in Barnstable County Massachusetts. He was a carpenter and joiner from Bridgewater. He was active in Barnstable from about 1809 until sometime before 1820 and he worked in Northampton from about 1809-1813. He repaired chairs, but turning and joining seems to have been his particular specialty. According to Nancy Goyne Evans, he was probably not a chair maker because only once in his late eighteenth-century accounts did he mention Windsor chairs, suggesting that the chairs which bare his name were acquired from a third party rather than made in his own shop. Jones was located in the Tontine Building, which was a three-story wooden structure near the town center occupied primarily by craftspeople with eight units which housed five furniture craftsmen at various times between the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, and it flurried with activity until 1813, when a fire destroyed shops in the building, including Asa Jones. After the fire, he continued supplying chairs from new quarters. He died on February 13, 1860.

See Also

Kilborn Whitman & Company

Enoch Titcomb and Ezekiel Jones were the partners in a clockmaking firm active in Boston, Massachusetts ca. 1825. It may have been Enoch Jones or Enoch J. Titcomb. Jones was in a partnership with Daniel Munroe, Munroe & Jones about 1813-1814.

See Also

Titcomb & Jones

Munroe & Jones

See Also

Doe, Joseph M., furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer, 1809-1871, active about 1836-about 1869

Harndin, S., furniture retailer, active about 1838-about 1841

See Also

Kaplan, Isaac

Keeler & Co. are first listed in the 1884 Boston directory as the partnership of Cornelius P. and George A. Keeler, located at 83 to 91 Washington. In 1891, Ruel P. Buzzell jointed the partnership. The following year, George A. Keeler left the partnership and the furniture trade. In 1895, Cornelius P. Keeler left the partnership, which continued to operate under the same name with Buzzell as sole proprietor at 91 Washington. Keeler & Co. is last listed in the 1899 Boston directory. The 1899 directory also includes an advertisement for the Cobb-Buzzell Company, described as the successor to Keeler & Co. and located at 91 Washington.

See Also

Keeler, Cornelius P.

Keeler, George A.

Buzzell, Ruel P.

Father of George A. Keeler, his partner in Keeler & Co., from 1884-1891.

See Also

Keeler & Co.

Son of Cornelius P., Keeler, his partner in Keeler & Co. from 1884-1891. George Anson Keeler left the furniture trade in 1891 and began to run a hotel.

See Also

Keeler & Co.

John Kidder and Joseph Carter were looking glass manufacturers active in Boston under the name Kidder & Carter in Charlestown, MA, active about 1811-1820. At 37-38 Monument Square, Charlestown, the partners built a three-story five-bay frame structure to conduct their business, and the building still stands today.

See Also

Kidder, John

Carter, Joseph

John Kidder was born on May 9, 1753 in Suffolk, MA to John Kidder and Mary Snow. On December 12, 1780, he married Hannah Badger. He was actively working in a partnership with Joseph Carter from about 1811-1820 under the name Kidder & Carter. John died in December of 1835 in Charlestown, MA.

See Also

Kidder & Carter

See Also

Whitman, Kilborn

Jones, Charles A.

William Strong worked for George Croome as an upholsterer and salesman starting around 1857. In 1861, Strong became a partner in George Croome & Co. Following George Croome's retirement in 1877, continued the business in partership with J. Wayland Kimball under the name Strong & Kimball. The partnership lasted less than a year and was formally dissovled in 1878. Croome worked in the Boston furniture and upholstery trades between about 1835 and 1877 in a variety of partnerships and under his own name. J. Wayland Kimball published the "Book of Designs, Furniture and Drapery" in Boston in 1876, but does not appear to have worked in the city for many years; he later owned furniture manufactories in New York City and Maine.

See Also

Strong & Kimball, furniture retailer and upholsterer

George Croome & Co., upholsterer

Croome, George

Strong, William

Charles Frederick Kirtland worked as a clerk and salesman in Boston dry goods stores. In 1885, he went into partnership with Cyrus Algier Hawes under the name Hawes & Kirtland. The 1885 Boston directory listed the firm as "art parlors." The partnership apparently dissolved about 1896. Kirtland is listed as an upholsterer in the 1896 directory. Beginning in 1897, Charles F. Kirtland & Co. is listed under draperies, interior decoration, and upholstery. From 1897-1898, the company is listed at 220 Boylston; from 1899-1907 at 348 and 350 Boylston, and 1908-1909 at 683 Boylston. A 1909 newspaper advertises the sale of remaining stock of Charles F. Kirtland & Co.

See Also

Hawes & Kirtland

Charles F. Kirtland & Co.

Charles Blake, James Gorham Blake, Jr., and Alvah Kittredge were partners in Kittredge & Blakes. William V. Alden served as a clerk for the business. James Gorham Blake, Jr. and Alvah Kittredge had previously partnered under the name Blake & Kittredge. Charles Blake and Alden later partnered with George W. Ware under the name Blake, Ware & Co.

See Also

Alden, William V.

Blake, Charles

Blake, James Gorham

Kittredge, Alvah

Gridley, Blake & Co.

Blake & Kittredge

See Also

Gridley, Blake & Co.

Blake & Kittredge

Kittredge & Blakes

Benjamin Lamson was born on March 1, 1784 in Haverhill, MA. On December 16, 1813, he married Henrietta Knowlton and they had at least two children. He was a cabinetmaker, a merchant, and a dealer in fine woods used in his business. He would import mahogany and rare wood varieties and export his own manufactures. He also engaged in philanthropy and represented constituents in the Common Council and State Legislature. In 1833, he joined the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association. Lamson was a wealthy man and served as one of the directors for the East Boston Company, from 1837 to 1858, and further as the President in 1842, 1843, and 1844. He was one of the original founders of East Boston and instrumental in building up the “island ward;” he owned lots of land in East Boston and Lamson St in Boston is named for him.

Washington Jefferson Lane and George Croome are first listed as partners working on Washington Ave. in the 1835 Boston Directory and are listed together through the 1844 Boston directories. Lane operated as a cabinetmaker under his own name from about 1845-1847 and was later involved in the West Indies trade. Croome continued in the furniture and upholstery business under his own name and in partnership with a number of Boston furniture makers.

See Also
Lane, Washington Jefferson, cabinetmaker
Croome, George, cabinetmaker, furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer
Croome & Hixon, cabinetmaker, retailer, and upholsterer
Croome, Hixon & Co., upholsterer, about 1849-1852
George Croome & Co., upholsterer

Washington Jefferson Lane and George Croome are first listed as partners working on Washington Ave. in the 1835 Boston Directory and are listed together through the 1844 Boston directories. Lane operated as a cabinetmaker under his own name from about 1845-1847 and was later involved in the West Indies trade.

See Also
Lane & Croome, cabinetmaker
Croome, George, cabinetmaker, furniture manufacturer, retailer, and upholsterer

Andrew Lawrence began working for Doe & Hazelton about 1848. About 1850, he became a partner with Joseph Merrill Doe and Jonathan Eastman Hazelton under the name Doe, Hazelton & Co. After the dissolution of Doe, Hazelton & Co. in February 1859, Lawrence and Wilde continued business at the same address as Lawrence, Wilde & Co. Lawrence's address remained at 42 Cornhill, home of Lawrence, Wilde, & Co., until his death in 1890. As of 1889, a Boston directory advertisement listed the partners of the firm as W. D. Hull, Frank D. WIlde, and Geo. B. Darrow.

See Also
Doe & Hazelton
Doe, Hazelton, & Co.
Lawrence, Wilde & Co.
Lawrence, Wilde & Hull

Unclear about the relationship between Edward Lawrence (1810-1885), who was a partner in Foster, Lawrence & Co., and Edward A. Lawrence, a partner in Braman, Shaw & Co., which advertised as successors to Forster, Lawrence & Co.

See Also
Forster & Lawrence
Forster, Lawrence & Co.

Elisha Learnard was born about 1765. He was active in Boston as a cabinetmaker, working at 60 Back Street between 1813 and 1821. On July 8, 1812, he married Mary Folger in Boston, MA (he was forty-seven years old). On November 17, 1818, he married Rebekah Allen. Biographical information is difficult to trace because of variations in spelling of his name. Labels on a case of drawers and a pedestal card table indicate the “correct” way to spell his name was [Learnard], but it’s been recorded in iterations of the name Leonard or Learned. After 1821, he was located at 13 Lynn St and on Foster St. After Learnard died in 1827, his inventory was valued at $115. In addition to cabinetmaking, Learnard made appraisals and constructed coffins. “Elijah” Learnard is listed as a new inductee in 1814 to the Freemasons, according to The Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by M.W. Winslow Lewis (1854). The Annals of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association (1853) by Joseph T. Buckingham indicates Learnard as a new inductee in the year 1800. Boston furniture hardware dealer William Greenough’s daybook, in the Winterthur collection, lists Learnard as a frequent customer along with Ebenezer Vose and Levi Ruggles.

A looking glass has Leighton's and Lothrop's labels.

See Also
Lothrop, Edward

William Leverett operated a furniture warehouse and in 1807, 1808, and 1810, he was listed in Boston directories as located on Marborough Street. Furniture baring his name as simply [W. LEVERETT] provides little clues to further detail on Leverett’s life and career. Leverett advertised in the Columbian Centinel, on February 23, 1805, “[a] great a variety of Furniture as was ever offered for sale in the United States; fancy japanned Chairs, and other Furniture to match, suitable for a Room, constantly arriving from Philadelphia. Orders executed for any article in the fancy Japanned line, from the first Japanners, in Philadelphia, by the above.”

LiVolsi was born on August 14, 1907. His father, Salvatore, and his mother immigrated from Italy. Joseph LiVolsi was a third generation upholsterer. LiVolsi married his wife, Grace on November 18, 1934. In addition to working for Winterthur, Mr. Periconi notes that his uncle did work for the White House refurnishing project and for Mount Vernon, among other museums. LiVolsi worked at home after his retirement until the time of his death. It is very likely that all information, fabric scraps, and tools pertaining to his upholstery business were disposed of after Grace LiVolsi's death in 2007.

See Also
Murch & Loomis, furniture retailer, 1909-1910

A 1974 auction catalog published "Lord S. Spencer" as the transcription of a stencil. We theorize it may actually read "Lord & Spencer." Boston directories do not list Lord Spencer, nor a cabintmaker with last name Spencer. In the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, a produce and commercial merchant firm existed under Lord & Spencer based out of Boston. There may be no connection, but the firm is the only Lord & Spencer (and related variations of the name) documented in Boston publications.

See Also
Spencer, Lord S.

Not to be confused with an ornamental painter named Henry Loring, Henry William Loring was born on December 8, 1807 to Caleb Gould Loring and Mary Silsbee. He was active as a clockmaker, watchmaker, jeweler, and mathematical instrument maker active in Boston and Dedham, Massachusetts. In 1828, he was in a partnership with William Grant, named Grant & Loring. Loring advertised as a watch and clock maker in Dedham in June of 1834. He had a shop on Center St in Dedham village. By 1844, he’d returned to Boston and was living in West Newton, as indicated by city directories until 1864. In 1859, he was a partner to Gardner A. Churchill; they formed Loring & Churchill and specialized in mathematical instruments. Extant patent timepieces with Loring’s signature have been identified.

See Also
Grant, William
Grant & Loring
Loring & Churchill

Edward Lothrop was born on June 8, 1786 in Plymouth, MA to Barnabas and Sarah Lothrop. He was a gilder and a looking-glass maker, and the brother of Stillman Lothrop, gilder, looking-glass maker, and frame maker. Edward and his brother, Stillman, trained under cabinetmaker Stephen Badlam, who trained under John Doggett. The 1813 Boston directory lists Lothrop as a gilder at N. Russell Street. A June 1816 newspaper advertisement announches the opening of a store at 53 Marlborough Street. By December 1818, he has relocated to 28 Court street, an address previously occupied by his brother Stillman Lothrop, who earlier in the year had relocated to 71 Market. In the 1825 directory he is listed at 77 Market. From 1826-1830 he is listed at 61 Market or Cornhill (Market was renamed Cornhill about 1829). In 1831-1835, he is listed at 44 Cornhill. The 1836 and 1837 directories show 44 Cornhill as the premises of Edward Lothrop & Son (George), although Edward Lothrop died in January 1836. George is not listed in subsequent directories.

See Also
Lothrop, Stillman
Leighton, George

Stillman Lothrop was born on February 11, 1780 in Bridgewater, MA to Barnabas and Sarah Lothrop. He lived and worked primarily in Bridgewater, Boston, and Cambridgeport as a gilder, looking-glass maker, and framemaker. He was the brother of Edward Lothrop, also a gilder and looking-glass maker. He married Elizabeth Berry (1780-1849) in Boston on February 11, 1808 and they had two children, Luther and Eliza Ann. Stillman and his brother, Edward, trained under cabinetmaker Stephen Badlam, who trained under John Doggett. Many of Stillman’s looking glasses bear the label of George Dean, a self-identified agent for Stillman Lothrop. In 1804, Lothrop left Boston and opened a gilding shop in Salem. In 1806, he continued selling wares in Salem through a third party, but returned to Boston and opened a looking-glass manufactory at 7 Court Street. From 1807 until about 1811, he is listed at 29 Court; beginning in 1812 he advertises at 28 and 29 Court street. In February 1818, Lothrop advertised a move to 71 Market street; he is listed at this address through the 1822 directory. From 1823-1826, the Boston directory lists his address as 58 Market. He was likely importing looking glasses from New York (based on popular styles coming out of New York at the time). It’s also likely he imported from New York more simplistic looking frames and looking-glasses and added to them once they arrived in his shop. From 1827-1832, his home address is listed in the Boston directory, but no business activity is mentioned. He died on May 13, 1853 in Cambridgeport, MA.

See Also
Lothrop, Edward
Dean, George

Francis Low was born in Gloucester, MA on February 8, 1806. He was in a partnership with his brother, John, from about 1828 until 1835 as John J. Low & Co. From 1835 until 1840, he was part of Jones, Lows, & Ball, and from 1841-1846, he was involved in Lows, Ball & Co. He died in West Roxbury, MA on December 20, 1855.

See Also
John J. Low & Co.

Born in Gloucester, MA on June 30, 1800, Low was a watchmaker, silversmith, and jeweler. He served as an apprentice to Jabez Baldwin in Salem, MA. From 1822-23, he was partnered with Edmund Putnam in Putnam & Low, but the partnership dissolved in November of 1823, so then Low opened a store at No. 11 Market Row. In 1825-27 city directories, he was listed at No. 19 Washington St. He and his brother, Francis, became partners in 1828 and they became John J. Low & Co. but the partnership dissolved in June 1835, when they entered (together) Jones, Lows, & Ball with George B. Jones and Samuel S. Ball. Jones left in 1841, and the partnership, joined by Nathaniel C. Poor, became Lows, Ball, & Co., but this partnership ended in 1847 and Low then continued independently until he retired in 1871. Upon his death, his estate was valued at $138,000. He died in Boston on October 23, 1876.

See Also
John J. Low & Co.

See Also
Babcock, Alpheus
Mackay, Ruth

Mackay is listed in the 1830 Boston directory as working at 416 Washington, Chickering's address; he had previously been employed as an agent for Alpheus Babcock's piano forte manufactory at Parkman's Market in Cambridge. Subsequent directories list him as a captain until 1837, when he appears as a partner in Jonas Chickering & Co. In 1839, the partnership expanded to include John Mackay's son William H. Mackay and was re-named Chickering & Mackays. John Mackay died at sea in 1841.

See Also

Babcock, Alpheus
Jonas Chickering & Co., about 1837-about 1839
Chickering & Mackays, 1839-1841

See Also

Babcock, Alpheus
Mackay, George D.

Son of John Mackay. In 1839, William H. Mackay joined Jonas Chickering and John Mackay in Chickering & Mackays. John Mackay died at sea in 1841. The 1842 Boston directory lists the surviving partners operating as Chickering & Mackay; this appears to be the last year that William H. Mackay participated in piano manufacturing.

See Also

Chickering & Mackays, 1839-1841
Chickering & Mackay, 1841-about 1842

Eugene H. Mahoney was actively working in Boston from about 1873 until 1900 or later as a manufacturer of folding chairs. In 1872, together with Joseph H. Travis, he patented enhancements to the folding chair relating to “cross-legs with the legs linked together in such a manner that, with the legs opened, they are held firm and fixed in proper position by such link connection, the seat of the hair being so arranged that when the legs are open it will rest at the front and rear upon suitable supports of the chair legs, and when the legs are folded it can stand upright within the lower portion of the legs, the seat being free from the chair legs at its front side, and at its rear side hung thereto, so that, without detachment, it can have a movement in the direction of its thickness.” In 1878, together with George C. Paine, he patented improvements “to produce a folding rocking chair of a neat design and with a rigid seat.”

Henry Mason and Emmons Hamlin founded Mason & Hamlin as a melodeon and organ manufactory. In the early 1880s, the company expanded into piano production. About 1874, production moved to a new factory in Cambridge. Sometime before 1932, the company moved from Boston to Neponset, Massachusetts. In 1932, it moved to East Rochester, New York. In 1989, the company moved to Haverhill, Massachusetts, where it is still located today.

See Also

Mason, Henry
Hamlin, Emmons

Henry Mason and Emmons Hamlin founded Mason & Hamlin as a melodeon and organ manufactory. In the early 1880s, the company expanded into piano production. About 1874, production moved to a new factory in Cambridge. Sometime before 1932, the company moved from Boston to Neponset, Massachusetts. In 1932, it moved to East Rochester, New York. In 1989, the company moved to Haverhill, Massachusetts, where it is still located today.

See Also

Mason & Hamlin

Operated a joiner's shop with Henry Messinger.

See Also

Messinger, Henry

Horatio Nelson McFarland was born on April 30, 1810 in Maine and died on August 28, 1877. A pedestal table has been attributed to him by Mabel Swan (SEE Antiques, October 1944, pg. 205), but a survey of Charlestown city directories yields listings for McFarland as a ship joiner. He married Louisa Durgan on April 25, 1840.

James McGibbon appears in Boston directories from 1800 until 1810 as a portrait painter, a painter, and a gilder. From 1814-1827, he was active in Baltimore, MD, and about 1825, he'd been active in Raleigh, NC.

James McIntyre, sometimes listed as James McIntire, is listed as a carver in Boston city directories between 1854 and 1871. In later years, he is listed as a ship carver.

James McMillian may have been born in Salem, but he lived and worked in Boston with a shop and house on Back Street from 1749-1769. He married Ann Brown (1724-1805) in 1748 and they had eleven children. He was an apprentice to Morgan Kavanagh (1753-1757). Upon his death, his estate was valued at £540:4:0. The probate record of his death is signed by his widow, Ann, and Thomas Johnston, cabinetmaker.

Moses Mellen was born on September 2, 1797 in Middlesex, MA to Abner and Deborah Mellen. Mellen was in business at various addresses in Boston from 1821 until 1853. He operated a furniture warehouse and store at 2 Dock Square in 1821. By the next year, he was located on Brattle St., and in 1823, at the City Market house on Brattle St. By 1825, he had moved to Union Street, and he entered a partnership with Charles Hopkins from 1837 to 1846. In the 1850s, he ran a furniture and feather store on School Street. By 1853, he was listed as retired. His house was on Pinckney St. He married Mary Brett on September 7, 1823 in Brockton, MA. He died on December 3, 1875 in Boston.

Operated a joiner's shop with Ralph Mason.

See Also

Mason, Ralph

See Also

John Doggett & Co.

See Also

Mills, William
Deming, Simeon

See Also

Mills & Deming
Deming, Simeon

James Minott was born in 1767 to Dr. Timothy (1726-1804) and Mary Minott (1731-1801). He was the brother of cabinetmaker and chairmaker, Timothy Martin Minott (1757-1837). He is thought to be a cabinetmaker, and he's listed in Bjerkoe's Cabinetmakers of America. He is not listed in Boston directories. If he was a cabinetmaker, he was likely active in Burlington and St. Albans, Vermont. According to Minot family directories, he died unmarried in Ohio on an unknown date. A chest of drawers attributed to Martin Minott is stamped: [James Minott is a Pat[riot]].

See Also

Minott, Timothy Martin

Timothy Martin Minott (or Martin Timothy as it is sometimes written) was born on August 16, 1757 to Dr. Timothy (1726-1804) and Mary Minot (1731-1801) in Concord, MA. He was listed in “Assessors' ‘Taking Books’ of the Town Of Boston, 1780” on page 43 as a ‘chasemaker.’ In 1789 city directories, he is listed as a chair maker on Rawson’s Lane. In 1796, he is listed as a coach and ‘chaisemaker’ with his brother John, with shops on Rawson’s Lane (or Bromfield’s) and Water Street. In 1828, he’s listed as a varnish maker on Marlboro Place with a house in the rear of Washington St. He married Johnna Austin on June 28, 1804. He also served as a private in Capt. George Minot’s Company in the Revolution. By last 1830, he was living in Billerica. His brother, James Minot, may have also been a cabinetmaker active in Burlington and St. Albans, Vermont. He died on November 18, 1837.

See Also

Minott, James

See Also

Cermenati & Monfrino, carver and gilder, 1806

Morris & Butler succeeded Morris, Murch & Butler, continuing business at 97 Summer Street. At the end of 1911, William A. Morris left the business. Renamed the Butler Furniture Co., the business relocated to 105 Friend Street.

See Also

Morris, William A., furniture retailer, 1847-1928
Butler, George M., furniture retailer, 1869-1943
Morris, Murch & Butler, furniture retailer, -1908
Butler Furniture Co., furniture retailer, 1912-1915

Morris, Murch & Butler operated at 42 Summer Street from its founding in 1897 until 1902, when it relocated to 97 Summer Street. They continued business in that location through the retirement of Thomas B. Murch in 1908, when the business was renamed Morris & Butler.

See Also

Morris, William A., furniture retailer, 1847-1928
Murch, Thomas Brusty, furniture retailer, 1864-
Butler, George M., furniture retailer, 1869-1943

See Also

Morris, Murch & Butler, furniture retailer, 1897-1908
Morris & Butler, furniture retailer, 1908-1911

Emery Moulton was born on June 2, 1806 to General Jonathan Moulton and Sarah Emery in Lynn, Massachusetts. The Moultons were prominent in the history of early New Hampshire, and furthermore, were active in the silversmithing business. His father, Jonathan Moulton, was an indentured servant in his youth to a cabinetmaker until about 1745. Jonathan left cabinetmaking to pursue the family business of silversmithing, and he was successful, and had acquired significant wealth by the start of the revolution. A bill of sale from Emery to John Doan dated April 13, 1814 for a Federal-style secretary verifies his occupation as a cabinetmaker. A slant-front, blockfront desk signed [Moulton] has been credited to him in some sources and to his father, Jonathan in other sources. The desk, however, is in the Chippendale style, a style fashionable until the late eighteenth century, just when Emery was born; it makes more sense to attribute the desk to Jonathan (if Moulton’s signature can be taken as that of a maker). On June 2, 1806, Emery married Polly Newhall. He died in 1850 in New Hampshire.

See Also

Moulton, Jonathan

Jonathan was born on June 30, 1726 in North Hampton, Massachusetts (now part of New Hampshire), an area which his ancestors were integral in establishing; he was the great-grandson of one of the original founders of Hampton. He was born to Jacob Moulton (1688-1750) and Sarah Smith (1695-1739), and spent his childhood as an indentured servant to a cabinetmaker until 1745, when he purchased his freedom and entered the silversmithing trade in his ancestors’ footsteps. In the last 1740s, he was operating a retail store and importing goods, and in 1757, advertised, "braziery, cutlery ware and almost everything suitable for housekeeping and a large assortment of summer goods suitable for men's and women's wear. Also West-India goods, salt, &c.". He amassed substantial wealth by the 1750s, and much of his legacy is tied to his involvement in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. Folklore about Jonathan Moulton permeates New Hampshire history. In 1775, Moulton’s first wife, Abigail Smith, whom he’d married on February 22, 1749 and by whom had eleven children, died having contracted smallpox from the patients she care for, and the following year, Moulton married Sarah Emery, on September 11th, and with her he had four more children, including cabinetmaker Emery Moulton (1782-1850). There is a slant-front, blockfront desk signed [Moulton] that has been attributed to Jonathan but also to Emery. Because of the style of the desk, it more likely was made by Jonathan rather than Emery. The desk is in the Chippendale style, popular more in Jonathan’s time than Emery’s and furniture that can be more confidently tied to Emery via documentation was made in the Federal style. Furthermore, the regional characteristics of the desk are reflective of Boston taste and Emery was active in Lynn, Massachusetts. It’s possible the item was made by neither Jonathan or Emery and the marking is either indicative of ownership or another Moulton craftsman. Jonathan died on September 18, 1787.

See Also

Moulton, Emery

Joseph Mulliken was the son of Nathaniel Mulliken Sr., a clockmaker in Lexington, Massachusetts. Joseph worked as a clockmaker in Concord, Massachusetts. His works appear in a number of cases made in the Boston area, including Roxbury.

Apprenticed for Simon Willard for seven years and produced clocks for the Boston market. Partnered with brother Nathaniel in Concord, MA, in 1800 and with Ezekiel Jones in 1807. In 1809, he was working for himself in Boston. By 1818, he had relocated to Baltimore and continued work there.

Produced at least one case for a wall clock with works produced and signed by his brother, Daniel Munroe. William, Nathaniel, and Daniel operated in partnership from 1801-1804.

See Also

Munroe, Daniel

See Also

Murch, Thomas Brusty, furniture retailer, 1864-
Loomis, Charles H.

See Also

Morris, Murch & Butler, furniture retailer, 1897-1908
Murch & Loomis, furniture retailer, 1909-1910

Benjamin Myrick was born on September 3, 1750 to Benjamin and Anne Myrick in Charlestown, MA. He was the fourth generation woodworker of his family in Charlestown. He married Martha Bodge Mirick (1753-1817) in 1780. He died on March 7, 1813.

Spencer Nolen was born in Roxbury, MA in 1784 to Thomas Nolen and Elizabeth Blaney. According to John Doggett’s Daybook, between November 1804 and March 1805, Nolen painted nine tablets for him. From 1805-06, Nolen was in a partnership with Aaron Willard, Sr. as Willard & Nolen as dial manufacturers and ornamental painters. Nolen married Aaron’s daughter, Nancy, on February 7, 1808 in Boston, MA. From 1810-1814, he operated Nolen’s Manufactory. In the 1813 Boston directory, Nolen and Aaron Willard, Jr. are listed at Washington St. John Ritto Penniman painted portraits of Spencer and Nancy, and it’s theorized based on similarities in technique that Nolen may have been trained by Penniman; they both likely worked together at Willard’s. In the 1809, 1810, 1816, and 1818 Boston directories, Nolen is listed as partnered with Samuel Curtis, on Washington St, as clock and dial makers. In 1810, he’d announced the dissolution of his partnership with Curtis, but they rejoined in 1814, the same year he served as a private in Boston during the War of 1812. After 1817, Nolen relocated to Philadelphia, and although there is no evidence to support that Samuel Curtis relocated there as well, Nolen continued to work under the name Nolen & Curtis. By 1825, Nolen was listed as a looking glass manufacturer. Even after settling in Philadelphia, he was possibly still supplying dials and tablets to Aaron Willard, Jr. Nolen died in Philadelphia on June 17, 1849.

William Noyes was active in Boston, MA as a clockmaker about 1875.

See Also

Hall, Oliver
Hall, Henry

Advertise that they have hired Prichard, formerly of Bancroft & Dyer, in March 1889. Burton announced his employment by Paine following the dissolution of Bancroft & Dyer. Descendents of Leonard B. Shearer, one of the original propriertors, continue business under Paine Patio Co.

See Also

Paine, George Francis Draper
Paine, James L.
Paine, John S.
Prichard, William H.
Dyer, George Burton

See Also

Paine Furniture Co.

See Also

Paine Furniture Co.

See Also

Paine Furniture Co.

Stephen Paine was born on April 17, 1723 in Malden, MA to Stephen Paine (1696-1768) and Rebecca Batchelder Paine (1699-1780). He arrived in Charlestown as a youth and apprenticed to chair maker James Perry, and completed another apprenticeship in Charlestown with a different chair maker. He was active as a chair maker from 1743 until 1752, and then he moved to Medford. He married Mary Brown Paine on December 7, 1753. He died on February 13, 1808 in Malden. He might have been active in Philadelphia in 1760. Six side chairs bearing his brand were sold at the Robinson Estate Sale in Thomaston, ME in 1985.

William Parkman was born in 1685 to William Parkman (1658–1730) and Elizabeth Adams Parkman (1660–1746), the eldest of eleven children. He owned a considerable amount of land and held prominent positions in local government. According to Suffolk County Records, in 1706, a William Parkman was granted "leave to build a timber joiner's shop" near the North Battery in the North End of Boston, but this may have been a transaction related to his father, a shipwright. William Parkman was listed in real esate transactions as a cabinetmaker. William's brother, Ebenezer, a minister, kept a diary that has survived with many entries referencing William, and the diary was published in 1974. According to Thomas Hancock's day book, in 1738, Parkman sold to him a cradle and pallet bedstead. There is also evidence of Parkman making coffins. In his will, he left "joiner's tools" and his estate inventory lists several pieces of furniture like "desk and bookcase," a "mehogony snap table," "3 desks partly done," and more. He died about 1776.

See Also

Cermenati, Paul, carver, gilder, and looking glass maker, active about 1805-1810

Moses Peck was born on November 19, 1717 to Samuel Peck and Abigail Abiah Hitchcock in New Haven, CT. He lived and worked in Boston, on Hanover St., until his death. From 1730-1796, he was a watchmaker, from 1755-1758, he was a market clerk, and he served as a United States Army Captain, drafted December 18 1776. He also was a dealer of imported English-made clocks. In June of 1779, he was contracted for two years to serve as the repairman for the clock in Old North Church on Salem St. His career is documented in advertisements from 1753, “South side of Town House tickets in the Phila. Lottery,” 1763, “Imported watches for sale, “ and 1765, “Sell watches made in London by Samuel Toulmin and others, and 8-day clocks.” He was married twice: to Elizabeth Williston on July 4, 1743 and Elizabeth Townsend on January 17, 1758. By his first wife, he had a son named Elijah and by his second wife, a daughter, Hannah. He also had another son, his namesake, Moses Peck, Jr., by which wife it’s unsure, who was born on July 4, 1766 and died at the age of 15 on June 16, 1782. Documentation confirms Peck took collections for Reverend Samson Occom (1723-1792), a member of the Mohegan nation, from near New London, Connecticut. Peck may have even been a credit source for him in Boston. Peck also had an account with Eleazar Wheelock (1711-1779), an American Congregational minister in Lebanon, CT and the founder of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Wheelock had been a tutor of Samson Occom. Peck paid sent his son Elijah to Wheelock’s, but he failed his graduation exams. He died in Boston on June 25, 1793, aged 83.

Philander Derby & Co. was a chairmaking and furniture manufacturing company, which specialized in canned furniture, rocking chairs, and traditional wooden tables and chairs, based in Gardner, MA with branches in Boston, MA., New York City, Chicago, and Vermont. Philander Derby (1815-1902) established the company, Philander Derby & Co., in 1868 in partnership with Robert B. Rogers. In 1879, the company was located at 93-103 Cross and in 1906, they were located at 90 Canal and 171 Friend. By 1897, according to various advertisements, P. Derby & Co. was the second-largest chair manufacturer in the country. The company went out of business in 1935. Wendell P. Rogers joined the partnership about 1884. About 1887 the original partners apparently left the company and new partners Arthur Philander Derby (son of Philander Derby), George Hodgman, and George W. Cann continued under the same name at the same address, though all lived in Gardner. The 1894 directory lists the business at 101 Cross. The 1895 directory lists the business at 90 Canal and 171 Friend. The firm's Charlestown, Massachusetts factory and storehouse sustained severe fire damage in September 1904. The company had a physical office in Boston through 1929; it ceased business entirely in 1935.

See Also

Derby, Philander
Rogers, Robert B.
Rogers, Wendell P.
Derby, Arthur Philander
Hodgman, George
Cann, George W.

Rufus Pierce operated a furniture warehouse from 1825 to 1830 in Boston, Massachusetts. Worked at 17 Market St. in Boston from 1827 until at least 1830, sometimes alone, sometimes in partnership. In 1825, he is listed with Parsons Edmund & Co., operating a furniture warehouse on the corner of Marshall & Union, with a house at 15 Cross St. In 1827, he is listed with Isaac Allen, also as operating a furniture warehouse, on No. 17 Market St. It is the same in 1828, except Pierce is listed alone, as he is the next year, but at 17 Cornhill. In 1830, he is listed with Messer Nathaniel & Co. on 13 Cornhill.

Pimm worked as a cabinetmaker in Boston from about 1735 to 1770. Only one object, a japanned highboy chest of drawers, is known with his signature. He started advertising his skill in cabinetmaking in 1735 and when he died in 1772, he was listed as a cabinetmaker in his will. Scholars believe he worked with Robert Davis and possibly Thomas Johnston.

See Also

Davis, Robert
Johnston, Thomas

David Poignand was born on January 12, 1759 to Louis Poignand and Marie Madelene Razel in Saint Hélier, Isle of Jersey, where he’d been trained as a clockmaker and jeweler. He arrived in the United States about 1786. During his career, he lived and worked in Boston, Roxbury, and Lancaster, MA. While there is scant evidence of his cabinetmaking, at least six objects have been attributed to him based on ownership history. According to an article in the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works 29, no. 1 (January 2004), Assistant Curator at the Saint Louis Art Museum, David Conradsen evaluated the authenticity of the attribution for six pieces of furniture which descended through Poignand’s family with a stated history of manufacture. Characteristics of construction and design suggest that any of the objects could have been made either in Jersey pre-emigration or Boston. However, the use of white pine as a material component indicates they were made in America. Poignand and his brother-in-law, who was also from Jersey, were business partners and imported English hardware and likely supplied the Seymours’ enameled and stamped brass patterns. A secretary (made in 1788) owned by the Saint Louis Art Museum was willed to his second son, David Rozel Poignand, and it is believed he took the secretary and other items with him when he moved to Kentucky. From him, the objects descended through the Plant family and from them, they objects were acquired by the Saint Louis Art Museum. He died on August 28, 1830 in Lancaster, MA.

Joseph Pope was born on October 19, 1748 in Boston. In 1787, he married Elizabeth Pierpont (1761-1838) in Boston, MA. Some of the following information comes from a paper label inside the Murdock Clock at Harvard (HUCL.42). Pope honed his skills in Maryland and returned to Boston in 1773 and worked there until about 1810. He started work on an Orrery in 1776 and spent several years working on it. It was so impressive that Governor Bowdoin, John Hancock, and others came together to raise five hundred pounds by lottery to buy the orrery for Harvard College, where it has remained from about 1789 to this day. Pope received £450 for it. Harvard’s object record (no. 0005) for the orrery lists Paul Revere as another maker, and it also lists Simon Willard, who often repaired clocks for Harvard, as a repairman. On April 20, 1787, a major fire broke out in the South End of Boston and destroyed sixty homes in the vicinity of Orange St. The newspaper announced that Pope’s house was reduced to ashes, however, the orrery was successfully spared a firey fate and temporarily moved to the Governor’s house. In June, he advertised “Joseph & Robert Pope, (burnt out in the late fire) Inform their Friends and Customers, they have taken a Shop in Newbury-Street, nearly opposite Rowe’s-Lane, where the Watch and Clock Business &c. is carried on as usual.” On August 7, 1790, an advertisement was published in the Columbian Centinel which read, “Joseph Pope Respectfully informs his friends and the publick that he has lately returned from London, and now carries on the Clock and Watch-Makers business in their different branches, at No. 49 Marlborough Street, a few doors north of Seven Star lane. Has neat silver watches for sale.” From about 1789-1803, Pope is listed in Boston directories with a shop on Marlborough Street. From 1810-1819, he worked in Roxbury. According to Roxbury Tax Records, he was taxed for his “Brick House” in 1818-1819. He moved to Maine in 1820 to live with his son, Robert. On July 30, 1822, his patent for the invention of a trashing machine was accepted. Only about five clocks are known to have been made by him. He died in Hallowell, ME in August 1826 at his son’s home.

See Also

John Treadwell & Co.
Treadwell & Pratt

Daniel Pratt, Jr. was born on Febrary 24, 1797 in Reading, MA to David and Elizabeth Pratt, and before he was a clock manufacturer, he was a trader and shoe manufacturer. In 1818, he married Delia Pratt. In 1832, he joined Jonathan Frost in a partnership as Pratt & Frost, making and retailing shelf clock cases for wood movements. Their partnership dissolved in 1835, and both continued in the business separately. Pratt became a dealer of components for brass movements. In 1845, he opened a retail store in Boston at No. 2 Union Block, and he is known to have been a dealer for Williams & Aldrich of North Attleboro, MA. He died on March 17, 1871 in Reading.

See Also

Daniel Pratt & Sons

Oliver Prentice was active as a cabinetmaker around 1810. He was partners with William Tibbils, but little evidence exists documenting Prentice's activity as a cabinetmaker and his partnership with Tibbils. Neither appear in Boston directories, and Prentice was previously listed as working in Hartford, CT according to Bjerkoe (1957), pg. 179. Ketchum (1995), pg. 268, and more recent sources claim he (and Tibbils) were active in Boston. On Nov. 11, 1828, B. Hudson & Co. advertised for sale at auction the stock of William Tibbils and Oliver Prentice.

A March 1889 advertisement announces Prichard's hiring by Paine; described as an Artist Decorator, formerly with Bancroft & Dyer.

See Also

Bancroft & Dyer, 1877-1888
Paine Furniture Co.

Randle began advertising his wares in 1715. By 1726, he was known as Mr. Randal Japanner and was working on Ann Street. He eventually partnered with Robert Davis. Davis married Randle's daughter Elizabeth in 1735 and took over the business so that Randle could focus on tavern keeping.

See Also

Davis, Robert
Scottow, John

Employed at Peirce, Brown & Co., chair dealers and painters, 59 Richmond, in 1865.

See Also

Peirce, Brown & Co.
Derby, Knowlton, & Co.
Philander Derby & Co.

Wendell P. Rogers became a partner in Philander Derby & Co. about 1884. He had previously worked as a salesman at the company, beginning about 1882.

See Also

Philander Derby & Co.

Listed in Boston city directories from 1760-1803.

See Also

Francis & Rouse
Thaxter & Rouse

Listed as a founding partner of Lawrence, Wilde & Co. in an 1859 Boston Saturday Evening Gazette article. Likely born in Vermont. Brother of Henry B. Ruggles?

See Also

Lawrence, Wilde & Co.

Listed as a founding partner of Lawrence, Wilde & Co. in an 1859 Boston Saturday Evening Gazette article. Likely born in Vermont. Brother of George F. Ruggles?

See Also

Lawrence, Wilde & Co.

Between 1813 and 1816, Levi Ruggles worked at No. 2 Winter Street, Boston and later was located on Charles St. and Marlborough St. Ruggles made panels for Gilbert Stuart in 1810.

J. G. Russell and George C. Hodges are listed as partners of Russell & Hodges, furniture and feathers at 2 Dock Street, in Boston directories from 1831-1833. Prior, Russell is listed as a chair dealer. Hodges disappears from the directories in 1834 while Russell continues in business at 2 Dock Street.

See Also

Russell, J. G.
Hodges, George C.

J. G. Russell and George C. Hodges are listed as partners of Russell & Hodges, furniture and feathers at 2 Dock Street, in Boston directories from 1831-1833. Prior, Russell is listed as a chair dealer. Hodges disappears from the directories in 1834 while Russell continues in business at 2 Dock Street.

See Also

Russell & Hodges

John Rynor and Daniel Smith were active as cabinetmakers in Boston, MA in 1839-1840, according to city directories.

See Also

Rynor, John
Smith, Daniel

John Rynor and Daniel Smith were active as cabinetmakers in Boston, MA in 1839-1840, according to city directories.

See Also

Rynor & Smith

See Also

Beal, Samuel
Beal, William L.

See Also

Beal, Samuel
Beal, George T.

See Also

Beal, Samuel
Beal, Henry
Beal, William L.

See Also

Horton, Samuel H.
Fiske, William

Reuben Sanborn was active in Boston from about 1796-1809, working primarily from Doane's Wharf.

See Also

Sawin, John
Dyer, George W.
Penniman, John Ritto

See Also

Sawin & Dyer

There is little to authenticate William Saxton as a Boston furniture maker, other than a bill of sale allegedly documenting the sale of a tambour desk to Col. Isaac Reed dated 1785. As of 1964, Charles F. Montgomery doubts the bill is for the desk because 1785 seems too early according to characteristics of design and construction.

Cabinetmaker associated with furniture japanned by Robert Davis and William Randle.

See Also

Davis, Robert
Randle, William

From 1800-1803, Wiliam Seaver was partnered with a Frost. It was thought based on Boston Directory listings that Frost's first name was James, however, the James Frost in the Boston Directories may have been in a partnership with a different cabinetmaker and Nathaniel Frost (who was not listed in the Boston Directories) was Seaver's partner.

See Also

Seaver, William
Frost, James
Frost, Nathaniel

Seaver was partnered with a Frost (either James or Nathaniel) from 1800 to 1803. He was active from about 1796 until 1832. Not much else is known about his life.

See Also

Seaver & Frost

The first name of Seward is unconfirmed, but it is possible (and likely) it could be Joshua. Joshua Seward was a prominent clockmaker from 1833-1835. He apprenticed with John Swain and made clocks in his style, and then partnered with Alvah Skinner for a time. After 1835, his occupation changed to stable work.

See Also

John Seymour & Son
Seymour School
Seymour, Thomas

See Also

John Seymour & Son
Seymour School
Seymour, John

See Also

Paine Furniture Co.

See Also

Paine Furniture Co.

See Also

Paine Furniture Co.

See Also

Paine Furniture Co.

In 1765, advertised as cabinetmaker on Back St. who made "desks and bookcases, cases of drawers, bureaus, tables of many kinds and screens." Working at same address until death in 1806 (Bjerkoe, 198). Apprenticed with Nathaniel Holmes 1733 and partnered with him 1736-7 (Vincent, Boston furniture of the eighteenth century, 284).

John Skillin, son of the carver Simeon Skillin Sr., was active as a carver in Boston, Massachusetts from around 1765 until his death in 1800. By 1780, he and his brother Simeon Skillin Jr. had bought a property on Lees Wharf in Boston and became successful figure carvers in the Boston region.

Simeon Skillin, Jr. was one of three carver sons of Simeon Skillin, Sr. The Skillin family were prominent carvers in Boston active about 1737-1825. Simeon Skillin, Sr. founded the shop in Boston in 1737. Skillin, Jr. proved himself a responsible businessman and kept the books for the business. For a time, John Skillin (brother) and Simeon, Jr. were top carvers for the Boston community. He died in 1806 and his inventory reflected his high-end lifestyle.

The Skillins’ family shop was founded in 1737 by Simeon Skillin, Sr. Skillin was born in New Hampshire and moved to Boston with his family, where he began an apprenticeship in carving and opens his own shop. He even held a town office position for a time, evidence of his respect among the community. With his wife, Ruth Philips, he has ten children, and of the five sons that live to adulthood, three become professional carvers. He carved ship fittings for John Erving, one of the richest merchants and well connected politicians in the city. Skillin extended his shop on Charter St. to accommodate his son Samuel as an apprentice in 1758. He died in 1778. The shop closed in 1825.

John Smith and Samuel Hitchings are listed in a partnership in the 1803 Boston Directories. Their shop was located at 40 Middle Street. In 1804, they announced the dissolution of the partnership in the Columbian Centinel. Hitchings continued to work from Middle st. until 1807. He was not listed in subsequent Boston directories. John Smith appeared in the Boston Directories until at least 1813, however, because John Smith was a common name, it's difficult to differentiate him from another cabinetmaker named John Smith. In 1810, Smith was partners with Robert Low, and in 1813, Smith was partners with Low and Thomas Spencer.

See Also

Smith, John
Hitchings, Samuel

John Rynor and Daniel Smith were active as cabinetmakers in Boston, MA in 1839-1840, according to city directories.

See Also

Rynor & Smith

See Also

G. & J. Smith

See Also

G. & J. Smith

John Smith is listed in partnership with Samuel Hitchings are listed in a partnership in the 1803 Boston Directory. Their shop was located at 40 Middle Street. In 1804, they announced the dissolution of the partnership in the Columbian Centinel. In 1805, Smith is listed independently from Hitchings at Back st. Smith is absent from the 1806 directory, but he reappears in 1807 as living on Charles st. In 1810, he is listed as a partner with Robert Low, and in 1813, the two partners are also listed with Thomas Spencer. After 1813, other John Smiths are listed in the directories, none of which are cabinetmakers and therefore likely to be the same John Smith, but this cannot be confirmed with certainty.

See Also

Smith & Hitchings

See Also

Souther, John B.
Hooper, George K.

See Also

Souther & Hooper
Braman, Souther & Co., 1879-

A 1974 auction catalog published "Lord S. Spencer" as the transcription of a stencil. We theorize it may actually read "Lord & Spencer." Boston directories do not list Lord Spencer, nor a cabintmaker with last name Spencer. In the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, a produce and commercial merchant firm existed under Lord & Spencer based out of Boston. There may be no connection, but the firm is the only Lord & Spencer (and related variations of the name) documented in Boston publications.

See Also

Lord & Spencer

See Also

Spooner, Sherlock
Trask, George

See Also

Spooner & Trask

See Also

Chickering, Jonas
Stewart, James

Stewart was born in Scotland and trained in England. He made pianos in Baltimore, MD in the 1810s. He came to Boston in 1823, originally to partner with John Osborn, but instead entered into partnership with Jonas Chickering, who had learned pianomaking from Osborn. Stewart returned to London in 1826.

See Also

Stewart & Chickering, 1823-1826

Philip Zimmerman identifies Giles Alexander as the partner of Samuel Stone in Stone & Alexander. Other scholars have identified Stone's partner as Giles' father William.

See Also

Stone, Samuel
Alexander, Giles, cabinetmaker, 1750-1816, active about 1798-1803
Alexander, William, cabinetmaker, 1744-unknown, active about 1780-1792

Ebenezer Stone was a chairmaker active in Boston, MA from 1786 to 1787 and in Charlestown, MA from after 1787 until ca. the late 1790s.

See Also

Stone & Alexander

London-based clockmaker. Produced works used in case made by Boston-based George Glinn.

Abel Stowell worked in Worcester, MA, as a clockmaker and silvermith. His son, Abel Jr., was a clockmaker in Worcester, Groton, Medford, Boston and Charlestown. The younger Abel dropped the "Jr." from his name following his father's death.

See Also

Stowell, Abel, Jr.

Abel Stowell worked in Worcester, MA, as a clockmaker and silvermith. His son, Abel Jr., was a clockmaker in Worcester, Groton, Medford, Boston and Charlestown. He was active in the Boston area by 1814 and continued until about 1856. The younger Abel dropped the "Jr." from his name following his father's death.

See Also

Stowell, Abel [Sr.]

William Strong worked for George Croome as an upholsterer and salesman starting around 1857. In 1861, Strong became a partner in George Croome & Co. Following George Croome's retirement in 1877, continued the business in partership with J. Wayland Kimball under the name Strong & Kimball. The partnership lasted less than a year and was formally dissovled in 1878. Croome worked in the Boston furniture and upholstery trades between about 1835 and 1877 in a variety of partnerships and under his own name. J. Wayland Kimball published the "Book of Designs, Furniture and Drapery" in Boston in 1876, but does not appear to have worked in the city for many years; he later owned furniture manufactories in New York City and Maine.

See Also

George Croome & Co., upholsterer
Croome, George
Kimball, J. Wayland
Strong, William

William Strong worked for George Croome as an upholsterer and salesman starting around 1857. In 1861, Strong became a partner in George Croome & Co. Following George Croome's retirement in 1877, continued the business in partership with J. Wayland Kimball under the name Strong & Kimball. The partnership lasted less than a year and was formally dissovled in 1878. Croome worked in the Boston furniture and upholstery trades between about 1835 and 1877 in a variety of partnerships and under his own name. J. Wayland Kimball published the "Book of Designs, Furniture and Drapery" in Boston in 1876, but does not appear to have worked in the city for many years; he later owned furniture manufactories in New York City and Maine.

See Also

George Croome & Co., upholsterer
Strong & Kimball, furniture retailer and upholsterer
Croome, George
Kimball, J. Wayland

Elnathan Taber traveled with his brother, Stephen, to Roxbury around 1789 and was trained as a clockmaker by the Willard brothers, Simon and Aaron. After serving his apprenticeship, Elnathan stayed in Roxbury and worked closely with Simon. They had a prosperous working relationship and he became one of Willard's most famous apprentices. Taber eventually bought his business, tools, and good will in 1839. Simon Willard, Jr. sold Taber's "Willard" clocks from 1838-1854.

Taylor was born and married in England. He came to Cambridge, MA by 1638 and was made a freeman by 1651. Taylor was a Harvard College Butler and Joiner active between 1638 and 1678; Harvard became a source of patronage for local artisans and Taylor enjoyed the patronage of the more substantial citizens of Cambridge. Taylor founded the Cambridge school for joiners and educated five or six apprentices in his style. He probably made most of the important furniture in the town.

See Also

Harvard College Joiners

Horace Barnes and Theodore Terry were partners in clockmaking from 1853-54. Their working location is listed as 123 Washington. Terry does not seem to have been working in Boston for a significant amount of time. During his career, he worked primarily in Connecticut and New York. He was one of the founders of the Ansonia Clock Co. Horace Barnes first appears in the Boston directory in 1846 as part of Pond & Barnes, clock manufacturers. In 1852, Barnes and George W. Vose are listed as agents for the Ansonia Clock Co. By 1862, Barnes is listed as a gas engineer, still working at 123 Washington St.

See Also

Terry, Theordore
Barnes, Horace

Theodore Terry worked for the Ansonia Clock Co. after 1854. Barnes and Terry were partners for a short while between 1852 and 1854. Terry does not seem to have been working in Boston for a significant amount of time. During his career, he worked primarily in Connecticut and New York. He was one of the founders of the Ansonia Clock Co.

See Also

Terry & Barnes

See Also

Thaxter, Warren
Rouse, James

See Also

Thaxter & Rouse

Joseph Thayer was a painter in Boston, MA from 1833 to 1835 and in Charlestown, MA from 1836 to 1838. He was principally a painter of ornamentation.

See Also

Hunt, Simon H.
Hunt, Timothy

Titcomb and Jones were the partners in this clockmaking firm active in Boston, Massachusetts about 1825.

See Also

Titcomb, Enoch J.
Jones, Ezekiel

Enoch J. Titcomb was a clockmaker. He partnered with watchmaker Ezekiel Jones about 1825. He is presumed to have partnered with watchmaker William Evans about 1835, when their Boston shops were located next to each other.

See Also

Titcomb & Jones
Evans & Titcomb

Born and lived in Dorchester

See Also

Spooner & Trask

See Also

Treadwell, John
Hunt, Timothy

Samuel Jones Tucke (Tuck) was born in Epsom, New Hampshire in 1767 and died in 1855. He was a chairmaker active in Boston, MA from 1790 to 1805 and was master to Joshua Rand in 1799. He was perhaps the brother of Joseph Tuck. He owned a paint store from 1806 to about 1826 and lived in Baltimore, MD from 1817 until 1822 or 1823. He then returned to Boston and about 10 years later, moved to Nantucket, MA, where he died in 1855.

Boston newspaper "The Democrat" announced the dissolution of Tucker & Griffin (Elisha Tucker and Asa Griffin) in November 1808. Surviving labels indicate that Tucker & Griffin worked at 14 Middle Street and 40 Middle Street, Boston. In examining the early directories of Boston, we found listed no such firm as Tucker & Griffin; but, in 1810, one “Asa Griffin, cabinetmaker,” is given at “14, house back of Middle Street,” and “Elisha Tucker, cabinetmaker,” at “40 Middle St. h. North St.” In 1813, Griffin appears at another address, but Tucker is not to be found. While, in 1818, Asa Griffin’s name is followed by “Tavern, Creek Square Alley” (with no mention of his former cabinetmaking profession), and Elisha Tucker is doing business as “grocer, 25 Hanover.” By 1822, Griffin in back at cabinetmaking, but Tucker does not return to the fold until 1823. Thereafter, both men are listed as cabinetmakers, though neither is located at any time at 14 Middle Street. By 1828, Tucker has disappeared from the directory, and Griffin follows suit in 1833. (“Queries and Opinions,” Antiques (May 1930): 458-60).

See Also

Tucker, Elisha
Griffin, Asa

Boston newspaper "The Democrat" announced the dissolution of Tucker & Griffin (Elisha Tucker and Asa Griffin) in November 1808. Surviving labels indicate that Tucker & Griffin worked at 14 Middle Street and 40 Middle Street, Boston. Elisha Tucker’s appearance in the Boston directories is intermittent. Between 1809 and 1810 he is listed as a “cabinetmaker.” From 1813 to 1818 he does not appear at all. In 1820 his name reappears in the listing as a “grocer.” In 1823 he is listed again as a “cabinetmaker,” and his name continues to appear with this occupational listing until 1827. There is no reference to him after that date.

See Also

Tucker & Griffin
Griffin, Asa

Brother of Henry Augustus Turner. Listed as working at the same address as Henry beginning in 1860. First listed as a partner in Henry A. Turner & Co. in 1866.

See Also

Henry A. Turner & Co.

Brother of Frederick W. Turner.

See Also

Viner & Turner, upholsterers

Henry A. Turner & Co.

John Young was active in Boston, MA as a cabinetmaker around 1811 and worked in a partnership with Thomas Emmons, Jr. He appears only in the 1810 directory as a partner to Emmons (other John Youngs appear in more directories, but it cannot be verified whether these are the same). A work table is signed as made by him and dated May 1811.

See Also
Emmons, Thomas