Menu
- Home
- Search▼
- List▼
- Add▼
- My Relate▼
- Admin▼
ViewsWatchersBrowse |
[edit] Henderson BusinessThe Beginning There is no proof that Henry Henderson knew how to blacksmith before he settled in Wardsville, although he may have had the opportunity as a teen in Potsdam, St. Lawrence County, NY. Nevertheless at the time of the 1851 census at age 27 he was listed as a blacksmith. In the next decade he learned enough to start a foundry and was listed as a foundry operator on the 1861 census. Henderson Bros., the business, was probably created in the late 1870’s with Wm. H. Henderson and Walter L. Henderson as principles. Polks Gazetteer in 1888 reported the business as Henderson, Henry & Sons foundry, The Foundry One source says the foundry was built in 1858. By then Henry’s knowledge had progressed beyond blacksmithing. He had learned how to make patterns, source a supply of mold sand, come up with proper crucibles and get a source of fuel and work out a bellows arrangement for blowing air. He had grasped something of the theory of quenching and once a casting was made, now had to have the tools to clean and shape the surface, if necessary. The Day Book described below recorded that he bought coal from Chatham and that is the only reference to foundry supplies other than one page with the notation “Pulverized white marble (welding), White wine vinegar (tempering).” The newspaper article on the 1888 fire gives a good indication of the size of the foundry and associated machine shop. The Day Book The historical archives at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario have a poor quality microfilm copy of the following:- Title: ACCOUNT BOOKS OF HENDERSON BROTHERS, (W. H. AND W. L. HENDERSON ), MANUFACTURERS OF AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, WARDSVILLE , ONT., 1879-1902 Note: VOLUME 1 IS THE DAY BOOK FROM JAN. 1, 1879 TO DEC. 22, 1882. VOLUME 2 IS THE DAY BOOK FROM FEB 17, 1883 TO SEP 15, 1902. Unfortunately the University neglected to record the source. Hopefully the original books still exist somewhere. Despite what the University says, the Day Books pertain to Henry’s business and NOT to Henderson Brothers. The first 1879 entry is a credit entry recording Henry’s equity in the business as $2,858.23 and, although Volume 1 records mainly business transactions, Volume 2 records farming and personal transactions and many records of Henry’s loans to family and acquaintances. In Volume 2, Henderson Brothers is also mentioned but only as a client. In the photo gallery below there are two pages from these books as well as corresponding images of interpretations of the same. Judging by the handwriting, the same person recorded most pages and it was probably Henry. The spelling is generally very bad and that coupled with the handwriting and microfilm quality leaves some entries indecipherable. Nevertheless the Day Book gives a good sense of the extent of the Henderson’s business. It was definitely the place for a farmer to either buy agricultural equipment or bring it to be fixed. The shop was capable of wood turnings, planing and sawing. For metals they could weld, babbit, turn threads and tap and die. There were sales of coal, boiled linseed oil, turpentine, machine oil and metal items such as bolts, iron bar, files, washers, chain and horse shoes, as well as various kinds of plows and the other farm implements and, of course, the brick and tile machine and clay tiles and bricks. Henderson Bros. Henderson Brothers may have been formed by Wm. Henry and Walter Lewis just before 1880 with Wm. Henry as the prime mover. The purpose was probably to market Henderson inventions such as the tile and brick machine and market and service agricultural machinery manufactured elsewhere. A functioning operating model of the tile and brick machine is in the small museum in Wardsville. Farm field drainage was becoming a practical requirement in south western Ontario especially in the flat lands around Chatham and the Hendersons with their machine were able to manufacture and sell clay tile, shipping it out by train from the Newbury station. The Bell The Henderson foundry obviously cast a lot of iron shapes for agricultural equipment; however Henry also knew how to cast brass and/or bronze. It is said that Henry cast the town bell, but unfortunately it had a poor ring tone. He apparently then asked the citizens of Wardsville for donations of silver and then re-cast the bell with a higher silver content. The End The Henderson’s business finally petered out before the turn of the century. In the 1901 census Henry’s sons occupations were; William Henry – mechanic, Walter Lewis – drover, Thomas Edward – electrician in Sault Ste, Marie, Eder Eli – engineer in Bangor, Maine, James Franklin –farming the family farm, and John Clayton – farming in Mosa Township. Henry Henderson, the patriarch, was living at the home farm with his second wife and his son, James Franklin. On October 20, 1902 Henry died.
|
