Person:Charles Wardwell (7)

In Hanover, ME at 1850 census ($175 real estate).

Scientific American 14 July 1855 features an article on his patent for a machine for tennoning bedstead rails.

Living in Guilford, NH at 1860 census with personal estate valued at $100. In Guilford at 1870 census with real estate valued at $2000 and personal estate value of $900. Living at 72 West Cedar Street in Boston at time of death. Cause of Death: Cerebral Hemorrhage.

1854, 1855 articles, 1854, 1858, 1862-1863 ads in SA. Charles Wardwell made and sold his patented tenoning machines and circular sawing machines. The tenoning machine used saws to form the tenons. One of two 1855 articles is nearly a full page, and shows a very nice engraving of the tenoning machine. The other 1855 article gives the price of such an "ordinary-sized machine" as $120. Wardwell also patented a table saw that had two arbors mounted so that when one was raised into position, the other was lowered beneath the table. That way, the user could quickly switch between crosscut and rip blades. The "Wardwell patent circular saw" was listed in Wardwell SA ads of 1862-1863, but was subsequently offered by L. D. Fay and by Rollstone Machine Works. An 1879 patent granted to Charles P. S. Wardwell noted that he was deceased. -Jeff Joslin, the Official Historian of the Old Woodworking Machines e-mail: jjoslin@@magma.ca

Patents:

11,625 Aug. 29, 1854 Charles P. S. Wardwell Lake Village, NH Tenoning machine 13,735 Oct. 30, 1855 C. P. S. Wardwell Lake Village, NH Machine for cutting double tenons 16,814 Mar. 10, 1857 C. P. S. Wardwell Lake Village, NH Circular sawing machine 34,174 Jan. 14, 1862 C. P. S. Wardwell Lake Village, NH Machine for planing and edging clapboards 216,070 Jun. 3, 1879 Charles P. S. Wardwell Lake Village, NH Blind-slat planing machine

"The Wardwell Needle Company. Among the many industries that have contributed so much to the development of Laconia as a manufacturing city is the plant of the Wardwell Needle Company. This company was established in the early sixties by the late C.P.S. Wardwell and was under various managements with moderate success until the year 1885 when it passed into the hands of its present owners who immediately commenced the erection of new buildings and the installation of modern labor saving machinery, much of which is protected by patents and used exclusively by this company, bringing the whole plant to a state of perfection that has enabled the company to take a leading position in the manufacture of the celebrated Excelsior needles for all kinds of hosiery machinery. These needles are used exclusively by many of the largest knitting mills in the country and have a good reputation where known. The constant endeavor of this company to give its customers the best that can be produced has brought them a large trade from all sections of the country and the fact that the owners of these works manufacture and sell more latch needles each year than any manufacturer in the world is a sufficient endorsement of the popularity of their goods. The stock room is filled with finished needles for all the different knitting machines in use and orders are usually filled upon same day they are received. A large number of employees are given constant work and the weekly disbursement of wages for a long series of years has been an important factor in the growth and improvement of that portion of the city. A liberal policy toward its help has always been characteristic of this concern, which has added largely to its prosperity, strikes or other labor troubles never occurring. The mechanical departments are under the personal supervision of Mr. S.A. Whitten, an expert needle maker, and the whole business is managed by Mr. Julius E. Wilson, the treasurer. He came to Laconia with the parties now owning the company and has devoted himself to the building up of a large permanent industry and that success has crowned his efforts goes without saying. " -The Weirs Times Online http://www.weirs.com/w_times/98archiv/07/09/frontpg.htm

"Papers of Charles P. S. Wardwell, 1840-1891 (bulk 1850-1870)

INVENTOR NAME: Wardell, Charles P.S.

REPOSITORY: Henry E. Huntington Library 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, CA 91108 626-405-2100 http://www.huntington.org/LibraryDiv/LibraryHome.html

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 415 pieces SUMMARY: Charles P.S. Wardwell, a New Hampshire inventor. He was born ca. 1824 in Oxford Co., Me., son of Joseph H. and Lydia Wardwell. In the early 1850s he moved to Lake Village, N.H. In 1854, 1855, 1858, and 1862-1863, he patented various tenoning machines and circular sawing machines. During the Civil War, he worked at the Springfield Armory (Mass.). He was the founder of the C.P.S. Wardwell Company and in in the 1878, he was the owner of The Wardwell Needle Co. in Lake Village, N.H. An 1879 patent granted to Charles P. S. Wardwell noted that he was deceased

His elder brother George J. Wardwell had worked as a painter and tried his had at farming before moving to Canada and taking a job at Page's Oar Factory at Coaticook, Quebec (1859). His other brother, Jarvis traveled to California and in 1852 was working at a mine in Deer Creek. He then returned to New England and in 1861 worked in Boston for James Boy & Sons "on Harness work for Government." Joseph W. Wardwell worked at a mill in Oneida, N.Y. in 1863, and in 1864, enlisted in 7th unassigned Company of Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, which was organized for garrison of forts in Boston Harbor, and later attached as company C to the 3rd Massachusetts regiment of Heavy Artillery. After the war, in 1867, he worked at Springfield Armory. His brothers William H., Nathaniel, and Spafford H. Wardwell and his sister Sarah E. (Lizzie) Wardwell Farnum (d. 1858) lived in Rumford, Me

Personal and professional correspondence of Charles P. S. Wardwell. Correspondents include his wife Marcia B. Wardwell, brothers, parents, and other family members, friends and business associates. The letters discuss family matters, personal, social, religious and professional lives of various family members, political news, everyday life, primarily in New England as well as his various inventions and patents. Included are pieces describing Page's Oar Factory at Coaticook, Quebec (1859), emigration, working condition, wages, and social life of miners in California during the Gold Rush, the Civil War, Freedmen, etc. Also included is a diary of William H. Wardwell covering Nov. 1855 - Dec. 1856 and letters addressed to Marcia B. Warwell from her sisters." -http://invention.smithsonian.org/Resources/MIND_Repository_Details.aspx?rep_id=1259

1. ↑ History of Rumford, Oxford County, Maine From its First Settlement in 1779 to the Present Time , 1890.
2. ↑ Boston Massachusetts Vital Records 1879, Volume 312, Page 53.

   Boston Massachusetts Vital Records 1879, Volume 312, Page 53

3.   Patents