In 1876 the brothers Frederick E. Wells and Wells Carp Feb 1928 pg 3 ( left Wiley & Russell Manufacturing Co. to start their own business. They located in a small building on the North bank of the Green River, a short distance upstream from Wiley & Russell. Under the company name of Wells Brothers and the brand name of "Little Giant" they made thread cutting tools, i.e., taps and dies.

In 1879 Franklin E. Snow entered the Wells Brothers organization and the firm became known as Wells Brothers & Co. Through his efforts the company grew rapidly, competing with Wiley & Russell. Tools and machinery for farriers, blacksmiths and wheelwrights were added to the product line. This included manual and powered drilling machines under the "Little Giant" trademark.

In 1888 the company moved to a new and larger factory and incorporated under the name of Wells Brothers Co. In 1900 Frederick E. Wells left, and, with his son, formed the F. E. Wells & Son Co. to manufacture pipe threading tools and lathes.

In 1912 Wells Brothers Co. was acquired by the Greenfield Tap & Die Corp. Tools and machinery not related to thread cutting and the Wells Brothers Co. name were discontinued after 1916.

In 1919 Frank O. Wells resigned as president of Greenfield Tap & Die Corp. and formed The Wells Corp. In addition to taps and dies, they manufactured 3 tap testing machines and 2 Broachwell keyway broach presses.

Information Sources

• The information here is courtesy of Albert Shane, curator of Greenfield's Museum of Our Industrial Heritage.
• The Massachusetts corporate registry database lists Wells Brother Company [sic] first registration as 1901-09-23.
• Carriage and Wagon Makers Machinery and Tools by Kenneth L. Cope, 2004 page 184
• The Wells Corp. Small Tools Catalog No. 2, Feb. 1924