In 1854 Peter Black opened a shop at the northeast corner of Water and Stable streets in Hamilton to manufacture plows, axes and edge tools. The following year he took in partners John M. Long and Robert Allstatter. Long, born in the Westphalia part of Germany, was foreman at sawmill machinery maker Owens, Lane & Dyer. Allstatter was a partner in a modest file-making business. The new partnership operated as Long, Black & Allstatter, and expanded their product lineup to include agricultural machinery. Their "Iron Harvester" became very successful and generated considerable revenue for the young business. They also began making other machines such as corn drills and feed cutters. In 1863 they moved to the southeast corner of Water and Market streets. Business continued to expand. At some point they began, in a small way, to make metal punching and shearing machines.

In 1870 Mr. Black sold his interest to Messrs. Long and Allstatter and left the business, which became Long & Allstatter. Meanwhile, the water power available at their factory proved inadequate and in 1873 they relocated the business to much larger new buildings at High and Fourth streets. The move also heralded the end of the harvester business and a new focus on punching and shearing machinery.

That same year, 1873, Charles E. McBeth resigned as partner of the very successful woodworking machinery maker McBeth, Bentel & Margedant. In the following year he became a partner of Long & Allstatter. McBeth's considerable mechanical aptitude and business skills led to even more rapid growth.

In 1878 the business incorporated as Long & Allstatter Co. with a capital stock of $200,000. Long was president, a position he held until his death in 1901. He oversaw the expansion of their punching and shearing product line to cover a tremendous range of sizes from some of the smallest available to enormous one-of-a-kind machines for use in steel-making and ship-building. This period was undoubtedly the company's heyday.

From December 1911 Canadian Machinery

By the early 1930s the Long & Allstatter business had shrunk considerably. The company was sharing executives with Columbia Machine Tool Co., another Hamilton machine tool maker. By 1942 Long & Allstatter had been absorbed into Columbia. See the Columbia entry for the subsequent history.

Information Sources

• From a page maintained by the Butler County Historical Society, which appears to be cribbed from an unidentified book or article.

  None of the local industries has added more to Hamilton's reputation as a great manufacturing center, than The Long and Allstatter Co., manufacturers of power punching and shearing machinery and agricultural implements... At present the plant extends over a great area of territory on High Street, the north side of the street being used for the big machine shops and foundry, while on the property owned by the company on the south side, one of the most modern and up to date power plans has been built.

  The history of the concern is a history of progress. In 1855, John M. Long, Robert Allstatter, with Peter Black, joined their interests and began business in Hamilton, using the shop which Mr. Black had used to carry on his business at the corner of what was then Water and Market Streets, beginning business there in 1856. A general line of smithing business with some machine work gave the little firm plenty of work and it prospered.

  In 1867 the firm found that there was a demand for reapers and as a result of the combined efforts of the three men, the "Iron Harvester," as it was known in those days, became one of the important products of the company. In 1871, Mr. Black retired from the business and the firm became known as Long and Allstatter.

  About 1873 the concern found it was rapidly outgrowing its quarters and required more room so that the business was moved from the location now used by the Hamilton police station to its present site at the corner of Fourth and High Streets.

  In 1874, C.E. Macbeth and Herman B. Snider became interested in and actively engaged in the management of the business. In 1878 the firm was incorporated and was henceforth known as the Long and Allstatter Company...

  The products of the concern are known the world over. The heavy punching and shearing machinery, trip hammers, tire welders, drop hammers, and other similar products have made the concern world famous... The agricultural implement features of the company's activity has been progressing yearly. Cultivators, disc harrows, moldboard and disc plows are now being manufactured and are being distributed in every state of the union...

• The 1901 book, A Concise History of Hamilton, Ohio, by Stephen D. Cone.

  THE LONG AND ALLSTATTER CO.

  In February, 1854, Peter Black purchased the Tobias lot, at the northeast corner of Water and Stable streets, where he erected a large establishment for the manufacture of plows, axes, and edge tools. He used water power for his trip hammers; the water was taken out of the hydraulic race on a level and fell into a pit twenty feet deep, whence it was conducted by an underground tail race to the river. Subsequently this was the nucleus for the extensive Long, Black and Allstatter shops.

  In 1855-6 John M. Long, a machinist, was foreman in the old Owens, Lane and Dyer shops. Robert Allstatter was a file cutter and in 1854 was in that business with Peter Scheisman. In July, 1856, the firm of Long, Black and Allstatter was organized. They began with scarcely any other capital than strong arms, health and energy and the determination to succeed. The almost phenomenal growth testifies to the realization of their purpose. Although at first progress was slow, it was steady. When their work got upon the market, the demand was immediately increased.

  The sale of their iron harvester the first year was small as they were built merely for a test. In 1858 they sold sixty-five machines; in 1859, 300; and in 1860, 800. The manufacture of two-horse corn drills and feed cutters was begun in 1860. Although the civil war affected their business slightly, yet larger quarters were needed in 1863, when the old Hamilton and Rossville Academy of Nathan Furman at the southeast corner of Water and Market streets, now the City Building, was purchased for $2,500. In addition to this a large vacant lot at the southeast corner of North Front and Dayton streets was utilized in conducting their expanding and extensive business.

  The manufacture of hay rakes was begun in 1863. The same year 800 of their famous "Iron Harvesters" were sold. The sale of their other implements likewise showed an increase. It was not long until the Front street property proved inadequate for their business. Increasing trade, the miserable management of the Hydraulic power, coupled with other reasons compelled the firm to cast about for more room. The desired locality was found in the Campbell lumber yard and here early in the spring of 1873 the firm commenced those buildings which now stand at High and Fourth streets...

  The interest of Mr. Black was purchased in 1870 by Messrs Long and Allstatter, who thereupon retired from the firm. Upon moving into their shop... the manufacture of harvesters was dispensed with. The same year the manufacture of plows and cultivators was taken up and the punching and shearing machine business was greatly increased.

  The firm of Long, Allstatter & Co. was formed in 1874, when Mr. Charles E. McBeth, of the Bentel & Margedant Co., was taken into the partnership, he being a master machinist and a thorough business man.

  It was in 1878 that the Long & Allstatter Co. was incorporated with a capital stock of $200,000. John M. Long was elected president, which position he filled with great business ability and sagacity until his death June 29, 1901.

  ...there are many inventions, which, when reduced to practice, for a time appear to be successful, and give general satisfaction, and yet the inventors have so far failed to get at the root of the matter, that others, perhaps with clearer minds, discover the weak points and soon produce improvements that so far surpass the original that they are rendered useless and unprofitable. Thus it is that many, or nearly all of the newly discovered mechanical principles only lay the foundation for what, in years afterward, become useful and profitable inventions.

  As an exception to this rule are the Long & Allstatter Co.'s punching and shearing machines. To-day they build machines so light and delicate as to punch a hole one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter through iron or steel one-sixteenth of an inch thick; they also build the heaviest machines used by the government in the construction of vessels and by the largest rolling and steel mills in the country. They manufacture a complete line of machinery for punching, shearing, straightening, bending and forming metal, carrying over three hundred and fifty varieties and sizes. They have also made innumerable designs for special kinds of work. A power shears made by this company is capable of cutting 100 square inches [in cross section?] of hot steel at a single stroke. This firm keeps thoroughly abreast of times in all of the latest inventions and improvements necessary to meet the demands of customers. The shop has been much enlarged and now covers three acres. Jos. Long is vice-president, McBeth, secretary and treasurer, and John M. W. Long, superintendent. All of these men are thoroughly practical shop men and give personal and constant attention to the business.

  During this fall (1901), a large addition was added to their shops.

  JOHN M. LONG—Was born in the village of Mettingen, Westphalia, Germany, October, 14, 1825. His father, James Martin William Long, was a miller by trade and his mother, Mary Ann Mohr Long, was a native of Fulda, Germany, a small hamlet about nine hours ride from Mettingen. Mr. Long came to this country with his parents in 1836, the family first locating in Richmond, Virginia.

  They remained there for two years and then removed to Cincinnati, where John M. Long, the son, attended night school and learned the trade of a machinist. He had a natural aptitude for his chosen calling and mastered it with great facility and proficiency. In June, 1848, he was married in Cincinnati to Miss Mary Ann Neather and in 1854 he came to Hamilton, where he permanently located and accepted a position as foreman in the machine shop of Owens, Lane & Dyer, with which firm he remained for one year and then formed the business relations and associations with which his name was so long and so prominently connected, the firm of Long, Black & Allstatter.

  His rare ability and inventive genius was largely dominant in the firm business and a brief resume of the firm's development outlines the growth and progress of Mr. Long in his industrial life and career. Mr. Long was president of the board of trade, a live organization during its day, and with his means, his counsel and advice, he was ever active in shaping out anything that would tend to the city's interest and advancement. During the discussion and inception of the city water works, he was ever a strong advocate of municipal ownership. He was also chief of the Hamilton fire department in 1866-67. For two terms Mr. Long served in the city council and in his official career he was always on the side of the city's rights.