1904 Ad

The proprietor of this firm was Mr. Charles M. Baxter, born in Buffalo on 23 April 1831. In 1872 he began manufacturing woodworking machinery in Lebanon, NH, under the name Collins & Baxter. His partner, Mr. Collins, retired from the business within six months and Baxter continued as C. M. Baxter. By 1888 he was operating under the name of Baxter Machine Co.

Information Sources

• Listed in an 1874 work, Wiley's American iron trade manual of the leading iron industries of the United States, as a maker of machinery.
• Listed in a work published by the United States Centennial commission, Official Catalog of the 1876 International Exhibition, as a maker of band saws and planers.
• Memorial of the Baxter Family, by Joseph Nickerson Baxter, 1876: "Charles M. Baxter, first son of Carlos Baxter and Lora Partridge, b. at Buffalo, N. Y., April 23, 1831; m. Eunice Hatch, May 20, 1856, b. at Norwich Vt., May 5, 1830: have no children, and live at Lebanon, N. H. Manufacturer of hand saws and wood machinery.
• The Chess Player's Chronicle of 1878 reports that Mr. C. M. Baxter placed third in the recent Problem Tourney organized by the Lebanon Herald.
• The New-Hampshire Register and Business Directory for 1881 lists C. M. Baxter as a maker of "band saws, planers, and furnaces". He is also listed as a machinist. Orlando J. Richardson is listed as a machinist and foreman for C. M. Baxter. Elbridge G. Ruggles is listed as a machinist, and Henry I. Barnard is listed as an employee.
• According to the Gazetteer of Grafton County, N. H., 1709-1886 published by Hamilton Child in 1886, lists "Baxter, Charles M., manuf. of wood working machinery, Water, h E. Park cor School." It also provides this history:

  C. M. Baxter's manufactory of wood-working machinery and furnaces, on Water street, was established by Collins & Baxter in 1872. Mr. Collins retired from the business within six months thereafter, and Mr. Baxter has increased the business until he now manufacturers above twenty different sizes and styles of planers and hand-saw machines, and house-heating furnaces, employing from ten to twelve men, and doing a business of about $20,000 per annum.

• A surface planer from this company is listed in the inventory at Ben Thresher's mill in Barnet Center, VT. The patent was identified by a patent date on this machine.
• From The Railroad, Telegraph, and Steamship Builders' Directory, 1888: a listing under wood-working machinery for "Baxter Machine Co., Lebanon, N. H." There was a separate listing under C. M. Baxter, which was presumably due to sloppiness on the part of the editors.
• An ad in the 1904 The Mechanical Index for Baxter Machine Co., Lebanon, N. H., says, "M. V. Purmont, proprietor."