George Page patented the first foot-powered mortiser in 1833. In 1834 he and Edward Joslin began to manufacture their mortising machine, probably under the name Page & Co. In 1836 they joined with Aaron Davis and Thomas M. Edwards, to form T. M. Edwards & Co. In 1836, a man named J. A. Fay bought out three of the four co-owners of the company, and merged it with his own operations to create the company known as J. A. Fay & Co. Thus, T. M. Edwards & Co. was an ancestor of what became the largest manufacturer of woodworking machinery on the continent, if not the world.

Information Sources

• Simon Goodell Griffin's 1874 book, History of Keene N. H., has biographical information that illuminates the early years of J. A. Fay & Co. A biography of Edward Joslin is reprinted in the VintageMachinery wiki. The Griffin book is the closest thing we have to a primary source on Page & Co., T. M. Edwards & Co., and on the early years of J. A. Fay & Co. We do not believe that Griffin's history is particularly reliable but primary sources from that time and place are so few that it is probably impossible to construct a more reliable history. Be aware that every book on the history of American woodworking machinery relies on Griffin's work for the history of J. A. Fay & Co. (or relies on sources that in turn were relying on Griffin), so many of the aspects of this story can be traced back to Griffin although there is no evidence from primary sources. For example, Griffin says that J. A. Fay & Co. was at first known as Joslin & Fay, yet we cannot find a single source pre-dating Griffin that refers to Joslin & Fay. On the other hand, we have seen a Fay patent mortiser bearing a paper label from Davis, Fay & Co., but that name does not appear in Griffin's history.