Advertisement from January 1899 Power Magazine

Meadville Vise Co. was in business by 1890 and made cylinder boring machines and vises. In 1905 the name was supposedly changed to Barrett Machine Tool Co., but we suspect that the business was split in two, with the vise business continuing under the Meadville Vise name. In 1910 the Meadville Vise Co. was acquired by the G. M. Yost Co. The Barrett Machine Tool Co. survived until 1955.

The relationship to the contemporaneous Barrett Vise & Tool Co. is not understood. We have also seen the name Meadville Vise & Tool Co. and we suspect this just a variant on the name Meadville Vise Co.

Information Sources

• The 1890 edition of Seeger and Guernsey's Cyclopaedia of the Manufactures and Products of the United States lists Meadville Vise Co. as a maker of vises (in the subcategories carriage makers', farmers', heavy chipping, offset jaw, swivel, and woodworkers' post).
• Power Magazine Jan 1899 page 60
• 1904-07-30 The Electrical Review.

  THE REEVES ENGINE COMPANY, Trenton, N. J., is having set up at its Trenton works a mammoth boring machine, which has been made by the Meadville Vise Company, Meadville. Pa. This is said to be the largest special cylinder boring machine ever set up in the United States, and, when completed, it will accomplish a saving of from three to four hundred per cent in the time consumed in boring cylinders. The apparatus weighs thirty-five tons, and will be used in boring engine cylinders and engine frames. It is capable of boring three or four cylinders at the same time, and covers a floor space of forty-eight by ten feet, operating horizontally. James Barrett was the designer. ...

• March 1905 Machinery.

  The Meadvillb Vise Co., Meadville, Pa., manufacturers of the Barrett horizontal cylinder boring machines and vises, have changed their name to the Barrett Machine Tool Co.

• 1905-03-22 American Manufacturer and Iron World.

  The Meadville Vise Company, of Meadville, Pa., manufacturers of the Barrett horizontal cylinder boring machines and vises, has changed its name to the Barrett Machine Tool company. James O. Barrett and Charles J. Barrett, who constituted the Meaville company, will continue in charge of the new company.

• September 1910 The American Blacksmith.

  THE G. M. YOST CO., of Meadville, Pa., recentjy purchased the entire plant and equipment of the Meadville Vise Co., of the same city. This addition to their factory will mean a greatly increased output. Readers who are interested in the purchase of a vise might do well to write to them for particulars and prices.

• 1913-10-30 The Iron Age: "The Barrett Machine Tool Company, Meadville, Pa., has been incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000 by James O., Charles J., Frank N., and George W. Barrett, for the purpose of manufacturing machinery, machine tools and vises.".
• 1928 Industrial Directory of Pennsylvania, Volume 3 lists "Barrett Machine Tool Co., Inc., 228-30 Arch St., Meadville, Crawford [County]. They had 26 employees, all men, 5 of them in the office.
• 1950-11-17 Titusville Herald.

  LEGAL NOTICE Notice is hereby given ofInten tl1 flle Articles of Amendment with the Department of State of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at Harrisburg Pa on Wednesday the twentysecond day of November 1950 by Barrett Machine Tool Co a Pennsylvania Business Corpora tion having its registered office at 228 Arch Street Meadville Craw ford County Pennsylvania Said Articles of Amendment are to be filed under the provisions of the Business Corporation Law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania...

• The 1958 court case of First National Bank of Emlenton, Pa. v. United States involves a dispute between a bank holding a lien on property of Barrett Machine Tool Co. and the IRS, which seized and disposed of that property for non-payment of taxes. The details of the suit indicate that Barrett's unpaid debts started accumulating in 1949.
• 1961-05-26 The Pittsburgh Press: "... The $7359, according to the bank, was left over from the 1955 sale of the Barrett Machine Tool Co., of Meadville, to satisfy Government liens of $16,791..."