In 1849 Samuel J. Hoggson established a business under his name, S. J. Hoggson, to manufacture stencils and stamps, and then added sheet metal stamping dies, cutting dies, and other goods. In 1878 he took on George C. Pettis as a partner, and formed a stock company, the Hoggson & Pettis Manufacturing Co.. Shortly afterward they bought the rights to a lathe chuck patented by William L. Sweetland. The Sweetland universal chuck—one where the jaws can be moved both together and independently—was a mainstay product for them for decades, and is the main reason Hoggson & Pettis are listed here on the Vintage Machinery website. The company did also make a patent lathe toolholder.

The Sweetland chuck competed against the functionally similar Westcott chuck, which used a scroll mechanism to simultaneously move the jaws, where the Sweetland chuck used an annular rack. The Westcott scroll design proved to be the lasting one, and the Sweetland chuck has faded from memory.

In any event, Hoggson & Pettis Manufacturing Co. survived until at least 1918 and probably for longer than that. By that time the Sweetland chuck was no longer being made.

Information Sources

• 1863-4 Benham's New Haven Directory lists Samuel J. Hoggson as a manufacturer or provider of "Burning brand", die sinking, electrotypes, engravers, hand stamps, ink, and letter cutting. His directory entry reads "HOGGSON, Samuel J., die sinker and letter cutter, Mechanics' Block, 125 Union, h 225 George." He was also listed as a director of the Manufacturers' and Mechanics' Association.
• An AntiqueTypewriters.com page informs us that beginning in 1886, Hoggson & Pettis manufactured the Morris patent typewriter.
• The 1887 book, History of the City of New Haven to the Present Time: "Hoggson & Pettis, or rather the firm which bears that name, commenced business with the making of stencils and stamps, but have enlarged it till it now has a wide scope. Mr. S. J. Hoggson had a small shop in Union street as long ago as 1849. A stock company was formed under the title of the Hoggson & Pettis Manufacturing Company, and, in 1883, their three-story factory on Court street fronting Artisan was erected. The business in which Mr. Hoggson first started is still pursued, but the Company have so added to its scope that they may be said to do all kinds of work in making dies for cutting, forming, trimming, and pressing sheet metal. Their field includes also dies for cutting boots, shoes, cloth, leather, paper and rubber goods. The enameling of paper, a process secured by patents owned by the Company, is another branch of their work. In the manufacture of organ stops, knobs and stems, they are perhaps more extensively engaged than any other firm in the world. The manufacture of the Sweetland chuck has lately been added. The officers are S. J. Hoggson, President; George C. Pettis, Treasurer; and W. J. Hoggson, Secretary."
• Archive.org has a 3-page 1916 Hoggson & Pettis catalog, extracted from Condensed Catalogues of Mechanical Equipment: Sixth Annual Volume, October 1916.
• The 1918 book, A Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven County, Volume 2: "[Hoggson & Pettis Manufacturing Co.] was established by S. J. Hoggson in 1849 and was made a company in 1878 with Mr. Pettis as a partner. It was incorporated in 1882 and has since been conducted under the present style of the Hoggson & Pettis Manufacturing Company, the present officers being H. B. Kennedy, president; Mr. Chandler, vice president; George P. Stephan, secretary; and Frank D. Willis, assistant secretary. The company employs on an average of one hundred skilled workmen and theirs is the only undertaking of the kind in the county. Their trade extends to all parts of the world, for the shipments of their products reach every civilized country. Theirs is one of the leading establishments of the kind in the United States and the factory, covering a floor space of sixteen thousand square feet, is splendidly equipped with the latest improved machinery and every facility to further work of the character there carried on."