In 1838 Nathaniel Richardson became partner in a water-powered machine shop on Main Street in Athol. By 1849 he was in partnership with his brother, Luna Bolles Richardson, as N. & L. B. Richardson In 1855 Richardson became sole proprietor. In all, he operated the shop for about 45 years. Laroy S. Starrett reportedly did his apprenticeship with him. In 1878 the Richardson shop took a contract to manufacture a combination square designed, and eventually patented, by Starrett; this square was sold under the "L. S. Starrett" name. In 1880 this arrangement ended when Starrett was sued by former business partners and Richardson—by this time in his 70s—did not want to get caught up in the litigation. Starrett bought the patterns and stock on hand, acquired his own building down the street, and established the L. S. Starrett Co., a move which proved to be rather successful.

For some years before Nathaniel's death in 1883, the business was operated by son Charles Frederick "Fred" Richardson and was doing business as C. F. Richardson. After Nathaniel died, Fred and a brother, George Henry Richardson, fully took control of the business. By that time they were manufacturing speed lathes; we do not know if they were were being manufactured when Nathaniel's name was over the door. In 1886 Charles took over sole ownership of the business. At some point, certainly by 1887, Charles was manufacturing levels, and in 1896 he began making transits. In about 1895, and certainly by 1899, son Frederick Ray "Fred Jr." Richardson joined his father as partner and the business became C. F. Richardson & Son. By this time they had about twenty employees.

In 1904 C. F. Richardson & Son sold the rights to their line of levels to the Goodell-Pratt Co., and at about the same time merged with Athol machine-screw manufacturer Oliver & Whitney Co. to create the Richardson-Oliver Co. In 1905 they sold their transit line to the L. S. Starrett Co., and this seems to have been the end of the Richardson-Oliver Co. In 1907 Charles sold the original machine shop building to the Starrett company, who tore it down in 1910. The lot is now occupied by the Athol YMCA.

Information Sources

• 1849 New England Merchantile Union Business Directory, under Machinists / Athol, lists "Richardson, N. & L. B.".
• 1878 Briggs & Co.'s The Worcester County Directory lists "Richardson C. F. / Athol" under Machinists and Machinery Manufacturers. Nathaniel Richardson is listed as a Notary Public. "L. Richardson" was a machinist in Athol Centre.
• 1883 Millers River District Directory, text ad: "C. F. Richardson, Machinist, Contractor / for / light machine work. / Improved speed lathes a specialty. / Shop, Main St. / Athol, Mass."
• 1884 Drew, Allis & Co.'s Worcester Directory lists "C. Frederic Richardson, of Athol" as a state legislator. The late Nathaniel Richardson was still listed as a Notary Public in Athol.
• 1889 book History of Worcester County, Massachusetts: Volume 2, by D. Hamilton Hurd.

  Richardson's Machine-Shop.—This was built in 1824 by Josiah Willard and James Young, and used by them as a carpenter's shop. Mr. Willard sold, at length, to Stillman Knowlton and Mr. Young to Nathaniel Richardson. In 1855 Mr. Richardson became the sole owner, and remained such till his death, though for a few years before that event his son, Charles Frederick Richardson, had the principal charge of the business to which he has now succeeded, employing about fifteen men.

• 1889 book Leading Business Men of Greenfield and Vicinity

  C. F. Richardson, Manufacturer of Architects and Carpenters Transits, Athol,Mass.—Mr. C. F. Richardson has been sole proprietor of the business with which he is identified since 1886, it having been founded by Mr. Nathaniel Richardson, who was succeeded by Messrs. G. H. & C. F. Richardson. The present owner was born in this town, and is a very widely-known citizen, formerly having been a member of the Board of Selectmen. He does a general machine jobbing business, and maintains a shop comprising 2 floors, and measuring 30 x 75 feet, it being very completely fitted up with improved machinery, tools, etc. Employment is given to 17 competent assistants, and orders are promptly and accurately filled at moderate rates. Mr. Richardson manufactures Light Hand Lathes to a considerable extent, but makes a specialty of two ingenious and useful instruments, invented and patented by him. The first of these is an Architects and Carpenters Transit, designed expressly to meet the wants of those who require some instrument for the taking of angles, but do not care to pay the high price demanded for Surveyor's or Engineer's Transits. It is warranted accurate and well-made, and is sold for $15.00. With short legs the instrument is 8 inches high, and for $1.50 extra, Extension Legs will be furnished, making the height adjustable from 2 feet 8 inches to 4 feet 8 inches. The second is a Levelling and Squaring Instrument for the use of Architects, Builders, Stone Masons, etc. It is warranted to be the best, cheapest and most durable in the market for the money, and weighs in the box packed ready for shipment, 13 3/4 lbs. The price is $12.50, japanned, o r$17.50, all brass and nickeled.

• 1891 2 pages of C. F. Richardson's levels, excerpted from a catalog of the Machinists Supply Co. of Chicago.
• 1893-05-04 Metal, in an article on the most recent catalog from the Athol Machine Co. "Illustrations are also shown of C. F. Richardson's line of Iron Bench and Pocket Levels, also his Levelling Instrument, used by builders and others for leveling, squaring and similar purposes. The latter device is said to be the only low priced instrument of its kind on the market which is of practical use."
• 1896 The New England Business Directory and Gazetteer lists "Richardson C. F. & Son, Athol" under Machinists and Machinery Manufacturers and also under Spirit Levels.
• 1897 Journal of Railway Appliances, all monthly issues, lists "C. F. Richardson, Athol, Mass." under Levels. There is no listing for Richardson under Lathes.
• 1898 issues of Scientific American, small illustrated ads. From 1898-01-29 issue: "Transits and Leveling Instruments / Nickel Plated Electric Levels / Sizes, 2 and 3 inches. Prices, 25 and 30 cents. For Book on the Level, C. F. Richardson & Son, P.O. Box 977, Athol, Mass., U.S.A." The 1898-04-23 issue has a similar ad but featuring their pocket levels. The 1898-05-21 ad featured their adjustable bench level (machinist's level). From 1898-06-04 issue: "Transits and Leveling Instruments. / Plumbers' Iron Level With Double Plumb. / Special device giving rise and fall of all piping. Price $2.25. Size 13 inch. For book on the level / C. F. Richardson & Son, P. O. Box 977, Athol, Mass., U.S.A."
• 1899 Seeger and Guernsey's Cyclopædia of the Manufactures and Products of the United States: New York lists "C. F. Richardson & Son, Athol, Mass." under Iron levels, Level glasses, Machinists' levels, and Surveying instruments. They are not listed under any of the many categories for lathes.
• 1899—1899 book Athol, Massachusetts, Past and Present, by Lilley B. Caswell.

  C. Fred Richardson, son of Nathaniel Richardson, was born in Athol, Sept, 28, 1839. He attended the public schools of the town until about eighteen years of age, when he went into his father's shop and learned the machinist's trade. He was for four or five years in the sewing machine shops at Orange, and a year in the rattan shop at Fitchburg, and the rest of his life has been spent in Athol. In 1870 he succeeded to the business of his father, which was a general machine jobbing business, and has since added to it the manufacture of architects' and carpenters' levels and transits, and also deals extensively in bicycles, his son Fred R., being in company with him. Taking an active interest in the business and financial affairs of the town, he has been called upon to serve in various capacities. He has been a member of the board of selectmen eight years, represented this district in the Legislature of 1884, and on the resignation of John D. Hob brook as town clerk in 1897, he was appointed to fill the vacancy, which position he now holds. He is a trustee of the Athol Savings Bank, secretary and treasurer of the Athol Co-Operative Bank, and secretary and treasurer of the Citizens Building Co. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and Knights of Honor, and has been Master of Orange Lodge of Masons. He married Celia C. Lamb, Sept. 21, 1862. They have two children, Fred R., who is in company with him, and Carl.

  Nathaniel Richardson was born in Swanzey, N. H., Dec. 31, 1804. He was the second son of a family of ten children, and his early life until twenty-one years of age was spent on the farm and in the blacksmith shop of his father. He came to Athol and engaged in work as a machinist for the Athol Manufacturing Co., April 25, 1826. In 1835 he bought the house on Main street, which was his home for nearly half a century, and in June, 1838, he purchased the machine shop, now occupied by C. F. Richardson & Son, where with his brother Luna, or alone, he carried on a most successful business for many years. He was prominent in town and public affairs, was representative to the Legislature in 1847 and 1860, a member of the board of selectmen for nine years, town treasurer from 1865 to 1875, and was for thirty-one years a Justice of the Peace, having received his first appointment in 1852. In 1854 he was elected a director of the Millers River Bank, and filled that office to the time of his death, and was also a trustee of the Athol Savings Bank from the time of its organization. In 1827 he united with the Free Masons, in which he always took an active and prominent part, and at the time of his death was the oldest Mason in town. In all of his relations he was a true and honorable man. He married Emeline Young, daughter of Reuben Young, a descendant of Robert Young, who was one of the early settlers of Athol, Oct. 31, 1830. They had two children, George H. and Charles F. Mr. Richardson died Feb. 16, 1883.

• 1902 The Iron Age Directory lists "C. F. Richardson & Son, Athol, Mass." under the following categories. Gauges, Scratch, Surface, &c.; Lathes, Hand; Lathes, Speed; Model and Experimental Work.
• 1905—March 1904 Annual Report on the Statistics of Labor "Athol...Industrial Changes... January. Oliver &, Whitney Co., machine screws, and C. F. Richardson & Son, iron levels, etc., consolidated under name of Richardson-Oliver Co.; in February, incorporated under the laws of Maine; authorized capital $10,000. ..."
• 1905—1905-12-21 The Iron Age.

  THE L. S. STARRETT COMPANY, Athol, Mass., maker of fine Mechanical Tools, announces that it has purchased the Leveling Instrument and Transit business of the Richardson-Oliver Company, Athol, Mass., formerly C. F. Richardson & Son, who for many years made a line of Leveling Instruments adapted for the use of architects, Carpenters, Stone masons and others. The Starrett Company will hereafter produce and market these Tools in connection with its present extensive line.

• 1906—January 1906 The National Builder. "The L. S. Starrett Company, makers of fine mechanics' tools at Athol, Mass., have absorbed the Richardson-Oliver Company of that city..."
• 1999 book, Images of America: Athol, Massachusetts, by Robert Tuholski, provides photos of the C. F. Richardson shop, ca. 1890, and a photo of the employees in front of the building from about 1888.
• The well-researched OldToolHeaven page on the history of Goodell-Pratt provides key information on C. F. Richardson & Son and has a portrait of Mr. Richardson. This site provided much of the information we have on the connections between Richardson and both Goodell-Pratt and L. S. Starrett.
• FindAGrave page on Nathaniel Richardson provides birth and death dates and also details relations, although the list of Nathaniel's siblings is incomplete.
• From a genealogy page

  "Nathaniel Richardson, Esq. ... born in Swanzey, N. H., Dec. 21, 1804... Until twenty-one, he stayed at home, and worked in the blacksmith shop and on the farm. From April, 1826, till the autumn of 1829, he was at work in a cotton factory in Athol, making machinery. From January, 1830, to April, 1832, he was repairing cotton machinery in Peterborough, N. II. In April, 1832, he became superintendent of a cotton manufactory in Athol, and so continued till May, 1835. From that time till 1864, he was in the “machine business.” He represented Athol in the Massachusetts Legislature in 1847 and 1860. He has been selectman of Athol nine years; has also served the town ten years as treasurer; has been assessor, overseer of the poor, etc., justice of the peace since 1852; commissioner to qualify civil officers since 1866.

  Luna Bolles Richardson, ...brother of the preceding...born in Swanzey, N. H., Dec. 27, 1809; married, at Peterborough, N. H., Nov. 28, 1833, to Mary Kimball, who was born at Bridgewater, N. H., Nov. 4, 1811. They have lived in Athol, Mass., since 1848.

• A Practical Machinist forum discussion mentions a level made by C. F. Richardson of Athol. Apparently Kenneth Cope's Makers of American Machinist Tools lists this maker, active from 1887 until at least 1896 when he started making patent transits.