In 1869 Jonas D. Beck was a young machinist in the rural borough of Liberty in Tioga county, Pennsylvania. Beginning in that year Beck obtained a series of patents for bench vises. An 1870 article on his vises indicates that he was looking for manufacturers to license his designs (we have not been able to determine whether he was successful in doing so). By the end of 1871 he had accumulated four patents. He exhibited vises at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.

We suspect that Beck manufactured vises for the local market but we have no direct evidence that he did so. So far we have no reports of surviving examples. Beck was an inventor who also designed a weight-powered churn, a boiler feeder, and an electric light. None of these were patented, which suggests that his earlier experience with vise patents was not remunerative.

Information Sources

• Archived article by Todd Werts (ToolArchives.com) Beck, J. D.
• Scientific American, Vol. XXI, No. 11, Sep. 11, 1869, Pg. 175
• 1876 Official Catalogue Complete in One Volume, Part 2, by the United States Centennial Commission, lists exhibitors, including "Beck, J. D., Liberty, Pa.—Non-defacing vises."
• 1890-09-02 Wellsboro Agitator, available online at JoyceTice.com. "Mr. Jonas Beck, of Liberty, has patented an improved churn which runs by weights. It is so arranged that it will run one hour after being wound up."
• 1899 Directory of Tioga County, in the section on Liberty Township, lists "Beck Jonas D, r 50, machinist". This implies he was born about 1849.
• 1897 book, History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania. Harrisburg, PA, by R. C. Brown and available online via JoyceTice.com. In a biography of George Beck. "In 1844 he married Catherine Taylor... who became the mother of nine children, as follows: Jonas D., of Liberty... Jonas D. has invented and patented a machinist’s vise; also invented an automatic boiler-feeder which keeps the water at any height desired without waste of steam or fuel, and an electric light."