From 1870-02-26 Scientific American

The Assonet Machine Company was established in 1869. This was at a time when the railroad boom that followed the Civil War was near its peak, and a new machine tool business would appear to have good prospects; however, their modest capitalization would hurt them. By early 1870 they were manufacturing an improved version of a drill press that had been patented by Nelson P. Eddy. In mid-1873 the company failed to file a required update with the state, which suggests that they were in financial difficulty. In September of that year the Financial Panic of 1873 really got rolling, which dashed any hopes of resuscitating the company. By the beginning of 1874 the company's operations had shut down and their factory had been sold.

Although this small company is long forgotten, their drill press had features that anticipated precision drilling machines that took at least a decade more to become commonplace.

Information Sources

• 1870-02-26 Scientific American has an illustrated article on this company's drilling machine.
• The 1870 Abstracts of the Certificates of Corporations Organized Under General Statutes of Massachusetts lists Assonet Machine Company of Freetown, with authorized capital stock of $20,000, of which $15,000 had been paid in, with 200 shares at a par value of $100 per share, certificate filed July 19, 1869. They filed an updated certificate 1870-08-04 following their annual meeting on 1870-06-27; 16,400 shares had been paid in, they had invested $4,000 in real estate and $20,000 in personal estate, and they claimed assets of $1397 and debts of $14,717. The mid-1871 update shows assets and debts both at $14,100. The mid-1872 update shows assets and debts both at $8,000. There was no mid-1873 update (the Financial Panic of 1873 did not really get rolling until September of that year so it could not have been the reason why Assonet Machine Co. did not file an update). The mid-1874 update shows that Assonet Machine Co.'s real estate and personal estate were at zero, with no assets and $4300 liabilities.
• 1902 book, A History of the Town of Freetown, Massachusetts, in a history of N. R. Davis & Sons, manufacturers of "sporting fire arms". "...In the winter of 1873-4 the business was removed to the building formerly occupied by the Assonet Machine Co. ..."