S. K. Baldwin - History | VintageMachinery.org

Manufacturers Index - S. K. Baldwin

S. K. Baldwin
Laconia, NH; Gilford, NH, U.S.A.
Manufacturer Class: Wood Working Machinery & Metal Working Machinery

History

Last Modified: Apr 16 2017 11:00PM by Jeff_Joslin
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In 1868 Stephen K. Baldwin sold a foot-powered lathe, probably a design that was subsequently patented by John W. Baldwin. Later that same year the business transitioned to Nathan H. Baldwin.

Information Sources

Listed in the EAIA Directory of American Toolmakers, with a report of a treadle-powered lathe from this maker.
The 1857 The New Hampshire Annual Register and United States Calendar lists "Gilford, S. K. Baldwin & Son".
The 1858-02-20 issue of Scientific American has an ad for S. K. Baldwin's turbine water wheel. The ad references an earlier Scientific American article on the wheel. The 1859-03-19 issue carries a longer ad for the same product.
The 1859-09-24 issue of Scientific American mentions S. K. Baldwin as a maker of an undershot turbine water wheel.
The 1868-02-01 issue of Scientific American carries a small ad for S. K. Baldwin's "Portable Foot Lathe with slide rest and fittings". This ad ran for several months.
The 1868 New Hampshire Business Directory, published by Briggs & Co., lists "Belknap Iron Foundry, S. K. Baldwin, Laconia" under "Brass Founder" and "Iron Founders". S. K. Baldwin of Gilford Village was listed under "Machinists and Machinery Manufacturers". S. K. Baldwin of Laconia was listed under "Machinery Castings Manufacturers" and "Stove Manufacturers".
S. K. Baldwin advertised his patent water wheel in 1850s Scientific American. 1868 issues of that journal carried a small ad for S. K. Baldwin's foot lathe with slide rest.
A John W. Baldwin of Laconia, NH, was granted an 1869 design patent for a foot lathe.
The 1874 work, Wiley's American Iron Trade Manual of the Leading Iron Industries of the United States, lists S. K. Baldwin as a machinery maker located in Gilford, NH (which is a couple of miles from Laconia).
1875 Catalogue and Price List of Celebrated Foot Lathes, Fittings, Etc: Manufactured by N.H. Baldwin, Laconia, N.H..
Some information is from Kenneth L. Cope's American Foot Power and Hand Power Machinery.
The 1881 book, The Baldwin Genealogy From 1500 to 1881, by C.C. Baldwin, lists Stephen Keyes Baldwin, born 1799-11-04, and living, as of March 1880, in Laconia. He married Mary Leach of Goffstown, NH on 1827-02-29. Sons where Charles Augustus (1827-), Nathan Howe (1829-), John Wesley (1834-) and Samuel Josephus (1843-).