In 1860, Acker, Dougherty & Co. was established to manufacture barrel machinery and also make barrelheads and hoops. In 1865 the partnership split up and John B. Dougherty began operations under his own name, manufacturing barrel and shingle machinery. In 1870 he formed a partnership with James Dorsey and they operated as Dougherty & Dorsey. By the following year they had ten employees turning out shingle and barrel machinery.

The business operated until about 1878, but by 1879 it appears that Dorsey was no longer involved. The last data point we have is for 1882, when Dougherty received a hoop-machine patent that was assigned to John Connell of Connell & Dengler. That latter firm was being established at about the same time, following the apparent dissolution of Connell, Gleason & Graham.

Information Sources

• From the 1887 book, History of Monroe County, New York .

  Dougherty & Dorsey, barrel and shingle machinery.—Founded in 1860 by Acker, Dougherty & Co. In 1865 the establishment passed into the possession of Mr. Dougherty, who continued it until 1870, when Mr. James Dorsey was admitted as a partner. The firm of Acker, Dougherty & Co. carried on a large business, managing at the same time this concern together with a large hoop and barrelheading establishment; also a saw-mill in Livingston county. During this time Mr. Dougherty was also master-mechanic for the Badger manufactory, on Hill street. This firm manufactures Dougherty's patent hoop machine and Dougherty's patent barrel machinery.

• John B. Dougherty received barrel-making patents spanning 1861 to 1879. His earliest patent was jointly assigned to himself and a Mary Ann Lawler. A patent obtained later that same year was not assigned. An 1870 patent was jointly assigned to himself, Robert E. Sherlock, Joseph C. Schanck, Albert G. Wheeler, and Patrick H. Lawler. A pair of 1878-1879 patents were assigned to veneer maker Burrell, Ives & Co. of Little Falls, NY. Another 1878 patent is assigned to James Dorsey of Rochester. What can we make of this broad variety of assignments? The Burrell, Ives & Co. co-assignment is not unusual: that company was best known for making veneers, and they seem to have had a sideline in making barrel-hoops. As for the rest of the assignments, perhaps Dougherty did not have the money to really succeed on his own, and sometimes used outside investors to fund improvements. Dougherty did not advertise in any of the period sources available online: city directories, Manufacturer & Builder, or Scientific American.
• Dougherty also received 1866 and 1869 patents for shingle machines.
• Ad in an 1870 directory of New York state.
  DOUGHERTY & DORSEY,
  Manufacturers of
  ALL KINDS OF SHINGLE AND
  Barrel Heading Machinery
  And General Jobbers,
  COR. MILL and PLATT STS.,
  ROCHESTER N. Y.
  J. B. DOUGHERTY J. DORSEY."
  
• Patent records; see the list of patents, below. All the patents listed were granted, wholly or in part, to Dougherty. The assignees vary quite a bit, and only one—an 1878 patent for a hoop-cutting machine—was co-assigned to Dorsey. Dorsey was listed as a witness on an 1869 patent granted to Dougherty. It is all rather confusing.
• Listing in the 1874 work, Wiley's American iron trade manual of the leading iron industries of the United States, as a maker of barrel and shingle machinery.
• Listed in Kenneth Cope's American Cooperage Machinery and Tools, who provides the name of Acker, Dougherty & Co. and the date when James Dorsey became a partner. We have not found any other source mentioning the name Acker in association with Dougherty. Ezra W. Acer and John S. Acer each witnessed one of Dougherty's patents but we also did not find any other sources mentioning the name Acer in association with Dougherty.