Frank Stutzman established a machine shop in Williamsport in 1890, specializing in machinery repair but was also making a treadle saw feeder. Sometime between 1892 and 1895 he took a wealthy local man, William G. Elliot, into the business, which became Elliot & Stutzman. Stutzman developed a series of woodworking machines, most notably a panel raising machine, which achieved some modest success but the business remained small. Elliot, meanwhile, was mayor of Williamsport 1892-1896, plus he was a partner in another business, the National Paint Works. Neither man seemed to be much for advertising or promotion so there are remarkably few ads or other mentions of Elliot & Stutzman.

From March 1901 The Wood-Worker

By 1902 Elliot was no longer involved in the business, and it appears that one Abraham Fischer obtained a one-fourth share. Almost immediately Stutzman sold the shop and built a new shop that was focused solely on making his patent cutterhead. Stutzman Cutter Head Co. was established in early 1903 to manufacture the cutterhead. With the introduction in 1909 of the patent Oliver Safety Cylinder Cutterhead (see patent 877,407), Stutzman changed his focus to cylindrical safety cutter-heads and achieved some success in this, although he was never a serious thread to Oliver's cutterhead business.

In 1916, plus or minus a year, Stutzman sold his business to local woodworking machinery maker Tawney Machine Co., which continued to make Stutzman patent. By 1922 the Fischer Manufacturing Co. was also manufacturing the same cutter-heads. The April 1922 The Wood-Worker has ads from both Tawney and Fischer, each ad featuring the Stutzman Round Safety Cylinder Heads.

Information Sources

• The 1892 book, History of Lycoming County Pennsylvania.

  Frank Stutzman, machinist, started business in 1890. His shop is located n Campbell street. General repairing of machinery is a specialty. Five men are employed.

• The January 1895 issue of The Wood-Worker carries an ad for this maker: "Designers and manufacturers of the very latest improved PATENT PANEL RAISING MACHINE."
• A website on historic bicycle makers lists Elliot & Stutzman as making bicycles in 1898.
• 1899-08-23 The Horseless Age.

  Frank Stutzman, of Eliot & Stutzman, Williamsport, Pa., has built an experimental carriage with a friction disk transmission.

  Patent 630,471 is also mentioned; this patent for a "Reversing Gear for Motor Vehicles" was granted 1899-08-08 to Frank Stutzman of Williamsport, Pa.
• The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942, by Beverly Rae Kimes and Henry Austin Clark, 1996, says that Frank Stutzman, partner in the firm of Elliot & Stutzman, built and successfully tested an automobile in 1899.
• The 1899 edition of Boyd's Directory of Williamsport lists "Elliot & Stutzman, (William G. Elliot and Frank Stutzman), machinists, 178 Campbell".
• March 1902 The Foundry.

  Kemp & Foulk have secured the foundry heretofore operated by Frank Stutzman at Williamsport, Pa.

• 1902-09-04 The Iron Trade Review.

  Frank Stutzman, Williamsport, Pa., who recently disposed of his general machine shop, is now erecting a plant for the manufacture of cutter heads exclusively.

• The 1902 Annual Report of the Pennsylvania Department of Factory Inspectors lists Elliot & Stutzman of 343 West 4th st., Williamsport, as machinery makers.
• A search for woodworking-related patents to Messrs. Elliot and Stutzman turned up five patents granted to Frank Stutzman between 1896 and 1915. All are related to cutterheads or cutter grinding machines.
• From a 1903 issue of The Iron Age.

  The Frank Stutzman Patent Cutter Head Company will be organized February 12, 1903.

• The 1903 publication Williamsport: The Ideal City for Home or Business, from the Williamsport Board of Trade, lists Stutzman Cutter Head Co., 311 Walnut, as a local business.
• 1904-11-03 American Machinist.

  Excavations for the machine shop of Frank Stutzman, of Williamsport, Pa., at South Fork, Pa., have commenced.

• January 1915 Safety Engineering, in an article on the results of the Second International Exposition of Safety and Sanitation, New York City, December 12-19, 1914: "Frank Stutzman Company, Williamsport, Pa. Safety heads for jointers, planers and base planers. Gold Medal."
• March 1917 The Wood-Worker has an ad for the "'Stutzman' Round Safety Cylinder Head". The ad is from Tawney Machine Co., "(Successors to Frank Stutzman as Manufacturers)".
• From the 2003 book, Williamsport: Boomtown on the Susquehanna, by Robin Van Auken and Louis Hunsinger, Jr.

  In 1870, William G. Elliot, a city native born on July 19, 1840, returned as a successful businessman after making a fortune in the oil business. He built a three-story building at the corner of West Fourth and Pine Streets that became the Academy of Music, containing a number of stores, offices and lodge rooms.

  Elliot was the express manager for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad from 1872 until 1879. In 1892 he was elected mayor of Williamsport, and during his four-year term set in motion the drive to build a new city hall on Pine Street. Elliot was aggressive in having many of the city's streets paved, sewers installed, and other infrastructure improvements. He died on December 20, 1905.