"One of the oldest manufacturers of shingle, clapboard, lathe and board machines in the State is Joseph Perry, who occupies one floor, 36 x 60 feet. He commenced in 1838. Employs seven men. A 3½ foot Blake wheel supplies the power. The fall is 12 feet." (Quote from 1869.)
Captain "Joseph Perry came to Gardiner in 1827, and until 1836 worked at house carpentry, and for Holmes & Robbins. He then hired a building on dam No. 2, near the People's Grist Mill, and opened a machine shop. In 1846 he bought the shop, which was burned in 1880. Two years later he was again burned out in a shop he had rented, but immediately rebuilt on a larger scale than ever— the best machine shop on the river—and in February 1890, after fifty-four years of prosperous business, he sold his plant and retired." (Quote from 1892.)
Information Sources
- The 1873 New England Business Directory lists "JOSEPH PERRY Gardner Maine. Manufacturers of Vertical and horizontal shingle machines, clapboard machines, box board machines, & lathes." Thanks to Ben Campbell for providing this information.
- The Illustrated History Of Kennebec County Maine 1625 - 1892, available online at MEGenWeb, has this entry: "Captain Joseph Perry, a retired machinist of Gardiner, son of Joseph M. and grandson of Jonathan Perry, of Scituate, Mass., who later lived in Topsham, Me., was born in Topsham May 4, 1811. He married Olive Gilpatrick, who died leaving children: Clara E. (Mrs. Harry A. Leslie) and Anna J. The Captain's second wife was Mrs. Ann M. (Felker) Peterson, of Wiscasset, Me., who left one son - Fred A. Perry. Captain Perry's military title comes from the bloodless fields of the Aroostook war, where he commanded the Kennebec guards." This Joseph Perry seems to be a bit old to be the 1870s maker of shingle and clapboard machines, but so far this is the only possibility we have found.
- Joseph Perry of Gardiner, ME, received an 1876 patent for a shingle machine.
- Webb's New England Statistical Gazetteer,1869, pg. 50
- History of Kennebec County, Part Two, 1892, pg. 613