In 1874, Albert P. Sibley, George O. Ware, and John R. Mills moved from Worcester, MA, and started Sibley, Mills & Ware in South Bend, IN. Mills retired in 1878, and the firm became Sibley & Ware. In 1904 Sibley assumed sole ownership and the company became Sibley Machine Co. At some later date the name became Sibley Machine & Foundry Corp.

Sibley & Ware 24" drilling machine

Under all these names the company's specialty was manufacturing drill presses, especially large models for metal-working. Since 1883, if not earlier, the company also operated their own foundry to create the castings needed for their drilling machines and provided contract foundry and machine shop services for other manufacturers, including South Bend Lathe Works and Oliver Farm Equipment Co. By the end of World War II Sibley's drilling machine designs were no longer state of the art and sales gradually declined. In the 1960s their machinery line was discontinued altogether. Their contract foundry and contract machinery businesses continued to be successful and the Sibley Foundry & Machine Corp. remains in business today (as of 2022).

Information Sources

• Text ad in 1883-09-15 Scientific American, page 172: "Sibley & Ware, South Bend, Indiana. Specialties: 19½ inch drill presses, wheel or lever feed. And Gear Cutting, prices reasonable."
• 1889-01-10 American Machinist page 6, in an article on "Condition and Prospects of the Machinery Business".

  Sibley & Ware (Iron Founders and Machinists, Drills, Pulleys, etc.), South Bend, Ind., write us:

  Our business for 1888 has been very satisfactory. There has been a large demand for 20-inch drills, and our general machine and foundry business has been very good. We have taken out two patents on a wood pulley with cast-iron hubs and wrought-iron arms, made whole or split, adapted to any kind of motion, but are very successfull under high speeds. We expect to put them on the market during this year, and add largely to our capacity in other ways.

• 1894-1895 Proceedings of the Indiana Engineering Society includes at advertisement from "Sibley & Ware, South Bend, Indiana. Founders and Machinists", for their "Iron Work for Buildings, Sewers, also South Bend Inlets, Etc." Elsewhere in the issue in an article on "The Construction of Sewers" by C. L. Kinney (pages 93-97) it says, "Right here lus us recommend the Sibley & Watre catch basin or inlet, made at South Bend, Indiana, as being as good, if not the best, inlet made."
• January 1899 Machinery, in an ad for the magazine itself, lists readers including "A. Forsyth, Foreman Foundry, Sibley & Ware / South Bend, Ind."
• 1899-05-
• 1931 book, Indiana One Hundred and Fifty Years of American Development, Vol. 3, by Charles Roll, A.M., and was taken from a web page with Indiana biographies by Deb Ware.

  The Sibley Machine Company was established in South Bend in 1874, the founders of the business, Sibley, Mills & Ware, having come from Worcester, Massachusetts. At South Bend they established a factory for the manufacturing of upright drilling machines and grey iron castings. With the retirement of Mr. Mills in 1878 the firm was continued as Sibley & Ware. The shops and foundry were destroyed by fire in 1883 and subsequently the present plant was erected on Tutt Street. Several additions and new equipment have been added from time to time. In 1904 Mr. Sibley became sole owner of the business, which was incorporated as the Sibley Machine Company. Mr. Sibley retired in 1907 and Mr. William H. Holland became the active head and continued in that capacity until his death in 1922. In 1922, on returning from the eastern law school, Mr. Voll became the active head of the business as president and manager, with Mrs. Voll as vice president. The company now manufactures a special line of power drills, and it is one of the largest plants in South Bend manufacturing a line of staple articles from iron, steel, brass, nickel and other metals. The Sibley drilling machines have long enjoyed a national reputation. Mr. Voll is also president and manager of the Motor Castings Company of South Bend.

• From a small Sibley display in the Studebaker National Museum (Sep 2006):

  Albert Sibley began a machine repair shop, on the St. Joseph River in 1874. The company grew into a foundry and began building drill presses. Castings were produced for the auto industry. Drill press production ended in 1968. Address-Sibley Machine & Foundry Corp, 206E Tutt St, South Bend, IN 46623 (219-288-4611). The foundry still operates on Sample St in downtown South Bend

• Sibley Machine & Foundry Corp (makers of ductile and grey iron castings and contract machining) still exists today, with William H. Voll Jr as President. They are currently (2022) located at 206E Tutt St, South Bend Indiana, Phone# 574-288-4611.
• Possible sources for replacement gears: Sterling Instrument or McMaster-Carr.
• Sibley used to make castings for the South Bend Lathe Company, until the early to mid-1980s.
• November 2009: An extensive search for the serial number data (of machines sold to customers) performed by Bill Voll and Brian Kachadurian throughout the Sibley property was unsuccessful.