Image of the Leeds Foundry from an 1879 book

Beginning in 1858, E. E. Abbott was the proprietor of the Leeds Foundry of Gananoque, Ontario, and a maker of woodworking and metalworking machinery, including a wood-frame tablesaw; the business variously used Abbott's name and the foundry name for its products. In 1871 the named changed to Leeds Foundry & Machine Works. For a couple of decades the business was large and prosperous. Then in early 1889 the name was changed to the Economy Engine & Machine Co. of Gananoque, then a little more than a year later the business was sold to George Gillies, a local manufacturer of agricultural implements such as harrows and cultivators as well as carriage hardware, nuts, bolts, and other hardware specialty items. In 1891 the Economy Engine & Machine Company was dissolved, presumably being absorbed into Gillies' main business, which in 1893 incorporated as George Gillies Co., Ltd. So far as we can tell, all of the old product lines were abandoned with the change of ownership to Gillies.

Ad from 1871 "Lovell's Dominion Directory"

There is no connection to the Leeds Foundry of New Orleans, which also made woodworking machinery.

Do you have more information?

I am especially interested in woodworking machinery manufacturers from Ontario, so if you have any information on relevant woodworking machinery companies and products, I strongly urge you to contact Jeff Joslin.

Information Sources

• This maker was brought to our attention by Art Shaw in a posting in the forum: "a wooden table saw with cast iron bearings and hand wrought hardware. This was in Gananoque Ontario, where there had been a machine manufacturer in the 1860s..." Art communicated the maker's name to us via email. Art has an ad for this maker from an 1864 directory.
• The Canadian County Digital Atlas project has 1862 listings for E. E. Abbott, "Proprietor, Leeds Foundry", and D. S. Abbott, "Iron Founder, Manufacturer of General Hardware". Both Abbotts were in Gananoque, which is part of Leeds Township.
• 1869 The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory has a text ad: "E. E. Abbott, manufacturer of Machinists' Tools, Power Presses & Special Machinery, —Also— Water Wheels, Mill Gearing, Wood Working Machinery, &c., and Merrill's Telescopic Lift and Force Pumps, Bolts, Nuts, Washers, Letter Presses / Bench and Jack Screws, &c., &c., Gananoque, Ontario."
• Lovell's Canadian Dominion Directory of 1871 lists Elijah E. Abbott of Gananoque as "manufacturer of machinists' tools and general machinery &c., U. S. Consular agent. See adv p. 7".
• The connection between Abbott and the Leeds Foundry comes from the book History of Leeds and Grenville, Ontario, from from 1749 to 1879, by Thad. W. H. Leavitt, and available online as a PDF file. Here is the relevant text:

  LEEDS FOUNDRY AND MACHINE WORKS
  E. E. Abbott, Proprietor

  Mr. E. E. Abbott was born in the State of Connecticut, and at an early age turned his attention to mechanical pursuits, acquiring a thorough knowledge of mechanics, not only theoretical, but also practical. In 1855, he removed to Canada, and was engaged as Superintendent of iron works at Kingston. Having examined the special advantages of Gananoque as a manufacturing centre, he removed to that place in 1858, and opened a shop in a part of the old Globe Works. His business extending, he, in 1871, built the "Leeds Foundry and Machine Works," shown in the accompanying illustration. The establishment is situated on the west side of the Gananoque River, and is convenient to the St. Lawrence, by which machinery can be shipped with facility.

  The machine shop is a stone building, three stories in height, with fire-proof roof, and having at area of 42x98 feet. The foundry is 40x68, and the smith's shop 55 feet in length, the buildings forming three sides of a parallelogram. The entire factory is fitted up with the most complete labor-saving machinery, and the work turned out is second to none in Canada. It includes steamboat fittings, agricultural implements, iron and wood working machines, planers, presses, etc.—in fact every variety of castings, and labor-saving utensils. Mr. Abbott's business relations extend to every portion of the Dominion, thus demonstrating the superiority of the articles manufactured by him.

• The 1882-09-30 American Machinist has the following news item:

  We recently made a call at the Leeds Foundry and Machine Works, Gananoque, Canada, and found business quite brisk In those shops. The products are lathes, planers, shapers, boring mills, turbines, presses, pulleys and shafting. Considerable job work is also done. Most of the tools used in the shop were made on the premises. About SO men are employed in machine Shop and foundry.

• March 1890 textsThe Mercantile Agency Reference Book and Key. Listed under Gananoque is "Economy Engine & Machine Co. of Gananoque, The".
• July 1891 Power has an ad for engine maker E. T. Copland & Co. of New York lists dealers, including "Economy Eng. and Machine Co., Gananoque, Ont."
• 1892 Sessional Papers of the Legislature of the Province of Ontario lists Customs refunds, including $48.30 to the Economy Engine and Machine Co., Gananoque.
• 1896 Index to Incorporated Bodies and to Private and Local Law: Under Dominion, and Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec Statutes, Proclamations and Letters Patent, from , which covers from 1777 to 1st January 1896. "Economy Engine and Machine Co. of Gananoque, incorp. by Ont. let. pat. 2 Feb 89; diss. 91; Ont. Gaz, 89, 91."
• 1897 Sessional Papers of the Legislature of the Province of Ontario has a section on Children's Aid Societies. "Gananoque.—The children's Aid Society organized in Gananoque has not been doing any active work during the past year. This was due largely to the fact that the Secretary had moved away from town, and the President, Mr. E. E. Abbott, was prevented by illness in his family from devoting any time to this work..."
• The Tool Group of Canada website has some reference material that includes a document by Canada Museum of Science and Technology historian Robert Tremblay, "Canadian Tool Manufacturers 1820—1914". The document was an appendix to Histoire Des Outils Manuels Au Canada. This document says of E. E. Abbott that he was in business 1858 to 1890, that he had 30 workers in 1871 and 1883, that Abbott was originally an American, that in 1871 the fixed capital was $5,000 and the production value was $30,000, that in 1871 they had a 40 HP water-power system, and, finally, that the company was sold in 1890 to G. Gillies.
• March 2014 185 Mill Street and 15 Clarence Street: Heritage Impact Statement, prepared by Jennifer McKendry, BRAY Heritage, provides a chronology of Mill Street industries. "In 1890, George Gillies buys Abbott’s Leeds Factory, which is then known as the Economy and Machine Company Gananoque. ...Gillies, born in 1851 in Ontario, has been involved in manufacturing in town since at least 1879, when he is running the Agricultural Implements Works. He becomes involved with Toronto factories by 1896, which is likely what leads to the merging into the Steel Company of Canada in the early 20th century. In 1901, for example, he is in West York, Toronto, manufacturing bolts and carriage hardware." In a timeline of "Stone building (185 Mill Street)" it says, "1871: Abbott builds the Leeds Foundry and Machine Works (stone portion of 185 Mill Street is the machine shop)." Under "Brick building (185 Mill Street) it says, "By 1890: local manufacturer George Gillies buys Abbott's Leeds Foundry. / Ca. 1892: fire destroys this building..." Elsewhere the author mentions that Elijah E. Abbott was born in 1827 in Connecticut.
• A patent search did not reveal any patents granted assigned to Mr. Abbott or to the Leeds Foundry. This search included the pre-1869 patents issued in Upper Canada and Lower Canada.
• Information on George Gillies comes from a 1965 edition of the Encyclopaedia Americana, which mentions "George Gillies Company, Limited (1893), Gananoque, Ontario" and "Geo. Gillies, Reg'd (1874), Gananoque, Ontario [makers of] harrows, cultivators, bolts, nuts".