This sawmill machinery maker was established in 1874 but does seem to have survived for more than about a year. The principals included William P. Hale and Orrin L. Jenks. Jenks had earlier been assigned a couple of sawmill-related patents so we suspect that he owned a predecessor company. There was also a Jenks Ship Building Company in Port Huron, but we do not know if there is any connection to Hale Manufacturing.

Information Sources

• In 1869, William P. Hale of Ionia, Michigan, was granted a patent for a lath-sawing machine. In 1872, Hale was living in Lock Haven, Pa., when he was granted a patent for a sawmill feed-roll. In 1875 he was in Brockport, NY, when he was granted patents for a circular sawblade and a circular sawmill; the latter patent was assigned to Hale Manufacturing Company of Port Huron, Mich. A third patent granted to Mr. Hale that year gave his location as Port Huron. Subsequent patents, from 1881 to 1887, were all related to harvesters, and gave his location as Brockport.
• History of St. Clair County, Michigan, A. T. Andreas & Co., 1883, has this snippet: "The Hale Manufacturing Company was incorporated in November, 1874, with O'Brien J. Atkinson, Henry Howard, W. P. Hale, O. L. Jenks and H. G. Richards, Directors. The capital stock was $60,000."
• Compiled Statement of the Lumber Trade and Manufacture for the Year 1874 has an ad for Hale's Circular Gang Lumber Mill.