In the fall of 1853, agricultural equipment maker and retailer Emery & Co. failed and the stock on hand was sold at auction. Richard H. Pease was one of the principal purchasers, and after the auction the Emery brothers made a business arrangement with Pease to continue the business at the same location. Pease and the Emerys continued manufacturing and selling, with Pease making payments for the building, machinery, patents, and patent rights. The dealer concluded in February 1855 with Pease in sole ownership of the works. He operated the works under his own name ("RICH'D H. PEASE") and renamed the works from the Albany Agricultural Works to the Excelsior Agricultural Equipment Works. The brothers then opened a new works in Albany, naming it the Albany Agricultural Works, and operating it as Emery Brothers.

In the fall of 1858, Pease partnered with William W. Eggleston to create Pease & Eggleston. Now things get confusing, as ads variously appeared for Pease & Eggleston, Richard H. Pease, and Charles E. Pease. We suspect that Richard was supplanted by his son, Charles, in the partnership of Pease & Eggleston during the summer of 1859. Sometime in 1860 the partnership ended and Charles E. Pease assumed control of the business, operating it under his own name.

The Civil War then intervened, as Charles E. Pease enlisted shortly after the Civil War began, and eventually rose to the rank of Brevet Major, serving as a member of the staff of Major General Meade. His activities after the war are unknown (there was more than one businessman named Charles E. Pease, including one in New York and one in Chicago, which confuses the research). Our Charles E. Pease reportedly died in 1886.

The Excelsior Agricultural Equipment Works' product line include a "circular saw mill for cord wood; cross cut saw mills for cutting lumber".

Information Sources

• Richard H. Pease:
  • The March 1855 issue of The Cultivator has this ad:

    Excelsior Agricultural Works, Warehouse and Seed Store, No. 369 and 371 Broadway, Albany, N. Y. / The subscriber is prepared to furnish a full assortment of Farm Implements and Machines, adapted to all sections of the country both north and south, among which may be found...Circular and Cross-cut saw mills adapted to the Horse Power, for cutting fire-wood, fence stuff &c.... RICH'D H. PEASE, Successor to Emery & Co.

    A slightly modified add ran for the rest of the year.
  • The April and August 1858 issues of The Cultivator has an ad for "RICH'D H. PEASE'S Excelsior Agricultural Works, Warehouse and Seed Store,84 State Street, Albany, N. Y. The Excelsior Changeable Railway Horse Power, with Threshers, Separators, Clover Hullers, and circular and cross-cut saw mills for various purposes..."
  • The April 1859 issue of American Agriculturalist has an ad for "Excelsior Agricultural Works, Tivoli Holow, Albany, N. Y., RICH'D H. PEASE, Proprietor." Products listed include the Excelsior circular and cross-cut saw combined, the Excelsior circular saw mill, and the Excelsior cross-cut saw-mill.
  • The July 1859 issues of The Cultivator has the latest ad for Richard H. Pease that we have found.
• Pease & Eggleston:
  • The October 1858 issue of The Cultivator has an ad for "Pease & Eggleston—Proprietors of the Excelsior Agricultural Works, Warehouse and Seed Store, No. 81 State Street, Albany, N. Y., Have been awarded the very highest testimonials for the Excelsior Horse Power, Threshers and Separators, Saw and Cider Mills,..."
  • The Albany Directory for the Year 1858 lists
    • Eggleston Wm. W. (Pease & E.), agricultural implements, 84 State, h. 8 Elk.
    • Pease (Richard H.) and Eggleston (Wm. W.), agricultural implements, h. 8 Elk
    • Pease Charles E. clerk, 369 B'Way, h. 8 Elk.
  • The February through December 1859 issues of American Agriculturalist have ads from Pease & Eggleston.
• Charles E. Pease:
  • The September 1859 issue of The Cultivator has the earliest ad we have found for Charles E. Pease.
  • The Annual Report of the New York State Agricultural Society, 1861 lists the results of the 1860 State Fair, including
    • 2d best portable saw mill, Charles E. Pease, Albany, $6.
    • Best and most numerous collection of agricultural implements and gardening tools, manufactured in the State of New York, by exhibitor, Charles E. Pease, Albany. $20.
    • Best 2 horse cultivator, C. E. Pease, Albany. $5.
  • The Annual Report of the New York State Agricultural Society, 1861 lists the results of the 1860 State Fair, including "2d best Best portable saw mill, Charles E. Pease, Albany $6".
  • The book A history of the Forty-fourth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, by Eugene Arus Nash, 1910, has a biography of Charles E. Pease that gives his war history and his date of death.