Filer & Stowell Co. began in 1856 as the Cream City Iron Works. John M. Stowell was there from the beginning, and Delos L. Filer came along some time later. They manufactured sawmill machinery, flour mill machinery and steam engines.

From January 1898 Street Railway Journal

Nearly 150 years later, this firm is still in business and still making sawmill equipment, including bandmills, resaws, sawmill carriages, gang edgers, and trimmers.

Information Sources

• Listed in the 1874 work, Wiley's American iron trade manual of the leading iron industries of the United States: "CREAM CITY IRON WORKS -- Filer, Stowell & Co. General iron works. 75 hands."
• 1876-05-02 trademark #3647, for "The Boss Dog", was granted to Filer, Stowell & Co. of Milwaukee.
• Mentioned in the March 1885 issue of Manufacturer & Builder, in an article about that year's New Orleans Exhibition: "The Filer & Stowell Co., of Milwaukie, Wis., show a steam saw mill, gang edger, gang bolter, gang lathe mill and a twin engine.".
• This company received numerous sawmill-related patents, spanning 1890-1956, and perhaps earlier. Stowell received earlier patents that were not explicitly assigned to this firm.
• A web site on fire hydrants provided some of the information here, and goes into more detail as well, including the story of how Filer became a partner in Stowell's firm.
• The U. S. Forest Products Laboratory published a booklet dated March 1936, Operating small sawmills, methods, bibliography, and sources of equipment by C. J. Telford. A table lists the makers of various types of equipment, including circular sawmills, band sawmills, edgers, and planers. This company was listed as a maker of band sawmills and edgers. Their address was 137 E. Becher.
• American Steam Engine Builders, 1800-1900 by Kenneth L. Cope, 2006 page 87.