In 1865 brother R. J. and Hamilton Richardson plus brothers Ezra P., Ellis and William M. Doty purchased a machine shop in Janesville, Wisconsin, and began manufacturing washing machines under the name Doty Brothers & Richardson. Our sources disagree on the exact sequence of events leading to this partnership, but some of these men purchased the shop and began making washers, and the others joined them within a year. They achieved considerable success early on and they rapidly improved their washing-machine designs, although increasing competition pushed them to diversify into metal punching and shearing machinery among other products.

in 1869 the Doty Brothers & Richardson merged with another Janesville manufacturer, the Badger State Agricultural Implement Manufacturing Co., with the merged firm titled the Doty Manufacturing Co. The merged company increasingly moved their focus away from washing machines and agricultural implements and toward punching and shearing machinery.

Early in 1883 the business reorganized as the New Doty Manufacturing Co., and under that name they continued in business until 1911, maybe early 1912, when it seems that they went out of business.

Information Sources

• 1868 Report to the Secretary of the Iowa State Agricultural Society for 1868 (published 1869), page 108, in a listing of premiums awarded at the Iowa State Fair: "Best punch and shear for iron, Doty Manufacturing Co., Janesville, Wisconsin".
• 1875 Directory of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway and Branches, page 164, lists Janesville businesses including "Doty Manufacturing Co, Hiram Bowen Pres, H Richardson Sec, N Main foot 3d."
• 1877-01-01 The Hub, page 383, in a report on the Centennial Exhibition's displays of carriage machinery and tools. "The Doty Mfg. Co., of Janesville, Wis., manufacture a variety of punching and shearing machinery, of various sizes, and operated by either hand or belt power, and their agents in Philadelphia, Messrs. Sherman & Hillis, exhibit their Combined Punch, Shear and Upsetter, which is compact, strongly built, and seemingly well adapted for the carriage and wagon shop."
• 1879 book, The History of Rock County, Wisconsin, page 563.

  The Doty Manufacturing Company.—Pixley, Kimball & Oleson established a general machine-shop in 1853, on the ground originally occupied by Hodson's Brewery, where they made the manufacture of farming implements a specialty for a short time, when the concern passed into the hands of Phelps, Dodge & Co., of New York. In 1865, the property was purchased by Hamilton [Richardson] and R. J. Richardson, who, after making important additions to the original building, and rehabilitating the business to a considerable extent, formed a stock company, in which the Metropolitan Washing Machine Company, of New York, the estate of E. P. Doty, Z. Guild, and the Messrs. Richardson were interested, the two latter gentlemen retaining a majority of the shares. The attention of the corporators was then turned almost exclusively to the construction of the Doty washing machine; and in 1874, over 8,000 of these utensils were manufactured. Shipments were made to every part of the Union, and some of the work found its way to Australia. About this time, innumerable patent clothes-cleaners were thrown upon the market, and the demand for the Doty necessarily decreased, though their manufacture still continues to some extent. Punching and shearing machines, grain-drills and wind-mills are the principal implements made by this company at the present time.

  Page 704, in a biography of "Ellis Doty (deceased)".

  During the summer of [1865] he entered into partnership with two of his brothers for the manufacture of the celebrated Doty washing machine (the invention of his brother William)...During the following year, R. J. and Hamilton Richardson were taken into the firm, which was styled Doty Brothers & Richardson. A consolidation of this firm with the Badger State Manufacturing Company was effected in 1868, and the name changed to the Doty Manufacturing Company, which it still retains. Mr. Doty occupied the position of secretary of this company for three years, retiring as an officer in 1871, but still holding his financial interest in the concern. During the year 1870 he associated himself with Thor Judd in the manufacture of a gas machine, which had been rendered valuable by improvements made upon it by Mr. Doty. This partnership was continued less than a year, Mr. Judd assuming the entire interest. Being at leisure after the expiration of his third year as Secretary of the Doty Company, Mr. Doty began to work upon an idea, which had originated in his own mind, for the improvement of railroad car axles. On the first of May the first model of his anti-friction axle was completed and a patent secured. An arrangement was effected whereby George Miltimore, of this city, secured a half-interest in the invention, and together they proceeded to introduce it into use. On the first day of July, the first trial of Mr. Doty's axle was made, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Road, and it was pronounced a success. Mr. Doty's inventive genius has thus removed one of the most expensive drawbacks to railroading, and it will, in time, as the Superintendent of the Burlington & Quincy road writes, "effect a complete revolution in the manufacture of rolling stock for railroads." A stock company for the manufacture of the Doty axle was organized in October, 1873, with a capital of $500,000. The inventor had also perfected machines for the manufacture of this axle, which indicate, in a still greater degree than the construction of the axle itself, the capacity of his mind for grasping and working out difficult mechanical problems. Mr. Doty died March 15, 1874, at a period in life when he was most useful to his fellow men...

• 1882 Wisconsin State Gazetteer and Business Directory, page 213: "Doty Manufacturing Co., mnfrs. agl. implts and iron workers' machinery. R. J. Richardson, pres.; H. Richardson, sec.; N. Main."
• 1883 Farley's Directory of the Metal Workers of the United States, Canada and the British Provinces, page 220, lists "Doty Mfg. Co. / Janesville, Wis." under the category of Power Punches.
• 1884 Biennial Report of the Secretary of State... of the State of Wisconsin, page 210, in a listing corporations organized: "New Doty Manufacturing Co. / [purpose] Manufacture and sale of machinery / Janesville / (capital) $25,000 / (date of filing) Feb. 5, 1883".
• 1883-84 First Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Wisconsin, page 499: "New Doty Mfg. Co., farm machinery: Two-story brick; employs 14 males on lower floor; upper floor occupied by the Thomas Spring and Gear Co., which employs 5 males."
• Ad in 1892-02-25 American Machinist from New Doty Manufacturing Co., for their punching and shearing machinery and boiler maker's rolls.
• 1911 Iron Age Directory lists "New Doty Mfg. Co., Janesville, Wis." under the categories of Flanging Clamps; Punching Dies; Punching and Trimming Presses; Plate Punches and Dies; Hand Power Punches; Hand, Tube, and Manhole Punches; Multiple Punches; Power Punches; Power Structural Punches; Riveting Machinery; Metal Crimping Rolls; Power Plate Bending and Straightening Rolls; Hand Shearing Machines; Alligator Shears; Plate Beveling Shears; Power Structural Shears; Boiler Makers' Tools.
• 1913-01-09 The Iron Trade Review, page 179. "Hubbard & Co., Pittsburgh, have recently purchased the New Doty bar shear from the Doty Machine & Tool Co., Janesville, Wis." A search on a business called "Doty Machine" in Janesville, Wisconsin found zero other mentions, and we assume this news items was in error in changing the name of the New Doty Mfg. Co.
• Carriage and Wagon Makers Machinery and Tools by Kenneth L. Cope, 2004 page 81
• Badger State Agricultural Implement Manufacturing Co.
  • 1865 Acts of a General Nature Passed by the Legislature of Wisconsin in the Year 1865, page 231. "An Act to incorporate the Badger state agricultural implement manufacturing company... Hamilton Richardson, B. B. Eldridge, Cyrus Miner, H. P. Fales and R. J. Richardson, and the successors and assigns, shall be a body politic and corporate, and shall be known as the 'Badger State agricultural implement manufacturing company,'... The capital of said company shall be fifty thousand dollars...The persons hereinbefore named shall be the first board of directors... Approved April 8, 1865."
  • 1868 A Digest of the Laws of Wisconsin 1858-1858page 12. "Agricultural Implements—The Badger state manufacturing company to manufacture agricultural implements, incorporated 399, 1865". On page 29: "Badger State Agricultural Implement Manf. Co.—Act to incorporate (printed in supplement to local laws) 497, 1865".
  • 1868 Transactions of the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, page 288, in a listing of premiums awarded at their Exhibition of 1866: "Best Plow, Light Soil, Badger State Agricultural Works, Janesville Diploma." On page 292, from the same Exhibition, "Badger State Agricultural Works, Janesville, Bag Holder and Truck, Diploma."