In 1853 Williams Watts and Zachariah Belcher established Watts & Belcher, operating the Passaic Machine Works. Two years later Belcher had died and was replaced by William's brother, George Watts, and the business was operated under the name of George Watts. In 1865 Daniel T. Campbell joined the brothers and the name became Watts, Campbell & Co. In 1883, following the death of William Watts, the business reorganized as Watts, Campbell Co., with George Watts, Daniel T. Campbell, Mary Belcher and Charles Watts.

From modest beginnings the company had grown to over 300 employees. There is little information on the product lines in their early years but certainly by 1865 they specialized in Corliss steam engines and boilers, and were also making shapers and probably other metal-working machinery.

From Talbott & Blood's 1866 "New Jersey State Business Directory"

Information Sources

• 1852 Newark City Directory lists "Watts William, machinist 58 Quarry". An ad is for "George Watts, machinist, manufacturers of machine tools of all descriptions, Lathes, Planing Machines, Steam Engines, &c.; Passaic Works, Passaic street, near Mill Brook, Newark, N. J."
• 1853 Newark City Directory has an ad for "Watts, Belcher & Co., Machinists / Manufacturers of Machinists' Tools of all descriptions, Lathes, Planing Machines, Steam Engines, &c. Passaic Works, Passaic street, near Mill Brook, Newark, N. J."
• 1854 Newark City Directory lists "Watts George, machinist Passaic works Passaic st."; "Watts William, machinist Passaic st. h. 58 Quarry". An ad is for "George Watts, machinist, manufacturers of machine tools of all descriptions, Lathes, Planing Machines, Steam Engines, &c.; Passaic Works, Passaic street, near Mill Brook, Newark, N. J."
• 1855 Newark City Directory lists "Belcher Singleton, widow of Zachariah, 151½ Washington".
• 1856 Newark City Directory has an ad for "George Watts, Machinist, Manufacturers of...", i.e., the same ad as the previous year. The directory listings include "Watts George, machinist Passaic Works Passaic st.", and "Watts William, machinist Passaic st. h. 58 Quarry".
• 1861 Newark City Directory has the same listings for George and William Watts as in the 1856 directory.
• 1872 Report and Catalogue of the First Exhibition of Newark Industries. "A fifty-horse engine, from the Passaic Machine Works, runs the shafting in the main building..." Watts, Campbell & Co. was one of the organizers of the Exhibition, and exhibited vertical and horizontal steam engines; shafting, hangers and pullies; steam valves and fittings; an assortment of brass work; and machinists' tools.
• 1872-05-04 Scientific American, classified ad. "We are making superior Steam Engines of all sizes, equal in all respects to the best in the market. Several new and second hand Engines and Boilers, also one new Shaping Machine, thirteen inches stroke, for sale cheap. Apply to WATTS, CAMPBELL & CO., Passaic Machine Works, Newark, N. J."
• 1884 book History of Essex and Hudson Counties, New Jersey.

  Passaic Machine Works—Watts, Campbell Company.—The business from which has grown this mammoth establishment was commenced in a small way, in 1851 by William Watts and Zachariah Belcher, at the old Washington Factory, near the reservoir. In 1853 the lot now occupied, corner of Ogden and Passaic Streets, was purchased, and a small building erected, thirty-six by seventy-two feet, to which the business of the firm was transferred. Mr. Belcher withdrew from the firm in 1855, after which it was composed of William and George Watts, and in 1865, Daniel T. Campbell became a partner with the Watts' brothers, when the firm-name was changed to Watts, Campbell & Co., which continued till May, 1883, at which time William Watts died. Nov. 1, 1883, the Watts, Campbell Company was incorporated, with George Watts, Daniel T. Campbell, Mary Belcher, and Charles Watts as incorporators.

  The business of this firm or company has steadily grown from twenty thousand dollars, and two or three men employed annually, to the employment, in 1884, of three hundred and twenty men, and sales amounting to three hundred thousand dollars. The shops have grown from thirty-six by .seventy-two feet until they now cover one and a half acres of ground. The customers have increased from a few local purchasers to thousands in all parts of the world.

  William Watts.-The Watts family are of English extraction, William Watts, the grandfather of the subject of this biography, having resided in Bristol, England. He was by trade a plumber, and gained some distinction as the inventor of patent shot. His children were seven in number, of whom George, born in Bristol, England, emigrated to America in 1821. He was by profession a chemist, and in his adopted country engaged in the smelting and refining of stereotype and type metal. He married Eliza Sage, who was of Welsh descent, and had children,— George, William, Charles, Eliza (deceased) Helen Emma (deceased) and Mary (Mrs. Hezekiah Belcher.) William, the second son, was born Aug. 10, 1825, in New York City, and in 1827 removed with his parents to Newark. He received a rudimentary education, and when a youth entered the shops of Seth Boyden to learn the trade of a machinist. On the completion of his apprenticeship and for several years after, he was employed as a journeyman, and in 1850, under the firm-name of Watts & Belcher, established a machine shop. George Watts, his brother, having erected a spacious shop in Newark for mechanical work, William subsequently became associated with him in business. In 1865 the firm of Watts, Campbell & Co., was organized for the manufacture of Corliss steam-engines and other machinery, in which Mr. Watts was one of the active partners. In the management of this business, he participated actively until his death, on the 27th of May, 1883. He was a skillful mechanic and a man of progressive ideas, keeping pace with the modern improvements in mechanical science. By his knowledge and aptitude he added greatly to the value of many inventions, though not himself an inventive genius. He possessed a genial nature and an exuberance of spirit which rendered him universally popular. Mr. Watts was a Republican in politics, though not actively a participant in the public questions of the day.

• American Steam Engine Builders: 1800-1900 by Kenneth L. Cope, 2006 page 253
• Wikipedia article on Passaic Machine Works. The article is primarily about the building, not the company.