In 1899 Peter Dosch applied for a patent on a simple and highly effective universal miter trimmer. The patent was granted in 1900. There was a brief period when the Dosch patent miter trimmer was manufactured for Dosch by Smith & Egge Mfg. Co. Dosch then established the Lion Machine Co. in Yonkers, NY, to manufacture his miter trimmer. By 1926 the business had relocated to Stratford, Connecticut. In 1929 Dosch was committed to a mental institution, and some family members took over control of the business. From there the story gets murky. By 1944 the Lion Machine Co. had been succeeded by the Pootatuck Corp. which continued to manufacture, advertise and sell the "Lion Miter Trimmer". And starting in 1958 or a bit before, the Dosch Mfg. Co. began manufacturing the Dosch miter trimmer (we do not know the relationship, if any, between Peter Dosch and the Dosch Mfg. Co.)

Information Sources

• 1904 Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, page 520, in a listing of Westchester County factories inspected: "Yonkers... Lion Machine Works / Hunt's bridge ' Machinery".
• 1926 New England Business Directory page 1641, under Stratford: "Lion Machine Co r 2450 Main".
• 1944 Thomas Register of American Manufacturers, Volume 2 page 515. "Lion Machine Co. (28 - See Pootatuck Corp.)". On page 687: "Pootatuck Corp. (D) (Mitreing Machines, Automobile Vacuum Cleaners), 2144 Main St., Stratford, Conn."
• Findagrave.com entry for Peter Dosch (1862-1931).