Richardson, Meriam & Co. was a partnership of former employees of J. A. Fay & Co., namely Horace A. Richardson, Rufus N. Meriam, William B. McIver and Samuel F. Bond. The partnership was established in 1862 and promptly acquired the assets of planing machinery maker J. Barrett & Co. When the Civil War began, McIver and Bond both enlisted; both survived the war and resumed their role in the partnership at war's end.
From the 1864 Boston City Directory
The primary machine designer was Rufus Meriam, who was also the shop foreman. He was granted several patents and some of these, such as one for improved expansion gearing for planer feed-rolls, represented significant advances.
Apparently the company fell into difficulty during the financial panic of 1876 and went under. Junior partner William B. McIver formed McIver Brothers & Co. to resume the business. See the McIver Brothers entry for the continuation of the history and for references that were used in writing the above.
Information Sources
- From ads in 1866-1867 Scientific American.
- The 1874 work, Wiley's American Iron Trade Manual of the Leading Iron Industries of the United States, has a listing for this firm: "Wood-working machinery. 75 hands employed."
- Planers, Matchers & Molders in America reproduces a Daniels planer ad from this company that uses the same artwork as an early J. A. Fay & Co. ad.