R. Ball & Co. - History | VintageMachinery.org

Manufacturers Index - R. Ball & Co.

R. Ball & Co.
Worcester, MA, U.S.A.
Manufacturer Class: Wood Working Machinery

History

Last Modified: Dec 7 2018 9:06PM by Jeff_Joslin
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Thomas E. Daniels invented and manufactured the patented "Daniels planer", a machine that played an important role in the early American history of woodworking machinery. R. Ball & Co. was one in a sequence of companies descended from Thomas E. Daniels. Here is a timeline:

Thomas E. Daniels, in business 1834-1848.
Ball & Rice, 1848-1854.
Ball & Ballard, 1854-1858.
Ball & Williams, 1858-1865.
R. Ball & Co., 1865-1875.
Witherby, Rugg & Richardson, 1864-1903.
Hobbs Manufacturing Co., 1885-??.
National Woodworking Machinery Co., ??-??.

Other companies believed to have occupied side-branches in this chain of companies include Willard Williams & Co. and Ballard Rifle Co.

There was a silent partner in R. Ball & Co., Eminel P. Halsted. Richard Ball died in 1873, and the company's assets were purchased by Witherby, Rugg & Richardson in 1875.

Information Sources

Ads in 1865-1869 Scientific American.
1869 R. Ball & Co.'s Illustrated Catalogue of Wood-Working Machinery (via Hathi Trust).
Listed in the 1874 Wiley's American Iron Trade Manual of the Leading Iron Industries of the United States: "Wood-working machinery. Hands employed, 75. This works is said to be the oldest in its specialty in the United States."
American Foot Power and Hand Power Machinery by Kenneth L. Cope, 2001 page 14