In 1849 John Kelshaw and Edward T. Sinker established Kelshaw & Sinker and rented a portion of the Underhill Foundry to manufacture and repair boilers. An 1853 fire destroyed the entire foundry but Kelshaw and Sinker rebuilt their portion. In 1856 Kelshaw sold out to Sinker who briefly operated the business by himself before taking on another partner, John J. Dumont, as Dumont & Sinker. The following year they began manufacturing stationary steam engines. The year after that they purchased the rest of the burnt-out Underhill Foundry as well as the adjoining property, the Greenleaf Machine Shop. At some point they added sawmill machinery to their product lineup, and over the years they earned a reputation as a builder of quality engines and sawmills.

In 1863 Dumont left the firm and sold his half-interest in the business to Daniel Yandes, Sr., who in turn sold a portion of it to the shop's foreman, William Allen. At this point the business became the Western Machine Works and the partnership was now E. T. Sinker & Co..

At the 1869 Indianapolis Fall Fair, on October 1, immediately following a sawmill competition won by the Sinker steam engine and sawmill, the Sinker boiler exploded, killing nineteen people and injuring over 100. Mr. Sinker denied any responsibility, although expert witnesses who were on the scene before the explosion said that Sinker's foreman was running the boiler with too little water and refused to add more because he believed he obtained more power that way. See the Information Sources section, below, for more on the boiler explosion. In December of 1869 Daniel Yandes sold his share in the business to Thomas Davis, and the partnership's name changed to Sinker, Davis & Co.

In the aftermath of the boiler explosion Messrs. Sinker and Davis found that the company was in poor financial condition. They discussed forming a joint stock corporation but then Sinker died suddenly on April 7, 1871 at age 50, leaving behind a wife, a son and a daughter.

Davis formed a stock corporation and sold some real estate to get the business out of the red. E. T. Sinker's son, Alfred Sinker, became involved with the business, and by 1874 Alfred was secretary and the company had 150 employees. The company's focus gradually shifted away from engines and boilers and towards sawmills and heavy woodworking machinery for production use in railway shops and the like. At some point in the 1890s or thereabouts, the company's name changed to the Sinker-Davis Co.

By 1900 the product line consisted primarily of machinery for production woodworking: self-feed rip saws, large tablesaws, and automatic cutoff saws. Most of these latter-day Sinker-Davis products used the "Hoosier" name.

Ad from May 1919 "The Wood-Worker"

The company survived until at least 1955, but is long gone.

Information Sources

• 1854 Merchantile Union Directory lists business names and their post offices, including "Kelshaw & Sinker; Indianapolis".
• The following excerpts are from the Eleventh Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture, 1869.

  At the annual State Fair, E. T. Sinker & Co., Indianapolis, Ind., for Stationary Engine not less than twenty-horse power, premium, silver medal and $50. For Sawmill head-block, premium and Bronze Medal. Also entered a weather-board sawing machine: "Splendidly adapted to its business of making weather-boarding".

  The boiler attached to one of Messrs. Sinker & Co.'s portable engines, which was used to run their portable saw mill, exploded just after the trial. By this frightful accident some twenty persons were instantly killed and many others wounded, a few of whom subsequently died.

  E. T. Sinker, Indianapolis. Circular mill, 60 inch saw; engine carrying at commencement 135 pounds steam, running down at close of trial to 105 pounds of steam. Cutting a log two and a half feet in diameter making 513 feet of lumber in 7 1/2 minutes; five men employed. (The boiler to the engine exploded.)

  No 1.—Commencing with 120 pounds of steam, cut log 20 inches in diameter in 2 1/2 minutes."

• From 1869-10-16 issue of Scientific American:

  The boiler of Sinker & Co., which was in use at the Indiana State Fair, at Indianapolis, exploded on the 1st October, killing nineteen persons and wounding about one hundred persons. The cause of the explosion was, at the time of our going to press, still undetermined.

  The scene at the Fair Ground after the accident was most heart-rending. Many of the killed were torn in fragments. In one family, consisting of a mother and three children, the mother was killed and the two older children badly scalded; the youngest was unhurt. A gentleman and lady were walking together; the gentleman was killed and the lady unhurt. Everything is being done to alleviate the suffering wounded that can be done, though it is feared that several will die.

  The whole country sympathizes with the sufferers from this fearful calamity, which, although resulting in less loss of life, yet considered in all its aspects is scarcely less terrible than the recent catastrophe at Avondale.

• From the 1869-10-05 New York Times, a story reprinted from the Indianapolis Journal of 3 days previous. The explosion was horizontal, with no parts being thrown more than thirty or forty feet high. The boiler and engine, and the foundation they were sitting on, were completely obliterated, leaving only a blackened crater. One piece of the boiler, weighing about 500 pounds, was thrown a distance of one hundred yards. The sawmill was located fifty to one hundred feet away from the engine and boiler, and it was completely destroyed in the explosion. Graphic details of the maiming are provided. As just one example, and not the most gruesome, a man walking hundreds of yards away saw a skull drop in front of him, the flesh scalded from the bones but eyes and teeth still remaining.
  The early evidence suggested that the boiler had run nearly dry, even though E. T. Sinker himself had checked the water gauge: "...the second gauge had shown water, but this might have fooled him by the bubbling of the water, as it sometimes does. He noticed that the fire door were open, the box partially open and the damper turned. This he thought enough precaution against the increase of steam. The steam gauge showed nearly 120 pounds. He does not recommend his engines to be subjected to more than 80 or 100 pounds, but this was an extra occasion; the gauge had been higher, and the boiler should stand 150 or 160 pounds.... Mr. Sinker gave several causes for the explosion of boilers, but the most general was the introduction of water when the boiler flues were unduly heated."
• A Historical and Statistical Sketch of the Railroad City, by W. R. Holloway, 1870, provides data on the death of E. T. Sinker and the name change.
• 1871-04-07 The Indianapolis Journal. "The Board of Trade of the city of Indianapolis deplores the loss of one of its most honored members, the late Edward T. Sinker, who died in this city on Wednesday morning, April 5th, at the age of fifty years. Making his residence of nearly a quarter of a century in this community, he has been earnest and foremost in the performance of public duties and in the exercise of private virtues..."
• 1872-03-27 Indianapolis News, in a section titled "Transfers of Real Estate". "Alfred T. Sinker, administrator of Edward T. Sinker, deceased, to Francis Smith, undiv hf of 60 ft off n end lot 7, Pierce's snb of pt of bk23, in Drake's add, $100. Sarah Sinker, widow of E. T. Sinker, deceased, to Francis Smith, quit claim to same lost as last, $100. Daniel Yandes to Francis Smith, undivided hf of same lot as last, $200."
• Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture", 1872. p. 120: On display were "Sinker, Davis & Co.'s engine and portable sawmill"
• Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture", 1872. p. 131: "[The Outside Show] consists entirely of horsepowers, portable engines, and saw mills. In this line the Eagle Machine Works, Chandler & Taylor, Gaar, Scott & Co., and Sinker, Davis & Co., are the principal exhibitors."
• Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture", 1872. p. 164: "Best head block for saw mills, Sinker, Davis & Co., Indianapolis. Bronze Medal."
• Listed in the 1874 work, Wiley's American iron trade manual of the leading iron industries of the United States: "Western Machine Works - Proprietor, Sinker, Davis & Co. Thos. Davis, president. A. D. Sinker, secretary. Capital, $250,000. Number of men employed, 150. Steam engines, boilers, mill machinery, and circular saws. Established 1850."
• Twenty-Fifth Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture", 1875, Indiana State Fair, Indianapolis, September 1875. Best head block for saw mills, Sinker, Davis & Co., Indianapolis: Diploma.
• Twenty-Ninth Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture, 1879, Indiana State Fair, Indianapolis, October 1879.

  Sinker, Davis & Co. exhibited a well constructed and smooth-running Saw Mill with a circular saw. Its peculiar feature is a double-acting head-block, which sets the log equally, whether the lever be moved backward or forward, and it appeared to operate with the utmost exactness, thus securing a uniform thickness of lumber. Also, the dog which secures the log on the head-block is operated by a lever, which is a great convenience to the sawyer. The same firm also exhibited a self-adjusting hanger for shafting, by which it can be easily kept in a line.

• Thirtieth Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture, 1880. "Report of the First Division of the Committee on the Special Merits of unpremiumed articles, Exhibited at the State Fair, 1880".

  Sinker, Davis & Co., Western Machine Works, Indianapolis, Ind., exhibited one 10-horse power portable engine... [and] had on on exhibition a pony saw mill, with Sinker, Davis & Co.'s patent lever set head blocks. It is modern in design, of good workmanship and finish. The frame and carriage are well put together, made strong and durable. It will cut, with the aid of four men to operate it, from four to five thousand feet in ten hours.

• Chicago Legal News, opinion in Marion Sperior Court, Indiana, Clara B. Rossum v. Sinker, Davis & Co., and involving real estate that had belonged to Sinker, Davis & Co. "... Prior to December, 1869, Daniel Yandes and Edward T. Sinker were partners. In December, 1869, Davis bought the interest of Yandes and became the partner of Sinker. ... That prior to Sinker's death, he and Davis had realized the fact that the financial affairs of the firm were in a very unsatisfactory condition, and that 'they conceived the idea of forming a joint stock corporation.'... That the surviving partner, Davis, investigated the affairs of the firm, and arrived at the conclusion that no sale could be made of the property that would realize means sufficient to pay liabilities, and that if business stopped, the assets would fall short of paying firm's liabilities.... That stock was issued to Davis for $72,000; that a like amount was issued to the heirs of said Edward T. Sinker, divided as follows: Sarah Sinker, one-third; Alfred T. Sinker, one-third; and plaintiff one-third. ... It seems to me that Davis acted with reasonable diligence and care... not only was there no negligence, but that the course adopted was the only possible one which could extricate property and affairs from threatened destruction. ... The answer shows that the debts of the firm were fully paid by the corporation..."
• Thirty-Second Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture, 1882, Indiana State Fair, Indianapolis, September 1882.

  "Sinker, Davis & Co., Indianapolis, Ind., exhibited the Standard Saw Mill. It has a 10-inch bearing on mandrel, a cone pulley feed. This is the largest made. It has 4 changes. It has a stout brace on the backing pulley. It is 3 1/2 inches in mandrel carriage, axle roller. The set moves the timber up with each motion of the lever.

• Thirty-Third Annual Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture, 1883, Indiana State Fair, Indianapolis, September 1883.

  Sinker, Davis & Co., Indianapolis, Ind., have a band saw for cutting lumber from large logs, which came on the ground late, and requiring considerable time to erect and adjust, there was very little time or opportunity to see much of it. It uses the variable friction feed, and the tension of the saw is kept uniform by means of weight. A twenty-five horse-power engine is set to drive the band saw. It has the camel back boiler, which allows a greater number of flues, and consequently gives greater heating surface than others. The engine is of their usual style of good workmanship, with locomotive guides and cross-head, and without any special novelty to note... They also have a pony saw-mill of the usual construction. They have also on exhibition a set of Staley and a set of Meiner head-blocks for saw-mills. These are so well and favorably known to saw-mill men as to need no description. In connection with these head-blocks is the Morse dog, which is a valuable addition to them.

• Thirty-Fourth Report of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture, 1884, Indiana State Agricultural Fair, Indianapolis, 1884.

  Band Saw Mill, by Sinker, Davis & Co., Indianapolis. This is a large and improved mill, capable of sawing the largest logs into lumber at the rate of from 15,000 to 25,000 feet per day, owing to the timber and power used. In this mill the objections or obstacles heretofore found in using the band saw for manufacturing lumber rapidly seem to have been overcome, as was demonstrated on the ground during the fair, where it attracted marked attention from visitors generally, and from saw mill men especially. The great saving of time and timber, which is wasted in chopping for the upper saw mandrel of the circular saw mill, in large logs, and the great saving in all timber by using so thin a saw must soon bring this kind of saw into general use, as good timber is rapidly becoming more scarce and more valuable. It is claimed that this mill will cut six 1-inch boards from a flitch 6 5-16 inch thick. In operation on the fair grounds it cut straight lines and very smooth lumber.

• Used "Hoosier" machine in 1917 catalog: cast-iron frame, 2,200 lbs.
• Ad in 1920 issue of The Wood-Worker, which lists their products as ripsaws, sawmill machinery, and band and circular mills.
• The U. S. Forest Products Laboratory published a booklet dated March 1936, Operating small sawmills, methods, bibliography, and sources of equipment by C. J. Telford. A table lists the makers of various types of equipment, including circular sawmills, band sawmills, edgers, and planers. Sinker-Davis Co. was listed as a maker of circular sawmills, sawblades, and edgers.
• Listed in 1955-56 Hitchcock's Wood Worker's Digest Directory.
• American Steam Engine Builders: 1800-1900 by Kenneth L. Cope, 2006 page 220.
• Steam Power on the American Farm by Reynold M. Wik, 1953 page 253.
• FindAGrave page on Edward Thomas Sinker which has a brief bio and a listing of Sinker's relatives.