Canastota Glass Company (window glass)
    In April of 1881, C. Getman travelled from Cleveland, NY to meet with a village committee to discuss locating his glassworks in Canastota. Glass making began in the village later that year. Sand from Oneida Lake was a key ingredient to this endeavor. 
                                                                             (Source: Sketches)
 

Canastota Knife Company
     Incorporated in 1874, the knife plant was located on North Peterboro Street. The company started out with an authorized capital of $11,000, which was held by two stockholders. Over 600 knife designs were offered, including cigar cutters and special knives for removing stones from horses' hooves. At one time, the factory employed over 70 employees. The factory closed in 1895, reportedly due to an unfavorable tariff.
    A reproduction of an early Canastota Knife Company catalog is available at the library. 
                                                                       (Sources: OTS, Sketches, CRR)
 

Canastota Match Company
    The company was eventually purchased by the Diamond Match Company. 
 

William Dobson, Maker of Molders' Tools
     Dobson, born in Scotland in 1867, spent his early years as an apprentice to a smith, mastering  his skills on the forge, anvil, hammer, and iron. His abilities landed him a good job when he immigrated to America, settling first in Detroit, Michigan. While there, he developed his artisan skills, working in steel, iron, and brass. He eventually took to making molder's tools. In 1887, he accepted employment with Goodwin & Burr as a tool maker. In time, he became a member of management, and he eventually gained ownership of the company. 
     Dobson moved with his wife and children to Canastota in 1896. He decided to continue making the celebrated "Detroit" molders' tools here. He started a partnership with Thomas Angel; the men ran their operations from a plant across from the old Chapel St. School. After this partnership dissolved in 1901, Dobson chose a new location on Spencer Street for his new plant.  This facility was fully equipped for large scale manufacture, and employed 30 men at one time.  Dobson's tools were sold all over the North American continent and even abroad. His business continued to thrive until its closing in 1932.
     Dobson started preparing for his retirement in 1930. He built a gas station, known as "Wee House", on Seneca Turnpike in Quality Hill. A small house was added on to the building, and Dobson lived there with his wife until his death in 1937.
     William Dobson took an active interest in the community. He served as a Canastota village trustee for three terms and even ran for mayor in 1910.  He also served on the local school board between 1913-1922.  He was active in various fraternal and trade organizations as well, including the Masons. 
    View a sample of Dobson's tools. 
 

Ellis, Joyce, & Hildreth Furniture (see The Ellis & Smith Company) 
Located at 117 east Center Street, this later became Lenox Furniture Shops. 
 

Ideal Cut Glass Company
     Originally located in Corning, NY, (1903) the Ideal Cut Glass Company relocated to Canastota in 1905. William Hitchcock, who had once operated a jewelry store in the village, purchased the enterprise from its Corning founders, Luman Conover, Fred Johnson, and Charles Rose. The plant opened shop in the former Marvin Drill Company buildings on October 15, with 35 glass cutting stations known as "frames". 
     Glass pieces to be cut were known as "blanks" and included a variety of items, ranging from candlesticks and coffee sets to all sorts of stemware. These items usually arrived from Corning, Belgium, or Newark, Ohio, with the heavier pieces receiving heavier cuts ("heavy cut" glass) and the more delicate pieces receiving lighter cuts ("light cut" glass).  The Star Flower Pattern, patented in 1913, remains the most popular of the 80 "heavy" designs put out by the company.   This is commonly referred to as the "Diamond Poinsetta", and it was the most expensive pattern offered by the company.
     With the conversion from gas to electric lighting, the company also found brief success in the production of lamps. A variety of designs were sold, including a lamp-aquarium. 
     Unfortunately, the Ideal Cut Glass Company was one of many industries unable to survive the Great Depression. The company filed for bankruptcy on March 14, 1933 and closed its doors by the end of that year. 
 

Lee Manufacturing Corporation 
Specializing in overstuffed chairs and couches, Lee Manufacturing Corporation located to Canastota in 1894. The enterprise moved to the former Marvin and Casler building west of the present-day Roberts Street School. The firm closed in the early 1960's. 
 

Lenox Furniture Shops (see also The Ellis & Smith Company)
Incorporated in 1893, this shop produced fine quality furniture until the early 1930's. 
 

Lindley Boat Works
    Having served as a designer of motor boats with the D.M. Tuttle Company for over 25 years, William H. Lindley started his own boat factory in September 1906. Choosing a site on the south east corner of Main and Canal Streets, Lindley soon offered an array of fishing boats, speed hulls, passenger steamers, and motorless boats. 
 

Marvin and Casler Company
     The Marvin and Casler Company originated with the firm of Marvin & Casler, which was organized in 1894 for the invention and development of moving picture apparatus and also to develop cameras, printing machines, and other accessories for the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company of New York. Herman Casler had successfully perfected and patented these devices, which were the precursors to the modern motion picture machine. 
     The original creation was a camera that used friction bands to reduce slippage. This apparatus was further developed, resulting in the Mutoscope and the Biograph, devices that were used around the world. The biograph was initially challenged by Thomas Edison as an infringement on his own motion picture machine, and the controversy was fueled by the fact that a former Edison employee joined Marvin and Casler shortly before their invention made its debut. The locals found support through the legal process, however, and the originality of their device was established. 
     In 1904, Marvin and Casler formed the Marvin and Casler Company. Marvin served as president, Casler as treasurer, and R.L. Cooper as secretary and manager. Harry Marvin resided in New York and operated from the company's office in the New York Times Building on Broadway and 42nd Street. Casler and Cooper remained in the village. The Canastota factory developed into one of the best machine shops in the state, where various high grade products were made. Among the items manufactured were automobile engines, name plate machines, automatic palm readers, and a twin screw drill chuck, an offset boring head for use on the milling machines. The firm also continued with its motion picture innovations, developing the wurtoscope.  Many of the company's products were manufactured for European and Eastern markets. 

(sidelight: An employee of the firm, Major Harry Weed, developed the tire chain around 1898, taking his inspiration from some local owners of "horseless buggies" who wrapped rope around their tires to increase traction in the mud.) 
 

Marvin Rock Drill Company (see The Marvin and Casler Company)
     Founded between 1894-1895, the Marvin Rock Drill produced rock drills. The company's founders pursued a variety of interests, and the venture evolved into the Marvin and Casler Company. 
                                                                                    (Source: CHH)
 

Patten and Stafford Company
     William H. Patten was born in Westmoreland in 1837.  He moved to Clockville in 1866 and engaged in the manufacture of rakes in partnership with J.L. Mausfield & Company. In 1868, the firm changed to Patten, Clark & Company and acquired a building on James Street, between Peterboro and Main Streets. When Clark retired, Norman Stafford secured a half interest in the company, and the name of the enterprise changed again in 1873, becoming the Patten and Stafford Company. 
     Having spent many years working on a farm, Patten combined his his natural inventiveness with his knowledge of farm operations. His dump rake was patented by the company in 1874. This tool gained great fame, becoming known as the New York Champion Rake. Other quality farm implements soon followed, including various harrows, rollers, wheelbarrows, wagon jacks, and post mauls.  Patten and Stafford tools gained respect across the nation and across the Atlantic. A Patten and Stafford showroom and sales office once existed in London, England during the peak years of the company. 
     The plant itself gained the reputation of being one of the most well equipped manufacturing facilities in the state. Patten contributed to this achievement as well; he was known to create clever devices that improved operations and saved labor costs within the factory. 
    Norman Stafford retired in 1904, and the business was incorporated under the laws of New York state. William Patten served as company president, Milton DeLano served as vice-president and treasurer, and Kirk B. DeLano served as secretary. 
    In his personal life, William Patten also served in the community as a volunteer fireman. In fact, his devotion resulted in the renaming of the fire company in his honor. He even became the chief of the Canastota Fire Department and the first president of the old Madison County Fireman's association. 
                                                                                  (Source: CB, 8/17/1907; Sketches)
 

The Rex Watson Corporation (see also Watson Wagons) 
 

Sherwood Brothers Manufacturing Company, Inc.
Famous for their children's sleds and wagons, the Sherwood Brothers were the first to incorporate shock absorpers and springs in their wagons. 
 

The Smith & Ellis Company (see also Lenox Furniture Shops)
     With some prior success in the furniture business, Samuel C. Smith and Arthur N. Ellis came to Canastota in 1894. This firm was well known for its high grade china closets, buffets, and roll top desks. Book cases were also produced. Over 50 styles of china closets and buffets were produced in oak and mahogony, many with embellishments of plate glass, leaded glass, or French mirrors. 
     In 1903, the growing success of the company called for more work space and a larger work force.  The factory, which had taken over the old casket factory building, was no longer big enough to accommodate the new factory's production. Additions were added to both the main factory and the dry kiln and store house. A new power plant was needed as well. Additional men were hired. The original $10,000 capital stock of the company grew to $125,000 in less than 15 years. 
     In 1906, Smith sold most of his stock in the firm. He retired from his management position but stayed involved with the company through his new position on the board of directors. Ellis continued as an active production manager. He was well known in Canastota, having once served as the village's water commissioner and later as the president of the village. 
     Other officers of the company included C.A. Joyce, who was secretary, and A.H. Hildreth, who served as the company's treasurer. These men would later gain a bigger stake in the company, as is reflected in the renaming of the company to the Ellis, Joyce, and Hildreth Company. 
     The company later became the Lenox Furniture Shops.
                                                                           (Source: CB, 8/17/1907; Sketches)

D.M. Tuttle Company 
      Daniel M. Tuttle, a practicing lawyer in Oneida, took a quick interest in the new technology of the late nineteenth century--namely cars and motor boats. He devoted his spare time to the study of gas engines and planned for better methods of utilizing gasoline in the production of power. Mr. Tuttle moved to Canastota and patiently experimented for several years. He turned out this first engine in 1896. The following year, he had a model constructed by C.N. Cady of an 8 horse power engine weighing 350 pounds and standing 2 1/2 feet high. It was a two-stroke motor that didn't use cams or valves. 
      Mr. Tuttle, unlike many inventive geniuses, was a good businessman and sought to develop the practical side of his invention. He immediately began to build marine engines for boats of various sizes on an extensive scale in Canastota. For the first few years, the work of building the engines was hired out on contract, but this was not entirely satisfactory. In 1899, a desirable location was secured on the back of the canal and adjacent to the New York Central Railroad where Tuttle erected his plant. Here, motor boat construction proceeded hand in hand with engine production.
      Tuttle's enterprise grew quickly. Several additions to the building were soon required, and his workforce also steadily increased. Mr. Tuttle was not satisfied to rest on his laurels; he continued to make various improvements to the Tuttle motors. The engines ranged from 2 to 48 horsepower, the latter having 4 cylinders. Tuttle adapted to changing boat designs, offering boats in varying sizes and price ranges. Soon, his engines were unrivaled  for their strength, durability, simplicity, and ease of operation. 
                                                                           (Source: CB, 8/17/1907; CB, 6/12/1897)
 

Watson Wagons (see also Rex Watson Corporation) 
     David Watson moved from Stratford , CT to Canastota NY in 1893. The wagon proved very popular, and the plant was expanded in the early 1900's.Watson Wagons were used heavily in France and South America during World War I. 
    Watson sold his plant in 1908 to Levi Chapman and A.A. Keesler, who continued with wagon production and later diversified into the manufacture of motor tractors (1915), trailers, and school bus bodies (1933). 
    The name of the company changed to Rex Watson in 1926. The company celebrated its golden anniversary in 1936, with a special feature featured in the May 8, 1936 edition of the Canastota Bee Journal, highlighting more of the company's history and acccomplishments. To read an edited version of this article, click here. 
    For more imformation and other web site links, check out this site,  http://watsonwagon.tripod.com/index.html , placed on the internet by John Middleton a Great Grandson of D.S. Watson.

Westlake
An outgrowth of the C.N. Cady Company.                 (Source: Sketches)
 

Source Codes:
CB/CBJ: Canastota Bee Journal
CHH: Canastota Historical Highlights of 175 Years in Words & Pictures, 1810-1985
CRR: Country Roads Revisited
OTS: Onions, Tomahawks, and Spoons
Sketches: Sketches of the Old Town of Lenox
 

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