THE ESSEX ANTIQUARIAN. VOL. II. SALEM, MASS., MAY, 1898. THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS IN ESSEX COUNTY. FOR more than a century and a half after the settlement of Essex county all nails were made by hand. Large quantities were used, and a great deal of manual labor was expended in their manufacture. They were usually forged from strips of iron of good quality called nailrod, being bars rolled at the mills into a size suitable for the purpose. Nailrod was flat, about three-eighths of an inch wide and threesixteenths thick, and remains of that size at the present day. The making of nails has always been the first accomplishment of blacksmith's apprentices, who probably made the larger part of the hand-wrought nails used in this county. The appliances for hand manufacture were simple and few. A small forge, a small anvil, having a chisel set in it, a hammer, and a "bolster," comprised the outfit, with the exception of a pair of tongs with which to handle the nailrod when the bar became short. The "bolster" was a piece of steel, ordinarily about ten inches in length, one and a quarter inches wide, and half an inch thick. If only one size of nails was to be made by it there was a hole of the size of the wire of the nail to be made in one end of it. If two sizes were to be wrought with it, there was a different sized hole in the other end. The operation was simple, and quickly done by a dexterous hand. The rod was first heated, which in a hot forge fire was done in a moment or two, but generally two rods were heating at a time, that no time might be lost by waiting for a heat. No. 5. When heated, the end of the rod was rounded to the size desired by being pounded with the hammer on the anvil, then pointed or flattened. A little uneven mass, slightly rounded, was left for the head, and on the chisel, by a stroke of the hammer, the section was nearly severed just above the part left for the head. It was then re-heated, for being so small the rod cools quickly, and when of the right heat the end was thrust into one of the holes of the "bolster," and severed from the rod by a twist of the hand. The " bolster" was held on the anvil in the left hand by the end that was not in use, and with the hammer in the right hand the nail maker drove it to its head, which was quickly formed by a few skillful blows. The heads were generally oval, round and from one-half to three-fourths of an inch in diameter. Sometimes, for special uses, the head was made long and narrow, and then it was called a "T" head. Brads and other kinds of small nails as well as spikes were made in the same way. Horse-shoe nails required the best Swedish iron and the most skillful workmanship, as tough and hard hoofs were liable to break or split them, and thus injure the foot. In the early days, large quantities of nails were imported from England, Birmingham and its vicinity being the place of their manufacture. They were made there much cheaper than they could be here. But after the trouble with the mother country began, in 1767, "sheathing and deck nails were included in the non-importation agreement of the Ameri can merchants; and in January, 1774, the Provincial congress recommended, among other things, the manufacture of nails. The Revolution caused a great scarcity of nails, and when the war was over their manufacture received a great impulse. Many of the farmers set up little forges in their kitchens, and in the long winter evenings and cold stormy days made nails, the children rendering assistance. So many of the people did this that large quantities of nails were thus produced. The nailrod was furnished to them by merchants, to whom the nails were duly returned, compensation being made for the work and cost of manufacture. The demand was so great and the hand method of manufacture so expensive and slow that American inventors turned their attention to devising some mechanical contrivance that would perform the work. The old world kept on in its old fashioned methods, and allowed America to produce the first nails made by machinery. Jeremiah Wilkinson of Cumberland, R. I., a manufacturer of hand cards for carding cotton and wool, about 1775 adopted the plan of cutting the tacks he used from a sheet of iron with a pair of shears, and afterward heading them in a vice. He subsequently cut nails in a similar way, and is said to have been the first to make nails and tacks in that manner. It is claimed that Ezekiel Reed, a native of Bridgewater, about 1786 invented a machine for cutting cold tacks and nails, which was adopted at Abington. The first machines to make complete nails was invented by an Essex county young man in 1790. This was Jacob Perkins, son of Matthew and Jane (Noyes) Perkins, of Newburyport, where he was born July 9, 1766. He was sent to the district school at the usual age, and continued to receive instruction there until he was twelve. His father being poor, he was then apprenticed to a goldsmith in Newburyport named Davis, having indicated a fondness for the mechanic arts, which probably germinated by hearing a watch tick, and in the execution of a pur pose to know why and how it ticked. The business of the goldsmith was the making of gold beads, which were then commonly worn by girls and women. Mr. Davis died three years later, and Mr. Perkins, then only fifteen, continued the business, adding the manufacture of the then popular shoe-buckles. He was industrious and honest, and soon secured an excellent reputation. He also made the Portugese joes which were then in circulation. He discovered a new method of plating shoebuckles, and was by the new process enabled to undersell all competitors. Before he was of age he turned his attention to machinery. When twenty-one, he was employed by the master of the Massachusetts mint to make a suitable die for striking copper coins, and the result of his genius was the die which formed the old cent bearing the engraving of the eagle and the Indian. At the age of twenty-four, in 1790,† he invented machines for cutting and heading nails-machines which, with subsequent improvements, increased the daily product of one man's labor from one thousand nails to one thousand pounds. It is said that he produced this machine at Byfield, where he made the first cut nails in America, in the barn of Leonard Adams. At Amesbury, there were iron works, and Mr. Perkins went there and perfected his nail machine, a patent being granted to him therefor Jan. 16, 1795. The heading machine would head six thousand brads an hour, and the slitting machine would cut several times as many, very little personal supervision being needed. The carpenters approved of the nails, and they came into immediate use. *The building occupied by Jacob Perkins as a laboratory and workshop in Newburyport is still standing in the rear of a dwelling house on the It is of brick, and upper side of Fruit street. three-storied, narrow in proportion to its height, and sadly out of repair. I think the lower part is used for storage.-Emily A. Getchell. +Samuel Rogers of Bridgewater claimed that he made a machine for making nails at the same date. See Essex Registry of Deeds, Executions, book 3, leaf 150. The old corn mill, run by water power, formerly known as Barnard's, and at that time as Waite's mill,* was then standing on the south bank of the Powow river, in Amesbury, on the east side of Main street; and, Nov. 24, 1795, Mr. Perkins purchased it of the Newburyport Woolen Manufactory (Ebenezer Stocker, Abraham Wheelwright and Ebenezer Wheelwright, all of Newburyport, merchants, directors), with *This corn mill, according to Merrill's History of Amesbury, was erected by Abraham Morrill and Henry Saywood in 1642. Mr. Merrill died in 1662; and his widow, Sarah, who was one of the executors, married Thomas Mudgett of Salisbury. A part owner of the mill, Dec. 1, 1688, was Thomas Barnard, sen., of Amesbury, and evidently his share was uncertain, as on that date he and Thomas Mudgett submitted the matter to Maj. Daniel Davison and Ens. Nathaniel Clarke, both of Newbury, Maj. Robert Pike of Salisbury, and Mr. Edward Gove of Hampton, N. H., as arbitrators. They reported, nineteen days later, that Mr. Mudgett owned two-thirds and Mr. Barnard one-third of the mill. Mr. Barnard became the owner of the whole of the mill, and April 22, 1712, conveyed to his daughter Sarah, wife of Samuel Jones of Amesbury, onehalf of it; and, June 12, 1712, he conveyed the other half to his son Samuel Barnard of Amesbury. June 11, 1720, Mr. and Mrs. Jones conveyed their half to Thomas Waite of Hampton, N. H., and in his will, dated Jan. 12, 1740, and proved June 6, 1743, Mr. Waite devised his half to his son Samuel Waite, who was the miller. Aug. 15, 1786, Samuel conveyed one-quarter of the mill to David Morrill of Salisbury, blacksmith; and, Dec. 13, 1787, his remaining quarter to Joseph Osgood of Salisbury. One-half of the half interest of Samuel Barnard was owned by Ichabod Titcomb of Amesbury, shipwright, in 1794, by mesne conveyances unknown to the writer. The other half of Samuel Barnard's interest he conveyed to his son Jonathan Barnard of Amesbury, innholder, in 1732-33. Jonathan died Sept. 27, 1770, having devised his interest in the mill to his son Samuel. Samuel conveyed the interest to his eldest son Jonathan Barnard of Amesbury (then a boy) Jan. 24, 1772, who, June 28, 1785, as administrator with the will annexed of his father's estate, by license of court, conveyed this interest to his grandmother, Tabitha Barnard, widow of Capt. Jonathan Barnard. She conveyed it to John Barnard of Amesbury, gentleman, Feb. 22, 1786; and, May 24, 1792, he conveyed it to Enoch Bartlett of Amesbury, joiner. Dec. 16, 1793, David Morrill, Joseph Osgood, and Enoch Bartlett, and Feb. 7, 1794, Ichabod Tit Ap the land, for eight hundred dollars.* parently Mr. Perkins continued the business of grinding corn, and utilized more or less of the water power for driving his nail machinery. Early in the spring of 1798, Mr. Perkins became acquainted with Samuel Guppy of New York, and John Warren Armstrong, formerly of Bristol, England, but then of Boston, merchant, and a partnership for the manufacture of nails was formed by the three men with the firm name of Armstrong & Perkins, and Perkins conveyed the mill and factory to Mr. Armstrong, who was evidently the capitalist of the company, April 11, 1798.† Their products were known as the Newburyport patent nails and brads. While Mr. Perkins was in business for himself, he invented and made a machine for cutting and heading nails at one operation. The machinist who helped him do this was David Mooers of Exeter, N. H. In a suit brought on this and similar patents many years afterward, Mr. Mooers made an affidavit relative to what he knew of Perkins' machine,§ and in it stated that he came to work in the nail factory for Mr. Perkins (who still lived in Newbury-. port) in December, 1797. Soon after, he says that Mr. Perkins invented and made a machine for cutting and heading nails at one operation. He worked upon the machine from the time it was begun until it was done and put into use, all of which was done under the immediate direction of Mr. Perkins. It was in complete operation in the following summer. After making about fifty or sixty pounds of six-penny nails, Mr. Perkins found that once in a while a comb, the owners of the whole title, conveyed the mill to Michael Hodge of Newburyport, gentleman; and March 25, 1794, Mr. Hodge conveyed it to the Newburyport Woolen Manufactory, which, Nov. 24, 1795, conveyed it to Jacob Perkins as above stated. The mill was known as Barnard's and Waite's mill respectively. *Essex Registry of Deeds, book 164, leaf 95. +Essex Registry of Deeds, book 164, leaf 96. §Essex Registry of Deeds, Executions, book 3, leaf 155. nail would stick in the heading dies, and he concluded to attempt some further improvement on the clearer. The machine was thereupon taken to pieces. Mr. Mooers took the stationary part of it to his viceboard, and Mr. Perkins told him that in the afternoon he would tell him what to do with it; but in the afternoon when Mr. Perkins came in he told Mr. .Mooers that he had received a letter from his partners by which he was "thrown out of the factory," and directed him to throw the part of the machine which he had taken out under the viceboard, and not to put the machine together again until he requested it. The machine was not put together again until five or six years afterward when Briggs R. Reed put it into operation during his brief stay at the factory. The partnership continued only about three months, the dissolution occurring July 26, 1798. The notice of the dissolution says that it was mutually agreed to, but the preceding paragraph indicates that Mr. Perkins was controlled by the other partners, having little means to defend himself against them. He had conveyed to Armstrong his mill and his patents, and three months sufficed to rout the poor inventor. By the terms of the dissolution Mr. Perkins was to remain at the factory; but disappointed he turned his attention to other inventions. In 1809, he invented the stereotype check plate for the prevention of counterfeit bank bills, and thus imposed an important obstacle in the frauds upon our currency, from which the community were daily suffering. Prosecutors said that they never heard of a good imitation of it; and a law was passed requiring all the Massachusetts banks to use it. During the war of 1812, he was employed in constructing machinery for boring out old honeycombed cannon, and in perfecting the science of gunnery. He discovered the method of softening and hardening steel, by which the process of engraving thereon was rendered easier. He demonstrated the compressibility of water, and, in connection with this discovery, invented the bathometer or piezometer to measure the depth of the sea by the pressure of water, and the pleometer to measure a ship's speed. As Philadelphia was at that time the place most advanced in the arts and sciences he removed thither from Newburyport in 1816, and devoted himself to experiments on the power of steam, inventing a new method of generating it by suddenly letting a small quantity of water into a heated vessel. It is said that he succeeded in employing steam at a pressure of sixty-five atmospheres, or nine hundred and seventy-five pounds to the square inch. He originated a plan for engraving bank notes on steel, and, in 1818, took it to London, England where he afterward resided. Though it did not find acceptance at once the plan ultimately proved a great success, and was carried out by Mr. Perkins and engraver Heath, as partners, during the rest of his long business life. In 1819, he patented in the United States a steam gun, which attracted the notice of the English government. And in 1824 he exhibited a trial of it before the Duke of Wellington. At a distance of thirtyfive yards, the gun sent its balls through eleven planks, each an inch thick and placed an inch apart, and was capable of discharging one thousand balls a minute; but the danger attending the use of highly compressed steam prevented its adoption. To the Transactions of the Royal Society, for June, 1826, Mr. Perkins furnished a paper "On the Progressive Compression of Water by high degrees of force, with some trials of its effects on other liquids." A correspondent of the Salem Register wrote, in 1827, that this "celebrated man is now astonishing Europe by the resources of his great mind." Mr. Perkins retired from business in 1834, and continued to live in London, where he died July 11, 1849, at the age of eighty-three, having received the wellearned title of "The American Inventor." Like most inventors and scientists he spent |