Table of Contents
I. Personal Effects, ca. 1858-1872
III. Memoranda and Inventories, 1826-1866
IV. Memoranda related to the German Fraud, 1871-1913, undated
V. Trademark and Copyright documents and scrapbooks, 1878-1906
VII. Rules regulations and instructions to workers, 1847-1873
Collins Co. records, 1826-1950
A Guide to the collection at the Connecticut Historical Society
Collection Overview |
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| Repository: | Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut |
| Creator : | Collins Company (Hartford, Conn.) |
| Title : | Collins Co. records |
| Dates : | 1826-1950 |
| Extent : | 5 linear feet (5 boxes, 1 oversize box) |
| Location: | Ms 72165 |
| Language: | English |
Biographical Sketch
The Collins Company was founded by brothers Samuel Watkinson Collins and David Collins and their cousin William Wells in 1826. Purchasing a property along the Farmington River in the town of Canton, the young entrepreneurs set up a factory there and began to mass produce edged tools and weaponry which became famous at home and abroad. According to the organization Visit Collinsville, "the product line grew to include 1,300 types of edge tools, including axes, adzes, machetes, hatchets, picks, knives, swords and bayonets." Their intentions often unclear, the Collins Company played a role in the national crises of the time period by supplying pikes which were later used in John Brown's famous raid at Harper's Ferry, VA. The company had a large presence in the spheres of weaponry and tools and was also one of the major suppliers of edged weapons before, after and during the Civil War as well as later wars and skirmishes.
Like most factories of its time, the Collins Company did not fail to harness the power of the Farmington River. Cooperating with the Farmington River Water Power Company, the Collins Company "...built dams on the river to produce hydroelectric power to run their production and situated buildings strategically along raceways and turbines to take advantage of this source of water power" (Visit Collinsville).
140 years after the inception of the Collins Company, the factory closed its doors in 1966. The Flood of 1955 as well as the changing technologies and manufacturing preferences all helped to end the life of this staple of Connecticut manufacturing.
(This note was prepared with information gathered by http://www.visitcollinsville.com)
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Scope and Content
The collection consists of a myriad of sources relating to the history, daily activity, and products of the Collins Company. Divided into twelve series, the material in the collection spans roughly the 130 years from the 1830's to the late 1950's and includes personal documents including the volume "Reminisces of Samuel Watkinson Collins" (1867) and a scrapbook history of the company (ca. 1858-1872). The records portion of the collection consists of correspondence related to business and dates from 1830-1943. Also included are various memoranda and inventories as well as copyright and trademark agreements throughout the company's history. Of interest are the volumes related to the "German Fraud" where the Collins Company was seemingly involved in a series of legal cases involving the misuse of the company trademark in Germany.
A separate series is devoted to patents produced by workmen of the Collins Company and products that the company manufactured. Dating from 1865-1909 the patents provide an opportunity to see the specifications and drawings of just a small handful of the many items produced during the company's long history. Those who worked on producing these items have representation in a series devoted to rules, regulations and instructions to workers dating from 1847-1873. The remainder of the collection consists of material relating to the deeds of Collins Company property (1836-1852), notes on the involvement of the Collins Company at the Universal Exposition in Paris (1878), and a number of reports and tax audits dating from 1920-1957. The beginning of the end of the Collins Company may also be represented in a series relating to a smaller flood on the Farmington River in 1949. Involved in a lawsuit with the Hartford Spinning Company, the Collins Company collected data, photographs, and reports on the flood and its effects on their factory.
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Arrangement
The collection is divided into twelve series: personal effects, records, memoranda and inventories, memoranda related to the German Fraud, trademark and copyright material, patents, rules and regulations regarding workers, deeds, notes on the Paris Universal Exposition, reports, insurance plans and records regarding the suit with the Hartford Spinning Company flood.
The collection consists of five boxes and one oversize box. Arranged chronologically and by type of document, most boxes contain more than one series.
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Restrictions
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions on access to the collection.
Use Restrictions
Use of the material requires compliance with the Connecticut Historical Society's Research Center regulations.
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Subject Headings
Personal Names
Corporate Names
Subjects
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Item, Collection Title, Collection number (Box #, Folder #). Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut.
Processing Details
Collection was processed by Zac Mirecki in 2009.
EAD Finding Aid created September 2014.
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Contents:
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Return to the Table of Contents I. Personal Effects, ca. 1858-1872 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Reminiscences of Samuel Watkinson Collins, 1867 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Scrapbook of Collins Company related articles, circa 1858-1872 | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents II. Records, 1830-1943 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 1830-1838 | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | 1839-1843 | |||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 1844-1848 | |||||||||
| 2 | 4 | 1850-1869 | |||||||||
| 2 | 5 | 1873-1900 | |||||||||
| 2 | 6 | 1901-1905, 1937, 1943 | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents III. Memoranda and Inventories, 1826-1866 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Agreements, 1826, 1832 | |||||||||
| 3 | 2 | Historical memoranda, 1826-1871 | |||||||||
| 3 | 3 | Accounts payable, 1832-1833 | |||||||||
| 3 | 4 | Inventory, 1835-1866 | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents IV. Memoranda related to the German Fraud, 1871-1913, undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 5 | Memoranda, Volume I., 1871-1878 | |||||||||
| 3 | 6 | Memoranda, 1878-1881 | |||||||||
| 3 | 7 | See oversize for scrapbooks of German Fraud Correspondence, 1877-1887 and 1906-1913 | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents VI. Patents, 1865-1909 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 2 | Patents primarily by Luke Chapman, 1865-1873 | |||||||||
| 4 | 3 | Patents primarily by Luke Chapman, 1874- 1876 | |||||||||
| 4 | 4 | Patents primarily by Luke Chapman, 1876-1878 | |||||||||
| 4 | 5 | Patents primarily by Luke Chapman, 1879-1881 | |||||||||
| 4 | 6 | Patents by the Oliver Plow Company, 1889-1909 | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents VII. Rules regulations and instructions to workers, 1847-1873 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 7 | Rules and regulations to workers, 1847 | |||||||||
| 4 | 8 | Rules and regulations poster, oversize 1870 | |||||||||
| 4 | 9 | Instructions to foremen regarding piece-work prices, 1873 | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents VIII. Deeds, 1836-1852 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 10 | Copies of deeds for property sold by the Collins Company to individuals (oversize), 1836-1852 | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents IX. Notes on the Paris Universal Exposition, 1878 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 5 | 1 | Bound notebook of material regarding the Universal Exposition, Paris, 1878 | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents X. Reports, 1920-1957 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 5 | 2 | Report on Value of Hydraulic Plant by C.M. Saville (fragile), 1920 | |||||||||
| 5 | 3 | Correspondence regarding Report on Value of Hydraulic Plant by C.M. Saville, 1920-1942 | |||||||||
| 5 | 4 | Audit reports from Hadfield and Rothwell, 1921 | |||||||||
| 5 | 5 | Federal tax reports by the James H. Mann Company, 1920-1942, undated | |||||||||
| 5 | 6 | Appeal to the U.S. Board of Tax Appeals, 1925 | |||||||||
| 5 | 7 | Report on the Dycast Steel Company regarding melting records, 1926 | |||||||||
| 5 | 8 | Reports and schematic drawings regarding the Dam at Otis, MA from the Farmington River Water Power Company, 1888-1957 | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents XI. Plans, 1949 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 5 | 9 | War Risk Insurance Plan, Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, 1949 | |||||||||
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Return to the Table of Contents XII. Suit by Hartford Spinning Company, Flood of 1949 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 5 | 10 | Correspondence with law firm | |||||||||
| 5 | 11 | Photographs | |||||||||
| 5 | 12 | Court documents | |||||||||
| 5 | 13 | Engineering and technical data | |||||||||
| 5 | 14 | Flood reports, 1936-1950 | |||||||||
| 5 | 15 | See oversize box for Plaintiff’s exhibits L-Q, blue prints of dam and river, and stack of weather charts | |||||||||