Judged by the number of failures which have marked the development of the American watch industry, watch manufacturing might well be characterized as a perilous business. While it has proved profitable for a few, it also has swallowed many fortunes.

There were no watch companies in America until 1850, although a few attempts were made to manufacture watches in the United States prior to that time—by Luther Goddard, who established the first American watch factory at Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, in 1809 and made several hundred watches from 1809 to 1815, when he finally abandoned the business; by Henry and James F. Pitkin at East Hartford, Connecticut, from 1838 to about 1845 and by Jacob D. Custer at Norristown, Pennsylvania, from 1840 to 1845.

Except for a few companies whose organization and speedy dissolution had small, if any, effect upon the industry as a whole, the following briefly outlines the history of American watch manufacturing companies from the real beginning in 1850 to the present day:

1850

The American Horologe Company of Roxbury, Massachusetts, organized; name changed same year to The Warren Manufacturing Company; in 1853 name was again changed to The Boston Watch Company, the principal stockholders of which organized The Waltham Improvement Company to buy land and buildings for The Boston Watch Company at Waltham, Massachusetts; moved into the new factory at Waltham in 1854; failed in 1857 and company's business was bought in by Royal E. Robbins, watch importer of New York City and Tracy & Baker, watch case manufacturers of Philadelphia; in 1858 The Waltham Improvement Company increased its capital and purchased the business and property of The Boston Watch Company and re-incorporated under the name of The American Watch Company; in 1885 the name was changed to The American Waltham Watch Company and in 1906 the name was again changed to The Waltham Watch Company, its present name; in 1913 the Company purchased the business of the Waltham Clock Company.

1857

E. Howard & Company of Roxbury, Massachusetts, was organized by Edward Howard; in 1861 the name was changed to The Howard Clock & Watch Company; in 1863 the company practically failed and was reorganized under the name of The E. Howard Watch & Clock Company; in 1881 the Company again practically failed and was again reorganized under the name of The E. Howard Watch & Clock Company, with Edward Howard as President, as he had been in the preceding organizations; in 1882 Howard withdrew as President and severed his connection with the Company. From that time forward the Company gave increasingly greater attention to the manufacture of clocks, although it continued to manufacture the Howard watch until about 1903 when it entered into a contract with The Keystone Watch Case Company of Philadelphia, under which The E. Howard Watch & Clock Company transferred to The Keystone Company all rights to the use of the name "E. Howard" in connection with the manufacture of watches and also changed its own corporate name to The E. Howard Clock Company. Later the company failed and was operated by receivers until 1910 when a new company of the same name was organized and purchased the property of the old concern. The Keystone Company purchased the factory of The United States Watch Company at Waltham, Massachusetts, and began the manufacture of watches under the name of The Howard Watch Company.

1859

The Nashua Watch Company of Nashua, New Hampshire, was organized; it failed in 1862 and was bought in by the American Watch Company—now The Waltham Watch Company.

1863

The Newark Watch Company of Newark, New Jersey, was organized; it sold out to The Cornell Watch Company of Chicago in 1870.

The United States Watch Company of Marion, New Jersey, was organized; it failed in 1872 and was operated by creditors for a short time under the name of The Marion Watch Company, but again failed; machinery of the company was sold to E. F. Bowman of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who manufactured a few watches and then sold the business to The J. P. Stevens Watch Company of Atlanta, Georgia.

1864

The National Watch Company was organized and erected a factory at Elgin, Illinois; in 1874 the name was changed to its present name of The Elgin National Watch Company.

The Tremont Watch Company of Boston was organized, with Aaron L. Dennison, one of the founders of the original Waltham Watch Company as superintendent; it ceased business in 1868 because of lack of capital; machinery of the company was sold to an English syndicate which organized in England The Anglo-American Watch Company, the name of which was later changed to The English Watch Company.

The New York Watch Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, was organized by Don J. Mozart and others; it practically failed in 1866 and was reorganized under the same name; again failed in 1870 and the business was taken over by a new company known as The New York Watch Manufacturing Company. This Company survived only a few months and the property and business were taken over by a new group in January 1877 under the name of The Hampden Watch Company, which company, in turn, was later purchased by John C. Deuber and associates in control of The Deuber Watch Case Manufacturing Company of Canton, Ohio, which was originally organized at Cincinnati about 1888.

1867

The Mozart Watch Company of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was organized by Don J. Mozart after leaving The New York Watch Company; in 1871 the property and business were sold to The Rock Island Watch Company of Rock Island, Illinois.

1869

The Illinois Springfield Watch Company was organized; in 1875 it was reorganized under the same name; in 1879 it was again reorganized and the name was changed to The Springfield Illinois Watch Company, which was later changed to The Illinois Watch Company, under which name it now operates.

1870

The Cornell Watch Company of Chicago was organized and took over the business of The Newark Watch Company of Newark, New Jersey; in 1874 it sold its business and property to The Cornell Watch Company of San Francisco, California.

1871

The Rock Island Watch Company of Rock Island, Illinois, was organized and purchased the business of The Mozart Watch Company of Ann Arbor, Michigan; it failed the same year without producing any watches and passed out of existence.

1872

The Washington Watch Company of Washington, D. C., was organized, but failed after two years.

1873

The Rockford Watch Company of Rockford, Illinois, was organized; in 1896 the company failed and the business was operated by assignee until 1901 when it was sold and reorganized under the name of The Rockford Watch Company, Ltd.; it discontinued business in 1915, since which time the remaining stock has been marketed by The Illinois Watch Case Company of Elgin, Illinois.

1874

The Adams & Perry Watch Manufacturing Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was organized; it failed in 1876 without producing any watches; the property was purchased by a syndicate in 1877 which organized under the name of The Lancaster Pennsylvania Watch Company; in 1878 it was reorganized under the name of The Lancaster Pennsylvania Watch Company, Limited; in 1878 it was again reorganized under the name of The Lancaster Watch Company. In 1884 control of the company passed to Abram Bitzner, who, with Oppenheimer Bros. & Vieth, selling agents of New York City, began to operate the company and assumed the name of "Keystone Watch Company" as a trade mark; they failed in 1890 and in 1892 the property was purchased by The Hamilton Watch Company.

The Freeport Watch Manufacturing Company of Freeport, Illinois, was organized, but before producing any watches the company's factory burned and the business was discontinued in 1875.

1874

The Cornell Watch Company of San Francisco, California, was organized and took over the business of the Cornell Watch Company of Chicago; in 1875 the company was reorganized under the name of The California Watch Company and in 1877 the business was sold to the Independent Watch Company of Fredonia, New York.

1875

Fitchburg Watch Company of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, was organized, but discontinued, for lack of funds, a few years later without producing any watches.

1877

The Hampden Watch Company, now of Canton, Ohio, was organized at Springfield, Massachusetts and took over the business of the New York Watch Company; later, the Company's business and property were purchased by the interests in control of the Deuber Watch Case Manufacturing Company of Canton, Ohio.

The Independent Watch Company of Fredonia, New York, was organized and purchased the business and property of the California Watch Company of San Francisco; in 1885 the business was sold to the Peoria Watch Company of Peoria, Illinois.

1879

The Auburndale Watch Company, of Auburndale, Massachusetts, was organized and purchased the machinery of the United States Watch Company of Marion, New Jersey. In 1883 the company made a voluntary assignment.

1880

The Waterbury Watch Company of Waterbury, Connecticut, was incorporated; in 1898 the name of the company was changed to the New England Watch Company; in 1912 the company failed, and in 1914 the property was sold to and is now operated as one of the factories of Robt. H. Ingersoll & Brothers. of New York City.

The E. Ingraham Company of Bristol, Connecticut, founded by E. Ingraham in 1835 for the manufacture of clocks, was incorporated; in 1912 the company purchased the business of The Bannatyne Watch Company of Waterbury, Connecticut.

The Western Watch Company of Chicago was organized but failed the same year without producing any watches, the machinery being sold to The Illinois Watch Company.

1882

The Columbus Watch Company was organized at Columbus, Ohio; it was the outgrowth of a private enterprise started in 1876 by D. Gruen and W. J. Savage, who imported watch movements from Switzerland and sold them in American-made cases. In 1903 the business of the company was purchased by The South Bend Watch Company of South Bend, Indiana.

The J. P. Stevens Watch Company of Atlanta, Georgia, was organized and failed in 1887.

1883

The New Haven Watch Company of New Haven, Connecticut, was organized; in 1886 the company moved to Chambersburg, New Jersey, then a suburb of Trenton; in the same year the name of the company was changed to The Trenton Watch Company; in 1907 the company failed and in 1908 the business and property were acquired by Robt. H. Ingersoll & Brothers. of New York City. The factory at Trenton has since been operated as one of the plants of the Ingersolls.

The Manhattan Watch Company of New York City was organized but did not long continue.

The Cheshire Watch Company of Cheshire, Connecticut, was organized and continued in operation for about ten years.

The Aurora Watch Company of Aurora, Illinois, was incorporated but did not begin operations until 1885; failed in 1886; machinery sold in 1892 to The Hamilton Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

1884

The Seth Thomas Clock Company of Thomastown, Connecticut, founded by Seth Thomas in 1813 and incorporated in 1853, began the manufacturing of watches in 1884, but discontinued their manufacture in 1914. Seth E. Thomas, Jr., great-grandson of the founder, is now president of the company.

The United States Watch Company of Waltham, Massachusetts, was organized as an outgrowth of The Waltham Watch Tool Company. Later it failed and its plant was purchased by The Keystone Watch Case Company, which operates the factory under the name of The Howard Watch Company.

1885

The New York Standard Watch Company of Jersey City, New Jersey, was organized; in 1902 it was purchased by The Keystone Watch Case Company, which continues to operate it under the original name.

The Peoria Watch Company of Peoria, Illinois, was organized and took over the business of The Independent Watch Company of Fredonia, New York, but did not long survive.

1887

The Wichita Watch Company of Wichita, Kansas, was organized, but continued in operation only a few years.

1888

The Western Clock Manufacturing Company was incorporated with factory at Peru, Illinois, and general offices at La Salle, Illinois; began manufacturing watches in 1895; in 1895 the name of the company was changed to Western Clock Company; manufacturers of "Big Ben" alarm clock and low-priced nickel watches.

1890

D. Gruen Sons & Co., of Cincinnati, originally incorporated under laws of West Virginia; in 1898 re-incorporated under laws of Ohio. Prior to original incorporation the business was operated as a partnership under the name of D. Gruen & Sons. Present company also operates under the trade name of Gruen Watch Case Co. The company manufactures its watch movements in Switzerland, assembling and casing them in the United States.

1892

The Hamilton Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was organized; made only movements until 1909, but since then, both cases and movements.

1893

Robt. H. Ingersoll & Bro., of New York City, first introduced the original Ingersoll watch to the public at the World's Columbian Exposition; in 1892 the Ingersolls had contracted with the Waterbury Clock Company of Waterbury, Connecticut for the manufacture of the low-priced watch, which was first sold for $1.50 and later for $1.00; in 1908 the Ingersolls purchased the factory and business of the Trenton Watch Company of Trenton, New Jersey, and began watch manufacturing on their own account; in 1914 they purchased the plant of The New England Watch Company, formerly The Waterbury Watch Company of Waterbury, Connecticut.

1894

The Webb C. Ball Company of Cleveland, Ohio, founded in 1879 and incorporated in 1891, began the manufacture of watches.

1899

The Keystone Watch Case Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was organized. It controls The Howard Watch Company of Waltham, Massachusetts, The New York Standard Watch Company of Jersey City, New Jersey, The Crescent Watch Case Company, Inc., of Newark, New Jersey, and The Philadelphia Watch Case Company of Riverside, New Jersey.

1902

The South Bend Watch Company of South Bend, Indiana, was incorporated in New Jersey under the name of The American National Watch Company, but immediately thereafter changed to its present name; in 1903 it purchased the business of The Columbus Watch Company of Columbus, Ohio; in 1913 it was re-incorporated under Indiana laws.

1904

The Ansonia Clock Company of Brooklyn, New York, incorporated in 1873, began the manufacture of low-priced nickel watches; its principal business, however, is that of clock manufacture.

1911

The Leonard Watch Company of Boston, Massachusetts, was incorporated for the purpose of selling and distributing watches.