Cayuga, New York 13034
Scattered throughout the northeast are steam portable and
traction engines manufactured by A. W. Stevens & Son. Although
most of the machines still preserved were built in Auburn, New
York, the company did a large business for about ten years at its
manufacturing facilities in Marinette, Wisconsin.
The company was formed in 1842 by Abram W. Stevens of Genoa, New
York. He was born here on February 14, 1815, the son of Daniel
Stevens, a weaver and knitter, who made old fashioned
‘homespun’ goods.
Abram, with a limited education, left home at an early age to
make his livelihood, and became a carpenter. For a time, he engaged
in boat building at King Ferry on Cayuga Lake, and later became a
millwright; his first venture equipping a large flour and feed mill
at ‘Northville,’ now the village of King Ferry.
When he turned 21, Abram opened a shop in the basement of Milton
Remington’s foundry and machine shop in the village of Genoa,
and there constructed a stationary steam engine. It was built out
of cast iron, it being impossible at the time to secure steel
without great expense.
This engine was the wonder of that section of the country and
Stevens’ reputation as a practical inventor spread rapidly. He
constructed several of these stationary engines and installed them
throughout the state.
In 1842 he married Lorana Remington of Genoa. They had five
children, one of whom, LeRoy W., later became a partner in the
business. That same year, Stevens went into partnership with Joseph
Mosher and began manufacturing threshing machines. A few years
later, Hiram Birdsall of Poplar Ridge was admitted into the firm.
Later both Birdsall and Mosher retired.
Stevens’ first threshing machine was very primitive,
consisting merely of the cylinder supported by a frame, there being
no fan, separator or stacker. As the trade demanded various
appliances and improvements were added to the machine until it
reached a nearly perfect state of operation.
The result of his inventive mind was shown in that his machines
in later years were being sold throughout the country. Besides
threshers, Stevens, while in Genoa, manufactured all kinds of
agricultural implements, plows, harrows and wagons. There are also
examples still existent of corn shellers and bur feed mills. He
also made roof brackets for buildings.
But on January 23, 1878, the shops, buildings and new machinery
were totally destroyed by fire at the store house and lumber shed
were saved, along with the records.
A young lad by the name of Walter Arnold was credited with
saving the nearby church from burning embers when he climbed up on
the roof and doused them with a bucket of water.
Immediate steps were taken by the towns people to have the shops
rebuilt so that the Stevens’ firm would not move elsewhere.
Subscriptions were taken and a considerable amount of money was
raised.
However, the management, apparently eying Auburn as a more
central location, decided to make a move and did so in October,
1878; leasing several buildings on Washington Street (some still
standing) from Josiah Barber, a local carpet manufacturer. The
buildings had been previously occupied by the Dodge &
Stephenson Company, farm implement makers, who had gone out of
business.
At the time of the fire, about 30 to 40 hands were employed by
Stevens, most of whom followed the company to Auburn. A five
year-renewable lease was negotiated and the company set about
expanding its’ manufacturing line.
LeRoy W. Stevens was admitted to the firm in 1870 and the firm
was called A. W. Stevens & Son until 1898, when the ‘Uncle
Abram’ retired, and the firm was moved to Marinette,
Wisconsin.
Machines Manufactured by A. W. Stevens Company in 1903 (From | |
Stevens Traction Engines (12, 16, 18, 20 and 22 horsepower): | |
Water Wagon (10 barrel capacity) Monarch Tender (8 barrel | The Stevens Double Tube Weightier (with self-feeder) |
The Stevens Apron Separator (with wind stacker) | |
The ‘New Stevens’ Thresher | |
The New Stevens Thresher with Stevens Self-Feeder and Uncle | ‘Big 4’ Corn Husker |
Power Corn Shelter | |
French Buhr Feed Mill | |
The Sattley Attached Stacker (for threshers) | Portable Sawmill |
The manufacture of portable and traction engines is believed to
have started shortly after the firm went to Auburn. Mr. Stevens
died May 12, 1900, in Auburn, but the firm was to remain in
business for several more years.
By the time of his death, however, the company only had an
office in Auburn; everything else having been moved to Wisconsin.
The story is that the son wanted to move the company to the Midwest
for a better market and to compete with larger firms such as Case
and Avery.
The firm remained in operation until 1910 at its’
headquarters on Pierce Avenue. The story goes that the Stevens
Company went out of business following an expensive lawsuit with
the Avery Company over reported patent infringements with an
undermounted traction engine. The last year (1910) the company is
listed in the city directories, it was making potato machines.
The historian of Marinette said he felt the company was
dissolved and recalled ‘they drifted away from making their
main products and began to lose money.’
