Historical Timeline

1800

1818

The New England Glass Co., founded by Deming Jarves and others

1825

c. 1825

Enoch Robinson begins manufacturing door knobs and other hardware, independently and with others, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1825

Enoch Robinson begins association with the New England Glass Co.

1825

Deming Jarves leaves the New England Glass Co.; founds the Boston & Sandwich Glass Co.

1825

Henry Whitney assumes control of the New England Glass Co.

1826

Enoch Robinson & Henry Whitney: “Making glass knobs for doors”
US Patent No. 4553X

1826

Robinson & Whitney’s glass press revolutionizes flint glass manufacturing

1828

Congress passes the Tariff Act

Prices increase on imported goods and raw materials

c. 1835

Enoch Robinson leaves Cambridge for Boston

1836

December 15: US Patent Office fire

c. 1837

G.W. Robinson & Co., 4 Richmond Street

Enoch, George, and Ezra manufacture glass knobs

1839

E. Robinson & Co. established

1839

January 2: E. Robinson & Co., 32 Dock Square

1843

William Hall leaves E. Robinson & Co.; founds Wm. Hall & Co., 27 Dock Square, Boston, Mass.

1846

E. Robinson & Co. moves to 4 Washington Street

1849

Mercury glass is patented in England by Edward Varnish and Frederick Hale Thomson of E. Varnish & Co.

1850

1851

Russell & Erwin founded

1851

P.F. Corbin Company founded

1851

Crystal Palace Exhibition, London

1857

The Old South Meeting House

Boston, MA

E. Robinson & Co., Manufacturers

Restoration, 1857

1861

April 12: Civil War starts

1861

June 28: Joseph Dodge Jewett born, Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

(d. February 20, 1940)

1865

Ammi B. Young, in his journal, writes that E. Robinson & Co. “are esteemed the best locksmiths in this country.”

1865

April 9: Civil War ends

1867

E. Robinson hardware displayed in Paris at the Exposition Universelle d’Art et d’Industrie

1868

Yale & Towne, founded as Yale Lock Manufacturing Co., in Stamford, Ct

1872

November 9: Great Boston Fire

1873

G.W. Robinson & Co. sells its buildings at North and Richmond Streets and ceases operation

1873

E. Robinson & Co. moves to 21 Brattle Street

1875

1875

William Hall dies, leaving Wm. Hall & Co to his sons William, Henry, and Fred.

1876

January 26: The Northampton National Bank Heist

Largest bank robbery in US history; this and other robberies drives the adoption of combination time locks

1877

September 14: Second US Patent Office fire

1879

Wm Hall & Co. moves to 4 Dock Square

1881

Fourteenth Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association

Enoch Robinson is awarded a diploma and a silver medal for door and furniture trimmings, for new designs and superior workmanship.

1883

John Tein Co. founded.

1883

Willam F. Hall: “Door-Knob Attachment”
US Patent No. 278,704

1883

1883

Walter Gropius born

1888

February 11: Enoch Robinson dies; his son Albert takes over the company

c. 1888

E. Robinson & Co. moves to 39–41 Cornhill

c. 1890

Joseph Jewett sets up shop at 19 Pearl Street.

c. 1891

Walter Vaughan joins Joseph Jewett at 19 Pearl Street.

1893

Chicago World’s Fair; attended by Walter and Etta Vaughan on their honeymoon

1894

July 13: Walter Stafford Vaughan born in Cambridge, Mass. on July 13, 1894 to Walter Clifton Vaughan and Mosetta Isabella Stafford.

1895

Joseph Jewett and Walter Vaughan form partnership as J.D. Jewett & Co.

1895

J.D. Jewett & Co. moves from 19 Pearl Street to 168 Washington Street, near Dock Square.

1900

1901

G.N. Wood & Co. founded.

1902

May 29: J.D. Jewett Co., successor to J.D. Jewett & Co., is incorporated, with Joseph Jewett as president and Walter Vaughan as secretary.

1902

Marcel Breuer born

1905

G.N. Wood & Co. acquires E.Robinson & Co.

1905

February 14: Albert Robinson dies

1907

Collapse of the Knickerbocker Trust Company of 1907; financial panic of 1907

1908

December 31: Elmer Hale Pratt born

c. 1909

Joseph Jewett and Walter Vaughan end their partnership; Walter Vaughan assumes control of the J.D. Jewett Co.

1909

October 15: The J.D. Jewett Co. is formally renamed the W.C. Vaughan Co.

1913

Revenue Act of 1913 reduces tariff rates; removes tariffs completely from iron, steel, and other raw materials

1914

L.S. Hall & Co. acquires G.N. Wood & Co. / E. Robinson & Co.

1914

World War I begins

1918

November 11: W.C. Vaughan acquires L.S. Hall & Co. on Armistice Day.

L.Stanton Hall stays on as Shop Superintendent.

1918

World War I ends

1919

W.C. Vaughan moves from 168 Washington Street to L.S. Hall’s Shop at 1 Haymarket Square.

1919

January 15: The Great Molasses Flood

The Purity Distilling Company tank explosion demolishes structures, injures 150, and kills 21

1921

Ostrander & Eshleman, Inc. founded; exclusive representative of G. & R. Bricard of Paris; distributors of Yale & Towne

1921

W.C. Vaughan acquires Wm. Hall & Co.

1924

Walter and Etta Vaughan visit Stafford Vaughan in Rome; Walter collects medieval ironwork and hardware

1925

1925

William F. Hall dies

1926

W.C. Vaughan acquires building at 3–7 Havervill, which houses its forge, foundry, manufacturing, and shipping departments

c. 1926

Elmer Hale Pratt joins the Boston Architectural Club; works as draftsman for Perry, Shaw, and Hepburn

1927

St. Philip’s Episcopal Church

Charleston, SC

The W.C. Vaughan Co., Manufacturers

1927–1938

1929

Elmer Hale Pratt joins W.C. Vaughan as a draftsman

1929

Wall Street crash; start of the Great Depression.

c. 1933–1941

Stafford Vaughan joins Ostrander & Eshleman, solidifying partnership with the W.C. Vaughan Co.

1934

Walter Gropius flees Germany for London

1934

Depth of the Great Depression

1935

Stafford Vaughan designs W.C. Vaughan’s lever handle 637, later used on the front door of the Gropius house

1935

1936

Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer arrive in Cambridge, Mass. at the invitation of Joseph Hudnut, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design

1937

Under Elmer Pratt’s direction, W.C. Vaughan Co. introduces Lucite door pulls

The W.C. Vaughan Co., Manufacturers

1937

1937

June 29: L. Stanton Hall dies.

1938

W.C. Vaughan provides hardware for Life Magazine’s “Life Houses”

The W.C. Vaughan Co., Manufacturers

1938

1939

W.C. Vaughan acquires the John Tein Co.

1939

New York World’s Fair, the “World of Tomorrow”; W.C. Vaughan supplies hardware for exhibitions including the Argentine Pavilion and Gropius and Breuer’s Pennsylvania State Exhibition

1939

World War II begins

1940

Plastics, 1940

Exhibition organized by Robert Woods Kennedy at the Boston Institute of Modern Art

1940

February 20: Joseph Dodge Jewett dies.

c. 1941

Stafford Vaughan leaves Ostrander & Eshleman, joins the W.C. Vaughan Co.

c. 1941

Elmer Pratt joins the Massachusetts State Guard

1941

The US enters World War II

1942

W.C. Vaughan manufactures torpedo parts for the war effort.

The W.C. Vaughan Co., Manufacturers

1942

c. 1942

Elmer Pratt draws illustrations for a series of books about military weapons

1943

Walter Vaughan retires; divides shares in W.C. Vaughan between Stafford Vaughan and Elmer Pratt

1943

Stafford Vaughan becomes president of W.C. Vaughan

1945

September 2: World War II ends

1945

Walter Gropius forms TAC (The Architects Collaborative) with Norman Fletcher, John Harkness, and others

1950

1951

W.C. Vaughan loses 1 Haymarket Square to eminent domain; moves to 32 Pitts Street

1952

St. Mary’s - The Morning Star Church

Pittsfield, MA

The W.C. Vaughan Co., Manufacturers

1952

1957

The Boston Redevelopment Authority forces W.C. Vaughan’s move from Pitts Street

1960

The Oldest House (González-Alvarez House)

St. Augustine, FL

The W.C. Vaughan Co., Manufacturers

1960

1964

Stafford Vaughan retires; Elmer Pratt becomes president of W.C. Vaughan

1965

National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Emmitsburg, MD

The W.C. Vaughan Co., Manufacturers

1965

1965

St. Matthew’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church

Charleston, SC

The W.C. Vaughan Co., Manufacturers

1965

1967

Walter Stafford Vaughan dies

1969

Walter Gropius dies

1975

1975

Elmer Pratt retires as President of W.C. Vaughan.

1981

Redstone Modern acquires the W.C. Vaughan Co.

1981

Marcel Breuer dies

1987

Elmer’s nephew Glenn Albert Pratt acquires the W.C. Vaughan Co. from Redstone Modern and re-starts the business in Braintree, Mass.

1992

E.R. Butler & Co. acquires Ostrander & Eshleman

1995

TAC ceases operation

1999

E.R. Butler & Co. acquires the Quincy Spindle Mfg. Co.

2000

2000

E.R. Butler & Co. acquires the W.C. Vaughan Co.

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