Victor Sewing Machine Co micrometer maker

MIDDLETOWN CONNECTICUT

Victor Sewing Machine Co.

Tool Makers of
Middletown, Connecticut

Tools Made: Micrometers and drill chucks.

Working Dates: 1864-83. Incorporated 1864. Capital $900,000. Name changed from Finkle and Lyon Manufacturing Company to the Victor Sewing Machine Company 1872. Decertified 1905. Ref. 64 Page 538.

George M. Pratt was issued patent #202,866 on Mar. 23, 1878 for a improved micrometer, assigned to the Victor Sewing Machine Company. The patented feature was the ability to adjust the anvil. In 1883 the micrometer business including patent rights were sold to Brown & Sharpe, Providence, RI. Frank Spaulding, the head of the micrometer department also moved. The factory was located on Hamblin and Williams Streets. Just west of the W & B Douglas Pump works. Map BB.

Officers in 1874: Frank D. Sloat, President, H. S. White, Vice-President, L. D. Blake,

Secretary, Geo. M. Pratt, Superintendent.

Patent papers on the Pratt micrometer at the bottom of the page.

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The logo on the micrometer is "Victor S. M. Co. / Middletown Conn. U.S.A.".

Below is a chuck patented by George Pratt and made by this company. I received this information from a gentleman in Wales, Great Britain. Number 164,032, Improvement in Chucks for Metal drills, issued 1 June 1875.

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Marked

THE VICTOR PAT'D JUNE 1, 1875

Victor S. M. Co. / Middletown Conn. U.S.A.

Below is an ad from the 1875-76 Middletown City Directory.

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     Patents issued or assigned to this company. See Ref.24 for more Middletown patents.

Name				Pat. No	Item					Issue Date
Pratt, George M.   		98409		Sewing machine thread control	12/28/1869
Assigned to Finkle & Lyon Mfg. Co
Johnson, Albert W.		109414		Sewing machine shuttle		11/22/1870
Assigned to Finkle & Lyon Mfg. Co
Pratt, George M.   		125488		Sewing machine needle bar	5/7/1872
Assigned to Finkle & Lyon Mfg. Co
Pratt, George M.		202866		Micrometer gage			4/23/1878
Pratt, G.			226550		feed & shuttle mechanism	4/13/1880
Assigned to Victor Sewing Machine Co.
Robertson, James		248507		Machinery belt device		10/18/1881
Pratt, G.			249091		Oil cup holder			11/1/1881
Andrus,Marshall D		258346		Sewing machine shuttle		5/23/1882

George M. Pratt was born 7 February 1829 in Ludlow, Massachusetts and died 30 July 1908 in Middletown. Buried in the Indian Hill Cemetery, Middletown, CT. He moved to Middletown, CT approximately 1845 and worked in the Aston pistol factory in Rockfall. He worked as a contractor for various gun manufacturers. In the mid 1860s he became the Superintendent of the Finkle & Lyon Mfg. Co. This became the Victor Sewing Machine Co in 1872. He held this position until the company went out of business in 1883. He then returned to contracting with various arms manufacturers. In 1886 went into the coal business for 22+ years.

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     Below is the Pratt Parallel Dividers, patent number 336,868. There is no maker

name on this tool. It was manufactured by the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co.

Chicopee Falls, Mass.It came with a long arm, pump center, needle point and pencil holder.

Close-up of the micrometer adjustment mechanism.

Below is the smaller version with the patent date of Feb 23, 1886.Pictures

provided by Kyle Dandeneau

1874 Map of the Victor Sewing Machine Co.

    The 2 pictures below are from an 1881 letter from the Victor Sewing Machine Company.

The top picture is from the envelope and the bottom from the letter.

Stock Certificate courtesy of Deborah Beacham.

The medallion below is from a Victor Sewing Machine. Approximately 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

1875 AD.

References:  1, 3, 7, 14, 19, 24, 64    Back Home

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