The New York Sewing Machine Company of Plattsbugh, NY
There were several companies named New York Sewing Machine Company (NYSMCo). Some were referred to interchangeably as the New York Sewing Machine and Manufacturing Company (NYSM&MCo). The one that is of interest in relation to the Demorest SMCo manufactured their machines in the Williams Manufacturing Company factory in Plattsburgh, NY. See the bottom of this page for information about some others others.
An excellent history of the Williams Manufacturing Company can be found at Singersewinginfo.co.uk. My interest is in the Plattsburgh Williams factory, so I will cover some additional details on that below.
The New York Sewing Machine Company of Plattsburgh made this machine:
Before moving to Plattsburg, the NYSMCo manufactured machines in Hartford, CT. They were only listed in Geer's Hartford City Directory 1882 and 1883. Before that, the company was known as Wilkinson Manufacturing Company, although I was not able to located them in the Hartford City Directory. They manufactured their machines at the Colt compound of factories at 80 Huyshope Street , where Colt leased out factory space to other businesses (Source: Hartford History Center Research Specialist).
The Connecticut based company went backrupt in June of 1883 and reorganized with new funding in Plattsburgh, NY the following month. Elias A Wilkinson and other NYSMCo officers were sued for financial malfeasance regarding the bankruptcy. It was listed as a corporation in New Jersey in the lawsuits, so initially I did did not think it was related to the factory in Hartford. But with E A Wilkinson on the board of the new NYSMCo formed in 1883 in NY, it appears that it was.
This lawsuit can be found here. If anyone can interpret it and give a plain English summary in a few sentences I would love to include it here. I think what it means is tha Conecticut NYSMCo declared bankruptcy, sold everything
Around this time there was also a legal dispute between Elias A Wilkinson and Joseph A Herbert about a patent relating to the design of the New York Sewing Machine. That case can be found here. The patent at issue was US Patent 290,424 for a method to produce 4 motion feed from a cam on the main shaft. As I understand it, in 1882, Hebert worked for Wilkinson and agreed to assign any improvements and inventions relating to the sewing machine design to Wilkinson. Hebert then patented the four motion feed in 1883 and New York Sewing Machines were built using the design. Hebert left the company and proceeded to claim that the patent was not covered by the agreement and accuse anyone selling the New York Sewing Machine of patent infringement. The court found in favor of Wilkinson in 1886.The new New York Sewing Machine Company, aka the New York Sewing Machine and Manufacturing Company, filed articles of organization in Albany, NY on July 5, 1883, just one month after the Connecticut NYSMCo went bankrupt. The new company purchased the patents, patterns, and assets of the NYSMCo that had been manufacturing their sewing machines in Hartford, CT. The incorporators were E A Wilkinson, T C Woodward, D Graham, Andrew Allan, Mr McClenan, Andrew Williams and S M Weed. Capital stock was $500,000. The factory superintendent was J B McCune. Five of these men were on the board of directors of Williams Manufacturing Company (Graham, Allan, McClenan, Williams and Weed).
The company's main office was in Union Square in New York City.
Director Smith M Weed was one of the $1000 subscribers to get Williams to move to move their factory to Plattsburgh. The NYSMCo moved from Hartford, where the Weed SMCo was based. I wondered if there was a connection but have not found one.
Mr Hugh McDonald was the superintendent of the Williams Manufacturing Company. The NYSM&MCo operated as a separate entity in the same factory under superintendence of Mr J B McCune. Both operations were under the general management of Mr Dugald Graham of Montreal
The Sewing Machine Journal published a company profile. Fortunately, the local Plattsburgh newspaper reprinted that article with some additional commentary in January of 1884. At that time there were 250 employees and they expected to double that number. According to the article:
The “New York” machine is too well known to need any description here. The “Williams Family” machine is now, and has been for years, favorably known throughout the world. The “Helpmate” is a new machine. It is just making itself known and its many valuable new features will give it a very high rank among the leading sewing machines on the market. I might say here, by way of conclusion, that the “Helpmate” embodies in its construction many valuable devices not possessed by any other machine, several of which are the invention of Mr Hugh MacDonald, superintendent of the factory.”
The article has many details about the comapny history and factory operations that you may enjoy reading. Note that the article states that the first sewing machine was produced in November of 1883, one year after factory construction started. This is a year off. Construction started in November of 1881 and the first machine was made in November of 1882 according this article that also has many details about the company history and factory operations.
It is interesting that the article states that the New York sewing machine was so well known at the time because it is rare to find one now while the Williams and Helpmate machines are fairly common. Where did all of those well known New York sewing machines go?
Grace Rogers Cooper indicated in her book that the NY SMCo of Plattsburgh became the Demorest SMCo and that seems to be generally accepted. It seems logical, because the machines are very similar. However, I have been unable to find any direct connection between the two companies or documented evidence that Demorests were ever manufactured in Plattsburgh. The Plattsburgh City Historian and Clinton County Historical Society have no information about the Demorest Sewing Machine Company being in Plattsburgh and I can find nothing in newspapers or business directories.
The first Demorest ads I have found were from 1885. The company built a factory in Williamsport in 1889 and continued there until they went out of business in 1908. The factory was set up and initially run by Hugh MacDonald, former Superintendant of the Plattsburgh Williams factory.
The NYSMCo continued to do business in Plattsburgh through the 1890s, so it was not just a matter of a company buyout or business name change.
I believe that the 1885-1889 Demorest sewing machines were made by the New York Sewing Machine Company of Plattsburgh, NY as "badged" machines. Here are some photos showing how similar the New York and early Demorest machines are.
If anyone has documented evidence to show where Demorest sewing machines were manufactured before 1889, I would be very happy to receive it!
You can find information about the Demorest SMCo and machines here. If you study the photos, you will see how similar the New York and Demorest machines are.
Other New York Sewing Machine Companies
1859: New York Sewing Machine Company of Cincinnati
This 1859 book has an ad that mentions the New York Sewing Machine Company. This New York Sewing Machine Company is also listed in this 1859 Cincinnati business directory , but no is preview available.My guess is that this NYSMCo sold machines made by others but did not manufactire them. The ad mentions the "Bruen's new patent sewing machine" which could sew with two spools of thread or a single thread.
I only found ads for this company in 1859.
1870: New-York Sewing-Machine Co of NY
This is too early to be the NYMCo of Plattsburgh, but here is an 1870 stock certificate of the "New-York Sewing-Machine Co. Organized under the General Law of the State of New-York". I have not found any other information about this company.
1890s: New York S. M. Mfg Co
These machines closely resemble a Singer Model 12 but with an eagle on the badge and irons with the words "NEW YORK S. M. MFG CO." around it. According to this lawsuit, which was decided on May 18, 1896, the machines were made for a man named Bent by the June Manufacturing Company. The suit alleged that the machines and stand were designed to trick buyers into thinking they were getting a Singer machine. The description of the sewing machine and stand in the court documents clearly match the machine shown above.June Manufacturing Company was also sued by Singer for making a similar machine and using the name Singer on it. This case was argued in 1894 and decided on May 18, 1896. Since the decision date is the same, it appears they were considered together.
I don't know how to track the Singer vs Bent Supreme Court case back to the original lower court case. It is not clear to me if there was really a New York S M Mfg Company or if it was just a name put on sewing machines. I believe that it was just a name put on sewing machines because the Singer lawsuit was against an individual, not a company.
1896-1913: New York Sewing Machine Company of St Louis, MO
This book states that Robert Cleland formed the New York Sewing Machine Company in St Loius MO in 1896 and incorporated it in 1905. In 1909, the company employed 35 men. That does not sound like a big manufacturing operation, and Cleland worked for Singer as a salesman for 3.5 years before starting the company, so I believe they contracted manufacturing out to another company.This manual says Improved High Arm New York Sewing Machine on the cover, but the title page has no brand name and the machines illustrated inside are unlabeled. This supports the idea that the manufacturer "badged" machines for other companies.
These are examples of a New York SMCo of St Louis machine, from two of their manuals.
Both manuals showed the same cabinet.
This machine is marked "From New York Sewing Machine Co St. Louis, MO, USA" on its badge. It is very similar to the first machine shown above, with a different badge shape.
I found this company in St Louis business directories from 1899-1913. From 1899-1912 it was listed at 1210 (sometimes 1208-1210) Franklin Avenue. In 1913 it was at 619 Franklin Avenue. They also sold other brands of sewing machines.