Description

VERY RARE "COLLINSVILLE AXE" CANCEL ON USA #26 A copy of a 12-page research paper, "The Three Collinsville Axes" is induced in this lot. From Connecticut History "The Collins & Company factory opened in 1826 with the purchase of an old gristmill and a few acres of land along the Farmington River in CT . The company started small with eight men, each making eight axes per day. At the time, workers earned $14 to $16 a month. As the company grew and gained a national reputation for its high-quality axes, new orders flooded in. Soon, the company hired workers from Connecticut and surrounding states to meet the demand. As the number of laborers grew, the company built housing for workers and their families, a Congregational church, bank, and other structures. The emerging factory town became known as Collinsville. Axe-making, which involved a four-step process of forging, grinding, tempering, and polishing the metal head, dominated Collinsville’s economic life. Immense grinding stones from Nova Scotia filled the shop yards. Shipments of coal transported to the factory, first by oxen then later by barges on the Farmington River, feed the forge fires."