187:. The family moved to Derby, in Nottingham, when he was four for the father's work manufacturing machines that produced lace. His father invented a machine to make a special fine lace and was invited to introduce the machine to a mill in Albany, New York. He arrived in America, as a boy of 14 with his father and 16-year-old sister, Marianna. Three days after arriving in Philadelphia they were orphaned by the sudden death of their father. Henry Disston was taken in as a
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233:, and provided Disston with room for his saw mill to grow. Disston constructed homes for his workers, and designed them in an effort to improve their surroundings from their former dwellings in Philadelphia. The Disston family owned more than 600 homes that were rented to workers and many others were built and sold to workers. This area of Tacony, known as the Disston Estate, was designed to bear Disston's imprint in the fashion of true
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on foreign manufactured goods helped expand
Disston's enterprise, and despite a fire that ruined the factory, Disston prospered through the 1860s. During the war, Disston had success when he switched some production from saws to war supplies such as Sabers, bayonets and guns. Disston also became a
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By 1850, Disston's saws were renowned in the United States, even compared against the
English manufactures that were considered superior. Disston encouraged emigration from England to staff his factory with skilled workers. By 1859, Disston had 150 people working for him. During the
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at
Lindley, Johnson & Whitcraft. He left that company in 1840 and started his own saw-making business. He married Amanda Bickley but she died after giving birth to twins who only survived a few hours. He later remarried to Mary Steelman in 1843.
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to build housing for his workers. His company became the
Disston Saw Works and was the top manufacturer of hand saws in the United States during the late 19th-century and early 20th century.
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By the late 1870s, Disston's business and social enterprises were succeeding, but his own health was failing. Despite his failing health, Disston generously supported the founding of a
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Disston was an early settler of
Atlantic City, New Jersey. He built a summer cottage for his wife and multiple business such as a bakery, a coal and brick yard, and a saw mill.
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which had switched their ship designs from wood to iron vessels and had become a main supplier of ships to the Union war effort.
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By 1871, Disston's saw mill had outgrown its factory and he moved the business to the outlying neighborhood of
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A Place to Live and Work: The Henry
Disston Saw Works and the Tacony Community of Philadelphia
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352:"Henry Disston (1819-1878) Pioneer Industrialist Inventor and Good Citizen"
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556:. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press.
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433:. Atlantic City, NJ: The Daily Union Printing Company. p. 467
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521:"Lighting up the dead: Historic Laurel Hill takes on a new glow"
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The Daily Union
History of Atlantic City and County, New Jersey
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visited
Philadelphia and toured the Disston Saw Works factory.
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629:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)
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281:, succeeded him as president of the company.
211:William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company
580:on-line reference for collectors of handsaws
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288:in the largest mausoleum in the cemetery.
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149:(May 24, 1819 – March 16, 1878) was an
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460:. Philadelphia Media Network
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496:– via Newspapers.com.
488:. March 17, 1878. p. 3
452:Avery, Ron (May 22, 1995).
356:www.disstonianinstitute.com
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614:American company founders
550:Silcox, Harry C. (1994).
327:– via Google Books.
209:supplier of steel to the
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243:In 1879, U.S. President
639:People from Tewkesbury
427:Hall, John F. (1900).
350:Disston, Jacob S. Jr.
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227:Northeast Philadelphia
458:Philadelphia Inquirer
284:Disston is buried at
259:Disston mausoleum in
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578:Disstonian Institute
286:Laurel Hill Cemetery
261:Laurel Hill Cemetery
251:Later life and death
85:Laurel Hill Cemetery
245:Rutherford B. Hayes
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519:Crimmens, Peter.
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529:. Retrieved
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169:Philadelphia
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67:(1878-03-16)
50:May 24, 1819
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599:1878 deaths
594:1819 births
507:Silcox 1994
415:Silcox 1994
403:Silcox 1994
391:Silcox 1994
376:Silcox 1994
338:Silcox 1994
588:Categories
480:"Obituary"
238:utopianism
193:apprentice
181:Tewkesbury
91:Occupation
54:Tewkesbury
46:1819-05-24
531:April 14,
437:April 13,
292:Citations
235:Victorian
191:-maker's
131:Signature
56:, England
464:June 15,
361:April 9,
154:American
544:Sources
185:England
151:English
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99:Spouses
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527:. WHYY
223:Tacony
165:Tacony
118:(
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558:ISBN
533:2021
494:2020
466:2015
439:2021
363:2021
325:2020
204:, a
62:Died
40:Born
189:saw
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