Sargent and Company.

Sargent and Company was a manufacturer of locks and hardware, with headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut . It was founded by Joseph B. Sargent, who was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, in 1822. He began his career as a clerk in a Boston dry goods store, where he rose to the position of manager. Upon the death of his employer in 1842, Joseph and his brother, Edward, moved to Griffin, Georgia, and established a successful mercantile business. After a few years, the brothers moved to New York City, where they started a commission business called Sargent and Company . The Company acted as sales agent for Peck and Walter Manufacturing Company . When Peck and Walter closed, Joseph Sargent moved to New Britain, Connecticut, and created the J.B. Sargent & Company . Unable to expand the company at this location, Sargent purchased land in New Haven, Connecticut, and moved the company there on 1 May 1865, along with one hundred employees and their families. The company continued to manufacture small hardware items, and added a coffin hardware department. The following year, the company was incorporated, with capital of $300,000.

The Sargent and Company commission house in New York continued to sell hardware items, along with the goods produced in New Haven, to other manufacturers, reaching a sales volume of $1,738,000 in 1869.

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