Salem Iron Factory Company

The Salem Iron Factory Company, manufacturer of anchors and other iron products, began as a voluntary joint stock company as early as May, 1796, in Danvers, Massachusetts. The company was granted a charter in 1800 and incorporated in 1804. Of the twenty proprietors, nineteen were from Salem, Massachusetts--Ebenezer Beckford, William Gray, Jr., Joseph Sprague, Benjamin Hodges, William Stearns, Edward Augustus Holyoke, Joshua Ward, Jacob Ashton, Abel Lawrence, Jerathmel Pierce, Aaron Wait, Nathan Pierce, John Appleton, Joseph Peabody, Ichabod Nichols, George Dodge, John Osgood, Benjamin Carpenter, and Samuel Putnam--while Nathan Read was from Danvers. The mill site on Waters River and the land upon which the mill yard, wharves, and other company buildings were situated were purchased from Nathan Read. In 1843 the company was sold and the name changed to Danvers Iron Works.

Nathan Read, inventor, congressman and jurist, was born in Warren, Massachusetts, on July 2, 1759. Read graduated from Harvard College in 1781, and served as a tutor there from 1783 to 1787. In 1795, he relocated to Danvers, Massachusetts, and shortly thereafter was involved with the founding of the Salem Iron Factory Company. During the 1780s, Read designed and later patented inventions related to steam navigation. Later in 1798, he patented a nail cutting and heading machine. He remained engaged in the manufacture of iron products until he removed to Belfast, Maine, in 1807. Read served as a Massachusetts state representative to Congress from 1800 to 1803. He served as judge for the court of common pleas of Essex County, Massachusetts, in 1803, and judge of the county court of Hancock County, Maine, in 1807. He helped establish Belfast Academy, a preparatory school, and served as trustee for forty years. Nathan Read died in Belfast, Maine, on January 20, 1849.

From the guide to the Salem Iron Factory Company records, 1797-1832 (inclusive), 1797-1799 (bulk), (Baker Library, Harvard Business School)