Tool Types

Calipers, Dividers, Knives, Saw Tools, Scales, and Wrenches

Identifying Marks

Variations of the company name with the city, state and patent names and dates; B&C surrounded by a circle or oval.

DATM Information

Stephen C. Bemis of S.C. Bemis & Co. and Amos Call formed this company and changed its name to Bemis & Call Hardware & Tool Co. in 1855. They made wrenches with patents belonging to A.D. Briggs on April 8, 1853, William C. Bemis (Stephen’s son) on December 2, 1873, and calipers patented May 28, 1861 by James H. Call.

General Information

Herb Page (2008) notes that Stephen Chapin Bemis was one of several partners who established the Williamsett Manufacturing Co. in Williamsett (a small village on the northern side of Springfield) in 1828. He took over this company in 1835 and changed the name to S. C. Bemis & Co. The Merrick screw wrench patented by Solymon Merrick on Aug. 17, 1835 was manufactured by them. A fire prior to 1839 destroyed the factory and the business relocated along Mill River in Springfield. Amos Call became a junior partner around 1843. In 1855 the firm was incorporated as Bemis & Call Co. In 1868 the name was changed to Bemis & Call Hardware and Tool Co.

In 1928 Bemis & Call H & T Co. purchased the wrench business of the Coes Wrench Co. and in 1939 sold the wrench line to Billings & Spencer Co., of Hartford, CT. The company continued making a variety of hardware and closed in 1988.

 References

Nelson, Robert E., Ed. (1999). Directory of American Toolmakers: A listing of identified makers of tools who worked in Canada and the United States before 1900. Early American Industries Association.

Page, Herb. (Spring 2008). Reach for the wrench: Bemis & Call wrenches. Fine Tool Journal. 57(4). pg. 10-12.