A.B. Allen & Co.
New York , NY
1848-1853?
Tool Types
Agricultural Implements
Directory of American Toolmakers Information
N/A
Identifying Marks
A.B.ALLEN & CO/ &c
General Information
While the DATM lists A.B. Allen as existing only in 1848, the catalog in the DTM library is from 1849. Further searching unearthed a letter from one
Friedrich A. Meissner in 1853 to the a neighbor of the company requesting he find out what happened to the seeds and manure he ordered from them, possibly a sign of the decline of their short-lived business.
From Mr. Loren Meissner:
"FAM was my grandfather and the reference is to a web page I posted. Of course I know nothing about AB Allen, but it is obvious from this and other letters that FAM was a gardener who also had a side business importing and selling seeds. It sounds like AB Allen was still in business to some extent in late 1852, because they sent him a newspaper of some sort after he wrote to them on 9 Nov 1852. This (and most of this collection) was translated roughly from German by a lady whose husband was a student at Univ of Calif, Riverside campus, in the late 1950s. She was a “war bride,” a native of German who had done archival work in Germany and was able to read the archaic script my ancestor wrote. My point here is that the word “newspaper” in the letter could have been most any sort of paper, perhaps a sales brochure, since my translator was asked to produce a rough translation and not necessarily to dwell on choosing the most accurate English word to convey the German expression."
Photographs
References
Allen & Co., A. B. (1849). Catalogue of agricultural and horticultural implements, and or field and garden seeds, fruit and ornamental trees, domestic animals &c.
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.
Meissner, Loren P. "Friedrich A. Meissner Letters." Meissner Family Letters. 7 August 2006. Meissner Family Website. 19 August 2007. <http://meiszen.net/family/tree/manly/_FAM/fam_letters/1d.htm>
Links
http://meiszen.net/family/tree/manly/_FAM/fam_letters/1d.htm - Meissner, Loren P. Friedrich A. Meissner Letters. Meissner Family Website.
http://www.davistownmuseum.org/bioAllenAB.html
