Shed G.F

George F Shed Lathe.

The following was provided by Charles River Museum of Industry, Waltham Mass:

Information about George F. Shedd.

We have no lathes by Shedd but we do have one of his steam engines on display. It's a small horizontal model that is about 3 feet long and about the size of a bench lathe. We also have some pictures of the "White Swan", a side wheel paddle boat that saw service on the Charles in the 1870's. Shedd built the first engine for it. He also built the steam engine for the local newspaper, the "Waltham Free Press", as well as several other printing plants, including one in Wichita Kansas. We have newspaper clips about these. (Waltham Free Press, Feb 25, 1876; Waltham Sentinel, Jun 2, 1876 et al.)

Shedd came to Waltham after the Civil War and appears in the Waltham 1869 Directory listed as a machinist living at the same house as Joel Shedd, a carpenter. In this period George built a "little steamer". Later a second larger boat was underway. By 1870 he had converted a grist mill, located at Lexington St and Beacon St, into a machine shop. (ref 1)

The 1871 Waltham Directory has an advertisement for the shop which was started as "J. Shedd & Co." by Joel Shedd and Benjamin Worcester. The advert lists some things they made like blind fasteners, dentist's and watchmaker lathes, i.e. small stuff, but no steam engines.

In this early period it appears that Joel & Co were the owners who made products built around Joel's interests and George may have just worked there as a machinist. The 1874 Directory still lists him as a machinist but Joel is listed at the same home address with no occupation.

By the 1880 Directory, George appears to be in control of the business, which is now advertised as a lathe builder and engine builder. In an advert in the 1880 Directory the company is listed as "Geo. F. Shedd, Manufacturer of Steam Engines and Small Lathes." and shows a cut of a boiler and small vertical steam engine. Joel is also listed in the personal listings as a "blind fastener" manufacturer but uses the home address, not the shop.

1882 and 1884 directories have similar listings. 1884 also lists a William H. Gould as one of his employees. Nelson's book on Waltham, written in 1882, mentions "…a grist mill on the site of the present machine-shop of George F. Shedd on Chester Brook…". (ref 2)

The 1890 Waltham Directory lists George as a machinist and engine and yacht builder.

Sanderson's book on the industries of Waltham has a couple pages on George Shedd's business. It appears that it was quite small with only a couple employees. "He made some lathes and probably did some jobbing and repair work, but his principle products were steam engines and boilers." His business was moderately successful for over 20 years. In 1890 or 91 he moved it from Lexington St. to a building behind his home where he had previously made and stored patterns. George F. Shedd died in Dec 1891 and his heirs didn't continue the business. (ref 1)

Ref 1: "Waltham Industries", Edmund Sanderson, 1957, pg. 42-44. Book is hard to get but can be checked at our museum, the Waltham Museum and the Waltham Public Library.

Ref 2: "Waltham, Past and Present; and its Industries". Charles Nelson, 1882. PDF copy on Google site.

Directories checked: 1869, 71, 74, 80, 82, 84, 90 and 1893 (George not listed). All (except 1890) are available as searchable PDFs via the Watertown Library web site.