The line of Silsby men that resulted in the birth of Seth Silsby in Acworth, New Hampshire, in 1781, began, at least in the United States, with Henry Silsby of Northampton, England. Henry made the trip across the Atlantic in 1629, settling in Salem, Massachusetts, when the state was young and still a growing colony for the English empire. Seth was born to Julius Silsby and his wife Rebecca, whose maiden name was Putnam. Julius was known to be a farmer near the Charlestown, New Hampshire, area, who was raised with a number of brothers, 3 of whom heeded the Lexington Alarm and join with Abel Walker’s company at the onset of the American Revolution. Upon returning from the War, Julius returned home to what was then to be called Acworth, once simply east Charlestown.
A Seth Silsby Axe that was resteeled by N. Locklin
Seth was raised as a farmer’s son, though little is known about his upbringing. By 1803 he was residing a short distance north at Windsor, Vermont, where he married Elizabeth “Betsy” Cady of that town. Their first son, William Cady Silsby, was born there in Windsor in 1807. The family would reside in that area through the war of 1812, of which Seth would take part in, rising to the rank of Captain before being discharged. After the war, the family settled in Suffield, Connecticut, where a second son, Horace C. was born in 1817. Shortly after the arrival of little Horace, the family moved north once again, this time settling just south east of Rochester, New York, at a spot named West Bloomfield. The move may have been prompted by the attempt to relocate near family, as Julius Silsby had since relocated to an area a short distance to the west at a place called Chili. They would move slightly north once again in 1821, this time settling in Mendon, now a suburb of Rochester.
Buffalo and Black Rock Gazette (Buffalo, New York) · Thu, May 11, 1826
It’s not been ascertained at what point Seth began to manufacture scythes and axes, but after settling in Mendon, Silsby axes began to be noted in advertising in Rochester and Buffalo. Silsby axes began to grow in popularity locally, and numerous sources note that a favorable trait found in Silsby axes of the time were steel bits welded to iron bodies with borax used as a fluxing agent. This would have been a first when it came to American made axes, though no patent has been noted on the technique. As orders began to build up, Silsby decided to meet the demand by erecting a small manufacturing facility at Honeoye Falls, about 5 miles south west of Mendon on Honeoye Creek. The new facility allowed Seth to increase production to the point of requiring an agent to handle sales, of which he found in Thomas Morgan of Rochester.
Morgan was a blacksmith who had worked the Rochester market for a number of years, and 1824 had established a business that produced iron and steel products for the local area. As his sales began to show trends toward popularity, Morgan found that his primary product should be iron nails. The expansion period made these items extremely profitable to create, and they became his primary product. In order to continue offering other products, Morgan took on a partner, Henry W. Stager, who would oversee production of edged tools for the business. With Stager producing implements, Morgan making nails, and the business facilitating the sale of other local manufacturers such as Silsby, the company grew rapidly in both popularity and profit. Morgan’s business grew so quickly in fact that he took on an apprentice in 1826 to teach and to assist with the shop workload. That apprentice, one who would have been exposed to Seth Silsby’s axes and the borax flux that was used to make them, was Daniel R. Barton, the man that the axe enthusiast world would come to know as D.R. Barton.
Over the next 10 years, Silsby axes would spread west with the growing United States. By his 50th birthday in 1831, advertisements as far west as Cleveland, Ohio, would mention Seth Silsby’s axes. The expansion of the U.S. would draw Silsby’s attention, and on December 7th, 1835, he purchased an 80 acre plot of land from the U.S. government near Bucyrus, Ohio. With the intent to move west, he made plans to move to that plot of land the following spring. Shortly after the winter had begun to thaw, Seth, his wife Betsy, and at least one daughter, Fannie, began to make the journey to the new homestead. William C. Silsby had grown and move out on his own, and as his family departed westward, Horace C. Silsby made the decision to join his older brother rather than move with the family. The move may have been ill advised, as the still cold spring added to the stress on Seth’s aging body, and before reaching his new home, he succumbed to Tuberculosis and was buried south of Cleveland near Richfield. Fannie would later be buried in the same area, showing that a portion of the family remained in Ohio, though Betsy would return to Mendon and live out the rest of her life in New York.
After their parents had made the decision to head west, William C. and Horace C. Silsby decided to continue their father’s work in central New York state. In 1836, along with their brother-in-law William Wheeler, they erected an axe manufacturing facility about 45 miles east of their father’s old establishment (then owned by Jasper Parrish) at Seneca Falls. The factory was noted as being located on the corner of Falls Street opposite the Fork factory, near the lower bridge. The brothers and Wheeler would operate the factory until around 1842, likely using their father’s techniques. After that time, they would each head in different entrepreneurial directions, though
William Cady Silsby
Horace C. would stay in the same location and begin to produce water pumps that would focus on fire engines as a primary use. Shortly after the Silsby brothers closed up shop, the Silsby axe would disappear from advertising as those who had them in stock sold out.
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