Taft, Daniel, and Sons

Daniel Taft was born at Mendon, Massachusetts, on December 28th, 1778. In 1794, at the age of 16, he followed his brother Stephen to the Woodstock area of Vermont. Stephen had relocated there previously and had set up a blacksmith shop, spurring the formation of what would come to be known as “Taftsville”. Upon moving to Vermont, Daniel became Stephen’s apprentice, but he would form his own business from Stephen’s shop in 1802. He was soon joined by his brother Seth, though a fire in 1811 resulted in Seth’s death, leaving Daniel to work solo. Around 1830, advertisements for “Taft’s Axes and Scythes” began to be noted in Vermont and the surrounding states. In 1834, “Daniel Taft and Sons” was noted as a business that produced axes and other edge tools from Taftsville. The business’s profitability was large enough by 1835 that they bought the foundry business of “Granger and Swarn” and expanded their production to include plows, stoves, and other cast items. Around 1840 they started a general store. The 1850 Federal Census listed Daniel and his two sons Daniel Jr. and Owen as edge tool manufacturers. In 1855, with Daniel growing quite old, the family sold their business and its assets. Daniel Taft died of dysentery while at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on August 30th of 1857. His body was returned to Taftsville where he was buried at Taftsville Cemetery.