Hamblin,
Sons & Co.
manufacturers of automatic balance slide valve steam engines, circular
saw-mills, head blocks, saws, brass goods, pipe and fittings, are the
successors of a business enterprise that was established in March, 1838,
by J. K. Hamblin and Gardner
Bond, in a small frame building directly opposite the present
site. It is claimed for the firm of Hamblin
& Bond that they were the first foundry operators in Greenville, and
one of the first in Mercer County. Their products were mainly plows and
lock cast for the Erie Canal, which was then in course of construction.
In 1850 the name of the firm was changed to Bond,
Heath & Co., and three years later to Hamblin
& Heath, under which title the
enterprise was continued with varying success until 1866, when the works
were destroyed by fire, with a total loss of all machinery and products.
Shortly afterward, however, the business was resumed by J.
K. Hamblin, who built and occupied the present quarters March 15,
1870, by the association of Hon. Jacob F. Kreps, of
Westmoreland County, Penn., and Samuel Hamblin, a
member of the present firm, the title of the business became Hamblin,
Kreps & Co. On the 28th of August, 1871, a reorganization
took place, and the present firm, consisting of J.
K. Hamblin, Samuel Hamblin, H. M. Hamblin and A.
T. Kreps was formed. Since then the business of the foundry has
been considerably increased, and the market now extends into several
States, as far south as South Carolina, and west through Ohio. Connected
with the enterprise is a general jobbing department, in which all sorts
of castings are made and miscellaneous repair done.
History
of Mercer County,
1888, page 438 |
|