Holmes, Booth & Haydens began in 1853 with the partnership of Hiram W. Hayden, Israel Holmes and John C. Booth in Waterbury, Connecticut. The firm was incorporated on February 2, 1853. Henry H. and James A. Hayden were also associated with the firm, hence the plural Haydens in the company name. Holmes was in charge of the rolling mill; H.W. Hayden was in charge of the manufacturing; and H.H. Hayden was in charge of marketing.
The company was engaged in casting, rolling and drawing brass and copper. They were the first to make planished copper-silver plates for daguerreotyping. They were a major "player" in the manufacture of lamps, burners and trimmings. They made brass and copper wire for electrical use. HB&H were among the largest producers of brass, German silver, sheet copper, wire jack chain and tubing. In 1880, they suffered two catastrophic losses as a result of fire: the spoon factory in February, and the rolling mill and lamp factory in October. Both plants were replaced immediately with larger capacity facilities. Holmes, Booth & Haydens operated independently until October 17, 1901, when it became part of the American Brass Company.1
Thumb Wheel Detail
Holmes, Booth & Haydens
thumb wheel detail.
Israel Holmes started with the Scovills in 1820. A consummate entrepreneur, he started more new enterprises in the working of brass than any other individual. Around 1826 he and seven other individuals formed the firm of Holmes and Hotchkiss to begin the manufacture of sheet metal and wire. Holmes and Hotchkiss became Brown & Elton in 1838. Brown & Elton was dissolved in 1856, with half of the business being purchased by Holmes, Booth & Haydens.2 Holmes had earlier sold his interest in 1834, and partnered with Israel Coe, Anson G. Phelps and John Hungerford to establish Wolcottville Brass Company in Wolcottville, Conn., now Torrington. He was president of Waterbury Brass in 1845. He severed his association from Waterbury Brass in 1853 and subsequently formed the firm of Holmes, Booth and Haydens, principally to cut into Scovill's profits from the daguerreotype business. Holmes left the firm in 1869 to form Holmes, Booth and Atwood, later named Plume & Atwood. He died in 1874.3
Early Lip Burner
Holmes, Booth & Haydens
Patented September 16, 1862,
Lewis J. Atwood's #36,493
Hiram W. Hayden was a prolific inventor. In addition to his "thirty-some" lamp and lighting patents, Hiram Hayden's other patented inventions include a breech-loading rifle, a breech-loading cannon, a magazine rifle, patents & designs for buttons, medals, and a machine for making solid metal tubing, which he sold to manufacturing concerns in Pittsburgh.4 While employed as a machinist at Scovills & Co., he inventing a method of making brass kettles by spinning disks of sheet brass through a die in 1851 . This brass-spinning process revolutionized the kettle-making industry. He subsequently sold this patent to The Waterbury Brass Company in 1852 and they dominated the manufacture of brass kettles in the country.....
