West Point Foundry - Paulding, Kemble & Co.

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Allgemeines

Firmenname	West Point Foundry - Paulding, Kemble & Co.
Ortssitz	Cold Spring (N.Y.)
Art des Unternehmens	Maschinenfabrik und Eisengießerei
Anmerkungen	1868: R. P. Parrott, Eigentümer. 1869: Pauling und Kemble (s.d.) als Pächter; 1874: als Eigentümer (mit 1000 Beschäftigten) angegeben. Seit 1897: "Cornell Foundry" (bis 1914). Vergl. auch in New York City. Eine West Point Foundry gibt es auch in Pittsburgh.
Quellenangaben	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 127] [Wiley's American iron trade manual of the leading iron industries (1874) 84] [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 485]

Unternehmensgeschichte

Zeit	Ereignis
1817	Gründung durch James Kirk Paulding und Gouverneur Kemble als "West Point Foundry", um den Bedarf an amerikanischen Kriegsmaterial zu decken. Paulding war ein Bon-Vivant-Dichter, der mit Washington Irving verbunden war. Besonders in seinen frühen Jahren ist Kemble ein enger Freund von Washington Irving.
1836	R. P. Parrott, der spätere Eigentümer, arbeitet seither in der Gießerei.
1851	DAs Eigentum geht von Gouverneur Kemble auf R. P. Parrott über.
1860	Parrott führt die ersten "Parrott Guns" (Kanonen) ein.
1860	Erstmals Herstellung der Parrott-Zwanzigpfünder-Kanone
1861	Die Dreißigpfünder-Kanone und das Parrott-Geschoß kommen heraus.
Ende 1861	Parrott baut eine Hundertpfünder-Kanone.
Anfang 1862	Parrott baut eine Zweihundertpfünder-Kanone.
1862	Parrott baut eine Dreihundertpfünder-Kanone.
1897	Verkauf an die Brüder Cornell und später unter der Firma "Cornell Foundry"
1914	Ende der "Cornell Foundry"

Produkte

Produkt	ab	Bem.	bis	Bem.	Kommentar
Dampfmaschinen	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1874	Wiley's American iron trade manual
Gebläsemaschinen	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1874	Wiley's American iron trade manual	Vorgabe: Blowing engines for blast furnces
Gebläsemaschinen	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1874	Wiley's American iron trade manual	Vorgabe: Blowing engines for blast furnces
Getreidemühlen	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	Vorgabe: Flour mills
Göpel	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	Vorgabe: Cattle mills
Gußeisen	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1897	Ende (Verkauf)	1869/1874: Vorgabe: heavy castings
hydraulische Pressen	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	Vorgabe: Hydraulic presses for cotton, oil and paper
Kanonen	1817	vmtl. ab Beginn	1874	Wiley's American iron trade manual	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]: Rifled cannon
Maschinenbau	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1874	[Wiley: American iron trade (1874)]	Vorgabe: general machinery
Messingarbeiten	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]
Pumpmaschinen	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1874	Wiley's American iron trade manual
Pumpmaschinen	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1874	[Wiley: American iron trade (1874)]	Vorgabe: pumping engines
Pumpmaschinen	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1874	Wiley's American iron trade manual
schmiedeeiserne Brücken	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	Vorgabe: Wrought-iron bridges
schwere Gußstücke	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1874	[Wiley: American iron trade (1874)]	Vorgabe: heavy castings
Sägewerke	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	Vorgabe: Saw mills
Schiffsdampfmaschinen	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	Vorgabe: Marine engines
Tanks	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	Vorgabe: Clarifiers and tanks
Wasser- und Gasrohre	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]
Wasserräder	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]
Zuckermühlen	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	Vorgabe: Sugar mills
Zuckersiedekessel	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	1869	[Manufacturer and Builder 1 (1869) 126]	Vorgabe: Sugar kettles

Personal

Zeit	gesamt	Arbeiter	Angest.	Lehrl.	Kommentar
1874	1000

Allgemeines

ZEIT	1868
THEMA	Firmenbeschreibung
TEXT	Was established by Gouverneur Kemble, who, with others, were incorporated under the name of the West Point Foundry Association. The first Works were erected in 1817, and were designed for the casting and boring of Cannon for the Navy and Army requirements of the United States, official assurances of support and encouragement having been given, should Ordnance for the government be satisfactorily made. From the expiration of the time for which the charter of the Association was given, the Works have been conducted as a private establishment by one of the proprietors, who leased the shares of the others. They were carried on in this manner by Mr. Gouverneur Kemble until 1851, and from that date to the present time by Mr. R. P. Parrott, who had become connected with the Foundry in 1836, and continued in it during the lease of Mr. Kemble, upon the expiration of which Mr. Parrott became the sole lessee, and has conducted the establishment up to the present time, assisted in its management by Mr. Gouverneur Paulding. Mr. Parrott was a graduate of West Point, and Captain in the Ordnance Department of the United States. It was found by experience that the Cannon called for were not ordered in such quantity, or with such regularity, as to give steady employment, and other work was necessarily sought for. By degrees, general Castings, Steam-engines and Boilers, and all heavy machinery, were introduced, with a forging department capable of executing the heaviest pieces. Among the products of this Foundry were the Engines of the United States Steamers "Missouri", and of the well-known "Merrimac", the Cornish Pumping Engine at Belleville for the Jersey City Waterworks, and the Pumping Engine of the Dry Dock at Brooklyn. Sugar-mill Machinery, with Steam-engines, Hydraulic Presses, and Blowing Engines of the largest size, have been turned out in large quantities. Much of this machinery has been exported from the United States, and has borne a high reputation in competition with that of other countries. The establishment, though limited originally to a Cannon Foundry of moderate extent, costing about $90.000, has grown, entirely by the application of means earned by itself, to one of immense capacity, not only for Cannon, but heavy Machinery, Steam-engines, and general Castings and Forgings. The facilities for finishing and fitting up work, although very large, are exceeded by those for casting and forging, and at times large quantities of Water Pipes, Wrought-iron Shafts, and other forgings, have been added to the ordinary work. The position of the West Point Foundry at Cold Spring was deter-mined by two considerations; one, the desire of the Government, at that time, that a Gun foundry should not be too near the coast, and the other, to obtain water power from a stream entering the Hudson at Cold Spring. This, though quite insufficient for the power now required, is still useful in the boring of Guns. Cold Spring having, at the commencement of the Foundry, consisted of only a small landing-place of three houses, and West Point being the only well-known place in the vicinity (although on the opposite side of the river), the name of West Point Foundry was given to the new establishment. Mr. Gouverneur Kemble, the original proprietor, still lives to enjoy the vigorous growth of the Foundry and of the Village, which may almost be said to have been founded with it, as well as to receive the tribute of universal regard for a conspicuous display of qualities commanding respect throughout a long succession of years. This Foundry has recently been brought prominently into notice in connection with the manufacture of Rifled Cannon, a subject which has been much discussed since the Crimean war, although such cannon were uot used successfully at that time. Numerous experiments in their manufacture have been made in Europe, and in 1858 and 1859 many trials of Rifled Cannon were made in this country, chiefly with Guns ordered by the Ordnance Department, according to plans devised and brought forward by different inventors. The Cannon were the usual Cast-iron Guns, bored somewhat smaller and rifled. A projectile frequently used at that time was that of Dr. J. B. Read, of Alabama, in which a cup or flange of wrought-iron is cast in the projectile, and it was expected that the force of the powder would cause the rim of this cup to take the grooves. Better forms of projectiles have since been devised, although this was made to work moderately well in small Guns; owing in some degree to an improvement made by Mr. Parrott of swaging out the cup partially to the form of the grooves, and thus facilitating the "taking" of them by the projectile. In 1860, Mr. Parrott introduced the first of the Guns now Known as "Parrott Guns." It was the smallest size of bore, and called the ten pounder, and this Gun has since been increased from two and nine tenth inches to three inches bore, and is called the three-inch Gun. The principles upon which it was constructed have Jbeen observed in all, so that the same system has prevailed throughout. One peculiarity of the Parrott Gun is the band or reinforce of wrought-iron, made by coiling a bar of iron upon a mandril, and then welding this coil into a cylinder, which is afterward bored and turned and shrunk upon the Gun. The manner of attaching the band to the Gun is another peculiarity, and the rifling is another. The thickness, length, and position of the wrought-iron band, and thickness of the cast-iron are also arranged by a regular rule. In 1860, was also made the Parrott twenty-pounder Rifle, and before April, 1861, the thirty-pounder Gun and the Parrott projectile, first and exclusively used for this Gun, as well as for all the larger calibres afterward made, and subsequently adopted for the ten and twenty pou-nder Guns. This projectile is cylindrical, with a flat base, and rounded but pointed end. It is made to "take" the grooves by the expansion of a brass ring cast upon the projectile near the base. The ring being so disposed as to be "flush" with the sides and bottom of the projectile, no irregularity whatever is presented, and the projectile can be entered with perfect freedom into the Gun. For the larger calibres, the Parrott projectiles appear to be peculiarly well suited, and have performed well up to six hundred pounds in weight from a Gun of twelve inch bore. Before April, 1861, Mr. Parrott had made the ten, twenty, and thirty-pounder Guns. This he had done without any order from the Government, and entirely according to his own views of the principles to be followed in Rifled Ordnance. At the commencement of the late Rebellion all those he had on hand were taken by the Ordnance Department, and to their performance alone is he indebted for the pressing orders which flowed in, and the very large number supplied in consequence. Late in 1861, Mr. Parrott made the one-hundred-pounder, and early in 1862 the eight inch or two-hundred-pounder Gun. These Guns were in each case made and offered for trial without any order, and the large calls for them were the result of the impression made by the Guns themselves. Both were mounted in the batteries at Yorktown, and their powers, as there exhibited, were highly commended. An interesting account of them was given by the Prince de Joinville, an eye-witness, showing that they were in advance of any other attempt at making heavy Rifled Cannon. In pursuance of the same course of action, Mr. Parrott made, in 1862, a ten-inch or three-hundred-pounder Rifle. This was only tried in service at Charleston; the first one was unfortunately disabled by the bursting of a shell, which carried off about three feet from the end of the Gun. It was, however, used to a considerable extent after the accident; while another Gun of the same kind was fired twelve hundred rounds, and then only failed from the same cause as the first. The Parrott Guns continued to be largely used in the war, both in the Navy and Army, and while it was not claimed that they were perfect in their results, or that disappointments did not occur, yet when due allowance is made for the novelty of the subject in actual war, the immense extent of the demand, and the necessary want of experience under the circumstances, it may be fairly concluded that the system, so often doing that well which had never been accomplished before, must be based on correct principles, and only required a reasonable measure of practical experience and care to make it equally successful at all times. In the capture of Fort Macon the Parrott Guns were singularly distinguished, and they also contributed largely to the success at Fort Pulaski. At the bombardment of Fort Sumter from Morris Island, as well as in the shelling of Charleston, the Parrott Guns were almost wholly used. The performance of these Guns and projectiles at the destructive bombardment of Fort Sumter, at distances over four thousand yards, after the assault upon Fort Wagner had failed, was a most brilliant as well as a timely success, and may almost be said to have inaugurated a new era in siege warfare. So important had the success of these Guns made them, that Mr. Parrott was called on for about three thousand Cannon, more than half of which were of the thirty-pounder and larger calibres, together with Projectiles, Iron Carriages for Fortifications, Fuzes, etc., constituting chiefly the Rifled Ordnance of the country.
QUELLE	[Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 485]