American Gold Pen Nib Makers
American Gold Pen nib makers competed to make increasingly larger nibs. Depicted are examples of larger Gold Pen nibs with pen holders.
The top Gold Pen nib is from the 1840s with a length of 8 in./20cm., Tarbox was active in the 1840s-1850s.
The bottom Gold Pen nib and pen holder is a Mabie, Todd & Co. No. 8 with a length of 7in./17.8cm
A Follies List of Gold Pen Makers
“History of John Foley’s Gold Pens with Illustrations”, published in 1876, is a common reference to not only the early history but also the technique of fabricating Gold Pen nibs.
Reporters had interviewed Bagley’s foreman over 25 years earlier and published the fabrication steps for Gold Pen nibs. See the link below.
Foley also listed “all the Gold Pen Manufacturers in the United States, in 1849” on page 70 of his book.
The list begins with Levi Brown and lists John Foley as second. Interestingly, however; Foley seems to have started his Gold Pen manufactory years later in 1853. The missing Gold Pen Manufacturer in this list is A.G. Bagley. Bagley was the largest Gold Pen producer throughout the 1840‘s, perhaps Foley simply substituted his own name for Bagley as an advertising gimmick.
Other lists of Gold Pen Manufacturers in New York are a bit more inclusive of who was actually in business in 1850. The New York Mercantile Union Directory for 1850-1851 provides further insight into who may have actually been in the Gold Pen Manufacturing business.
New York Mercantile Union Directory
Pencil Case Makers - Note that some of the names in this list did produce Gold Pen nibs or utilized “to-the-trade” production by other Gold Pen makers, especially Bagley & Successors)
Browne, Clarke & Co. 15 Beekman, New York
Deacon Edward, 5 Liberty Place
Dederick Zachariah, 16 & 18 Maiden lane
Eaton, Grifiths & Co. 72 Spring
Hague John, 12 Dutch
Hart Moses, 561 Grand
Johnston Alexander, 4 Liberty Place
Kennedy H. P. & Co. rear 17 John
Larcombe R. J. 30 Cortlandt
Lownds Jacob J. 6 Liberty Place
Manning, Mounter & Co. 59 Nassau
Magee, Hulses & Blundell, 7 Dey
Maycock Samuel, 10 N. William
Pope, North & Co. rear 7 Dey
Rauch & Co. rear 35 Cortlandt
Smith, Doro & Co May 1.
Stewart Isaac W. 4 Liberty place
Stewart James D. 65 Ann
Gold Pen Makers List as of 1850-1851
Pencil Case Makers are also listed and addressed in the American Pencil Makers page on this website. Note that several individuals listed as pencil case makers including at least Deacon, Eaton, Rauch, Richardson, Smith, and one of the Stewarts produced or had produced a few Gold Pen nibs.
Pen Makers (Gold.)
Erie County.
Brown Samuel, 146 Main Bufalo.
Kings County,
Brown Levi, Mechanics' Exchange, Front St., Brooklyn
Woodward & Brothers, 46 Jay
Warren, B.A., 132 York
New York County.
Andrews Francis L. 42 Nassau
New York City
Bagley A. G. & Co. 189 Broadway
Bard & Brothers, 101 Willium (see advertisement)
Beers & Clark, 25 John
Berrian A. J. & Co. rear 75 & 77 Nassau
Blakeney Thomas, 44 Nassau
Blakeney William E. 44 do
Greaton John W. 71 Cedar
Lovejoy Daniel, rear 16 Watts
Magee, Hulse & Blonder, rear 7 Dey
Munson Benjamin, 123 Fulton
Savage John Y. 92
Smith G. & E. M. & Co. 16 & 18 Maiden lane
Spencer & Rendall, 170 Broadway
Van Brunt T. H. 6 Dey
Wilmarth, Brother & Co. 1 Cortlandt
Onondaga County.
Benedict, Barney & Co. corner Gemesee & Salina, Syracuse Salina.
Spencer & Co.
1844 - 1845
Mr. Spencer.
Josiah Hayden
1845 - 1848
Mr. Hayden sold his gold pen business to Rollin L. Dawson of Syracuse, New York in 1848. Dawson founded Dawson, Warren & Hyde Gold Pen manufactory, and became a major Gold Pen nib producer.
Benedict, Barney & Co.
1845 - 1852
Also known as Benedict & Barney, Based in Syracuse, New York, the firm marketed to the French Canadian Market.
The depicted Gold Pen nib is a product of Jean-Benoit Mallat‘s French patented technology, perhaps a to-the-trade import from Mallat through the Montreal connection as he struggled to market his first patented product beyond French elite. Montreal is the second largest French speaking city in the world.
In 1852, E. L. Walrath & Co , purchased the interest and good will of their predecessors in this line of business in Syracuse, Messrs. Benedict & Barney.
See more about this item, its pen holder and a comparison with Mallat 1842 Gold Pen nibs on the link below
Spencer & Rendell
1846–1853
2 Maiden Lane - 170 Broadway New York, NY.
John Rendell is listed in the Brooklyn City Directory for 1848-1849 as Gold Pen maker located at 165 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, New York.
On September 11, 1848, John Rendell's Gold Pen Factory, located at 165 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, New York, was destroyed by fire along with hundreds of other enterprises.
The New York Herald
The fire was perhaps a major setback that attributed to his suicide 11 years later.
Bard & Brothers
1846-1851
Bard Brothers Gold Pen manufacturers, Sales shop at 101 Williams Street and a factory at the corner of Front and Pearl.
The firm was merged to become Smith & Todd.
Bard & Bro’s was used as a Gold Pen nib hallmark.
G. & E.M. Smith
1846-1848
Copartnership with Albert G. Bagley.
The Smiths took advantage of the copartnership with Albert G. Bagley, resulting in the Smiths suffering major monetary loss as a result of Court judgements against them by Mr. Bagley.
Alexander Morton
Apprenticed under Albert G. Bagley
1848 First Newspaper ad for A. Morton Gold Pens.
1850 Signed as Witness on Bagley Patent No. 6891
A. Morton & Co.25 Maiden Lane 1859
1862 Full Page Ad New York Times for A. Morton Gold Pens
1862 Patent Awrds for Mechanized Gold Pen Blank Production.
A. Morton25 Maiden Lane 1864
William A. Ludden
1848
Almon F. Warren
1848 at 132 York, New York, NY
1853 at 4 Stanton, Brooklyn, NY
Depicted is an A.F. Warren Gold Pen nib (center) arranged between an upper and a lower swiveling gold cover that serves as an ink reservoir to enable writing without the need to dip for ink so often. (1856 Patent no. 14 ,425)
Charles B. Peddie
1846 at 189 Broadway, New York as journeyman in the Bagley Gold Pen manufactory
1849 at No. 2 John Street, New York
1851 at No. 189 Chestnut, Philadelphia
Warren, Potsdamer & Co.
1853
Warren, Potsdamer & Co. 1853 at 1 Stanton, Brooklyn, NY
Warren, Ludden & Sollace 1859 at 33 Maiden Lane
Dawson, Warren & Hyde 1859 at 4 Maiden Lane
Dawson, Warren & Hyde
1848-1866
Note: A. F. Warren may not have been a Dawson Partner
Almon F. Warren 1848 - 1853
at 132 York, New York, NY and 4 Stanton, Brooklyn, NY
Warren, Potsdamer & Co. 1853 at 1 Stanton, Brooklyn, NY
Warren, Ludden & Sollace 1859 at 33 Maiden Lane
Dawson, Warren & Hyde 1859 at 4 Maiden Lane
William A. Ludden
1848
George F. Hawkes
1859
64 Nassau, Brooklyn, New York
Bard & Brother
1846-1851
Bard Brothers Gold Pen manufacturers, Sales shop at 101 Williams Street and a factory at the corner of Front and Pearl.
The firm was merged to become Smith & Todd.
Bard & Bro’s was used as a Gold Pen nib hallmark.
G. & E.M. Smith
1846-1848
Copartnership with Albert G. Bagley.
The Smiths took advantage of the copartnership with Albert G. Bagley, resulting in the Smiths suffering major monetary loss as a result of Court judgements against them by Mr. Bagley.
William A. Ludden
1848
Almon F. Warren 1848 at 132 York, New York, NY
Warren, Potsdamer & Co. 1853 at 1 Stanton, Brooklyn, NY
Warren, Ludden & Sollace 1859 at 33 Maiden Lane
Daniel Lovejoy
1848-1859
In 1850 he was listed at 16 Watts Street, NY, NY. This area is now Freeman Plaza in the Hudson District.
Last listed at 187 W. 42nd Street, New York, NY, in the heart of Times Square today.
In 1859 he was serving as a NYFD fireman at Valley Forge Hose Company, No. 46. He was stationed at No. 138 West 37th street,
J.B. Beers
1849
Beers & Clark 25 John Street 1849
”The Kossuth Pen” was produced beginning in 1850 to celebrate the exiled Hungarian revolutionary Lajos Kossuth who was among several exiled to the United States during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-1849.
Beers James B 10 John Street 1853
Beers James. B. 9 Maiden Lane 1859
J.F. Deacon
1850-1851
5 Liberty Place New York, NY
John W. Greaton
1850
71 Cedar New York, NY
23 Maiden Lane
Exhibited are 5 John W. Greaton New York, Mercantile, and Commercial Gold Pen nibs, two are dated 1853. The Gold Pen nibs range from
H. H. Houghton
1850-1857
A.G. Bagley copartnership with Houghton and later Newton.
The depicted Gold Pen nib is a single nib with front and back exhibited. Houghton simply had the manufactory stamp his name on the back of Bagley Gold Pen nibs. This nib was acquired mounted on a Bagley 2-section gold pen extension holder with red cut stone finial.
Smith & Todd
1851
17 Maiden Lane 1857
E. L. Walrath
1852-1861
Walrath bought out Benedict & Barney in 1852. He worked on a Gold Pen nib that approximated the flex and action of the Quill, ultimately naming it the Quill Spring.
Walrath continued selling Benedict & Barney’s French Fountain Pens until at least 1861.
Ericsson Pen
1853 Ericsson Pen
In 1853, John Ericsson invented the Caloric Engine which piston driven on hot air rather than steam. The Caloric Ship Ericsson embarked on test runs that proved an 80% reduction in fuel costs while providing robust performance. An article was published in the January 22, 1853 Scientific American.
The Gold Pen nib maker is yet unidentified, however; the Bagley manufactory was the largest and most well known to produce commemorative and specialty Gold Pen nibs without revealing this identity. Mr. Bagley and the publisher of Scientific American were friends.
John Foley
1853
Eugene L. Tarbox
1853
Eaton, Tarbox & Co. 19 Maiden Lane 1857
Tarbox & Brother, Nashville 1858
Rendell & Fairchild
1853-1856
The Gold Pen Manufactory of John Rendell was destroyed by fire on September 11, 1848.
John Rendell committed suicide by jumping out a Brooklyn window in early 1859.
John McGovern
1854
Mabie, Knapp & McGovern
15 John New York, NY
Isaac Reed & Son
1855
Philadelphia Silversmith, 176 North Second Street.
Newell A. Prince Protean Pen
1855
The Protean Fountain Pen was sold from June 1855 until November 1871.
The Prince Patent awarded December 25, 1855
Manufactured by George F. Hawkes. Mr. Hawkes’ signature is on the Gold Pen nib along with another name, perhaps Mayer.
Charles F. Newton
1857 A.G. Bagley copartnership with C.F. Newton
The depicted Gold Pen nib is a single nib with front and back exhibited. Newton had the manufactory re-work Bagley Gold Pen nibs and stamp his name on the front. This nib and was acquired mounted on a Bagley 3-section gold pen extension holder with red carnelian ball finial. Another near identical example was later acquired.
John H Rauch
1857
19 Maiden Lane 1857
James Maconnell
1857
28 Maiden Lane 1857
52 Nassau 1859
Became Maconnell, Valentine & Co.
15 Maiden Lane 1865
E.D. Valentine
1865
19 John Street
Stephen M. Griswold
1858
177 Broadway
George F. Hawkes
1860
64 Nassau Street, New York
Selling His Fountain Pens in Vanity Fair by March 1870
Hawkes was awarded 6 patents from 1865.
50,470 10/17/1865
125,291 4/2/1872
223,644 1/20/1880
234,182 11/9/1880
236,222 1/4/1881
253,283 2/7/1882
G.F. Hawkes name appears on the Newell A. Prince Protean Gold Pen nib (see above).
C.F. Newton & Co.
C.F. Newton & Co. consisted of Charles F. Newton, James P. Byrne and Joseph Monaghan from January 1, 1861-December 30, 1863
C.F. Newton & Co. consisted of Charles F. Newton, James P. Byrne, Joseph Monaghan and Keller Kurtz from December 31, 1863-December 31, 1864
Newton, Kurtz & Co.
January 1, 1865-May 1, 1867
Kurtz & Monaghan
May 1, 1867-March 18, 1870
Joseph Monaghan
March 18, 1870-September 1, 1870
Edwin Wiley
January 28, 1871-March 1, 1878
81 Broadway, New York - 1871
Nassau Street, New York - 1878
Perhaps the Sole American Gold Pen nib maker producing a bi-metal nib.
Patents from 1868-1888
Armeny & Marion
1884
The partnership between Gyulo Armeny and William C. Marion began before Mr. Marion retired from the Bagley factory in 1885.
Edward Todd & Co.
1887
The partnership between Edward Todd and Joseph Monaghan began in 1884.