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Phoenix Iron Works Hartford Horse Weight Tether Buggy
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Phoenix Iron Works Hartford Horse Weight Tether Buggy
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This particular horse weight, was from the Phoenix Iron Works , Hartford Connecticut. Phoenix Iron Wks Hartford is in bold letters on the top of the weight. The diameter at the bottom of the weight is 6 1/2 inches. The diameter of the top is 4 1/4 and the weight is 25lbs. The Phoenix Iron Works was founded by Lovi Lincoln in 1834, and at his death, the business was continued by his two sons George S. and Charles L. Lincoln. Mr. Levi Lincoln was the inventor of the card- setting machine, the molasses-gate, known and used almost universally, and the first known hook-and-eye machine. This passed to the Norths, of New Britain, and became very valuable. The firm made a specialty of architectural iron-work, which it produced on a very Iarge scale; machinists tools, including the Lincoln milling-machine, which had very general use ; and also general foundry-work. Many leading mechanical engineers received their training Two men in particular, two young machinists, Francis Pratt and Amos Whitney, working at the Phoenix Iron Works in Hartford , Connecticut founded the Pratt & Whitney Company in 1860 . Francis PrattWhen he was 25 years old he came to Hartford to work in the Colt Armory. Two years later the Phoenix Iron Works in Hartford hired him to be the plant superintendent. It was at Phoenix that he would meet a man who with him would create the means for precise mass production. Amos WhitneyAmos Whitney and his father came to Hartford around 1850 to work at Colt's Pistol Factory. Amos Whitney was reputed to be a hard worker -- putting in about 10 hours per day and hardly ever taking time off. He had the reputation of being a good executive and salesman. This is a horse weight/tether/anchor, and just found out the correct name is a hitching weight. It was used in the horse and buggy days, and it is a hand forged horse weight. This is a piece of iron hand forged usually at a local foundry. These weights were usually carried in a buggy, and for deliveries of manufactured goods. When t was no hitching post, the weight was attached to a lead rope. The lead rope was then attached to the halter and the weight was dropped to the ground. This was usually enough weight to keep the horse in place, until its owner returned . This piece of Americana, the horse weight ,was a common item carried in a buggy and delivery carts until the automobile took over as the preferred mode of transportation. Each horse weight is unique, as the foundry or blacksmith that made the horse weights, arbitrarily put the inscription on them. Sometimes it would be a farms name, the weight, the town, county or an advertisement. Sometimes t would be no inscription.The shapes also varied. Some were round, square, other shapes and in rare cases, a beehive shape . The shapes may have been representative of the owners name or occupation. Other common names for these weights is, tether weight, horse anchor or hitch. This can be used as a door stop, conversation piece or a great addition to your collection. This is from a collection, that was written up in Yankee Magazine as one of the largest in the United States.
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