THE MESSINGER STORY

3225 Nazareth Road Easton, Pa. 18042

Circa 1910. Southeast end of Messinger Manufacturing Company.
Left to right: woodshop and office wing, blacksmith shop, railroad
station on right edge.

The foundation of the Messinger Manufacturing Co. was started by
S.S. Messinger in 1857, through the influence of David Whittner, a
comparative stranger. After an explanation of the operation of a
foundry, S.S. Messinger decided to start on a small scale and to
employ Mr. Whittner to do the moulding. The start was made in the
spring of 1857 by improving a dam and building a raceway to the
foundry, which consisted of a wheel-wright shop 18’x 24′.
The latter had to be moved a short distance so as to be rightly
located for the water power.

The foundry was completed and the first castings made in August,
1857. These castings principally consisted of plough shares and
cast iron boxes for iron wagon axles. Later the manufacture of
ploughs, threshing machines and sweep horse-powers was started.

This enterprise was conducted under the name ‘S.S.
Messinger’ until 1859, at which time he took in Werkheimer and
Allsfeld’. This continued for only a few months. In 1861 the
famous Excelsior Mowing and Reaping Machines were built, the
dropping attachment being added later.

The property was leased to Henry Brunner, who continued to
manufacture machinery for a period of 18 months, after which S.S.
Messinger resumed operations in the spring of 1864.

Reuben Shimer, S.S.’s brother-in-law, at this time was taken
in as a partner, this partnership continued until 1868, when it was
dissolved by mutual consent. The firm’s name being
‘Messinger & Shimer’. In 1874 S.S. Messinger admitted
his son, G. Frank to partnership and the firm’s name was
changed to ‘S.S. Messinger and Son’. At this time one
hundred to one hundred and fifty machines were manufactured
yearly.

An agricultural machine shop became idle in Nazareth, Pa., which
was leased and operated by S.S. and his son. All castings were made
at Tatamy, six men being employed at the Nazareth shop, which
operated for only two years. The shop at Tatamy, better known as
‘Bushkill’, was operated under S.S. and G. Frank until
1878, when S.S.’s other son, Charles S. purchased his
father’s interest. The name was then changed to ‘S.S.
Messinger’s Sons’. This continued until 1883 when S.S.
bought back his interest and the name changed back to ‘S.S.
Messinger and Son’ until the death of S.S. on Jan. 31, 1900, at
age 77.

On December 31st, 1886, fire completely destroyed all the
buildings, together with six houses. The approximate net loss was
estimated at $62,000.00. Rebuilding was immediately started by
April 1st, 1887 and manufacturing was resumed.

After the death of S.S., G. Frank changed the name to
‘Messinger Manufacturing Co., Inc.’. In 1912 the firm was
incorporated under the name of ‘Messinger Manufacturing Co.,
Inc.’, with the following stockholders: G. Frank Messinger,
George S. Messinger, Joseph Happel, Mrs. Lizzie Albert, Homer
Albert, Mrs. Carrie Metler and Karl Metler. The officers were
President G. Frank Messinger, Vice President Joseph Happel,
Secretary & Treas. George S. Messinger.

G. Frank remained President until 1925 when George S. took over
as President. His father remained active and toured the many local
farms until he died July 18,1928. He was known for many of his
inventions, two being the open-end grain binding attachment (the
unit that tied the knot in the string.) and the Messinger Gasoline
Engine. In 1925, a Mr. Slawdecker and Tommy Jordan were hired for
an operational reorganization. George S. and his son, Clyde, were
the two engineers who directed the design for everything from this
point on. One item was the entire Duster Line.

When the company was reorganized in 1930, A.C., son of Charles
Shimer Messinger, the grandson of S.S. Messinger, was made
President and George S. became the Vice President. At this time the
Messinger Co. had 85 to 125 employees.

The Leggett Co. of N.Y. had a duster line which was bought out
by the Messinger Co. They remained the sole salesmen of the duster
line for a short period until Messinger Co. decided that they were
not selling enough and they were let go as sole-salesmen. This all
occured prior to 1930. The duster line was expanded and newer
models were made. If you had an old car or truck, you took it to
the factory and they removed the body and mounted a duster onto the
back and you were able to dust 4 to 6 rows of your crop at a time.
They made units which would fit on many types of tractors, as well
as other units which were horse drawn or pushed or dragged through
orchards and fields. Several trips abroad created new models and
the foreign market was born. At one time 7000 to 8000 dusters were
made and sold to foreign countries to dust banana plantations and
other crops.

#44 Messinger thresher with blower and manual feeder. R.R. track
is end of coal dumping trestle. Photo used for catalog
engraving.

A.C. remained active and in charge of the company until his
death in 1957. Following his death, all the buildings and contents
were eventually sold and thus ended a 100-year old company.

Messinger’s was a unique company. Workers had to speak
Pennsylvania Dutch and chew tobacco until the 1920’s to be like
the other fellows. There were no production lines, just different
shops paint shop, blacksmith shop, wood shop, machine shop,…, one
or two fellows worked on one item until it was complete and then it
was sent to the next shop. For most of the equipment, there were no
written plans the workers knew exactly how to build the equipment.
When a new machinist came to work, he would have to go to an
already built engine and learn how and where to machine the
castings to build the engines, the same as in any of the other
shops. The only written plans were notebooks that the workers made
of the dimensions and instructions and these went with them when
they left.

Messinger built many one of a kind items a veneering machine
that was sent to Russia, a gas engine propelled trolley for the
Philadelphia Trolley Company, a self-propelled thresher, a chain
driven truck used for delivering threshers, a five -wheel truck
with the driving wheel in the back so that when you went over a
gulley, you lost all traction. This truck had a large spike that
dropped and dug into the road to prevent you from going backwards
when shifting gears going up hills. Messinger had the Samson
tractor and the Cameron car dealerships, both of which did not last
very long. The Cameron car was unique in that it had a hickory
frame and very little metal used in its construction.

Very early style 1903 16-20 HP gravity fed cooling tank, flyball
governor, rocker arm operated valves. Fuel pumponly model to have a
fule pump. Photo became catalog engraving.

1908 style 4-6 HPold style oil drip, old style water jacket, new
bevel ground valve and ignition caps; push rod; flywheel gov.
weight.

Messinger made, at one time or another, everything needed for a
farm, from corn shellers right up to a heating system for the home.
They made a washing unit that consisted of two tubs connected
together, run by a % air cooled engine while the one washed, you
could ring out the clothes in the other tub. They made many steams
engines and other items that I have not detailed at this time due
to the length of this article and I really wanted to give an
overview of the company as a whole and deal specifically with the
engines, as this was Messinger’s main area of interest.

Facts from Old Catalogs

The following information on the gasoline engines was derived
from old catalogs and other literature. One problem was that all
the catalogs did not have publication dates so some dates are not
exact.

The first engine was sold in July 1903, the horse powers being 4
to 6 and 16 to 20. In 1908 the ‘Packless’ models were
introduced in 4 to 6 and 16 to 20 HP. In 1912 or 1913 the 1 HP to
18 HP models were started. In 1915 the air cooled model was
introduced. In 1923 or 1924 the 18 HP engine was dropped from
production. In the 1925 price list, the to 12 HP were listed, but
in the 1920 price list, the entire engine line was dropped. A
worker that came to Messinger’s in 1923 orl924 said that the
engines were not being produced but some were still around and
probably were made if an order came in for them. I have talked to
several people in the Blue Mountain Gas & Steam Engine club and
no one knows of any old style engines still around. Only the newer
‘packless’ style remain, but I am sure some of the old
style still exist. I know of several air cooled models, several 1
and 4 HP models, one 6 HP, four 9 HP models and only one 1 HP air
cooled engine.

The gas engines were painted a darker shade of vermilion enamel
with primary gold striping and white secondary striping. All the
air cooled parts of the air cooled engines were painted silver and
all the machined surfaces were painted with a gun blueing paint
that was tranparent. The machinery was painted with a powder
vermilion paint. Axles and wheels were yellow and then everything
was varnished.

A unique feature of the later model was that the piston was
oiled from a reservoir cast into the hopper, which dripped into a
cup cast onto the backside of the hopper and ran down a tube that
went to the piston. The main bearings had oil reservoirs only the
air cooled had oilers that were only for the piston.

The following information was derived from a 1901 catalog that
was marked up for the printer to become the 1902 catalog.

In 1902, ‘Successors to S.S. Messinger and Son’ was
dropped from the front cover. They listed the company as
manufacturers of: Imperial Thrashing Machine, Empire Horse Powers,
Empire Fodder Cutters, Improved Burrall Corn Shelters, Empire Feed
Grinders, Shell Mills, Star Wood and Empire Wood Saws, Champion
Potato Planters, Mengel Corn Planters, Empire Land Rollers, Steel
King Cultivators, Keystone Chilled Plows, Reynolds Hay Tedders,
Steel King Hay Rakes, Empire Mowers, Fine Gray Iron Castings, Steam
Engines from 3 to 25 HP Stationary, Portable and Mounted.

On the back cover, S.S. Messinger And Son was at the 1892
Columbian Exposition.

1912-1925 New style -6 HP up to 18 HP model -not sure. Cast iron
crank guard. New reservoir in water jacket with drip valve under
gas tank. Engine looks like a portable with base added for photono
pin striping on base. Photo became catalog engraving.

1912-1915 Newstyle 6-18 HP Model-not sure. Cast iron crank
guard, new style oil reservoir in water jacket with drip valve and
cup under gas tank. Photo became catalog engraving.

A note to the seat collector from my data, cast iron seats were
only made for the Empire Mowers, Steel King Hay Tedder, Steel King
Rake, Empire Land Rollers, Empire Clod Crusher and Pulverizer,
Vertical Boiler Buggy and two seats for the Empire Mower with
Reaping Attachment(all the others had one seat). This last item had
two, one for the person driving the team of horses and another for
the person taking care of the wheat. He would have to make sure the
wheat would fall backwards and not over in front of the mower. To
the best of my knowledge, there are at least six variations of
seats and all of these are hard to find.

The following information is from a catalog estimated to be from
1909.

This catalog has in addition to the 1901 catalog items, 1 to 25
HP Stationary, Portable and Mounted Gasoline Engines, Iron Fences,
Hog Troughs, Water Troughs and Feed Troughs.

1915-1925 HP air cooled Mcssinger. Later style, has tin
guardearlier ones had a cast guard. Photo became catalog
engraving.

The first Gasoline Engine was sold in July 1903. The cylinder
and base was one casting, with a drip oiler for the cylinder,
governed by a geared ball governer, ran on gas, gasoline or
denatured alcohol. The top of the hopper was flat with a conical
like casting bolted on to the top. The hopper had a water sight
glass, in 1908, they came out with a ‘pack-less’ engine in
4 to 6 and 16 to 20 HP. The valves were placed in cages which are
clamped against a ground bevel seat, as well as the sparker. The
governer became a weight on the flywheel, the pushrod and other
pieces became motionless when the engine coasts. The speed is
regulated by a thumb nut.

Messinger’s would repair any piece of equipment that the
farmers would bring in, including the gas engines. I asked a former
employee what was the most repaired part of the gas engines – he
said the ignitor. The springs broke or the mica wore out or the
points wore out. Messinger’s made all of these parts, bent the
spring wire to make the springs and cut their own mica. This
employee said that this was the only part that would usually be
brought in for repair, as the engine was well built and seldom
broke.

Between 1905 and 1910, George Messinger, A.C. Messinger and
others created the ‘Tatamy Heat, Light and Power Co.’. The
boiler and generating equipment was in the foundry and the lights
went off at 11:00 P.M. and on at 7:00 A.M. This same unit powered
the foundry. P.P.&L. bought the Company before 1930, at this
time the Company was buying electricity from P.P.&L. and
reselling it to Tatamy.

Before Tatamy had it’s own post office, mail went through
Stocker-town. In 1893, Tatamy was Incorporated, but how did it get
it’s name? The names ‘Empire’ and ‘Messinger’
were sent to the Post Master Office but were rejected because other
towns in the U.S. had the same name. Tatamy was then chosen in
honor of a local indian chief and in 1892 Tatamy had it’s own
post office. Some equipment is able to be dated due to this address
difference painted on the equipment.

In 1890, the Easton and Northern Railroad was built from
Stockertown southward through Tatamy to Easton. Before this, the
manufactured products of the foundry and the other shops and the
material and goods were hauled by heavy horsedrawn wagons or in
lighter vehicles to and from Easton or Belfast.

I asked an employee, who was hired in 1923 or 1924 what was not
being produced at this time. Tread mills, fodder cutters, grinders,
shell mills, potato planters, corn planters, land rollers,
cultivators, hay tedders, hay rakes, mowers, steam and gas engines
were not regularly produced but several of these were still in
stock. Steel fence was discontinued in 1930. A few plows were made,
corn shellers were then made out of steel instead of wood and made
for several more years. Wooden threshers were still being made and
around 1926 the metal threshers were introduced.