The company manufactured metal working machinery. The initial patents were by Talbot Lennox and his brother David Lennox (US Patents 954,681; 984,575) founder of Lennox Machine Co. and of the heating equipment company which bears his name. The company incorporated as Lennox Throatless Shear Co. on Sept. 10, 1913, and included the Lennox brothers and Jesse C. and Lester E. Williams, owners of Marshalltown Trowel Co. A later patent seen on a Marshalltown No. 18 shear, US US 1,651,654, was by Lester E. Williams, as was US 1,636,267.
In 1918, the firm purchased the Bogardus-Nelson Co. of Marshalltown, and began manufacturing pressure gauges.
The company changed its name to Marshalltown Manufacturing Co. in Jan, 1919. By 1927, their machinery line included throatless shears, bevel shears, slitting shears, bending rolls, inclinable punch presses, flue welders, and special iron- and steel-working tools.
Information Sources
- The Wikipedia page on David Lennox provides more history on Mr. Lennox.
- Evening Times Republican. Jan. 21, 1919.
- The Des Moines Register. Feb. 19, 1956. Pg. 78.
- "American Machinist. Vol LXVII, No. 1, Jul. 7, 1927. Pg. 144.