In 1843 Sylvanus Sawyer was a young man working at a Boston machine shop when he invented a machine for splitting rattan into chair cane. He was granted a series of patents for such machines, the first being issued in 1849. Sawyer and his Joseph Sawyer brother set up shop in East Templeton to manufacture chair-cane. In 1852 they set up the American Rattan Co. to manufacture cane using Sylvanus's machines. He also invented several auxiliary machines to improve the process.

Meanwhile, C. H. Kelton was manufacturing Woodworth planers and chair machinery in Fitchburg. Sometime between 1860 and 1865 Sylvanus Sawyer bought out Kelton and took over manufacture of planers and chair machines. The last data point we have found for Sawyer is from 1869.

Information Sources

• There are several websites with information on Sylvanus Sawyer, who patented numerous inventions over the years. The most useful such page is the one on FamousAmericans.net.
• Very few of the above-mentioned sites give patent numbers or even complete dates; the patent numbers given below are the ones we have found so far.
• The reference to Sawyer buying out Kelton and manufacturing Woodworth planers is from Kenneth Cope's book, Makers of American Machinist Tools.
• 1860 New England Business Directory and Gazetteer has a text ad: "C. H. Kelton, Practical Machinist, Fitchburg, Mass. Manufacturer of Woodworth's celebrated Wood-Planer, of all sizes. Chair Machinery, Shafting, Mill Work, &c."