The 190-page New Hampshire Iron Factory Company minute book includes a handwritten copy of the act incorporating the organization, its bylaws, minutes of the company's formation meetings, and annual meeting minutes from 1806 to 1881. The company was based in Franconia, New Hampshire, but many of its initial investors were in and around Salem, Massachusetts.
The clerks and clerks pro tem who kept this volume include John Punchard, Philemon Putnam, Thomas Spooner, William A. Wells, William Mack, Alvan Grimes, John H. Nichols, Edward P. Babbitt, Nathaniel White, P. S. Fisk, and William Arthur Coffin.
Table of Contents:
- Pages 1-5: Manuscript copy of the New Hampshire legislature's An Act to incorporate certain Persons by the name of The New Hampshire Iron Factory Company--explanation of the establishment of the corporation, authorization to raise stock, and stipulations regarding to purchase of real estate, furnaces, machinery, buildings, etc. House December 18, 1805, approved by the Senate December 21, 1805.
- Pages 6-10: Minutes of formation meetings, June 10, 1806-July 16, 1806; moderated by Captain Asa Towne, Joshua Goodale, Clerk, and Gideon Snow, Treasurer. Meetings at Palmer's Tavern on Ann Street; Bradley's Tavern in Boston; Ward's Hotel in Lynn.
- Pages 10-16: Bylaws.
- Page 17: Itemized shares owned by Asa Towne, Samuel Page, William Safford, Gideon Snow, David Smith, and Joshua Goodale.
- Pages 18-190: Annual Meeting Minutes.
The New Hampshire legislature incorporated the New Hampshire Iron Factory Company in December 1805, with founding members Asa Towne, Amos Towne, Solomon Towne, Moses Lewis, Stephen P. Webster, Samuel Hutchins, William Simpson, Joshua Goodale, and Stephen Couch. The Company was based in Franconia, New Hampshire, but in June and July 1806, it held foundational meetings at Palmer's Tavern, [Portsmouth]; Bradley's Tavern, Boston; and Ward's Hotel, Lynn.
By 1810, the company acquired forested land, a sawmill, a grist mill, a farm, a tavern, a cook house, a blacksmith shop, and stores in Franconia and Bath for the sale of iron products. Their iron production included stoves, kettles, machinery and bar iron. In the later 1860s, the company began to divest itself of its land holdings and in 1884 a fire destroyed the iron works.
