The story of the J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company starts in 1850 when three men entered into partnership and called it The Massachusetts Arms Company. The three men would later write the history of arms making in America. Horace Smith, Daniel B. Wesson and Joshua Stevens went into business to make firearms and firearms related components. The new company was a continuation of the Wesson Rifle Company. One of their early projects was to manufacture the first rifle for Christian Sharps.
The company set up shop in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. Joshua Stevens had started in the business by working for such notable firms as Colt, Eli Whitney, C.B. Allen and Edwin Wesson.
In 1852 Smith & Wesson left the company to start the Volcanic Repeating Arms Co. (the predecessor of the company that became Winchester).
I am not sure if they sold their shares or if they maintained ownership while starting a competing business.
In 1864 Stevens had patented a basic tip up barrel pistol, a design that was the basis for all but two of the tip up barrel pistols made by Stevens.
The tip up breech loading pistol was "invented" by several people around the same time. Among them Frank Wesson, brother to Daniel Wesson and Edwin Wesson.
Later that year, along with investors James Taylor and W.B. Fay, Stevens started the J. Stevens and Company.
They set up shop in an old grist mill on the north bank of the Chicopee River and began making machine parts and the tip up pistol.
In 1880 the company began a large expansion which involved expanding existing floor space and moving to other, larger buildings.
During my research I found many addresses for the company.
130 Main Street
160 Main Street
250 Main Street
400 Main Street
405 Main Street
410 Main Street
470 Main Street
695 Man Street
325 Oak Street
420 Pine Street
770 Front Street
The only thing the addresses had in common (at least most of them) was that they were on the water and near where the last J. Stevens factory was.
The water was important as before electricity was available most industrial facilities were powered by water. The water wheels were attached to shafts, which by way of pulleys and leather belts, powered the machines.
In 1883 J. Stevens and Co. purchased the Massachusetts Arms Company and combined the operations.
In 1886 the company was renamed J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company.
In 1887 J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company introduced the .22 Long Rifle cartridge.
Around 1890 Stevens & Fay sold their shares to the company's bookkeeper I.M. Page. Between 1895 and 1898 the company expanded production, doubling their factory space.
Joshua Stevens retired in 1897, he was 82 years old.
More expansion occurred after the turn of the century. Stevens acquired the Cataract Tool & Optical Company, a maker of a telescopic sight. The Buffalo New York operation was moved to the Chicopee Falls plant. By this time the plant had over 900 employees, with over 270,000 square feet of manufacturing space spread out over several buildings.
In 1902 the company was claiming to be the "largest manufacturer of sporting arms", a claim that may or may not have been true.
The Stevens "Favorite" rifle
In 1907 Joshua Stevens passed away at the age of 92.
On May 28th, 1915 J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company was purchased by New England Westinghouse.
New England Westinghouse was a newly formed division of Westinghouse Electric Company, formed solely to build rifles for the Imperial Russian Army for World War I. Westinghouse needed a facility to make the rifles and found it easier and cheaper to purchase an existing gun company than to start from scratch.
See my write up on New England Westinghouse here.
in 1917 the agreement between New England Westinghouse and the Russians ended. Actually the contract was voided due to the Russian Revolution and the Soviets, in true Commie fashion refused to pay for the rifles, stating that they were "inferior", a claim refuted by collectors of the rifles today.
Many of the rifles were sold to the U.S. Government and to surplus resellers. Westinghouse returned the operation to making civilian arms while searching for a buyer to purchase the old factory.
On April 1st, 1920 Savage Arms purchased the factory, name, rights and patents to the entire J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company. The acquisition made Savage the largest manufacture of arms in the U.S.
Production resumed at the Chicopee Falls factory and during WWII they made a variety of arms including a training rifle for the U.S. Military, the model 416.
After the war production began in earnest to fill the needs of returning GIs. One of these was the Savage-Stevens model 325 rifle. This rifle made use of surplus .30 caliber barrels and a unique barrel collar that was pioneered in machine gun manufacturing during the war. See my write up on the model 325 here.
Many guns during this period were dual marked as "Savage-Stevens" or simply Stevens, gone was the J. Stevens moniker. For a long time, the Stevens branded guns were the "economy" versions of the Savage models.
In 1960 Savage closed some of the Chicopee Falls operation and moved production to other Savage facilities. By September of 1981, everything had been moved to the new Savage plant in Westfield, MA.
In 1991 Savage discontinued using the name Stevens name, but then brought it back in 1999.
The old factory still stands along the Chicopee River, on Grove Street between Oak and Front streets. Demolition is underway and I suspect within a few years it will be gone.
Sources
Wikipedia
NRA Museum
Flayderman, Norm; 2007; Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms and Their Values, Northfield, Illinois: DBI Books
Adam, R.F.; 1922, A Modern Firearms Plant; Hardware Review; Vol. 29 (April 1922), pp14-16,21
Kyser, Thomas L., American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin, "Stevens Tip-Ups," Bulletin 86, Fall 2002, americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Stevens-Firearms-tip-ups-B086_Kyser.pdf.
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