Chapter 4 



Niles & Company 



Unlike those of clergymen or politicians, the lives of mechanics 

 are rarely given more than cursory notice, if that, in county his- 

 tories. Their papers are seldom saved and their contributions 

 almost never discussed in learned journals. The lives of the Niles 

 brothers, iron founders and machinists, remain so obscure that not 

 even their birthplaces or portraits can be found. (Virginia and 

 Connecticut have both been said to be their original home, although 

 the 1850 census records give Vermont.''*) Only the most elementary 

 reconstruction of their history is possible from the scant information 

 presently available. 



Whatever their origins, in 1834 Jonathan S. Niles (i 804-1 878) 

 was a partner of George L. Hanks in the firm of Hanks &: Niles, 

 machinists, iron and bell founders. '^^ Two years later his younger 

 brother, James M. Niles (i 809-1 881), joined the firm, which was 

 located in Cincinnati on the east side of Main Street between 



'■^^ In his reminiscences (Ciiiciiniali Enquirer, January 29, 1922) of early Cincinnati 

 mechanics, Ehjah L. Davis stated that the Niles were from Virginia. Connecticut 

 is apparently a conjecture based on their retirement to Hartford. It was suggested 

 in John E. Dixon, Lima-Hamilton (New York: Newcomen Society [American 

 Branch], 1948), p. 12. 



13^ Cincinnati city directory, 1834. The earlier city directories of 181 9, 1829, 

 and 1831 did not list either J. S. or J.M. Niles. 



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