Silas Lamson
19th-century New England eccentric, abolitionist, entertainer, lecturer, and tool inventor
Silas Lamson (1778–1855) was a 19th-century American inventor and manufacturer of scythe handles, agricultural implements, knives and cutlery. The business he started in 1837, Lamson & Goodnow, became one of the largest cutlery companies in the United States, and still exists as Lamson, located in Westfield, Massachusetts. Late in life his behavior became eccentric. He would appear at abolitionist meetings and religious reform meetings in a long white beard and white robe, carrying a large scythe. Descriptions referred to him as 'Father Lamson.'
Business career
In 1834, Lamson patented a method for manufacturing curved snath handles for scythes used to harvest hay and wheat. The downward curve of the handle was an ergonomic improvement over straight-handled scythes. Three years later he partnered with two of his sons and with Abel Goodnow to found Lamson & Goodnow, a knife manufacturing company, in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. By the time of the Civil War, the company employed more than 500 workers. The company exists in the 21st century as Lamson.
Eccentric behavior
Late in his life:
...he became passionate to communicate his "firmness of purpose to unveil and ridicule all that he deemed ridiculous in law, custom and religion", preaching his beliefs wherever he could...
“Silas Lamson” enters the record as 19th-century New England eccentric, abolitionist, entertainer, lecturer, and tool inventor. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Silas, Lamson and 19th-century can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5437622. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1778, 1855, 1837 and 1834.
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This entry incorporates text from “Silas Lamson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.