Fifty years with the Revere Copper Co.: A Paper Read at the Stockholders' Meeting held on Monday 24 March 1890

In Short

This volume serves as a formal corporate history and memorial, delivered by a long-serving treasurer to the stockholders of the Revere Copper Company in 1890. It documents the firm’s trajectory from its origins in Paul Revere’s post-Revolutionary copper mills through its eventual corporate consolidation and growth. More than a financial report, it functions as an intimate group portrait of the families and individuals who built the company, capturing a vanished era of American business built upon personal character, steady apprenticeship, and enduring professional loyalty.

The Story

The narrative begins with a milestone: the author’s own fiftieth anniversary of service, marking a transition from the era of the company’s founders to its modern iteration. It traces the lineage of the Revere Copper Company to two distinct early 19th-century enterprises. The first, led by Colonel Paul Revere and his son Joseph W. Revere, pioneered the production of sheet copper in Canton, Massachusetts—an ambitious undertaking that required extensive study of European manufacturing methods to supply the burgeoning American shipbuilding industry.

Simultaneously, a young man named James Davis arrived in Boston from Barnstable to establish a brass foundry. The paths of the Reveres and the Davises converged through their shared reliance on the maritime trade, as the brass fasteners produced by the foundry complemented the copper plates and bars turned out by the Revere mill. This natural synergy, coupled with the rapid revival of the American mercantile marine, eventually necessitated a formal union. In 1828, the Revere Copper Company was officially incorporated, merging these family interests into a single entity.

The account follows the company through decades of expansion, noting the relocation of its offices from the narrow streets of old Boston to the bustling waterfront. It details the administrative stewardship of figures like the elder James Davis, who served as treasurer, and later his son, James Davis, Jr., who managed the firm’s affairs for over four decades with a blend of rigor and enterprise. The narrative encompasses the technical advancements of the mid-century, including the establishment of specialized smelting works at Point Shirley, and touches upon the broader context of the period—including the impact of the Civil War, which claimed the lives of two of Joseph W. Revere’s sons.

The story concludes by looking toward the future through the lens of the past. By 1890, the company has outlived its original founders, yet its identity remains tied to the integrity of those who built it. The text transitions from a business history to a series of biographical sketches, eulogizing the directors and agents whose personal characters—whether the "soberer" and "profound" nature of a Revere or the "rugged" industry of a Davis—shaped the company’s internal culture. It leaves the reader with a sense of continuity, noting that while the personnel changes and the office locations migrate with the city’s growth, the core values of prudent management and honorable dealing remain the bedrock of the enterprise.

How It Unfolds

The Personal Milestone The author opens by marking his fifty-year tenure, noting that he is the sole remaining link to the company’s earliest days. He establishes a somber, reflective tone, acknowledging that the original corporators have all passed away.

The Foundational Trades The text details the disparate origins of the two constituent firms, illustrating how a brass founder and a copper roller found common purpose. It explains how the needs of the American shipping industry provided the external pressure that eventually forged their permanent union.

The Corporate Structure The focus shifts to the legal formation of the company in 1828 and the subsequent amendments to its charter. This section provides a brief look at the business operations of the time, including the physical workspace and the administrative evolution of the counting-room.

Biographies of Character The bulk of the work is dedicated to formal portraits of the key men—the Reveres, the Davises, the Lincolns, and the Winsors. Each profile explores the subject's upbringing, their specific business role, and the personal traits that sustained their long-term professional partnerships.

Legacy and Reflection The account concludes with an appreciation of the company's endurance. It emphasizes that the current stability of the firm is a direct inheritance from the disciplined, rigorous, and often selfless labor of those who preceded the 1890 stockholders.

The People

The book centers on a small, interconnected cohort of men who define the company’s longevity. Joseph Warren Revere stands as a figure of hereditary patriotism and courtly bearing; he embodies the transition from his father’s Revolutionary-era ventures to the institutionalized business of the 19th century. James Davis serves as the quintessential self-made man, a rugged and thrifty apprentice who rose to become a treasurer, transmitting his scrupulous integrity to his son, James Davis, Jr. The younger Davis is depicted as an imperious but highly effective manager who steered the company for forty-four years. Frederick Walker Lincoln represents the quieter, more home-centered side of the firm’s leadership, acting as a bridge between the Revere family and the daily operations at the Canton mills. John Revere is portrayed with great sensitivity as a man of refined literary taste who found the "selfish strife" of business distasteful, yet remained duty-bound to his family’s legacy. Finally, Frederick W. Davis and Henry Winsor provide contrast; the former is the brilliant, short-lived chemist who brought scientific rigor to the works, while the latter is the seasoned, balanced executive who provided wisdom during the company’s later years.

In Its Own Voice

"In the nature of things it cannot be expected that this record will be repeated by me, nor can any one else duplicate it for a long time to come."

The author reflects on his unusual half-century of service, acknowledging the rarity of his perspective as the last living witness to the company's early days.

"Every recollection of him is simply delightful."

In describing Joseph Warren Revere, the author captures the profound respect and personal warmth that characterized the relationships among the company’s long-standing leadership.

"Science and the arts have met with a great loss in the death of this young metallurgist, whose labors were calculated to render efficient services to mankind."

Dr. Charles T. Jackson provides this assessment in an obituary for Frederick W. Davis, highlighting the high esteem in which the company's scientific staff was held.

What It's Really About

The text functions as an argument for the primacy of individual character in the success of American industry. It posits that the stability of the Revere Copper Company was not merely the result of market forces or technical innovation, but the outcome of a particular, vanishing brand of personal integrity. It questions how a firm maintains its identity as its founders disappear, answering that the company’s "real founder" is found in the persistence of family names and the transmission of specific virtues—thrift, industry, and patriotism—across generations. Beneath the business history lies a deep concern with the encroachment of an "increasingly artificial life," suggesting that the roots of national prosperity lie in the modest, honest, and disciplined work of the nineteenth-century merchant class.

Why Read It Today

This book is a rewarding, if niche, experience for readers interested in the intersection of American genealogy and industrial history. The prose is dignified and consistently clear, reflecting the values of the era it describes; there is a certain rhythm to the author’s sentences that feels like listening to an elderly, precise relative recount the family history. It is not a dramatic or fast-paced story, but rather a slow, reflective study in professional loyalty.

Modern readers should be prepared for the dense, biographical focus—much of the text is dedicated to birth, death, and professional lineage, which may prove tedious to those looking for a broader economic analysis. The author’s reverence for his subjects can lean toward the hagiographic, painting all the early partners as paragons of virtue. However, for those intrigued by the "human side" of the Industrial Revolution, the book offers a rare, ground-level view of how early American companies were held together not just by contracts, but by tight-knit social bonds and mutual reliance. It remains a poignant, if minor, piece of Americana, preserving the names and quiet, industrious lives of the people who shaped the physical infrastructure of the young nation.