Frederick Trent Stanley
Frederick Trent Stanley (August 12, 1802 – August 2, 1883) was an American industrialist. At a time when there were only 16 stars on the American flag and Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States, Frederick T. Stanley was born in New Britain, Connecticut on August 12, 1802.
New Britain, CT, had 1,000 residents and Hartford (the State's capital) was the hub of business, where several manufacturing companies thrived off of the business of brass and iron.
After his schooling, Frederick worked in New Haven, Connecticut, and Fayetteville, North Carolina, before returning to New Britain in 1826. He held several positions, including as a clerk on steamboats and in general stores. He then began investing in start-up businesses, including a machine manufacturer for the growing iron business. With the investment flourishing, Frederick and his brother William purchased the remainder of that business and decided to expand their potential.
After four years, their business was so successful that they invested in a brass foundry, named Stanley Woodruff & Company. The brothers were cultivating a keen business sense, a passion for manufacturing end-user driven products, and a close connection to their customers.
On July 4, 1838, Frederick Stanley married Melvinia Chamberlain and together they had three sons, Alfred Hubert, Frederick Henry, and William Chamberlain. Sadly, Melvinia died at age 28 from scarlet fever and the two youngest boys died shortly thereafter. Following the deaths, Frederick moved in with his brother, William, and they continued as business partners.
In 1843, the Stanleys opened Stanley Bolt Manufacturing, which would soon become The Stanley Works. The company was dedicated to manufacturing bolts, hinges, and other hardware, and continually expanded its product line to meet customer demand. Frederick Stanley took responsibility for sales, in many cases going door-to-door selling hinges to hardware stores. In one instance, he tracked how long it took a store owner to find the appropriate screw to go with each hinge, and using this data, he began packaging his hinges with the screws that they needed, saving his customers time, ensuring the end users got the right products, and driving sales as a result of this competitive advantage.
This spirit of continuous improvement on behalf of the customer still exists in the company he built.
Throughout his life, Frederick served as a leader for the community. He even became the first Mayor of New Britain, bringing gas lighting, rail service, and a reservoir-fed water supply to the town. Frederick died on August 2, 1883 at the age of 80, ten days short of his 81st birthday.
Did you know? Facts about Frederick Stanley:
After being connected to the railroad system in 1850, New Britain's first locomotive train to come through town was named the Frederick T. Stanley. Frederick Stanley sent a pair of suspenders from one of his start up business to President Andrew Jackson. In return, he received a hand written letter of thanks signed by the President himself. In his years as a teenager, he was arrested for driving his horse and cart on a Sunday. Thankfully, the police released him on bond and he was sent on his way.
He founded Stanley's Bolt Manufactory of New Britain, Connecticut in 1843 to manufacture door bolts and other hardware from wrought iron. In 1920 this company was merged with Stanley Rule and Level Company (also of New Britain[1] ), founded by his cousin Henry Stanley in 1857, and the two firms became The Stanley Works.
Stanley is one of the world's most recognized brands of tools today, and they have produced millions of hand planes, saws, rulers, try squares, chisels, screwdrivers, and many other tools for consumer and industrial use. Their innovations include the Bailey hand plane, the Surform shaper, the PowerLock tape measure, and the box-cutter knife. The last is sometimes called a utility knife or a Stanley knife.
Frederick Trent (Trenck) Stanley also served as the first mayor of New Britain, Connecticut in 1870.
References
- ↑ "Stanley Tools". Hardware and Metal. 8 July 1911. Retrieved 18 April 2013.