NATIONAL IRON AND BRASS WORKS

NATIONAL IRON AND BRASS WORKS. The company was incorporated on October 24, 1882. (1) In 1887 the officers included Edwin SMEDLEY, President and Superintendent; John Bell, Vice President; and John H. Wood, Secretary and Treasurer.

The specialties of this establishment included Smedley's Steam Pumping Machinery of every variety and style ranging from the smallest single cylinder boiler feed pump to powerful compound duplex pumping engines, suitable for large mines, public buildings, or city water works. The company also produced locomotive bell ringing devices and iron drill presses.

In addition to manufacturing these specialties, the company sold steam Engines, boilers and other machinery.

By 1887 National Iron and Brass Works had built the machinery for the water works of Independence, Iowa; Galena, Illinois; Darlington, Wisconsin, and was building the machinery and apparatus for Austin, Minnesota, and Lanark, Illinois. This company employed fifty mechanics, with an average payroll of §2,500 per month. The annual business grossed $100,000.

The company was eventually renamed the SMEDLEY STEAM PUMP COMPANY.

The 1886-87 Dubuque City Directory listed 813 Lake.

The 1890-91 Dubuque City Directory listed the corner of Garfield and Kniest.

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Source:

1. "National Iron and Brass Works," The Daily Herald, October 25, 1882, p. 4

The Industries of Dubuque: Her Relations as a Trade Center, Dubuque: J. M. Elster and Company, Publishers, 1887, p. 69