Thread: Hassam Brothers, Boston

Just got to this oldie and did a scrub, Maas, Renwax on it. I have looked for info on Hassam Brothers and have come up somewhat empty-handed. Seems they made Bowie knives for the civil war, a prototype musket hoping to garner a government contract : A UNIQUE PROTOTYPE U.S. MILITARY MUSKET C.1840-50 BY FAMED MAKERS HASSAM BROTHERS OF BOSTON | MonsterMarketplace.com, and were around from 1861-72.
Prior to that I found Kingman and Hassam, knives and surgical intruments, 1855-1860, and back to Frederick Hassam from 1855-1860, successor to Nathaniel Hunt, who began in 1840. Seems Hunt was possibly a merchant as I found an ad for boots/shoes. Frederick Hassam was father to a quite famous artist, Frederick Childe Hassam.

Anyone else have info on Hassam Brothers? Who was the other brother? Must be lots more info out there! Nice razor. Definite Sheffield influence!

The first bit to know is that Hassam is a corruption of Horsham. There was another branch of the family that'd immigrated to Boston in the mid-1600's from England, but the branch that produced Frederick seems to be a different one.

The brothers were Frederick Fitch Hassam (1825-1912) and Roswell Hunt Hassam (1845-????).

...And I'm going to have to leave it, tantalizingly, at that, because I need to be away from the computer while the nice men disassemble part of my garage so it can be reassembled, sturdy enough for a new hot water heater. YAY!

But I'll leave you with this:


(March 8th, 1877 Sacramento Weekly Rescue)

That is just great, Zak! So a hot water heater takes precedent? Last time I replaced one, my smart-ass buddy sez " so if you have hot water, why do you need to heat it?". I almost punched him as I had no help getting that half-ton sediment-filled sucker out of the laundry room! So, we know at least one brother published a manual on lodges. Hmmmm.....
I shall be patient..... Good luck on that 'water heater'!

It's a desert out here! We gotta have a hot water cooler too!

Goldilocks pipes don't ya know.

At least I noticed the leak before the whole thing collapsed the raised platform it's on....

Before I came downstairs I also found out that by 1880 Fred's official job description in the census was 'At home'.

Looks like Roswell wore a pretty big wig in the Good Templars, who seem to have been a fraternal order dedicated to temperance. Which is just a couple letters off from tempering...

I have not got a great deal to add - the main bones may be found in Manah's post of 2009 and Blades Guide to Knives.

Frederick Fitch Hassam was the founding member. He was a cutler from 1853 - 1856 then formed a partnership: Kingman & Hassam, 1856 - 1860 and then formed Hassam Brothers with his brother Roswell H Hassam , opening for business in Washington Street in 1861. The company made edged instruments like bowies, knives, razors, bayonets, etc and were official federal contractors for these items, muskets, etc. Interestingly, not all the marks are 'Hassam Bros, Boston' - there are a fair many 'Hassam, Boston' indicating a split of some sort or maybe just work by Frederick on his own in the early years.

They traded as Hassam Brothers from 1861 - 1872, when the Great Boston Fire burnt the business down and Frederick retired. That their work was top notch cannot be doubted - the endorsement of the Federal Govt vouches for that, as well as finding inclusion in various books and pamphlets such as American Surgical Instruments.

Frederick was born in 1825 in Charleston, married wife Rosa Delia Hathorne in 1851 and gave birth to celebrated American impressionist painter Frederick Childe Hassam in 1859. The 1880 census records him as living in Hyde Park, Norfolk, Mass. He died in 1912.

Fredericks parents were Stephen D Hassam and Mary Hassam. Stephen's father (Frederick's grandfather) was also called Stephen and was born to Samuel and Mary Hassam, circa 1761. He watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from a church steeple when he was 14 yrs old and carried water to the troops of Copps Hill Battery. After moving to Grafton and then to Worcester, where he learned the trade of watchmaker he went to Charleston where he set up in business, having a number of children by wife Theodosia Hastings including Frederick's father, Stephen Danforth Hassam, born circa 1797. Stephen D Hassam married Mary Hunt, daughter of Roswell Hunt, in 1822. Roswell Hunt Hassam, Frederick's brother, was born on the 16th of February 1845. IN 1870 Roswell resided at Manchester, Hillsborough Co., NH. It seems that his collections of prose, poetry and Lodge Manuals for the 'secret society' of the International Order of Good Templars spanned c 1870 - 1880. In his work of 1871, Elder John Strong records Roswell a Clerk in the Locomotive Works in Manchester. In the archives of the Manchester Historic Association we see that Roswell is elected as a member of the association. I am not sure when Roswell died, but his private library was sold off in Libbie's showroom in 1918. One copy brought in a bid of $100!

Frederick's grandfather Stephen was a man of genius and talent, by all accounts. Many of the clocks made by him still survive, including the one of the South Parish Church in Charleston. Evidently, he made a lot of money, for he built Charlestons main Hotel and at least one other building. He lived to be nearly 100 years old.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks, Neil! It amazes me you can find all this. I am surely more proud than ever to own this razor!

Sweet razor with a cool history and now a great home.

NICE one!

Leave it close to the top of the pile when you go fishing, will ya?