Thread: An interesting early American razor

I got this one in a rather nondescript ebay lot. The maker is Rawson & Nourse, from Grafton, Massachusetts. I haven't turned up much other than an article in Antiques from 1927, where this maker is described, saying the shape of the razor was 'amateurish'. The stamping, scale shape, and quality of the ivory seem to support this. By their guess it dates to the 1860s. I doubt I'll see another one.

Very cool!!

you certainly find the cool and unusual. I guess t helps to know exactly what you are looking for and at!

Great catch ! 'amateurish' ??? I bet every guy in that town had one. Very cool find. I too keep an eye out for the unusual but it seems they are always sittin' next to a 8/8 Greaves or something. Speaking of which, I have to go weight my penny jug.

Very sharp looking razor !!

The Rawson of Rawson & Nourse was most likely Dr. Levi Rawson, of Grafton, MA.

That's kind of interesting because he was related to Edward Kirk Rawson, who would much later marry Robert Wade's daughter, Eleanor.

(That's Robert Wade Jr, the one who lived in America and acted as a business agent for Wade & Butcher, not the Robert Wade who co-founded the company with William and Samuel Butcher).

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

The Rawson of Rawson & Nourse was most likely Dr. Levi Rawson, of Grafton, MA.

That's kind of interesting because he was related to Edward Kirk Rawson, who would much later marry Robert Wade's daughter, Eleanor.

(That's Robert Wade Jr, the one who lived in America and acted as a business agent for Wade & Butcher, not the Robert Wade who co-founded the company with William and Samuel Butcher).

Did you find more evidence of it being Levi, or was that from the Antiques article? I don't remember.

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

Did you find more evidence of it being Levi, or was that from the Antiques article? I don't remember.

I went with that Antiques article. It's pretty much the only lead I can find anywhere.

However, now I'm digging through newspaper articles and I think I may have found another trove.

More shortly...

I believe the Nourse of Rawson & Nourse was Joel Nourse, son of Joel Nourse. He lived in Grafton (reason number one I suspect him) and he had several patents for manufacturing (reason number two, three, four, and five).

Joel's mother was Mehitabel, and he had just a few brothers and sisters. 11, to be precise, with good old-time names like Fidelia, Lysander, Amasette, and Orpha.

I'm finding patchy records for Joel. His father died in 1834. His patents date to the mid 1840's and cover farming equipment. He was married in 1844, opened a school in 1858, sold his farm in the 1860's and seems to have died sometime late in 1880.

As I dig, I'm not actually finding any records that suggest Levi Rawson as a likely partner in the business.

On the other hand, I am finding a lot of suggestion that it was Orrin Rawson, a very successful merchant in Worcester (and still related to Edward Kirk Rawson, just a bit more distantly). His dry goods concern had dried up by 1845, but from about 1838 'till then you couldn't read a paper without seeing his LOW LOW PRICES COME NOW!

Still, I can't find any definitive link between Orrin Rawson and Joel Nourse, so consider this unsolved barring more evidence.