Charles Danforth

CHARLES DANFORTH / AMERICAN INDUSTRIALIST

The name of Charles Danforth has been so long associated with the industrial growth and development of the city of Paterson that it is familiar to all of its citizens, old and young. It has been thought proper, therefore, to give in this work a sketch of the life work of a man whose individuality was so strongly impressed on the institutions of the city, and to impart thereby, to the rising generation at least, some of the lessons which a long life of industry, conscientious devotion to duty, and an intelligent direction of one's talents to a given purpose naturally suggest.

Mr. Danforth was born in Norton, Massachusetts on August 30, 1797 and was a descendant of one of the old families of that commonwealth. His father, J. Thomas Danforth, engaged in agricultural pursuits at Norton and being of limited means was able to confer on his son only a common school education. The lad being of an ambitious spirit early entered upon the discharge of the duties of life, with a view of making a place for himself in the world. From boyhood he manifested not only remarkable mechanical ability, but strong self reliance and a practical turn on mind which, joined to the stalwart frame and robust constitution with which nature had endowed him, well fitted him for success in life.

As early as 1811 he entered a cotton mill in Norton, where he labored for a time as a throstle piercer. When sixteen or seventeen years of age he joined the army as a substitute

• Charles founded and was president of the Danforth Locomotive and Machine Company in Paterson, New Jersey. He amassed a fortune of $2 million to $3 million dollars in the 19th-century. See The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, October 26, 1887, page 6.
• In 1852 Charles "founded the firm of Danforth, Cooke & Co., and began the manufacture of locomotives, supplying engines to all the important railroads in the country. In 1868 the firm was changed into a stock company, called the Danforth Locomotive and Machine Company..." See Charles' obituary in the New-York Daily Tribune, Thursday, March 23, 1876, page 8.
• Charles' age at his death, and his date of death, are mentioned in the obituary of his wife, Mary Willett, in the Paterson Daily Guardian, Paterson, N.J., Friday Evening, April 27, 1888.
• Also see https://www.myheritage.com/matchingresult-fda6a82f60c465a7bf40d0dba...