Fonds 969.148 & 969.167 & 970.078 - Shantz Foundry Limited fonds

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Shantz Foundry Limited fonds

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  • Textual record
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  • Object

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Fonds

Reference code

CA ON00094 969.148 & 969.167 & 970.078

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Date(s)

  • 1877-1966, predominant 1880-1927 (Creation)

Physical description area

Physical description

.8 m of textual records 64 photographs 1 trade sign 41 artifacts Ledgers are worn and very grimy. Materials are complete. Handwriting is somewhat faded but legible. Printed catalogs, price lists etc. are deteriorated to varying degrees but generally in fair condition.

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Archival description area

Name of creator

Administrative history

Peter Erb Shantz (1849-1928) was born on his father Samuel Y. Shantz's farm east of Breslau, Ontario. He was the eldest son of Samuel Y. Shantz and Esther Erb. (He was the nephew of Jacob Y. Shantz, Berlin button manufacturer.) When the Grand Trunk Railway was built through the Shantz farm in the 1850s, the farm was sold, and Samuel Y. purchased a farm on the road leading west out of Galt, Ontario toward Roseville. The north boundary of the farm lay on Whistlebare Road. Peter attended the Dickie Settlement school on the Roseville Road. In 1871, Peter entered into the farm implement manufacturing business, coming to Preston, Ontario in 1875. Along with Abram Z. Detweiler, he purchased the manufacturing concern on Fountain Street formerly operated by Valentine Wahn and Francis Newton, with the assistance of a $5,000 bonus from Preston council. The company was named the Preston Agricultural Works. In 1883, the frame buildings of the Preston Agricultural Works were destroyed by fire. P.E. Shantz bought out Abram Detweiler and continued to operate as P.E. Shantz Preston Agricultural Works. New stone buildings were built to house the business. Some of the firm's earliest business records were presumably destroyed in this fire; ledgers and other business records in the P.E. Shantz fonds date from 1880. The name Preston Agricultural Works was discontinued, probably by the mid-1890s, and the business carried on under the name P.E. Shantz Manufacturer (with various trailers: ...Manufacturer of Farm Implements and Harvesting Machinery, 1898; ...Manufacturers of Mowers, Rakes, Harrows, Steel Rollers, Gang and Single Plows, Potato Diggers, 1909). The company's Stock Book (969.148.001.008) notes a wide variety of suppliers and manufacturers from whom the company purchased materials (hardware, wood, wheels, iron and steel, blades, paint, plow parts). P.E. Shantz was the Canadian manufacturer of (at least) two American firms' products. The first was the Buckeye Binder (made by P.E. Shantz from 1885 until shortly after 1900), whose parent was Aultman-Miller & Co., headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The second was a line of haying machinery developed by the Dain Manufacturing Company of Ottumwa, Iowa. Because of intense competition in North America among many relatively small and largely unprofitable manufacturers of agricultural implements and machinery, a giant merger spearheaded by the McCormick and Deering companies took place in the early 1900s, forming the International Harvester Company. International Harvester purchased Aultman-Miller in 1904, and because of favourable tariff rates at that time, probably discontinued the Canadian manufacture of the Buckeye binder, eventually discontinuing Buckeye products altogether. Dain haying machinery (and an unrelated product, lawn swings) was manufactured in Canada by P.E. Shantz until about 1908, by which time Dain had been bought out by the John Deere company. In 1908, a plant to manufacture Dain products was built in Welland, taking another agricultural implement/machinery line away from the P.E. Shantz concern. By 1909, P.E. Shantz letterhead claimed "Our Specialty is Trucks". P.E. Shantz catalogues featured a variety of trucks (heavy duty warehouse wagons) manufactured for the factory and other commercial trade. Around 1913, P.E. Shantz further diversified into the manufacture of the Howard warm air furnace, company letterhead now stating "Our Specialty is Trucks [and] Warm Air Furnaces. The Howard furnace was another American product for which P.E. Shantz had Canadian manufacturing rights. The company continued to manufacture warm air furnaces for many years. The last dated piece in the P.E. Shantz fonds regarding the Howard furnace is 1941. In addition to trucks and furnaces, P.E. Shantz also made children's hand sleighs, garden benches, garden vases and lawn swings in the years after 1900. These were probably made from waste by-products of agricultural machinery construction. A price list issued by the Shantz Foundry in 1966 gave prices for its line of industrial and commercial trucks, by which time the only product line left. Peter E. Shantz died in 1928, leaving two of his sons, Frederick R. Shantz and Cyrus B. Shantz to carry on the business. In the twentieth century, the company name evolved to P.E. Shantz Foundry and finally to Shantz Foundry Ltd. In 1969 Shantz Foundry Ltd. went out of business. The property was purchased by a developer, with plans to build a large apartment unit on the site. The stone buildings were demolished, but the developer's plans did not materialize and in 2002 the site is an overgrown empty lot.

Name of creator

Administrative history

Name of creator

Administrative history

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Custodial history

Fonds was in the possession of Mr. Robin Shantz, the grandson of P.E. Shantz.

Scope and content

The Shantz Foundry fonds consists of records pertaining to the P.E. Shantz Preston Agricultural Works (1875-ca. 1895), P.E. Shantz Manufacturer (ca. 1895-ca. 1910), P.E. Shantz Foundry (ca. 1910-ca.1950) and Shantz Foundry Ltd. (ca. 1951-1966). These include account books and ledgers, index books, a letter book, time books, product catalogues, agents' contracts, handbills, price lists, production records, photographs and a trade sign.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Gift of Mr. Robin Shantz, Preston, Ontario.

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    Script of material

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      Restrictions on access

      Access to archival materials is unrestricted within the museum's Research Policy and its Library and Archives Policy. Materials may be used in the reading room by appointment.

      Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

      The museum's Library and Archives Policy states conditions for making reproductions of archival materials. The museum's Research Policy states other conditions regarding publication.

      Finding aids

      A finding aid is available.

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      Accruals

      No further accruals are expected.

      General note

      9 Ledgers and Account Books: General merchandise accounts (1877-1879) Investment real estate accounts (1898-1922) Assets and liabilities (1883-1920) General business journal (1899-1917) General business journal (1887-1892) General business journal (1880-1883) General business journal (1880-1886) General business journal and index (1892-1897) General business journal and index (1882-1886) 4 Index Books: Index to 969.148.001.002 (1887-1892) Index to 969.148.001.003 (1893) Index to 969.148.001.003 (1892-1897) Index to 969.148.001.004 (1899-1917) 1 Letter Book: Correspondence copies (Mar.09 / to Nov. 09) 3 Time Books: Time book (1899-1900) Time book (1900-1901) Monthly time book (1899-1919) 4 Instruction Manuals: Buckeye binder manuals (1891, 1892, 1899) Buckeye binder manual (1902) 4 Job Cards (ca. 1941) 8 Product Catalogues (many duplicates): (1885, 1888, 1895, 1900, 1903, 1905, ca. 1920, 1927) 2 Agency Contracts (1901) 5 Handbills (ca. 1900-1910) Many duplicates. 4 Price lists (1900, 1905, 1906, 1966) 1 Production worksheet (1941) 64 Photographs (1898, ca. 1900, ca. 1920) 1 Trade sign (ca. 1885) Artifacts Plow patterns Mould boxes Other factory materials

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