Coes Wrench Company was a tool manufacturing company based in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. The company was originally part of the L. and A. G. Coes & Co. The Coes Wrench Company was founded April 1, 1888. Coes Wrench Company manufactured the screw type wrench invented by

Loring Coes Loring Coes (April 22, 1812 – July 13, 1906) was an American inventor, industrialist and Republican politician who invented the screw type wrench, commonly known as the monkey wrench and who served as a member of the Worcester, Massachusetts Ci ...

; this wrench is commonly known as a

monkey wrench The monkey wrench is a type of adjustable wrench, a 19th century American refinement of 18th-century English coach wrenches. It was widely used in the 19th and early 20th century. It is of interest as an antique among tool collectors and is st ...

Early company history

Coes and his brother Aury Gates Coes worked for the firm of Kimball and Fuller, a firm that made machinery for the woolen industry. In 1836 the Coes brothers purchased the business and formed the L. & A. G. Coes company as a partnership. In October 1839 the facility where they worked was destroyed by a fire. The Coes brothers were unable to continue in businesses so they moved to

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

to work as pattern makers in the foundry of Laurin Trask.

Invention of the screw wrench

It was while they were living and working in

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

that Loring Coes invented the screw wrench commonly known as the

. Prior to the invention of the screw wrench, the two common wrenches of the time, the English patent wrench and the Merrick wrench (also known as the Springfield wrench), needed two hands to adjust, whereas the new screw wrench could be used and adjusted with one hand. The Coes brothers sold their pattern for spinning machines that they had rescued from the fire that destroyed their plant, and used the money to pay for the patent on the screw wrench that Loring Coes was granted on April 16, 1841.

L. & A. G. Coes

After they were granted the patent for the screw wrench, the brothers company L. & A. G. Coes went back into operation and they began to manufacture their new wrench.

Merger

In 1888 Coes Wrench Company was merged with the Loring Coes & Company.

References

External links