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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;BRandM, post: 1391497, member: 22729&quot;][ATTACH]166161.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]166162.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]166163.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]166164.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]166165.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s a nice counterstamp issued by one of the older Philadelphia sawmakers of the early 19th century. There were a lot of small independent manufacturers starting in the 1820&#039;s and 30&#039;s. Johnson &amp; Conaway was one of those, founding their saw works on Cherry St. about the same time that Henry Disston was still a fledgling company. In time Disston would buy most of the Philadelphia makers and a lot of those in other cities as well. By the 1880&#039;s or 1890&#039;s he had a near monopoly on the saw making industry in the U.S. The two partners in the company were Charles Johnson and William Conaway, both independent makers before joining forces in the mid 1840&#039;s. I&#039;m not sure, but I believe Conaway eventually sold out to Disston as well (Johnson died in 1852 and left Conaway as the sole proprietor).</p><p><br /></p><p>There are only three previously recorded examples of J&amp;C counterstamps, but none with an eagle as part of the stamp. If you look at the illustration above of a backsaw manufactured by the company you&#039;ll see an example of their use of the eagle in their logo. The advertisement is from the 1848 Philadelphia city directory. This is my 12th Philadelphia counterstamp and my second of a sawmaker. The other was issued by Jonathan Paul who predated J&amp;C by a few years. He was also eventually bought out by Disston. Anyway, I think this is a really nice early sawmaker stamp that some of you would like to see. As always, comments are welcomed, and thanks for looking.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bruce[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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