A glance at the genealogical chart, Fig. 37, will show why the old Robbins & Lawrence shop, at Windsor, Vt., in the backwoods of northern New England, deserves a special chapter. When built, it was miles away from a railroad. It was never large, and the wheels of the original shop have long since ceased to turn, but few plants have had so great an influence on American manufacturing. Three brilliant mechanics, Lawrence, Howe and Stone, were working there in the early fifties, and from them and their successors came wholly, or in part, the vertical lathe turret, the miller, the profiler and a large number of the modern machines used in interchangeable manufacture. Of these three, Lawrence went to Hartford, Howe to Providence, while Stone remained at Windsor. In each case an important line of influence may be traced. In the region about Windsor, sixty or seventy years ago, there were a number of small custom gun shops, and one firm, N. Kendall & Company, was regularly making guns at the Windsor prison, using prison labor in addition to that of a number of free mechanics, who did the finer work. The history of the Robbins & Lawrence Company begins about 1838, when Lawrence came to Windsor from the neighborhood of Watertown, N. Y. Fortunately he wrote out an account of his life shortly before his death, at the request of his son, giving a very interesting record of his early work and his connections with his various manufacturing enterprises. This account shows clearly the integrity, modesty and worth of the man.[184] [184] By the courtesy of Mr. Ned Lawrence this account is given in Appendix A. It has never been published before. [Illustration: N. KENDALL & CO. R. S LAWRENCE Kendall & Lawrence Custom Gun Shop, Windsor, Vt. *1* #1# ROBBINS & LAWRENCE Guns and Gun Machinery, Turret Lathes, Millers, etc. R S. Lawrence, H. D. Stone, F. W. Howe *2 3 4 5 6 7* #2# #7# ENFIELD GUN MACHRY., 1855 CHAS. E. BILLINGS Enfield, England Billings & Spencer, Hartford #5# LAMSON, GOODNOW & #3# YALE, 1859 #6# SHARPS RIFLE WORKS later PROVIDENCE J. R. BROWN Hartford, Conn. E. G. LAMSON & CO. TOOL WORKS S. B. DARLING, *8* Guns, Sewing F. W. Howe, ETC. Machines, Machine Supt., *12* Tools, 1853-68 Windsor *10 11* *9*