We used to make things in this country. #138 : E. Broad & Sons, St. Stephen, New Brunswick

I found this old 1-inch chisel this week:

Note the lovely, slender tape to the blade.

The town of St. Stephen is off of the Bay of Fundy, on the St. Croix River which constitutes the border between New Brunswick and Maine.  Apparently, the firm of E. Broad & Sons operated for only 12 years between 1883 and 1895.  They produced axes, chisels, hammers, and mining picks.  There were quite a few edge-tool manufacturers using the Broad name around St. John at this period in time, so there was likely a family connection.  (The town of Nackawic, to the north, boasts the world's largest axe:  15 metres tall and 55 tons!)

The factory building on Prince William Street has since been designated a historic site.  The following is from the Historic Places website:

"The Axe Factory was designated as a Local Historic Place for its role in the economy of St. Stephen and for its architecture. 

The Axe Factory is recognized for being one of the leading industries in its time. In circa 1866, the Douglas Axe Manufacturing Company built their factory on Dennis Stream. In 1883, it was purchased by E. Broad & Sons who operated the company until 1895 when a new company was formed under the name of St. Stephen Edge Tool Co. In 1911, Harry Broad formed the Mann Axe & Tool Co. with Charles Heustis as president and manager. With two storeys of the original factory now in use, they acquired the buildings of the Bug Death Chemical Co. A new factory was added and began operation in 1922. The factory was water powered from Dennis Stream and the original Hercules turbine was still in use. In 1930, the factory became a victim of the Great Depression, but managed to continue until 1943 when the business closed.

The Axe Factory is also recognized for its architecture. It is a good example of rural factory design from the late 19th century. It is of wooden crib construction on a rectangular plan with a distinctive roof monitor. The building that exists on the site today is a wing of the original factory."

Given tools under this name were only produced for a very few years, it's sad that some philistine has hammered the socket to the point where it is so badly mushroomed and distorted.  As someone once said, you can't save them all, but it's a shame if you can't save the good ones.  I've conferred with a blacksmith, and am hoping that I might be able to reform the socket so that the tool will remain original, but can also be put back to work.

Update March 18, 2015

In tidying up loose ends in my shop, I finally decided just to saw off the mushroomed socket on that chisel, saw off a good socket from an old no-name chisel I found at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore bin, and weld the two together.  I milled the ends of each section flat, and then decided to drill a hole in each section into which I could insert a steel rod to keep the two pieces in position for welding.  Turns out I had no trouble drilling into the socket from the no-name chisel, but I couldn't even dimple the steel in the old chisel.  In fact, I dulled a centre drill on it.  The mushroomed piece I sawed off showed, in cross-section, how the socket had been formed by wrapping steel spirally around a form and then hammering it together on an anvil when it was hot.  They made good stuff back then.  

Anyway, I was able to set up the two pieces without the benefit of the rod and arc weld them together, and didn't do a half-bad job in spite of my indifferent welding skills.  Then I turned a wooden handle for it and the chisel is back in business.  It only took me a couple of hours to do, but a year to get around to it!

Update, March 2023;  it appears these tools still turn up now and then, Keith sent the following pictures of a 1/2" chisel he has acquired. 

Thanks, Keith!