C. J. Messer, Manufacturer of Agricultural Machinery

Charles J. Messer’s name appears in the 1860 Federal Census for Erie County with his wife Mary, and daughters Ruth, age 2, and Evelina, age 2 months. Mr. Messer’s occupation was listed as machinist. In the 1858-1859 Sandusky City Directory, C. J. Messer had an advertisement for threshing machines. His manufacturing facility was at the corner of Water and Warren Streets in Sandusky. Some of the models of agricultural machinery manufactured by Messer’s factory were the “Pitt’s Double Pinion Power,” “Woodbury’s Separator,” and “Reading’s Corn Sheller.”

The Thirteenth Annual Report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture stated that Reading’s Power Corn Sheller “has no superior.” When the Ohio State Fair was held in Sandusky in 1858, Mr. Messer received a silver medal for his power corn sheller. This medal is now in the collections of The Follett House museum.

Pictured below is an image of the Pitt’s Separator, an improved threshing machine, from the 1860 Sandusky City Directory.