Maine Memory Network

John Taber, a blacksmith, brought his family from Old Town to Houlton in about 1865. Silas W. Taber learned blacksmithing from his father and built his own blacksmith shop in 1871. Silas' shop supplied the standard blacksmith's products such as horseshoes and tools and provided metal working services to work any metal implement that need repair. He also built wagons and other conveyences.

This is Silas' business card referring to his invention.

Silas Taber's blacksmith shop, across the street from the original shop, on Mechanic Street, Houlton. Silas Taber was an inventor, fashioning wagons and carriages to order for special purposes.

McCluskey Brothers hardware was the sole agent for the Taber Wagon in Houlton.

The Taber Wagon Gear Assembly Prototype seen from the perspective as it was drawn in Taber's patent application.

Silas W. Taber's patent application.

The truss supported axle (seen in the upper drawing) and the "king pin" brace (seen in the middle drawing) were Taber's patented improvements.

A Taber wagon as it would have been loaded with potato barrels in the early 1900s.

This picture shows the shape of the "drop" or "crank" axle.

Taber's patented truss bar strengthened the axle and made it more resistant to canting.

This angled iron bracket supporting the king pin is the second of Taber's two patented improvements.

The bolt seen coming through the freight bed floor is the king pin.

The Taber wagon became a standard feature of farm group photos as a valued possession.

View of North Street with wagons of potatoes waiting to be sold to the starch factory.

The first, second, third and fifth wagons from the right are drop-axle or "jigger" wagons, the fourth wagon is a typically constructed wagon.

The large building on the left is McLusky's Livery Stable, sole agents for the Taber Wagon in Houlton.

Note the different heights of the wagon freight beds. The wagon farthest left is a Taber wagon.

The Taber wagon factory on Mechanic Street in Houlton was a three-story building with a blacksmith shop on the first floor, a woodworking shop for making the wagon body on the second and the paint shop on the third.

To the right of the building was a wheel jig for assembling wagon wheels and for mounting the steel tires. On the left of the picture is the Exchange Hotel coach.

Silas also produced Concord Wagons. While better known today for his farm wagons, the shop produced as many driving wagons.

Silas custom built this buckboard for McCluskey Brothers Livery Stable to transport travelers to and from the train station and the hotel.

In addition to farm wagons, Silas also built wagons and pungs to order. A pung is a work vehicle with space for transporting materials on the bed behind the seat. By contrast, a sleigh has large curling, turned up runners in front and was exclusively designed for transporting people.

Silas died in 1912 as the automobile was beginning to come into general use. After his death, the blacksmith shop and wagon works were closed.