The Taft-Peirce Manufacturing Company prospered for over a hundred years as a completely integrated engineering, tooling and manufacturing institution. It was founded in 1875 as the Hautin Sewing Machine Company and became the Wardwell Sewing Machine Company in 1886 under the ownership of Samuel W. Wardwell. Wardwell continued the business of manufacturing industrial sewing machines, and with the supervision of his plant foreman Edwin J. Peirce, expanded into the area of contract manufacturing of machines. In partnership with Daniel W. Taft, Peirce bought the assets of the company in 1895, at which time the name Taft-Peirce was adopted. In its early years, Taft-Peirce manufactured sewing machines, typewriters and the elements of a punched card cost system. It was a very large complex located on East School Street, employing approximately 6,000 people during the height of World War II. The company was known for its impressive and sprawling facility, which was described as having a sense of majesty even in later years.