Thomas Shaw and John M. May conducted the first agricultural implement manufactory in Janesville.

The evidence

• “Thomas Shaw and John M. May conducted the first agricultural implement manufactory in Janesville, in 1845. where Heirastreet's drug store now stands, on Main street. In 1849, ithe firm built and occupied two stone buildings on North First street, between Blufi" and Main.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/14-rock-county-ch08-janesville.md, PDF p. 558 / book p. 562

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources

  

• “The first enterprise of this kind to be started in Janesville was by Thomas Shaw and John M. May in 1845, on the ground where Heimstreet's drug store now stands on Main street. In 1849, the firm built two stone buildings on North First street between Bluff and Main, where they carried on a large and profitable business.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/27-early-janesville-manufacturers.md, Vol. 2, PDF p. 90 / book p. 601

  Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources · may repeat 1879-history-of-rock-county, so not counted as independent