Pixley, Kimball & Oleson established a general machine shop in Janesville in 1853 (origin of the Doty Manufacturing Company).

The evidence

• “The Doty Manufacturing Company. — Pixley, Kimball & Oleson established a general machine-shop in 1853, on the ground originally occupied by Hodson's Brewery, where they made the manufacture of farming implements a specialty for a short time, when the concern passed into the hands of Phelps, Dodge & Co., of New York. In 1865, the property was purchased by Hamilton and R.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/14-rock-county-ch08-janesville.md, PDF p. 559

  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

  

• “One of the manufacturing institutions, which has withstood the ravages of time and survived through many changes of ownership, is the Doty Manufacturing Company, the commencement of which was in 1853, when Pixley, Kimball & Olsen built the general machine shop on the site formerly occupied by Hodson's brewery, and commenced the manufacture of agricultural implements. They were succeeded in a short time by Phelps, Dodge & Co., of New York.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/27-early-janesville-manufacturers.md, Vol. 2, PDF p. 91 / book p. 602

  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