Filer and Stowell is a company based in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. Founded by

Delos Filer Delos L. Filer (September 17, 1817July 26, 1879) was a businessman involved in developing Manistee County and the towns of Manistee, Filer City and Ludington in the state of Michigan. He owned sawmills and related businesses. Biography Ea ...

and

John M. Stowell John Maxell Stowell (1824–1907) was an American politician in Wisconsin. He served as the 26th Mayor of Milwaukee. Early life Stowell was born in Alexander, New York in 1824. He attended Alexander Classical School and Marietta College before ...

in 1856, the company has produced equipment primarily for the

lumber industry The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry – when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products (e.g. fu ...

, largely for

lumber mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimens ...

s but also in the past

stationary steam engine Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam car ...

s, marine steam engines and even

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s for logging lines.

Locomotives

Filer and Stowell produced a line of

s from the 1880s for the logging industry. They were simply constructed, tough and easy to maintain, and employed oscillating

cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...

s, an extreme rarity in locomotive practice. "A large number" were produced, mostly for customers in the southern and south-eastern United States.

Stationary steam engines

Filer and Stowell produced large

Corliss engine A Corliss steam engine (or Corliss engine) is a steam engine, fitted with rotary valves and with variable valve timing patented in 1849, invented by and named after the US engineer George Henry Corliss of Providence, Rhode Island. Corliss assumed ...

s, both simple and

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...

, originally for lumber mill power but also for other applications.

Shipping

Filer and Stowell produced marine steam engines for a number of years, and were one of fourteen engine manufacturers to produce the

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) cylinder, then having given up heat ...

s for the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

References

{{Reflist Manufacturing companies based in Wisconsin Companies based in Milwaukee