Baltimore Type Foundry (1799-1892)
The Baltimore Type Foundry is considered to be the second oldest type foundry in the USA. It was founded in Baltimore, Maryland, USA in around 1799 by cabinet maker, apothecary, and printer Samuel Sower.
Samuel Sower died in 1820 and the company was taken over by his son-in-law, Richard Spaulding, who had married his daughter Maria. In 1832 he sold the business to Fielding Lucas Jr., a stationer and book publisher, and it stayed under the management of members of the Lucas family until 1879.
In 1879 it was sold to Henry Lafayette Pelouze, owner of the Richmond Type Foundry, and it operated as a branch of that foundry until 1883. It was then purchased by Charles J. Cary and operated independently until it was merged into American Type Founders at its formation in 1892.
