The T. W. Lane Family of Amesbury Carriage Makers

One of the most prominent family names in the Amesbury carriage industry was Lane, with at least five brothers actively involved in carriage building in the late 1800s.

ACM industrial survey volunteer Mike Harrold collected a wealth of details about the Lane family in a report, The T. W. Lane Family of Carriage Makers, recently published on the ACM website. Mike was assisted in his research by ACM volunteer Joyann Reynolds. Dorothy Williamson, a descendent of T. W. Lane’s sister, contributed photos and information from her family collection.

Of the carriage-building brothers, the best known was Thomas W. Lane (1840-1935), who assembled his carriages mostly from components purchased from other manufacturers. This allowed him to operate with a relatively small capital investment and produce reasonably priced finished carriages. His approach also allowed him to produce higher volumes and offer a greater variety of carriage styles than manufacturers who made their own carriage parts.

Lane held a patent for a spring carriage suspension, which he sold as well as making carriages. He also holds the distinction of operating the last carriage factory in Amesbury, which remained open until about 1927.

Mike’s paper includes details about several T. W. Lane relatives involved in Amesbury carriage industry, analysis of T. W. Lane’s labor costs and carriage pricing, as well as descriptions of his carriage-manufacturing operations in several locations in the Elm Street area. Lane’s home on Elm Street still stands today.

Click here to read the complete paper on the ACM website. Mike also digitized a T. W. Lane carriage catalogue from about 1910 showing 24 carriage styles the company offered at that time. Click here to view the catalogue.

Thomas W. Lane’s factory building on Chestnut Street in Amesbury. It was constructed in 1890 and was one of several of his carriage-making facilities. (From The T. W. Lane Family of Carriage Makers by Mike Harrold.)

Portrait of Thomas W. Lane from an 1891 souvenir edition of the Amesbury Daily News. (From The T. W. Lane Family of Carriage Makers by Mike Harrold.)