Reply by Sue OldsWidow on December 30, 2013 at 20:24

The Villager, Ellicottville's Official Newspaper

Book Review: Kinfolk Knives – A Cattaraugus County Family Dynasty

The American Dream is that through hard work and resourcefulness a person can create wealth for himself and family. The story of the Case family’s manufacturing of knives extends back to the early 1800’s and continued until the 1960’s. All told the Case family was responsible for the founding of 32 different cutlery companies. Like many family histories it is an American success story; a story of familial love and, at times, a story of infighting, and feuds.

From the early days of the first factories in Little Valley, through the war years (both), and into some of the myths surrounding Case knives, Dean Elliott Case’s book charts the rise and fall of a family business. The Case family story begins in 1821 with the birth of Job Case to William and Sophia Case. Job soon proved himself to be a hard worker and upon his marriage to Deborah Milks of Napoli moved to Wisconsin, working as a lumberman. In 1846 Job, Deborah and their two daughters returned to Napoli and built a log cabin along Pigeon Road. He soon received a government contract to clear the forest for a road between Little Valley and Randolph. It was his sons and daughters who were instrumental in starting Cattaraugus and later Case Cutlery.

Eventually the men of the family stood for a now famous photograph of the company patriarchs. Job stands sternly in the back; his bearded “Case scowl” became company’s iconic image, signifying the family’s pride in their product. It’s ironic because old Job was never directly involved in the family business. In 1880 construction began on the Opera House in Little Valley, the first floor of which would become the factory for J.B.F. Champlin & Son Cutlery. J.B.F. Champlin had married one of Job’s daughters, but soon invited her brothers: W.R., Jean, John D. and Andrew to sell for him. John D. eventually broke away from his brother-in-law to form Cattaraugus Cutlery just down the road. He went on to join with his brothers to officially incorporate Case Brothers Cutlery in 1900.

About that time the brothers registered their trademark “Tested XX” now stamped on all their knives. Over the years as the various families grew family members worked for some of the original factories or founded knife factories of their own. This often let to fights over contracts or sales commissions and once resulted in a nephew suing his uncle. At one point the disagreements grew so heated that the now famous trademark became known as the “Case double cross.” Many of these disputes were mediated by Job’s grandson Tint Champlin, who had become a major figure in the growth of Little Valley, overseeing the development of the water system, the coal fired power plant and Cattaraugus County Bank. A generation later in 1926 Russell Case would found Kinfolks Knives on Fair Oak Street in Little Valley.

During WWII the Kinfolks factory would supply over 40,000 M3 Trench Knives for the war effort. The last Case related knife factory would open in 1940 as Burrell Cutlery here in Ellicottville. It is the Kinfolk’s Knives factory that is the primary focus of the book. When Dean was a boy he spent some summers working in and around the factory and gives a detailed description of the factory floor. Among the myriad details included in the book is a reproduction of the Kinfolk’s Catalog of 1939, and later the 1960 Kinfolks “New Era” catalog. There are also letters from Case decedents recalling their family connections to the various knife factories, and newspaper clippings regarding the closing of one of the knife factories. There is a chapter devoted to identifying genuine Kinfolks knives some of the mysteries and anomalies of Kinfolk knives, and even some of the favorite recipes from the Case family.

Burrell Cutlery was closed in 2006, the last of a long tradition of cutlery manufacturing in the area. Whether you read the book as local history, family history, or as an adjunct to your knife collection, Kinfolks Knives offers a fascinating insight to a bygone time and a faded dynasty.