Ontario Knife Company

The beginnings of the Ontario Knife Company are shrouded in the mystery of a fading past. It seems certain that three men - William B. Ensworth, Charles Albert Brace and William Maudsley, were in the picture from the start at Naples, New York, in 1889. The name of the Company derived from Ontario County where Naples was situated. The early knives were manufactured on a waterpower-run grindstone and sold via pushcart through the neighboring countryside.