LaFrance, Truxton Slocum (b. 14 SEP 1834, d. 15 SEP 1895)

Note: BIOGRAPHY: ASA W. LAFRANCE & TRUCKSON S. LAFRANCE
Truckson LaFrance's last name was originally "Hyenveux", but later
changed to LaFrance because the decendants of English settlers could not pronounce the difficult French name, established the company known as LaFrance Manufacturing. They were the sons of a hardworking iron-worker who encouraged both of his sons, Asa W. LaFrance and Truckson S. LaFrance, with the admonition "work hard and success will follow."Truckson LaFrance, who moved from Pennsylvania to Elmira, New York, accepted work at the Elmira Iron Works owned by John Vischer. At the Elmira Iron Works, young Truckson LaFrance was introduced to steam engines and was encouraged by John Vischer to manufacture a steam powered fire engine. The two men proved to be a balanced team. Truckson was the mechanic and engineer while John Vischer was the businessman. They were inventive and quality oriented. They first tried their hands at manufacturing by producing a number of items including a rail-fence machine, corn shellers and cotton pickers, and even a steam locomotive or two. The locomotive type was not as we think of steam locomotives today but rather was a light-weight machine that operated on a track bed supported by wooden pilings or poles.

Early on Truckson developed an interest in steam power as a means to drive water pumps. By 1871 and 1872 he held patents on several improvements that he had made to rotary steam engines. Recognizing the need for steampowered fire apparatus, LaFrance joined with John Vischer of the Iron Works company to produce such machines. The first steam powered fire engine produced by Truckson LaFrance was sold to the city of Elmira. With help from some local investors, notably General Alexander S. Divan and his four sons, the company was bought out in April, 1873, and Truckson LaFrance became the company's mechanical engineer while John Vischer became a director. The name of the new business was the LaFrance Manufacturing Company. The construction of a plant on ten acres of land followed soon thereafter and then by a major effort to produce steam-powered fire engines.

In 1876 Truckson's brother, Asa W LaFrance, joined the company and became its travelling salesman and a major consultant to his brother, Truckson LaFrance. Production of fire engines and other mechanical devices continued until 1880 when the company was reorganized. Its new name was the LaFrance Steam Engine Company, which allowed the company to take advantage of its reputation as the leading manufacturer of rotary, nest-tube boilers invented and patented by Truckson LaFrance. Two years later, in 1882, the company started making Hayes extension ladders invented by Daniel D. Hayes, introducing a revolutionary 85 foot model. In addition to the remarkable extension ladder, the company introduced the first piston engine which was made for the Buffalo, New York Fire Department and the Macomber Chernicalizer. In 1895 Mr. Truckson LaFrance died.

Following per Email of George Ashley; 11/9/99
ASA W. LAFRANCE & TRUXTON S. LAFRANCE
Truxton Slocum LaFrance established the company known as LaFrance Manufacturing in the city of Elmira New York. He was the son of a hardworking iron-worker in Susquehanna Pennsylvania, Willis Breese LaFrance, who encouraged both of his sons, Asa Willis LaFrance and Truxton LaFrance, with the admonition, "work hard and success will follow."

Truxton LaFrance moved from Pennsylvania to Elmira, New York and accepted work at the Elmira Iron Works owned by John Vischer. At the Elmira Iron Works, young Truxton LaFrance was introduced to steam engines and was encouraged by John Vischer to manufacture a steam powered fire engine. The two men proved to be a balanced team.

The Democrat (Olean, New York) > 1882 > December > 26

The LaFrance Engine Comapny of Elmira, recently recieved an order for one of it's Hayes trucks from London, Eng. The price will be $3,500.


Boyd's Elmira, New York Directories 1872

LaFrance Truckson S., Union Iron Works 60 Second, h 48 Second

Boyd's Elmira Directory, 1882

LaFrance Truckson S., inventor, LaFrance Co., j 112 W Hudson

Elmira, New York Directories, 1889-93 Record

Name: Truckson S. LaFrance
Location 2: 508 Spaulding
Occupation: master mechanic LaFrance Fire Engine Co
Year: 1889
City: Elmira
State: NY


Name: G. M. Diven; John M. Diven; Eugene Diven; William Falck; T. S. LaFrance
Location 1: Junction corner LaFrance
Business Name: lane France Fire Engine Co. (The)
Occupation: manfrs steam fire engines and Hayes extension ladder truck; president; vice president; sec'y; treas and gen'l manger; mechanical engineer
Year: 1890
City: Elmira
State: NY

Name: Truckson S. LaFrance
Location 2: 508 Spaulding
Occupation: master mechanic LaFrance Fire Engine Co
Year: 1890
City: Elmira
State: NY

Name: Truckson S. LaFrance
Location 2: 508 Spaulding
Occupation: master mechanic LaFrance Fire Engine Co.
Year: 1891
City: Elmira
State: NY

Name: Truckson S. LaFrance
Location 2: 212 Caldwell avenue
Occupation: master mechanic LaFrance Fire Engine Co
Year: 1893
City: Elmira
State: NY

American LaFrance Web Site Heritage

Heritage is an intangible something that is passed down from generation to generation, a set of beliefs and traditions that connects a new breed with its ancestors. Heritage enables you to honor your past and acknowledge the reputation your forebears strove to build. Heritage stands behind you, it informs you, it motivates you to achieve.

At American LaFrance, our heritage is literally the history of the fire engine, and it shows in every vehicle we produce.

In 1873, in the midst of the American Industrial Revolution, Truckson LaFrance, with his partners, started the LaFrance Manufacturing Company in order to produce hand pumps and rotary steam engines based on LaFrance’s new patents. As his designs began winning major national competitions, the Lafrance name began to spread.

Over the next three decades, changes in technology came fast and furious. Powerful piston steam engines replaced the venerable rotary, a remarkable screw-driven ladder truck came to the aid of a new class of urban firefighters, and the emerging threat of industrial fires spurred the growth of chemical retardants to battle them. Through it all, the company stayed on the crest of this new technological wave.

At the turn of the century, the LaFrance Fire Engine Company joined with the American Fire Engine Company to become the American LaFrance Fire Engine Company.

As fire departments nationwide began clamoring for self-propelled fire engines to replace horse-drawn rigs, American LaFrance began to experiment with radical designs that utilized gasoline instead of steam.

By 1916, American LaFrance produced a 6-cylinder, gas-powered pumping apparatus that performed so well it literally spelled the end of the steam engine. By virtue of its own vision of excellence and innovation, the company had made obsolete the very technology upon which it had been founded.

Throughout the early to mid-twentieth century, through two World Wars, and the urban boom of the 50’s and 60’s, American LaFrance continued to be at the forefront of fire apparatus design and manufacture. Many of the models produced then are now considered prized collector’s items, and have found proud places in museums and private displays all over the world.

To celebrate its 100th anniversary in 1973, American LaFrance unveiled the Century Series pumper. This "modern" fire engine included revolutionary features that would become the industry standard.

And that revolution continues even today, as we strive to build upon our past to again meet the challenges of another new century. Every employee of American LaFrance carries the weight of nearly two hundred years of dedicated service, and the fact that we have built and have in service more fire apparatus than any other company in the world motivates us to keep it that way.

Daily Gazette and Bulletin (Williamsport, Pennsylvania) > 1895 > September > 16

Death of T. S. LaFrance
By United Press
Elmira, Sept 15, Truckson S LaFrance, the well known inventor and organizer of the LaFrance Fire Engine Company, died suddenly in this city today, of paralysis of the heart. He was 61 years of age.

Occupation: Place: Machinist - Invented Fire Engine

Census: Date: 1900
Place: Elmira Ward 9, Chemung, New York

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Elmira Ward 4, Chemung, New York

Census: Date: 1880
Place: District 76, Elmira City, Chemung Co., New York

Note: Boyd's Elmira, New York Directories 1872

LaFrance Willis B., carpenter, h 9 Oak


Elmira, New York Directories, 1889-93 Record

Name: Willis B. LaFrance
Location 2: boards 914 Benton
Occupation: carpenter
Year: 1890
City: Elmira
State: NY

Name: Willis B. LaFrance
Location 2: boards 914 Benton
Occupation: carpenter
Year: 1891
City: Elmira
State: NY

Name: Willis B. LaFrance
Location 2: 1313 Hall
Occupation: carpenter
Year: 1893
City: Elmira
State: NY

Occupation: Date: 1860
Place: Carpenter

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Elmira Ward, Chemung, New York

Note: 1870 & 1880 Census, living with son Truxton and family


Boyd's Elmira Directory, 1872

LaFrance Clarrissa A., widow Willia, bds 48 Second


Elmira, New York Directories, 1889-93 Record

Name: Theresa A. LaFrance
Location 2: boards 464 Spaulding
Occupation: widow Willis
Year: 1889
City: Elmira
State: NY

Name: Theresa A. LaFrance
Location 2: boards 508 Spaulding
Occupation: widow Willis
Year: 1890
City: Elmira
State: NY

Name: Clarissa A. LaFrance
Location 2: boards 50 Spaulding
Occupation: widow Willis
Year: 1891
City: Elmira
State: NY

Name: Theresa LaFrance
Location 2: boards 508 Spaulding
Occupation: widow Willis
Year: 1891
City: Elmira
State: NY

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Elmira Ward 4, Chemung, New York

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Elmira Ward, Chemung, New York

Census: Date: 1880
Place: Elmira, Chemung, New York

Census: Date: 1910
Place: San Gabriel Twp, Los Angeles, California

Census: Date: 1920
Place: South Pasadena, Los Angeles, California

Census: Date: 1930
Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

Note: Elmira, New York Directories, 1889-93 Record

Name: T. Everett LaFrance
Location 1: 315 E Water
Location 2: 137 E Hudson
Occupation: watchmaker
Year: 1889
City: Elmira
State: NY

Name: T. Everett LaFrance
Location 1: 315 E Water
Location 2: 204 Lormore
Occupation: watchmaker
Year: 1891
City: Elmira
State: NY


Name: T. Everett LaFrance
Location 1: 315 E Water
Location 2: 204 Lormore
Occupation: watchmaker
Year: 1892
City: Elmira
State: NY

Name: T. Everett LaFrance
Location 1: 315 E Water
Location 2: 204 Lormore
Occupation: watchmaker
Year: 1893
City: Elmira
State: NY

Census: Date: 1880
Place: District 76, Elmira City, Chemung Co., New York

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Elmira Ward 4, Chemung, New York

Note: Elmira, New York Directories, 1889-93
about Fred LaFrance
Name: Fred LaFrance
Location 2: rooms 228 S Main
Occupation: laborer
Year: 1891
City: Elmira
State: NY

Census: Date: 1880
Place: District 76, Elmira City, Chemung Co., New York

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Elmira Ward 4, Chemung, New York

Census: Date: 1900
Place: Elmira Ward 11, Chemung, New York

Note: 1830: Schroon Lake, Essex County NY, Males, 1 10-20, 1 20-30 Females 120-30

Census: Date: 1880
Place: District 76, Elmira City, Chemung Co., New York

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Elmira Ward 4, Chemung, New York

Note: 1880: Name: James W. BARBER
Age: 50
Estimated birth year: <1830>
Birthplace: Pennsylvania
Occupation: Mason
Relation: Self
Home in 1880: Elmira, Chemung, New York
Marital status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Male
Head of household: James W. BARBER
Father's birthplace: PA
Mother's birthplace: PA

Occupation: Place: Mason

Census: Date: 1860
Place: Elmira, Chemung, NY

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Elmira Ward 4, Chemung, New York

Census: Date: 1880
Place: Elmira, Chemung, New York

Occupation: Place: Mason

Census: Date: 1870
Place: Elmira Ward 4, Chemung, New York

Census: Date: 1880
Place: Elmira, Chemung, New York