Sanford Friction Matches Inventor

Before friction matches were invented, most kitchens had a tinderbox, a round metal box containing flint and steel, and a wad of flax, to start a fire. Thomas Sanford began making friction matches in his kitchen in Woodbridge in 1833, mixing a brimstone (sulphur) compound in a teacup. (There are local tales, although undocumented, of Sanford's early experiments "blowing up the kitchen.") Sanford whittled the first wooden matchsticks with his knife.

When Sanford began producing matches for sale, he enlisted nearby townspeople to help him, paying them by the piece for cutting and splitting maple logs for the matchsticks, and making the boxes for the matches. The matches were distributed by Yankee peddlers throughout the country and cost 12 ½ cents a box.

Sanford did not patent his invention, and another man filed a patent and got a court injunction to stop him from manufacturing matches. Sanford fought back and proved in court that he was the first to discover the process. The injunction was removed, and Sanford continued making matches, but it was too late for him to claim patent rights.

In 1847 Sanford moved to Woodbridge and set up a factory on Bladen's Brook powered by a waterwheel to make matches. However, the waterwheel was too big for the small brook to turn. Sanford had spent all his money on the factory and the wheel. He sold his formula to William A. Clark, a fellow townsman, for twenty-five dollars, and Clark proceeded to successfully manufacture matches.

Sanford continued to make matches for a while, but his company was eventually absorbed, along with Clark’s and many other small match manufacturers, into the Diamond Match Company, formerly Anson Beecher and Sons, in Westville in 1880.

Sources:  Carlton E. Sanford, Thomas Sanford, The Emigrant to New England, Vol.1, (Rutland VT: The Tuttle Company, 1911);  Beacon Falls Centennial Book: 1871-1971; New Haven Preservation Trust, “Westville Village,” accessed January 17, 2025, Westville Village — The New Haven Preservation Trust; Everett G. Hill, A Modern History of New Haven County, Vol. 1, (New York: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co, 1918, 410), accessed January 17, 2025, https://archive.org/details/modernhistoryofn00hille/page/410/mode/2up?view=theater.