Leroy S. Starrett

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Laroy Sunderland Starrett (1836 – 1922) was a businessman and inventor. He founded the L. S. Starrett Company in Athol, Massachusetts and held about 100 patents for various inventions.

Starrett was born in China, Maine.

He rented a farm at the age of twenty-six in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He was very successful at farming, and was always tinkering with new tools and new techniques.

Starrett's first invention was a meat chopping machine that he called the Hasher. After his success with this invention, he left farming behind and turned to the world of business.

He eventually bought the Athol Machine Company in 1905.

He patented such items as the sliding combination square, bench vises, and a shoe hook fastener. His company made precision steel rules and tapes, calipers, and micrometers, among other things.