The Fletcher-Terry Company traces its origin back to 1868 in Bristol Connecticut. A young engineer named Samuel Monce patented a small sharpened steel wheel fastened to a slender bone handle. His creation, called the "Bristol Diamond", became the world's first hand-held steel wheel glass cutter.

Fred S. Fletcher, Samuel Monce's nephew, came to Bristol from Nebraska to join the firm and went on to develop and patent improved glass cutters such as interchangeable steel wheels. With help from his father-in-law, Franklin Terry, Fred Fletcher founded "The Fletcher-Terry Company" with production taking place in a barn on the Terry property in Bristol, Connecticut