By Dave Parker
In the heart of Ellicottville, unknown to visitors and most locals, a legendary local knife manufacturing dynasty begins a new chapter. When he’s not tending to the business of the Village of Ellicottville as Mayor, John Burrell is hard at work rekindling the cutlery business his family has been involved with for over a century and a half. John’s grandmother Addie Case began working in the Case family knife business, located in Little Valley, in the early 1900s where she would meet her future husband Harold Burrell. Before striking out on their own to form the Burrell Cutlery Company in Ellicottville in 1940, the Burrells helped the Case family expand their prominence, resulting in the creation of 32 knife-related businesses in the region with Case, Cutco, and KA-BAR still in business today. These companies became the standard for cutlery for households, restaurants, surgical, outdoor, military, and other uses across the world. The Burrell Cutlery Company operated in Ellicottville from 1940 to 2006 focusing primarily on straight razor and serrated knife manufacturing with over 50 employees at their peak.
John retired from running the family business in 2006. After working with Northrup Construction, serving on the Village Board, a stint as Town Supervisor, and multiple terms as Village Mayor, John battled a rare and aggressive form of cancer starting in 2019 that claimed the life of his brother Bill the year before. It was while sitting alone in a Roswell Park hospital room after a bone marrow transplant during the initial days of the Pandemic that John began to form the vision for the next chapter of the Case and Burrell legacy.
Bill Burrell lived in the family house in Ellicottville and was the custodian of a massive collection of company documents, knives, and materials that had been collected over generations. Bill passed these valuable artifacts on to John who also had his own large collection of family and company items, and the idea struck John while in treatment at Roswell Park to make this history available to the large group of Case and cutlery collectors across the world. Top Flight Early American Cutlery took off from this vision as the next Burrell venture. The Top Flight name is a recognition of the trademark obtained by Burrell Cutlery for straight-edge razors in 1940. With simple beginnings as a Facebook group devoted to knife collectors that has grown to over 700 members, John, who has successfully battled cancer, is ready to take Top Flight Early American Cutlery to the next level – manufacturing knives again.
In the treasure trove of Bill’s and John’s collections are the beginnings of 300 new knives to be manufactured in John’s newly updated Maybee Alley workshop. In the coming weeks, the grinder and honing machine will be put to work to start the first of eight designs that will honor members of the Burrell family. The initial design will be in memory of John’s grandmother Addie Case Burrell who was a driving force at Case and Burrell Cutlery. This initial run will produce 40 knives, each with an engraved serial number, a letter detailing the story of the knife and the family member it represents, along with a glass-topped display box. Buyers will also have the option to select a custom leather sheath. John already has many of the knives sold from preorders.
If you’re a history buff, knife collector, or fan of Ellicottville, join John’s Facebook group “TopFlight Early American Cutlery ~ by John Burrell of the Case Family” to witness the unfolding of the next chapter for this storied family enterprise. Also, for a more detailed history of the Case and Burrell families and their industry dominance, Brad Lockwood’s “The Case Cutlery Dynasty: Tested XX” is available on Amazon.