Stephen North (1767–1842) apprenticed as a tinsmith in his native Berlin, Connecticut, but moved to Fly Creek (near Cooperstown), New York, in 1789, after the birth of his first son, Albert. He established the North Shop to manufacture plain and decorated wares, and he also worked as a farmer, merchant, and mechanic. He and his wife, Susannah, helped found the Cooperstown Presbyterian Church in 1800 and the Presbyterian Church at Fly Creek in 1828. The North Shop operated until the middle of the nineteenth century and eventually was run by Albert. The female members of the family probably flowered the tinware. Mottled and grained backgrounds, a brushstroke shaped like a soup ladle, vermilion and white bands with multiple brushstroke borders, and dots between brushstrokes are distinctive characteristics of their work. The only signed piece bears the name of the Norths' daughter Mercy (1798–1872), who married in 1826 and moved to Harwick, New York.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Oval Box," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 318.