USA > Connecticut > Windham County > A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume I > Part 27
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The younger Pray made many improvements, enlarged the mill, added to the water power, built a number of new tenement houses, a large boarding house, etc. In 1874 the mill was bought by John L. Ross of Pawtucket, R. I. Mr. Ross, although well advanced in years, exhibited much energy in the work and retained the property until 1899, when it was purchased by A. G. Bishop of New York. who conducted it for a few years. It is not now in operation. It is located about five hundred feet above the Young's mill, at the head of the water power of the stream and is a desirable property. It is equipped with a few more than one hundred looms.
The last mill built on the Whetstone was the Whitestone, built of stone by Westcott and Pray, in 1858, near the site of the Leffingwell mill, which was burned in 1855. It was built for 156 looms and is 50 by 160 feet, with four stories and a two-story extension fifty feet long. Westcott and Pray made a profitable run for many years, but, October 2, 1865, sold to Jedediah Leavens,
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of Norwich, the former partner of Calvin Leffingwell, who, with others, formed a corporation having headquaters in Norwich and known as the Whitestone Company, a corruption of the original name of the stream. This corporation operated the mill continuously for more than twenty-five years under the man- agement of Kirk H. and Francis J. Leavens, sons of Jedediah. Under their direction the plant was very much improved and its productive capacity greatly enlarged. They were, for a long time, fairly prosperous, and distributed hun- dreds of thousands of dollars among the wage earners of our village; but, as faded away the small manufacturers from all New England, so faded away this once strong corporation, and the mill is now silent and the property of the heirs of Henry Westcott.
This sketch has briefly and of necessity somewhat prosaically related the history of the inception, growth and decline of the industries along the valley of the Whetstone. The principal actors have passed from life's stage and the scene of their activities. Men and events are remembered by us according as they become more or less intimately and completely a part and parcel of our own lives. Many of those who at various times have been actors in the work which we have described, were but transient figures upon the panoramic screen, and their memories have faded. Perhaps in this sketch some have been entirely forgotten. They were here only for a little time, seen only occasionally, in no way became personally identified with our home or village life, and passed off the stage unnoticed. Others came to stay. They married daughters of our kinsmen and reared boys and girls who attended our village school, and in time became the fathers and mothers of another generation.
Among those whose names will survive and whose memories will be kept green and fragrant through many coming years were: Ebenezer Young, the courteous Judge and Hon. M. C., Henry Westcott of genial countenance and pleasant and engaging manner; Thomas Pray of sterner mien, but of kindly heart : "Super" John White, the sturdy old democrat of explosive vocabulary, the memory of whose cumulative laughter even now stirs the auricular nerve; John L. Himes, with his ready wit and bluff salutation, and his son, Albert, with his squibs and jokes and fun galore; Maj. Calvin Leffingwell, with a heart as big as his stories; John B. Truesdell and brother, Henry, stern devotees of rectitude and fair dealing; Norris G. Lippitt, the bright intellectual star ; Wel- come Bartlett, a grander combination of the successful business man and the Christian philanthropist than the world often sees.
These men spent much of their lives here. All were influential townsmen. interested in politics, education and religion. They were the soul of our activ- ities. Our village life throbbed with their energies. They furnished employ- ment to the industrious, and from their substance gave alms to the poor and needy. They often tenderly cared for the sick and consoled the broken-hearted. Most of them have passed away, but "their works do follow them." Their lives touched us all, and we shall be better because of them. Of the above only two remain, Henry Truesdell, now in Packersville, Conn., and Albert H. Himes, in Providence.
These biographical allusions would not be complete without reference to the sole resident survivor of the Chestnut Hill industrial period, the connecting link between the past and the present, Albert W. Greenslit, whose name has been mentioned in these pages as superintendent of the various Robinson properties. Albert W. Greenslit was born December 21, 1827, in the Town of Hampton,
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Conn., of good old Puritan stock. He received his education in the schools of that town and entered the arena of life in early years, strong, independent, self reliant and self supporting. He came here in 1847. He had previously worked in the small mills in his native town. and immediately found employment here, at first in the Leffingwell mill, and afterward in some of the other mills, until 1852, when he began work in the weave room of W. A. Robinson, of which he retained charge until at the death of Supt. John B. Truesdell in 1863 he became superintendent of the W. A. Robinson mill and afterward of the Himes mill, after its purchase by Edward H. Robinson. He retired in 1890, having been for thirty-eight consecutive years in the service of the Robinsons, and always performing the duties of his position in a manner eminently satisfactory to employer and employes. He was well equipped for his work. In the prime of life, active, energetic, tactful, with an extraordinary knowledge of human nature, he was enabled to rule successfully and without friction where others would have failed. A strong man intellectually and inheriting a large religious and moral sense, he became identified with all village interests and a pillar in church and community affairs. He has often been sought by his fellow citi- zens to fill official positions of trust and honor and in 1876 represented the town in the Legislature. Now, at the age of seventy-six there is none whom it gives our people greater delight to honor.
Coincident with the growth of the mills, and necessitated thereby, was the growth of the reservoir system. In 1828, upon the petition of Ebenezer Young, Capt. Asa Alexander and others, the Chestnut Hill Reservoir Company was incorporated by act of the General Assembly. This charter was renewed in 1831. At that time Judge Young owned all the water rights pertaining to the Burgess saw mill, at the outlet of Lake Chaubaumaug, having acquired them a short time previously, and also owned adjoining land to the amount of 450 acres, some of which was afterward included in the "middle" reservoir, which was built some years later, and occupied the cedar swamp, mentioned early in this article.
By deed, dated August 1, 1831, Young conveyed all water rights to the reser- voir company and also five acres of land, near the present dam at the lake, which was constructed in 1832. This greatly increased the storage capacity of the lake and added much to the value of the mill properties.
In the same year the company proceeded to buy control of the Bartlett saw- mill pond, just above the rapids, and flowed a part of the bog meadow flats, just east from the present village. These rights were further enlarged by pur- chases from Reuben Bartlett, in 1836.
In the latter year the company completed the purchase of land for the mid- dle reservoir, which was to occupy the aforesaid cedar swamp, and in 1837 the dam was constructed exactly on the roadbed of the old Hartford and Provi- dence Turnpike, shares in which had been purchased by the company.
In 1849 the bog meadow reservoir was raised two feet, and to its present proportions.
In 1854 the company purchased land of Eddy and Nancy Pray and Paris M. Law, built a dam and flowed a large tract, just below Bateman pond, and northwesterly from the lake. This dam gave way in May, 1865, carrying dis- aster to the mill property along the stream. The damage, however, was speedily repaired and the dam rebuilt, and since then has withstood every attack of flood and freshet.
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY
In 1872 land was secured from Alvia Chase and others and a dam was built across an affluent of the middle reservoir creating what has been known as the Alvia reservoir, which has proved to be a valuable adjunct to the reservoir system. It must also be stated in this connection that the mills, during their successful operation, were kept well abreast of modern progress in the utiliza- tion of power. The old-fashioned wooden "breast" wheels with which they were originally equipped, in due time gave place to the modern turbine, and the waterpower has been supplemented by steam power, which has been added to every mill, without any exception.
These reservoirs drain an extensive water shed which, because of its pre- cipitous declivities, promptly and actively responds to every rainfall and, con- sequently, the amount of water power available is far in excess of what is appar- ent at first glance. The present size and capacity of the various reservoirs is as follows :
Acres
Gallons
The Lake
140
457,380,000
Eddy Pray Reservoir
98
160,083,000
Middle Reservoir
200
261,360,000
Alvia Chase Reservoir
62
101,377,000
Bog Meadow Reservoir
55
71,874,000
The system is still capable of much greater enlargement by a long talked of canal, intended to connect the lake with an extensive and active water shed, just to the eastward, over the Rhode Island line. A dam 15 feet high at the narrows, southeast from the village, extending from the promontory to the south shore, and receiving the accession from the Rhode Island water shed via the lake would flow out all existing reservoirs excepting the lake, and would make a reservoir two and a half miles long and a mile wide.
The Chestnut Hill Reservoir Company obtained a new charter from the Gen- eral Assembly of 1901, giving greatly enlarged powers, and have since been digesting various plans for enhancing and utilizing the water power of the stream.
My story is nearly ended, yet how incomplete. Would that I could breathe into it the breath of life that it might become a living soul, epitomizing the events, the life, the vim, vigor and energy of those stalwart years of Chestnut Hill industry. The resultant change from the old order of things was one of gradual and healthful growth, rather than of sudden revolution, but it was a change from monotonous humdrum to healthful variety. At first the mills absorbed the surplus labor from the farms. The boys and girls worked a part of the year at least in the mills. Wages increased, bank accounts were started and grew and the foundations of fortunes were laid.
Then, as the mills grew, help became scarce, and the surrounding towns were drawn upon. Population increased and an era of building set in. Real estate advanced in value. Stores were started and a home market was realized. A social revolution set in. Intercommunication with adjoining towns brought a commingling of manners and thought, mutually beneficial. The horizon broad- ened. Schools were built and educational privileges increased. An aggrega- tion of so many individuals demanded new churches.
In 1836 the Baptist Church on the hill was built. Of this church Westcott and Pray were the chief promoters, both being members and Westcott, who was
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a fine singer with a smooth tenor voice, was for many years leader of the choir. In 1851 the Free Baptist Church in the valley was built, and was largely con- tributed to by the Robinsons, Leffingwell, the Truesdells, Lippitt, Bartlett, Green- slitt, Himes and others. Political life was infused with the new blood, and many were the hard-fought campaigns.
Then came all the concomitants of New England prosperity. Social events, afternoon tea parties and evening entertainments. Independence Day celebra- tions and summer time picnics, sleigh rides, coasting and skating parties, popu- lar debates in the lyceum, spelling matches in the school house, singing schools, church festivals and country dances for the long winter evenings.
Incipient Barnums and Baileys with their "greatest show on earth," with the instinct of their profession found us and traveling ventriloquists cast their weird voices at us from unexpected corners, while sleight-of-hand performers cooked eggs in old men's silk hats and pounded watches into glazial hash in gunny bags, and then produced them as good as new to our wondering eyes, or . swallowed swords and jackknives and reeled countless yards of ribbon from their gastronomical department.
The patent medicine man came to minister to our ills and, with glib tongue and flaming torch, held forth upon the village green and raked in our hard- earned shekels. The merry-go-round took us in to its circuit and gave the children a week of delight. The Yankee notion man sold his wares from door to door, and the Jew-peddler from New York arranged his monthly schedule to fit the pay-day at the mills. Even the hand organ monkey danced in satisfied glee. Everybody and everything came to us except that modern industrial excrescence, the walking delegate. For him we had no use as we were all pros- perous, contented and happy and the relations existing between our little squads of capital and labor were of the most pleasant and fraternal character.
Meanwhile our mills boomed along their prosperous way, producing not only millions of yards of cotton cloth, but also a crop of men and women des- tined to make their mark in larger fields, with better oportunities. Perhaps no hamlet of like size has equally diffused its influence through the industrial life of New England. Here were graduated those who have become agents, superintendents and overseers in many of the large mills in Maine, New Hamp- shire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. A church full of these met here last summer, on July 23d (1903), and exchanged fraternal greetings, indulged in speech making and a big clam dinner, and organized an association which will hereafter hold an annual old home gathering here.
Besides these, many formerly employed in the mills here have entered other employments and professions and have been eminently successful. Among these are scores of very successful school teachers, whose first money to pay for a higher education was earned here. Some have become eminent as lawyers and physi- cians, and others as clergymen. Some have succeeded in mercantile life. Hon. Nelson W. Aldrich, Rhode Island's able senator and a leader in the upper house of Congress, spent his boyhood here, worked in these mills, attended our schools, clerked in the village store, went to Providence, entered a retail store, then a wholesale house, in which he became a partner. He exhibited brilliant qualities as a debater in the Franklin Lyceum, was elected to the city govern- ment, the Legislature, then the lower house of Congress and, finally, to the United States Senate.
Hon. William S. Knox, who represented the Lawrence district in Congress,
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was born here, I think in the Leffingwell Village, September 10, 1843, and resided here a number of years.
War time came in '61 and scores of men went out from here, seized the musket and stood for "God and home and native land." Many were shot down beneath the folds of the flag for which they fought. Others languished and died in Southern prison pens. Some came home at the close of the war to engage again in the pursuits of peaceful industry.
The flood tide of Chestnut Hill prosperity was from 1850 to 1870. Then began the decline. Our little mills could not compete with larger ones, in larger places, with more favorable facilities. Our captains of industry fought bravely and well, but, one by one, the lights of prosperous industry were extin- guished and now all the mills are silent except the Chase woolen mills, formerly the Himes mill, which is demonstrating the possibility of success along other lines.
What of the future ?
Tell us! We all anxiously await the answer.
Has our sun set forever ? Or shall we again rejoice in the dawn of a brighter day, and the rising sun of a new era of prosperity.
Here are the same old hills, grand and sublime. Up their rugged sides the malarial microbe has never ascended. The typhoid germ is paralyzed and dies in our pure waters. It is true that men do die here of old age, but even then not from necessity, but often through carelessness born of long years of im- munity. We invite to a residential section that is rarely rivaled.
But what of its industries? The limpid springs still cast up their bubbles to the surface of the beautiful lake. The ancient stream still meanders its way across the flats and then, suddenly dashing like a race horse down the rapids, casts its silver thread along the valley. Age has not diminished its strength nor shorn it of its beauty. The mills are all of stone, with walls, firm, erect and intact, each fully equipped with water and steam power. The Providence and Danielson, and Worcester and Connecticut Eastern railways, completed last year, connect their lines here and pass very near to each mill. Hourly cars run each way, making connections for all points east and west.
O, for the merry chorus of bells, sounding their morning call in unison with the harmonious voice of satisfied labor! Where is the industrial angel who shall sound the trumpet to announce the dawn of a new era which shall, even if on other lines, restore the prosperity of former years.
The above sketch was written in February, 1904. Since that time there have been many changes and the tide of industrial effort and activity has alternately ebbed and flowed.
Soon after that time Fred R. Smith left the Himes mill, then known as the Chase Woolen Mill, and the mill was leased to the Davis & Brown Woolen Com- pany, of Worcester, Mass., who continued to operate it under this lease and under the superintendence of the owner, Charles D. Chase, until November 15, 1916, when Mr. Chase sold the property to the Chase Woolen Company, who, November 29, 1916, sold it to the Davis & Brown Company, who have since continued its operation and have added much to the prosperity of our village and town. Mr. Chase continued to superintend the mill until November, 1918, when, his health failing, he was succeeded by Frank E. Harrington, the pres- ent efficient superintendent.
In 1904 the Whitestone mill was awakened from its long continued slumber
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY
and silence by the coming of M. H. Marcus from New York. In company with his brother, Mr. Marcus leased the mill from Almira E. Westcott, daughter of Henry Westcott, April 27, 1904, for the manufacture of bed comfortables, stair pads and carpet linings. They commenced operations June 1, 1904, and remained five years. Mr. Marcus was a man of great energy and intense devo- tion to business. He was totally blind, but could feel more with his fingers than many men can see with two good eyes, and his business was uniformly prosperous. Upon the expiration of his lease he moved the business to a more advantageous site not far from New York City.
On June 23, 1909, Frank T. Preston, executor of the will of Almira E. Westcott, sold the property to Frank O. Davis, of Pomfret, who, at the same date, sold it to a company which had taken the former name of the Whitestone Company. This company engaged in bleaching and dyeing and continued in business for three years.
On November 13, 1912, they sold the mill to the Winterbottom Book Cloth Company, an English corporation, organized for the manufacture of fabric leather and collateral products. They improved the mill, made sundry village repairs, and installed some first-class machinery, but never began active opera- tions and afterwards removed the machinery and merged with a larger corpora- tion doing business elsewhere.
Beginning in 1914 the mill was for a time occupied by the George B. Frost Finishing Company, but finally relapsed into silence and is now unoccupied. It is in a fine location, with good water power and a desirable site for profitable industry. It remains the property of the Winterbottom Company.
In our earlier article we left the Chestnut Hill, or Ross Mill, vacant after the retirement of A. G. Bishop, but, July 15, 1907, Franklin S. Jerome, who acquired the property after Bishop, sold it to the United Machine Tool Com- pany who installed woodworking machinery and began the manufacture of various small wooden products, handles, etc. The machines in use were the invention of Mr. James R. Binns, of Providence, who was one of the chief pro- moters of the corporation. These machines were constructed along correct mechanical lines, and, under favorable circumstances, did fine work, but were too light to meet the increasing demand for heavier work. To replace them required a considerable outlay of money and the capital was not available and the company ceased operations. Mr. Binns removed to Canton, Ohio, where he obtained financial support, perfected the machines, "made good" and has retired from business.
Soon after the mill was vacated by Mr. Binns and his co-workers, the Hope Print Works leased the mill from the United Machine Tool Company and installed some machinery, but, through lack of competent management, they failed to succeed and after a time abandoned the attempt.
On November 1, 1910, the United. Machine Tool Company sold the mill to Mabel E. Guile, and her father, Walter E. Guile, organized the International Cotton Company for the manufacture of absorbent cotton and sundry drug- gist and hospital sanitary supplies. Guile did not remain long, but the com- pany reorganized and continued the business.
On January 10, 1914, the International Cotton Company sold the property to the American Druggists Syndicate, a strong corporation, who enlarged the business, still retaining the former corporate name until 1918, when they reor- ganized as the Aseptic Products Company. The World war gave the business
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM COUNTY
a tremendous boom and the mill was operated night and day in the production of hospital supplies. With the close of the war the demand of course became less, but they are still doing a large business and their products go to every state in the Union and to many other parts of the world. This industry has been of great value to our community through its larger number of employees and its- generous pay-roll. Henry H. Oatley has been superintendent since the first organization of the company in 1910, and, under his able and judicious man- agement the business has run along smoothly and without friction between employers and employees, who have been taken mostly from the local popula- tion. The walking delegate has made no invasion, and strikes have been unknown.
Thus do we come down to the present time. The years from 1904 have been fairly prosperous, but we have not realized one-half of the possibilities inherent in our situation. Only a small percentage of our water power is being used. The fine water power at the old Youngs mill site is undeveloped. Whitestone is silent and in decay. Elliotville is in ruins-the home of bats and owls. We invite to a variety of profitable industries. What hinders? We shall attempt no detailed analysis. We will simply state that, to an unprejudiced and impar- tial observer, it looks like a case of a dog-in-the-manger policy upon the part of the holders of the unused water power. This policy has been the hindrance and bane of many another community struggling for industrial ascendancy and prosperity, and invariably reacts to the disadvantage of the avaricious pro- moters of speculation. We are still hoping for the time when our natural assets shall be released from the grasp of avarice, and when varied industries shall bring to us prosperity in full measure.
But the days of the early pioneers have passed away and they have been gathered to their fathers. Their sun has set, but the tradition and memory of them still lingers like an iridescent haze above a glorious sunset.
1 We once heard Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis in a lecture say that the thought of "good old days" was a delusion and that there never were any good old - days, but the Doctor did not know .- Those pioneer days were indeed good old days, glorious days-days in which home life was at its best. The moral and religious instincts were strong. God's name was revered and men and women worshipped in spirit and in truth upon the altar of Sincerity. Patriotism was . spontaneous-not compulsory. The Fourth of July was a great day and event. People loved their country because it was their country by heritage through many generations of native stock. No alien, within our borders, had ever dared to raise hand or voice against our flag or hyphenated the American name.
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