USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 2 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60
FROM 1840 TO 1885.
Seven years previous to the incorporation of New Bedford as a city, business was very prosperous and civic improvements went forward im- mensely. In 1840 the New Bedford and Taunton railroad was completed, and opened on July 1. The Whaling Insurance Company of New Bedford was organized, George Howland, Jr., president; and the market and town- hall building finished and occupied. On April 27, 1841, a memorial service was held in memory of President William Henry Harrison, who died one month after his inauguration. A procession of military, revenue officers, Congressmen, civic officers, and citizens one thousand strong, led by General James D. Thompson, marched to solemn music to the North Baptist Church, where impressive services were held.
In 1841 the agitation for making New Bedford a city commenced. A vote was taken in February, 1842, at which the vote stood, 373 for and
553
HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD
320 against the measure. In 1841 the town house on South Second street was fitted up as an armory for the newly organized New Bedford Guards. The Parker House was opened February 10, 1842, with a banquet given by the proprietors, Horton & Son, to about two hundred invited guests. Many brilliant speeches were made, among them one by John Avery Parker, who responded to the toast "The Parker House." The hotel was built by Mr. Parker and occupied by him as a private residence, and when converted into a public house of entertainment was named in his honor.
Fall River having been the victim of a disastrous fire on July 2, 1843, a public meeting was held in the town hall July 3rd, to raise funds for the sufferers. The result was $1,581 in cash, and six wagonloads of furniture, clothing and provisions. On the evening of September 27, 1843, John Quincy Adams, a former President, visited New Bedford as the guest of Joseph Grinnell, and was escorted from the depot by forty young men with torches. The next day a public reception was tendered the distinguished guest in the town hall, Chairman of the Board of Selection James B. Cong- don making the address of welcome. After a twenty minute responsive speech by ex-President Adams, hundreds of citizens availed themselves of the privilege of shaking hands with their honored guest. President Adams had previously visited New Bedford, arriving from Nantucket with his son and others on September 19, 1835, in the steamer "Telegraph" and spent the Sunday at the Mansion House. In 1843 Daniel Webster argued a will case in New Bedford, the court-room being packed with eager listeners to his eloquent plea.
In 1846 the committee appointed by the annual town meeting to sup- press the liquor traffic was instructed to call upon every family in town and ascertain its position on the temperance question, and whether they would sign a total abstinence pledge. In 1847, at a special town meeting held January 23, the question of a city charter was referred to a committee of twenty citizens. The committee reported a form of charter to a meeting held February 6, several amendments being made by the meeting. A warm discussion followed, but finally the committee was instructed to petition the General Court for an act granting New Bedford a city charter. An- other town meeting was held March 8 to further consider the subject, but adjourned without action. On March 18, 1847, an election was held upon the acceptance of an "Act to establish the City of New Bedford." The vote resulted as follows: For, 1,150; against, 814.
First Years as a City-1847-1860 .- The City charter, adopted March 18, 1847, divided the city into six wards, and on April 28 the city govern- ment organized and elected its first officers. The city at this time was enjoying a condition of great prosperity due to a large extent to the whaling industry, and the new city entered upon its municipal career under most favorable circumstances. The establishment of the city charter seemingly gave great satisfaction to a majority of the people, the prevailing sentiment being voiced in a strong editorial in the "Mercury," which closed in the following: "Success to the City of New Bedford. May she ever be fore- most in good works, ever be eminent as a friend of freedom, liberality, good will, education and Christianity. To the latest generation may she be a burning and shining light. May she be illuminated with the oil of gladness and blessed with plenty and prosperity."
.
554
BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS
The first Independence Day celebration was one of special interest. Excursion boats brought 1,700 visitors from Edgarton and Nantucket and many hundreds came from surrounding towns. The day was given over to patriotic rejoicing. The parade headed by Gen. James D. Thompson, mar- shal of the day, was enlivened by the New Bedford Guards under Captain Seth Russell and the Citizens' Band, while in line were the entire city government, civil officers, lodges of Free Masons, Odd Fellows, Sons of Temperance, many citizens, and the Fire Departments of New Bedford, Fairhaven and Nantucket. An oration was delivered by J. A. Kasson, and a grand display of fireworks in the evening closed the celebration.
On January 10, 1847, the new Alms House on Clark's Point was opened with public services.
The making of daguerreotypes was begun in 1847 in New Bedford by C. E. Hawes & Brothers, in their rooms in Liberty Hall. The "Mercury" in large flashy head-lines announced the fact that they had received news from Europe in twenty-eight days! They thought that very rapid transit at that time. In 1848 there were thirty miles of graded streets, all curbed and flagged. New Bedford has made fine street improvements through the years since it was incorporated. Public sewers were constructed through portions of Union and Middle streets in 1852. By 1857 very many streets had their sewer system. Father Matthew, the famous temperance apostle, came to the city in September, 1849, and several hundred signed the total abstinence pledge as a result of his labors. In 1849 Asiatic cholera claimed a number of New Bedford citizens as its prey. Solemn services in memory of President Zachary Taylor were held August 6, 1850, in the North Chris- tian Church. The Free Public Library, at 139 Union street, was opened , to the public March 3, 1853. In 1854 the Point road was laid out and graded to a width of eighty feet; later the name French avenue was bestowed in honor of Rodney French. In a great fire on the night of October 18, 1854,
It many buildings were destroyed, including the celebrated Liberty Hall. was one of the most historic buildings in the place, and stood at the corner of Purchase and William streets, given in 1795, to the First Congregational Church by William Rotch, it was first used for church purposes and later converted into a public hall. It was from the stage in this hall that those great men, apostles of freedom and temperance such as William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Frederick Douglass, Stephen Foster, Theodore Parker, Parker Pillsbury and Henry Ward Beecher thundered forth their anathemas against the slave trade, and in eloquent periods pleaded the cause of the lowly and oppressed. The bell known as "New Bedford's Liberty Bell" often rang out its warning to the fugitive slaves that danger was nigh. This bell was bought February 18, 1796, of Captain Silas Jones of Nantucket, the purchase price of $255 being raised by subscription; the second largest subscription, six dollars, was made by a colored man, Aaron Childs; the largest, ten dollars, by Thomas Hope. In the fire which ended the career of the old hall, the bell was melted, but the metal was rescued when the ruins cooled, tea bells and other articles were made from it, and in many homes are yet preserved as souvenirs of the past.
The greatest fire in the history of this city began at noon August 24, 1859, in the engine room of William Cox's planing mills on the east side of Water street, now the site of the Tillinghast mill. A strong southeast
555
HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD
wind was blowing at the time and the fire spread rapidly, leaping across the street along the wharves, and soon shops, factories, stores, buildings and ships were a mass of flames. Cargoes of oil stored along the wharf caught fire, and the ship "John and Edward," lying at the Richmond wharf, was a mass of flames from deck to mast-head. The oil at this point ran from the wharf to the water and at one time a considerable area of the river was literally a sea of fire. By nightfall the fire had spent its fury and the danger was over. Several buildings had been blown up by the engineers in order to stop the spread of the flames. The total destruction of property according to the record was $254,579, with less than $7,000 insurance. The sad feature of this fire was that the loss fell principally upon a class of industrious, worthy men, many of whom saw the hard earn- ings of years swept away in the angry flames. Some lost not only their business, but their homes; yet out of it all came the new era of "better fire protection ;" the old "tubs" were relegated to the rear, the steam fire- engine came to the front, and a final result was the present efficient fire department. During the five years, 1847-1852, some of the prominent streets of the city were opened.
Following the Civil War .- September 14, 1864, New Bedford celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of her incorporation as the town of Dart- mouth, although set off from that town in 1787. Broadcast invitations had been sent out to the honored sons and daughters of Dartmouth who had left her borders, and the response was very gratifying. Services of an appropriate nature were held at the North Christian Church. The orator of that occasion was William Wallace Crapo. A banquet was served at two o'clock, after which came many brilliant toasts by men of State and local prominence. An address had been carefully prepared by James B. Congdon, addressed to the mayor and aldermen of the city of Dartmouth, Devonshire, England. After being beautifully engrossed by George B. Hathaway and signed by the mayor, aldermen and town clerks of the towns joining in the celebration, the address was mailed to its English destination.
The first real improvement in New Bedford during the Civil War period was trying to supply the place with a suitable supply of pure water, $300 having been set aside in 1860 to investigate the best means of secur- ing the city's water supply. Captain Charles H. Bigelow, United States Army engineer, was secured to be in charge of the construction of the water works. Public sentiment approved the plan of bringing water from the Acushnet river, and the General Court on April 18, 1863, passed an act providing for the issue of water bonds to the amount of $500,000. This act was accepted by the city at an election April 14, 1864, 784 votes being cast for and 594 votes against the proposition. The first board of water commissioners organized December 13, 1865, with William W. Crapo. chairman; Warren Ladd, David Kempton, and James B. Congdon, clerk. A dam was built across the valley of the Acushnet river, seven miles north of the city; miles of pipes were laid; and during the closing weeks of 1869 the great undertaking was completed. The first superintendent of the water-works was George A. Briggs, who served until 1871.
The decline of the whaling industry begun as a result of the discovery of petroleum, belongs in part to this period, as does the quick recovery from the stunning blow and the fight for life and prosperity as a manu-
556
BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS
facturing city. New Bedford in this transition from an industry which was her very life and upon which her wealth was founded, gave evidence of the greatness of her merchants, her business men and her manufacturers. First in the whaling industry, which betrayed her, a substitute was found. in cotton manufacturing, and the city grew to as proud a position among manufacturing cities. Mills commenced operation in various parts of the city, and each year saw an increase in their number. In 1870 the Wam- sutta Corporation installed in a newly finished mill a Corliss engine, which was then the largest stationary engine in the world.
In March, 1868, Charles Dickens visited the city and gave a public reading from "Pickwick Papers." The New Bedford Choral Association was organized in April, 1869, and began rehearsals for its part in the great Peace Jubilee held in Boston the following June. September 8, 1869, a destructive southeast gale swept over the city, which did much damage on the river and again destroyed the New Bedford & Fairhaven bridge, yet there was some compensation in the acquisition by the city of the franchise of the bridge corporation, at a cost of $20,970. A new bridge was erected, the cost being about $45,000, which in June, 1870, was completed and first used, free of any toll charges. In 1872 a public meeting was held to aid the Chicago fire sufferers, and within two weeks $20,000 in cash and cloth- ing had been sent to the stricken city. Street railways operated by horse- power were inaugurated in 1872, and in 1873 the New Bedford & Taunton railroad passed under the control of the Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg Rail- road Company.
August 31, 1874, President Grant visited New Bedford, coming up the bay from Nantucket on the steamer "Monohansett." He was given a most hearty welcome, immense crowds thronging the streets through which the presidential party passed, escorted by the New Bedford City Guards and the Schouler Guards. At the City Hall, after an address of welcome by Mayor George B. Richmond, briefly responded to by General Grant, a reception was held, hundreds of citizens were introduced, and the greatest good feel- ing and enthusiasm were displayed. A dinner was served to distinguished guests at the Parker House. December 31, 1874, King Kalakua of the Hawaiian Islands visited New Bedford. His welcome by the city author- ities and citizens was most cordial, and the greatest courtesy was shown him.
Several changes in the city charter were made in 1875, changes made necessary by the constantly increasing importance of New Bedford as a manufacturing city. The Citizens' National Bank was incorporated in 1875; . the Fall River railway was opened to travel on December 15, the same year; and in the spring of 1876 the New Bedford railroad extended its tracks to the steamboat wharf to connect with the steamship line to New York, which had been established in June, 1874, with the new steamers "City of New Bedford" and "City of Fitchburg."
The Fourth of July, 1876, Centennial year of American Independence, was observed with unusual ceremonies. On March 13th Congress passed a resolution recommending "the people of the several States to assemble in their counties and towns on the approaching centennial anniversary of our National Independence, and that they cause to have delivered on that day an historic sketch of said county or town from the date of formation, and
557
HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD
that copies of said sketch be filed in the clerk's office of said county, and in the office of the Librarian of Congress." In accordance with this resolu- tion, the city council appointed a committee of arrangements and made an appropriation of $4,000. The main feature of the day was a procession in- cluding the military and firemen of the city, Grand Army Posts, disabled veterans in carriages, city officials, United States officers, and invited guests. At Liberty Hall an historical address was delivered by William W. Crapo, and which covered the entire period from the first settlement of the town of Dartmouth in 1664. The climax of this noble address read as follows :
The memory of the heroism and the patriotic devotion of those who struggled for our independence, and those who gallantly contended for the preservation of the National Union stirs our blood and arouses our emulation. We remember the brave men who suffered to perpetuate free institutions. . We cannot forget the record, and we ought not to forget it. It inspires us with faithfulness and determination to meet the needs and requirements of the coming age; it stimulates us to labor strenuously for the highest welfare of our country, believing that America holds in trust the destinies of the world. We are descended from a noble ancestry. We are proud of their noble achievements, and their history incites us to effort. Our birthright, this inheritance of the principles and sentiments which have made the Republic great imposes upon us grave responsibilities.
In October, 1876, the whaling industry again received a crushing blow in the loss of twelve ships in the Arctic ocean. The gale of October 12, 1878, was the severest since 1869 and caused much damage. The bark "Sarah" sailed that morning on a whaling voyage, and when about forty miles off Block Island foundered and was lost.
In January, 1879, the railroad passed under the control of the Old Colony Corporation, and in 1880 the Pairpoint Manufacturing Company joined the Morse Twist Drill and Machine Company, the Wamsutta Mills, Potomska Mills, New Bedford Copper Company, and other manufacturing plants, in creating a newer and greater New Bedford than had existed under its one industry of whaling and its allied branches. In 1881 came the tele- phone, introduced by the Southern Massachusetts Telephone Company; and in July of the same year the New Bedford Cooperative Bank was added to the city's financial institutions. In 1882 the Acushnet Mills Cor- poration, the Grinnell Manufacturing Company and the Oneko Woolen Cor- poration and many other industries were added. In 1884 the New Bedford Manufacturing Company was incorporated and the New Bedford Board of Trade was organized. The year 1885 saw many extensions of the sewer system. In July, 1886, the Edison Illuminating Company located an electric plant in the city. In 1887 the New Bedford Safe Deposit and Trust Com- pany was incorporated. In December, 1888, the Hathaway Manufacturing Company was organized; the Howland Mills were established; the City Manufacturing Company, organized in April, began the erection of a mill in December, 1888, and the New Bedford Clearing House was formed in September. In 1889 the Bennett Manufacturing Company was formed, and the Acushnet Cooperative Bank was formed September 1st. Thus the city grew, and the first quarter of a century after the Civil War closed with New Bedford in number of spindles in operation standing third among the manufacturing cities of the country, Fall River being first and Lowell sec- ond. In number of looms she was fourth, Manchester, New Hampshire, outranking her, with the two cities just named.
558
BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS
While cotton manufacturing in New Bedford began in 1846 and 1847, the thousands of workers in her mills, factories, trades and professions were particularly identified with industries pertaining to whaling and the demands of the merchant marine. But the period 1865-90 reversed con- ditions, and from ruins of a structure built upon an uncertain foundation, arose a great and stable manufacturing city. The city had grown from a village in 1790 with its 3,000 population to 40,000 in 1890. The men who had borne the burden and heat of the day in the earlier history had passed to their reward, and a new generation had arisen which in turn had been gathered to their fathers, and the business of the city had passed into the hands of sons and grandsons of the founders of the city, while the advan- tages offered had attracted capital and strong men from outside.
CHAPTER IX.
FROM 1890 TO 1916-INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT.
The greatest celebration in the city's history occurred October 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, 1897, when the semi-centennial of the incorporation was car- ried out. The committee on celebration was headed by Mayor Charles S. Ashley as chairman; Stephen A. Brownell, vice-chairman; Zephaniah W. Pease, secretary, and James L. Hathaway, treasurer. Upon the opening day, William W. Crapo and George F. Tucker delivered addresses, and a great chorus sang a semi-centennial ode. Upon succeeding days there were processions and sports. A dinner was an incident, at which addresses were delivered by Attorney-General Hosea M. Knowlton, Governor Roger Wal- cott, and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.
It has now been seventy years since New Bedford incorporated as a city with a population of about 13,000. Its population in 1890 was 40,733, and in 1918 it was 118,159, according to the Federal census the fourth city in the State in number of inhabitants. It ranks first in the United States in the manufacture of fine grades of cotton goods and fine cotton yarns, and first among the fine goods mills in the number of spindles in operation.
The cotton mills ran to full capacity all through the year, mechanics and laborers were better employed than for several years, merchants whole- sale and retail experienced a general prosperous year (1918) while the National and Savings banks of the city and the Trust Company did the largest business in their history. The credit of the New Bedford cotton mill corporations is unsurpassed, as during the sixty-nine years they have been engaged in the making of cotton cloths and yarns they have paid one hundred cents on every dollar of indebtedness, and their 1916 statement showed them stronger than ever before financially. Also their reputation for producing goods of the highest quality has been fully maintained.
But there is other manufacturing of many kinds conducted in this city. The New Bedford Cordage Company, with $400,000 capital, is a survival of the early days when the outfitting of ships and the marine trade was at its zenith. The company was founded in 1842 by Joseph Ricketson, William J.
559
HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD
Rotch and Benjamin S. Roth, and incorporated in 1846 with a capital of $60,000, increased in 1849 to $75,000; later to $200,000, and still later doubled. Other great corporations are the Taunton and New Bedford Cop- per Company, organized in 1860 with $250,000 capital; the Morse Twist Drill and Machine Company, incorporated in 1864 with $30,000, increased January 1883, to $600,000. Stephen A. Morse, the inventor of the twist drill made by the company, began business in East Bridgewater, Massa- chusetts, and removed to New Bedford in 1865. The manufacture of glass here was commenced in 1861, by the New Bedford Glass Company. In 1869 the plant was purchased by W. L. Libbey & Co., became the Mount Washington Glass Company in 1871; was reorganized in 1876; and in 1894 became by consolidation a part of the Pairpont Manufacturing Company. Art manufacturing began early, the Tabers being early booksellers and art dealers. The firm of Charles Taber & Co. was a leader in that business for forty-five years. The Taber Art Company incorporated January 1, 1893, with a capital of $300,000; became a part of the Taber-Prang Art Company in 1897, and in 1898 the business was removed to Springfield, Massachusetts. Shoe manufacturing has long been a great industry, the Cushing & Boucher and the E. E. Taylor companies being the present representatives of the business. Carriage building was commenced a cen- tury ago, by Josiah Brownell, in a small shop on the corner of Fourth and Spring streets; became an extensive industry at one time, and yet survives.
The demand of seafaring men created a great demand for ship-bread, and from 1822 to 1867, when the demand from whalers practically ceased, its manufacture was an important item. Samuel Watson carried on for forty years the bakery established in 1822 by Enoch Horton, who passed it on to Watson & Manchester, by whom it was sold to Mr. Watson. David A. Snell gained the widest reputation as a baker, he first establishing a bakery at the corner of William and North Water streets in 1857. He sold out in 1859, and at once established a patent oven and bakery, the first in New England, and during the Civil War operated his plant in executing large contracts for the Union army. The Snell Biscuit Company is founded on that business.
One of the great manufacturing and business houses of the place is the Pairpont Corporation, capitalization increased about 1918 to $2,000,000. This was originally the Pairpont Manufacturing Company, organized in 1880, T. J. Pairpont, from whom the corporation takes its name, being the first superintendent. He resigned in 1885 and was succceeded by Thomas A. Tripp. The first building was erected in 1880, and additions have been constant until the plant now spreads out over a large area. The first capital of $100,000 became $400,000 in July, 1887, $1,000,000 in 1896, and $2,000,000 in 1917. The corporation acquired the Mount Washington Glass Company in 1894, and both in New Bedford and New York City maintain magnificent displays of their lines of manufacture. Their five exclusive lines there exhibited are cut-glass, silver-plate, electroliers, Sheffield reproductions and prize cups. Their products are unsurpassed for beauty in design and quality of workmanship, facts attested by their world-wide trade. Other large and important manufacturing corporations are the Blackmer Cut Glass Co., capital $20,000; Continental Wood Screw Co., $150,000; E. E. Taylor Co., $1,000,000; George Kirby Jr. Paint Co., $50,000; Morse Twist
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.