USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Fall River > Centennial history of Fall River, Mass. : comprising a record of its corporate progress from 1656 to 1876, with sketches of its manufacturing industries, local and general characteristics, valuable statistical tables, etc. > Part 4
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FALL RIVER AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
manufacture of cotton into yarn and cloth. The succeeding year still another stone building was put up, which was afterwards known as the " Massasoit," and now as the " Watuppa Mill." It was a building so large that it was considered no one firm would want to occupy the whole of it, hence a partition wall was run from the foundation to the roof, and two wheel-pits put in.
But a man had now come on to the stage of action whose ideas were somewhat larger than those of his predecessors ; young in years, but confident in his own powers and capacities, and with a training which specially fitted him for the sphere in which henceforth he was to move and to occupy a com- manding position, Holder Borden stepped forward and leased the whole mill for fifteen years, from Jan. 1, 1831. Doubtless the uncertainty of the busi- ness, already exhibited in its ups and downs as affected by high tariffs or low tariffs, by the defects of machinery as yet unperfected, or the irregularities of a business not yet systematized, may have had their influence in deterring others from attempting too much in this direction; but the time had now arrived when it was to assume a more solid basis, and call into service men of broad scope, far-sighted, comprehensive, and self-confident, to take hold and advance the industry as it had never before been, at least in this country. Such a man was Holder Borden ; and while old men shook their heads and had their doubts and made their timid suggestions, he proceeded with a firm hand and clear head to develop one scheme after another, till he gave to Fall River an impulse and a direction, a force and example, which she has not outgrown to the present day.
Holder Borden, then but thirty-one years of age, assumed the manage- ment of the Massasoit Mill. Making openings in the partition between the two parts of the mill, he immediately filled it with machinery, and commenced the manufacture of shcetings, shirtings, Marseilles vesting, stuff for corded skirts, and other fabrics. Discarding the old method of distributing power by heavy gcaring, he was the first in this vicinity to introduce belting, by which much of the noise and racket of machinery was done away with, and a steady and more uniform motion secured to the different processes, to say nothing of the reduction of friction and gain in power.
The mill at once acquired a reputation abroad, and in Providence, for example, young men were advised "to go into business in Fall River," where Holder Borden's great mill had just been started. This mill, which seems so small in our day, had 9000 spindles, and was large, very large, when com- pared with the 2500 or 3000 spindles heretofore considered sufficient for one mill.
In a work published in Edinburgh in 1840, James Montgomery, who
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COTTON MANUFACTURE A.D. 1820-30.
visited America in 1836, and was, for a short time, Superintendent of the York Mills at Saco, discussing the relative merits of shafting or belting, says : " There are two mills at Fall River, in the State of Rhode Island, which seem to decide the question in favor of the belts. These factories have equal watcr-power, as the one takes exactly what passes through the other. The one is geared with belts, the other with shafts, etc., and it is found that the former can put in motion a considerably greater quantity of machinery than the latter." The mill first referred to was probably the Massasoit.
The enterprise was successful from the first, and did much to give char- acter and tone to a business which herctofore had met with only partial suc- cess. From this period the main industry of Fall River was fully and defi- nitely determincd, and, though the steps were sometimes slow and far between, they have ever been forward. New hands and thoughtful minds have from time to time turned their attention to the industry, and, as ncw cxigencies have arisen, have applied the skill of inventive genius, or the wisdom of expe- rience, to advance its interests, until to-day Fall River stands foremost as the centre of Cotton Manufacture in America.
With the establishment of the Pocasset Company and the various manu- facturing enterprises, growing out of that new and pushing organization, all of which were located upon and using the fall, it became necessary to cstablish a general and responsible control of the water-power furnished by the stream and the parent lake. Soon after the commencement of the Pocasset Com- pany's actual operation, the Troy Company, as appears from a minute of its action on the 13th of June, 1822, instructed James Driscoll, onc of its Direc- tors, to confer with the Directors of the Pocasset upon a permanent mark for the height of flowage of the pond.
The Troy Company acquired its ownership of the upper fall upon which its mill was located, and a relative control of the whole water-power, through the concession of its first-named stockholder, Amey Borden, who received eleven of the one hundred shares of stock constituting the original capital of the company, in consideration of her grant of the land and water privilege. Mrs. Borden was the widow of Simeon Borden, a grcat-grandson of Richard, one of the two sons of the original John Borden, who in 1714, by purchase from Colonel Church of the twenty-six and a half shares belonging to him, became possessed of the land on both sides of the river, and consequent owners of the entire fall. Probably during the century which clapsed between this original acquisition and the organization of cotton manufacturing in 1813, a considerable part of this property had passed out of the hands of the descendants of the two brothers Richard and Joseph. It is evident, however, that the Troy Company, as a representative of Mrs. Amey Borden, in a cer-
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FALL RIVER AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
tain degrce controlled the general privilege, and its records indicate that any violation or invasion of its rights was jealously watched and guarded against.
In 1825, after a general conference of the parties interested, the ques- tion of permanent preservation and control of the water-power was settled. The Watuppa Reservoir Company was formed " to build a new dam above the dam belonging to the Troy Company, for the purpose of raising the water two feet above the present dam, and to pay the expense of flow- age occasioned thereby." The Troy Company gave the Reservoir Com- pany the privilege of building the new dam upon their property. Acts of Incorporation were secured from the Legislatures of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the latter of which bears date June 20th, 1826, and a code of by-laws was adopted. The corporators were David Anthony, Nathaniel B. Borden, Oliver Chace, and Bradford Durfee, they being representatives of the several manufacturing establishments on the Fall River stream, namely, the Troy Cotton and Woollen Manufactory, the Pocasset Manufacturing Company, the establishment of Andrew Robeson, the Fall River Manufac- tory, the Annawan Manufactory, and the Fall River Iron Works Company.
The company proceeded immediately to accomplish the object of the organization, building the dam, in 1832, south of the present line of Pleasant street, and paying the damage occasioned by the flowage of the land along the banks of the river. The dam was constructed of quarried stone, under the superintendence of Major Durfee, and attracted universal attention in the village because it was the first stone laid in cement, and obviated a difficulty never before entirely overcome, namely, the leaching of the water through the crevices.
The building of factories and filling them with machinery naturally led to an early demand for skilled machinists, and as early as 1821, the firm of Harris, Hawes & Co. was formed and occupied two floors of a building put up for their use by the Pocasset Company ; the lower floor or basement was used by Miller Chase as a grist-mill, and near by was a water-wheel, in con- stant demand for the washing of clothes by the wives and daughters of the leading mcn of the place, whose residences werc then mostly on Central street, and the vicinity of the Four Corners.
Much of the machinery of the Bridge Mill and the improvements madc in that of the Troy and Fall River was made by this firm. They subse- quently moved into the north end of the Satinet Factory, continuing the business under the name of O. S. Hawes & Co. After Job Eddy removed his printing machincry to New Bedford, the building was occupied by dif- ferent parties as a bleachery and in 1829 by the Fall River Bleaching and Calendering Company.
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COTTON MANUFACTURE A.D. 1820-30.
Just east of the present Watuppa Mill was a small building which had been used several years by Edward Bennett & Brother as a carding factory. It had but one set of machines, and employed some three or four hands.
Thus had the Pocasset Company fostered the manufacturing enterprise of those days by providing a place to make beginnings.
While these changes were taking place near the head of the strcam, still others were going on below. In 1825, the Annawan Manufactory was organized with a nominal capital of $160,000, in 30 shares, and the brick building, still standing, was erected near the junction of Annawan and Pocas- set streets. The Annawan ran from 5000 to 7000 spindles. The brick for the construction of this mill were burnt at Bowenville, from clay brought from Long Island. Major Bradford Durfee was the Agent of the mill and superintended its construction. Thirteen persons took all the stock, as fol- lows : Abraham and Isaac Wilkinson, 4 shares; Bradford Durfee, 2 ; William Valentine, 2 ; Joseph Butler, 2 ; Richard Borden, 2 ; Holder Borden, 4; Ben- jamin Rodman, 8; Francis Rotch, 1; William B. Rotch, I ; Thomas Swain, 1 ; William Swain, 1 ; Charles W. Morgan, 2. Of this capital $100,000 was paid in.
Major Durfee, then thirty-nine years of age, was an active, stirring man, seeming to be in his element when engaged in some out-of-doors occupation ; with the exception of a year or two spent as a ship-carpenter near New Bed- ford, most of his life was passed in Fall River, where he was always a leader among the independent, self-confident men of his time. He was one of the original eight owners of the Fall River Iron Works Co., formed in 1821, and was conspicuously active in the improvement of what is known as " below the hill." In building operations, in the construction of wharves, in the get- ing out of stone, in devising means to accomplish certain ends, in readiness of comprehension and clearness in imparting ideas, in all the various ways in which one man gains and retains an influence over others, perhaps Major Durfee has never had a superior in the city.
During the seven years succeeding the commencement of the cotton business, the growth of the village was extremely gradual, its census in 1820 showing but fifty dwelling houses and about five hundred inhabitants. From this date may be reckoned the more rapid and steady advance of population and enterprise, the next ten years witnessing especially many and important changes. There was no regular communication with the neighboring towns till 1827. In that year the Steamer Hancock commenced running daily between Fall River and Providence. Other steamers had previously at- tempted to establish communication with neighboring places, but with only partial success. Sailing vessels had also been employed, but of course were subject to wind and tide. Kinsley's baggage-wagon went once or twice a
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FALL RIVER AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
weck to Boston, carrying down cotton yarn and bringing back two or three balcs of cotton, with other goods or merchandise. Fall River was one side from the post-roads, and letters had to be sent or carricd to Taunton. The goods manufactured were shectings, shirtings, twills, ginghams, blue and white stripe, ctc., and were sold in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, through commission houscs.
The hours of labor began at 5 A.M., or as soon as light, and work con- tinued till 8 A.M., when half an hour was allowed for breakfast. Another half-hour was given at 12 M., for dinncr ; and work then resumed till dark or till half-past 7 P. M., in winter. Supper came after that. The male help were treated to New England rum at 11 A.M., and considerable excitement was created in 1827, when one of the mill foremen, recently deceased, refused to carry it around among his help, saying " he was hired to oversee the card- ing-room, not to distribute liquor."
The superintendent of a mill in 1830 received $2 per day, which was thought to be an enormous price. Five shillings (83 cents) and a dollar per day werc considered good wages. Doffer-boys had 25 cents a day, and over- seers of rooms $1.25 per day. Very much the same machines were used then as now, though of course vastly improved in these later days. There was the picker, by which the cotton was opened from the bale; the first carding-machine, called breaker; the second carding, called finisher; the set of speeders, by which the roving was made (more carding being done in those days than at present, resulting in fine, smooth threads, free from lumps) ; then hand mules for filling ; throstle spinning for warp; spooling ; warping ; and finally dressing ; the latter operating eight beams at once-four on each end, and making one web for drawing in and weaving.
The first print cloths were made in the Bridge Mill, seven eighths to a yard widc, and werc bought and printed by Andrew Robeson. They were considerably coarser than the 28 inch 64 by 64 of the present day, being only 44 picks to the square inch, and of No. 20 or No. 25 yarn.
In the construction of the mills no derricks were used, but the stones for the upper stories were carried up on hand-barrows or rolled up long inclines, and it was thought quite wonderful when Major Durfee used oxen to draw up the stone, brick, timber, etc., on the Annawan and White Mills.
At first only Americans worked in the mills, as there were very few forcigners in the place. The establishment of Print Works effected an immi- gration of English and Scotch, and after the "Great Fire," the Irish came in considerable numbers to work in the Mills and Iron Works, and as day laborers. Several of the mills had corporation stores, from which the help were supplied with their groceries, dry goods, and other necessaries.
COTTON MANUFACTURE A.D. 1820-30. 29
Thus there were on Main street the Pocasset and Troy Stores, while the wholesale store was Burr's, afterward Lindsey's, at the shore. Most of the supplies were brought in sloops from New York. A hundred-ton sloop was called large, and return freights of cloth, etc., were often divided as too valu- able to risk on one vessel. There were also a number of vessels engaged in the West India trade, taking out cargoes of New England rum and cloths, and returning with a freightage of indigo, drugs, and other articles.
By reason of the inconsiderable size of the place, Fall River was little affected by the changes of national policy on the tariff question, and hence suffered little in the business depressions of 1817 and 1825, though more in that of 1829. The early tariff acts, while intended to be fully protective of our infant manufactures, were, in fact, only partially so. Nearly all the duties were 15 per cent or less, and the disparity between our people and those of Europe in capital, skill, and other resources was too great to be overcome by so slight a barrier. When the war of 1812 began, it was seen that a more radical protective policy was necessary, and all duties were doubled with the twofold purpose of increasing the revenue and of stimulating manufactures. The effect of this legislation was instantaneous. Every existing enterprise in the country was quickened into new life, and many new industries were created. In 1816, shortly after the close of the war, duties were again low- ered, and as a result, British manufacturers held almost complete possession of our markets from that time till the enactment of the tariff of 1824. The tariff of 1824 was the first thoroughly protective tariff act passed by Con- gress in time of peace. In 1828 the duties were still farther increased, and a wonderful impetus given to the industry of the whole country. The marked result of this policy was to advance the textile fabrics in number and finish, laying the foundation of cloth printing, and as a consequence, greatly extend- ing the domestic market for raw cotton. The stimulating effects of these measures, so far as they affected Fall River, are scen in the number and variety of enterprises started during those ten years, from 1820 to 1830. Before the introduction of calico printing, the industry in the United States was con- sidered to be in such a precarious condition, that no one would venture on the production of the finer fabrics, and not until the making of drcss and other colored goods was the manufacture of cotton placed upon a permanent basis.
Andrew Robeson, of New Bedford, was the pioneer of calico printing in Fall River. Related by marriage to the Rodmans, when they came to organize the Pocasset Company, he soon after made his advent in the place. His father had several large flour mills at Germantown, Penn., which were operated under the son's direction before he came North, and hence he was
,
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FALL RIVER AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
often designated as the " old millwright." He was a tall, robust man, with a large, powerful frame, black hair, quick movement, and withal an ardent lover of the horse. Retaining his domicile in New Bedford, it was his daily custom to drive over to his business avocations, making the journey of fourteen miles upon a notoriously heavy road, frequently in a fraction over an hour. Upon one occasion, hearing that his factory was on fire, hc forced the speed of his favorite roadster to its extreme achievement, and reached the scene of conflagration in an hour, but the good horse fell dcad in his tracks at the end of his route. Mr. Robcson's extraordinary physical power likewise found occasional illustrations, his best display of it, the piling of thrce barrels of flour perpendicularly onc upon the other, being still a remem- bered feat.
Without previous experience, Mr. Robeson entered upon the business of calico printing, then in its infancy in this country, with all the interest, pluck, and enterprise of an ardent temperament. His first cfforts, with the assist- ancc of imported help, English and Scotch, was in the direction of simple colors, as blue and white; afterwards block printing came into vogue, and the number of colors was increased to four, six, and seven. His progressive spirit manifested itself in numcrous experiments in his works, and naturally any improvements or new results acquired would quickly be subjected to a trial in his establishment. Hc thus kept abreast with the spirit of the age in which he lived, and his business rapidly enlarged and became very remunera- tive-in no long time outgrowing the limits of his first shop in the north cnd of the old Satinet Mill. In 1826 hc purchased the land and water-power now occupied by the Fall River Print Works, and proceeded immediately to the erection of the necessary buildings. These in turn were increased in number as from time to time the business required, and in 1836 the last and largest of all was built. The factorics of Mr. Robeson always attracted atten- tion from their clean, neat appearance, occasioned by the peculiar finish of the exterior walls-a rough coat of blue mortar. Mr. Robeson hired the workmen from Pennsylvania to construct his first mill in this style, and it proved a great novelty in this section of the country.
Probably the first printing machine in the United States was con- structed in Mr. Robeson's works. It was the joint production of Mr. Ezra Marble, who came to Fall River, from Somerset, in 1824, and, at the age of seventeen, went to work in the blacksmith shop of the printery, and a Frenchman also employed in the shop. The latter having seen a printing machine in France, imparted the idea to Marble, and, combining their efforts, the two were successful in putting together a machine which was set up in
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COTTON MANUFACTURE A.D. 1820-30.
1827 in the printery, and, after a few alterations and a continued practice in running it, was operated successfully for many years.
The works were known as the Fall River Print Works, and later two sons of the founder, William R. and Andrew, Jr., werc associated in the firm of Andrew Robeson & Sons, which opcrated them. Copper rollers were introduced in 1832, and yard-wide rollers in 1837, seven eighths having becn in use previously. The services of Alvin Clark, subsequently distinguished as an optician and the manufacturer of the largest and finest astronomical instruments in America, were secured, and by him aeids were first introduced in the preparation of the colors. Block printing continued till 1841, the works containing somc one hundred tables at that date, when, in consequence of a strike, machine printing was adopted and pursued so long as the works were run as a printery. During the panic of 1837, a large stoek of goods accumulated, which were sold to great advantage when the market again opened. One of the greatest obstacles to be overcome in the early days of print works was to get the cloth properly dried. The process of machine drying had not then been commenced, and large dry-shcds were erected in which the cloth could be exposed to atmospheric influenees. A succession of damp days would make a short supply of eloth, and the works would occasionally have to shut down in consequence. The great and continued success attending this business gave the firm of Andrew Robeson & Sons a name and reputation abroad which insured an unlimited credit, and they were induced to engage in kindred enterprises in a number of other citics.
The depression of 1848 found them with a business very extended and with a large stock of goods on hand, and as a result, the impossibility of gathering up the seattered ends quickly enough caused their suspension. In this calamity the firm had the sympathy of the whole community. They immediately made over their whole property to their assignees and ereditors ; the help in the mills were paid in full, and such a division of the balance made as realized in many cases even more than the original debt. Mr. Robeson had ever the full confidence of those associated with or under him. In the interests of his operatives, he established a school at his own expense, and constantly had their best welfare at heart. Quick to see opportunities for improvement, he made a number of important suggestions which largely contributed to the development of the place, and the advancement of its special industry. The fear of bringing greater disaster and loss upon the community was one of the main causes which led to the suspension of the firm, and as business subsequently turned, if they had continued a while longer they would have successfully overcome their difficulties and have gone on to cven greater prosperity.
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FALL, RIVER AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
The Fall River Print Works was soon organized as a corporation, and the printing continued with two modern machines, and one (the first ever built in America) as a reserve ; a specialty was made of Indigo Blues, and but little attempted in other styles. In 1858-64 cotton machinery was introduced, the printing machines from time to time removed, and finally the works con- verted into a cotton factory for the manufacture of print cloths.
The old Satinet Factory, which was demolished soon after the " Great Firc," occupied a portion of the site of the present Pocasset Mill, the south cnd abutting on Pocasset strcct, and the north end extending about half-way between the stream and Central street. It was built of heavy granite blocks, and was three stories high on the cast side, and four or five on the west, according to the formation of the land.
The manufacture of woollen cloth into a fabric known as Satinet, madc with a cotton warp and wool filling, was commenced in this mill in 1825. Thc business was carried on by Samuel Shovc and John and Jessc Eddy, under the firm name of Samuel Shove & Co. The firm was dissolved in 1834 by the withdrawal of Samuel Shove, and the business passed into the hands of the remaining partners under the firm name of J. & J. Eddy.
About two thirds of the mill was occupied as the Satinet Factory and the remainder by Hawes & Marvel, the lower story as a machine shop, and the upper in the manufacture of cotton warp for J. & J. Eddy. It was in a por- tion of this building that Andrew Robeson first commenced the manufacturc of calicocs, removing to his own mill about the year 1827.
The looms were in the third story, the lathcs swinging laterally, and the vibration or oscillation of the building in the upper story was some four inches or morc, alarming the help at one time so that all left the building in a panic. They soon returncd, however, and after that very little attention was paid to the matter, though at times barrels of water in the attic would spill over, if the water was within six or eight inches of the top.
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