USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Fitchburg > Fitchburg, Massachusetts, past and present > Part 15
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Walter Heywood, founder of the Walter Heywood Chair Co., was one of the pioneers in the chair business of the country. He was born in Gardner, Mass., where he early began the manufacture of chairs. In 1841 he gave up his business in Gardner and removed to Fitchburg. In com- pany with Leander P. Comee he, in 1842, built the block on Main street, more recently known as Sprague & Comee's block, and in 1842 the firm opened a store for the sale of dry goods, groceries, hardware and other merchandise at the sales rooms now occupied by L. Sprague & Co. In the fall of 1844 the firm hired a part of the "Old Red Mill" on West
Walton 16Ly wind
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street, afterward used as a cotton factory by H. W. Pitts & Son, and commenced to manufacture chairs employing about ten hands. In 1846 the chair business was removed to the upper story of a new building which Alvah Crocker had erected on Water street on the spot now occupied by the Fitchburg Steam Engine company's shop. This shop was burned Dec. 7, 1849, and the firm lost heavily by the fire. The partnership was then dissolved and Mr. Heywood di- rected his whole attention to the manufacture of chairs. Mr. Crocker erected a new building 130 by 40 feet, and three stories high, on the site of the burned shop and Mr. Hey- wood hired the whole of the new building.
In 1852 he received as partners Alton Blodgett, who had entered his employ in 1833 and who continued a member of the company, till his death, Sept. 19, 1878 ; Lovell Williams, still a member of the company, and George E. Towne, who continued with the company till 1874, when he disposed of his interest to H. A. Blood. G. H. Spencer the present superintendent of the works, was admitted to the firm in 1864. Soon after the new company was formed they erected two large buildings in the rear of the shop, on land leased of Mr. Crocker and with increased facilities they greatly en- larged their business. In 1856 the firm opened a foreign trade which eventually extended to England and the conti- nent of Europe, the West Indies, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, China and Japan.
The Walter Heywood Chair Co. was organized as a stock company under a special act of the legislature, May 31, 1869, with a capital of $240,000. On the night of July 21, 1870, the most destructive conflagration that ever visited Fitchburg laid the entire establishment in ruins. Fortunately the loss on the chair company's property was fully covered by insurance and preparations were made, shortly after the fire, to rebuild the works. A lot of land on River street was at length purchased, and the present commodious buildings were erected.
As the result of close application to business Mr. Hey- wood accumulated a handsome property. He made large
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investments in the manufacturing interests of the city, and his counsel was sought in the management of concerns in which he was interested. He was formerly one of the largest stockholders in the Putnam Machine company and a director from 1867 to the time of his decease. In 1866 he purchased an interest in the Fitchburg Iron Foundry and at his death was senior member of the firm of Heywood, Wilson & Co. He was a director of the Fitchburg Machine Company from 1870 until his death, and a partner in the Fitchburg Machine Works from its organization in 1877. Ile was a director of the Burleigh Rock Drill Company from its organization in 1867, a director of the Fitchburg State or National Bank for thirty-seven years, a trustee of the Fitch- burg Savings Bank from its organization until June, 1877. He was also town treasurer of Gardner from 1834 till his removal to Fitchburg in 1841.
His success in business was the growth of patient years of toil rather than any series of brilliant exploits. He was no adventurer in doubtful projects, but his energies and his counsels were always in the line of discretion and prudence. If ever his judgment was waived in business matters, it was generally observed, in the end, that his views were sound and reliable, and would have yielded the largest measure of success.
He was plain and unostentatious, solving his problems by a careful process of reasoning, rather than by jumping at conclusions. He was conservative, persevering, yet ener- getic and thorough in everything he undertook. From the one horse load of chairs which he made in 1824, his business grew until he was president of one of the largest chair manu- facturing establishments in the world. Mr. Heywood was fortunate in calling around him a class of men who rendered great assistance in the management of the extensive business. His associates, with few exceptions, grew up with the busi- ness under his training.
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FITCHBURG CARBONIZED STONE AND PIPE COMPANY,
located on North street, near Main, was incorporated in 1882, with a capital stock of $5,000. for the manufacture of artificial stone and brick for building purposes, drain pipe, vases, paving stones, carriage blocks, etc.
This company furnished material for the Knights of Honor and Dickinson's blocks, new Universalist and new Methodist churches, residences of E. N. Choate and U. E. Cleveland, and many other public and private buildings in the city.
The officers are A. N. Lowe, president: S. S. Law- rence, vice-president, and A. B. Peck, treasurer and super- intendent.
EDWIN A. GOODRICH, BRICK MANUFACTURER,
owns and operates three brick yards in Fitchburg,-one lo- cated at South Fitchburg, one on Summer street, and the other in the northwesterly part of the town, and known as the Pound hill brick yard. During the present year, 1887, owing to the increase in building operations, the production of the three yards is greatly in excess of any previous year.
Outside of his manufacturing business, Mr. Goodrich has been for several years an active member of the Worcester North Agricultural Society, and was at one time its execu- tive officer. He also served the city as alderman in 1879.
CHAPTER XI.
IRON INDUSTRIES.
ACHINERY manufacturing was first begun in Fitchburg in 1838 by two brothers, Salmon W. and John Putnam, their business being mainly in repairs and only furnished work for the two brothers, but important changes were brought about in the construction of their machinery which soon created a demand for their productions and increased their business accordingly.
While in the midst of a growing business the machine shop with all its contents was destroyed by fire on the seventh of December, 1849, occasioning a loss of $12,000, without insurance. Notwithstanding the severity of this loss the debts were all promptly paid and the next year the shop was rebuilt and put in running order.
In 1858, Salmon W. Putnam secured the organization and incorporation of the Putnam Machine Company of which he was chosen president and general business manager. From the first he showed himself thoroughly competent to guide and control the affairs of this large business. He was not only an enterprising business man, but was naturally en- dowed for this business, being in the third generation of iron and steel workers. He was early schooled in a life of self- reliance, beginning as he did at eight years of age to earn his own living, as "bobbin boy " in a cotton factory, and ob- taining his education of three terms schooling with money he
Partitam.
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had contrived to save from his small earnings, and afterwards devoting what he could afford to the purchase of substantial and useful books, such as would best contribute to his ad- vancement and success.
At the time of the incorporation of the company, the cap- ital stock, which was originally forty thousand dollars, was increased to one hundred and sixty thousand dollars, after- wards with a surplus of three hundred and twenty thousand dollars. The business having outgrown the capacity of the old shop of the Putnam Machine Co. on Water street, they were forced to locate elsewhere. Accordingly having pur- chased sufficient land, amounting in all to some twenty-six acres, they began, in July, 1866, the building of their present extensive works at a cost of over two hundred thousand dol- lars.
The arrangement of the buildings and machinery was devised throughout to ensure facility, effectiveness and econ- omy of operation. The main machine shop, in which the working tools are located, is a building of brick, one story high, running north and south, six hundred and twenty-five feet long and forty-eight feet wide, supported in the centre by thirty-five iron columns upon which the main line of shafting for driving the entire machinery is fastened. The building is devoted to seven different departments of work but is with- out partition or obstruction to the sight from end to end. It is lighted by two hundred and eighty-four large windows, five hundred gas burners, and heated by over six miles of steam-pipe, and has a floor room of thirty-seven thousand square feet.
From its west side extend seven wings, six of them being fifty-two by thirty-six feet and one fifty-two by forty-four feet. each of these being devoted to the setting up and delivery of machinery made in the corresponding department, and are all furnished with powerful cranes for handling the heavier articles, while between the wings are spaces for the tempo- rary accommodation of castings used in each department. Extending from the east side of the main building are five small wings, twelve feet square, suitably fitted up as offices
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for the foremen of the various departments. The large wings are furnished with folding doors opening into a road- way which extends the whole length of the shops to the main line of the Fitchburg Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel line which passes by the southern end of the company's works, so that a machine, when complete, can readily be transferred to the cars and freighted without delay to its destination. At the extreme south end and connected with the main machine
C.EJEWETT & CO.
WORKS OF THE PUTNAM MACHINE COMPANY.
shop is located the blacksmith shop with its forges and heavy hammers.
The power used in driving the machinery of the works is three large, powerful, automatic cut-off steam-engines, of their own manufacture.
Parallel with the main machine shop, and divided from it by the roadway on the west side, are located the several iron and brass foundries, pattern and box shops, store-house, and other buildings for various purposes, all arranged systemati- cally for the saving of labor and convenience of supervision.
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IRON INDUSTRIES.
The classes of machines manufactured are known and termed machine shop and special railroad tools. It may be mentioned as an indication of the extent of their business, that the first two fully equipped machine shops in China were furnished throughout by them with engines, shafting and hangers, lathes, planers, drills and other tools complete.
For fourteen years after its incorporation, until his death, Feb. 23. 1872, Salmon W. Putnam continued to conduct the affairs of the company with signal ability, and such was the place he held in the estimation of his fellow-citizens that on the day of his funeral business was generally suspended.
Since the death of the father the four sons who survive him have been actively engaged in the business of the com- pany. Charles F. Putnam was elected as president and financier, to succeed his father in the general management of the company ; Salmon W. Putnam, Jr., as superintendent designer of the company, having in charge the pre-arrange- ment, designing and mechanical construction of the different kinds of machinery made by the company; Henry O. Put- nam, as superintendent of that department of manufacture devoted to the building of special tools ; and George E. Put- nam, the youngest son, engaged in the office affairs of the company in connection with his brother, the president.
Under the management of the sons the business has con- tinued to prosper, and, with the exception of the short period of business stagnation in 1873, the company has run its entire works with nearly its full complement of men.
In 1882 the Putnam Tool Company on Walnut street was founded, with Salmon W. Putnam, Jr.,' as president, and George E. Putnam, treasurer. Four years later, March 18, 1886, the Putnam Machine Co. and the Putnam Tool Co. were consolidated under the title of Putnam Machine Co., a controlling interest being vested in the four brothers and their mother.
The works now have a capacity for over 500 hands. A New York house is maintained at 115 Liberty street, as an exhibiting and distributing establishment, by the company. The Putnam Machine Co. is officered as follows : Charles F.
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Putnam, president; S. W. Putnam, vice-president ; Henry O. Putnam, treasurer ; George E. Putnam, general superin- tendent ; Henry Allison, secretary.
Directors-Rodney Wallace, Henry Allison, Frank Leighton, Henry O. Putnam, S. W. Putnam, Charles F. Putnam and George E. Putnam.
THE FITCHBURG MACHINE COMPANY.
The works of this company are located near the foot of Main street, opposite the Brown Engine Works. Every class of iron working machinery designated as machinists' tools is manufactured by them, including engine lathes, wagon axle lathes, iron planers, drill presses, shaping ma- chines, and so forth. Mr. J. L. Chapman is superintendent and treasurer of the company, and upon him devolves the general management of the works.
Mr. Chapman came to Fitchburg in the spring of 1864, and commenced the manufacture of tools in Atherton's block, so called, in Newton lane, in company with S. C. Wright, under the firm name of S. C. Wright & Co. This was a most unfavorable time for the starting of such an enterprise, there being a great scarcity of machinery, while the price of labor and material was much increased by reason of the war then in progress. The outfit of the shop consisted of the fol- lowing tools to start with : An old chain lathe, bought out of the Old Stone Cotton Mill, (now owned by Joseph Cush- ing,) and of which Jonathan Gill was then superintendent ; an old chain planer, from out of a country blacksmith and machine shop in Townsend ; a second-hand Gould shaping machine, bought in Newark, N. J. ; an old pattern maker's lathe, and a second-hand engine lathe, out of an old shop in Newton lane, which was remodelled before it could be used. This list of machinery included everything that could be purchased at that time. The firm then employed but four men. They immediately went to work and made their own patterns and tools.
After remaining about a year in Newton lane they moved
WORKS OF THE FITCHBURG MACHINE COMPANY.
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in 1865 into the building on the corner of Main and Laurel streets, now occupied by I. C. Wright as a hardware store. Here they employed thirty men, taking into partnership with them Hale W. Page and Artemas R. Smith, the firm name remaining unchanged. February 22, 1866, they removed to their present location, occupying the easterly half of the building, a little later on they bought out Sylvanus Sawyer, who occupied the westerly half of the same building, and Jan. 1, 1867, formed a stock company, under the firm name of the Fitchburg Machine Company, with the following stockholders : S. C. Wright, J. L. Chapman, A. R. Smith, Hale W. Page, Augustus Whitman, Eugene T. Miles, Low- ell M. Miles, Jared Whitman, Jr. ; and officered as follows -- S. C. Wright, president; J. L. Chapman, secretary ; Augustus Whitman, treasurer. Out of this list of stock- holders but three are now living, J. L. Chapman, Lowell M. Miles and Jared Whitman, Jr.
In 1867 Mr. Chapman became both secretary and treas- urer, remaining in that capacity until the closing up of the company's affairs in 1877, when the Fitchburg Machine Works was formed under the laws of general co-partnership, the firm consisting of S. C. Wright, superintendent ; J. L. Chapman, treasurer ; Walter Heywood, Harrington Sibley and Joseph S. Wilson. Since its organization, Mr. Wright and Mr. Heywood have both died, and since the death of Mr. Wright, in December, 1880, Mr. Chapman has acted as superintendent and treasurer, having the full management of the business.
THE UNION MACHINE CO.
was incorporated in the year 1867, with a capital stock of $60,000, the officers being Francis Sheldon, president ; G. S. Burbank, treasurer ; S. S. Dow, superintendent. They commenced business by manufacturing machinist tools and doing general repairs, after which wood working machinery was added.
The manufacture of the "Jucket " steam-engine was intro- duced in 1870, and carried on for about two years, when it
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IRON INDUSTRIES.
was given up and the manufacture of paper-making machin- ery of all kinds was commenced, which business is the spe- cialty at the present time.
In the year 1869, S. E. Crocker was elected treasurer, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of G. S. Burbank ; the following year S. E. Crocker resigned the position, in favor of R. R. Conn, who held this trust one year, and was succeeded by Geo. F. Fay who retained the office until 1876, at which time the company wound up its affairs, transferring all stock, etc., to Messrs. Crocker, Burbank & Co., who re- tained the services of S. S. Dow as superintendent, added new machinery, and continued the building of paper machin- ery, under the old name of Union Machine Co., in connec- tion with their paper business. In 1882, J. E. Morse was called to fill the position of superintendent, owing to the death of S. S. Dow, which position he held until October, 1887, when a stock company was again formed, with the fol- lowing officers : John Burney, president ; S. E. Crocker, treasurer ; and Emmons Crocker, secretary.
This company again added new and modern machinery and continued the manufacturing of paper machinery, and to-day ranks among the best establishments in this line of business. Their machines are shipped to all parts of the United States, Canada, Japan, etc.
Mr. Burney, the president, has been for a long time iden- tified with the machine business of Fitchburg.
GEORGE FREDERICK SIMONDS was born in Fitchburg, Jan. 12, 1843. He was educated in the public schools of Fitchburg, and between his sixteenth and twenty-first birth- days, (with the exception of his eighteenth year, when he was in the army, ) he was engaged in his father's office and works and during this four years he familiarized himself practically with every department of the business. His father was a manufacturer of scythes, pickaxes, etc.
When twenty-one years of age he organized the firm of Simonds Brothers & Company and rented his father's old works and commenced the manufacture of mower and reaper
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knives and sections, and planing machine knives, since which time he has been actively identified with the manu- facturing interests of Fitchburg.
Three companies, the Simonds Manufacturing Company of Fitchburg with a capital of $150,000, the Simonds Roll- ing-Machine Company of Boston with a capital of $400,000 and the Simonds Steel and Iron Forging Company of Lon- don with a capital of $750,000 are the result, mainly, of his inventions and energy. He is a director of the Fitchburg National Bank, and a trustee in the Fitchburg Savings Bank.
THE SIMONDS MANUFACTURING COMPANY
was incorporated by an act of the legislature in 1868, with a capital of $150,000. Their extensive works in Fitchburg are located on the corner of Main and North streets. They have also branch works in Chicago and San Francisco.
WORKS OF THE SIMONDS MANUFACTURING COMPANY.
The officers of the company are George F. Simonds, president ; Daniel Simonds, vice-president and treasurer ; Edwin F. Simonds is manager of the Chicago Branch and John Simonds that in San Francisco.
The products of this company are machine knives of every description and the well known Simonds' saw.
The founder of this industry was Abel Simonds, who was born in Fitchburg, Dec. 10, 1804, and commenced the man- ufacture of scythes in 1832. He was well versed in the manipulation of steel, which knowledge he handed down to his sons.
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IRON INDUSTRIES.
In 1864, when Mr. Simonds went out of business, the firm of Simonds Bros. & Co., was formed, consisting of George F. Simonds, A. A. Simonds and Benjamin Snow, their works being located in West Fitchburg. The new firm that year began the manufacture of machine knives and mower and reaper sections, building up a large and flour- ishing business.
The present company organized, as above, in 1868, and moved from West Fitchburg to the location now occupied by them where the manufacture has been continued until the present time. A consolidation of all the western manu- facturers engaged in the manufacture of mower knives and sections having been effected in 1878, this company sold to them that department of its business and commenced the manufacture of saws by an entirely new system of tempering and straightening, which produced results superior in every respect to what had before been accomplished.
The company also have valuable patents covering radical improvements in the adjustment of circular saws and in cross- cut and changeable tooth saws.
The company has in its employ about two hundred men and its goods are sold in every state in the Union, while many are exported. A somewhat remarkable result has been obtained by this company in entering a field long held by old established concerns, and building a large and flour- ishing trade, at prices in advance of all competitors.
THE SIMONDS ROLLING-MACHINE COMPANY.
Adjacent to the works of the Simonds Manufacturing Company on Willow Street, is the plant of the Simonds Roll- ing-Machine Company, of Boston, Mass., erected in the Spring of the present year. This Company, incorporated in November, 1886, with a capital of $400,000, acquired by purchase all of the patents for the United States and Canada, which have been granted to Mr. Geo. F. Simonds, relating to the forging of metal articles by rolling, a new process of metal working which had attracted wide-spread attention,
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FITCHBURG, PAST AND PRESENT.
patents having been secured in the principal countries throughout the world, and a company known as the Simonds Steel and Iron Forging Company, Limited, with a capital of £150,000 having already been organized in London earlier in the same year by some of the leading manufacturers of England.
Near the commencement of the year 1884, an incident at- tracted the attention of Mr. Simonds to the possibility of moulding metal articles, circular in cross section, to any given form, while rotating them on their axes between oppo- sitely moving surfaces, and experiments were made with putty as a material, between wooden surfaces, with results that warranted the construction of a substantial machine by which were successfully rolled various small articles such as spheres, small projectiles, machine handles, etc., etc.
At the works in this city, which were built for experi- mental purposes, development has been continual, and it would seem that the scope of the machine and the variety of articles that can be made to advantage by it, are practically unlimited ; the productions are turned out with wonderful rapidity, with an accuracy and of a quality superior to those made by any known process.
Companies are at present being organized to manufacture under these patents in several cities of the United States, as well as Canada, and it is believed that it will effect a com- plete revolution in the manufacture of many articles as to- day produced.
Some sixty skilled workmen are employed at the shops in this city, engaged in experimental work and in develop- ing the scope and efficiency of the machines which are to be supplied to the various sub-companies in the United States and Canada; while incidental to the work of development there is undertaken, to a limited extent, the manufacture and sale of a few articles such as armor piercing projectiles, axles of different kinds, spindles, etc.
The officers of the company are George F. Simonds, president ; Thomas L. Livermore, of Boston, vice-presi- dent; Edward Sawyer, of Boston, treasurer; and George E. Downe, secretary.
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IRON INDUSTRIES.
FITCHBURG STEAM ENGINE COMPANY.
This plant was founded in 1871 and was known as the Haskins Machine Company's Works. In 1876, the Fitch- burg Steam Engine Company, composed of Hale W. Page. president, Frederick Fosdick, treasurer, and Charles Fos- dick, superintendent, purchased the entire plant and good will of all the interests of the Haskins Machine Company, and changed the name to the Fitchburg Steam Engine Com- pany. The works are situated on Water street and have a capacity for sixty hands, the greater number of whom are skilled mechanics.
The engines manufactured by this company find a market in all parts of the United States, South America, Germany, Holland, and throughout the western continent. The suc- cess of this company has been largely due to careful super- vision and close attention to the details of the business by the active members of the corporation, the Fosdick Brothers.
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