Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885, Part 24

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Printed at the Journal Office
Number of Pages: 972

USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885 > Part 24

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The Glass Works grant covered the center of the town-the present village -and was made in 1754, by the general court, to John Franklin and his as- sociates. It was designated " A Grant of Money to Encourage the Making of Potash ; " and consisted of 1,000 acres of land. Certain parties seem to have been engaged at Braintree, now Quincy, in the attempt to manufacture "potash, cider, glass and cloth," in which they were pecuniarily unfortunate, and after various attempts to acquire, first monopolies and then indemnities, they seem to have obtained, in 1757, an addition to the former Glass Works grant, assistance " by way of lottery," which the general court authorized them to enjoy, and voted them the use of the Hall of Representatives, as a con- venient place in which to " draw" it.

In 1777 the inhabitants of these grants and parts of grants, numbering probably, 150 souls, petitioned the general court for a charter of incorpora- tion, and October 21st of that year the tract became an incorporated town- ship, under the name of Lee, in honor of General Charles Lee, who was at that time a popular commander in the American army, but subsequently fell into disrepute, having proved himself to be only an adventurer of little ability. He was born in Devonhall, Cheshire, England, in 1731, and died at Phila- delphia, Pa., October 2, 1782. At one time he was taken prisoner by the British and was recovered by exchange for General Prescott, in May, 1778. General Prescott was captured through stratagem, for the purpose of effecting this very exchange, an interesting sketch of which event we print on page 109.

Of the topographical features of the town Rev. Dr. Hyde wrote as follows : " The town is six miles in length and five in breadth, and presents a very diversified appearance, It forms a part of the intervale which lies between the Taconic and Green mountain ranges. The Green mountain range, which rises to a moderate elevation, runs partly within the eastern limits of the town, presenting a very picturesque appearance. These mountains are for the most part of gentle acclivity, and are cultivated in some places quite to their summits. From the base of these mountains, the surface is rather

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uneven, occasionally rising into hills of considerable height, but generally descending until it reaches the plain upon the banks of the Housatonic." West of this river the land is everywhere undulating in its appearance, in- clining towards the south. Beartown mountain is a large and grand pile of hills on the southeast of Stockbridge, northeast of Great Barrington, forming the northwest part of Tyringham and southwest part of Lee. Deerhorn Corner, the name given the point at the angle of the two town lines, is so called from the fact that a deer's horn was fastened here to mark the spot. Washington mountain, chiefly in Washington, extends south to Lee, and forms the eastern boundary of the Housatonic valley for several miles. East mountain extends into and from Becket on the east side of the town. The Housatonic river divides the town into two nearly equal parts. Its course is southerly when it first enters the town; but before reaching South Lee it turns sharply to the west. At this point it is 831 feet above tide water at Derby, Conn. In its passage through the town, the Housatonic receives the waters of Laurel lake, formerly called Scott's pond. The outlet of this lake empties into the river at the north end of the village. Two streams come down from Washington mountain and empty into the Housatonic near Brad- ley street. Through Cape street flows the outlet of Greenwater pond, in Becket, which unites in Water street with the outlet of Lake May, and Long pond, two natural reservoirs artificially increased, lying partly in Lee and partly in Tyringham. These two streams, both before and after their union, furnish power for numerous mills. Hop brook flows down from Tyringham, and was so named from the abundance of wild hops in the low land through which it flowed. Smaller streams generally bear the name of the owners of the land through which they flow, with every change of owners changing also their names.

Geologically, the mountains on the east of the town are of mica-slate Two or three eminences of quartz rock in the valley project their ragged ele- vations. "Fern Cliff" has quartz rock at the base, and gneiss on the sum- mit, in which are frequent crystals of iron pyrites. In the slaty rocks, above the quartz, are numerous tourmaline crystals; but limestone is the principal rock to be found rising from the lowland. If it will not take a polish it is not fit for use as marble, nor is it fit for cutting if it contains fibrous and bladed crystals of tremolite, such as are found south- west of Gross's quarry. In Hitchcock's Geology of Massachusetts there is a detailed description of the geological strata of the county, and a figure is given, illustrating Dr. Hitchcock's theory of the manner in which the strata have been distorted between the Hudson and the Connecticut by upheavals. Erosion next removed the softer parts and gavethe present topographical outline. In Lytell's Antiquity of Man, is a sketch of the course of erratic bowlders traced from Caanan, N. Y., across the range of hills southeast to the Housatonic valley. Limestone is readily obtained in various parts of the town. Much that is not valuable as building material is suitable for making lime, and the

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production of lime has ever been one of the industries of the town. In former times the limestone was burned in temporary kilns, and when a kiln was burned the fire was permitted to go out. Remains of these old kilns are found in all parts of the town, and as no lime is known to have been exported in early times, it is supposed that lime was burned as it was wanted by an individual or a neighborhood. About the year 1840, William L. Culver began burning lime in a patent self-feeding kiln, the fire of which is kept burn- ing for months, the limestone being put in at the top of a chimney lined with fire-brick, and the lime taken out at the bottom as fast as it is burned. Lee lime has quite a reputation, and finds its principal market in this and the neighboring towns, much of it being used for bleaching rags in the manufac- ture of paper.

" Marble is the most valuable mineral in Lee as yet discovered. The sup- ply is inexhaustible. It is easy of access, and for a generation. at least, it will be easily quarried, as some of this marble lies 120 feet above the river. The marble is of a superior quality. Prof. Hitchcock says that it is 'a pure crystalline double carbonate of magnesia and lime.' It is therefore dolomite marble, forty-eight per cent. carbonate of lime and forty-nine per cent. car- bonate of magnesia. Much of it is pure white and is susceptible of a very fine polish. It will also work a perfectly square arris. This renders it a desirable material for chimney pieces, furniture, etc. Frost and heat pro- duce little change in size and weight. It will sustain a pressure of 26,000 pounds to the square inch, while Italian marble crushes at 13,000 pounds, and most of the American marble at 12,000 pounds. By some of the severest tests to which marble can be put, by the chemist and architect, Lee marble was decided to be the best for building material, hence a congres- sional committee decided that this should be used for the enlargement of the capitol at Washington." Among the mineralogical specimens to be obtained may be mentioned marl, peat, micaceous limestone, mica, quartz, gray lime- stone, augite, bladed tremolite, radiated actinolite, dolomite and shere.

In 1880 Lee had a population of 3,939. In 1883 the town employed five male and twenty female teachers in its public schools, at an average monthly salary of $80.00 for males and $28.30 for females. There were 760 school children in the town, while the entire amount raised for school purposes was $7,650.00.

LEE is a bright, stirring, handsome post villiage located nearly in the center of the town on the Housatonic R. R. It has many handsome residences and fine business blocks lining its broad, neat, streets, forming, with its charming environs, a locality whose varied attractions are seldom surpassed. Utility, too, is blended with these charms, for here the Housatonic affords power that turns many a busy wheel in shop, factory and mill. The Housatonic has peculiar facilities here for manufacturing purposes. Goose pond, lying upon the Tyringham mountains, some ;600 feet above the river, affords a natural reservoir, capable of holding in reserve sufficient water to run the mills four months, should a time of drouth render it necessary. The town is celebrated

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for its immense paper manufuring industry. The history of this manufacture has lately been written up by Hon. Byron Weston of Dalton, from whoin we quote as follows :-

"The manufacture of paper in the town of Lee began in the year 1806, in which year Samuel Church moved into the town from Connecticut, and built a 'two-vat mill' on the site now covered by one of the Hulbert Paper Com- pany's buildings in South Lee. Such a mill made an average of ten reams of paper per day, of course making it by hand. The process, in brief, was, to beat the rags to a pulp in engines similar to those used now ; this pulp was gathered, while mixed with water, upon sieves or wire-covered frames, one sheet to a frame, and on the frames it was dried sufficiently to be handled, then finished by pressing between hot metal plates and press paper boards. There were no calendars in use to give the paper the smooth, beautiful finish now desired. Some idea of the process made in producing quantity at the mills may be had from the fact that a "four-vat mill" of the hand era would produce about 400 pounds of paper per day. A modern four-engine mill, with the same number of employees as worked in the four-vat mill, but with mod- ern machinery, will make 2,000 pounds of very much better goods. The price of the old hand-made paper was from forty to fifty cents a pound ; the price of our modern machine-made paper is from fifteen to twenty-five cents. Ten thousand dollars was a large capital for a four-vat hand mill; for a modern four-engine mill forty thousand dollars is sometimes too limited a sum.

" The first North Lee mill, and the third built in the county, was put up by Luman Church, in 1808, on ground covered now by the Smith Paper Com- pany's 'Eagle Mill.' The Churches seem to have been not only pioneers in paper making, but to have been energetic ones. In 1821 Luman Church built the 'Forest Mill' now Harrison Garfield's, and in 1831 the ' Waverly Mill' of the firm of Chaffee & Hamblin, The Churches' connected with the business closed, however, before its prosperity and growth began, but their enterprise and faith in it gave Lee the impetus which resulted in making that town, for many years, the most important in the paper trade in this country. In 1840, it is said, one-fifth of all the paper made in the United States was manufactured at Lee.

"In 1822 John Ames, of Springfield, patented the cylinder machine which gathered the pulp on a revolving wire cylinder, taking the place of the old hand-frame or wire sieve and greatly increasing the productive capacity of the mills. Other improvements about this time, when there were three mills in Lee, were devised. The rags for the hand mills were picked up about the country by peddlers, who traded paper, pens, school books, etc., with the far- mers' wives for their rags. The process of bleaching, as now practiced was un- known. The rags were sorted and the different colors separated. Blue was supposed to be a color that could not be bleached out, and blue rags were sold to some mills where 'tobacco paper' was made. The tobacconists still stick to their color, but it need not be inferred that their wrapping is now,

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as it then was, all made from blue rags. The beating of the rags to a plup gave rise to the story of the origin of 'foolscap,' and it was repeated seriously to the writer by an old paper maker in Lee. It was related that a half-witted youth sat upon a rock on the top of which was a shallow depression contain- ing some water. Into this puddle the boy dropped his cap, and, with a stone, foolishly and idly pounded his linen turban into pulp. The sun dried the 'stuff,' or fiber, which had spread itself through the water upon the bottom of the puddle, and lo ! it was lifted out a sheet of paper-foolscap in fact.

"In 1826, when the improvements just spoken of became accessible, another mill building era began in Lee. Messrs. Walter, Winthrop and Cutler Laflin built in that year a mill on the site of the Smith Paper Company's present 'Housatonic Mill.' It was the first in the town in which paper was made by machinery, and as the building was 100 feet long, it was considered a marvel in the lavish use of capital. The Laflins also built a mill on the Housatonic at the present location of the Columbia Mill, owned by the Smith Paper Com- pany, and they continued prosperously in the business for ten years. During this decade, Stephen Thatcher, who recently died at Saratoga, nearly one hundred years old, built the mill now obliterated, but for years run by Mr. John Bottomley. Mr. Thatcher and the Laflins are remembered in the paper trade as being connected with the 'Navarino Excitement,' which was one of the most successful speculations in the history of the business. Mr. Thatcher began making a thick, straw-colored paper which was pressed between plates and stamped so as to resemble the present Leghorn hat material. It was sold for bonnet and hat making, and became as 'fashionable' and as universally worn as paper collars were a few years ago. It is said bonnets nicely made from this paper sold as high as five dollars each. The Laflins with their greater facilities, soon went into the speculation, giving their paper the 'Leg- horn appearance' by the quicker process of running it between engraved roll- ers. For a time the business was very prosperous, but it had a rather short life. Perhaps a thousand Navarino bonnets were caught out at a showery picnic and the mishap ruined the fashion. Belles and beaux, matrons and maidens, who had been proud of their 'Leghorn hats,' an expensive luxury in those days, found, when the rain had wilted them and spoiled the straw-like impression, that they had been wearing only a smart Yankee's paper imitation of the costly genuine article

"The ' Bottomley Mill,' so-called, passed to its ashes through more hands than any other mill in Lee. Built in 1833 by Thatcher & Son, it became Thatcher & Ingersoll's in 1840 ; in 1851 it was bought by Harrison Smith and David S. May. They ran it until 1856, when May retired from the firm. In 1857 Tanner & Perkins took the mill. Then it became Toole & Bottomley's. Still later Mr. Bottomley owned it alone, and it was burned while under lease to Ferry & Wrinkle.

"The 'Pleasant Valley Mill,' just north of Lenox Furnace was built in 1835, by Leonard Church, Joseph Bassett and Thomas Sedgwick, who made printing

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paper for several years. Messrs. Church & Bassett sold out to Sabin & Cone, and afterwards the firm became Sedgwick & Cone. Robins & Crosby were the next owners, and following them Gibbs, Dean & Osborn were proprietors un- til 1857. The mill was idle for many years, or until the Smith Paper Com- pany bought it.

" The 'Washington Mill,' now Harrison Garfield's, on Water street, in Lee, was built by Foote & Bosworth in 1835. While the mill was building, Bos- worth was killed by the overturning of a load of wood upon him. Joseph B. Allen, of Newton, and Leander Backus, of Lee, took up the enterprise, and ran the mill until it was sold to Benton & Garfield in 1849.

" The first mill on the Lake May stream was built in 1837, by Jared Inger- soll and Sylvester S. May. It was a one-engine mill and produced straw paper. It was burned in 1839. In 1840 Mr. E. S. May bought Mr. Inger- soll's interest and the mill was rebuilt with two engines, running on straw paper until 1845. They then built further up the stream their middle mill, containing two engines, also running on straw paper until 1846, when it was run on wall papers. In 1847 both mills began to produce writing papers. In 1852 Benjamin Dean was added to the firm, and the 'upper' four-engine mill was built and run upon fine papers. Dean remained with the firm until 1854, when he retired and the late Samuel S. Rogers entered the partnership. Dean was a somewhat remarkable character. He recently died in Michigan. Dur- ing the latter years of his life in Lee, his peculiarities made him a marked citizen. He had a massive head, long, flowing grey hair and whiskers, and spent his leasure hours in writing 'poetry,' as he called it, satirizing the bar and pulpit. He became a Free thinker and Spiritualist and was always ready for an argument. Some one said to him one day, 'You can find a rhyme for almost any word, but it would puzzle you to concoct a rhyme for ' Timbuctoo.' Instantly Dean replied :-

" 'The missionary went to Timbuctoo Where savages ate him and his hymn book too.'

" In 1877 the firm of May & Rogers was dissolved by the retiring of Mr. Rogers, who took the upper mill, since burned and not rebult. The firm of E. & S. May is the oldest active business paper manufacturing firm in the county.

"In 1838 John Baker and George Wilson built a mill on the Cape street or Greenwater stream. They ran it a short time, and it then passed into the hands of Ira VanBergen, subsequently it was owned by Platner & Smith, later by George West, who owned it when it was burned, and it has not been rebuilt. The only other paper mill ever located on this stream was built in 1844 by Sturges & Costar. They ran it three years and it was then bought by Orton Heath, who operated it a number of years and then sold it to Baird & Linn ; afterwards Mr. Baird owned it alone and sold it to Patrick Owen, who ran a brief and disastrous career. The mill is idle, comparatively worth- less, and is falling into ruin.

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"In 1846 the mill on the Lake May stream known as the 'Upper Forest mill,' was built by Benton & Garfield. Benton & Baird (C. C. Benton & Hon. P. C. Baird) next owned it, and later Mr. Baird bought his partners interest. It was burned but rebuilt by Mr. Baird, and is now owned by him. In 1823 Bradford Couch built a mill on the Lake May stream, and it was run by him and by Couch & Clark until bought by Mr. Baird, and it is now run on collar paper. Mr. Baird was among the first to begin manufacturing paper collars, and he and his brother, George K. Baird, now a druggist, made immense numbers of them before they finally abandoned the business, Hon. P. C. Bard's factory alone sometimes turning out 100,000 collars in a day.

"In 1855 Northup & Eldridge built a mill on the site of the mill recently run by Gilmor & Sparks, the mill nearest Lake May. Northup sold out to Eldridge and later the mill passed into the hands of Tanner & Perkins, machinists. The next proprietors were Blauvelt & Gilmor ; subsequently Mr. Gilmor had it alone. In this mill was made paper twine during the high price of cotton in war times. It was twisted from strips of manila paper and it was strong enough for light purposes, unless is happened to meet the supposed fate of the Navarino bonnets by getting wet. This site has been an unfortunate one, as three mills have been burned upon it. The present mill was built in 1878.

' The 'Greenwood Mill,' now owned by Benton Brothers (J. F. and C. C.), was built by Benton & Garfield in 1854. Its product is about 1,000 pounds of fine paper per day. This old firm of Benton & Garfield, organized in 1836, and continued in industry and good works until dissolved by the death of Mr. Benton in 1867, deserves more than a passing notice for its great suc- cess. Beginning with a trifling capital in money, but rich in energy, it made a great reputation and fortune. In the beginning the members of the firm and their wives worked cheerfully and heartily in the mill. When Mr. Ben- ton died, his share of the estate amounted to'a handsome fortune. Hon. Har- rison Garfield is president of the Lee National Bank, has served his State in both branches of the legislature, and is the oldest active business paper maker in the county.

" In 1855 Lina & Dean built on the Lake May stream a small mill for making bank-note paper by hand. It was afterwards run by Elizur Smith and Mr. Linn ; but it is now owned by Mr. Baird, who uses it in connection with his other mllls. In 1862, while Mr. Linn was running the mill, it was discovered that he was making bank-note paper with the initials "C. S. A." in water marks upon it. A United States marshal suspected that the initials meant 'Confederate States of America,' a concern with which we were hav- ing some difficulty at the time, and the officer took Mr. Linn to Boston to answer for the supposed aid and comfort he was giving the enemy in making paper for them upon which to print their money. Mr. Linn was able to show that he received the order for the goods from a New York house, who

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also furnished him the mold or machine which made the initials water marked in the paper, and that he knew nothing about the purpose for which the paper was to be used. He was acquitted. I believe the New York firm set up that their purpose was a patriotic one, as they intended to counterfeit the Confederate money and ruin the credit of the concern by flooding their own territory with worthless notes. The patriotism may not be very apparent, but such was the excuse made. Mr. Linn is now living in New Jersey.

" The Smith Paper Company operates the 'Valley,' ' Columbia,' ' Eagle' and ' Housatonic' Mills. Sketches of all of these have been given in what I have read, except the 'Columbia.' This was originally built by the Laflins in 1826. Subsequently it was operated by Phelps & Field, the former the late George H. Phelps, and the latter Matthew Field, son of Dr. D. D. Field, author of a history of Berkshire county, and long a settled minister in Stockbridge This Lee paper maker was a brother of Cyrus W., David Dud- ley, Stephen J., and Henry M. Field, and Cyrus W. worked in his youth in this mill for his brother Matthew. Cyrus W. was afterward in the paper busi- ness in New York, and dealt extensively with the Berkshire paper makers. He is remembered as very bright in the trades that were made of the pro- ducts of the mills for the raw material. He had a habit of dropping his eye- lids or closing his eyes during his bargaining, and if one eye only closed, the prospects were that the paper maker would 'fare pretty well' as they used to say, but if Cyrus closed both eyes, 'then look out for him.' He would get the best of the bargain. In 1863 this mill was bought by Mr. Smith, im- proved, and its capacity increased, and run until September 2, 1865, when it was burned. On the night of the fire Mr. Smith, just married, was receiving his friends, and the conflagration was made particularly memorable by that fact. News of the fire was brought to him in the midst of the festivities, but he quietly bade the feast go on. The next morning he was seen on the .pile of ruins giving orders for clearing up the rubbish so that rebuilding could commence The Smith Paper Company is composed of Elizur, Wellington, and De Witt S. Smith, the two latter nephews of the former. The firm is the successor to Platner & Smith, which was formed in 1835 and was at one time during its continuance the largest producers of writing paper in the country, if not in the world. Besides the mills owned by them in Lee village, they had also the mill built by Baker & Wilson, in East Lee, in 1838, and rented for a time the ' Defiance Mill,' in Dalton. Mr. Smith was also inter- ested in a mill at Russell, with his brother, John R. Smith, and Cyrus W. Field & Co., of New York, and they have owned the ' Turkey Mill,' at Tyr- ingham. The fine paper of Platner & Smith was known all over the United States, and the firm was a power in the business. It was during the time when an English or French label was demanded on nearly everything for the best American use, and Platner & Smith made at Lee the best 'imported ' paper on the market. The company now conducting the business makes only book, news and manila wrapping paper. They own every water privi-

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lege on the Housatonic river between Lee and Pittsfield, about ten miles. They have thirty rag engines in their mills, of from seven hundred to eight hundred pounds capacity each. They use for power eleven steam engines and twenty-seven water wheels, and their product per week is over one hun- dred tons. Their largest week's production was one hundred and thirty-nine tons. In connection with their mills they have two factories at Lenox Fur- nace for making wood pulp, and at Lee a large and thoroughly equipped machine shop."

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Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885, Part 24

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Printed at the Journal Office Number of Pages: 972

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Printed at the Journal Office
Number of Pages: 972