USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Genealogical history of the town of Reading, Mass., including the present towns of Wakefield, Reading, and North Reading, with chronological and historical sketches, from 1639 to 1874 > Part 47
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It has ever been the endeavor of the company to secure the best of raw material, and skilful and experienced employees to work it, thereby manufacturing first-class goods, and to sell them at the lowest prices. Through the able management of their foreman, the late lamented Mr. T. B. Walker, a thoroughly practical moulder, experienced in the charge of men, and who was greatly beloved by them, the company has gained the credit of manufacturing some of the finest castings in the market.
They now manufacture every description of cast-iron goods for do- mestic and plumbers' use, besides much jobbing from outside parties. Here also are manufactured the well-known car-seat fixtures, the inven- tion of Mr. George Buntin, which may be found far and wide over the country in the cars of nearly all our railroads.
Two furnaces are employed, one constantly, and the other as a re- lief in case of accident, and a powerful blower furnishes the blast. From twelve to fifteen tons of pig and scrap iron are daily melted in these furnaces, for which there are required about three tons of coal. The iron and coal, as well as the moulders' sand and other raw mate- rial, are landed directly from the cars, upon a large platform which is at a suitable level for immediate delivery to the furnaces. A store- house 135 ft. x 35 ft. has been built beside the track, for the recep- tion of sand, and capable of holding 300 tons of sand and 300 tons of small coal.
In 1862 and 1864 there were added to the original moulding room two others, called the west and south shops, each of the same dimen- sions as the first. There are employed in these rooms about 75 mould- ers, under the care of Mr. J. G. Savage, who are busily engaged during the early part of the day in the preparation of the moulds for the re- ception of the iron. The furnace is " charged up " about twelve o'clock, and about three o'clock the iron is in a suitable state for "pouring off," as it is called, when each of these moulders, with a long-handled ladle, takes his turn at the spout of the furnace, and soon the dingy room is lighted up by the glare of the molten iron, which is hurriedly carried to all parts of the building and carefully poured into the moulds. In a few minutes the articles are cooled and hardened, and the "flasks," as
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wooden boxes used for moulding are technically called, are emptied of the sand, and various shapes of iron with which they are filled.
The sand is scraped into a corner and repeatedly used, while the moulded articles, which are rough and covered with sand, are removed to another room, scarcely equalled for its dust, where the loose parti- cles of sand are brushed off from the larger articles with a wire brush, and the smaller articles are packed into a revolving cylinder which speedily accomplishes the same thing.
In the morning the slag from the previous day's charge is removed from the furnace, and being placed in a cylinder with iron balls and made to revolve, the slag is broken up and sifted out, while the pieces of iron with which it was mixed remain in the cylinder in suitable form to be again used.
After the sand has been brushed from the goods, they are taken, should they be parts of a stove, to the mounting room, where thirty men, under the charge of Mr. Edwin E. Gates, are employed in fitting the various parts to each other. Each piece is tried carefully, and ground upon emery wheels until a perfect joint is secured, which is then filled with a cement which makes it practically air tight. These castings are now packed away in the store-room, ready for shipping to the dealers in hardware, or they are set up complete for use, the com- pany being prepared to fill orders for all descriptions of cooking and parlor stoves in either form.
Many of the articles of hollow ware, such as pots, kettles, saucepans, urns for parlor stoves, etc., are in these days lined with enamel, which makes them smoother and easier to clean, and prevents them from rust- ing. The Boston & Maine Foundry Company were formerly obliged, in order to supply the wants of their customers in this line, to ship the goods to New York, where the enamelling was done, and then they were sent back. The cost of this enamelling was thus found to be a heavy outlay, as well owing to the freight both ways, as to the cost of the enamelling; and about a year since, Mr. Blanchard, with his usual enterprise, determined to erect enamelling works, and thus do his own work on his own premises, as well as to be prepared to do enamelling for other parties in New England who were also then obliged to send to New York. A building 45 x 55 feet, two stories high, was therefore erected, and two furnaces for enamelling constructed, as well as a smaller furnace for the manufacture of the enamel, which is a species of glass. Into this smaller furnace, which is capable of containing several hundred pounds, the mixed materials are placed, and melted together When properly mixed, the mass is allowed to run into a
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tank of cold water before the furnace, which makes it brittle, and breaks it into small pieces. It now resembles saltpetre, some pieces being clear and transparent, while others are more opaque. It is after- wards dried and finally ground. The articles to be enamelled are care- fully turned and cleaned of all roughness, and the enamel is then applied. The ware is afterwards placed in the oven and heated to a cherry red, and on removal is found to be coated with the fine white enamel so well known as "porcelain lining."
This company was the first in this country to produce enamelled bath tubs. When Mr. Blanchard first stated his intention of making them, he was assured by those experienced in such matters, that he would find it an impossibility. He was determined, however, to make the attempt, and in eight weeks from making the pattern, a perfect bath-tub of cast-iron, lined with enamel, was completed. This depart- ment is under the charge of Mr. L. Lefferts, an experienced enameller, who is assisted by ten men.
Previous to 1871, all the wooden patterns used by the company in the moulding of their various goods, were made by Mr. Edward Min- gay, of 164 Portland Street, Boston ; but the business of the company increased to such an extent that it was necessary to do this part of the work here, and last year a two-story building was erected, 90x 55 feet, the upper story of which is used for making wood-patterns, and the lower story for brass-founding and polishing. The pattern room, which is thought to be the finest in New England, is under the charge of Mr. L. M. Bates, and there are facilities for the employment of from twelve to fifteen men. As each part must be an exact fac-simile of the finished article, some idea may be gained by examining the parts of a stove, for instance, of the ingenuity and skill necessary to form these out of simple wood.
The patterns used in the moulding room are subjected to such con- stant use, that wooden patterns would soon wear out; consequently the wood patterns are usually employed only for the production of iron ones, which last for a long time. These iron patterns are cast in the usual manner in the moulding room, from whence they are taken to the pattern finishing room, where they are carefully finished and fitted. This department employs four men, under the charge of Mr. Joseph Chadwick. A large room is filled with these iron patterns, containing a copy of every design ever produced by the company.
In the brass foundry there are facilities for the melting of a ton of brass daily, and for the employment of ten men, and it is under the
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charge of Mr. Geo. Savage. Here the company manufacture all their brass rivets, and a great amount of car supplies.
In the polishing room portions of some of the goods are ground bright on emery wheels, and especially the arms of the Buntin car seats, and other articles, which are to be nickel-plated.
A carpenter's shop is attached to the works, which employs four men, under Mr. Curtis Clifford, in making the flasks and other needed carpenter's work.
The company employ two tin and sheet iron workers in manufactur- ing parlor stoves, and tin-ware for the cook stoves ready for the market, although most of their goods go into the hands of dealers who prefer to furnish these. This department is under the charge of Mr. Josiah R. Goddard.
A fine steam-engine of forty-five horse power, under the charge of Mr. John Rayner, furnishes power for the machinery of the various departments of the works.
The whole number of men employed by the company is about one hundred and seventy-five, and a finer class of men can be found in no manufacturing establishment in the country. In 1854, Mr. Blanchard, having in mind the comfort of his men, built a bath-house, the first of its kind in New England, with a tank in the centre, supplied with hot and cold water, and containing also a shower bath. The floor is of cement, so graded that perfect drainage is secured. Each man changes all his garments on entering the works in the morning, and resumes them after a bath at night ; and here may be seen, or might if we were privileged to be present, such a display of physical devel- opment as would cheer an admirer of muscular Christianity. An old steam boiler, raised to the top of the south moulding room, and sup- plied by a force pump in the engine room, furnishes a tank from which the bath-room and all parts of the works requiring water are supplied.
It is necessary that all the moulders' sand should first be dried and finely ground and sifted. Formerly this was accomplished by hand ; but in 1865, Mr. Joseph G. Savage invented a machine for grinding and sifting by power, and now the sand, after being dried in a room heated by steam, is put into the machine in this room, which performs in a few hours daily what formerly required the constant labor of three men.
Between the moulding rooms and the main store-house a brick wall with iron doors greatly reduces the danger of fire. In the store-house, running from basement to attic, a fine elevator is placed, furnished with Fairbanks platform scales to weigh all goods shipped. This is a
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feature introduced by Mr. Blanchard. The building is four and a half stories high, with capacity for the storage of one thousand tons of cast- ings, which are manufactured largely in advance of orders, so that the company are able to fill any reasonable demand at any time.
By means of the elevator, the goods are delivered on the floor directly on a level with the cars, which stand on a side track at the door of the works ; and so perfect are the arrangements for shipping goods that in all kinds of weather they may be sent without danger of exposure or injury by wet. Many goods are shipped north and south, and thence east and west without change of cars ; but so extensive is the business of the company that they employ a shipping clerk in Bos- ton to attend to the transfer of goods, which must be re-shipped there. The shipping of goods is under the care of Mr. Joseph Scully, the efficient clerk, who, by his courteous and gentlemanly bearing, has made himself a favorite of the employees, as well as all who have deal- ings with him.
Nearly all the buildings are so connected by covered passage-ways that all the business can proceed without the slightest interruption from the weather, and it may be safely said that in its facilities for the reception of raw material, the delivery of goods, and the general con- duct of business, this establishment is not surpassed, if equalled, by any of its kind in the country.
The monthly pay-roll of the company is $10,000 or $12,000, the dis- bursement of which, and its consequent distribution in the community, adds not a little to the material prosperity of the town. Its employees are thinking men, and form an important portion of the producing class, on which the prosperity of a community depends ; and on the whole, it is difficult to compute the value and influence of this estab- lishment in our midst, - an influence yet in its infancy, and destined to be greatly enlarged by the inevitable increase and extension of the business.
The company have a fine office and sales-room in Boston, at 46 Canal Street, fronting also on Market and Friend Streets. This store is 145 X 22, and seven stories high, and here they have on exhibition sam- ples of all the goods manufactured by them.
The Citizens' Gas Light Company, of Reading, Wakefield, and Stoneham, was organized in 1860, with a capital of about $93,000. Its gas house and works are located in Wakefield, but its pipes extend to Reading and Stoneham. It manufactures annually, at present (1868), about 4,000,000 cubic feet of illuminating gas, which sells for about $20,000.
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Edward Mansfield, Esq., is its president ; Thomas Winship, secretary and treasurer ; B. B. Burbank, Esq., superintendent ; directors, Stephen Foster, of Reading ; Luther Hill, of Stoneham ; William Hurd, of Stoneham ; E. Mansfield, of Wakefield ; J. F. Emerson, of Wakefield ; Thomas Emerson, of Wakefield ; C. Wakefield, of Wakefield (de- ceased ).
Various other branches of manufacturing industry might be enumer- ated and described, if space permitted. Suffice it to say, that the total value of goods annually manufactured in Wakefield (including the value of ice, of which $100,000 worth are annually gathered) exceeds, it is estimated, $1,500,000.
The number of employees necessary to carry on this amount of manufactures, gives occasion for a lively and extensive mercantile business, and so we find that there were in Wakefield (in 1868) stores as follows : -
For groceries, grain, etc., 8 ; dry and fancy goods, 4; clothing, 3 ; shoes and boots, 3 ; apothecaries, 3 ; provisions, 3 ; fruit and confec" tionery, 2 ; furniture, 2 ; wood, coal, and lumber, 2 ; wood and ice, I ; jewelry, 2 ; bread, I ; shoe findings, I ; hard and tin ware, I ; periodi- cals, I.
The annual sales, by these stores, was supposed to amount to $500,000, in 1868.1
NEWSPAPERS.
In 1854, the publisher of "The Middlesex Journal," a weekly, printed at Woburn, offered to establish a South Reading Department in his paper, if the people of South Reading would furnish the matter. Whereupon several persons, "a combination of gentlemen " they were called, undertook the duty. The introductory article was written by Professor Tweed, in behalf of the South Reading editors, and was published April 15, 1854.
They say in that article that they "propose to help make it the medium of communication among our townsmen ; hoping also to culti- vate a better acquaintance with our friends in the circle of towns in which our homes are set. As a free circulation of pure air is necessary to the full development and play of our bodily organs, so is a free cir- culation of thought and feeling requisite to a healthy social system ; and we hope by means of this register to admit and let off streams
1 Since the preparation of these statistics, the business of Wakefield has very largely increased ; but we are unable to furnish the exact figures for 1873.
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from the current of daily life around us, which may tend in some meas- ure to the promotion of virtue, intelligence, and good neighborhood."
This "combination of gentlemen " included B. F. Tweed, Edward Mansfield, P. H. Sweetser, L. Eaton, J. S. Eaton, Jonas Evans, and others. Soon, however, it was found that Edward Mansfield, Esq., possessed the peculiar talent and the willing disposition to indite and collect the necessary items to make the weekly contributions, and by degrees the whole labor of so doing was devolved upon him, and for a whole decade he performed this service with great ability and punctu- ality, and without remuneration, making the South Reading Depart- ment of the "Middlesex Journal" a most useful and desirable visitor. Mr. Mansfield's valedictory was published Dec. 24, 1864, and thus ended our connection with the Woburn journal.
In 1858, W. H. Hutchinson, Esq., from Boston, established the "South Reading Gazette," which was published by him and his succes- sor for about three years, and was a very useful and entertaining weekly.
In 1868, A. A. Foster, Esq., of Wakefield, commenced the publica- tion of the "Wakefield Banner," a weekly sheet of respectable size, which was merged in the "Citizen," a paper which continues to be issued by the " Citizen Association," and which receives liberal support.
The "Wakefield Banner," a weekly, edited by W. H. Twombly, Esq., is also now published.1
LIBRARIES OF WAKEFIELD.
At the beginning of this century there was a library in this place, called the " Social Library." The writer has not been able to trace it to its origin, but it is supposed to date back some fifty years in the last century. And one evidence for this belief is the very antique appear- ance of some of the books, and especially of the book-case, as remem- bered in their earliest years by some of our oldest present citizens. It consisted chiefly of books on theological subjects, by Baxter, Aliene, Doddridge, and such standard authors, and on ecclesiastical history. It was usually kept at the residence of the pastor of the Congregational church. About the year 1812, Mr. Lilley Eaton (father of the late Hon. Lilley Eaton) was elected librarian. The library was increased by the addition of some volumes of history and other works, and re- moved from the residence of Rev. Reuben Emerson to the store of Mr.
1 The two papers have recently been united, and one weekly paper is now issued under the title of "The Wakefield Citizen and Banner."
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Eaton in the large building still standing at the corner of Main and Salem Streets.
At one time prior to this date, conflicting opinions in regard to the character of the books to be added by purchase, or some other cause, created unpleasant differences, destroyed harmony, and led to a decided change in the list of subscribers and the government of the library. Some members withdrew their names and their support, having previ- ously, however, drawn out as many books as would be equal in value to their shares in the library, and never took the trouble to return them.
This library continued in a vigorous state for many years, until sup- planted by one of more modern date. Its last act was in the beginning of the year 1836, when its treasurer passed over the balance of funds in his hands to the treasurer of the Franklin Lyceum, for the benefit of its library, though its active existence closed more than a year before.
In the early part of the year 1831, the young men of the town, includ- ing those connected with the "South Reading Academy," formed an association called the " South Reading Franklin Lyceum," and later in the same year established a library in connection with it, known as the "Franklin Library." This consisted more of works of art and science, civil history, travels, geography, medicine, etc.
In 1834, negotiations were entered into between the "Social " and the " Franklin " libraries, with a view to uniting them in one. Com- mittees were appointed by the two bodies to favor the object, and at a meeting of the proprietors of the Social Library, held Dec. 3, 1834, it was agreed to make over all the books belonging to the Social Library to the Franklin Library, on condition that each member of the former should of right be a member of the latter library. This condi- tion was accepted by the proprietors of the Franklin Library at a meet- ing held on the 26th of the same month, and a committee was chosen to receive the books and book-case, in behalf of the Franklin Library. This library was accessible six days in the week, and occupied a very important place in the community for many years. It was liberally pat- ronized by old and young, especially in the earlier days of its history.
Though established in 1831, a librarian does not appear to have been appointed until the fall of 1832, and the first record found of the delivery of books is under date of October, 1833. The names of those who drew the first books from this library are, Abner Breeden, Asaph Evans, and Samuel Kingman ; and the last books drawn therefrom, on Dec. 5. 1849, were taken by Rev. Reuben Emerson, Moses Board- man, William Chamberlain, Henry W. Brown, and Rev. Mr. Clayes.
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Its first librarian was Hon. Lilley Eaton ; its last was Abel F. Hutch- inson, Esq.
In the year 1838, great interest was felt by many of the young men in the subject of phrenology, that was attracting general attention about that time. L. N. Fowler, Esq., of New York, an extensive phrenologi- cal lecturer, visited this town, and spoke enthusiastically of the new "science," as it was called. Some of his lectures were delivered before the Franklin Lyceum, followed by lectures from other gentlemen upon the same subject. The members of the Lyceum also discussed the correctness of its principles in set debates, and waxed warm in the presentation of their arguments, pro and con; and during the month of September, 1840, the secretary of the Lyceum, Franklin Poole, Esq., delivered a course of nine lectures before that body upon that favorite topic. In connection with this phrenological excitement, some twenty- five or thirty of the young men formed themselves into a club, in order more thoroughly to prosecute their investigations, and to become more intimately acquainted with a subject so attractive, and seemingly so important. Among other books, they procured the entire works of Spurzheim, which they read with avidity, and examined craniums, until they thought they could tell a man's character by the bumps on his head. This collection of books was styled the " Phrenological Library," and many of its founders are still with us, men of marked intelligence, prominent and deserving citizens.
In March, 1842, the Legislature passed a resolve appropriating fifteen dollars for each school district in the State that would raise an equal sum to establish in each district a common school library. Soon after this generous encouragement from the State, such libraries were established in most, if not in all, the districts in town.
These books were selected and prepared by the Board of Education with great care, free from politics and sectarian bias. They were taken home, like books from other libraries, and read by the scholars and their parents. In some households, probably, these were the principal new books to which they had access, and consequently were very highly prized. These libraries met an important want in the education of the young, especially, who had not then such facilities for securing the use of profitable books as now. Though these libraries performed a valu- able office for a time, they had not the elements of permanency ; for, as the teachers were constantly changing, upon whom depended much of their efficiency, the books were neglected, and allowed to be carried away without proper care for their return, and finally, as libraries, were disused. It is not known that any of the books found their way into
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a "subsequent library. Such as have not been appropriated to indi- vidual use, or destroyed, may doubtless be found boxed up, or on the shelves, or in the old closets of the school-houses of the several districts.
Some years subsequent to the last mentioned date (1842), another library was organized, known as the " Prescott Library," of which very little can be said, inasmuch as the prime movers in it have deceased, and no record of its beginning, continuance, or ending is known to exist. It was named, as is supposed, after Prescott the historian, as it contained his works as its prominent feature. It was kept in a little room at one corner of the hall in the old town house. Its subscribers (probably about fifty in number) were among the most intelligent and energetic of our citizens, many of whom still remember the interest they felt in perusing the books, without any particular impression as to the date of its origin, or to incidents in its life.
In 1856 was formed the Public Library of South Reading, now known as the Beebe Town Library of Wakefield, its name having been changed, in 1868, in honor of Lucius Beebe, Esq., a generous contrib- utor to its funds. A place was fitted up for it in one of the lower rooms of the old town house, where it remained until 1871, when it was transferred to an apartment in the new town house especially provided for its use. At the commencement there was a public reading-room connected with it, where might be found the most important newspa- pers and other periodicals, gratuitously furnished by the liberality of some of the citizens.
The act of the Legislature, authorizing towns to raise money to establish and support public libraries, was passed during the session of 1851, and the town of South Reading, having already shown its liberal- ity in making appropriations for the support of free schools, was among the first of the country towns of this Commonwealth to avail itself of the provisions of the statute, and establish a free town library.
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