USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume I > Part 40
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
Both the founders of the Forbes and Wallace department store emigrated to this country from Scotland. Wallace came to Boston during the spring of 1867. He stayed there for three years and then started out for himself in Pittsfield, joining in a partnership with John M. Smith, who later became a partner in the Springfield firm of Smith and Murray. It was in March, 1874, that Mr. Wallace came to Springfield and went into the dry goods business with Mr. Forbes. The store then sold dry goods exclusively and was housed in a red brick building. The floor space of that humble store occupied but one- tenth of an acre, while the Forbes and Wallace of today has eight acres.
In 1876 the Barnes Block, in which the original store was opened, was bought at auction by the firm for $80,000. The business was conducted in the two stores north of the main entrance to the building, and on the south side of the entrance were the Third National Bank and the Shredd and Knight concern. The three upper floors were occupied by lawyers, dentists and other tenants.
The residents of Springfield took kindly to the progressive policies pursued by the store and in 1884 a lot was purchased on Vernon
518
HAMPDEN COUNTY-1636-1936
Street and a five-story building erected. With the trend of the times, the store expanded its merchandising policies, and added books, shoes, bicycles, kitchenware and other specialized items.
It was in 1907 that the beautiful Observatory Restaurant was added, on the top floor, where a panorama of Springfield could be seen far away from the dust and noise of the street below.
In 1919 and 1920 the present eight-story building was constructed. To walk completely through the store would entail a trip of about four miles, a distance longer than the average golf course.
It was Andrew Wallace's leadership that brought the firm to its present enviable position, as Mr. Forbes retired in 1895. Always progressive and always aware of the needs of his customers, he watched every department closely. Mr. Wallace was a lover and a student of art. Part of his personal collection of etchings and paint- ings are exhibited in the store, and the rest have been given to the City Library Association. He took great personal pride in the store, and it was only in the later years that he relaxed somewhat and gave the reins of management over to his sons, who have continued to maintain the store as one of America's finest. At his death in 1923 most of the stores in the city closed for an hour, and the flags were placed at half mast. At Ormond Beach, Florida, some of his elderly friends, including John D. Rockefeller, did not play their usual round of golf that day out of respect to his memory.
Another event in the mercantile history of Springfield came in 1906, when Albert Steiger opened his store in Springfield. Forbes and Wallace was at that time well established on Main Street, and Meekins, Packard & Wheat was known as one of the best furniture stores in the country. Mr. Steiger, through the help of some of the city's bankers, made some important real estate purchases, and his large store on Main Street soon was a solid and established institu- tion. In 1930 business forced an enlargement of the original store, and Mr. Steiger bought out the Charles Hall store and built a handsome new establishment adjoining his Main Street property, where the Hall galleries were housed.
A little over a hundred years ago a mutual savings bank was incor- porated. The first year it received forty-six deposits totaling $1,200. A hundred years later the transactions for the year totaled over 170,000, involving over $20,000,000. The one man who, more than
519
INDUSTRIAL SPRINGFIELD
any other, was responsible for the growth of the Springfield Institu- tion for Savings was Henry S. Lee. In 1858, when only twenty-three years old, he was elected treasurer. For forty-four years, until his death in 1902, he led the bank safely through years of panics, wars and financial disturbances. Next to Mr. Lee stands John W. B. Brand, the present head, who has been with the institution longer than any other officer in its history.
The Springfield Five Cents Savings Bank in the late 'seventies moved into a handsome structure of granite and brick at the corner of Main and Court streets and there conducted its business, maintaining the policy that even the smallest sums were welcome. The first treas- urer of this bank was Dr. Joseph C. Pynchon, a direct descendant in the sixth generation of William Pynchon, founder of Springfield.
The Third National Bank and Trust Company, which occupied the Iron Block, where now is Meekins, Packard & Wheat, experienced a remarkable prosperity. In 1907 the bank had spacious quarters in the Lyman Building, and later a ten-story building, combining both utility and beauty, was erected on the corner of Main Street and Har- rison Avenue, where the bank is still a financial Gibraltar.
The Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust Company brought the first safe deposit vault systems into the city for rental to the public. When it opened in the old Massachusetts Mutual Building on Main Street, later known as the Hall Building, its capital was $200,000, its deposits zero and its surplus zero.
The Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Company started in 1849, mainly through the efforts of Marvin Chapin. Mr. Chapin had already made the Massasoit House of Springfield one of the best known in New England, and was a public-spirited citizen in every way, especially where his adopted home of Springfield was concerned. Mr. Chapin carried a large amount of insurance, and most of the money he paid out in premiums, as well as money paid out by other Spring- field people, went to Hartford. It seemed to him that if Hartford could maintain insurance companies, Springfield could, and the money would then stay in the city.
He approached a well-known resident of Springfield, Chester W. Chapin, and Mr. Chapin suggested that Marvin go down town among the business men and solicit funds for stock in an insurance company. At first he was unable to get anyone to invest a dollar in
520
HAMPDEN COUNTY-1636-1936
such stock. Chester Chapin was now enthusiastic and urged him to try again, with the object of getting ten men or firms to take $10,000 worth of stock so as to insure a capitalization of $100,000. Each man took a share himself and worked zealously among the business men until all the shares had been taken up but two, and these were apportioned out to those who did not want or could not afford to take as much as $10,000.
The Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Company was incor- porated from this beginning in 1849. Real business began in Novem-
THE FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE BUILDING, FLANKED BY THE CHURCH OF THE UNITY
ber, 1851, with the first loss by fire, when Enos Parsons, of North- ampton, holding policy No. 24, met with damage amounting to about three hundred dollars. One more trifling loss was sustained at the close of the year, and the company was well started.
An ambitious search for business marked the early years of the company. Industries were beginning to awaken and extend their activities, and the company engaged their first traveling agent, Mr.
521
INDUSTRIAL SPRINGFIELD
Edwin Ray, of Springfield. The first major insurance problem came up in 1852, when the company was undecided whether to take a marine risk on the new steamer "Yankee Blade." It was finally voted not to take insurance on the hulls of steamers running south of Savan- nah, Georgia, because of the danger from tropical storms. It was also voted to discontinue insurance on woolen mills, with the excep- tion of those making white flannel blankets and "fulling" cloth. These mills were without much fire protection, and once they were ignited the flames were almost impossible to stop.
The company expanded, making a home office necessary. A lot was purchased on the corner of Main and Fort streets from the heirs of William Pynchon. In 1858 the company moved into its new quarters.
The company showed forethought in its insurance policies in those early days of its existence. Just before the Civil War broke out it was decided to discontinue all marine business except inland lake and river risks. After the Civil War times were difficult for fire insur- ance companies, but the Springfield Fire and Marine held its own and even prospered, while such strong companies as the Massasoit and Hampden Fire Insurance companies, both of Springfield, went out of business.
In 1871 a calamity came which ruined several strong fire insurance companies. This calamity was the great fire of Chicago, which raged with fury through the southwest part of the city and then fed by a strong wind, drove directly through the heart of the business sec- tion. Hundreds of buildings were completely destroyed and millions of dollars' worth of grain, furniture, machinery and merchandise went up in smoke. The Springfield company suffered the staggering loss of $450,000, and for a time it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. But almost before the flames in the great western city had died down, a special meeting of the board of directors was held, and it was pro- posed that the corporation repair its capital by assessing the stock sixty-five per cent.
Out of seventy-five stockholders there was not a single "no" vote ! Thus, in positive fashion, the men behind the company signified their faith in it, and this unswerving loyalty through several reverses has made the company the strong and worthy institution it is today. After this fire, business looked toward the Springfield company for their
522
HAMPDEN COUNTY-1636-1936
insurance with full confidence, knowing that the company would pay dollar for dollar, no matter what the calamity.
On November 9, 1872, a great conflagration swept Boston. It started at the corner of Summer and Kingston streets, in the business center, and raged for an entire day. The wholesale district, thickly congested with stores and warehouses, was destroyed, and the aggre- gate loss from the fire amounted to $80,000,000. The blow to Mas- sachusetts companies was a terrible one, and twenty-six were forced to
THE MASSACHUSETTS MUTUAL BUILDING
close their doors. The Springfield company, in the same manner as after the Chicago fire, voted to assess their capital stock thirty per cent., as their loss in the Boston fire amounted to about a quarter of a millon dollars. Again there was not a single negative vote cast among the stockholders ! The company emerged stronger than ever.
The history of the company from here on is one of constantly increasing prestige and financial stability. Expansion progressed steadily until now the name of the Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Company is known clear to the Pacific Coast.
523
INDUSTRIAL SPRINGFIELD
The Massachusetts Mutual Company, whose first president was Caleb Rice, a citizen of the highest type, who became mayor of the city, did a prosperous business on Main Street, in what was con- sidered one of the handsomest buildings. At the end of the cen- tury the company erected a modern eight-story structure, which was believed sufficient for the future needs of the company, but its business ran up into staggering figures, and in less than two decades it became apparent that larger quarters were necessary. Twenty-seven acres were purchased two miles out of the center on State Street, and there a building was erected from plans by Kirkham and Parlett, that today is accepted as one of the finest insurance buildings in the eastern part of the country. The great building, with its trim and dignified lines, its wide well-kept lawn, its many shining windows and great clock represent a landmark of Springfield.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1895, an automobile or "gasoline moto- cycle" ran though the snow and slush of Chicago streets to win the first auto race ever held in America. The average rate of speed of about five miles an hour was considered phenomenal and the news- papers reported exultantly that the first eight miles of the course had been covered in a single hour.
The car which easily defeated its four competitors was made in the city of Springfield, and its designer was J. Frank Duryea, who lived in the city at the time. It was called a "gasoline motocycle," despite the fact that it had four wheels. It covered the entire distance of fifty-four miles, from Jackson Park to Evanston and back, in ten hours and twenty-three minutes, and won the prize of $5,000 offered by the Chicago "Times-Herald." The nearest competitor to the Duryea was a Benz, especially imported for the occasion. The Dur- yea led all the way, although at one time the steering wheel broke and a stop had to be made at a roadside blacksmith shop for repairs.
Duryea is generally credited with being "The Father of the Auto- mobile" and the maker of "America's First Gas Car," although this has often been disputed. It was in 1892 that the first American auto- mobile factory was established by Duryea in this city, and in the suc- ceeding year he produced fifteen motor cars. His very first car was built the year before that and was equipped with a one-cylinder motor. Duryea's two-cylinder motor-driven vehicles were the first to be placed in the hands of the public by any manufacturer.
524
HAMPDEN COUNTY-1636-1936
The Duryea record is a record of progress through many obstacles and adverse conditions. The policy was first and foremost to expand along conservative lines, not branching out until automobile standards had become settled and basic. Duryea never put experimental cars on the market and was never obliged to retrace a single step in the evolution of the motor car. It was this painstaking thoroughness and strict attention to practical detail that gave the later Stevens-Duryea motor cars the highest reputation.
As Duryea made that first great change in the motor from a "one-lunger" to a "two-lunger," he also made a radical change in the body. Where his first efforts had been on the high-wheel buggy type, he changed the model so that it became a moderate-sized pneumatic- tired wheel affair, thus providing an easier running and shock- absorbing vehicle. A feature of Duryea cars was his carburetor, and this the whole automobile world soon copied, as its qualities for regu- lating the mixture were far superior to those of other pioneers in the field.
It was in the early 'nineties that William M. Remington, who was chief draftsman for Mr. Duryea, was made a partner and the concern set out with the object of producing the best road-wagon for a moderate price suitable for American roads and requirements. These early cars of Duryea's, sold in Springfield, had twelve horse- power water-cooled motors, and the two cylinders were cast integrally and placed horizontally side by side. These were the first cars that were efficient at varying speeds, due to the superior carburetor action.
It was one of these same "gas-wagons" that won another notable victory in the Ardsley Casino Decoration Day race, from New York City to Irvington-on-the-Hudson, in 1896. This was the second road race run in America, and the Duryea this time was awarded a cash prize of $3,000. The model of 1896 again won distinction when it was exhibited and run on the floor of the Charitable Mechanics' Fair held in Boston in that year, marking probably the first authentic auto- mobile show in the country. The first annual automobile show held in Springfield was in 1904.
Constantly looking for ways to better his product, Mr. Duryea next added various improvements to the motor, increasing the speed, durability and appearance of his cars as he went, the result being a vehicle which received high commendation when shown at an exhibit
525
INDUSTRIAL SPRINGFIELD
in New York in 1897. About the same time, a Duryea car, driven by Mr. Duryea himself, ran through rain and mud to win the London- to-Brighton race in England. It bettered all previous records for the distance by an hour, and was acclaimed as the speediest car ever raced on British soil.
In 1900, the Duryea Motor Wagon Company, as it was called, became the Stevens-Duryea Company, when Irving H. Page, president and treasurer of the J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company, affiliated himself with Mr. Duryea. This company, which was located at a manufacturing plant in East Springfield, was at first the only recog- nized auto manufacturing concern, although later other competitors in the field came fast, and this city was a mecca for early automobile enthusiasts.
The Knox Automobile Company, now out of business, but for- merly located on Wilbraham Road, was one of Springfield's noted manufacturing concerns. It was founded in 1900, and its plant occu- pied about 5,000 square feet of floor space, with a production capacity of one hundred and fifty cars a year. The Knox became popular for its durability and general efficiency, and the business increased many times with the coming of W. E. Wright as general manager. This company at the time of its inception in Springfield was one of the few, and possibly the only factory in America, to make and assemble every part of its cars within the walls of its own plant.
The American Bosch Company in Brightwood is one of Spring- field's industries under the leadership of President Murray. Its begin- ning was in the Bosch Magneto Company, a firm run almost wholly by Germans and engaged in making auto magnetos, but when the World War came, the plant was taken over by a "regulator" and later became the American Bosch Corporation, with its principal article of manu- facture today the famous "Bosch" radio. Shortly after the war, when the company was manufacturing magnetos, business dropped. The firm, however, bought up a number of interests and went into other channels of manufacture with considerable success.
A development of national and international import came in 1901, when George M. Hendee built the first motorcycle in America, and thus Springfield has the double honor of having both the first automobile and first motorcycle in America built within its limits. This two-wheeled contrivance, a mechanical version of the former
526
HAMPDEN COUNTY-1636-1936
foot-driven bicycle, excited great comment, and was considered a dangerous vehicle in every respect, too dangerous to be manufactured and sold commercially. But the great plant of the Indian Motocycle Company, located near Winchester Square, was the outgrowth, and the famous red "Indian Motorcycle" became known everywhere here and abroad.
Industry profited when the Fiberloid Corporation moved to Indian Orchard from Newburyport and began to manufacture its many colloid products.
In 1900 the population of Springfield was 62,050, almost double the number of people here fifteen years before. Court Square exten- sion was made possible through public subscription, a significant geo- graphical change in the city of Springfield. This early part of the decade of 1910-20 is significant of a building boom to accommodate the increased demand of new population, the building permits of 1912 amounting to $6,250,000, an increase of forty per cent. over the previous year ! It was in 1904 that S. Z. Poli built one of the first of the modern theatres here, and this amusement house is still in exist- ence under the name of the "Poli Theatre," although the ownership has changed. Springfield has a group of theatres well equipped for the needs of the public so far as motion pictures go, and the Court Square Theatre, itself an institution of long standing, still supplies the legitimate stage to the city.
The coming of the New England Westinghouse plant to this city in 1915 added strong impetus to an already favorable industrial situa- tion. This great plant, which covers a large area of land in East Springfield, manufactures refrigerators, fans, and all sorts of elec- trical equipment which is sent throughout the country.
Municipal Springfield
CHAPTER XXX Municipal Springfield
Water has always been a prime factor in the migration and loca- tion of peoples. Where there is water, men settle and build their homes, until finally populous cities grow. Areas without it are today barren of human population, as they were a thousand or ten thousand years ago.
It was the abundance of water, in the main, which led the hardy pioneers to establish their homes in Springfield plantation some three centuries ago. Here there were broad and fertile meadows, nurtured by the wide river which cut through it. And here there was a brook, later called the Town Brook, which coursed across the plantation and could provide water for all purposes, including convenient and ade- quate fire protection as well as a natural laundry for the plain rough garments of those sober Puritans. But even William Pynchon, vision- ary and dreamer as he was, could not have foreseen that those who succeeded him would take their water from the hills eighteen miles away, first through the very heart of a mountain and then through many miles of underground pipes to every home.
The first man to become actively interested in a system of water distribution was Charles Stearns, in 1843. Mr. Stearns, an enter- prising business man with the courage to carry out his own convictions, suggested the establishing of a system of water works, but was gen- erally laughed at and politely ridiculed by other citizens, and he could get no financial aid for his scheme.
Finally he secured permission from the selectmen to go ahead with his idea of constructing a general water system for the business section of Springfield. In August of 1843 he began the work on his own resources, and laid wooden main pipes from what is now known as Van Horn Reservoir through the various streets to the
Hampden-34
530
HAMPDEN COUNTY-1636-1936
Western Railroad depot and from there down to Main and Bliss streets, supplying dwellings, stores, hotels and other buildings, to the number of about one hundred and fifty, with pure and wholesome water at reasonable cost. Stearns, as he saw his dream coming true, increased the speed of his work and soon nearly all the principal streets in the business center were supplied.
It was true that this pioneer water distributing system was crude and almost primitive as compared to our systems of today. Yet it was tremendously useful to the people of that time, and from every angle was a successful and remunerative investment. Those who had laughed at Stearns at first, hurried to buy stock in a proposed company for an even better water system.
Five years after Stearns had completed his layout, a petition was formed for the incorporation of the Springfield Aqueduct Company, and it carried the names of eighty-three solid citizens of the commu- nity. There was some opposition at first, but finally the bill blossomed into a law, and the Springfield Aqueduct Company was duly incor- porated, with Stearns, Festus Stevens, George Hastings and "their associates" succeeding to the properties and interests formerly owned by Mr. Stearns. This company almost immediately became a real instrument of public improvement.
The reservoir capacity was enlarged as population increased, and the old wooden logs were replaced by cement-lined conveyors. Yet there was the fear among the residents of Springfield that the improve- ments in water distribution would not be sufficient to keep pace with the rapid increase of people establishing their homes in the city, and the water supply, while not yet taxed, became a serious topic of discussion and consideration. It was about this time, too, that a well for fire pre- vention purposes was sunk at the corner of State and Stebbins streets, and proposals were advanced to construct a system of wells, connect them by pipes, and carry the water by gravity to the lower part of the city for general use.
The pressure of public opinion toward the installation of the wells became stronger, a feasible plan was at last reported by engineers, and the City Aqueduct Company was formed, replacing the old Springfield company. Water was taken from wells on the hill and conveyed through pipes to the business section, and immediately a loud cry of indignation arose from residents on the hill. Being public-spirited
531
MUNICIPAL SPRINGFIELD
was a fine thing, within limits, but when it came to draining private wells and creating an acute danger of the trees and vegetation drying up because their nourishment was being carried away, it was time that something was done. As the situation became more acute, the Legis- lature finally authorized a million dollar bond issue for the purpose of creating an adequate water supply, with the source either in the Con- necticut or Chicopee rivers. Under this Act of 1872 the first board of water commissioners in the city of Springfield was formed.
The combined franchises and interests of the old Springfield Aque- duct and City Aqueduct companies were purchased, the systems united, and a new and temporary system was established, the source of supply coming first from Garden Brook and later from a pumping station on the banks of the Connecticut in Brightwood. After some time the commission purchased more than eight hundred acres of land in Lud- low for the source of the necessary water, and Ludlow Reservoir was built. Like the various systems which preceded it, this, too, became inadequate as the city continued to grow.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.