USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume II > Part 9
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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 | Part 43 | Part 44
The Lamb Manufacturing Company, makers of knitting machines, was another established Chicopee industry. The "Lamb" machine was the only standard one for commercial knitting as well as the only "family knitter" which had proved its practicability. The needle was automatic, so that when fed with yarn and moved forward or back- ward, it would form the stitch by its own action and could be adapted to any size of work, tubular or flat, and single, double, or ribbed. Lamb machines, after once demonstrating their usefulness, were sold in large volume as a great step forward over the former laborious hand-knitting. Many woolen manufacturers bought the machines to convert the scraps and ends of yarn which accumulated in their fac- tories, and hosiery manufacturers found that they could hasten the manufacture and lower the costs of their knitted stockings by using this mechanical knitting machine. In 1893 the A. G. Spalding and Bros., of Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, became interested in the company and together they turned out bicycles, gymnasium sup- plies and skates, as well as much of the iron and wooden goods required for their tremendous business.
In the early 'eighties the Poles came to Chicopee. The influx came about purely by accident when a group of Poles missed a train and were stranded in the section. Father Healey, a Catholic priest, took them to Chicopee, where they started to work and decided to stay.
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Soon great numbers of Polish people came and settled in tenements and mill houses on the north side of the river at the Center. Now a large percentage of Chicopee population is Polish.
Market Square was the business section of the city, as it is today. A long wooden bridge spanned the Connecticut River, later supplanted by an iron one after the old bridge had been destroyed by fire. The Chapin Inn had burned down, removing a famous landmark in Chico- pee. Chicopee Falls was expanding rapidly, as were Willimansett and Aldenville. The best building in town for a long time was located on Springfield Street of Chicopee Falls, and was used for educational purposes until the modern noises of adjacent bicycle manufacturing so disturbed the teachers and pupils that it was impossible. The old brick schoolhouse on School Street had been torn down to be replaced by a new one and the old high school on Grape Street was still stand- ing. From time to time small newspapers struggled into being, but soon failed against the competition of the Springfield newspapers with their wider coverage.
The 'eighties marked many changes and additions to Chicopee. Its streets were in good condition and the policy of temporarily patch- ing up the roads by scraping the contents toward the center was aban- doned for more modern methods. The Chicopee Falls Bridge was raised four feet and shingled and planked to keep it in good condi- tion. Among the significant municipal improvements were sewer extensions of brick pipe on several streets. The well-populated streets were Center, Chapin, Springfield, Front and Grape, and in Chicopee Falls, Bay View Avenue, Spring and Cochran streets. The famous South Holyoke Ferry was now an old and decayed boat, and the city of Holyoke provided a new one, half of the cost being shouldered by Chicopee, in accordance with a decree by the county commissioners.
The town hall, erected in the 'seventies, is an imposing structure of brick with stone trimmings, and has a recessed entrance, at each end of which is a memorial tablet of bronze, set in relief work of Gothic form, and bearing the names of those gallant soldiers who fought for Chicopee during the Civil War. The picturesque feature of the building is the tower, which was then a landmark up and down the river before it was hidden by surrounding buildings.
Chicopee in the 'eighties was industrial in essence, but it did not neglect the cultural development of its residents. There was a library
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containing 9,000 volumes and a branch library at Chicopee Falls. Schools included the high school building at the Center, high school rooms at the Falls, and the Chicopee Street School. There was also an evening school for the education of those who could not attend during the day.
Chicopee's development has through the years been a development of sections, divided into the Center, Chicopee Falls, Willimansett, Chicopee Street, Fairview, and Aldenville. In the late 'eighties, the total valuation was almost $6,000,000, which rapidly increased year by year. Besides the city hall, libraries and schools, there were other public buildings, including the Chicopee Almshouse, which had been opened in 1877. The first street railway line in Chicopee was built in 1888 from Springfield to the center of Chicopee Falls. With the opening of the bridge at Willimansett, in 1892, zeal for street rail- ways became great and men, women and children signed petitions to companies to build lines past their houses. Modern development was known even in that day, and a forest of old stakes showed where one speculator bought acres of land and divided it into home lots, streets and avenues.
In 1890 Chicopee decided that with a population of 14,000 it had outgrown the town meeting form of government. Under the leader- ship of George M. Stearns a city charter was procured from the Leg- islature and Deacon George S. Taylor was elected the first mayor. One of his early official acts was to appoint Mr. Stearns as city solici- tor, knowing that the legal affairs of the new city would be in capable hands. The single term precedent was first broken by Mayor George D. Eldredge in 1896, at which time the city charter was revised and improved.
In the 'nineties there were five substantial Protestant churches at the Center, as well as a fire station. The business blocks were on Exchange Street for the most part and there were fine residences on Springfield Street. Grove and West Main streets were built up, as was Broadway above Walnut Street. Middle Street was a narrow back street, formerly "Barn Lane," which used to be lined with stables and barnyards. The Second Congregational Church and the Falls Methodist Church were well filled on the Sabbath and the Bap- tists worshipped in Union Hall.
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There was a Chicopee Falls branch of the Boston and Maine Rail- road and the city was serried by dams and canals. A steel truss bridge spanned the water at the Falls, while the covered bridge at Chicopee had ceased to be a toll bridge. The electric road was opened in the Spring of 1895, following the main road through Willimansett and extending over the hill to make connections with the lines to Spring- field at Chicopee Falls. Willimansett by this time was a well- developed part of the municipality of Chicopee and in Aldenville small homes were springing up rapidly as the population increased. The financial affairs of the people and the industries were handled by one national bank and two savings banks.
The first venture in municipal ownership came in 1892, when the Legislature granted authority to purchase the property and privi- leges of the existing water companies and to broaden and make larger their capacities by using new sources of water. In 1898 the city had a good water supply, operating on a pumping system which could fur- nish 2,800,000 gallons of water daily.
In May of 1896 the city ventured into the electric light business and a new station with high grade equipment and apparatus was erected. This municipal electric system served the city well and a superintendent's report states "The street lighting system made a creditable showing, inasmuch as the amount of light furnished has been increased 60 percent over the amount previously supplied at a manufacturing cost inside the prices formerly paid by the city."
A phenomenon of Chicopee at this time was its almost overnight development as a bicycle center. The bicycle craze which swept the entire country caused Chicopee industry to accelerate its production greatly. The Lamb and Ames plants were already in bicycle produc- tion and two factories, the Overman Wheel Company and the Spald- ing and Pepper Company established great production in Chicopee on the wave of the bicycle popularity.
The Overman factory was one of the most imposing places in Chicopee under the leadership of Albert Overman, president of the company. For fourteen years they had been making bicycles, starting in a small way in a little shop, and rising to one of the largest bicycle factories in the country. Instead of hiring racing men to ride their wheels in the interest of advertising, the Overman put the money into quality and fineness of manufacture and the reputation of the "Victor"
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was made by itself. Each year the company put out various models suited to men of different weights, so that purchasers could order their bicycles custom made. The Overman plant was the only place in the world at the time which made the complete bicycle from handle-bars to tires, with machinery developed almost completely by its own tech- nicians. Experts were employed to do nothing but ride the bicycles and report in the minutest detail how far the wheel went when it ran out of oil, the power used to drive it, and other research data neces- sary for the best in the manufacture of bicycles.
Chicopee bicycles figured prominently in the news. A man named Frank Lenz, the first to attempt a trip across Asia on a bicycle, rode a Victor. He was murdered when his remarkable journey was nearly completed. The 25th United States Infantry Bicycle Corps mounted Chicopee-made bicycles and carrying their tents, arms, rations and ammunition rode from Fort Missoula, Montana, to St. Louis to test the practicability of the bicycle as a machine for military purposes.
Two great industries came to the city just before the beginning of the new century. The A. G. Spalding & Bros. plant at the Center and the Fisk Rubber Company in Chicopee Falls occupy large areas of floor space and manufacture products that are famous the country over.
The Spalding industry originally started in Chicopee Falls with the manufacture of bicycles and later included the manufacture of ten- nis racquets, and in 1894 added golf clubs, when that game was gain- ing a foothold in the country. The manufacture of gymnasium appa- ratus was removed from Philadelphia, and the Spalding organization in Chicopee started the manufacture of golf balls two or three years later. When the so-called American bicycle trust came into being, the company abandoned its bicycle products and turned all its energies to the manufacture of sports equipment, purchasing the plant of the old Ames Manufacturing Company in 1904. This plant was remodeled and enlarged and the foundry business of the old Ames organization was carried along for a time, but later abandoned.
Up to 1914 tennis ball centers had been imported from Germany and covered here. These balls were giving much dissatisfaction and Spalding at this time started to make tennis balls at Chicopee. In 1929 sales reached nearly $10,000,000 and, as additional space was required, the plant of the Stevens-Duryea Automobile Company in
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FISK TIRE AND RUBBER COMPANY PLANT AT CHICOPEE FALLS
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Willimansett was purchased, which gave approximately 200,000 feet of floor space. Tennis ball manufacture was concentrated in this unit. In late years the firm has placed much emphasis on golf equipment as well as tennis equipment, and these are the two principal divisions of the plant's manufactures, although a number of miscellaneous items are made also.
The Fisk Rubber Company came into being in Chicopee Falls in 1898. It was organized by Noyes W. Fisk for the purpose of manu- facturing bicycle tires and solid carriage tires, and the small plant of 27,000 feet of floor space owned by the Spalding and Pepper Com- pany was purchased. Two years later, as the automobile was becom- ing an accepted fact instead of a phenomenon, the Fisk Company went into the manufacture of automobile tires and since that time the com- pany has kept pace with the new and exacting demands of the indus- try to maintain an outstanding position in tire manufacturing. The original small plant expanded into the great tire and tube building plant now in Chicopee Falls and the personnel increased quickly as automobiles ceased to be a luxury and came within the reach of the average man's pocketbook. The Fisk organization has its own cotton-spinning plant at New Bedford, Massachusetts, and every inch of cotton cord used in Fisk tires is made in this mill according to Fisk specifications. Today Fisk tires and rubber sundries are known everywhere throughout the country and many of the foremost devel- opments in the tire industry were started at the Fisk plant.
A well-known institution of Chicopee is Our Lady of the Elms Academy. This school had its beginning in the spring of 1899, when the Right Reverend Thomas D. Beaven, late bishop of the diocese, selected the present Chicopee location as the site of a new school for girls. The land first purchased for this purpose was the Stebbins home on Springfield Street, which included the dwelling house, other buildings, and a large tract of land. From the mother home of the Order of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Springfield several of the sisters were chosen to establish the school. There was but a small enroll- ment at first, but it gradually became larger and at the end of four years the first Elms commencement took place.
As the school grew it became necessary to add to the original Stebbins property and in 1892 the residence of Thomas Mccarthy, which adjoined the Stebbins home was bought, and later another pur-
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chase was made of the property of the late Justin Spalding. In 1904 the academy chapel was built on land in the rear of the Stebbins home and in the same year the Veranus Casino, a large and well-equipped auditorium, came into being. Three years later the Bixby home on the opposite side of the original Stebbins tract was purchased, this placing a total of about thirty-five acres at the disposal of the acad- emy. The school became thoroughly modernized in 1923 when the first of a group of three beautiful buildings was erected, a four-story structure of red pressed brick over a steel framework, at a cost of $250,000.
A historic Chicopee Falls landmark was torn down in 1935 when the old Jacobs house finally submitted to the inroads of progress. This house, located on Bridge Street, where there were mineral springs, was once famous as a health resort. The beautiful white building with a colonial white piazza was built in 1840, but since then had undergone many changes. From its sanatorium stage it was con- verted into a tenement block and later small stores were opened on the lower floor. The land on the opposite side of the street was owned by the Chicopee Manufacturing Company and an official of the com- pany, Mr. Osgood, occupied the house. Residents of the time in Chicopee spoke with pride of the Osgood gardens, which extended the length of what is now Main Street. Flowers of rich hues bloomed in square and rounded flowerbeds, all arranged very symmetrically.
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Thumb, the famous midget couple, were rela- tives of the Osgood family and visited at their home every year at the end of the circus season. The couple's little pony and cart were kept in a big barn on the premises and the tiny couple naturally attracted considerable attention as they drove around town in their miniature outfit.
An interesting character of present-day Chicopee is Eugene Cham- pagne, a faith healer, who says his magic words over the bodies of the afflicted. His modest but well kept home stands on the muddy lowlands alongside the Connecticut River. In the center of the yard is a high stone shrine. The enclosed veranda has several statues of saints and inside the house is a chapel with the stations of the cross and many holy objects. Believers may drink from a well in the yard or get a bottle of medicine for seventy-five cents. Testimonials of cures of sprains, nosebleeds, drunkenness and more serious ailments
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can be secured freely from the neighbors. The healer sends out cir- culars, written in French, urging sufferers to forego tomatoes and high heels and pray to St. Francis Xavier. The return mail is enormous. Many call in automobiles, as many as sixty being there at a time on pleasant Sundays and some coming from as far away as Canada.
The Chicopee of today is a modern municipality in every respect. As has been the case in the past, the present population of about 44,000 people depend in great measure on the industries of the com- munity, either directly or indirectly, although some work in the adja- cent cities of Holyoke and Springfield. The principal industries are the Spalding, Fisk and Chicopee manufacturing companies, and the Westinghouse has a branch in the section where government appara- tus is manufactured. There are a number of smaller industries which add to the main products of tires, sporting goods, and surgical band- ages by producing toilet accessories, knit goods, men's and boys' clothing, fabricated steel, paper boxes and brooms.
The expansion of Chicopee from the beginning of the century has been gradual and certain, although not phenomenal during any one time. Market Square is still the business section of the city, now encircled with modern office and store buildings. The city has four hospitals, one park and four theatres. Transportation problems are well-handled by the street railway system and access to railroads is found in the Boston and Maine line. Chicopee has three libraries, with the principal one on Market Square, next to the city hall. There are twenty-eight individual schools, of which seven are parochial, the latter for the use of the large French and Polish population. The high school, recently completed, is a beautiful building, modern and roomy, which has a frontage on a large lawn cut by a curving drive- way. There are twenty-two church buildings, the older being those of Protestant denomination and Irish Catholic, and the newer ones comprising the parishes of the French and Polish. Financial affairs are taken care of by five banks, one trust company and two savings banks. The assessed valuation of modern Chicopee is $45,000,000 and the fifty-three industrial establishments turn out products valued at $46,000,000 annually.
Holyoke, the Paper City
CHAPTER II
Holyoke, the Paper City
The site of Holyoke, first called Ireland Parish, had been known to the Indians in the days when they held undisputed sway here- abouts and the falls of the Connecticut were a favorite fishing ground. No white men had settled in the region until in 1675 a venture- some man named Riley appeared on the scene. He was the pioneer settler and located just north of Riley Brook, now the southern boundary of the city. No doubt he was thus located purposely close by the "water highway" and near the old trail between Spring- field and Northampton.
There is little evidence that other settlers soon sought this vicinity, but the Riley family lived in it long enough to give it the name "Ire- land," now only a memory.
In that part of Holyoke formerly Smiths Ferry there was one sturdy settler, Benjamin Wright. It is recalled that in 1704 his place, then called "Lower Farms," was attacked by the Indians. They were repulsed with the loss of one warrior and when they attempted to burn the house a youth named Stebbins wrapped a feather bed about him to protect himself from arrows and then got water with which he extinguished the fire.
It was some years before one of the earliest families, that of Benjamin Ball, settled, in 1745, on Northampton and Cherry streets, and the six families which soon gathered there "forted together nights for fear of the Indians." In 1749 Captain John Miller settled on Northampton Street and owned a large part of the region now covered by the city of Holyoke. Captain Miller took part in the capture of Louisburg not long before. The Miller house remained in the family until 1857. During the Revolutionary War it was kept as an inn and was the half-way-house on the old stage line between Springfield and Northampton. It was the oldest house in town when torn down in 1884. In the Ingleside region Colonel Ely kept a tav-
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ern, and on his farm the last of the Indians in this part of the State was allowed to build a hut. He was unwilling to follow his dusky tribe to parts unknown and he dwelt there for several years before he died. On the same historic street was the "Brown house," where once lived Enoch Ely, a Revolutionary soldier. The insurgents engaged in Shays' Rebellion on their march down the valley, at one time attacked this house, but failed to secure the occupant, who had probably fled to the nearby woods. Bullet holes in the front door were plainly visible afterward.
Still father north on the same street stands the old Fairfield home- stead, in early years the property of Lucas Morgan. The date of its construction is not at hand, but an incident will indicate it. One dark night Mr. Morgan, on leading his horse into the stable, placed his hand on the warm head of a crouching Indian and lost no time in getting himself on the inside of the strong back door of his house, which soon resounded with the blows of a tomahawk. A shot from Mr. Morgan's gun promptly made all quiet without and the morning light revealed in the snow the tracks of three Indians and before the door the farm dog lying dead.
The old cemetery at "Baptist Village" supplies some interesting items. For instance, Nathan Parks, while hunting in 1797, and lying concealed in a ditch, was potted as unerringly by Frink with a flintlock as if he had carried a high-powered Winchester. Lieutenant Joseph Morgan is set forth as one of those included in the capture of Fort William Henry in 1757. But how he retained his scalp in the massacre that followed we are not told.
Over beyond Ashley Ponds at the West Springfield line was a gristmill and hydraulic cement factory and a little south in West Springfield, on a brook, was a saw and shingle mill, and down near the present dam were a gristmill and a cotton mill.
In 1832 Chester Crafts bought an inn property and conducted it as a tavern, store or post-office until his death in 1871. His brother, afterward mayor of Holyoke, drove a four-horse stage from Spring- field to Northampton, about twenty miles, carrying mail and passen- gers. Something stronger than water used to be sold in those old stage-driving, river-boating, canal-freighting and fishery days. It was told of Richard Thorpe, that after drinking somewhat freely at the tavern and having his bottle properly filled with New England
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rum, he then proceeded up the road toward Easthampton. After toil- ing up the steep incline he lay down and fell asleep and a man who was mowing in a nearby field saw the bottle protruding from his pocket and emptied the contents into his dinner pail. Then he refilled the flask with pure water from a brook and left the wayfarer to awake later to slake his thirst. When the sleeper did so his wrath was boundless. He hastened back to the tavern and made the air blue with resent- ment. No human power could convince him that the pure water had not been placed in the bottle at the tavern. So his bottle was refilled, free of charge.
At this early date the pioneers rode eight miles to the mother settlement to attend town meetings or religious services. This north- erly section of West Springfield, which then also included Agawam and Feeding Hills, did not grow rapidly. The "fields" now occupied by the city proper was a sandy, unproductive region, but the land along Northampton Street was cultivated and even the foothills of the Mt. Tom range. Corn, wheat and rye were raised and large harvests taken yearly to Boston and other markets. Elisha Ashley raised 1,300 bushels of rye one year, but Deacon Peresh Hitchcock beat him with 1,400 bushels. This led to the manufacture of whiskey and distilleries were started at Money Hole Hill and other places down the valley. Farmers' produce and a few manufactured articles were carried down the river in sloops, scows and barges, and whatever was required in return was brought back and left at the river landings, where wagons were loaded and then drawn to places in the adjacent country. Baptist Village, the section of the city now known as Elm- wood, was the principal part of the parish in early years, and located as it was upon the only road on the west side of the river between Springfield and Northampton, it was a stopping place for stages and a resort for farmers living in the country about.
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