USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historical collections: containing I. The Reformation in France; the rise, progress and destruction of the Huguenot Church. Vol II > Part 31
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One of the proprietors, Malcolmn Ammidown, having de- ceased, this property was sold for the purpose of effecting a division of interests, and a settlement of the deceased party's estate, when it became the sole property of Mr. Henry C. Ammidown.
On the 5th of October, 1866, this estate was conveyed by deed from Henry C. Ammidown to Henry T. Grant, of Provi- dence, Rhode Island ; described as a certain parcel of land in Southbridge, known as the Columbian Manufacturing Com- pany property ; consideration, $37,000 .*
Mr. Grant at once commenced to erect a new mill, adjoin- ing on the west of the brick-mill, before referred to, on said premises. This mill was finished in 1867, in March, and filled with 4,736 spindles and 108 looms, and put in operation with all the other necessary machinery for making print cloths, June 1, 1867.
The product weekly is about 24,000 yards, and the whole process is said to be conducted with skill and profit.
CENTRAL COTTON MILLS.
Ebenezer D. Ammidown was the originator of this enter- prise. He bought the real estate, including the water-power
* See records of Deeds, Worcester, book 732, p. 510.
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and abont 12 acres of land in all, of Royal Smith, January 20, 1836 ; consideration, $9,000 .*
For the previous history of this real estate and water-power, see Marey's mills.
At the date of this purchase, Mr. Ammidown conveyed the estate to the Dresser Manufacturing Company, and the same was incorporated as the Central Manufacturing Company, February 17, 1837 ; the Dresser Manufacturing Company conveying the estate to this corporation. By this act of in- corporation the company was authorized to hold real estate to the amount of $75,000, and personal estate not exceeding the value of $150,000.
This company was organized with a capital of $60,000. The stock subscribed at this time was $52,000, in shares of $1,000 each, as follows :
Ebenezer D. Ammidown, 30 shares.
Linus Child, - 10
Dresser Manufacturing Company, 12
The mill was erected in 1837, and the cotton manufacture commenced in May, 1838. At this time the machinery con- sisted of 2,048 warp spindles, and 2,432 spindles for filling, a total of 4,480 spindles, and other preparations, with 120 looms for making fine shirting and sheeting from Nos. 32 and 38 varn.
On the 27th of December, 1845, the company was reorgan- ized, with the capital increased to $80,000-shares $1,000 each.
This stock was subscribed for as follows, viz .:
Ebenezer D. Ammidown, 40 shares.
Linus Child, 10 ..
Manning Leonard. 15
66 Chester A. Dresser, 15
At the organization of this company Ebenezer D. Ammi-
* See Worcester Records, book 312, p. 478.
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down was elected the agent, Chester A. Dresser superintend- ent, and Manning Leonard, elerk. This organization continued to January 1, 1852, when the manufacturing property was leased to Chester A. Dresser and Manning Leonard for the term of four years, to be operated by them for the company on contract, and continued in this manner five years.
On the 14th of December, 1858, the whole property was sold by quit claim to Chester A. Dresser and Manning Leonard.
The company was reorganized again, March 30, 1859, hav- ing passed under an assignment during the previous year, and vested in the hands of Samuel M. Lane, as assignee, who, at the date last above given, conveyed the whole estate to Chester A. Dresser and Manning Leonard for $40,000.
These parties conveyed the whole estate to the Central Mills Company for $50,000, by deed dated February 16, 1863, when a new company was incorporated the same year, with Chester A. Dresser, of Southbridge, and Samnel and William Foster, and T. A. Randall, of Providence, as stockholders. It has now about 6,000 spindles and 150 looms. The water- power is about 283 feet fall.
SAUNDERS DALE.
The Saunders Dale water-power, and the extensive improve- ments there, are located on the homestead farm of the late Colonel Thomas Cheney, the pioneer settler in this place. The date of Colonel Cheney's purchases here, and several tracts of this land, are referred to in another part of this work. This farm, about seventy-five years ago, became a part of the large land estate of the late John Ammidown, who deceased December 3, 1814. In the year following the several farms belonging to this estate were divided among his six sons, at which time this homestead farm of Colonel Cheney descended to his two youngest sons, Adolphus and John Ammidown.
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The first improvement of this water-power was made by Adolphins Ammidown in 1831, when he erected a dam across the Lebanon Hill brook, near the present dam, and a part of same, where he built a saw-mill and used it as such for several years.
The water-power connected with the Quinebang river these parties sold to their brother, Larkin Ammidown, Angust 19, 1834, for $1,000. (B. 302, p. 257.) He built the dam across the Quinebaug, and excavated the canal and eularged the dam at the south end, adjoining the first dam, the same year. In 1835 he dug the race way, and erected a mill for manufactur- ing cotton, which he partly filled with machinery, and began spinning cotton in 1836 ; but the business proving unsatisfac- tory he sold the estate to Silas H. Kimball, December 16, the same year, for $11,000, and received in part payment from him the Dresser block, so called, in the center village of Southbridge.
Mr. Kimball increased and improved the machinery, and mortgaged the property to Duty Evans, of Chepachet, Rhode Island. He associated other parties with him, and con- tracted to sell a joint interest in the same ; but the business proving a losing one, the parties failed. The estate now passed into the hands of assignees, who advertised and sold it at public auction, subject to the right of redemption on the Evans mortgage. The principal and interest upon this debt, at the time of sale, October 11, 1843, amounted to $11,706 ; Mr. Evans bid in the right of redemption at $70.
Mr. Evans held the estate till April 1, 1847, when he sold his right-half to Stephen P. Irwin, one fourth to Moses E. Irwin, and the other fourth to W. A. J. Wilkinson. These grantees operated the mill about two years, until June 5, 1849, when the cotton-mill and machinery were destroyed by fire.
This village was known at this time as Ashland, and now the water-power (except for a saw-mill, operated a part of the
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time), remained unoccupied until sold to the present owner, James Saunders, of Providence.
The real estate bought by Mr. Saunders consisted of several tracts, as follows :
First, the Ashland estate and water-power, which included - 34 acres, at $6,750 The balance of the Adolphus Ammidown farm, 136 -
at 2,000
The James M. Bean place, lately owned by Charles E. Cady, with blacksmith shop, 20 at 5,250
Total, 190 acres, at $14,000
Mr. Saunders' deed bears date, " February 19, 1864."
The blacksmith shop sold by Mr. Bean was erected by David and Erastus . Bolles, from Woodstock, Connecticut, about the date of the incorporation of the town, 1815 or 1816.
The sale of the Adolphus Ammidown farm, to Mr. Saunders for $2,000 was much less than the sum paid to his heirs. To insure the whole sale of these tracts at this time to Mr. Saunders, this farm was bought first by Mr. Chester A. Dresser, of the heirs, for a sum over $3,000 ; but this difference in cost, over sale, now included in the general sale to Mr. Saunders, was paid by Mr. Dresser and some leading gentle- men of the town, who desired to see this water-power perma- nently improved ; by this liberality the sale was effected.
In 1865 Mr. Saunders made extensive improvements upon the dams, canal, and water-works generally, and erected the grist-mill and shop near the dam.
In addition to the foregoing real estate, Mr. Saunders bought the farm of the heirs of the late Joseph Vinton, by (leed dated, " September 20, 1866 ;" this farm contained 130 acres, for which he paid $8,000. Also, he bought the Thurs- ton farm, 65 acres of land, for $4,250. This last place has been known as the " Jonas Lamb Farm," sitnated at the junction of
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the roads leading to North Woodstock and Thompson ; before Mr. Lamb bought this place it was owned by men of the name of Arnold. Dr. Reuben Harrington bought this place of Colonel Benjamin Freeman in 1801; this was his first place of residence, when he came from North Brookfield, his native place, to establish himself as a physician. With these two last purchases and the first 190 acres, Mr. Saunders became the owner of 385 acres at this place, at a cost, excluding im- provements, of $26,250.
The foundation of the extensive brick buildings for the print works was laid about 1867, continued through 1868, and buildings finished preparatory for the machinery in 1869.
The depression in the printing business has been such that Mr. Saunders has not succeeded in engaging persons of capi- tal to furnish means for prosecuting the calico printing, as anticipated, while his own means have been exhausted in the original ontlay, with nearly two hundred thousand dollars of indebtedness, secured by mortgages upon the estate, which is in process of foreclosure, having been sold to Earl P. Mason, of Providence, leaving all this large investment in a very unsatisfactory condition at the present time.
THE COTTON-PLANT.
ITS HISTORY INTRODUCED IN CONNECTION WITH THAT OF ITS MANUFACTURE.
The article of cotton-wool having so important a bearing upon commerce, manufactures, and the monetary affairs of the country, a brief history of the cotton-plant, its mode of culture, and the annual product of that staple in the United States, and its past history and future prospects, is a subject of sufficient interest to appear here in connection with the . growing business of the cotton manufacture.
The botanical name of the cotton-plant is Gossypium; its
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varieties are very numerous ; but it is not the purpose to ex- plain here these varieties, except those generally cultivated in this country. They are classed under three heads, to wit: 1st, the tree cotton ; 2d, the shrub cotton ; 3d, the herb- aceous cotton.
The cotton-plant has been known in history from a very ancient period ; but the time when it was first made use of for its wool is not known.
The early Asiatic nations made use of cotton-wool for clothing coeval with their history, and from them it was in- troduced into Greece and Rome. It is believed by the best tests and information obtained, that the Egyptians, under their ancient civilization, did not make use of cotton, but used flax and hemp as a substitute.
It is well known that this most ancient people used vast quantities of cloth for shrouds for their dead; not only human bodies were embahned and wound in numerous folds of this cloth, but a great variety of animals, which their religion deified.
By a close examination of these mummy cloths, in a great variety of instances, by powerful microscopes, they have uni- formly been found to be of linen fabric.
Mr. Thompson, in a paper read before the Royal Society of England, remarks : " Repeated observations having estab- lished beyond all doubt the power of the microscope accu- rately to distinguish between the fibres of cotton and linen, I obtained, through the kindness of various individuals con- nected with the British Museum, the Royal College of Sur- geons, the Hunterian Museum of Glasgow, as well as other public institutions both at home and abroad, a great variety of cloth of human mummies, and of animals and birds, which, being subjected to the microscope, proved without exception to be linen." Nor has he, among the numerous specimens collected during many years, been able to detect a single
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fibre of cotton ; a fact recently confirmed by others, proving incontestably that the mummy cloth of Egypt was linen .*
Cotton appears to have been introduced into modern Europe at first as an article of trade and commerce in the fourteenth century.t
It is referred to by McCulloch, in his Dictionary of Com- merce, as being an article of manufacture in England, at Manchester and Lancashire, in 1641. But it was not until the invention of machinery by Hargraves, Arkwright, Crompton, and Watt, in the period between 1760 and 1785, and the inven- tion of the cotton-gin by Eli Whitney, in 1793,-that the great revolution was produced, which made cotton one of the lead- ing products of agriculture, commerce, and manufacture.
The cultivation of the Sea Island cotton-plant was intro- duced into the United States soon after the Revolutionary War, about 1786. The following is a brief account of the three principal varieties of this important agricultural plant :
TREE COTTON.
This species of the cotton-plant is not much cultivated. Its growth is to the height of ten to twenty feet. It is a native of India, Egypt, Arabia, and America. The Sea Island variety is derived from the Arboreum, or tree cotton; its fibre is long, strong, and silky, and of a yellowish tinge. The seed is black and of Persian origin, though originally introduced into this country from the Bahama islands, where it had been intro- duced by the English board of trade from the island of Anguilla in the Carribean sea. This cotton was raised first in Georgia in 1786, and the first bag exported was by Alex- ander Bissel, of St. Simon's island, in 1788. The section of country capable of producing this cotton is very limited, being mostly confined to the low sandy islands along the coast of
* See Industrial Resources of Southern and Western States, by J. B. D. De Bow, in 3 vols., vol. 1, p. 116.
+ See same, p. 118.
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South Carolina and Georgia. The region of this cotton is bounded on the north and north-east by the Santee river, and on the south-west along the coast of Georgia; in a tract of country about 250 miles in length, by about 30 miles in breadth. It flourishes only in lands affected by sea atmosphere, and on the main-land only along the borders of rivers or inlets, where the soil possesses saline qualities, in the vicinity of the tidal flow of the sea. It is also cultivated to a moderate extent quite generally in Florida.
The annual product of this most expensive cotton has, before the late Rebellion, of late years, varied from 10,000 to 40,000 bales.
The cultivation is attended with more difficulties, and requires more experience to make a crop of this cotton than of the upland; and for the general purposes of commerce and manufactures, is not of that importance to the country as the green-seed or short-staple cotton, which is adapted to a far greater breadth of country, and is less liable to disaster in the process of cultivation and the securing of the crop.
In a favorable state of cultivation the quantity produced per acre of these two species of cotton is about equal in the number of pounds, but the Sea Island is much more expen- sive in its culture, and requires more frequent and greater care in picking. Its value is also much greater. It is culti- vated in this country as an annual, the same as the herbace- ous or short-staple cotton.
SHRUB COTTON.
This species of the cotton-plant has several varieties. Its smallest variety is much like the current-bush, while some others grow to the height of ten or twelve feet. It is cultivated in Guiana and Brazil, more than the herbaceous, and to some extent in the south of Europe, Egypt, and in India. It will flourish wherever the climate is adapted to the herbaceous,
26A
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while in favorable climates, two crops during a year may be produced.
This species is not much cultivated in the United States.
HERBACEOUS COTTON.
This is the popular and favorite species of the cotton-plant, for enltivation in this country. The Sea Island, although pro- duced from the tree species, is only cultivated as an annual here. The two are distinguished by the color of the seed, the Sea Island being black, and the short-staple or Gulf, and up- land cotton, green. The short-staple cotton varies so much in its general appearance, in different localities, that it is claimed to possess quite distinct varieties ; the greatest extremes may be found between the short upland cotton of Georgia, and the long silky staple cotton of the Gulf States and Texas.
It has been acclimated so as to be a moderately remunera- ting crop, as far north as Southern Illinois, and the south part of Missouri.
Mr. Purchas, in his Pilgrims, in a note containing a letter of Thorp, dated, " May 17, 1621," refers to the first culture of cotton in the United States, to wit: " This year the seeds were planted as an experiment (in 1621), and was a subject of in- terest at the time."* This had reference to cotton in Virginia as a garden plant, no doubt.
Again, in the year 1731, in a description of the province of Sonth Carolina, by Peter Purry, of Neufchatel, for encourage- ment of Swiss Protestants, to accompany him there to settle a new colony, he says : " Flax and cotton thrive admirably, and hemp grows from 13 to 14 feet high."t
It is referred to by other writers quoted by Mr. De Bow in his Industrial Resources of the South and West, as being culti-
* See vol. IV : also, B. R. Carroll in his Historical Collections of South Carolina, vol. II. A Brief Description of the Province of South Carolina by Robert Horne, in the year 1666, refers to cotton wool, as being cultivated there; see p. 13.
1 See Carroll, vol. II, p. 133.
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vated in 1736 and 1739; but in all the foregoing cases its cultivation was more as an experiment than for any practical or profitable result .; even as far north as the southern parts of New Jersey. At the time of the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, it is reported that General Delagall, of South Carolina, had 30 acres of the green-seed cotton in cul- tivation. In 1775 the Congress of South Carolina recom- mended the inhabitants to raise cotton ; and Mr. Jefferson, referring to this product, speaks of the domestic economy of making cotton goods in families, in the year 1781. The green-seed cotton grown at this time came from Manilla and Cyprus, as asserted by some anthors, while others say from Barbadoes ; the latter most probable, but perhaps from both places ; which may account for the difference in appear- ance of this species in different sections of the cotton district.
It is seen by the foregoing that there was an increased ten- dency in the English colonies towards the cultivation of cotton as an article for export at this time.
There had been created a demand for this article by the invention of machinery for facilitating its manufacture, but accompanying this state of things came the war of the Revo- lution, that showed to all considerate minds which had re- flected upon the true economy of nations, that there was a necessity for providing more independent means for securing clothing in time of war; which gave a tendency of the coun- try towards domestie mannfactures ; another stimulus for the production of cotton.
Under this state of the progress of the cultivation of cotton was the necessity for having a more economical mode of cleaning the staple from the seed ; which, up to the invention of the cotton-gin by Eli Whitney, in 1793, had been but a slow and expensive business. But now there was a remedy which effectually opened the way for almost an unlimited supply of this important product.
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The growth of cotton in this country at first was as an ar- ticle for export, to wit : among the exports from Charleston in 1748 were seven bags of cotton wool, valued at £3, 11s., 5d. a bag. Another small export is stated in 1754. And, in 1770, ten bales were shipped to Liverpool from the American colonies .*
After the close of the war for Independence, in 1784, the English revenue officers seized eight bags of American cotton, on the supposition that it was not possible so great a quantity could be the product of the United States ; this, in the year 1870, would be but 86 years ago.
English opinion has had occasion to change mueh since that date, regarding the growth of cotton in this country.
There is no one article of agricultural product that re- quires more intelligent labor than the culture of cotton. The system generally in practice for its cultivation in most of the cotton-growing States is to prepare a deep mellow soil, to plant in drills, eighteen inches distant, and in rows from four to five feet apart, depending upon the quality of the soil. A profusion of seed is necessary, as the young plant is subject to many disasters ; but if the plants are found too thick, they may, after danger of loss is over, be thinned to the desired supply. About two bushels of seed to the acre is sufficient, if not eaten by the cut-worm or cotton-louse. To provide for their destruction, many planters sow, beside the drill seed, broadcast, five to ten bushels of seed per acre as a protection ; this seed may be of poor quality, for supplying sprouts for the worm, which destroys the plant for a period of about two weeks, ending about the 5th of May.
The cotton-louse appears about June 20, and disappears about July 5. It is not safe to do the extent of thinning until after this last date.
After the time the cut-worm ceases its work upon the
* See De Bow, vol I, pp. 119 and 120.
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young plant, which, in South Carolina and Georgia is, as be- fore stated, about the 5th of May, then the dressing work begins, when all vegetation, except the plants standing in the drill rows, must be cut down, and the standing plants earthed up, to keep them upright and strong in their places. This process of cutting down with the hoe all vegetation, and earthing up around the plants, is continued into July, until the growth of the plant covers the ground and protects itself.
Among the other diseases or disasters to which this plant is liable after the louse has disappeared-which is very disastrous for many years, having the general effect of severe rust-is the boll-worm, which makes its appearance about the third or fourth week in July. It is quite regular in its annual visits; oftener in wet than in dry weather.
This worm bores into the bud and destroys the pod or blos- som, and thus the cotton. Many experiments have been tried for defeating the effects of this enemy of the cotton crop. One, by pinching off, in the fourth week of July, the top bud; this produces many other branches; and while it destroys many of the worms, it delays the ripening of the crop to a time when it is frequently overtaken by the frosts, and is lost in the end; another mode, of some value, is building tires to attract and destroy the miller, or moth, that deposits the larvæ.
But the most effeetual method is to employ the hands who attend the erop at this period, to go through the field and catch the moth ; this, it is said, requires about ten hands a day to examine a field of 100 acres. This should be done two or three times, at periods of three to four days, to have a good effect, which will pay well for the expense. The next pest of the cotton-planter is the caterpillar, which makes its appear- ance from the 25th of Angust to the 25th of September. When they come early, they do vast damage to the crop. At first, this scourge has but little or no effect, but when it ar-
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rives at a certain growth and, period of their work they are the most voracious eaters imaginable. It is stated that luxu- rious growing erops of hundreds of acres are destroyed in the short time of three or four days, after they commence this eating process.
They are not annual, but periodical ; generally once in seven years.
Being now through with insects, heavy gales of wind are destructive, especially if accompanied by powerful rains.
Lands to be planted with cotton should be well plowed in the autumn, as deep as the soil will permit, as by loosening the ground deep it allows the roots of the plant to penetrate down to keep a supply of moisture in a dry season.
The usual planting season is from March 15th to the 10th of April, depending upon the dryness of the land and its mel- low condition ; care being had that all lumps are well pulver- ized, and the soil fine and soft, to allow the young sprouts to pierce through and show themselves, without being crippled by hard surface.
To cultivate thoroughly, three to four times of plowing and dressing of the ground and earthing of the plants is re- quired. The thinning of the setting, in rich ground, should leave only one plant in a distance of 12 to 18 inches in the row, which is 4 to 5 feet distant in parallel lines. In light or poor soil, 2 to 4 standings of the plant is permitted, to sup- ply the defect of branches that grow in rich soil.
PICKING.
After the pod opens, the sooner the cotton is picked the more valuable to the grower. There is a degree of oil in the cotton when it first opens that adds much to its weight, which by remaining open to the atmosphere, is to a considerable degree lost. Furthermore, all delay increases the liability to damage in various ways.
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