USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume I pt 2 > Part 39
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Josiah, the third son of Rev. Isaiah Weston, graduated at the Berk - shire Medical College and first practiced his profession in Natchez, Miss .: but after a few years he returned to Dalton, where he married Lucinda. danghter of Zenas Crane. A popular man and an earnest democrat he held several offices and contracts under the general government. In 1857 he accepted the democratic nomination for Congress. The Kansas-Nebraska bill had at that time reduced the fortunes of the democratic party in Mas-
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sachusetts to the lowest point which they have ever reached, and Dr. Weston was himself in the last stages of consumption ; but the opposition to him was divided. The know-nothing party had nominated Rev. Mark Traf- ton, of Westfield, who had been elected two years before, and the new republican party proposed Henry L. Dawes. Dr. Weston canvassed the district vigorously, although his voice could not rise above a hoarse whis- per. But the ablest and the strongest man could not have successfully resisted the torrent of popular feeling, and Mr. Dawes, whose canvass was admirably managed, was chosen by a large majority, Dr. Weston re- ceiving the smallest vote of three candidates. He died at Washington, D. C., a few months later, at the age of forty-seven.
Hon. Byron Weston, the only representative left in Dalton of the third generation of the family there, was born in 1832, three years before his father's removal to Illinois. He commenced his business life as a bookkeeper in a paper mill at Saugerties, N. Y., which was managed by one of his uncles. Here he soon determined to learn the art of paper making thoroughly, and he did it. The first lesson was taken in the Sau- gerties mill, where news and book paper were specialties ; but he soon left for Murray Crane's mill, at Ballston Springs, which made fine writ- ing papers. He afterward filled responsible positions in some of the most noted mills of Lee and Hartford : but when the war of the Rebellion was in progress he was thrown out of employment by the failure of the con- cern with which he was engaged at Lee, and availed himself of the op- portunity to raise a company for the Forty-ninth Massachusetts regiment. of which he was chosen captain. His regiment was sent to the Depart- ment of the Gulf, and Captain Weston had his full share in the good service which it did, especially at the siege of Port Hudson. Although enlisted for nine months, the Forty-ninth regiment served for about a year, and was mustered out of service at Pittsfield, August 24th, 1863. After a brief time engaged in restoring impaired health, Captain Weston began his career at Dalton as a paper manufacturer in his own name. In this he finally combined two mills which had been in operation for years, and whose story must first be told.
In the center of the town, near the present depot of the Boston & Albany Railroad, the rapid descent of the east branch of the Ilousatonic River forms a water privilege of much power. On this, in 1824, David Carson built the "Defiance " paper mill. The tradition is that when the dam was built, the builder defied the devil, who is somewhat noted as a builder of dams, bridges, and the like, to build a better one. In 1840 Mr. Carson sold the Defiance Mill to Henry Chamberlain, with whom Cap. tain Albert S. Chamberlain became a partner a few years later. It was burned May 220, 1852, but immediately rebuilt. In 1863 it was sold to Captain Weston, who found it in ill condition and too small for the work he designed. He immediately enlarged it, indeed. practically rebuilt it. and filled it with the best machinery of the day. His special product was Linen Record and Ledger papers, which at once took rank with the
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best in the markets of the world, but which before had not been a Berk . shire specialty.
In 1855 Captain A S. Chamberlain built a mill about 600 feet from the Defiance, and nearly in the center of the village. This mill was own- ed and operated successively by Chamberlain & Mitchell and James Wil- son until 1867, when it was bought by General William F. Bartlett and Captain Edwin R. Moodie, commander of one of the Cunard ocean steam- ships, who had married Miss Helen Warriner, of Pittsfield, a cousin of General Bartlett's wife. General Bartlett was the business manager and removed to Dalton, where he remained for over six months and seemed to enjoy its life. He returned to Pittsfield only because he had accepted a position which rendered that town more central for his business. At that time he purchased the interest of Captain Moodie in the mill, and admitted as a partner, Colonel Walter Cutting, a member of a distin- gnished New York family, whom he had known favorably in the army, and who had married his wife's sister. Colonel Cutting entered earnestly and intelligently into the business of paper making, but the mill was burned January 11th, 1875, and was not rebuilt by the firm, General Bartlett being in hopelessly ill health, and dying in December, 1876. Captain Weston then bought the premises and erected the extensive mill known as the Centennial, which, with that which he operated before, has now become famous, running fourteen paper engines, and capable of mak - ing four tons of paper daily ; one of the mills reducing the rags to half stuff, and the other taking it at that stage and completing it. The Ledger papers produced in these mills rival any which are made. They attracted wide attention at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, in 1876. where they won the highest bonors in medals and other testimonials of commendation. At similar exhibitions in New York, Boston, Louisville. and Atlanta they had the same success. At the Paris World's Exposi- tion, in 1878, they received the grand prize and a gold medal, and were recommended for " the medal of honor and perfection " over those of all other exhibitors. At the Australian Exposition, in 1882, they received a gold medal. Governor Weston is justly proud of these testimonials and prizes them as nobles in other countries do royal decorations of honor. Granted by the highest and most critical authority at the world's great industrial center to the work of paper mills in remote inland Berkshire. they bear evidence to its excellence which cannot be suspected of par- tiality; and they add to the assurance that the county, remote from most of those centers as it is, can no longer be considered as isolated from them. In making his superb exhibitions Governor Weston did a service to the county and to all his brother manufacturers as well as to himself.
By request of the Berkshire Historical Society Mr. Weston read be fore that body, in 1881, an excellent history of paper making in the county, portions of which he afterward delivered as a lecture. It was published in the Holyoke Paper World and other journals.
We have already said that almost absolute freedom from extraneous
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matter is demanded in the water used for washing in the paper manufac- ture. This is never found in open streams. It must come from springs natural or artificial. In the earlier days of the manufacture the natural springs were found to be abundantly sufficient, and in some locations. they still leave little to be desired. But the growth of the business years ago required an additional supply. Artificial wells were resorted to, and have come to be a distinguishing feature in the town's paper industry.
In 1854 Captain Albert S. Chamberlain bored at his mill on the site of the Centennial mill a well one hundred feet deep, which for thirty years has given a uniform five inch stream of 125 gallons a minute of pure water. It used to be a local saying that the water at the Defiance mill was so perfect that it would make good paper whatever the process of manufacture might otherwise be. This was of course an exaggeration, but it expresses forcibly the opinion of a paper making community.
In 1876 Governor Weston put down another well at the Defiance mill. which is seventy-six feet deep and emits a three inch stream. In 1883 he sank at the Centennial mill an eight inch well, 511 feet deep, which gives a six inch flowing stream.
In 1884 he sank at the Defiance mill a well of remarkable character, which in efficiency for its purposes has few, if any, equals. It is 240 feet deep and is curbed for 150 feet below the issue with twelve inch pipe. In speaking of it Mr. D. Dull, the superintendent of the North American Mining Company, of New York, which has bored water, iron, and salt wells in all parts of the country, said to a correspondent of the New York Times, "The greatest flow of water I ever saw from an artesian well was from a well we put down for Lieutenant-Governor Weston, at Dal- ton, Mass. That well is now flowing 18, 000 barrels a day."
All these wells yield a combined flow of from 900 to 1,000 gallons of water per minute, of the purest character and with a uniform temperature throughout the year of 48 degrees Fahrenheit. The cost of boring has been from 8300 to 83,500 each. Uniformity of temperature in the wash water, it should be said, is an important element in the paper manufac- ture.
In 1854 David Carson & Sons bored an artesian well at the Old Berk- shire mill. It was an eight inch bore, 110 feet deep, and it had a flow- ing stream of 300 gallons a minute. The water is chemically pure. but it occasionally throws up a little sand. In the debris brought up in boring, some not very minute particles of gold appeared ; but the com- pany are not likely to be seduced into gold mining.
On the 7th of March, 1884, the Carson & Brown Company began boring for a well at the Old Berkshire mill, and at a depth of 147 feet twenty-two days afterward the augers broke though a rock erust through which a stream of pure water came rushing with immense force. It is far more than sufficient to supply all the wants of the mill.
While building up this grand business Governor Weston has not been idle in other directions. At home the greatly improved appearance
RESIDENCE AND PAPER MILLS OF LIEUT. GOVERNOR BYRON WESTON, DALTON.
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and prosperity of the central village of the town is chiefly due to him. Indeed, what he has done would alone make it a handsome and busy town. His manufactory with its surroundings show the energy and good taste of a most public spirited citizen. He had already laid out several streets and built scores of neat houses when, in 1883, he built, near his mill and in the very center of the town, a business block which would be considered an ornament and great acquisition by the proudest towns in the county. It consists of four stores with offices and a hall above. In every movement for the advancement of the town he takes an advanced and liberal part. That he stands high in the estimation of his brother business men of the county for integrity and financial ability is proved by his position as director of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company, and the Berkshire County Savings Bank, and as vice-president of the Third National Bank of Pittsfield.
Captain Weston's services as a public spirited citizen, a soldier, and a man of general ability, were recognized by his choice, in 1874, as sena- tor from Northern Berkshire, and in 1879, 1880, and 1881 as lieutenant- governor of the commonwealth. While in these positions his fine social qualities, his devotion to duty, and his sound sense in public business rendered him exceptionally popular with all who were associated or brought in contact with him, and he was prominently named and urged for the republican nomination for governor. Many republicans believed that if Lieutenant-Governor Weston had been nominated he would have been elected.
The first woolen mill in Dalton was built by Rev. Isaiah Weston, in 1814. Mr. John Curtis, who in 1884 is still living, states that when a boy of ten years, he drove the oxen which drew the lumber for this mill ; his father received one dollar per thousand feet for cutting and drawing it. The canal was dug by British prisoners of war from the Pittsfield Cantonment -they being permitted to earn a little money in this way, with sufficient guarantees for their safe keeping.
Mr. Weston carried on the mill until his death in 1821, making broad- cloths, and other goods popular at that day. His son, Franklin, carried it on for some time, and also leased it to Morehouse, Milner & White, and other parties. But the flood of British goods, which for many years after the restoration of peace poured into the country, rendered the maintenance of woolen mills here a much more severe task than Mr. Weston cared to undertake, and he suffered the mill to fall down of it- self, to the imminent danger of certain parties who were in the habit of frequenting it. Only two old houses remained on the premises when they were bought, in 1865, by Hawkins, West & Co., a firm composed of William J. Hawkins, of Pittsfield, Charles E. West, of Pittsfield, and Christopher Glennon, of Dalton, all young and enterprising men. They concentrated two water privileges, making one of the best water-powers on the stream north of Lee, and built a well equipped woolen factory. 100 feet long and 50 feet wide, with the usual buildings attached. They made
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repellants and fancy cassimeres successfully until August 25th, 1872, when the factory was burned, together with an adjoining building and two tenement houses. Six months from the date of this fire they had a new brick factory, 130 by 50 feet in area and three stories high, in full operation.
Mr. Hawkins died in 1878, and his interest was purchased by his partners, as the firm of West & Glennon-Michael Glennon, who had been trained to the business in this mill, being made superintendent. In 1884 it has six sets of machinery and forty-six broad looms. It employs 110 operatives, and sends to the market annually 600,000 yards of fine quality cotton warp fancy cassimeres, valued at about $300,000.
The Ashnelot Woolen Company was chartered in the winter of 1836, and organized in April of that year, with a capital of $50,000, stock being taken by a large number of the citizens of Dalton and the neighboring towns. Fifty thousand dollars was a large capital for those days. The company owned a superior water power, and the managers were men of enterprise and enthusiasm, especially the treasurer and fiscal agent, Henry Marsh. Mr. Marsh was a grandson of "Squire Harry," and a lawyer. He was what was called then-and as others like him are called now -- "a grand man." He was of sanguine temperament, with full faith that the work in which he was engaged would bring prosperity, not only to those personally engaged in it, but to the whole town. The work of building a stone factory, a store, and dwelling houses, was begun in 1836, and in 1837 the factory started with six sets of broad looms. It was carried on, as was supposed, satisfactorily until 1842, when it failed. The result was ruin to many who had invested in its stock or endorsed its paper. A storm of indignation followed, which, after forty-two years, still pursues the memory of Henry Marsh. There is, however, no evi- dence that he was more at fault than other men of his temperament have often been in later years. He had, from the commencement of the enter- prise, to encounter that memorable financial depression which began in the year 1837, and which, in several succeeding years, strewed the country with financial wrecks. He breasted the storm desperately, and perhaps. in his desperation, seized upon unjustifiable means for self-protection. He hoped to the last, but all at last ended disastrously. His memory should receive charity, if not honor.
Some three quarters of a mile east of the center of the town is an excellent water power which has had a varied experience. The premises upon which it is situated are known as " The Old Marsh Place ; " Henry. son of the early settler, Dr. Perez Marsh, having, in the year 1800, built the residence which still stands upon it. "Squire Harry," as he was called, held the office of deputy sheriff for many years, and was other- wise a citizen of note. Levi Herrick bought the place in 1844, and built a saw mill, and the first dam at this point on the river. After three years, the saw mill was changed, by Benjamin Pomeroy, to a bedstead factory. and this, three years later, gave place to a tannery, established by Dean &
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Richardson, and carried on by different parties until, in July, 1866, the estate was sold to Charles J., Abel, and J. B. Kittredge, as the firm of C. J. Kittredge & Co. This firm repaired the mill, enlarged, and add- ed to the building, and converted it into a woolen mill, which, after other improvements, in 1884, has six sets of cards, 33- looms, and 2,460 spindles, making pure wool cassimeres and fine doeskins, and employing 100 hands.
When the town was first settled, there were found scattered over its surface and in deposits among its drift, a great abundance of the brown hematite boulders, elsewhere mentioned as abounding in several sections of the county. About the year 1800, Captain Thomas Green erected one of the furnaces or forges, such as were common at that time, to convert this ore into crude iron, and connected with it a foundry, in which he used the product for the manufacture of potash kettles, plow-shares, stoves, and other articles. Every considerable farm in a wide circuit of country needed its potash kettle. Lemuel Pomeroy made plows at Pitts- field, and the old box stove was in demand ; but the best article made was the old fashioned Franklin stove, which was practically an open fire-place of iron, set out a little into the apartment which it warmed. It ought again to come into fashion ; for, although designed for the burn- ing of wood which has grown scarce, and not adapted to the use either of anthracite or bituminous coal, with a proper grate. it is admirably fitted for the use of coke. There is a fine specimen of this Dalton manu- facture in the house of Capt. A. L. Chamberlin, which, built a hundred years ago, is filled with relics of the past manufacture of household goods in Berkshire, including a clock which has stood for eighty years on the same spot. Captain Green's foundry was burned in 1816, and was succeeded by one built by his son-in-law, Thomas G. Atwood, nearly opposite the present residence of Hon. Z. M. Crane. That was burned after some years, and not rebuilt.
About the year 1832, Mr. William Renne, who had been bred a paper-maker, in the Old Red mill, employed some seventy girls in the manufacture of the gentlemen's neck-stocks then in fashion. The busi- ness was then removed to Pittsfield, where we shall find Mr. Renne a prominent citizen.
DAVID HORATIO TOWER.
Any complete history of the paper mills and of paper making in Berkshire county would, of itself, fill a volume. The contrast between the simple implements employed when paper was made by hand, and the costly and complicated machinery of the present day is hardly greater than that between the old and the modern paper mill building. But a few years ago, architecture, as applied to mill buildings, was almost un- known. The mills were put up in a hap-hazard way, very little attention paid to details, and the matter of convenience in the arrangement of the buildings was seldom thought of. They were unattractive in every sense
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of the word, being dark and illy ventilated, the idea being to get the largest return from the least money invested. But now this is all changed, and the manufacturers of the present day vie with each other in the con- struction of their mills. The paper mill of the present day is an elabo- rate affair compared with its predecessors. It is thoroughly and substan- tially built from basement to roof ; every detail receives the most care- ful attention ; ample room is allowed in each department ; the rooms must be light, well ventilated, and arranged with an eye to convenience. The last mill built is likely to be the best, as improvements of some kind are pretty sure to be introduced which will add to the production or lessen the labor in some direction. Careful attention is paid to the eco- nomical distribution of motive power, and in this respect the modern mill is vastly superior to the old models, and to this end the proper arrange- ment of water connections is essential. Again, to develop to the best advantage the natural features of each mill site necessitates special de- signs throughout for every mill, and while many features are common to all good mills, the way and manner of obtaining the same requires. in nearly all cases, different and original treatment. The suggestions of practical manufacturers have been embodied in many portions of mills and the science of paper manufacture has been materially aided and devel- oped by the working out and practical application of the ideas of differ- ent men.
Not as a manufacturer, but as architect and engineer in the construc- tion of paper mills, and in the improvements indicated, the name heading this article stands most prominent. Indeed, among men identified with the rapid progress and improvement made in late years in the art of build- ing, Mr. Tower stands at the head.
He was born in Cummington, Hampshire county, Mass., March 7th, 1832, the eldest in a family of ten children of Stephen D. and Esther Eliza (Beals) Tower.
The family are of English origin, their ancestor coming to America in 1620 and settling in Hingham, Mass.
His grandfather, Asa Tower, married Deborah Dyer, and after his marriage moved from Hingham and settled in Cummington, where all his children, ten in number, were born.
His father, Stephen D. Tower, born in Cummington, in 1807. married, June 2d, 1831, Esther E., daughter of David Beals, of Windsor, Mass. Her grandfather, Joshua Beals, was a Revolutionary soldier. Her father died in Windsor at the age of sixty-three ; her mother also died there, aged eighty-seven.
Stephen D. remained in Cummington four years after his marriage. when he moved to Windsor, Berkshire county, Mass., where he gave a portion of his time to the trade of carpenter ; he also carried on a farm. Of his ten children, the three eldest were born in Cummington and seven in Windsor. June 2d. 1881, Mr. and Mrs. Tower celebrated their " golden wedding," at which time there had not been a death in the family. Four
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generations were represented at this gathering. The ten children were remarkable for their height and weight; their combined height being sixty feet and one inch, and their combined weight 2,015 pounds, as they measured and weighed on this occasion. Stephen D. Tower died on the 13th of October, 1881, surviving but a few months this notable reunion of his family. One son, Jarvis Edson, died October 31st, 1883. Of their other sons, Dwight Gideon lives at Windsor; Henry Alphonse, at New- burgh, N. Y .; and Ashley Bemis, in Holyoke, Mass.
Their daughter, Emma Eliza, is the wife of Isaac Congden, Freeport, N. Y .; Elma Louisa, wife of Benjamin Newell, of Dalton ; Lucy Beals, living in Windsor ; and Deborah Dyer, the wife of William Newell. living in Westfield.
Mrs. Tower makes her home with her son David'H., at the homestead in Dalton.
David H. Tower began his trade as a millwright's apprentice at the age of thirteen, when most boys are at school, having received only such edu- cation as could be acquired at that age in the common school.
From 1846, when he worked on Crane's " Red Mill " at Dalton, down to the present year (1885), Mr. Tower has been architect and furnished the designs for nearly all the large paper mills in Massachusetts, and, indeed, of New England and Western New York ; notably, however, of the im- mense mills at Holyoke, where he has made his office and headquarters. In 1871 he took his brother, Ashley B. Tower, as an assistant, and in 1878 formed a partnership with him under the firm name of D. H. & A. B. Tower. The work of the firm is not confined to furnishing plans for paper mills alone, but includes that of other mills : also a general engi- neering work, the building of dams, wheel pirs, flumes, additions to mills, and stock houses ; also a general architectural work for blocks, school houses, dwellings, etc., is done. Some idea may be formed of the vast amount of work that is done in the drawing of plans from the fact that from fifty to seventy-five drawings are needed for each mill, and some are traced two or three times each. Seven men are kept constantly em- ployed at their office on this work.
From the time of its formation the business of the firm has. rapidly increased, applications for plans are being constantly received, some com- ing from as far away as Paris and Scotland, showing how extensively their reputation as careful, reliable architects and builders has gone abroad, and the large list of fine mills which they have either wholly or partially constructed in our own country attests how well both the Messrs. Tower and their work are appreciated and utilized at home.
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