USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume II pt 1 > Part 6
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37
TOWN OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
the raising of this house one Peter French. throwing from the frame the usual bottle of rum, shouted ont, " I name this place Babylon," by which name the village was known for about ten years. In 1814 Mr. Sherman sold his property at Housatonic to Ezekiel and Eber Stone, who afterward came into possession of the land of Mr. Sibley. In 1818 Eber Stone, to- gether with Milton Ball, erected a shop near the river and began the man- ufacture of spinning wheels, which they continued for several years. In 1821 Ransom Whitmore, from East Haddam, Conn., bought the saw mill, dam, and water rights, and erected a factory, with the purpose of carry- ing on the manufacture of cotton goods. Not achieving the success he expected he sold the property, in 1827, to his brother. Perley D. Whit- more, and Sprowell Dean, the latter a manufacturer from Springfield. The firm of Dean & Whitmore began the manufacture of cotton, and built a row of tenement houses on the west side of the main street. and a store near their factory. The population of the village was considerably increased by the operatives, and the name Babylon was changed to Deansville. About the year 1829 Eber Stone and Morris M. Brainard built a factory on the lower water privilege, and began the manufacture of planes and other tools; but the building was afterward used as a chair factory by Mr. Stone, in connection with Jason C. Keach, and later by George Maxfield. In 1830 the spinning wheel business of Eber Stone and Milton Ball was purchased by Edward and William Selkirk, from Had- dam, Conn., who began the manufacture of shoe lasts, which soon be- came an important industry. In 1842 Albert D. Whitmore engaged in the same business in the old tool and chair shop, and continued with suc- cess until 1851, when his buildings were burned He immediately rebuilt. however, a short distance north of the former factory, and manufactured lasts until about 1856, when he was again burned out. Again rebuilding he carried on the manufacture of folding chairs, wagon wheels. etc.
In 1835 the Housatonic Manufacturing Company, recently formed. purchased the property of Dean & Whitmore, and continued the business under the management of P. D. Whitmore and Wells Laflin, who soon obtained a controlling interest in the capital stock. The manufacture of print cloths was carried on until 1848, when the company failed. The village had in the meantime received its third name, Housatonicville. or Housatonic. Other industries had sprung up, and many dwellings had been built. A Congregational society had been formed, and in 1842 a church was erected and a minister was settled. But the failure of the Housatonic Manufacturing Company was a severe blow to the prosperity of the village. from which it was slow to recover. The store of Dean & Whitmore, already mentioned, came into the possession of the Honsa- tonie Manufacturing Company, with their other property, and was after- ward occupied by Charles Taylor and Charles J. Taylor, under the firm -name of C. & C. J. Taylor. In the upper story of this building was a small hall which was good by the Congregational society until the free tion of the church ; it was later occupied by the Sons of Temperance. In
38
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
1850, J. C. and A. C. Russell, together with John H. Coffing and others. purchased the property of the Housatonic Manufacturing Company, and were incorporated in the following year as Monument Mills. This com- pany began the manufacture of cotton warps, and in 1854 John M. Seeley became the manager of the corporation. Under his direction the business has become the most important manufacturing industry of the whole town.
In 1864 John M. Seeley, Henry Adams, and Joseph G. Fuller built a small factory on the site of the old chair shop at the lower water privi- lege, and began the manufacture of cotton warps. Two years later this property was bought by George Coffing, George Church, John M. Seeley. and others, who were incorporated as the Wawbeek Mills, and carried on the business. This company soon erected a brick factory on the east side of the river, which was also used for manufacturing cotton warps.
In 1870 the Wawbeek Mills began the manufacture of Marseilles counterpanes in the old mill; but the business increased to such an ex- tent that it was removed to the east side of the river, where larger works . were erected and placed under the management of Cyrus R. Crane. In January, 1871, the Monument Mills purchased the whole property, and now own all the works on both sides of the river.
In 1858 the road running from the foot of Monument Mountain to Housatonic was opened, and the bridge at the village was erected. Pre- vious to 1836 the land on the east side of the river and south of the bridge was covered by a forest. This tract was owned by the Van Deusens, and was known as "Timbershin." About 1836 Jacob H. Van Densen erected a dam just south of the present one of the Owen Paper Company, and built a saw mill which, he carried on at various times during a period of eleven or twelve years. About 1849 Zadoc Rewey, coming into posses- sion of the property, carried on the business in a more energetic manner, and cleared the adjoining territory.
Prominent among the industries of Berkshire county, and one which has contributed largely to its growth and prosperity, is paper making. which may truly be said to be par excellence the art preservative of all other arts, and which has done more to elevate the human race than all other arts combined. From the symbolic and hieroglyphic records of a few of the more important historical events and perchance of the exploits of reigning sovereigns upon stone or perhaps plates of metal, to the papy- rus of the Egyptians was one stepand, so far as known. the first step in the multiplication of recorded knowledge ; and then to the parchment of the Greeks and Romans another step, but the benefits of which, on account of cost, were necessarily confined to the few. Thence to the fabrication of paper from vegetable fibres by the most elementary processes of beating or stamping to disintegrate and reduce to the necessary degree to enable the particles to be felted into a sheet by hand manipulation, was a grand stride, and, with the laborions multiplication of books with the pen and brush, materially increased the circle of those who could protit by re- corded knowledge, till in the time of Solomon he exclaims. " Of making many books there is no end."
3Sa
TOWN OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
With the general introduction of paper making into the different countries of Europe and Asia and its increased production, owing to its manufacture being generally encouraged and rewarded by special favors of the more enlightened sovereigns, came the discovery of printing from movable types and the rapid multiplication and dissemination of recorded knowledge, and the lifting of the clouds of ignorance and the breaking of the chains of superstition which had settled upon and bound the civilized world during the Dark Ages, which had only been possible in a world without the means of a general dissemination of the accumulated wisdom of the preceding ages.
Later the original process of beating or stamping the material for the manufacture of paper (which was now principally worn rags from cotton and linen clothing, to disintegrate and reduce to the required fineness for felting was supplanted by the continuous rotary motion of the " Hol- Jander Engine" (so called from having been invented and first used in Hol- land), and which consisted of a roll or cylinder with knives in its cir - cumference which in revolving brought the rags or stock to be reduced in contact with other knives in a bed underneath and being set in an ova! vat or tub and supplied with sufficient water a constant draft of the stock between the disintegrating and grinding surfaces was accomplished. and this with its many improvements in construction and adaptation is the engine of to-day as shown in the illustration marked ". Engine Room."
As if to keep pace with the reduction of the stock by this improved pro- cess machines were in the course of time invented for felting the stock (technically called stuff at this stage of the process) into a continuous web or sheet which was only limited in width by the width of the machine used and which in quantity produced and cost of producing, as may be readily imagined, bore a striking contrast to the method of making by hand one small sheet of a few inches in dimensions at a time, which had been accomplished by dipping a small quantity of stuff on the " mold " and shaking, allowing the surplus water and stuff to overflow till the sheet was sufficiently formed or felted and sufficiently free from water to be laid off upon a woolen blanket or felt. Engravings of both the "Hand- made" and "Machine" processes accompany this article.
From that time till the present have paper making and the printing press gone hand in hand in civilizing and educating the world till now the comparative amount of paper per capita used by the people of different countries provos a safe and sure measurement of their comparative stand - ing in the scale of civilization.
Thus we see that paper, made largely from material which has once been utilized and served its purpose and which would hence. forth be valueless, has been. in conjunction with the printing press, the great civilizer of the world, and it is almost beyond the power of man to imagine what would have been the condition of the people of the civil- ized world to-day had it not been for paper as a vehicle upon which to record and transmit the knowledge of one generation to another-and
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
much less can we conceive what would have been the condition of civili- zation, the arts, and science, and literature to-day if instead of the few centuries which we have had paper and the printing press we had had them during the entire historical period of man's existence upon the earth.
The first paper mill in the southern portion of this county was built in 1807 by Samuel Church, in the village of South Lee, on the site of the mill of the Hurlbut Paper Company. This mill was occupied by differ- ent parties until 1825, when it was purchased by Owen & Hurlbut. This firm, composed of Charles M. Owen and Thomas Hurlbut. commenced business in 1822, erecting, just below the bridge, a small vat mill in which paper was made by hand. In 1825, as mentioned above, they en- larged their facilities by the purchase of the Church mill, and continued in partnership till 1859, steadily increasing and developing their business through all the fluctuations of trade in the intervening years
In 1849 Edward H. Owen, a son of the senior partner, became a member of the firm, and soon succeeded to the practical management of the business. In 1857-8 the firm built a mill at Housatonic, of greater "capacity than the original mills at South Lee. This mill, with additions and improvements that have been added. is 320 feet in length, and in its internal arrangements is admirably adapted for saving labor and produc- ing the best goods, the bales of rags being taken in at one end of the mill and turned out at the other end finished paper ready for market.
Soon after the erection of this mill the firm of Owen & Hurlbut was dissolved. Mr. Hurlbut retaining the property at South Lee and the Messrs. Owen taking the mill at Housatonic.
In 1862 was incorporated the Owen Paper Company, consisting of Edward H. Owen, Henry D. Cone, and Charles M. Owen. Edward H. Owen died in 1864, and Charles M. Owen in 1873, leaving Mr. Cone treasurer and manager of the business, of which he is now also the sole proprietor.
The new mill recently erected by Mr. Cone about half a mile further down the river, will be. when fully equipped, one of the largest and most complete paper making establishments in the world. The two main buildings, connected by a central building, have a frontage of 500 feet. In the rear and adjoining them is an auxiliary building too by 80 feet, and an L 200 by 40 feet : also boiler and engine house, store houses. &c.
Some idea of the growth and development of the business may be had from the fact that when Owen & Hurlbut commenced business in 1822, they were able, by the slow and laborious processes then in vogue. to make only from 15 to 20 reams of letter paper per day. Now by the use of improved machinery and buildings adapted to the purpose, as may be seen in the accompanying engraving, the stock is prepared and the paper produced at the rate of many tons per day.
The intellectual wants of the employees and the people of the sur rounding country are well provided for in an excellent library founded and supported by Mr. Cone. This institution, known as the "Coge Library." contains several thousand volumes and a reading room, and is free to all.
CHAPTER IIL.
TOWN OF GREAT BARRINGTON (continued).
Congregational Church .-- St. James' .- Trinity .- Methodist Church .- Zion Society .-- Compre- gationalist- at Housatonic .- Baptists. - Roman Catholics .- Burial Ground .- Selmes William Sherwood .- Great Barrington Academy .- Sedgwick Institute .- Hon-tonic Hall .- High School. - War of 1512 .- Lieutenant Wainwright .- Militia Campaign and Political Parties .- Rebellion .- Free Masons. Hope Fire Company .- Grand Artur of the Republic-District Court .- Post Office-Berkshire Courier. Malaise National Bank .- Savings Bank .- Gas Company .- Water Companies .- Town Hall .- Memorial Statue -- Libraries-John H. Coding-Clarkson T. Collins, M.D.
We have aheady traced the history of the Congregational church to the departure of the Rev. Simnel Hopkins, JJanuary 19th, 1769. In that year the town voted . to hire a learned and orthodox minister to preach in the Presbyterian meeting house in said town for the space of three months " and appropriated the sum of 225 for that purpose, but as the members of the Episcopal church properly objected to taxation for the support of another religious body, the vote was afterward rescind. 1. and the Episcopalians were allowed their proportion of the appropria- tion. On the 31st of October. 1770, the town appropriated go to hire "a good, learned, and orthodox minister," and the Episcopalians were again allowed their proportion of the amount.
In July of that year the celebrated George Whitefield preachet here for several days, though there is no record leading us to suppose that his preaching was as effective here as elsewhere.
In June, 1771. Dr. Hopkins visited the scene of his former labors. and preached during two Sabbaths in his old church, and also hall one service at the jail.
In November of the same year so active was the opposition that the town refused to raise any sum for preaching in the " Presbyterian meet- ing house."
Though preachers were occasionally employed there was no settled pastor until May 4th, 1787, when the Rev. Lage Foster, a native of Wal- lingford, Conn., and a graduate of Yale, was onlained as the minister. He continued in charge of the church for three years only. at the expira-
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
tion of which time he felt obliged to ask for dismission because, as in the case of Dr. Hopkins, the people did not seem disposed to grant him ade- quate support. During his brief pastorate five persons were admitted to the church.
The quarrel between the two religions bodies, though less violent at some times than others, contirned until 1791, when, by an act of the Legislature, passed June 18th, "the Protestant Congregational Society of Great Barrington" and " the Protestant Episcopal Society of Great Barrington " were incorporated.
After the dismission of the Rev. Mr. Foster, a period of sixteen years elapsed without a settled clergyman. During this time. about 1794. Rev. Dr. Hopkins paid the town a second brief visit, which has already been described.
On the 24th of September, 1806, the Rev. Elijah Wheeler, a native of Pomfret, Conn., after having preached here over a year, was installed as minister, and remained in that capacity for more than sixteen years. His ministry was eminently successful, and one hundred and fifty two persons were received into the church.
In 1813 certain gentlemen of the society raised the necessary funds for the erection of a new church edifice in the center of the village. A building committee was appointed, consisting of Deacon George Beck- with. Captain Jabez Turner, and Dr. David Leavenworth. The building was finished in the latter part of that year, and was dedicated, with ap- propriate ceremonies, on the 30th of December.
President Dwight. of Yale College, whose visit to this town in 1998 has already been recorded, spent a short time here in 1806 and "ab- served with satisfaction that the people are beginning to exhibit more generally proofs of industrions exertions."
Mr. Wheeler's health. never robust, at length began to fail him, and on the 12th of February, 1823. he was dismissed at his own request. He died at Great Barrington, March 20th, 1897. at the age of fifty three.
On the same day on which Mr. Wheeler was dismissed the Rev. Syl- vester Burt, a native of Southampton and a graduate of Williams Collare. was settled over the church. and continued here until his death, January 10th, 1836. During the thirteen years of his ministry one hundred and ninety -seven persons were admitted into the church. Mr. Burt contrib. uted a short history of this town to the history of the county of Berk- shire published in 1829.
On the 19th of April. 1837, the Rev. Josiah W. Turner was installed as pastor, and remained here until September 30th, 1850, when he was dismissed at his own regnest. On the 25th of December. 1843, the cen. tennial anniversary of the organization of the church was celebrated, and a historical sketch of the church and town was at the same time published by Mr. Turner.
He was succeeded in February 199, by the Rev. Stephen S. S. Grevley, a native of Gilmanton. N. H., aut a graduate of Dartmouth
.
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TOWN OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
College. Mr. Greeley was a man of genial disposition, and after a brief but useful ministry he was dismissed on the 3d of March, 1857.
In the following January the Rev. Horace Winslow was installed. In 1859 the wooden church edifice was removed to Bridge street, where it now stands, and upon the site a new one was built of blue limestone. In March, 1862, Mr. Winslow was dismissed at his own request, and he immediately entered the army, serving as chaplain in a Connecticut regi- ment.
For nearly two years the church was without a pastor, but in March. 1864, the Rev. Royal B. Statton was installed. He was dismissed De cember 14th, 1866.
On the 12th of June. 1867, the Rev. Evarts Scudder, the present pas- tor, was installed. . This gentleman was born at Boston, Jannary 2d, 1833, and was graduated at Williams College in 1854. He had been pre- viously settled at Kent, Connecticut.
In 1878 a handsome chapel of blue stone was added to the church. and during the latter part of 1881 the audience room was refitted and frescoed by the generosity of Mrs. Mary F. S. Hopkins, of San Fran- cisco. On the evening of March 4th, 1882, the church and chapel were destroyed by fire, the walls alone remaining. The stone, however, was found to bave sustained but little damage from the flames, and with the insurance and the funds raised by the earnest efforts of the parishioners, together with the liberal subscriptions of Mrs. Hopkins and Moses Hop- kins, a new church edifice and chapel were built, in 1883. upon the site of the former buildings. Mrs. Hopkins has also erected a large and costly stone parsonage adjacent to and connected with the church. This she has presented to the society as a memorial of their first pastor. Rev. Samuel Hopkins, D.D., who was the great-grandfather of her Insband, Mark Hopkins, Esq. This building is of the Old English style of architecture and is constructed of the blue stone taken from the quarry opened by Dr. Samuel Camp, on the east side of the river. The society was also the recipient of another munificent gift from Mrs. Hop- kins, a large Roosevelt organ, built regardless of cost.
The story of the early Episcopal church has been already related. to- gether with a sketch of the life of the Rev. Gideon Bostwick. the first rector of the parish. After his death, in 1793, the society was for a short time in the charge of Mr. David B. Lynson, who was succeeded by Mr. Caleb Child ; but there was no settled clergyman until about 1805, when the Rev. Sammel Griswold. from Simsbury. Connectient, became the pas- tor. This gentleman remained in charge of the church until 1821, when he was followed by the Rev. Solomon Blakesley, a native of North Haven, Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale College in 1785. He re- mained until May, 1827. In September of the following year, the Rev. Enges Gilbert, from Woodbury, Connecticut, became the pastor, and continued in that office until 1830. During Mr. Gilbert's ministry, in 1833, the old church, which was erected in 1764, and which has already
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
been described, was demolished, and a large edifice of blue limestone was built in the center of the village, which, remodeled and used for business purposes, still stands on the northern corner of Main and Railroad streets. This building was originally several feet higher than the roadway an I was approached by a number of broad stone steps. In front were four large , pillars of stone and the roof was crowned with a tower within which was placed the little ship bell of the former church. A few of the old fash- ioned paneled doors of the pews are still to be seen in the jewelry store of Marcus E. Tobey. The present Gothic edifice was constructed of blue stone in 1857 and is a model of architecture.
Shortly after Rev. Mr. Gilbert's departure the Rev. Samuel Hassard became the pastor of the church. This gentleman died in office on the 13th of January, 1847.
The clergymen connected with the church down to 1875 have been as follows : Revs. S. D. Denison, Justin Field, John Woart. W. Wood Seymour, G. Lewis Platt, C. A. L. Richards, John T. Huntington. Robert Weeks, John H. Rogers, Dr. John C. Eccleston. Henry Olmstead, and O. F. Starkey. The late Rev. Jesse A. Penniman also, at different times. officiated in the church.
In February, 1876, the Rev. Daniel Goodwin Anderson, who had been previously settled at Ashton and Cranston, R. I., and at Troy, N. Y., became the pastor of St. James' and died in office on Monday, May 15th, 1882. He was born at Sutton, Mass., on the 9th of May. 1849. After completing a course of preparation at Leicester Academy. Mass., he entered Kenyon College, at Gambier, Ohio, with the purpose of study- ing for the ministry. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he responded to the President's call for troops, and joined the Ninety-sixth regiment of Ohio volunteers. He was present at the battle of Vicksburg, and was with his regiment throughout that memorable campaign. He was after- ward placed in command of a company at Washington, and successfully guarded the Old Capitol prison from the mob on the night following Lin- coln's assassination. While in the service he was seized with malarial fever, and was sent to the Government Hospital at St. Louis. Here, upon his recovery, he began the study of medicine, but at the end of a year and a half, though he had made rapid advancement, he felt that the ministry was his calling and soon entered the Philadelphia Divinity School. Upon his graduation he was ordained as deacon by the bishop of Delaware. Mr. Anderson was a man whose influence was felt outside of his parish ; he always maintained a lively interest in the town affairs. and for five years served upon the school committee. " His powers of supervision and administration were excellent, and his strong convic- tions and firm hand were everywhere felt."
At the time of his death he was a prominent member of the masonic brotherhood, and had been for many years a prelate in the Calvary Com- mandery, of Providence. R. I.
The Rev. Joseph Lindholm, previously rector of the church at Pon-
43
TOWN OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
tiac, R. I., succeeded Mr. Anderson, and resigned his charge in Feb- ruary, 1885.
Rev. Henry Adams, of Brooklyn, accepted a call to this church iu the succeeding April.
In 1829 there was erected at Van Deusenville a small brick chapel, chiefly through the liberality of Captain Isaac Van Deusen, to whom allusion has already been made. This chapel of St. James' Church was dedicated on the morning of Tuesday, July 21st, 1829, the corner stone being laid with masonic ceremonies. Ten years afterward a separation was made from the parent church, and a new society was organized under the name of Trinity Church, of which the following clergymen have had the charge : Revs. Lewis Green, Jesse A. Penniman, F. A. Fiske, S. P. Parker. Daniel G. Anderson. A. Proffit, and Samuel Ellis. The brick chapel was replaced by the present church edifice in 1866.
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