USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume II pt 2 > Part 15
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In the meantime, as his home was thus growing in beanty and in childhood's musical voices, how went the business which was to support it? Mr. Pomeroy had brought with him to Pittsfield the historic anvil of the family, and strong arms were soon plying it in the shop on the cor- ner of the homestead lot. Here he laid the foundations of his fortunes so far as they were laid after he began business for himself. His business there was varied and extensive ; between 1800 and 1894 he advertised, in addition to general blacksmithing in its then multitudinous forms, pleas- ure sleighs, wagons, and plows all of his own manufacture, and in consid- erable quantity, and in 1804 "a large number of wooden and iron axle- tree wagons and 200 plows complete for use."
In 1805 his shop was burned, and the loss was great enough to be sensibly felt by him at this stage of his business life, but he at once built in its place a larger and better building which, being soon devoted almost exclusively to the finishing of muskets, was known in its latter days as " The Old Musket Shop."
In 1806 Jason Mills, of Springfield, had purchased a forge on the site where the Taconic mill now stands, and occupied it by a small gunshop. principally for the manufacture of fowling pieces and custom work for the neighboring country.
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In 1808 Mr. Pomeroy purchased the place and extended the works to the manufacture of muskets, for which he soon had contracts with several States, so that his product was 2, 000 stand annually. [. 2- 16 he obtained a contract with the United States government calling ( : 2. stand an- nually. This contract was renewed for terms of five y- 1 1846 ; the amount being reduced in 1839 to 1,500, but a more costire ciele being re- quired. In addition to the government supply, Mr. Pizzroy made an average of 200 muskers yearly for the general market. In 1823 Mr. Pomeroy, for the better carrying on of this mannfactis -. erzetet a brick building, fifty feet by forty in size, and in 1828 ad le Va trip hammer shop of brick, the machinery being driven by the water y wer since used by the Taconic mill. These were called " the water The mus- kets were finished at the shop just mentioned, on the corner of East street and Pomeroy avenne.
He abandoned the manufacture of firearms in 1848. partly because the government had adopted the percussion musket which would require changes in his works to the amount of $30,000. These changes he would, however, have made, but for another reason. About this time the national government placed the armory at Springfield, which had previously been managed by civilians, in charge of the War Department. who subjected it to strict military rule. Mr. Pomeroy was satisfied that this course would render the national armory so efficient that it would leave no place for private competition. Mr. Pomeroy had expressed this opinion clearly and forcibly before the board who had the question of making the change committed to its consideration, and his advice had great influence upon their decision.
The members of the commission were astonished that he should give advice so detrimental to his personal pecuniary interests. But it was characteristic of the man, and for that reason we have told the facts in detail.
It would be superfluous for us to go into the story of the later manu- factures of Lemuel Pomeroy or of his sons as it has been told in connec- tion with that of the town manufactures. He entered upon that work early, breasted bravely the great obstacles which it encountered. andl, pos- sessing the qualities of a great manufacturer, succeeded. In the pur. chase of the Pomeroy mills in 1839 he became the owner of land nearly a mile in length on both sides of the Housatonic River above and below the mills. Most of the tract is still owned by his heirs, although the Terry Clock Factory and many other buildings stand upon the small portion which has been sold.
One peculiarity of Mr. Pomeroy as a business man we had almost for- gotten, although it had a great bearing upon his fortunes : and that was his great persistence. If he had made an investment which seemed likely to be unfortunate. he would make no compromise, but lose the whole or none. In two cases this proved wise. When the United States Bank
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failed he owned considerable stock in it. and was urged to sell at any price, but he would take nothing less than the par value, and on the final settlement he finally got the par value or nearly that. Owning the Ta- conic water power and being urged to sell it at a low price, his reply was : "Not a cent less than I paid for it." His heirs got more than he paid for the property.
As a manufacturer, Mr. Pomeroy had another peculiarity for which more than one family hold him in grateful memory. It was his princi- ple and policy to encourage his worthy employes in building homes for themselves, and we might name some in Pittsfield which would be grand monuments to his name.
In 1832 he proposed to the town to build a town hall upon its lands. giving it the choice of several conditions. The town chose that which re- quired the least immediate outlay for itself, but which finally brought the most profits to him and his heirs, who sold their rights in it to the town in 1882 for $10,000. In the meantime it had been a great conven- ience to the townspeople aud, although antiquated, still is so. But the greatest work which he did for Pittsfield was in securing the location of the Western. now the Boston & Albany Railroad, by the route through Pittsfield. This is also related in its proper place in the county history, but it is proper to recognize here that to his efforts-his strenuous and untiring efforts-and to his liberality, determination, extended business, and social connections, and the judicious use of all the powers within his reach, the town owes its location upon the great railroad which. un- til the era of the Hoosac Tunnel. was the only direct means of railroad communication between Massachusetts and the great West, or even be- tween the town and the cities of Hudson and Albany. Without the aid of his energy the building of the Western Railroad of Massachusetts might have waited long before it was completed. and when the line was finally determined it might have run miles away from Pittsfield. Mr. Pomeroy was a director of the Western Railroad from 1839 until bis death, and of the Agricultural Bank from 1825 to 1848.
One of his greatest services to the town was in connection with the grounds which are now widely known as " Maplewood." They had an area of about twenty acres, and were owned and ocenpied by the United States Government from 1812 to 1826, as a cantonment. In 1826 Congress ordered the sale of all such land ; and Maplewood, or what is now Maple- wood, was sold to Mr. Pomeroy, who immediately built upon them three large three story briek buildings, the present Maplewood chapel occupy- ing the site of one which was burned. These were occupied by Professor Chester Dewey, the distinguished naturalist and theologian, who had. while a professor in Williams College, married Mr. Pomeroy's eldest daughter, Olive Hart. He established in these buildings the Berkshire Gymnasium, a very high school for young men after the pattern of the European Gymnasia. Prof. Dewey was unsurpassed as an educator at
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that time, both for his qualities as a teacher and as the governing head of collegiate institutes; and he had very competent assistant instructors. Mark Hopkins, now the Rev. Dr. Hopkins and the revered president emeritus of Williams College, being one of them.
Prof. Dewey continued the school until, in 1836, he was chosen pro- fessor of chemistry and other natural sciences in the University of Roches- ter. N. Y. Since then the grounds have had, as the seat of the Maple- Wood Young Ladies' Institute, a remarkable history, which is told else- where and which has conduced greatly to the reputation of Pittsfield. In their great beauty to day they bear witness to the foresight of Lemnel Pomeroy when he bought them forty-nine years ago.
It might be inferred from what has already been said, that he was clear headed and warm hearted, of rare judgment, bold and far sighted in enterprise, and of inflexible purpose. When he took an interest in any subject it was sure to be a decided and ardent one. In politics he was an early and influential federalist while that party lasted. When the whig party arose he was equally warm in its defense and support, and being in mature life exercised in it even greater power.
In religion he was a strong Congregationalist, and took a leading part in the management of the affairs of the First Parish, although during its political division, between 1809 and 1817, he took his place in the Union or Federal Parish, and contributed liberally to the building of its church. After the parish was reunited he purchased the Union meeting house, and long loaned the use of it to the First Parish for meetings such as its chapel, and those of other religions societies in the town, are now used for.
In these and other town affairs he was generous and public spirited, although apt to be imperions and self asserting : resolute to have the controlling voice in the many matters which interested him. His friend, Hon. E. R. Colt, said there would be no living with Mr. Pomeroy " if he were not almost always right." And yet, more than once, when he found the public opinion, or a considerable portion of it. disagreeing with his own, he not only gracefully gave way but contributed liberally to carry out the policy opposed to his own. A large hearted and large minded man. of commanding mien and dignified presence, he was for many years far the most conspicuous figure on the streets and in the history of the town. No man contributed so much to its material prosperity, or to the building up of its learned institutions. Elected, with a few others, a member of the Berkshire Agricultural Society at its second meeting (election being then necessary , he continued an active friend of the institution until his death.
His home was noted far and wide for its genial and elegant hospital- ity. He loved hospitality and pleasant company heartily for its own sake, but many a stroke of policy was consummated amid its pleasant feasts. Rev. Dr. Todd, who knew it well, in delivering his funeral ser. mon, pronounced his hospitality "princely".
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About the beginning of the year 1848 he began to show signs of physical weakness, which rapidly increased. A touching proof and re- sult of this decline is given by Mrs. Dodge : " When in health hisattitude in prayer, like that of God's servant of old, was to stand before the altar and spread forth his hands, but when from growing weakness he could no longer worship in this posture, he knelt. Frequently. from weakness, he was unable to rise after the prayer was offered, and it was a painfully interesting sight to see his son and daughter silently raise him from his devotional attitude. All this time his readiness to engage in prayer, and to join with his heart in the religions conversation conducted by others, in which he was unable to join with his voice-which could only be used in a whisper and with great pain his sympathy with the sick and suffering, although himself nmich fried by constant pain. all gave evidence of his growing meetness for his heavenly inheritance."
He died August 25th. 1849, and was buried August 28th, from the First Congregational Church, which was filled with his friends from all quarters, while many were unable to obtain admittance. The sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Todd, who had been his intimate friend as well as his pastor for seven years. It was one of his most eloquent efforts, and treated of the qualities which constituted Mr. Pomeroy or any other man great. after an exordium of quiet but glowing eulogy. The five elements which are required to forin the character of a great man, each of which he defined. are (Ist) a peculiar organization of body : (2d) high self respect combined with great modesty ; (3d) a spirit of benevolence : (4th) the power of ac- quiring influence : (5thi a pure moral character. All these qualities he aseribed to Mr. Pomeroy in an eminent degree. In all other respects he agrees with what we have said while endeavoring to portray him as he was, and with what was said by the press of the day.
Mr. Pomeroy was laid at rest on the summit of Pitt's Mound and a massive monument of white marble erected over his grave. Three years afterward, in August, 1852, the good mother and good wife. Mrs. Hart Pomeroy, was laid beside him, and one by one children and grandehil- dren are gathering to lie down around them at rest as once they gathered abont their well spread table. The grief of the children. when the mother they so dearly loved passed away from them, is painted by Mrs. Dodge in colors almost painfully sad. She became a member of the First Cou- gregational Church in 1809.
THEODORE POMEROY.
Theodore Pomeroy, the subject of this sketch, was born at the home- stead, September 2d. 1813, and was educated at the Gymnasium, the high school, kept by his brother-in-law. Professor Dewey. He was from the first a conscientious youth, and would have done his daty as a student for that reason only. We can imagine him at the Gymnasium as a slen- der lad with a thoughtful and even sad expression, deeply engaged in
Thro Pomez
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study during the hours devoted to study ; but when relieved from this duty indulging in youthful sports on the gymnasium grounds, or on the park under the Old Ehn, and then mingling with his brothers and sisters in the home pleasures described by Mrs. Dodge, for there was nothing morose in his disposition. In support of his imagined seriousness or sad- ness of expression, and as an evidence of the extreme loving tenderness of his heart we cannot do better than to introduce here an incident related by Judge Rockwell in his funeral address :
"Nearly fifty years since a friend, with an observant eye, the eye of an artist, said in my hearing, ' If the expression of sorrow in that young man's face could be transferred accurately to canvass it would be acknowledged as a triumph of art. It is something extraordinary. I have seen it for several days.' My attention being then called, I saw that vivid expression of pain. It was on the face of our deceased friend, and the cause was his great love for his brother, George, a little younger than himself, who was suffering from hopeless disease. The expression was even as sad and despairing as this cry would indicate: 'Why may I not die for my brother?' I think he felt that an irresistible power was killing his brother; that he could not have it so; and that the power must be not good but perverse.
"I think the double question came crushing upon him then, as perhaps it some- times comes upon us all. Is there an Omnipotent Ruler and is he good? In the pro- cess of time, although not very quickly, the mark of pain passed away and with it perhaps the distressing doubt. Our Saviour, perhaps, had through this affectionate distress brought to his attention his promise of the eternal life. Our friend seemed to see that in that future life would come relief from all sufferings, all the sorrows of this life be compensated, and that God would appear as a God of goodness and mercy as well as of omnipotent and inflexible justice."
Having finished his course at the Gymnasium he entered his father's woolen factory to learn the woolen business in all its details and practice to the slightest minutiw ; deciding, however, to discover first whether the business was adapted to him and he to the business. and if not to abandon it at once. A distinguished lawyer expressed to us a few days since his deep regret that Mr. Pomeroy did not take up the profession of a lawyer, for which he had talents and a studions disposition which would have placed him in the front rank. But his experiment showed that the woolen manufacture was the one business best adapted to him, and he entered upon it with a zeal and good judgment which soon made him un- surpassed if not unrivalled among the woolen manufacturers of New England or the whole country. In all State or national conventions of gentlemen engaged in this business his experience and thorough informa- tion, which he took every opportunity to increase and improve, gave him the highest consideration.
It is something more than a coincidence that Solomon Wilson, one of the worthiest citizens of Pittsfield, and father of JJames Wilson, one of firm now running the Taconie mill, entered the mill with Mr. Pomeroy and remained in it for fifty years ; for the greater part of the time as super- intendent. Young Pomeroy and young Wilson were warm friends when
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they began life and in the course of half a century's close intercourse their friendship was never interrupted. And they died within six months of each other.
Both before his death and in his will Mr. Lemuel Pomeroy had made provision for his wife by giving her the use of the homestead, with a suitable appendage in money. He had also, in the same way. made liberal provision for his daughters. The eldest son, Lemnel, who was expected to represent the eighth generation of the family in the iron in- dustry, after a course of study in the Pittsfield Academy, learned the iron business so thoroughly in his father's musket factory that he became his assistant there, and practically the manager of the works. He. how. ever, went to Ohio, but after a few years returned to Aneram, New York, where his father had a mine producing the Salisbury iron, which has, with iron beds extending north through Berkshire. been renowned for furnish- ing the iron best adapted to use for musket and rifle barrels, and all pur- poses requiring strength. Soon afterward his father built the large iron furnace at Copake, and Lemuel removed to that place, where he took charge of it until his death, in 1853.
At his death, after making the above mentioned arrangements, Lem- uel Pomeroy made his sons, Theodore, Robert, and Edward, his resid- uary legatees, wishing them to carry on the business under the firm name of L. Pomeroy's Sons, and work was continued under that name, as it still is. But Edward, who had stood at the anvil, and when his father abandoned the iron business in Pittsfield was transferred to the woolen factory, felt little interest in it, without which there can be no knowledge of or profit in it. His share in the property, as it stood, was sufficient to furnish him the means for all he desired of life's elegant pursuits-read- ing, the culture of flowers, graceful plants, and trees, pleasant but not very extended social intercourse, and in fine all that goes to make up a quiet and elegant home. These he indulged in, but not extravagantly. And to enable him to do so, in 1857, he sold his interest in the manufac. tory. He knows more of the history of the Pomeroy family than any other person now living, and is the depositary of their highly prized heirlooms, among them the antique anvil, and a large steel key ring which closes sharply with a spring as though it were made yesterday, and is polished to silver brightness. It was made by General Seth, and given by him to his son, from whom it has descended to Edward in reg- ular succession of generations.
Robert had quite as little liking for the exacting business of the woolen manufacturer, with its very ardnous labors, its frequent anxieties, its constant watchfulness, and at times the entire sacrifice of every pleas- ure to its stern demands : and in 1880 Theodore became the sole owner of the property and representative of the firm of Lemmel Pomeroy's Sons. His son, Silas Harris, attaining his majority soon afterward, was admitted to partnership with his father, but with no change in the firm name.
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Like his father, he had been taught the business in all its minutiu, and all its broad principles, by practice. Theodore remained at the head of the business, as he had been since his father's health incapacitated him for its duties. As we have said, the story of the manufactories of L. Pomeroy and his sons is told elsewhere : but we may say this : Under the charge of Theodore. the Pomeroy works have shared the fluctuations in the market which have affected the whole trade : but they have been affected less, as a rule, by depressions than most, and we apprehend, also, less than most by its inflations. Mr. Theodore Pomeroy's conserva- tive and equable temperament having kept its affairs at a safe mean by checking a dangerous stroke at the right moment, avoiding the danger of a rebound.
At the time of his death he had considerable financial interests out- side the Pittsfield mannfactories. He had been a stockholder and director in the Pittsfield National Bank from its incorporation to his death. He was a director in the Berkshire Life Insurance Company from 1857 until his failing health compelled him to decline re-election. At the time of his death he owned a controlling interest in the Greylock Mills, then recently erected at North Adams. Mr. Pomeroy became a member of the First Congregational Church in 1832; but as his outward con- duct had been always such as would become a Christian, that made very little difference in the eyes of the world.
His private charities were sedulously concealed from the public eye, but what we learn from those who were his alinoners shows that they were large. One of them tells us that when enjoining secrecy upon him, he said that when as a boy he was sent by his mother to carry good things to poor people all over the town she gave him the same injunction, adding : " My son, when you attempt doing any good to your fellow creatures remember the Scriptures. ' Let not your left hand know what your right doeth ;' " and that he had ever since made that his rule in life. He. however, one day said with emphasis to a friend that he never heard pleasanter words than the passing " God bless you" of some old woman on his grounds whom he had been able to befriend.
In public enterprises he was accustomed to contribute what he be- lieved duty required him to give, but never niggardly or without a cheer- ful heart. At one time he and Hon. Zenas Crane, of Dalton, proposed to purchase the costly and finely located Medical College and endow it as a hospital ; but they discovered that it had already been purchased by the town for a high school house.
When the spire of the South Church was blown down, he took one of the deacons aside, and expressing his conviction that aid should be given the parish by the First, asked in what manner it could be best given. The deacon, not with all the delicacy that might be desired. in- timated very broadly that further colonization from the old church was what was most to be desired. Mr. Pomeroy replied that the First Church
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had been his home from infancy. He could never find another, but he handed the deacon a check for $500.
Nor was there any bigotry in his nature. The Catholic church found its first shelter under the roof of one of the buildings of L. Pomeroy's Sons, and when the present fine edifice was erected they were liberal contributors to its cost. The same could probably be said of other re- ligious edifices in town, and certainly of the First Church and chapel.
Mr. Pomeroy's attachment to domestic life is truthfully described in the following extract from the funeral address delivered by his friend, Judge Rockwell :
' An absolute necessity to him was the rest and comfort of domestic relations. His life was absorbed in business. He sought little relaxation in travel, or in ordi- nary amusements. In his family alone, could he find relief from the trials and vexa- tion of business, and most happily has he ever found it there. In the wear and ex- igence of business life he was sometimes exacting and impatient, like the rest of us ; but when the great pains came on, and when they indicated that they were tearing at the sources of his life, without a murmur, and with a certain unconquerable cheer. fulness, he passed through a long period of uncommon suffering. He enjoyed prop- erty, social position, domestic love, religious sentiment and feeling. Therefore he loved life, but with courage and contentment he passed to inevitable death. This great result, this victory over death, was apparently obtained in this instance by ha- bitual worship of God, by acquaintance with the Scriptures, and by constant improve- ment of the teachings from this sacred desk. He was, while in health, a uniform attendant upon the Sabbath services here. He was long a member of this church. The present beloved pastor will attest to his influence in church and parish, and his growth in spiritual culture. So would those who have preceded him, especially the pastor during the twenty best years of his life (the late Dr. Todd); that pastor, the charm and power of whose preaching filled the audience room every Sabbath, and whose manifold ability and practical sense influenced his people in all their secular interests. Ah ! It was his testimony that should have been heard here to-day, in place of these poor words."
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