History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 162

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 162

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When thus constituted, the firm took the name of "Smith, Dove & Company." The name was after- wards changed to " The Smith and Dove Manufactur- ing Company," and it has continued doing business under this name to the present time, though all the original proprietors have passed away.

At first this company manufactured machine twine from cotton yarn. In 1836 they commenced the manufacture of yarn from flax. It is in this flax manufacture that they have achieved such signal success. The patterns for the flax machinery were brought from the flax-spinning district of Scotland by Mr. Dove, who visited his native country for the purpose of obtaining them. The first invoice of shoe

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thread made by this company was carried to Boston by Mr. Peter Smith, in a bundle weighing thirteen pounds, on a stage-coach. The manufacturer found great difficulty in disposing of his goods, and not till he became much discouraged by several unsuc- cessful attempts was he able to effect a sale.

Dea. Smith, or Dea. Peter, as he was familiarly called, to distinguish him from his brother John, was not confined in his active labors to the exacting bus- iness in which he was engaged. He was a director in several banking and railroad corporations; a corpo- rate member of the American Board of Commission- ers for Foreign Missions ; trustee of Phillips Academy and the Theological Seminary ; trustee, and for some time president of the board of Abbot Academy ; superintendent of the West Parish Sunday-school, and deacon of the church for a long series of years ; mem- ber of the State Legislature for two years, and deeply interested in all public matters affecting the welfare of the town. When the War of the Rebellion broke out, he was intensely interested on the side of the country, promoting enlistment by speech and liberal contributions, sending his sons into the army, and giving pecuniary assistance to the government by the purchase of its securities. He was a Christian patriot and philanthropist. The unity of the States and the freedom of the slave moved his soul to its depths. In this warm devotion to his adopted country he did not forget the place of his nativity and his fellow- countrymen. He gave liberally to establish free schools in Brechin, and was a most generous snp- porter and member of the Scots Charitable Society, of Boston.

As a husband and father, son and brother, he was an example worthy of imitation. His especial delight was at his own hearth-stone, with his numerous fam- ily around him. His great anxiety for his children ever was that they might become the disciples of Christ, and so spend their lives as to glorify their Creator, that they might enjoy Him forever. In his business relations he was just, fair, honest, diligent and above suspicion. He was generous, kind-hearted, and on principle, a promoter of religious and philan- thropic enterprises. He was diligent in business, " fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." He was econom- ical, careful in details and wise in the disbursement of charity. He was modest ; reticeut as to himself, shunning rather than courting notoriety or conspic- uons position.

But Deacon Smith bad his limitations and defects. He was human. It may with justice be said, how- ever, that his many and wide-spreading excellencies of life and character would cover a multitude of blem- ishes, did they exist. " He was a man into the four cor- ners of whose house there had shined, through the years of his pilgrimage, the light of the glory of God." In the dawning light of July 6, 1880, at the age of nearly seventy-eight, with a mind unclouded, with a heart still warm with tenderest love, his ransomed spirit

gently, peacefully, sweetly sank to rest on the bosom of his Lord.

MR. JOHN DOVE was born in Brechin, Forfarshire, Scotland, May 5, 1805. In early life his opportuni - ties for education, while limited, were somewhat su- perior to those enjoyed by his townsmen with whom he was afterwards associated in business. He was a schoolmate and playmate of the celebrated astronomer, Professor Nichol, and the no less celebrated preacher, Dr. Guthrie. He was not, however, distinguished for his studiousness and proficiency in school studies at this early day. IIe preferred to spend his time in getting up some mechanical contrivance for his own amusement and that of his associates. The bent of his mind was decidedly towards mechanics. On leaving school he followed this natural bent and was appren- ticed to a machinist. There he was systematically and carefully trained, according to the custom of that day and country, in all the details of the craft. On leaving the shop of his master he was a thorough workman, qualified to engage in the business ou his own account.

But remunerative employment was difficult to ob- tain in Scotland. He married, and, when twenty- eight years of age, finding it far from an easy task to support a family from the proceeds of his labor, he began seriously to meditate trying his fortune in a foreign land. Australia and America were the two countries then presenting the greatest inducements for emigration. After much inquiry and thought he fixed upon the latter as his future home. Leaving his native country, he landed in New York in 1833. Here be found employment for a year. But this was unsatisfying. At this crisis in his history a slight circumstance-providential, he was accustomed to regard it-intervened to determine his life-work.

The brothers, Peter and John Smith, townsmen of his, had preceded him, and were located in An- dover. Peter had been in childhood for a short time a school-mate. He had also been for some months a fellow-workman in the same shop with him. Be- fore leaving his native city, Mr. Dove had received a letter from an aged citizen of the place, introduc- ing him to Mr. John Smith. This letter, written at the request of Mr. Dove's father, and by a friend of the Smith and Dove families, had been put at the bottom of his trunk by the young man, as a thing of little practical use, and was forgotten. There it lay for a year after his arrival in New York, One day, on an overhauling of the trunk, this forgotten letter came to light. The unsettled condition of Mr. Dove led him to use it as a possible means of obtaining suitable employment. The letter, being forwarded to Andover, reached its destination just at the time when Mr. John Smith way preparing to take a busi- ness trip to Washington. On his way thither he stop- ped over in New York to see his correspondent and countryman. In the friendly interview which took place between the natives of Brechin in a foreign

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city, they were drawn towards each other, not only | tions of learning. He found pleasure in assisting by their common nativity, but also by sympathy and inutual respect. It also appeared that Mr. Smith, engaged in the manufacture of machinery, needed a well-trained machinist to oversee his shop, and that, in this regard, Mr. Dove was just the right man for the place. It was soon arranged that he should go on to Andover, make a personal examination of the busi- ness, and see if some arrangement might be made be- tween him and the company, by which he could enter their service to their mutual advantage. Find- ing the condition of things satisfactory, he at once engaged with the Machine Company, and went to work in their shop.

But his fertile mind could not be confined to the routine of his daily labor. ITis busy thoughts were alert to discover some way by which certain products, made by hand, might more readily be made by ma- chinery. The problem was to devise machinery suitable for the purpose. The result was his inven- tion of a machine for the manufacture of chalk-twine from cotton thread, and also a partnership between himself and Mr. Peter Smith, in which the new ma- chine was to be utilized. But, before this enterprise had gone into operation, Mr. John Smith entered into the partnership, and the plan was changed. Instead of manufacturing cotton twine they resolved on the manufacture of flax thread by machinery.

At that time there was no such thread made by machinery in the country. Mr. Dove was sent to Scotland to obtain drawings for the requisite ma- chinery, which he speedily secured. His labor in this direction was made the more casy from the fact that his father was at that time proprietor of flax-spin- ning mills on the South Esk River, about four miles south of Brechin.

The position of Mr. Dove in this new company was that of superintendent of machinery. In this employment he found much pleasure. The construc- tion and management of machinery, and the overcom- ing of difficulties in its working, gave his mind its appropriate exercise and consequent satisfaction. It was a common remark of his : "I never enjoy myself better than when my mind is taxed to overcome some mee rinical difficulty.

Aside from his aptness for mechanics and his genmis tor mechanical invention, Mr. Dove had a de- eid I tasti for scientific studies in other directions. In his hours of recreation he turned to them with deCht. Had his chief attention bee .. given to the useril science's muslead of the application of me- chak . he would doubtless have distinguished him- In a cientist in the special direction to which he would have given Vis energies and his life.

flow. oou thing more than a skillful machinist 1. - ucce in Fooyes man. He had aloving heart, fuilet -ympatby for the ighorant and poor. He gave free to the needs and to objects of charity. He was epee wenderested In, an | generous towards, institu-

promising but poor young men to obtain a liberal educa- tion. In co-operation with his associates in business, he contributed liberally to found a free high school in his native city. In like manner, with his associ- afes, he contributed largely to the Theological Semi- nary. To the Memorial Hall building and Library he gave seven thousand dollars. He was a warm and liberal friend of temperance and the slave. While thus prosperous and benevolent, he was never assum- ing, self-conceited, or exacting in his treatment of the less successful. While firm in his convictions and independent in his conduct, he was modest in his demeanor towards others not in agreement with him- self. In a word, he was a practical no less than a pro- fessed Christian. He united with the church at the West Parish July 4, 1841, and ever after honored his profession. His piety was of the reticent, unostenta- tious sort, not given to much talk, but operative in bis daily life. It was influential in his treatment of his workmen, in his bearing towards the poor and ignorant, in his business transactions, in his daily in- tereourse with his fellow-citizens, in his strict and what some would call Puritanical observance of the Sabbath, (he reading upon that day scarcely any book but the Bible), in his regular and reverent attention to family worship, in a general interest in the promotion of religion at home and abroad, and in the cultivation of a meek and quiet spirit, that would be at peace with all men. His example as a business man of sound judgment, unimpeachable honesty, unques- tioned honor, always true and reliable, gentle, cordial, ehcerful and devout, is still felt as a blessing by his fellow-citizens. He died at his home in Andover, Nov. 20, 1876.

SMITH & DOVE MANUFACTURING COMPANY .- In the fall of 1834, Mr. John Dove and Mr. Peter Smith, both then in the employ of Mr. John Smith in his machine shop, the latter as superintendent, entered into an agreement to form a partnership for the manu- facture of chalk-twine from cotton, Mr. Dove having invented a machine for that purpose. The machine of Mr. Dove was to be patented. Before this was ac- complished, and while the new partners were hesitat- ing about the best way of procedure, in 1835, they were joined by Mr. John Smith bringing in capital to their aid. But before actually starting operations the plan was modified, and it was determined to set up the manufacture of flax thread. This led to the sending of Mr. Dove to Scotland to obtain drawings of flax-spinning machinery. These he, with some dif- ficulty, obtained, and returned after a few months' absence, when the proper machinery was made in the machine shop of Mr. John Smith. In the mean time Mr. Smith erected a building of brick, on the west side of the Shawshin River, in Frye Village, opposite his machine shop, for the purpose of carrying on the business, which went into operation in 1835. The goods manufactured were flax yarns for carpet weav-

John Doe

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ers, sail twines, shoe thread and other goods of a like character. At that time there was no flax-spinning machinery in operation in the country. All the goods of the class they made that were in the market were imported.

There had been, as early as 1820, an enterprise of a similar character started in Patterson, N. Y., but after a short existence it failed. The Messrs. Smith & Dove may be said to have been the first suceessful manufac- turers of flax thread by machinery and power in the country. They had no competitors at the start, nor for some time after, in America.

Their competitors were foreign manufacturers, chiefly the mills of Great Britain. At first they met with con- siderable difficulty in disposing of their product, there being a prejudice in favor of the foreign article on the part of both merchant and consumer. This had to be overcome by the manufacture of an equally good or better class of goods, at a cheaper rate if pos- sible. These enterprising manufacturers undertook this difficult task. That they succeeded is evident from the fact that within a few years they secured a market for all the goods they could make, and a reputation for the quality of their goods that placed them on an equal footing in the market with the best foreign made of the same grade. In less than eight years from the start the demand for their threads exceeded their ability for manufacturing. This led to the pur- chase, on the 1st of December, 1843, of the mill privilege and buildings of the woolen-mills at Abbot Village.

These mills had been established in 1814 by the brothers Abel and Paschal Abbot. They at first built a wooden mill on the west side of the Shawshin, after- wards, as their business increased, adding other build- ings. In these mills were manufactured flannel and cassimeres, and cotton and woolen yarns were spun for sale, and for the accommodation of farmers, who came from a considerable distance with their wool to have it spun for domestic uses. This enter- prise was pecuniarily unsuccessful, and, in the finan- cial crisis of 1837, the Abbots were obliged to suc- cumb.

Besides the business of the brothers Abbot in this village there was, on the east side of the river, a stone mill, in which the manufacture of flannels was com- menced in 1824 and continued for some years by James Howarth's sons, under the firm-name of "John Howarth & Company." This company also failed in the financial crisis of 1837. The property of this company fell into the hands of Mr. Henry H. Stevens, of North Andover, and others, who carried on the woolen mannfacture till 1843, when they also sold out their interest to Smith, Dove & Company.

The mills on both -ides of the river were repaired and furnished with flax-spinning machinery, thus very essentially enlarging the producing capacity of the company. Still the demand for their goods kept pace with the production, and a lucrative business

was carried on for a series of years-John Smith hav- ing the general management of the mercantile and financial department, Peter Smith the superintendence of the mills and of the operatives, and Mr. Dove hav- ing charge of the machinery, looking not only to its running, but also to any improvement that would in- crease its efficiency.

In 1864 the firm underwent some modifications. A joint stock company was organized. The sons of the original proprietors-Joseph W., son of John Smith, James B., son of Peter Smith, George W. W., son of John Dove-and George H. Torr were taken into the company. From that time to this the business has been successfully prosecuted, necessitating the erec- tion of new buildings, and in all directions an en- largement of their capacity for the production of goods.

Other mills producing the same class of goods have sprung up in the country, so that, of late years, the competition has been more sharp, thus demanding more close attention to all the minor details of the business and reducing to a degree its profits. It is still a profitable business as at present managed.

The original promoters and proprietors have all passed away, Mr. Dove dying first in 1876, Mr. Peter Smith in 1880 and Mr. John Smith in 1886.

The property is now owned and operated by the heirs of the above-named original proprietors. Joseph W. Smith is president of the company; James B. Smith, George W. W. Dove and George II. Torr are directors, and the latter is secretary, treasurer and general manager. Mr. Torr came into the employ- ment of the firm in 1858, taking charge of its books, leaving for this position a situation he held with the Cocheco Manufacturing Company, at Dover, N. H. On the resignation by Mr. Peter Smith of his position as treasurer and agent in 1876, Mr. Torr was chosen to fill his place, having, by eighteen years' service in the employment of the company, merited and secured their confidence in him as a man of the strictest in- tegrity, of sagacity, of untiring industry and of good business ability. The business of the company under its present management is apparently prosperous. The help employed is of the best character. A strike or lock-out has never been known in its history. A large number of the employés are from Scotland, and make permanent and valuable citizens.

The original firm was rarely constituted. They were, in the first place, all of them, men who had been trained in the school of poverty-who knew what it was to struggle for their daily bread-men who had the daring to breast difficulties, dangers and fear- ful hardships-men whom no obstacles or failures conld cast down or greatly discourage. Secondly, they were all men of great energy and native ca- pacity for business. Though possessing but a meagre education from the schools, they had been taught in the weaver's room, in the wheelwright's shop, in their contacts with men, lessous in endurance, persistent

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effort and sagacious conduct, which gave them a men- tal training and practical knowledge well calenlated to fit them for their after-carcer. They were also men of tried and unimpeachable integrity, altogether trustworthy, and trusting implicitly each other. They were not only natives of the same city, but their general views of life, its moralities and duties, were much the same. They were alike religious, and ac- knowledged their obligation to serve God with their substance as with their speech. So harmonious were they in their opinions, judgments and sentiments as to business affairs, moral duties and religious obliga- tions, that there never was any serious disagreement between them on any matter, and never an angry or harsh word passed from one to another during their long connection.

Their diversities of judgment but served to in- crease the sum total of their combined practical wisdom. While diverse in temper, they were united in conduct. So in agreement were they as to contribute jointly in their large donations to benefi- cent objects-such as Brechin Hall, the free schools in the city of Brechin and the Memorial Hall.

And further, each was especially adapted to fill that department of the work in which he engaged. Mr. John Smith was by nature a skillful financier, a far-seeing and sagacious manager of monetary affairs. Mr. Peter Smith had a talent for the management of men and the minute regulation of the internal af- fairs of a large industrial establishment. Mr. Dove had a genius for mechanics. To work amongst ma- chinery, search out its defects, make improvements, invent new methods and combinations, and thus get the most possible out of a given plant, was his great delight. They were a cord of triple strands which, thus bound together, made a cable of rare strength. Such a combination is seklom seen, and, when seen, commands our admiration, and is sure of success.

BALLARD VALE MANUFACTURING COMPANY. - When the Ballard Vale Manufacturing Company was incorporated, in 1836, the village contained but a few scattered and cheap houses. Mr. John Marland was the enterpri-ing manager and treasurer of the com- pany. Some Boston gentlemen of wealth and a few citizens of Andover were associated with the Marland Brothers in this enterprise. The first business en- gaged in was the manufacture of flannels. This was profitable, But Mr. John Marland was not satisfied with this measure of prosperity. llis ambition craved n larger business and a variety of production. Ile experimented a little in the manufacture of silk, and Art the farmers to work in planting mulberry trees. fle aimed not only to take the lead in the country in the manufacture of the finest flannels, but also in that of the choicest woolen fabrics of all kinds.

In Is13 he started the manufacture of delaines and stuff owls, and, for this purpose, imported from Eng- lam Ne latest style of machinery adapted to it. Ilis activity extended beyond the Vale In other parts of

the country he superintended the erection of delaine mills, taking an interest in them. His ambition and enterprise went beyond the manufacture of textile fabrics to that of machinery. For this latter pur- pose he erected a large stone building at the Vale, in which he purposed to carry on the manufacture, not . only of factory machinery, but that of locomotives and all other products of a like nature.

These extended and varied operations were beyond the financial ability of the company, and beyond the business ability of Mr. Marland as well. The com- pany failed, the stockholders lost heavily and Mr. Marland's career as a manufacturer closed.

Mr. Marland was a man of boundless ambition, of large projects, of a sanguine temperament, of su- preme confidence in himself, daring, but indiscreet. Ifis attempts largely exceeded his means. He had the genius of an inventor. Could his ability as a manufacturer, his knowledge of the special business in which he at first engaged and his indomitable en- ergy have been under the control of a cool head, steadied by practical wisdom, his success must have been phenomenal. Soon after his failure he went to England seeking to retrieve his fortunes, returning, however, the next year. Again, in 1858, he went to England, returning in 1861. But he was unable to secure the confidence of moneyed men so as to start up another business. He settled down in a modest, quiet but comfortable home in Andover for some years. But his restless mind sought occupation. He obtained an island on the coast of Maine upon which he engaged in farming. Here he lived two years in- dustriously cultivating the soil. This labor was too arduous for him. He contracted a disease of the heart, and died April 16, 1865, aged sixty-two years and four months.

The flannel-mill, after the failure of the company, came into the hands of its treasurer, Mr. J. Putnam Bradlee, of Boston, who was a creditor of the com- pany to a considerable amount. When he purchased the property he knew nothing about the manufacture of flannel, but at once applied himself to acquire the requisite knowledge. Concentrating his indomitable energy and masterly business tact upon the work, he was soon able to pay up the stockholders, whose stock he had purchased, from the profits of the mills. The flannels here manufactured have acquired a reputa- tion for beauty and quality, in this and in foreign countries, second to that of no other establishment of the kind in the world. The business in the hands of Mr. Bradlee became very profitable, so that, at his death, he left an estate valued at over a million of dollars, most of which, at the decease of his surviv- ing sister, is to be devoted to charitable purposes.

Mr. Bradlee not only profited himself by the run- ning of these mills; he was also of great service to the village and to a large number of employés and their families. When other enterprises in the place failed, and loss and discouragement came to the people of the

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village, when financial stress closed other similar estab- lishments and their operatives were set adrift, his mills were kept in full operation and his employés paid their customary wages. By his death, which occurred in January, 1887, Ballard Vale met with a severe loss. There was sincere mourning among his work-people when the news of his decease was spread through the rooms of the factory.

Mr. Bradlee ever had the interests of his employés at heart, and did everything in his power to better their condition. The result is that Ballard Vale is considered one of the finest manufacturing villages in the State. Evening schools were established, a selected library of some two thousand volumes pro- vided and a publie hall and reading-room erected. A course of lectures and concerts was given every win- ter. All this was free to his employés. The churches in the village-three in number, Methodist, Congrega- tional and Roman Catholic-have all been furnished and repaired at his expense.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 162

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1672

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672