History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 142

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 142

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Mary Griffin, of Concord, and Michael Baron, of Woburn, being the other stockholders. Operations were commenced in 1660. The company had permis- sion from the General Court, by vote passed May 30, 1660, " to digg iron ore without molestation in any land now in the Court's possession." As a further en- couragement to the enterprise, a thousand acres of land, on the north side of the North River, as the Assabet River was then called, were granted and became known as the "Iron Works Farm." A dam was built across the river, and near its northern end the iron works were built, and at once went into aetive operation. '

In 1664, on the 18th of October, John Payne sold eleven thirty-seconds of the stock to Simon Lynde, a merchant of Boston ; and in 1671, on the 15th of December, Oliver Purchis sold all of his stock to the same gentleman. In 1670, on the 19th of December, John Payne sold the remainder of his stock to Thomas Brattle, a merchant of Cambridge, and on the 19th of November, 1672, the other stockholders sold their interest to Mr. Brattle. So that, before the close of 1672, the whole property was owned in equal shares by Simon Lyndc and Thomas Brattle, both of them wealthy and influential men in the Colony.

In 1684, on the 30th of May, the half belonging to Mr. Brattle was sold to James Russell, Esq., of Charlestown. The description of the property is of interest. The deed conveyed "one moyety or half part of all the Iron Mills and Iron Works or Forge at Concord aforesaid, together with one moyety or half part of all the land whereupon the same doth stand, and of all the Ponds, Dams. Gates, Headwards, Wa- ters, Water-courses, Rivers, Fishings, Gears, Harnes- ses, Bellows, Hammers, Anvills, Houses, Shedds, Buildings, Scales, Weights, Utensils, Tools and Im- plements whatsoever, to the same belonging."

The share of Simon Lynde was conveyed, Decem- ber 13, 1694, to Nathaniel Cary, a merchant of Charlestown. The terms of the deed show that the iron works were still in operation in 1694. On the 1st day of April, 1700, Mr. Cary sold his share to James Russell, who thus became sole proprietor. This deed conveyed " one moyety or half part of all the land whereupon the iron works did formerly stand," showing that, between 1694 and 1700, the works had ceased to be operated.

In 1702, on the 31st of March, Mr. Russell con- veyed to Jonathan Prescott, " chirurgeon " of Con- cord, " eighty-eight acres on the north side of the North River, adjoining to ye said river, both above and below the old Iron Works or Forge." This deed makes no reference to any grist or other mill on the premises, but speaks of a road on the south side of the river, leading to Hayward's corn-mill, which was on another privilege on the brook which enters the Assabet River, a short distance below the Iron Works Dam.

On the 14th of January, 1708-09, Dr. Prescott con-

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vered the property to Josiah Wood, of Beverly, Mass. The deed embraced " eighty-eight acres and a small dwelling-house thereon standing, as also a corn-mill and a forge or iron-works thereon standing, with all the tools, implements and utensills properly belonging to and for the use of," showing that some part at least of the old iron-works and tools still remained and were in operation, probably only for the convenience of the people in the vicinity for work ordinarily done in a blacksmith's shop. The manufacture of iron from the ore had, without donbt, been abandoned some years previously from the failure of the supply of ore. The deed also shows that, before 1708, a coru or grist- mill had been built at this dam, so ntilizing a part of the power.

On the 12th of March, 1714-15, Mr. Wood conveyed to Jonathan Herrick and Lot Couant, Jr., both of Beverly, Mass .. " the very place or same, which was commonly called the Iron Works Farm, where the old works stood, and the which now doth contain the new dwelling-house that I at present dwell in, as also another small dwelling-house stands upon itt, together with a barn and a shop, as also two mills, the one of which is a grist-mill and the other a fulling-mill, all stand upon the premises with a dam to them belong- ing." From this deed it appears that, before 1714, a fulling-mill or clothier-shop for fulling and dressing the homespun and home-woven cloth made in the vi- cinity, had been established on the privilege, which, after the lapse of nearly a century and three quarters, is occupied for a branch of the woolen mannfacture in successful operation.

The property remained in the hands of Mr. Conant and his descendants for nearly a century. His grandsons, Lot and Ezra, on the 15th of June, 1808, soid three-fifths of the privilege to Ephraim Hartwell, of New Ipswich, N. H. and John Brown, of Concord. These persons entered into partnership, under style of Hartwell & Brown, for the purpose of establishing a cotton factory. Ephraim Hartwell was a pioneer in the cotton manufacture in New Hampshire, having, with Charles Barrett and Benjamin Champney, built the first cotton factory in that State, at New Ipswich, in 1804. There is little doubt that they at once car- ried out their purpose and that one of the earliest cotton factories in New England was then established at what is now called Westvale. It was a consider- able enterprise for those times, as in 1813, on the 19th of February, Ephraim Hartwell Bellows, a nephew of Ephraim Hartwell, paid six thousand dollars for one-third of the factory and land, and became a mem- ber of the firm, the style being changed to Hartwell, Brown & Company. Mr. Bellows afterwards, by pur- chase or inheritance-probably the latter, as there is no record of a deed-became the owner of Hartwell's share of the property. On the 14th of July, 1817, John Brown sold four-fifths of his interest to Caleb Bellows, of Windsor, N. H. who thus became a part- ner in the firm, the style of which was changed to E.

H. Bellows & Co. On the 23d of July, 1823, E. H. Bellows purchased from the administrator of the es- tate of Caleb Bellows, deceased, the interest which had belonged to that gentleman. Messrs. Bellows & Brown continued the business until 1825, when, in consequence of certain disagreements between them, Mr. Bellows determined that the business should stop. This gave rise to a lawsuit, which became one of thic cause celebres of the period. It was decided in favor of the plaintiff, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Bellows sold for ten thousand dollars the whole property to Thomas Lord & Company, commission merchants in Boston, the deed being dated April 14, 1831.

On the 20th of September, 1833, Thomas Lord & Company sold the property to James Derby, of Ex- eter, N. H., a manufacturer of cotton and woolen ma- chinery. Mr. Derby established his business in a part of the factory, which was then a building of wood, one hundred feet long and five stories high, in- cluding the basement and attic. He continued the business there but a little more than a year, and on the 26th of December, 1834, sold it to Calvin C. Da- mon, of Framingham, Mass., for eighteen thousand dollars. The mill was run by Mr. Damon as de- scribed in his memoirs at the end of this sketch of Concord.

The charge of the mill was assumed by Mr. Damon's eldest son, Edward Carver Damon. He was born in Concord, Mass., July 19, 1836. In addition to instruction in the schools of his native town, hc enjoyed the advantage of attendance, for several terms, at the Lawrence Academy, Groton, Mass., and the Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., both of them seminaries of a high grade. On the occurrence of the sickness of his father and the consequent stop- page of the mill, he closed his attendance on school, and though yet lacking some six months of being eighteen years of age, and with only such knowledge of the operations of the mill as he had gained by employment in it during the intervals of the school and academic terms, he started np the mill. Assum- ing the entire charge of the business, he continued it with efficiency and success till the summer of 1862. On the 19th of June of that year the mill, which was of wood, was destroyed by fire. Arrangements were im- mediately made and the new mill, constructed of brick and with reference not only to the essential re- quirements of the business, but to architectural taste and proportions, was completed in 1863.

Mr. Damon continued the business alone till May, 1864, when he received as partner Henry F. Smith, his cousin, their mothers being sisters, and nieces of James Johnson, the commission merchant of Boston, referred to above. Mr. Smith had had a somewhat varicd experience in woolen-mills. He was em- ployed by George H. Gilbert, at Ware, Mass., from 1851 till about 1853, when he went to Rock Bottom, Mass., and entered the employ of B. W. Gleason, whose partner, Samuel J. Dale, had recently died.

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He remained at Rock Bottom some two years, and in the winter of 1854-55 went to Ilolderness, N. H., and thence, after a few inonthis, to Ballardvale, Mass., where he was associated with J. Putnam Bradley till 1863. In May, 1864, he was received into partner- ship by Edward C. Damon, under the style of Damon, Smith & Co. On the 1st of May, 1865, Benjamin Harper Damon, a younger brother of Edward, born in Concord, Mass., September 15, 1843, and having been trained in the work of the mill, became a part- ner. He lived less than two years after his admission to the firm, his death occurring November 11, 1866.

The firm of Damon, Smith & Company was dis- solved Dee., 1876, Mr. Smith retiring, and Edward P. Almy becoming a partner, under the firm-name of Damon & Almy. Mr. Almy was a practical woolen manufacturer, having been educated to the business in the American Milis, at Rockville, Conn. He had also operated a small woolen-mill in Windham, N. H., for about a year and a half before associating himself with Edward C. Damon. This partnership continued about four years, and on the 1st day of December, 1880, Mr. Damon purchased the interest of Mr. Almy, and organized a joint-stock corporation under the name of the Damon Manufacturing Com- pany.

The business, in the nearly sixty years since the Damons took control, has been largely increased and diversified, especially in the last ten years. The various kinds of goods manufactured in the past two years comprise one hundred and fifty styles. The annual product is now over thirty thousand pieces, or one million two hundred and fifty thousand yards, in the place of seven thousand pieces, or two hundred and twenty-five thousand yards, made in the old mill. The number of persons employed has increased from forty to one hundred and sixty. The hours of labor have decreased from thirteen in the summer and eleven in the winter season, to ten hours for a day's work, and the wagcs have inereased in a greater pro- portion. The present officers of the corporation are : Ralph H. Damon, president : Edward C. Damon, treasurer ; Charles E. Manoek, superintendent.

The manufacture of lead pipe was begun in 1819 and of sheet lead in 1831, by David Loring, at the falls of the brook into the Assabet, half a mile east of Westvale. This continued till about 1850, when it was changed to a wooden-ware factory, and has been enlarged and the business much increased since. The junetion formed by the Lowell and Framingham Rail- road crossing the Fitchburg Railroad near this pail factory about 1870, and the building of the prison iu the vicinity, have given an impulse to manufacturing in this part of Concord. Several other establishments are in operation or are building there, and the latest, a leather harness factory, owned by Mr. Harvey Wheeler, of Concord, is now in operation. This seetion promises to become the busy industrial por- tion of the town, and to build up a new town with

these various industrics. Mcantime the old or central part of Concord is becoming rather more a place of residence than of business.

PRISON .- In 1873 commissioners were appointed, under a resolve of the Legislature, to build a new State Prison. This was located in the westerly part of Concord by the dceision of the Governor and Council. The prisoners were removed here from Charlestown in 1878, and after being here six years were taken back to the old prison. The Massachusetts Reform- atory was established in Concord in the place of the State Prison. A few of the best behaved prisoners were returned to the Reformatory and it soon filled up to the maximum. Col. Gardner Tufts was appointed superintendent and has had the charge of the insti- tution to the present time. The inmates are divided into three classes according to their behavior, wear different uniforms and have different privileges. By a recent law, sentences to the Reformatory are made indeterminate, and convicts are to be kept here not more than two years for minor offences and not more than five years for aggravated erimes. There are about seven hundred in confinement, instructed, guarded and employed by nearly fifty officers, who make, with their families, quite a village. Several different industries are carried on for the em- ployment of the prisoners, and the institution is highly commended.

FIRES .- The first and the most serious loss by fire in this town was the burning of the Simon Willard house, at the foot of Nashawtuck Hill, in the middle of the seventeenth century. By this the earliest records of Concord were destroyed, and the names of the first settlers, the division of lands among them, their trades and troubles with the Iudians, and with each other, were lost forever. In 1784 Samuel Heald's house was burned and three lives were lost. In 1819 the alms-house was destroyed by fire and the same year the Centre School-house, causing considerable loss to the town as a municipality. In 1823 Col. William Whiting's carriage factory and part of his dwelling-house on Main Street were consumed. In 1829 a new house, built by Major Samuel Burr on Monument Street, was burned before it was entirely finished. In 1834 another large fire destroyed the foundry and blacksmith-shops of Whiting's carriage factory. In 1842 the large, new store of Phineas How was robbed, set on fire and burnt. In 1845 the old Middlesex Hotel was cousumed by a fire which hap- pened during the June term of the Court, much to the inconvenience of those attending that session. In 1849 the court-house was set on fire and burnt, with the dwelling-house aud stable of Mr. Keycs adjoin- ing. In 1859 the large mansion on the Lee farm, on the site of the Simon Willard house, aud occupied by Harvard College iu 1776, was burut, and in 1862 Damon's woolen factory shared the same fate. Several other dwellings and barns and shops have been burned, but those mentioned are the most important.

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Since the introduction of the water no large fire has occurred in the town, and the losses by fire here have been slight.

MUSICAL MATTERS .- Some attention was early given to psalmody, and singing-schools were the first and almost the only amusement of the young people of the olden time. Musical societies were formed after this century began, and aided the improvement of this art. Until 1800 the tuning-fork for the church choir was the only instrument used. Soon after that year a bass-viol, a violin, a clarionet and flute were added to the voices in sacred music on Sundays.

On the remodeling of the old meeting-house, in 1841, an organ was procured, and with it came a new interest in the choir : some well-trained, sweet voices made melody never before heard here. The town appropriated money for singing-schools, and these in the winter evenings were well attended by both old and young. Later an instrumental band was formed that for several years furnished pleasing music for public occasions and village concerts. A choral club is the latest and best of the musical societies. This, besides occasional concerts, has as its climax brought out the opera of "Priscilla, or the Puritan Proxy," an original production of its members, which has been received with favor by several audiences both here and elsewhere, and shows the great stride from psalms to opera.

A play-ground containing four acres of level land was presented to the town in 1887 by the family of Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is situated near the Em- erson School on Hubbard Street, and is admirably adapted to furnish a place for out-door games and sports. In the future it will have apparatus for gym- nastic exercises and probably a gymnasium within its limits. The control and improvement of the play- ground is vested in officers chosen by the town, and it affords now almost the only open space in the centre for military drill and the plays of youth.

Of course in these days this town could not fail to take an interest in the national game and form a base-ball club. Under the management of Mr. Wil- liam Barrett this has become a popular institution of the town. It has played nearly every week of the last season on the Agricultural Grounds and attracted crowds of people to see games with similar clubs of amateurs. In nearly every instance the Concords have been successful, and if they persevere in this course the town will have reason to be proud of this latest achievement of her boys.

TAVERNS .- The earliest tavern in Concord of which there is a record is that of William Buss, in 1660. This stood near the present library building and was kept by William several ycars, though he objected to selling liquor and asked to be relieved from that part of the business.

In 1666 John Haywood kept a tavern, which, if not the same as that of Buss, stood quite near it. This part of the present Main Street was for two hun-

dred years the site of one or more taverns. The Black Horse Tavern, which in the next century gave the name to the seceding church, if not one of these two earlier taverns, was very nearly on the same site. The Wright tavern, built in 1747, and still standing on the Common, was kept as a public-house till after the Revolution, when it was changed to & bake-house and used as such for the next half century. This change did not take from it quite all its character as "a public," for while Deacon Jarvis was the baker, it was resorted to on Sunday noons for lunch by many who stayed for afternoon service. After the baking business was given up it held various tenants, both for domestic and trading purposes, until about 1882, it was restored to its original design, and is still kept as a tavern under its first name.

Previous to the Revolution Ephraim Jones kept a tavern at the west end of the Main Street burying- ground, in a large, roomy house, that had grown by various additions, perhaps from that of John Hay- wood. The site of this, now the fine lawn of Colonel R. F. Barrett's residence, was close to the old wooden jail, and feeding the prisoners was part of the tavern- keeper's business. This tavern continued, under the charge of a son of Ephraim Jones, and under Major Paine, Nathan Patch and Hartwell Bigelow, to be the resort of the teamsters who carried over the highway from Boston to Keene, N. H., the bulk of the trade of this section till after the railroad took away their business.

After the Revolution John Richardson opened a pub- lic house on the Common, in what is now the priest's house. After the stone jail in the rear of this was built, he swapped houses with the county and took the corner of the Main Street for the tavern, which was enlarged and improved into the Middlesex Hotel. Here he and his successors did a thriving business of a better class of custom than the Bigclow tavern for half a century. This hotel was the sojourn of the lawyers, jurors and witnesses during the terms of court, furnished the dinners for the conventions and cattle-shows, the suppers of the societies and the balls of the village. Its ample bar-room on the front corner was the scene of many jolly carouses, and its public room, overhead, held many gatherings of the more sober and sedate sort, while the large hall in the third story had dancing schools and parties, both numerous and gay. In 1845, while occupied by Thomas D. Wesson, it was burned, and the present building was erected by him the next year. Mr. Wesson, then an old man, long a tavern-keeper, could not see the change made in travel by the railroads, and persisted in rebuilding on the same plan as the old hotel, instead of adopting a newer style. The result was unsuccessful, and the house, under various landlords, has never filled the demand for a hotel of the modern type. After the removal of the courts its business fell off, and for several years past it has been closed and neglected, until now, almost a ruin, it

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is an eye-sore to the citizens and a disgrace to its owner.

Early in this century a third tavern was opened in the village, and was kept by Major Wheelock, in the house on the Main Street nearly opposite the present library building. This was owned by Dr. Isaac Hurd, and was enlarged by several additions as the business increased, and kept by various landlords for the next twenty-five years. In 1829, Wm. Shepherd, a proprie- tor of the line of stages from Boston to Kecne, bought this hotel, and kept it for the next ten years under the sign of "Shepherd's Coffee-House." In his hands it acquired much fame and was noted as one of the best hotels outside of Boston. Mr. Shepherd added a large hall for dancing parties, and had the best custom of the town aud the road, while the stage passengers stopped there for breakfast and supper. He left Con- cord in 1839, selling the tavern, which passed through several Jandlords, the last of whom Colonel Joseph Holbrook, after keeping it as a hotel till about 1860, moved off the hall, and converted both that and the main hotel into dwelling houses.

Of course the most profitable part of the business of these taverns was selling liquor over the bar to their thirsty customers. Before the temperance reforma- tion had made such a change in the habits of drink- ing, a line of customers could be seen daily wending their way from workshops, fields and houses, at eleven and four o'clock, for their forenoon and afternoon bitters. On a still summer day the music of the several toddy sticks crunching the sugar and clink- ing the glasses could be heard through the main street of the village at the hours above named. But the taverns at last had to yield to the growing sentiment for prohibition and no license, though they kept up the fight stoutly till the law prevailed, the bar- rooms closed, the taverns shut their doors, and for a time Concord had no tavern in its borders. Since then the Wright Tavern has been re-opened, and in 1889 the Thoreau House was started as a hotel on the north side of the Common.

Mention might have been made of several other houses, some still standing, that for longer or shorter periods were kept as taverns in this town, notably the Wheeler House, on Great South road at the Nine Acre Corner ; but this must suffice on the subject.

TOWN DONATIONS .- Peter Wright, a weaver by tradc, in 1718, devised to the town by his will as fol- laws : " Unto ye poore of the Town of Concord that shall be, I do will and bequeath unto their use all the produce and income of all my real estate (after the death of my wife) forever. The ordering of the same I do empower the worthy minister of the said town that either is or shall be, together with the selectmen that shall be successively forever. The minister that shall be to have a double vote to any one that shall be of the selectmen that shall be in that affair." This was the beginning of the Silent Poor Fund in Concord, and this donation now amounts to $300.

John Bcaton in 1776 gave to the poor of Concord the sum of one hundred pounds, and this now amounts to $400. John Cuming in 1782 gave to the same ob- ject the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds sterling, which now amounts to $900. Abel Barrett in 1802 gave to the Silent Poor the sum of $500. Jonathan Wheeler in 1809 gave a similar amount for the same purpose. Ephraim Merriam in 1844 gave $800 to this fund. Perez Blood in 1857 gave his wood lot to the town for the same object, and it realized on a sale the sum of $1200. Charles Merriam, of Boston, in 1864 gave $1000 to this fund. Reuben Hunt, of Charlestown, in 1867 added $1000. Samuel Barrett, of Concord, gave by his will $500 more. Ebenezer Hubbard in 1872 added $1000. Abel Hunt in 1874 bequeathed $1000. The trustees of William Monroe, under his will, in 1880 gave $1000. Cyrus Stow in 1877 bequeathed the sum of $300. Lydia Russell Whiting, the widow of William Whiting, of Boston, in 1882 by her will added $2000. Reuben N. Rice in 1884 bequeathed $2000. Sundry persons have added to this fund $175, and the whole now amounts to $14,175, the income of which is distributed annually in the manner directed by the first giver a century and three-quarters ago.

For Schools .- John Beaton and John Cuming gave the same sums as above to the Silent Poor, viz., $400 and $900, and Cyrus Stow gave by his will $3000 to the High School, which, invested in real estate, is now by accumulations $4000.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 142

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1226

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226