History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 174

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 174

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The Hamilton School building was erected in 1883, on the southerly side of Albion Street, near the cross- ing of the Boston and Maine Railroad to provide accommodation for the rapidly increasing rising gener- ation west of the railroad, and received its name by vote

732

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

of the town in honor of S. K. Hamilton, Esq., then the efficient chairman of the School Committee, and al- ways the zealous and liberal friend of education. It is a brick edifice with granite trimmings, of hand- some architectural design, and has four commodious school-rooms. Its cost, including land, grading, fur- nishings and extras, was nearly $20,000, and promises to be a lasting and practical memorial of municipal liberality in the cause of education.

The grammar school-houses in the centre, the Franklin School building at the Junction village, and the school buildings of the outer districts are also structures of no mean appearance.

The Boston and Maine Railroad has just completed, at its upper station on the main line, an elegant and commodious structure of brick and granite, located on the westerly side of the tracks, between Albion and Chestnut Streets, to take the place of the old depot, that has stood nearly opposite on the easterly side of the railroad location for forty-four years. The company has recently obtained, by purchase, a large lot of land adjoining the new depot, affording ample opportuni- ties for embellishment and public accommodation, to be used and appreciated by the present inhabitants, and adapted to the needs of the coming city of Wake- field. The railroad has other tasteful depots-on Water Street, called the Centre Depot, at the Junction, Greenwood, Montrose and Lowell Street.

The notable buildings for business erected by pri- vate enterprise are Wakefield's Block, Miller's Block, Gould Building, Kingman's Block, Perkins' Block, Connell & Curley's Block, the Bank building and the extensive factories of the Wakefield Rattan Com- pany.

Wakefield contains numerous elegant and tasteful private residences that are homes of refinement and affluence. Many of these are on or near Main Street, by fair Lakeside, among which may be named thie residence of the family of the late Lucius Beebe, and those of Albert J. Wright, John G. Aborn, Peter S. Roberts, George O. Carpenter, Frank A. Clapp, G. H. Maddock, E. C. Miller, Thomas Einerson and E. E. Emerson. Farther south may be mentioned (on Park Street) the house of R. P. Buzzell, on Cres- cent Street, that of Mrs. Nancy Taylor, crected by the late Daniel Allen, and of Mrs. Sarah Y. Morton ; on Lafayette St. the homes of Mrs. E. Perkins, J. G. Morrill, E. Sawyer, J. W. Grace and W. V. Taylor; on Yale Avenne, the residences of C. H. Stearns, E. A. Rich, W. C. Jordan, C. O. Anderson, T. E. Balch, S. K. Hamilton and L. H. Day; on Avon Street, those of D. H. Darling, S. A. Clough and A. G. Wal- ton; on Chestnut Street, the estates of Mrs. H. S. Brown, Ira Atkinson, B. A. Osgood, F. O. Clark and John A. Tompson; on the western highlands, the residences of Rufus Merrill, J. S. Merrill and Dr. Charles Jordan ; and on Main Street, the palatial mansion erected by the late Cyrus Wakefield, Sr., and now owned by the children of his nephew.

There are in Wakefield many dwelling-houses his- toric in tlicir age and associations, but their number is every year growing less. Among these ancient dwellings is one on Cowdrey's Hill, erected consider- ably over two centuries ago, and known to the pres- ent generation as the Leslie place. It was the liome- stead of the early settler, Sergt. John Parker, and of his son, Kendall Parker, Esq., whose daughter mar- ried Captain John Goodwin, whose daughter mar- ried James Nichols, and thus the estate passed into tlie hands of the Nichols family, the late Matthew F. Leslie marrying a daughter of the family and residing there until his recent death. Another old dwelling is the Hartshorne house, on Elm Street, where lived Thomas Hartshorne in the early days, and which re- mained in the Hartshorne family until purchased a few years since by D. G. Walton and G. W. Aborn.

Other ancient houses still standing are the Swain house, on Vernon Street, lately owned by David Batchelder, and the one near it now of M. P. Parker, formerly, in 1740, of Joseph Underwood. There may also be named the house on Elm Street, formerly of Deacon Francis Smith, and still earlier of Thomas Hay, now owned by W. A. Carlton ; the Eustis place, corner of Elm and Prospect Streets, a portion of which house is very old, and formerly of Captain John Goodwin; the "Colonel Hartshorne" place, on Church Street, now owned by John Rayner; the "Leonard Wiley " house, at corner of Water and Crescent Streets, formerly the homestead of the Poole family ; the remodeled house, now of Mr. Thomas Martin, on Main Street by the lake, formerly the homestead of John Brown, Esq., who was born in 1634; the spacious old domicile on Main Street, op- posite the lake, now owned by Miss Nancy White and Mrs. Mary E. Aborn, formerly of Timothy Nichols, and later of Thomas Evans; and the house on Main Street, in Greenwood, late of P. H. Sweetser, formerly of the Green family, now owned by L. Perry. Many of these ancient mansions, and others that have departed have been sketched and painted in oil by Franklin Poole, Esq., a resident artist, now over four-score years of age. By the thoughtful generosity of Mr. Poole, in whose veins runs some of the best blood of the early settlers, most of these invaluable paintings now embellish the walls of the Historical Society's room in the town hall, Mr. Poole being in earnest sympathy with the objects of this society.

POPULATION .- The population and valuation of the town since its separation and incorporation as South Reading, in 1812, have steadily increased, starting out with about 800 inhabitants and $100,000 worth of real and personal estate. Following are in- teresting statistics in this connection :

A. D.

POPULATION.

VALUATION.

1812.

8001

$100,000:

1820.

10001

192,635 1

1830

. 1311

247,084

1 Estimated.

733

WAKEFIELD.

1$40

1517

279,409

1850.

2407

755,019

1.60.

3207

1,861,319

1870.

4135

2,544,523

5547

3,435,205

6060

3,726,800

1990.

,0001

4,700,0001

INDUSTRIES .- The manufacture of boots and shoes has long been an important branch of industrial ac- tivity in Wakefield. As long ago as 1677 the town assigned to Jonas Eaton "the privilege of wood and herbage on a tract of land on condition that he re- mained in town and followed the trade of a shoe- maker." He remained, aud many of his descendants and successors, from that year to this, have exercised that honorable handicraft, but the manner of carry- ing on the business has greatly changed within the last few years. Formerly, nearly every shoemaker was his own "boss," -- that is, "he worked his own stock ;" he cut, his wife and daughters bound, and his sons and apprentices, with sometimes a few jonrneymen, finished up the work. His principal market was Boston, to which place, sometimes in saddle-bags and on horseback, and sometimes in a shoe- cart, he transported and peddled from store to store his goods. But times are not as once they were, and the boot and shoe business has been revolutionized by the introduction of labor-saving machinery and the establishment of large manufactories. The leading firm in Wakefield is Thomas Emerson's Sons, and is one of the oldest in the shoe business in this country. It was established by Captain Thomas Emerson in 1805, when only twenty years of age, and at first in a very small way ; but gradually increasing, it has been carried on by himself, his sons and grandson to the present time. The firm has now a very exten- sive business, and a reputation of the best kind, throughout the United States, fairly earned by. first quality work and honorable dealing.

In 1837 a son of the original proprietor, Thomas Emerson, Jr., was admitted a partner, and the firm- name became Thomas Emerson & Son. In 1851 another son was admitted, and " Son " became" Sons " in firm-name. In 1854 the senior member retired, and the name was changed to Thomas Emerson's Sons, which has been ever since maintained, though a grand- son, Edwin E. Emerson, was admitted in 1866. Be- fore the war the firm sold principally at the South, and especially at Charleston and New Orleans, and sustained large losses by reason of the war. In later years the firm have sold more to the retail trade, and extended their sales to the Pacific coast, and now their goods are sold in a large majority of the States of the Union, and some are sent to foreign countries. It was in their establishment that the Mckay sewer was first most successfully operated. They claim to be the leaders in gentlemen's fine shoes, and are orig- inators and patentees of several unique and popular

designs, among which are the "Petiole " Congress, the "Leo " Congress, and the back buckle gaiter. All their work is of the finest quality, and finds a ready sale among the leading retail houses throughout the country. The Emersons' factory occupies a cen- tral site on Main Street, and is the same building, much enlarged, that was formerly Burrage Yale's famous tin-shop. The shoe business is also extensively and successfully carried on in town by Henry Haskell, successor of John G. Aborn & Co., by Harvey B. Evans, under name of " L. B. Evans' Son," Isaac F. Eaton, and E. H. Walton & Co., but the relative ini- portance of the business in the town is much less than formerly.

The manufacture of cane or rattan into many forms of beauty, elegance and utility is now, and has been for many years, the chief industry of the town. Its factories are located on Water Strect, by the small stream from Crystal Lake, called Mill River, at the same place where John Pool, iu 1644, ran the first corn-mill of Reading. The late Cyrus Wakefield, Sr., originated this important industry in 1856. A small building on Water St. was the scene of his humble be- ginnings, his first venture being in the making of reeds for hoop-skirts, when rattan for that purpose was much in voguc. When these went out of fashion Mr. Wakefield turned his attention to the manufacture of chair-seatings, carpets aud furniture. He imported the raw material from the East Indies in many ships, and became the leading dealer in rattans in America. Under the impulse of his intelligent ener- gy and perseverance the business rapidly assumed proportions of magnitude and importance, and new factories were one after another erected. He discov- ered new ways of utilizing the whole of the rattan- outside, pith and shavings-and procured the inven- tion of new machinery to serve his purposes. A de- mand for the tasteful and durable manufactured fab- rics grew up all over the country, and Mr. Wakefield found himself a rich man. The scope and volume of the business were constantly expanding, until 1000 men and women found remunerative employment at the great factories, which contained many acres of flooring, and the monthly pay-roll exceeded $25,000. Just before the sudden death of Mr. Wakefield, in 1873, with singular foresight he caused to be organ- ized the Wakefield Rattan Company, to which cor- poration he transferred the whole of his vast rattan business and property, and of which he became the president and principal stockholder ; and so, notwith- standing the death of Mr. Wakefield and the compli- cations attending the settlement of his estate, the af- fairs of the Wakefield Rattan Company moved on with undisturbed regularity, while a second Cyrus Wakefield was called from the antipodes to take the place of his uncle at the head of the great corpora- tion, and maintain the prestige of an honored name. A disastrous fire in 1881 destroyed some of the prin- cipal factory buildings, including the lofty brick ma-

1 Estimated.

734

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

chine-shop, filled with costly machinery, difficult to replace. The energy and resources of the company were not, however, seriously impaired, and soon new and better buildings arose from the ashes of the old, and the company's prosperous career has continued, and its business still further expanded, to the pre- sent time. Though in Wakefield some departments of work have been contracted, by reason of other fac- tories having been established by the company in Chicago and San Francisco, more work than ever is done in other departments, and there are now employed at the Wakefield works 900 hands, of whom about one-third are females. There are many buildings in the enclosed lot of the corporation, which contains eleven acres of land. The company owns a one-half interest in the American Rattan Company of Toronto, Ont. The beautiful and useful productions of the company include chair-cane, reeds, cocoa and rattan, mats and matting, rugs and carpets, umbrella- ribs, tables, baskets and chairs in almost infinite va- riety, work-stands, car-seats, cradles, cribs, tête-à-têtes, sofas, children's carriages, carriage-mouldings, burial- caskets, flower-stands, window-shades, brooms, brushes, table-mats, wall-screens, fire-screens, wall- pockets, slipper-holders, clothes-beaters, wood-hold- ers, etc., etc.

The headquarters of the company, with counting- rooms and store, are at 115 Washington Street, Bos- ton, with branch stores in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Captain Joseph B. Thomas is presi- dent, Mr. Charles H. Lang, Jr., treasurer, and Mr. John S. Murray, clerk of the corporation. The di- rectors are J. B. Thomas, Aretas Blood, N. J. Rust, Temple R. Fay and C. H. Lang, Jr.

Mr. Amos W. Chapman is superintendent of the works at Wakefield, and Mr. Charles W. Trow the master mechanic. The capital of the company is $1,000,000, and the value of goods annually manufac- tured at Wakefield is $1,500,000. The weekly pay-roll in Wakefield is about $5000, in Chicago about $2000, and in San Francisco about $500 per week.

The tasteful productions of the company may now be found in nearly every business resort, church and home of refinement from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and a growing trade exists with Mexico, the States of South America and other foreign countries.

The Wakefield Reed and Chair Company does a comparatively small business in the manufacture of rattan goods at the "Skating Rink " building, located between Main and Crescent Streets, in the centre of the town.

The extensive iron foundry by the side of the Boston and Maine Railroad, between Albion Street and Crys- tal Lake, now successfully operated by the Smith and Anthony Stove Co., was started in 1854 by Blanchard, Tarbell & Co., who soon after organized as a stock company under the name of the Boston and Maine Foundry Company, which became one of the most important industrial institutions of the town. After

the lapse of years, disastrous fires and other losses crippled the resources of the company, and in 1871 it was obliged to stop business, and was succeeded by the "Franklin Foundry," which, however, was not notably flourishing, and in 1879 the foundry was pur- chased by the Smith and Anthony Stove Company, organized for the purpose, and under its wise and en- terprising administration the business has success- fully developed and been largely extended. The capital of the company is $100,000, and its officers are Wm. E. Smith, president ; E. W. Anthony, treas- urer ; J. R. Prescott, secretary. This industry has been of great advantage to the town, as the works have been run constantly for the past ten years, em- ploying about two hundred men. The productions of the foundry have been cooking ranges, furnaces, heating-stoves, together with a full line of hotel cook- ing appliances. The company also has a fine brass plant, and foundry, and brass finishing rooms, where an extensive business is carried on in the manufac- ture of plumbers' brass goods and general brass cast- ings. The company's offices and stores are at 48, 50, 52 and 54 Union Street, and 37, 39 and 41 Friend Street, Boston. The salesrooms and offices occupy two entire floors of this store, and the remaining floors are used for workshops, and for the storage of goods. The trade of the company extends through- out America and to some foreign countries. The com- pany has jobbing agencies in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco, for the sale of their stoves and ranges, while on their plumbing goods the trade is equally extensive, and they have distinct branches in New York City and Chicago for the distribution of the Sanitas specialties manufactured and controlled by them, which have a large sale, and are the very highest grade of plumbing made. The policy of the Smith & Anthony Stove Company has always been to manufacture a high grade of goods, and thus attract the best trade of the country.

The lakes of Wakefield, located so conveniently near the centre of the town, and contiguous to the Boston and Maine Railroad, offer unusual facilities for the cutting, storage and transportation of ice, and these opportunities have been well improved during the last forty years. Not only have local consumers been amply supplied from these sources during the summer season, but immense quantities of the com- modity have annually been shipped to the various cities of our Union, and have supplied cold comfort to multitudes of dwellers in torrid climes. This busi- ness is most extensively engaged in by the Boston Ice Company, whose store-houses by Lake Quauna- powitt are generally filled every winter to the capac- ity of 75,000 tons. By the same lake are tlie icc- houses of the People's Ice Company, with a capacity of about 7000 tons, and the houses of the popular liome-dealer, Jolın G. Morrill, holding about 5000 tons. At Crystal Lake the only firm now doing bus- iness is that of Greenough & Harrington, from whose

735

WAKEFIELD.

houses, with a storage capacity of nearly 2000 tons, are supplied Wakefield consumers, dividing the local trade with Mr. Morrill.

The manufacturing establishment of the Henry F. Miller & Sons Piano Company is in Wakefield. This business was fonnded by Henry F. Miller in 1863, and upon his decease, in 1884, the present com- pany was incorporated under Massachusetts laws with a paid-in capital of $150,000. It gives employ- ment to a large number of skillfnl mechanics, who reside in the town, and many of whom have built for themselves beantifnl homes and are highly prized citizens. The business is now mostly managed by the sons of the founder, one of whom, Mr. Edwin C. Miller, is a public-spirited resident of the town, and is much interested in its affairs. At the present time the sales of the Henry F. Miller piano-fortes exceed one thousand per annum, and extend each year all over the United States, while some have been sent to Canada, London, Japan, Honolulu, British Columbia and other quarters of the world. This company man . ufactures all the varions styles of piano-fortes, and is one of the few establishments which have succeed- ed in commanding a large trade in the style known as grand piano-fortes. The excellence of the Miller grand piano-fortes, often used in the leading or- chestral concerts of the conntry, has made them among the most prominent, and many of the leading pianists give them their unqualified preference. The business is permanently established in Wakefield and is still growing. The company has its main business office in Boston, and also a branch office and ware- room at Philadelphia. Henry F. Miller, son of the founder, is president of the company, and James C. Miller, treasurer, assisted by a Board of Directors. The company removed its manufacturing business to Wakefield in 1882, and occupy the spacious six-story brick block on Water Street, near the Town Hall, erected for business purposes by the late Cyrns Wake- field, Sr.

The fame of Richardson's Sherry Wine Bitters first prepared by the late Dr. Nathan Richardson, was largely extended over the country with profitable returns, by the late liberal-minded and public-spirited Dr. Solon O. Richardson, and the manufacture of this valned medicine, which has stood the test of time, is still carried on by the worthy son of an honored father and grandfather, Dr. Solon O. Richardson, the second of that name.

The Wakefield Steam Laundry, Cox & Cheever, proprietors, is an industry which in recent years has attained no small dimensions. Started in 1885, in its present form in Wakefield's Block, it has rapidly ex- panded, and now employs twenty-five men and women, and disburses over $1000 a month; 50,000 cuffs and collars and 8000 shirts being herc treated in the best styleof the art, every month, without nse of chemicals, and customers come from Wakefield, Boston, Lynn, and most of the cities and towns within a radius of ten

miles of the laundry; and even from without the state. Other laundries of humbler pretensions, manipulated by " celestials" of dusky hue, may also be found in the town.

The printing business is carried on in all its branches by Mr. C. W. Eaton at the Citizen and Ban- ner office, from which are constantly issuing abundant specimens of the "art preservative," from the small label to a large poster or book. Mr. A. W. Brownell has also a smaller but well-equipped job printing- office in Wakefield's Block.

An industry new to Wakefield is that of the Har- vard Knitting. Mill, on the third floor of Wakefield's Block, owned by Miss Elizabeth E. Boit and Mr. Charles N. Winship, under the firm-name of Win- ship, Boit & Co. A very active business is done by this firm, which came to this place from Cambridge in 1890. They knit thirty dozen gents' half-hose per day, but ladies' Jersey underwear is their specialty, of which they produce forty dozen per day. The valne of goods sold in a year is about $20,000. Thirty- eight girls are employed at the factory, and about thirty girls outside at their homes.

At the old and reputable establishment of James F. Woodward & Son, on Albion Street, have been for many years, and still are, manufactured Mckay sewing-machine needles, awls of all descriptions and shoe tools in great variety.

Mr. Joshua Whittemore manufactures and sells crutches that are in great favor all over the United States, especially with soldiers who have lost their limbs. Mr. Stillman J. Pntney is doing an important and increasing business in his boot and shoe-heeling specialty.

The Citizens' Gas-Light Company, organized as a corporation in 1860, has long been a shining light among the institutions of the town, and from the ex- tensive works on Railroad Street supplies with illu- minating gas the towns of Wakefield, Stoneham and Reading. It has lately been granted additional pow- ers in the privilege of furnishing electric lights, and proposes to cast into the shade all its previons efforts in the illuminating way. The People's Electric Light Company and the Wakefield Electric Light Company are also knocking at the municipal doors for privileges and franchises in supplying electric light and power in Wakefield and adjoining towns.

The Wakefield Real Estate and Building Associa- tion is a corporation that has since 1870 largely as- sisted in the development and business expansion of the town in the building of houses, and selling, leas- ing and improving real estate.

The Wakefield Water Company, with its splendid plant of pumping machinery and collateral appli- ances at its works, on the northerly shores of Crystal Lake, and the annual extension of street pipes, fur- nishes employment to many men in the conrse of each year.

An extensive lumber business is carried on by S.

736

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

C. Hamilton, Jr., at his largely-stocked yard near the upper depot.

The leading carpenters of Wakefield are A. C. Per- kins, I. A. Parsons, Moses Staples, G. H. Teague, E. I. Purington, J. M. Shaw, Roger Howard, Clark & Lee, F. M. Pendleton, W. and L. D. Darling and A. Turnbull.

The painters' are Franklin Poole, Z. F. Fairbanks, J. M. Fairbanks, S. Merchant, D. P. Rolfe, J. Cavi- naro and Seabury & Moran.

The masons are W. K. Perkins, C. A. Evans, W. J. Moulton, Dennis Greany, T. D. Loeke, N. H. Dow, J. B. Wiley and Hugh Morgan.

The blacksmiths are G. M. Kelley, G. W. Kendall, Sederquest & Wanamake, G. K. Walton, J. and S. Winship and A. B. Woodman.

The principal hardware dealers and plumbers are S. F. Littlefield & Co. and George H. Taylor; the jewelry and watch repairing business by Lueas & Lee, D. N. Chadsey and E. S. Sweetser ; livery stables, by G. H. Hathaway and A. Bessey ; furniture busi- ness, by John Flanley.

The retail grocery trade is represented by N. E. Cutler, under name of Cutler Bros., by Everett W. Eaton, A. S. Atherton, W. A. Cutter, A. J. Hutehin- son, I. Atkinson, Kellcy Bros., George W. Eaton, Block & Cate, W. W. Chesley and M. E. Reid. Large dry-goods stores are carried on by E. G. Daland, C. O. Anderson, Bowser & Co., and J. W. Poland & Co .; tailoring establishments, by W. B. Jones and Mrs. J. M. Cate; elothing stores, by Mrs. Cate and by A. E. Cox at the People's Clothing Store.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 174

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