History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 19

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 19

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Bank. He was a man of high character and liberal culture.

Linus Child was born at Woodstock, Conn., in 1802. He graduated from Yale College in 1824, studied law iu New Haveu and engaged in the prac- tice of law at Southbridge, Mass, He was six times elected to the Senate of Massachusetts. For seven- teen years (from 1845 to 1862) he was agent of the Boott Mills. While.in Lowell he was prominent in promoting the interests of the city in religious, civil and political matters, holding city offices, and exer- cising a large and beneficent influence. After leaving Lowell he practiced law in Boston. He died in 1870, at the age of sixty-eight years.

A. G. Cumnock, the present agent, has risen to his position through all the grades of service in the Boott Mills.

Directors- in 1889: Augustus Lowell, Eliot C. Clarke, C. Wmn. Loring, Arthur T. Lyman, Edward W. Hooper, Augustus Flagg, Edward I. Browne.

The plant is on the south side of the Merrimack River, and is separated from the Concord by the Massachusetts Mills. The mills have, since 1861, been extensively altered, and all the buildings of this company are substantially constructed. Before the war the stock of this company, for several years, was much depressed and for a season paid no divi- lends, but in recent years it has seen greater pros- perity. For the last twelve years the average of annual dividends has been over eight per cent.

The motive-power consists of nine turbines, and four steam-engines of 1750 horse-power. "The com- pany has [seven] mills of modern style in full opera- tion, and the interior arrangements and machinery are the best that can be devised." The plant occu- pies about nine acres of land, a part of it being in Centralville, where it is proposed in due scason to erect new buildings. The goods manufactured by this company are sheetings, shirtings and printing cloth. The number of mills is seven ; number of spindles, 148,412; number of looms, 4002 ; males employed, 478; females employed, 1500 ; yards of cloth made per week, 800,000 ; number of yards of cloth made in 1839, 8,061,000; in 1849, 10,273,000; in 1859, 15,579,000; in 1869, 16,715,000; in 1879, 27,106,000; in 1889 40,300,000.

ALEXANDER G. CUMNOCK .- The great manufac- turing corporations of Lowell were not institutions of slow and gradual growthi, but they sprung into being at once, full-grown and strong. They were . founded by wealthy merchants of Boston who had counted the cost and knew well what they were do- ing. They were men of noble aims and comprehen- sive views, and acted upon wise and benevolent prin- ciples.

In the early years of these corporations, so great was the desire to promote the general welfare of the manufacturing community, that it was the custom to select, as agents and managers, men who, without any

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

special and practical knowledge of manufacturing, had acquired a high reputation and influence in the business in which they were already engaged. But in later years the problem of management has become more difficult. The capacity of the mills, the amount of work performed and of money invested have bc- come greatly increased. Competition has sprung up on every side. The margin of profits has been grow- ing less and less. In order to insure dividends the most approved methods of manufacturing must be introduced, and goods must be made at the lowest possible expenditure.

Hence it has come to pass in recent years that agents and managers must have, in addition to the high character, liberal views and business ability formerly possessed, another qualification, namely, a thorough and intimate knowledge of the best meth- ods of manufacturing.

To this class of manufacturers belongs Alexander G. Cumnock, the present agent of the Boott Cotton- Mills, and the subject of this sketch.

Mr. Cumnock was born in Glasgow, Scotland, Sep- tember 28, 1834. His father, Robert L. Cumnock, was a freeholder of Glasgow and a man of fair estate. Four years after the birth of the son the family re- moved to Johnstone, thirty miles from Glasgow, where the father engaged in manufacturing. Eight years later the father resolved to relinquish his busi- ness in Scotland and seek his fortune as a farmer in the new world. Accordingly, in 1848, with his wife and his two children, he came to America, and after a brief sojourn in Lowell he settled upon a farm in Mason, N. H., where he reared a family of eleven children.

Of the eight sons, five have been remarkably suc- cessful in manufacturing. It is believed that no other family in America has the practical control of such extensive manufacturing operations.

Alexander G. Cumnock went to Lowell at the age of twelve years and entered the Edson Grammar School. He spent three years in this school, which terminated his school life. He began, in his early years, the work of preparing himself for promotion. He devoted his evenings to study. For several win- ters he took lessons in draughting. For two winters he look lessons in book-keeping and general business in McCoy's Commercial School in Lowell, and also for one winter he studied in connection with a com- inercial college in Boston. The patient toil and ap- plication, of which he was an example, were the secret of his success.

After leaving school he entered the Hamilton Mills and was employed in the spinning-room. From this point it is interesting to trace the rapid progress of the enterprising mill-boy, step by step, up to his present enviable position. In 1854, when twenty years of age, he was appointed third hand in the spinning-room on the Boott Corporation, then under Hon. Linus Child as agent. Three years later he be-

came second hand. At the age of twenty-five years he was invited by Mr. Straw, agent of the Amoskeag Mills in Manchester, N. H., to take the position of overseer of a spinning-room in those mills. To pre- vent his acceptance of this offer, Mr. Child promoted him to the position of overseer in the spinning-room. After six years he was appointed superintendent of the Boott Mills, an office next to that of agent. In the next year he was chosen agent of the Quinneboag Man- ufacturing Company, of Danielsonville, Conn. After holding this position two years, he was, in 1868, upon the resignation of William A. Burke, chosen to suc- ceed him in office as agent of the Boott Cotton-Mills, one of the most extensive manufacturing corporations in New England.

This position of high responsibility he has now successfully filled for twenty-two years. Meanwhile the operations of this great corporation, with a cap- ital of $1,200,000, have been greatly enlarged, the number of spindles having been increased from 64,- 000 to 151,000.

Outside his official station, Mr. Cumnock has occu- pied various positions of trust in civil life. He is a trustee of the Mechanics' Savings Bank, a director of the Lowell Gas-Light Company, and a director of the Railroad National Bank. In 1872 he was in the Board of Aldermen, and held the important position of chairman of the Committee on Water Works, when the policy of the management of these works was in process of formation.

Mr. Cumnock is a man of generous nature, with a hearty sympathy with all that pertains to the virtue of society and the welfare of the city. Fortune has favored him, and he has been remarkably successful. His success, however, has not been attained without patient toil, unremitting efforts, and a high purpose to " do his best always."

THE MASSACHUSETTS COTTON-MILLS were incor- porated in 1839, with a capital of $1,200,000, which has since been increased to $1,800,000, by the absorp- tion of the Prescott Company.

The Prescott Company was incorporated in 1844, but was soon absorbed in the Massachusetts Company. The treasurers have been John A. Lowell (1839), Homer Bartlett (1848), Geo. Atkinson (1872), Charles L. Lovering, 1890.

Agents: Homer Bartlett (1840), Joseph White (1849), Frank F. Battles (1856), Wm. S. Southworth (1889).

Homer Bartlett was born in Granby, Mass., in 1795, and graduated from Williams College in 1818. He was a Presidential elector in 1844 and member of the Governor's Council in 1854. In 1849 he left the office of agent of the Massachusetts Mills to accept that of treasurer. The latter office he held until 1872, when he was seventy-seven years of age. He died in 1874, at the age of nearly seventy-nine years.

Joseph White, upon leaving his position as agent, served for several years as secretary of the Massachu-

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setts Board of Education. He now resides in Wil- liamstown, Mass.

A notice of Mr. Battles is found on another page of this work.

Mr. Southworth, the present agent, had served as superintendent of the mills before his appointment as agent.

Directors for 1890: Augustus Lowell, Edward I. Browne, Benj. W. Crowninshield, Robert Treat Paine, Charles P. Bowditch, Augustus P. Loring, Charles L. Lovering.

The plant of the Massachusetts Cotton Mills since the purchase of the Prescott Mills, in 1847, covers eight acres. The motive power consists of thirteen turbines and four steam-engines of 1250 horse-power. Number of males employed, 560; number of females employed, 1250; number of spin- dles, 126,648; number of looms, 3728; number of vards of cotton cloth made per week, 900,000; num- ber of pounds of cotton used per week, 300,000.

The goods made by this company consist of sheet- ings, shirtings and drillings.

The original buildings of this corporation have been very greatly enlarged and improved. The basement stories, which were formerly occupied with the pon- derous breast-wheels, are now used for the manu- facture of cloth.

The following extract from Hill's "Lowell Illus- trated," will show the extent of the operations of this company :

"By the substitution of flat for pitched roofs and the adaptation of basements for manufacturing purposes, when the breast-wheels were discarded, six full stories are obtained in nearly all the principal buildings of this Company; and their aggregate length is twenty-five hundred feet and a total floor area of fifteen and one-half acres (now increased to eighteen acres). These figures include store-houses, but exclude several minor buildings, as shops, waste and wheel-houses, stables, etc., from one to three stories in height."

The number of yards of cotton cloth made by this company in 1849 was 10,373,000; in 1859, 28,172,000 ; in 1869, 17,406,000; in 1879, 38,714,000; in 1889, 47,330,000.

The average of dividends for the last twelve years has been about five and one-half per cent.

FRANK F. BATTLES .- The great manufacturing corporations of Lowell have no worthier represen- tative, no man more fully identified with their interests, in mind and heart, than Frank F. Battles, the late agent of the Massachusetts Mills.

Mr. Battles was born in Dorchester, Mass., Feb. 12, 1820, and died at his home on Mt. Washington Street, Lowell, Sept. 19, 1889, at the age of nearly seventy years. He was of New England descent. His grand- father, Jonathan Battles, was a farmer in Stoughton, Mase., a stern and sturdy man of the early days. His father, Joseph Battles, held the position of overseer 6-ii

in a manufacturing establishment in Dorchester. When Mr. Battles was twelve years of age he came to Lowell with his father, who, on account of his ex- perience as a manufacturer, had been invited to aid in starting the new mills of the Tremont Corporation of that city. After leaving the service of the Corpo- ration he spent his last years upon his farm in Derry, N. H., where he died in 1845.

Mr. Battles, on coming to Lowell with his father's family, became a pupil in the North Grammar School (now Bartlett), and afterwards entered the High School, which was then under its first principal, Thomas M. Clark, now Bishop of Rhode Island. Among his schoolmates were Gen. Benj. F. Butler and Capt. Gustavus V. Fox.

Upon leaving the High School he was appointed clerk in the Railroad Bank, then under the presi- dency of Benj. F. French. When the Dwight Mills, of Cabotville (now Chicopee), were started, Mr. Battles, upon the recommendation of Hon. Homer Bartlett, was appointed paymaster of that Corporation. When twenty-six years of age he was invited back to Lowell to the position of paymaster of the Prescott Mills. He subsequently became superintendent of those mills, and in 1856, when the Massachusetts Mills had absorbed the Prescott, he was appointed agent of the combined Corporations, a position which he filled with great ability and success until 1889, wheu his declining health demanded his retirement. He held this latter office forty-three years.

Upon leaving his official position he found for himself a pleasant home on Mount Washington Street, where his friends fondly hoped, and even be- lieved, that his former health was returning; but upon the evening of September 19, 1889, after retir- ing for the night, he suddenly died of apoplexy.

The news of his sudden death produced a profound sensation. Probably Lowell had no citizen who was ever more sincerely mourned. Especially that very large number who, in his long official carcer, had served under him, and had experienced the generous kindness of his noble nature, heard the sad tidings with feelings of filial tenderness and grief. The rela- tions of Mr. Battles to his employés were of a peculi- arly interesting character. He seemed to take pride in his workmen. He recognized them politely on the street. He dealt generously with those who erred. When a charge was made before him he was wont to ask : "Are there not some extenuating cir- cumstances ?" At his death the feeling was univer- sal that a good man had fallen. But his goodness did not consist in doing no harm, but was that of an intelligent, thoughtful, just man, who believed that goodness is the highest attribute of humanity.

He was favored by nature. He had a fine personal bearing, and was of genial, courtly manners. In his conversation and intercourse with others there was a natural charm which did much to win for him their affection and respect. By those who knew him best

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

it is asserted that his unostentatious benevolence in the bestowment of gifts of charity was one of his most marked characteristics.

Mr. Battles never sought civil office. He was, however, a director of the Railroad National Bank, and he served as alderman in 1870 and 1871.

LOWELL MACHINE-SHOP .- The following record of this corporation is in part taken from an article in "Lowell Illustrated," by Frank P. Hill :

"The building of cotton machinery was first begun by the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, to equip their second mill, it being then impossible, by reason of stringent laws imposed by England, to import it. They erected for this purpose a four-story building similar to a cotton-mill, and after having completed their machinery, early in 1826, sold the business and tools to the Proprietors of Locks and Canals." The latter company continued to do a large business in building machinery for cotton-mills till 1845, a period of nineteen years. They also engaged in building locomotives and making machinists' tools.

But in 1845 a new company, with the title of Low- ell Machine-Shop, was incorporated, which pur- chased the plant of the Proprietors of Locks and Canals, and this company has continued the building of cotton machinery up to the present time.

The original corporators of the company were Ab- bott Lawrence, Nathan Appleton and John A. Low- ell. The capital, which orginally was $500,000, is now increased to $900,000.

The treasurers have been : J. Thomas Stevenson (1845), William A. Burke (1876), Robert H. Steven- son (1884), Charles L. Pierson (1889).

The superintendents have been: William A. Burke (1845), Mertoun C. Bryant (1862), Andrew Moody (1862), George Richardson (1870), Charles L. Hildreth (1879).

M. C. Bryant, before his appointment as superin- tendent, was a civil engineer, having taken an import- ant part in starting the works of the Lowell Gas Com- pany. He died in office.

Andrew Moody, before being superintendent, had been a machinist and contractor in the machine- shop. On resigning the office of superintendent he retired from active business.

George Richardson had been a draughtsman and contractor in the machine-shop before his appoint- ment as superintendent. He died while in office.

C. L. Hildreth, having been in service in the ma- chine-shop for forty-five years, is now superintendent of the works.

Directors for 1889 : Richard D. Rogers, J. Hunting- ton Walcott, Augustus Lowell, Robert H. Stevenson, George P. Upham, Arthur J. Lyman, Charles L. Pierson.

The shops and foundry of this corporation are located between the Pawtucket and Merrimack Canals, and the whole plant, including boarding-houses, oc- cupies nearly thirteen acres.

" The Lowell Machine-Shop has facilities for turn- ing out annually complete cotton machinery repre- sented by 160,000 spindles. The floor surface of the shops, foundry, etc., exceeds nine acres."

This company manufactures every kind of machine used by manufacturers of cotton or paper. The num- ber of shops is seven, together with the foundry and the smithy. The number of men employed is 1600; number of tons of wrought-iron annually con- sumed, 1100; of cast-iron, 8500; pounds of brass composition, 55,000 ; tons of anthracite coal nsed an- nually, 3500; of smithy coal, 500.

The motive-power consists of seven turbines of 500 horse-power, three steam-engines of 410 horse-power. The average of the annual dividends paid by this company for the last twelve years has exceeded nine per cent.

WILLIAM ALVORD BURKE was born in Windsor, Vt., July 7, 1811, and died at his home on Nesmith Street, Lowell, May 28, 1887, at the age of seventy " six years. He was a descendant of Richard Burke, of Sudbury, Mass., who came to this country about the year 1660, and whose great-grandson, Solomon Wait Burke, was one of the earliest settlers of Wind- sor.

Mr. Burke's early education was obtained in the public schools and in the Academy of Windsor, where he very early exhibited unusual powers for the ac- quisition of knowledge, having at the age of six years attained to a considerable acquaintance with the Latin language. It was the ambition of his early years to pursue a collegiate course of study, but cir- cumstances forbade it, and at the age of fifteen years he entered the machine-shop of the Nashua Manufac- turing Company, at Nashua, N. H., whither his family had now removed.

Mr. Burke exhibited such ability and fidelity in his new calling, that at the age of twenty-three years he was placed in charge of the machine-shop owned by Messrs. Ira Gay & Co., of Nashua. But still further promotion awaited him, for at the end of two years he was put in charge of the repair shop of the Boott Cotton-Mills of Lowell, and was also appointed master mechanic of these mills.

In 1839, when twenty-eight years of age, he was elected agent of the recently-erected machine-shop of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company of Manches- ter, N. H. This position he held until 1845. During all these years he had been educating himself iu the management of large bodies of men, and in the me- chanical construction of machinery used in cotton- mills. The education thus obtained was of the high- est service to him in the positions of great responsi- bility in which he was yet to be placed.

In 1845 the new corporation, known as the "Low- ell Machine-Shop," purchased of the " Proprietors of the Locks and Canals" their large machine-shop, in which had been built most of the machinery for the mills of Lowell. These works were then, and still

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are, the largest works of the kind in America. Over them the company appointed Mr. Burke as superin- tendent when at the age of thirty-four years. To commit so important a trust to so young a man seemed to many a hazardous experimcut. But Mr. Burke proved equal to the demand. The task was arduous, and the difficulties great, but he brought with him a well-trained mind, a sound judgment and an indomitable will. He rose above every obstacle and held the position with honor for seventeen years.

In 1862 he was appointed agent of the Boott Cot- ton-Mills, in which he had previously been master mechanic. This year was to the mills of Lowell a year of perils and disasters. The war had raged for one year and had brought confusion and dismay. Many mills had been closed ; operatives had left the city ; to obtain cotton was almost impossible, and all things demanded a leader of a strong will and a steady hand. Mr. Burke was called to tread a path before untrodden. But he went boldly forward. He de- manded the substitution of new machinery for the old, and the adoption of the most approved methods of manufacture. The change inspired new life. Con- fidence and hope revived. The stock, which had fal- len below par, now gradually rose high upon the scale of manufacturing stocks of the country, and the administration of Mr. Burke proved an eminent suc- cess.

In 1868 he resigned his position in the Boott Mills to accept the office of treasurer of the Tremont Mills and Suffolk Manufacturing Company. After holding this office two years he resigned it to take the position of assistant treasurer of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company, in Great Falls, N. H., and of the Dwight Manufacturing Company, of Chicopee, Mass., both of which were among the largest mills of the kind in the country.

As treasurer of these mills he was in a position of high authority. His policy was never timid. Even against the remonstrances of stockholders he insisted that the first step to be taken by these mills-all of which were in an unsatisfactory condition-was to expend money freely to place them in the most effec- tive condition. Old machinery must give place to new. Old structures must be rebuilt. The latest in- ventions and improvements must be introduced. To do this against the opposition of the timid, required both firmness and courage. But the work was done, and time proved the wisdom of the policy.

In 1876 Mr. Burke, now sixty-five years of age, re- ceived his last appointment to a position of high re- sponsibility. He was elected treasurer of the Lowell " Machine-Shop," in which, in his early years, he had been the efficient and successful superintendent. This position he held until 1884, when the infirmities of age and declining health demanded liis retirement. After three years he closed his long and busy and honorable life.

Mr. Burke possessed qualities which admirably

adapted him to the command of other men-a strong will, a fixed purpose, a firm self-control and a sound judgment. His mind was conservative. He indulged in no speculations, and took no part in the fascinating schemes of visionary men. He had no taste except for things permanent and substantial.

He was a director in several of the institutions of the city, was president of the Mechanics' Savings Bank for twenty-six years, and for two years during the Civil War was a member of the Board of Alder- men.

In 1837 he married Catharinc French, of New Bed- ford, N. H., who died in 1870. In 1872 he married Elizabeth M. Derby, who still survives. His surviv- ing children are Catharine Elizabeth, Annie Alvord aud Edward Nevins Burke.

CHARLES LEWIS HILDRETH is a descendant of Richard Hildreth, who belonged to that company of thirty-nine persons-most of whom were inhabitants of Woburn aud Concord, Mass .- who, in 1653, pe- titioncd the Legislature of Massachusetts for a grant of land bordered by the Merrimack aud Concord Rivers, and lying near Pawtucket Falls. This tract embraced the site of the city of Lowell. Their pcti- tion being granted, they formed a settlement, to which they gave the name of Chelmsford. In this devout and sturdy band of farmers were the progenitors of many of the founders of the city of Lowell.

It is an interesting fact in regard to Richard Hil- dreth, that, upon his petition, the Legislature of Mas- sachusetts granted to him a lot of land containing 150 acres, for the reason that he "had a wife and many small children, and, being a husbandman, he was greatly disadvantaged partly by the hand of God de- priving him of the use of his right hand, whereby he was wholly disabled to labor." This lot of land, lying in Westford-which was formerly a part of Chelms- ford-has uow been in the hands of Richard Hil- dreth and his descendants for seven generations, and is the property of Charles L. Hildreth, the subject of this sketch.

Mr. Hildreth was born in Concord, N. H., October, 9, 1823, and is the son of Elijah Hildreth, a farmer, who, after his son's birth, became a resident of New Ipswich, N. H.

Mr. Hildreth, having finished his education at the academy at New Ipswich, at the age of twenty-two years, came to Lowell almost an entire stranger, and began work in the Lowell Machine Shop. After a ser- vice of three years as a workman he became a con- tractor in the machine-shop, and continued in the lat- ter position about ten years.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 19

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