USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Needham > History of Needham, Massachusetts, 1711-1911 : including West Needham, now the town of Wellesley, to its separation from Needham in 1881, with some reference to its affairs to 1911 > Part 31
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Wellesley > History of Needham, Massachusetts, 1711-1911 : including West Needham, now the town of Wellesley, to its separation from Needham in 1881, with some reference to its affairs to 1911 > Part 31
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John T. Wye made "Ladies'" Scotch gloves in Leicester, England, and came to Needham in the early eighties. His sons, William H. and George E., did business on a small scale for some years, and then built a factory on Pleasant Street, on the Great Plain, and established an important industry. They made "Ladies'" mittens, and for a time silk gloves. It has been said that Robert G. and William Roper, while in the employ of the Wye Brothers, made athletic goods on a hand-frame, outside of the regular work- ing hours, and that in this way the Wyes were led to make a variety of athletic goods, including sweaters and aquatic garments. About 1900 the firm of Wye Brothers dissolved, and William H. built a factory on Highland Avenue, where he has since continued the manufacture of aquatic and ath- letic garments, employing forty, or more, persons. His eldest son, William H. Wye, Jr., is associated with him in
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business. George E. Wye incorporated his industry as the George E. Wye Company, and makes the same kind of goods as his brother, giving occupation to about forty people. The "Great Dane" sweaters are made by this company. John J. Wye, another son of John T., made gloves on one of the hand-frames, such as were in common use as late as 1894, but now makes sweater coats.
Needham had its share of small shoe-shops, usually by the roadside, where shoes already cut out were brought to be soled and heeled by men whose other occupations were varied, many of them being farmers. There were perhaps a dozen of these shops in town, but in 1907 Needham and Wellesley did not contain more than four of them, all then used for other purposes than shoemaking. The shop on Blossom Street, where Isaac Flagg for many years cobbled shoes, passed the residence of the writer on September 18, 1903, on its way to a new site, where it was to be used, but not as a shoe-shop. After Mr. Flagg ceased to work on shoes it had continued to be the shop of a shoemaker until a short time before its removal. Some work was done in these small shoe-shops as late as the seventies, and the Rimmele Brothers continued the business for many years subsequent to 1870. About the time that the railroad came through East Needham, Charles E. Keith engaged in the manufacture of heavy shoes, employing a number of men, and for years carried on the business in Keith's Block, which formerly stood where the Kingsbury Block is now. The Keith building has been moved at least twice, and now fronts on Chestnut Street. Stephen F. Harvey was a con- temporary and associate of Mr. Keith in the making of shoes. The firm was Keith Brothers & Co. in 1857. In 1856 shoes were made, or put together, in the Nehoiden Block by George B. Revere.
In 1911 the William Bourne and Son Piano Company are building a factory on Highland Avenue, intending to re- move their long-established business to Needham. Charles
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E. Bourne has been a citizen of this town for twelve or thirteen years, and owns the Bourne Building, formerly the May Building, which is the principal business block in Needham.
INDUSTRIES OF NEEDHAM HEIGHTS
This portion of the town, although its natural advantages are greater than in other sections, owes its settlement and growth chiefly to its industries. Jonathan Avery, who was instrumental in bringing the knit-goods business to Needham, died April 19, 1875, aged sixty-eight years, nine months and seven days, and had then witnessed a development which probably exceeded his expectations. The village of High- landville, as it was called for fifty years, is situated upon a high plateau commanding fine views, and has an excellent record for its healthfulness. As early as 1900 there was a disposition to change the name, and an attempt was made to call it Needham Highlands, but this was obviously impracticable with Newton Highlands within five miles. After consideration a change became popular, and on May 28, 1907, the name of the post-office became Needham Heights, and by the following November the name of the railroad station conformed to that of the post-office. Never was so important a transformation made more easily or more completely, or with less opposition, and in a brief time the name which for half a century had been familiar was pass- ing into oblivion.
It is now more than sixty years since English people began to locate in Needham, and many of the best citizens of the town have been, and are, of English birth. Within twenty years the appearance and speech of many of the people were characteristic of their earlier homes, and when the writer was a youth, Highlandville was decidedly Eng- lish, and yet in 1911 it is only in the speech of a few of the older inhabitants that Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire is suggested.
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John Turner came to Needham prior to 1833,1 and lived for many years on what is still known as the "Turner Place ", at the junction of Brookside Road and Oakland Street. In the late forties and early fifties he gave em- ployment to a number of his countrymen in making knit- goods in a shop near his house, and was one of the first to engage in this industry in Needham. He died in 1854, but in 1856 there were several English families living on Brookside Road, either at the Turner place or not far from it.
William Freeman came to Needham from England in 1848, and a year or two later located near Mr. Turner, and was one of the first knitters in town; his descendants are numerous and well known.
The Beless family came to Needham in 1852, from Lough- borough, Leicestershire, and in 1856 the brothers James, Thomas and John had already made their homes at what is now Needham Heights. James and Thomas were then partners, and made gloves, stockings and some jackets. Their brother John was similarly employed, and all three lived on High Street. As early as the Civil War, if not before, the Belesses also made underwear, and were the pioneers in this line of goods, which now made on a large scale, and by different methods, forms the principal industry of the town. The Beless family when they first came to Needham occupied the small house at the corner of Greendale Avenue and High Street, and have always been respected citizens.
Gloves and stockings stretched on boards to dry were a familiar sight about town until after 1880, and all of the work was done on hand-frames. With few exceptions the English people who came to Needham were engaged in the knit-goods industry, and small shops containing one or
1 Mr. Turner of Newton, who was seventy-four years old in 1909, then stated that his grandfather, John Turner, came to Needham as a weaver in 1825, first living in the ancient Ware house, now owned by Mr. Sheridan, and that John Turner, Jr., lived on the Floyd place. Edwin Turner, another son of John, was the father of the informant, and resided on Cedar Street seventy years ago.
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more frames were to be seen throughout the eastern part of the town, principally in Highlandville. These shops were also numerous about the old Centre, but rare in the South section.
THE WILLIAM CARTER COMPANY
The William Carter Company, formerly the firm of Wil- liam Carter and Company, has long conducted the most important industry in town, and its development repre- sents the results of more than thirty years of energy and enterprise. Mr. William Carter, the founder of this busi- ness, has made a great variety of knit-goods at different periods, but for years the children's underwear, and the union suits for all ages, have been extensively advertised, and favorably known throughout the United States. The treasurer of one of the largest mills in New England when asked what he knew of the William Carter Company re- plied: "I know that they [meaning the Carters] make as high a grade of goods as are made in this country, and that they keep up their standard. That is their reputation". The plant of this company has been repeatedly increased in size, and no expense has been spared to procure the best machinery that is made, even when it is necessary to import together with the machine a man to run it or to care for it. In 1880 Mr. Carter had machinery, and in the eighties and nineties manufactured "Hosiery and Fancy Knit Goods." The Lower Mill has been referred to, and in 1909 a further addition was made to the company's means of production by the purchase of the Springfield Knitting Mill, a four-story brick structure, in Springfield, Massachu- setts. A portion of this mill had been used for the manu- facture of yarn, and the rest of it for knit-goods of a coarser quality. It was equipped with two thousand spindles, and gave employment to about two hundred and fifty persons. William Carter has no less than five sons associated with him in making knit-goods, but William H. and Horace A.
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have the chief responsibility. The number of persons employed at the mills in Needham is between three and four hundred. In addition to much advertising, including some of the best magazines, the company have agents in different cities, and to some of them considerable salaries are paid. William Carter was born in Alfreton, Derby- shire, England, and arrived in America on January 28, 1857, the fiftieth anniversary of which event was duly observed by a large reception which he gave in the town hall. Mr. Carter often visits his birthplace in the summer season, and has appropriately named the new street on which his mansion in Needham Heights is located, Alfreton Road.
Mark Lee, who was born in Matlock, Derbyshire, Febru- ary 27, 1829, came to Needham in 1853, and for a year lived on the Turner place near the junction of Oakland Avenue and Brookside Road. In 1856 Mr. Lee with his brother, John, who for many years has been a manufacturer in New Brunswick, N. J., made gloves in a small building, now a dwelling-house, on Hunnewell Street. In 1864 they built the older portion of the large factory now Mill No. I of the William Carter Company, and in 1869 William Carter became a member of the firm then Lee, Carter & Co. Mark Lee retired from the company in 1875, and Mr. Carter continued the business alone. Mr. Lee invented a machine for testing the strength and tension of yarn, another for putting striped colors into stockings, and when he was post- master at Highlandville he patented a double postal card, which attracted the attention of the postal authorities, but which was not adopted. In the eighties Mr. Lee was super- intendent of a mill at Laconia, N. H. He died January 12, 1890, and his portrait hangs on the wall of the selectmen's office, and there is also one in the town report for 1889. Among the offices held by Mr. Lee was that of member of the board of health 1887-90.
Lee, Carter & Co. made hosiery, some cardigan jackets,
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and gloves, and had less than one hundred employees, mostly men. Mr. Carter had manufactured cardigan jackets before he became a member of this firm.
Alexander Lynes, a man of sterling integrity and worth, was born in Leicester, England, and came to Needham during the Civil War, and died in this town January 2, 1897, aged seventy-one years, four months and fifteen days. For many years he made hosiery, also cardigan jackets, gloves and underwear, at one time employing over one hundred men. About 1886 he introduced power machinery, having used the old hand-frames exclusively till then, and was the first in Needham to make children's underwear. It is said that he continued to employ some hand-frames as long as he was in business. In the early nineties Mr. Lynes retired, and his factory off Hunnewell Street was purchased by John F. Brooks, later the head of the John F. Brooks Company, who continued the manufacture of children's underwear, having at times seventy-five employ- ees. A brick wing has been added to the factory on the south.
The Thorpe family were from Sutton in Ashfield, Notting- hamshire, and came to Needham soon after the close of the Civil War. About 1883 Joseph B. and John Thorpe engaged in business for themselves, and were the first in town to make "ladies'" full-fashioned mittens, which required less sewing than the earlier gloves known as cut work. John Thorpe is to be credited with having person- ally made the first silk mittens that were made in Needham. They continued together for a year, or more, and then made extra fine silk and Merino mittens independently of each other. In the late eighties John Thorpe also manu- factured some hosiery, caps, etc. at his shop on West Street. Both were makers of "ladies'" silk mittens, and were the only manufacturers of "Ladies' Silk Goods" in town, or of any other distinctly silk goods. Both made "ladies'" silk hosiery, as well as mittens.
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The factory of Joseph B. Thorpe, on High Street, dates from 1893, and has been twice enlarged. He followed Mr. Lynes in making children's underwear, which has continued his principal product.
In the late seventies Robert Shaw and his son, Herbert, had a factory where Christ Church is now, and had a patent on glove machinery. Prior to 1880 John and Thomas Scotton made hosiery in a shop at the corner of Hillside Avenue and Webster Street, and employed upward of twenty-five persons. Later Thomas Scotton had a shop on Hunnewell Street, and John did a smaller business on Webster Street.
Twenty-five years ago there were a number of small establishments where elastic stockings and other elastic goods were made. Dea. William Moseley was a veteran in this business, and for many years resided on Maple, or Oak, Street on the Great Plain, and in his latter years manufactured in a shop near his house. At one time he made "women's" hosiery, but did not continue this line of goods for more than four years. Deacon Moseley served in the Civil War, and was one of the most highly respected citizens of the town. He was born in Duffield, Derbyshire, September 4, 1824, came to the United States in 1854, and to Needham in 1860. He died September 13, 1909.
William Gorse has for many years been a manufacturer of elastic goods in his shop on Hunnewell Street, and since about 1896 his son, Frank W., has had a similar business of his own. Mr. Gorse was born in Duffield, Derbyshire, came to Needham during the Civil War, and is a prominent citizen.
For years John Moseley rented a portion of Carter's factory, but in 1883 he purchased an acre of land nearly opposite, and Moseley & Co. built a factory, which was seriously damaged by fire in 1906 and rebuilt. This factory is on the site of the planing-mill of Webber Brothers, who sold the property to John F. Mills, and he carried on the
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grain business there. The planing-mill was burned some time before Mr. Moseley's purchase.
In 1888 Moseley & Co. made woolen hosiery and chil- dren's fine underwear, and in 1911 the product is chiefly children's underwear and gloves. This industry gives em- ployment to about fifty persons, and in the nineties was known as the Highland Mills.
William Roper and his family came from Hawick in Roxburghshire, Scotland, to Guelph, Canada, in 1864, and in 1881 they removed to Needham, and became makers of athletic goods on hand-frames in a small shop on West Street. The firm name in 1888 was Roper & Sons.
After Mr. Roper's death his sons, Robert G. and William, enlarged their shop and introduced machinery, and in a few years their business expanded, and Roper Bros. had a fine plant devoted exclusively to the manufacture of ath- letic goods, the first one answering that description in New England. Robert G. Roper died in 1898, aged forty-two years, and William in 1907 at the age of forty-nine years. At the time of the death of the latter they were making the goods for Wright & Ditson, and the business has been continued by Robert B. Smith, formerly the superintendent in their factory.
Among the well-known woolen manufacturers in Needham have been Charles S. Hall of Hunnewell Street, who in the eighties made a specialty of "Ladies' and Children's Fancy Mitts" of worsted and silk, Toone Bros., later William Toone & Co. of Hunnewell Street, and Joseph Langdale, Dale Street; the latter made fine woolen gloves.
Samuel Hudson, who had a love for books and learning, and was for many years a trustee of the Free Public Library, advertised in 1888 "Shetland Shawls, Polka Mittens, Gloves and Hosiery". He lived on Hunnewell Street, and made the goods there. His portrait is in the new library. Several of the men mentioned did only a small business, but it all contributed toward the growth and prosperity
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of the town. In 1908 a few individuals were still engaged in making the coarse woolen gloves on the hand-frames, and Frederick Lathom made gloves of a finer grade in the same way.
Facts relative to the Industries of Needham from the State Census: -
In 1865 about $300,000 were invested in manufacturing, and the stock used was reported as worth about $333,000, and the goods made were valued at about $527,000. There were two hundred and twenty-one men and one hundred and eighty-five women employed in making these goods.
In 1875 about $640,000 were invested in manufactories, and the product was about $1,375,000. The stock used was estimated at $495,752. The two factories that made paints and colors represented a capital of $245,000, and the product was valued at $550,000. Next in importance were the eleven hosiery establishments, which represented a cap- ital of $251,000, and produced goods estimated at $520,000 (57,354 dozen). The other manufacturing industries were as follows: - paper, capital $25,000, product $96,000, Manilla paper, capital $18,000, product $26,000, shoddy, capital $10,000, product $25,000, boots and shoes, capi- tal $10,000, product $70,000, mouldings and doors, capital $30,000, product $25,000, elastic hose and bandages, capital $9700, product $19,600, blind-hinges and fastenings, capi- tal $15,000, product $10,000, glue, capital $4350, product $13,025. There were seventy-three manufacturing plants, and they employed six hundred and forty-three men and one hundred and nineteen women. In the hosiery business there were two sets of machinery, fifty-four hand-looms, on which woolen goods were made, and three on which worsted goods were made. There were seven steam-engines in Needham, and their total horse-power was actually about two hundred and thirteen; the eleven water-wheels had a nominal horse-power of four hundred and sixty-three. In
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the different census tables the statements are conflicting in the absence of explanations. In one place the value of the buildings used for manufacturing is estimated at $149,400, and the machinery at $168,000, of which $50,000 was im- ported. The motive power in eighty-eight instances was by hand, and four machines were run by the feet. These were evidently the English "frames". One table indicates that there were thirty-eight places where hosiery was made, having previously given the number as eleven. The former figures seem more reasonable. Another table states that four hundred and ninety-three men and two hundred and twelve women were employed in the town making articles for sale, and the inference is that four hundred and three men and all the women were given work by the hosiery or silk industries. It says that two hundred and thirty-five women were given some work at home, and presumably most of them sewed gloves. It nowhere appears whether the two hundred and twelve were included in this number, or not. The amount paid in wages annually was then estimated at $341,220. The statement that there were four glue plants in Needham in 1875 is clear, and probably correct. In some tables the products of the building trades, wood, and a variety of merchandise are evidently included.
In 1885 the capital invested in manufacturing was re- ported as $302,827, the stock used was estimated at $170,118, and the finished products as worth $377,247. There were thirty-three private manufacturing establishments, with thirty-eight individuals interested as partners, and there were two corporations with fifteen stockholders. There were three hundred and sixty-nine persons employed, and the wages paid them amounted to $109,817. Two hundred and fourteen women were given some work at home by the fifteen hosiery and knit-goods shops and factories. At three places silk goods were made.
In 1895 the capital invested in manufacturing was prac- tically the same as in 1885, but the value of the stock used
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was $322,047, and the products $720,777; the latter in- cluded "work done", which may cover a wide range of trades. The machinery and motive power was valued at $114,631, and the buildings at only $27,406. Five hundred and fifty-eight persons were in different employments, but apparently were not all engaged in manufacturing. There were twelve steam-boilers, with a total horse-power of three hundred and thirty-seven, twelve steam-engines, with a horse-power of two hundred and twenty-three, and the two water-wheels were credited with fifty horse-power. Thirty- two establishments made hosiery, and all were carried on by private individuals, or firms. The seventy-four establish- ments classed as manufactories gave occupation to three hundred and eighty-eight persons, of whom one hundred and ninety-three made hosiery. In Needham $164,221 were invested in making "Hosiery and Knit Goods", and the stock used was estimated at $103,815, and the "value of goods made and work done" at $247,771. There were thirty-nine partners, or stockholders, in this business, and the amount paid in wages was $70,119. This was a particularly dull period, and many plants were idle.
The census of 1905 states that there were $546,196 in- vested in manufacturing, that stock worth $327,029 was used, and that the product was valued at $688,024. There were twenty-four establishments of all kinds, and appar- ently sixteen firms and three corporations made clothing. The number of partners, or stockholders, was thirty-two. Employment was given to three hundred and sixty persons, of whom one hundred and nine were males over sixteen, and two hundred and thirty-nine were females over sixteen. The smallest number employed at any time during the year 1904 was three hundred and four, and the largest was four hundred and twenty-nine. The amount paid in wages was estimated at $155,432, and the average number of days when the plants were in operation was two hundred and ninety-two. There were seven steam-engines, three gas, or
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gasoline, engines, two water-wheels credited with thirty horse-power, and two electric motors, the latter of fifty-five horse-power.
BEAMS PLACED IN THE BED OF THE CHARLES RIVER
About 1830, before steam-power was employed, there was a demand for water to run the mills at Dedham, and where the river divides, one stream forming Mother Brook, the mill-owners deepened the channels in a dry season. The Commonwealth then required beams to be placed in the bed of the river to regulate the amount of water flowing in either channel. A short distance west of Highland Avenue Bridge, in Needham, the river is narrowed thirty or forty feet, by means of walls which form a channel. Eleven beams each about fifteen inches wide, and placed six feet apart, were located in the bed of the river, and can be plainly seen when the water is low, or when passing over them in a boat. These channels were constructed by Otis Pettee, the elder, an enterprising and energetic man, and his work appears to have been well done, for the walls and beams seem in good condition after the lapse of eighty years.
On the east of the Turnpike Bridge, at the Upper Falls, was a basin of several arches for the storage of water. The facts about these beams and the channel were obtained from the venerable Henry Michael McIntosh.
THE NEEDHAM BUSINESS ASSOCIATION AND BOARD OF TRADE
The Needham Business Association and Board of Trade was organized in the spring of 1906, with William Carter, the principal manufacturer in town, as its president. The membership was then limited to sixty, but was extended to one hundred in 1910. The interests of Needham are largely residential, but the board serves an important purpose in affording a means of concurrent action on all sorts of matters connected with the welfare of the town. Much attention has
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been given to securing the best railroad facilities, remedying grievances, and to "village improvement" work. There are a number of standing committees. The board usually meets on Monday, but until November, 1907, the meetings were on the third Wednesday of each month, and were then changed to the third Thursday.
RAILROADS
On April 1, 1834, the selectmen were directed to attend "to the Incrochments made on the town roads by the Boston & Worcester railroad". This railroad was opened to West Newton on April 16, 1834, and to West Needham, Grant- ville, on June 20th following. On September 4, 1867, the Boston and Worcester Railroad Corporation was consoli- dated with the Western Railroad Corporation under the name of the Boston and Albany Railroad Company, and on February 17, 1883, purchased of the New York and New England Railroad Company for $411,400 its road from Brookline to Cook Street in Newton Highlands. The New- ton Circuit of the Boston and Albany was opened on May 16, 1886.
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