USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > North Bridgewater > History of North Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to the present time, with family registers > Part 32
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60
COOPERS.
Daniel Pettingill made tubs, pails, churns, etc., at the place occupied by the late John W. Snell, on South Street. Lem- uel Terrill carried on the coopering trade at the James Willis place, opposite Arnold Kingman's. Joseph Whiton made nail- casks, tubs, dye-vats, churns, cheese-hoops, etc., in the Fac- tory Village; he removed to Hingham. Lemuel Terrill, Jr., and Jacob Dunbar made rakes, measures, scythe-handles, mop and broom handles, etc. Jonas Reynolds made spin- ning-wheels, wooden ploughs, rakes, etc., in the "West Shares."
CLOCKS.
Previous to 1800 Ezekiel Reed made clocks near where Alpheus Holmes now lives, in Downingville. Also, several
395
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY.
years since, Rodney Brace came from Torrington, Conn., and commenced the manufacture of small wooden clocks at the West Shares, or North-West Bridgewater, with Isaac Pack- ard. They sent them to all parts of the country in wagons, and were among the first to introduce small clocks.
WATCHMAKERS AND JEWELLERS.
David F. Studley came from Hanover, Mass., in Septem- ber, 1834, and made watches and jewelry, also repaired all kinds of clocks, in the building now occupied by him. He afterward erected a new and more commodious building south of Samuel Howard's house, where he became associated with his brother, Luther Studley, in the business ; he afterward sold out his interest to his brother, and retired from business. At the time Mr. Studley came to the town there was no establishment of the kind in the vicinity. Since that time there have been other establishments of the same description, among whom is Augustus Mitchell, who left town in 1862, and removed to Provincetown. Herman Hewett came from Bridgewater to the town in the autumn of 1863, and is now in business in Tyler Cobb's building, 421 Main Street. Ly- sander F. Gurney came from Abington, and opened a store in D. F. Studley's building a short time since. Luther Stud- ley is at the old stand of D. F. Studley & Co., on Main Street.
DRUGS AND MEDICINES.
J. A. Rainsford was the first person engaged in this busi- ness in the town. His room was at the residence of Frank- lin Ames. David F. Studley also kept a good stock of drugs and medicines in connection with his watch and jewelry busi- ness till 1845, when he sold his stock of medicines to Tyler Cobb, who has continued in that trade till the present time. The next person that did anything in that kind of goods was Edward Southworth, Jr.
396
HISTORY OF NORTH BRIDGEWATER.
In October, 1852, C. C. Bixby opened an apothecary store in connection with books, stationery, and fancy goods. In 1864 Mr. Goldthwait became associated with him as partner in the business, under the firm of C. C. Bixby & Co. Be- side the above, many of the variety stores in the town keep an assortment of the various patent medicines in use.
FURNITURE MANUFACTURES.
Among the first of those engaged in this branch of busi- ness were Oliver Dike, Samuel Dike, Asaph Howard, Moses Cary, Jonathan Cary. Thomas Wales had a furniture store in the north part of the town, and was the principal manufac- turer for many years. Samuel Carter was in the business at the West Shares for a short time. Jonathan Beal kept furni- ture store in the house afterward occupied by Lemuel French, near where Ruel Richmond's house now stands in the Cen- tre Village. Josiah W. Kingman commenced the manufac- ture of bureaus, tables, etc., for the wholesale trade about 1825, in the south part of the town, now Campello, which business he continued with success till May 23, 1853, when his entire establishment was destroyed by fire.
Samuel Howard came from Randolph to this town in 1827 and opened a furniture wareroom. In 1829 Mr. Lyman Clark became a partner, under the firm of Howard & Clark, and who continued to do a large and profitable business. In 1859 Mr. Howard died. The firm now in the business at the old stand consists of the following persons : Lyman Clark, Eben Rhodes, Rufus C. Kimball, under the name and style of How- ard, Clark, & Co., who keep a large and varied assortment of all kinds of furniture at retail, and manufacture largely for the wholesale trade. Soranes Dunham came from Fall River in 1846, was employed for a few years at Josiah W. King- man's manufactory in Campello ; he afterward opened a job- bing shop in the north part of the village, making and
397
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY.
repairing all kinds of furniture. A few years since Frederic Hanson opened a furniture wareroom in the building owned by George N. Bryant, corner of Main and Crescent Streets, which continued but a short time.
CARPENTERS.
Prominent among those of this branch of mechanics, are Colonel Simeon Cary, Colonel Josiah Hayden, Deacon Jona- than Cary, Barnabas Pratt, Thomas Pratt, Job Bryant, Gama- liel Bryant, Samuel Hayden, Phineas Paine, Jeremiah Beals, Isaac Packard, Jonathan Edson, Bela Keith, Marcus Packard, Cary Howard, Oakes S. Soule, George B. Dunbar, Charles S. Johnson, Barnabas Snow, William Gray, John T. Peterson, Otis Cobb, Jason Perkins, Barnabas H. Gray, Vinal Lyon, John F. Beals, Franklin Ward, Samuel Mclaughlin, Jabez Field, Joseph Hayward, Charles Cole, George Sawyer, James Sherman, Augustus Jones, Rosseter Jones, Martin L. Rey- nolds, Thaddeus Gifford, Thaddeus E. Gifford, Alpheus Alden, Daniel H. Cary, Samuel Harris, and Cephas Soule.
PAINTERS.
Until within a few years nearly all of the houses were shingled, and the painting of them required but little skill. It usually consisted of Venetian red or yellow ochre, mixed with linseed oil, put on in the coarsest manner by any person. After the custom of clapboarding and finishing in modern style was introduced, painting became a separate branch of industry. It is now a trade in which people have shown the greatest skill and proficiency, both in house and fancy paint- ing. Among those who have been engaged in that branch of business, are William Tileston, William Vose, William Lewis, Jabez Lamson, Philo W. Richmond, Lucius Richmond, James O. Clapp, Samuel A. Sargent, William G. Marston, A. K. Harmon, John M. Sharpe, C. E. Lawrence, John Wales, Jonathan Beal
398
HISTORY OF NORTH BRIDGEWATER.
MASONS.
William French, Joseph Brett, Samuel Battles, David Battles, Nahum Battles, F. B. Washburn, Lewis Washburn, Sidney Washburn, Freeman Washburn, and David Mason are among those who have worked at this branch of business.
TIN-PLATE AND SHEET-IRON WORKERS.
Lorenzo D. Hervey came from West Bridgewater to Cam- pello in April, 1839, and established a tin-ware manufactory in company with David Hervey, in the building north of the residence of Bela Keith, Esq. The firm was dissolved in about one year, and David Hervey sold his interest to Robert Smith, of New Bedford, who continued one year, when Mr. Smith removed to New Bedford. Mr. Hervey removed to the Centre Village, and occupied the building that had pre- viously been used as a shoe manufactory by Bradford Dunbar & Co., opposite William Ryder's residence. At this time Mr. Smith again became associated with him, under the firm of Smith & Hervey. This firm continued to do business for fourteen years, since which time Mr. Hervey has continued alone in business, on Main Street, nearly opposite Centre Street. The business has consisted mostly in making tin ware for the various pedlers who have driven from there to all parts of the country, and dealing in all kinds of kitchen furnishing goods, stoves, etc.
Soon after the above dissolution of the copartnership of Smith & Hervey, Mr. Smith opened a hardware and furnish- ing store in Bixby's Block, and was succeeded by Liberty D. Packard in the same business.
James D. Baldwin came from Pittsburg, Pa., in 1862, and opened a store for the manufacture of stoves, tin ware, and kitchen furnishing goods, in the building formerly occu- pied by Ellis J. Morton as a hat manufactory. Mr. Baldwin was succeeded by E. Z. Stevens & Co., who is now in trade at that place.
399
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY.
Lorenzo Tuck came to town a few years since, and opened a shop of the above kind in the building formerly occupied by Messrs. William F. Brett & Co. as a tailor's shop, on School Street.
DENTISTS.
The first person that did anything in the way of dental operations (except tooth-pulling, which was usually done by the physicians) was Dr. J. L. Lyman, who usually came to town once a year, and did all there was to be done in that line. It soon increased to such an extent as to make it a permanent local business. Julius Thompson next occupied an office over D. F. Studley's jewelry store. He was succeeded by George R. Whitney, who came from Provincetown May 1, 1854. The next person in the business was L. W. Puffer, who came from Stoughton, and occupies an office in Drayton's Building, on Main Street. The next person engaged in that calling is Josiah E. Packard, who commenced in August, 1856 ; he has an office over Benner & Co.'s dry-goods store, on Main Street.
BLACKING MANUFACTURERS.
In 1845 Charles L. Hathaway commenced the manufac- ture of boot and shoe blacking, ink, etc. Since that time David Whittemore, Elisha Washburn, Thomas W. Pope, and Billings & Bassett have engaged in that business, the last- named firm having a store in Bath Street, Boston.
BOOT AND SHOE MANUFACTURE.
This important industrial interest, having assumed such wonderful proportions, and towering as it does above all its compeers in magnitude and importance, deserves more than a passing notice. When we consider the amount of capital devoted to this branch of the mechanic arts, the energy and
400
HISTORY OF NORTH BRIDGEWATER.
perseverance of the leading men engaged in the same, we cannot fail to give it a place among the greatest of manufac- tures. It is a curious and interesting study to trace the various changes that have taken place in coverings for the feet.
The first known to have been used were fifteen hundred years before Christ, and the first or oldest form was the san- dal. Those used by the poorer classes consisted of flat slices of the palm leaf, lapped in the centre, forming the sole, and a double band of twisted leaves secured and strengthened the edge. A thong of strong fibres of the same plant was af- fixed to each side of the instep, and was secured round the foot, while those of the wealthy classes were made of leather, and frequently lined with cloth, the point or end turning up like a pair of modern skates. Specimens of these sandals, made of leaves or papyrus, are now on exhibition in the British Museum. Among the Hebrews, shoes were often made of wood, and those for soldiers of brass or iron. Among the Greeks and Romans, the use of shoes was not common, and the Spartan youths were early taught to go barefooted, fe- males only being allowed to wear shoes.
From the earliest days there has always been a great diver- sity of style in the different periods of time. The Lacade- monians wore red shoes. Roman senators and patricians wore high black laced buskins, with ornaments of ivory. Some were made with tops of great length, to cover the legs, and were called boots, the tops often being made of skins of wild animals, laced up in front, great care being taken to procure an exact fit.
The Jews commonly went without covering for the feet, except when on very long journeys it became necessary to wear something, - in such cases sandals, made simply of a sole, with one or two straps across the instep, heels being seldom used.
401
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY.
During the reign of Edward the Third of England, those that worked at the shoe trade were denominated the " Gentle Craft," as they produced shoes of the most gorgeous descrip- tions ; the greatest variety of pattern was devised and the richest contrast of color elaborated. Coming down to the reign of Richard the Second, boots and shoes were made of great length, so that they were chained to the knee of the wearer with gold and silver straps or cord. This fashion was in use till Parliament, in 1463, forbade shoemakers making points on shoes over two inches long for the unprivileged classes under penalty of twenty shillings, and for those that wore them excommunication was denounced against any persons wearing such. This move had the effect to widen the toes to such an absurd extent that Queen Mary limited the width to six inches.
During the reign of Charles the First, in the sixteenth cen- tury, boots were made of elegant Spanish buff leather, with tops of such enormous dimensions as to obstruct walking with ease. The distinguishing mark of gentility during the reign of George the First and Second was red heels. The ladies wore silk or velvet in preference to leather, and the favorite color was figured blue silk, with bright red heels and silver buckles. In 1790 the low, flat slipper was introduced, and the shoe-buckle disappeared, and the plain shoe-string was in- troduced. The Prince of Wales endeavored to preserve the use of the buckle, in order to assist the buckle-makers ; but fashion was too powerful for him.
The shoes of the Oriental ladies are highly ornamented, the covering being wrought with gold, silver, and silk, and set with jewels. The " sabot " is a shoe peculiar to France, and is made of wood, very clumsy, but warm and comfortable.
Of all the varieties of shoes none are so curious as the Chinese, none are so costly or elaborate, and none so un- natural. Their feet are kept bandaged from their infancy, 51
402
HISTORY OF NORTH BRIDGEWATER.
so that when they arrive at maturity they are enabled to wear shoes of three or four inches in length, which are usu- ally made of beautiful silk.
During the ninth and tenth centuries wooden shoes were quite common, and even now the peasantry of Europe wear them to a great extent.
Of the boots and shoes of modern days, those manufactured in America excel all others in style and variety of kinds. The celebrated gaiter boot inaugurated a new era in cover- ings for the feet, and its introduction is attributed to the Countess of Blessington ; but owing to the labor of lacing and unlacing, holes wearing out, breaking off, etc., these gave way to the elastic gaiter, which has been universally adopted and approved. The Americans are rapidly securing to them- selves a superiority over all other nations in this most im- portant of manufacturing interests, and they are now regarded as the manufacturers of the world. American ingenuity and skill has completely rivalled the best specimens of Parisian handicraft, and the importation of French gaiters has nearly ceased. Narrowing our limits down to home interests, we may safely say that the highest perfection of this branch of the mechanic arts has been attained in Massachusetts.
Early in the seventeenth century the Lords of Trade re- ported to Parliament that the greater portion of leather used within the province was made in Massachusetts. During the war of the Revolution, Massachusetts supplied large quanti- ties of shoes for the army ; and, during the present rebellion, she has supplied the demand of the Government.
The boot and shoe trade of New England is of modern date. Previous to the war of 1812, those engaged in shoemaking consisted of the " village cobbler " and those whose custom it was to travel from house to house and place to place, to repair and make shoes for the families, enough to last them till he came the round again, which was usually
403
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY.
once a year. Shoes were not made up in large quantities as at the present time, and it was by degrees that the shoe- makers procured a little leather and made it into shoes, and bartered them at a neighboring store for groceries, or ex- changed with the tanners for leather. At length the store- keepers kept a few shoes on hand for sale.
The store trade of Massachusetts may be said to have begun in or about 1818, when the first cargo of shoes and boots was shipped to New York to Messrs. Spofford & Tileston, boot and shoe jobbers. The trade has since con- tinued to increase, till it now forms one third part of the total manufacturing power of the country. Nearly every small country town in New England does something in the manu- facture of boots and shoes, and it has been estimated that every eighth man is a shoemaker.
The shoes that were made previous to 1818 were mostly of the sewed kind, until a patent was obtained for riveting the uppers to the bottoms, using a steel plate for the purpose. Then came wooden pegs, said to have been first used by Joseph Walker, of Hopkinton, Mass. Soon after pegs had come into common use, it produced a great revolution in the manufacture of sale work. Women and boys were employed to peg shoes that could not so well be employed on sewed work, and hence the number of shoemakers increased very fast. If we stop to consider the great improvements made in the manufacture of sale work by machinery, we cannot fail to see that it has become one of the most important of busi- ness pursuits. We now find, instead of the manufacturers sending out leather to make into shoes, as in former times, large numbers of men are engaged in making shoes in the manufacturing shops by the different machines that are in use, of which there is a great variety. Instead of cutting leather with a hand-knife, it is now cut with dies, propelled either by machinery or by hand ; and in place of the uppers being
404
HISTORY OF NORTH BRIDGEWATER.
sewed by hand, as they were formerly, machines do the work nicer and much quicker. Then we have the patent last- holder, for assisting in the process of lasting the shoes ; from this the shoe passes to the pegging-machine, where, in an almost incredible time, the shoe is pegged; from thence the shoe is passed to the levelling machine, which is a powerful engine for rubbing down the bottoms. Then the shoe is handed from one person to another to do the different parts, of finishing the edges, and grinding the bottoms, putting on of heels, etc. After they are finished, by grinding the bot- toms, they are colored and tied in pairs, and packed in cases for shipment. We have already seen that shoemaking and manufacturing are not what they were once. Manufacturing shops, instead of being small buildings, having a few cutters only, are now large and commodious buildings, several stories high, filled with machinery of different kinds and propelled by steam power. In one room, usually the basement, is the steam-boiler and engine, and machines for cutting sole-leather, rolling it and cutting out the soles at a single stroke. In another loft the leather is secured to the last, and the outer soles prepared for the pegging operation. This machine is supplied with a thin strip of wood, like a watch-spring, its width being the length of the peg. From the coil at each revolution of the machine, a peg is clipped, that falls into a cell, ready to be introduced by its next movement into its place in the shoe. The pegs are thus produced at the rate of fourteen in a second.
With the recent introduction of machinery there has been an increase in the amount of goods, with less help than for- merly was required on the same quantity of goods.
The shoe manufacture in this town has become the promi- nent business of the town, giving employment to a large number of persons, both male and female. It commenced and became one of the leading branches of business previous to the incorporation of the town.
405
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY.
Mr. Micah Faxon was probably the first person that manu- factured shoes for the wholesale trade in the town. He came from Randolph in 1811, and commenced cutting and making shoes in the house that was formerly occupied by the late Matthew Packard, and on the same lot that Mr. Faxon's house now stands. At that time there was no one in town that could bind the vamps and put the shoes together, and they were sent to Randolph to be made. At first he made one hundred pair of fine calf spring-heel shoes, and carried them to Boston on horseback. His first lot was sold to Messrs. Monroe & Nash, a firm on Long Wharf, Boston, who were among the first to send goods to the South. When carriages came into common use, he carried his shoes into the city in wagons, and brought out his own leather. The market-men, and those that carried wood and other goods to market, used to bring out stock for him, which, of course, was in small lots at first. Soon after this time Messrs. Silas Packard and Colonel Edward Southworth became engaged in the same business in connection with their store, on the corner of Court and Main Streets, where David Cobb's store now stands. Colonel Southworth soon after built the store that he now occupies, which was in 1816. From that time to the present, the business has continued to increase, till, in 1837, we find the amount of boots manufactured to be 79,000 pair, beside 22,300 pair of shoes, amounting in all to $184,- 200, giving employment to 750 males and 375 females. In 1845 the tables of industry show the amount of boots and shoes manufactured in North Bridgewater to be $179,716. Number of pair of shoes, 155,476; number of pair of boots, 44,711, giving employment to 301 males and 203 females.
By the above tables we see the amount of goods manufac- tured has decreased during the eight years intervening the dates above; we also find the number of shoes has increased by more than seven times, while the number of boots is much
406
HISTORY OF NORTH BRIDGEWATER.
less. We account for the number of hands employed being so much less, by the introduction of machinery, requiring less help to perform the same amount of work.
In 1855 the amount of goods had greatly increased, and the number of both boots and shoes has also increased in number, and a corresponding number of persons employed, which is as follows : Number of boots manufactured, 66,956 pair ; number of shoes, 694,740 pair ; value of the same, $724,847 ; number of males employed, 692; number of females, 484.
In 1865 the number of boots manufactured was 103,066 pair ; number of shoes, 1,009,700 pair ; number of males em- ployed, 1,059 ; number of females employed, 208. Total value of goods manufactured, $1,466,900. During the last ten years we find the increase to be $742,153 in amount; increase in the number of boots manufactured, 37,150 pair ; increase of shoes manufactured, 314,960 pair.
Among those who have been engaged in the manufacture of boots or shoes, we publish the following names: Micah Faxon, Colonel Edward Southworth, Silas Packard, Major Nathan Hayward, Benjamin Kingman, Isaac F. Curtis, Noah Chesman, David Howard, Henry Howard, George W. Bryant, Thomas A. Ford, Charles L. Hauthaway, Samuel S. Brett, Ed- ward S. Packard, Francis M. French, William French, Am- brose Packard, Oliver Leach, Oliver F. Leach, Marcus Leach, Peleg S. Leach, Cyrus B. Kingman, Martin L. Keith, Charles P. Keith, Charles Keith, Franklin Keith, Arza B. Keith, Albert Keith, Howard P. Keith, Willard Keith, Elmer Keith, Thomas Young, Thomas Swift, B. F. Hayward, Samuel D. Keith, Horace Bryant, William Snell, John O. Emerson, George Stevens, Gardner J. Kingman, Howard Reynolds, Gardner Reynolds, M. V. & J. W. Reynolds, George Loring & Co., B. G. Stoddard, B. Cary, Jr., W. H. H. Hebard, Benjamin F. Reynolds, Perez Marshall, Russell Alden, George B. Blanch- ard, George C. Cary, Allen Leach, Henry Cross, Charles R.
407
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY.
Ford, Richard M. Fullerton, Marcus Holmes, Daniel S. How- ard, F. O. Howard, Cyrus Jernegan, Fearing W. Bent, Frederic G. Jones, George A. Haven, O. O. Patten, J. O. Patten, Nathaniel R. Packard, Washburn Packard, George Sawyer, H. B. Packard, Enos Reynolds, E. L. Thayer, George R. Thompson, Levi B. White, Welcome White, Varanes Wales, Darius Howard, Frederic Howard, Howard Tilden, John Til- den, Caleb Howard, Jr., David Eldrid, Jr., Isaac Perkins, William S. Huntington, Alpheus Andrews, Robert A. Stod- dard, Simeon Dunbar, Lysander Howard, George Clark, F. O. Thayer, F. A. Thayer, Lewis, Whittier, & Griffin, Aaron B. Drake, Josiah Fuller, Arza Keith, George W. Dunbar, Brad- ford Dunbar, Howard T. Marshall, Henry A. Ford, Edwin C. Ames. During the year 1865 there has been a decided increase in the number of manufacturers, and several steam- engines, with the requisite machinery for making shoes, have been introduced into the manufacturing shops. A year or two since Messrs. A. & A. B. Keith introduced a new method of making shoes by new and improved machines. This firm was the first in the country to adopt nearly all machinery, such as pegging, sewing, cutting, scouring, etc. They have a large new factory at Campello, and another in Raynham, where they manufacture a large amount of goods for the Southern market, having a store in Pearl Street, Boston, for the sale of their goods. Martin L. Keith has a large estab- lishment for manufacturing goods at Campello, and a store in Pearl Street for the sale of his goods.
Among the manufacturers that have recently introduced steam-engines in the manufacture of boots and shoes, is Charles R. Ford, who has erected a very large building in the north part of the village, on Main Street ; Daniel S. Howard has a large manufactory on Montello Street, using a hot-air engine for power ; F. O. & F. A. Thayer have recently put in a new engine in their manufactory on Centre Street;
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.