History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 101

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706

USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 101

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The high-school house-lot at North Abington is the finest in town. The circumstances concerning its purchase are worth recording.

During the fall and winter of 1865 it became evi- dent that additional school accommodations must be provided for North Abington, and a recommendation was made by the school committee to the town in March, 1866, that land be purchased and a new building erected. The town voted according to the recommendation. The only lot which could be had of sufficient size was the lot owned by Elbridge Sprague, Esq. After a protracted negotiation he offered to sell for five hundred dollars. Two days later he thought the sum was too small, and wanted fifty dollars additional. The committee, knowing that it would be a splendid bargain for the town, even at that additional price, accepted his final offer at once, and the lot became the property of the town.

The following is a list of the present school com- mittee and teachers :

Elbridge Sprague, Otis W. Soule, Silas B. Dieker- man, committee ; George L. Richardson, George E. Wales, Abbie H. Jones, Anna Tolman, Amy L. Edgerly, Maurice J. O'Brien, Isabelle Holbrook, Emma A. Randall, Eliza F. Dolan, Mary A. King, Abbie M. Kelley, Helen D. Hayward, Mary F. Hay- ward, Louie H. Ridgway, Julia A. Haynes, Susan A. O'Brien, Sarah A. King, Hattie L. Davis, Lurana Ford, teachers.

The Boot and Shoe Business in this town took its rise in the early part of the present century. The

following census returns of 1860 are given, so that the reader may make a comparison with the business done at the present time, as given under Rockland, Abington, and South Abington :

J. Cleverly & Co., boots, calf and grain, and brogans .. $27,700 Willey & Floyd, boots, congress, lace, and Oxford shoes ..

7,436 Henry Dunham, sboes, light brogans, eloth and Oxford ties

Jeremiah Towle, women's shoes and buekskin, etc. Gilbert & Hunt, boots and shoes.

J. F. Bigelow, boots, congress, Oxford ties, and strap shoes.

W. S. Wales, boots, grain and calf.

S. Vining & Son, brogans

C. L. Dunham, boots, shoes, and brogans.

L. T. Harden, shoes, calf .

Fuller & Blanchard, boots and shoes.

Abner Curtis, shoes and brogans ..

Turner Reed, shoes, boys', youths', and children's .. Josiah Soule, Jr., shoes.

C. L. Brown, boots and shoes, congress, Oxford ties, ete.

L. Faxon & Co., boots and shoes, men's, women's, and boys'

George Studley, boots and shoes.

George C. Reynolds, shoes, congress, English lace, and Oxford ties.

Samuel Norton, boots and shoes

Samuel Reed, Jr., congress and Oxford

Isaac Pollard, brogans and Oxford ties ..

Hovey, Arnold & Co., boots and shoes, congress and Oxford ties ...

Levi Reed, boots and shoes, congress, hunters', Oxford, ete.

Whitmarsh Bros., boots and shoes.

Beal & Franeis, boots and shoes, congress, brogans, and Oxford

L. G. Damon, Thomas & Co., boots and shoes, congress, etc ..

M. & G. T. Nash, boots and shoes, congress, hunters', etc.

I. & N. S. Jenkins, boots, Oxford ties and brogans ..

Jenkins & Tirrell, boots, congress and Scotch, Oxford ties and strap .....

Albert Chamberlain, shoes and moeeasins

Brown & Goodwin, gaiter boots and Oxford ties

Franklin Smith, boots, brogans, and Oxford ties

Leander Curtis, congress, boots, and brogans.

Melvin Sbaw, boots and shoes ..

E. R. Rand, brogans, meu's, boys', and youths'.

J. L. Hobart, boots and shoes, men's, boys', youtbs', etc.

William L. Reed, boots and shoes

T. & J. B. Clement, boots and shoes, congress, Oxford ties and strap ..

Joseph Dill, boots and shoes, congress, Oxford, brogans, etc

George W. Pratt, boots, ealf, etc ...

J. Vaughn & Hersey, brogans.

Jacob Whiting, congress boots, Oxford ties, and lace shoes ..

James Whitemarsh, hunters' boots.

E. G. Sharp, congress boots

C. W. Forbush & Co., congress boots, Oxford ties, and brogans

B. L. Hunt, boots, hunters' and congress Scotch ties, etc.

William P. Corthell, shoos.

Sumnor Shaw, congross boots and shoes.

I. F. Lowell, eougress boots and shoes.

Nathaniel Beal, congress boots, hunters', and brogans HIunt & Lano, long boots, congross, lacc, and shoos ... Jenkins, Lane & Son, shoes of all kinds

Alden S. Loud, loug boots, congress, lace, Oxford ties, cte ..

Ira Noyes, calf boots.

IIenry Cushing, California boots.

H. G. Cushing, ealf boots.

Luko B. Noyes, shoes, brogans, boys', youths', etc.

Charles II. Dill, congress boots and Oxford ties

15,000 5,500 4,000

75,000 36,000 14,735 45,000 8,000 30,000 100,000 7,500 20,000 17,000 62,000 25,000

16,327 31,250 25,000 8,000 74,742 20,000 50,000 89,940

14,100

30,723 26,617

11,757 30,325 35,568

7,983 7,200 33,075 8,000

30,454 75,000

90,000

91,000 5,200 52,000

22,000 7,500 4,100

40,000

40,000 6,000 42,560 16,500 39,435 111,250 225,000

26,372 8,700 25,000 13,500 15,000 17,040

477

HISTORY OF ABINGTON.

Charles W. Torrey, congress and lace boots, and Ox- ford ties ..

E. V. & L. F. Wheeler. congress, lace, and Oxford ties

Gridley Hunt, lace boots, Oxford ties, and brogans ....

Daniel W. Beal, Oxford ties and brogans

Winslow Jackson, calf boots

Jacob Shaw, boots

S. Coles. Jr .. shoes.

Albert Whitmarsh, boots and shoes

Joshna Curtis, boots and shoes.

4,800

Eliab M. Noyes. Iong boots and brogans

Davis H. Cook, shoes.

A. L. Mayhew, long boots and shoes

Nahum Reed, boots and shoes

Davis Gurney, long and congress boots

A. & A. Alden, brogans and boots.

William H. Capen, boots and shoes.

6,285

John Wilkes, shoes.

4.210

John Burrell, congress boots ..

10,800

John Curtis, Jr., congress boots, Oxford ties, and brogans

12,150 10,000

Jesse Reed. Jr., shoes, mens', boys', and youths', etc .. Bates & Bosworth, ladies' shoes S,769

David F. Hunt, shoes 3,840

Micah H. Pool, Scotch and congress boots and Oxford ties ..

24,347

S. R. Wales, boots and shoes.

85,000

Moccasin Manufacture .- The moccasin or over- shoe business has quite an interesting history. We are indebted largely to Deacon Albert Chamberlin for the facts furnished.

The overshoe business was first commenced in this town by Maj. Joseph Hunt, in 1839 or 1840. Mr. John Chamberlin was employed by him to prepare the patterns and make the first overshoes from the buffalo-skin. They were rather rude-looking things, being cut somewhat like a short-legged boot, and sewed up with the hair inside, without any sole- leather sole. They proved to be very comfortable for riding, but were not very serviceable. They very soon began to put on leather foxings and a substan- tial sole-leather sole. They were made on iron- bottomed lasts, and nailed with copper nails, and then proved to be quite serviceable as well as com- fortable in the coldest weather. The demand for them then began to increase very rapidly from year to year, so that it became almost impossible to supply it, the business then being carried on principally by Col. Thomas J. Hunt, a brother of Major Hunt. Mr. John Chamberlin was employed by him to take the stock and make the goods by contract, there being made at this time about thirty thousand pairs per year. The cutting and making was principally done by himself and sons. Mr. Chamberlin's sons soon made improvements in the goods and commenced the manufacture on a more extensive scale, giving em- ployment to a large number of hands. In 1852, Mr. Albert Chamberlin made still further improvements by machine sewing, which had previously all been done by hand. In 1853 he received the highest premium at the fair of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics' Association held in Boston in that year.

A medal and a diploma were also awarded for the greatest improvement made, and for the best fur- lined boots, shoes, and overshoes.

The demand for these goods still increased, and many new firms went into the business in this and neighboring towns, using a great many thousand buf- falo robes annually. The price for thesc robes had usually been two to four dollars apiece. The price then went up to fifteen dollars. In consequence of the great rise in robes the goods became too costly, and the demand fell off. The rubber arctic, which had formerly been much higher, could then be bought at a lower price than the buffalo overshoes. Besides, they looked much neater and were water-proof. So that at the present time, they almost entirely take the place of the old-fashioned moccasin.

Deacon Chamberlin has not been actively engaged in business for a dozen years or more. He has been a deacon in the Rockland Baptist Church for thirteen ycars, superintendent of the Sunday-school for sixteen years, is a trustee of the Abington Savings-Bank and Public Library, and served in the Legislature in 1869 and 1870, and is a native of Abington, where he has always resided.

Messrs. Cobb & Thompson began business June 10, 1865. It has increased until, at the present time, the value of the annual product amounts to two hundred and twenty thousand dollars. One hun- dred and sixty hands are employed. The factory is two hundred feet long by twenty-eight feet wide, with two wings.

Charles S. Loud commenced manufacturing boots and shoes in 1860, and continued until the spring of 1881, and employed from thirty to forty persons.

Thompson Brothers commenced business May 1, 1880. The annual product amounts to forty thousand dollars, and employs twenty hands.

S. C. Noyes employs fifteen hands, and the value of the annual production of boots and shoes is twenty- three thousand dollars.

S. S. Knapp employs about fifty hands.

Randall Richards employs thirty-five persons, and the value of the annual product amounts to fifty thousand dollars.

Lasts were first manufactured in Abington on a small scale in 1850, by Leonard P. Arnold and Capt. Bela Smith, who, not having machinery of their own, had their blocks turned at Chandler Sprague's last factory, North Bridgewater ; but their business was brought to an abrupt close after a short life by those manufacturers who owned turning-machines entering into a combination with the patentee,-a Mr. Blanch- ard, of Boston,-whereby the manufacturers agreed

$7,200 S,600 3,750 12,000 5,570 7,800 16,000 40,000

12,100 3,625 24,755 46,500 67,040 14,689

478

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

not to turn any blocks and Mr. Blanchard not to sell any machines to outside partics, thus controlling the entire last business themselves. In 1856 one of the last manufacturers, having left the combination and moved his machines to Nova Scotia, began turning lasts for any one who wanted them; and taking ad- vantage of this, Mr. A. P. Richardson began the business of again making lasts in Abington, and about Jan. 1, 1857, he sold out to Jesse H. Giles, and gave up the business. Mr. Giles, hiring Leonard P. Arnold as foreman, continued the business for two years, buy- ing all his blocks already turned in Nova Scotia, but at the end of that time-some time in 1859-he suc- ceeded in buying a turning-machine, the combination having broken, and from that time turned his own blocks. In 1860 he bought another 'machine, thus doubling his capacity for making lasts, and in 1865, his business having increased, he bought a third ma- chine, which he kept running all the time until 1870, at which time he added another machine, making four turning-lathes in all. He manufactured upwards of thirty thousand pairs of lasts per year.

In the year 1876 the style of Jesse H. Giles was changed to J. H. Giles & Co., Leonard P. Arnold and Nathaniel W. Arnold entering the partnership, from which time business continued good, no change being made until April 1, 1881, when Jesse H. Giles retired from business, Leonard P. Arnold and Na- thaniel W. Arnold continuing under the style of Arnold Brothers to the present, at which time they are now manufacturing about twenty thousand pairs of lasts each year, and give employment to eleven men, doing business on the same spot where it started in the factory then owned by D. B. Gurncy, where they first hired one room in the second story, but now belonging to the J. H. Giles estate, Arnold Brothers occupying the whole of the first floor.

Abington Tack and Machine Association .- This business was started in 1874 by John Hyslop, Jr. In the year of 1876 the present company was formed under the name of the Abington Tack and Machine Association, with a capital of fifteen thou- sand dollars. It gives employment to thirty to forty hands.

The value of goods produced for the last year was about eighty thousand dollars. The goods are mostly those manufactured under the Hyslop patents, being fancy-head tacks and nails of all kinds, also all of the common kinds of tacks and shoe-nails.

The Insurance Business of the town of Abington dates back nearly half a century, the first business of this kind being done by Mr. John Nash, who was also town clerk and treasurer, and lived with

his maiden sisters on Washington Street, ncar Hath- crly Hall, on the lot where now stands the mansion of the late Baxter Cobb, Esq. Mr. Nash was agent for the Hinghamn Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and also represented one or two other mutual companies ; but beyond the insurance of the dwelling-houses very little was done. Mr. Nash was a man of careful habits and much respected by all who had any busi- ness relations with him, but in 1851 his failing health compelled him to seek recuperation in rest and change of climate.

In 1849, Rev. Freeman P. Howland, having been obliged by bronchial disability to relinquish preaching, removed from Hanson to Abington, and Mr. Nash se- cured his services to attend to his town and insurance business while he went on a journey, hoping change of air and seene might be beneficial to him. Mr. Nash, however, did not live to return, and Mr. How- land succeeded him in his business and official posi- tion, retaining the office of town clerk and treasurer for quite a number of years, and for more than a third of a century retaining (in connection with his sons, C. W. and I. C.) nearly the whole insurance business of the old town of Abington.

The Abington Mutual Fire Insurance Company was organized under the following circumstances : The Hingham Mutual Fire Insurance Company, by its charter, -- in which the greater part of the houses in Abington were insured,-was authorized to insure dwelling-houses, barns, and other buildings and house- hold furniture, but did not insure stock in trade, hay, grain, farm produce, or merchandise contained in the buildings it insured. This company, in which nearly all desired to be insured, declined to write on more risks in the villages, as in case of a sweeping con- flagration their loss must be very great, for the vil- lages had become quite thickly settled. Hence the convenience and necessity of another insurance com- pany were apparent.

The subject was presented to some of the business men of the town, and at a meeting of some of the citizens it was decided to apply to the Legislature for a charter for a company in Abington in which they could obtain insurance on buildings and their con- tents, including live-stock and personal property in general. The act of incorporation was sccured and became a law May 30, 1856, chapter ccx. of the acts of that year reading as follows :

" Be it enacted, etc.

"SECTION 1. Asaph Dunbar, Joshua L. Nash, William Brown, and their asseciatos and successors aro hereby made a corpora- tion by the namo of tho Abingten Mutual Fire Insuraneo Com- pany, to bo ostablished in the town of Abington, for the term of twonty-oight years, for the purpose of insuring dwolling-

479

HISTORY OF ABINGTON.

houses and other buildings and personal property against loss or damage by fire ; with all the powers and privileges, and sub- ject to all the duties, liabilities, and restrictions set forth in the thirty-seventh and forty-fourth chapters of the Revised Stat- ntes, and all other laws of this Commonwealth, made or to be made, relating to such corporations.

" SECTION 2. This act shall take effect from and after its passage."

Business was commenced in April, 1857, Baxter Cobb being elected president, and John Newton Noyes, secretary. The first board of directors consisted of Asaph Dunbar, Thomas J. Hunt. William Brown, Zophar D. Ramsdell, Baxter Cobb, Jenkins Lane, Washington Reed, Joseph Cleverly, and William P. Corthell.

Mr. Cobb was president of the company from the time it commenced business until his death, which occurred Jan. 28, 1877, and by his conservative management aided much in establishing the company as a successful organization. Upon his decease, Mr. Joseph Vanghn was elected his successor, and has ever since ably filled his position as presiding officer.

Mr. Noyes resigned his office as secretary and treas- urer of the company July 25, 1862, and removed to Lawrence, Kansas, where he resided until his death, in 1883.

Rev. Mr. Howland was secured as his successor, and during his management of the company, from 1862 to 1882, the growth of the company may be judged from the following :

Amount at risk, 1862, $306,834; in 1882, $2,236,832. Annual premium, 1862, $556 ; in 1882, $10,861. Cash assets, 1862, $9.75 ; in 1882, $42,943. Consecutive No. of policy, 1862, 817; in 1882, 12,197.

The business of the company was much benefited by its association with the agency of Mr. Howland, the greater part of its risks during his life being secured in that connection, people having confidence in a home institution managed by men whom they knew and respected, and in "Father" Howland, as quite a number had found themselves obliged to pay assessments in companies in which they had been induced to insure by traveling agents, who insured large amounts at low rates.

Mr. Howland remained its secretary and treasurer until his death, Aug. 10, 1882, at the advanced age of eighty-five years, having faithfully and successfully fulfilled the duties of his position until a few days be- fore his decease.

Mr. Howland is succeeded in his duties in the com- pany by his youngest son, Isaac C. Howland, Esq., who brings to the company's service a valuable expe- rience in the insurance business, having been engaged

in business with his father and brother in the firm of F. P. Howland & Sons for several years.

Associated with him as assistant secretary is Carlos P. Faunce, Esq., a young man whose efficient services as clerk in the insurance office of F. P. Howland & Sons for several years, and whose integrity of charac- ter are highly appreciated by the directors and all having business transactions with the company.

The present board of directors are Joseph Vaughn, William Brown, Joshua L. Nash, Z. N. Whitmarsh, Henry B. Peirce, J. N. Farrar, Albert Chamberlin, James F. Cox, William P. Corthell, Lyman Clark, Jedediah Dwelley, Charles W. Howland, and Isaac C. Howland.

The company has paid a dividend on every expir- ing policy, having passed successfully through the trying times of the several great conflagrations which crippled and swamped so many companies, and never has called for an assessment on its members, and now stands in the front rank as one of our best Mutual Fire Insurance Companies.

The Fire and Life Insurance Agency of F. P. Howland & Sons is continued by his sons, Charles W. Howland, whose real estate and insurance rooms are in "Standard Building," over the post-office in Rock- land, and by Isaac C. Howland in the rooms of the Abington Mutual Fire Insurance Company in their new and elegant apartments in the Savings-Bank building in Abington Centre.

The East Abington Children's Progressive Lyceum was organized Oct. 10, 1869. Its member- ship was composed of Spiritualists and what is de- nominated the liberal element in religious thought of East Abington (now Rockland) and vicinity. While its fundamental idea was the Spiritualistic one, it asked no one to subscribe to a faith, and it sought to teach the utmost freedom of thought and expression upon all religious and theological questions.

. For several years it succeeded in attracting a large membership. The first year the average number of scholars was one hundred and twenty-four, and the necessary officers and leaders, with quite a numerous audience of spectators and friends usually in attend- ance. The hard times which began in 1873, with other causes, greatly reduced the numbers and the contributions. It continued, however, with varying fortunes and success, to hold its regular meetings until the summer of 1883, when it suspended.

The Abington Bank was incorporated April 8, 1850, and the first meeting of its first stockholders was held August 5th of the same year, when an or- ganization was effected, and a board of nine directors chosen. Subsequently, Asaph Dunbar, of Abington,

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

was elected president, and J. N. Farrar, of Boston, cashier. The capital of the bank was one hundred thousand dollars, but in 1853 it was by vote of the stockholders increased to one hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars. In July, 1865, it ccased to do busi- ness under the State laws, and reorganized under the United States laws, and became the Abington National Bank.

After serving as president nine years, Mr. Dunbar declined a re-election, and in 1859 Baxter Cobb, Esq., of Abington, was chosen president, and continued to hold that office until his death, in 1877, when Mr. Richmond J. Lane, of Rockland, was elected his sue- cessor, and has been annually re-elected since that time.

Mr. J. N. Farrar still occupies the position of cashier,-a position held by him ever since the organ- ization of the bank in 1850. For a few years after its organization the bank occupied rooms in the build- ing on the southwest corner of Washington and Bank Streets, now occupied by Mr. Yeaton as a dry-goods store. In 1853, finding more accommodation needed, the directors voted to erect a building on the east side of Washington Street suitable for banking purposes, with a tenement annexed for the cashier. In 1884 the Abington Savings-Bank having erected an elegant and commodious brick building on the corner of Wash- ington Street and Centre Avenue with fire- and burg- lar-proof vaults and better accommodations for its increasing business, the National Bank removed to this location on July 4th.

The bank has a surplus of thirty thousand dollars, and its average deposits are about one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.

The officers of the bank for 1884 are as follows : Richmond J. Lane, of Rockland, president ; M. S. Stetson, of South Abington, Joseph Vaughn, of Abington, Z. N. Whitmarsh, of Abington, James F. Cox, of Abington, directors ; J. N. Farrar, cashier ; G. R. Farrar, teller.

The Abington Savings-Bank was organized April 18, 1853, with Ezekiel Thaxter, M.D., president, Zibeon Packard vice-president, and J. N. Farrar treasurer ; and a board of fifteen trustees.

Dr. Thaxter remained in office until his death. In April, 1856, Jenkins Lane, Esq., of East Abington (now Roekland), was chosen president, and Asaph Dunbar vice-president. Mr. Lane died in 1870, whereupon Z. N. Whitmarsh, Esq., of Abington, was elected president, and Jesse H. Giles vice-president.

The officers for 1884 are as follows: Z. N. Whit- marsh, president; William Brown, vice-president; Trustees, William Brown, George A. Beal, William

P. Corthell (of South Abington), James F. Cox, Samuel Dyer (of South Abington), Joseph L. Green- wood, Joshua L. Nash, Bela T. Nash, Henry A. Noyes, Otis W. Soule, Albert Chamberlin, Joseph Vaughn, Adoniram Vaughn, Z. N. Whitmarsh, John F. Wheeler ; George A. Beal, clerk and treasurer.

of H th This institution has paid regular semi-annual divi- dends from the commencement of its business, varying from four and a half per cent. per annum to six per cent. The present amount of deposits is one million two hundred thousand dollars, and the number of cal depositors two thousand nine hundred. Until the in

present year the savings-bank has occupied rooms in conjunction with the Abington National Bank, but finding need of greater facilities and more room for the transaction of its business, have now erected a substantial brick building upon the corner of Wash- ington Street and Centre Avenue, to which place they removed July 4th.

The Press in Abington .- Prior to 1853 an attempt was made to establish a weekly paper in the town, but the effort proved futile, as only a few numbers were printed. During that year the Abington Standard was started at the Centre by C. G. Esterbrook, and continued there till 1865, when it was sold to Thomas S. Pratt, and removed to East Abington (now Rock- land), where it is still published, under the title of the Rockland Standard. Mr. Pratt sold out to Edgar Merchant in December, 1867, and he in turn to J. S. Smith, the present proprietor, in the following March. Mr. Smith has taken special pains to make it a newsy local paper, to give all parties a fair hear- ing, and yet avoid burning controversies, and so by caution, care, and skillful judgment has been able to bring the paper to more than double its former circu- lation, which is now extended into all the surrounding towns.

In the fall of 1882 a department called the " North Abington Public" was started under the editorship of Rev. Jesse H. Jones and Linwood S. Pratt, of that village, which has been an important feature of the paper ever since. After a year Mr. Pratt re- tired, having been called to a lucrative position as teacher in the western part of the State.

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 101

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1706

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706