History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 124

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1576

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 124

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This reference to "mines or minerals " is doubtless to "Mineral Hill, so called," which we find mentioned in deeds of a later date. The next year Terry sold all the lands and a saw-mill and "Iron Works" to Hugh Hall, of Boston, for £700, equal to £206 in gold. As there was no mention of "Iron Works " in his deed of purchase, we must infer he had built them, and had prepared to manufacture iron. Hall sold the property to Gershom Keyes (trader), of Boston, for £920, equal to £212 in gold, in 1732. The next year Keyes sold all the land and the saw-mill and one- half of the " Iron Works" to Jonathan Bacon (gent), of Bedford, for £1600, equal to £368 in gold. The in- crease in price would indicate that Keys had improved the " Iron Works." He reserved one-half of the works, with all its privileges, and we infer he soon bought back Bacon's half interest, as he afterwards sold all the "Iron Works " and thirty acres of land belonging thereto, and from the fact that Bacon's name does not appear in any subsequent deed of the works. Keyes sold one-half of the "Iron Works" to Joseph Scott (braiser), of Boston, for £300, equal to £62 in gold, in 1735, and one-half to Samuel Grant (upholder), of Boston, in 1736, for £300, equal to £61 in gold. These owners, Grant & Scott, evidently rebuilt the "Iron Works," as they are spoken of in the next deed as "lately built," with three fireplaces and one hammer. They are subsequently called the "Forge or Refinery." Grant sold his interest the same year (1736) to John Merritt (merchant), of Bos- ton, for £808 14s. 3d., equal to £168 in gold. In the deed an "ore yard" is mentioned. Soon Merritt bought out Scott's interest for £870, equal to £170 in gold. The deed is dated 1740, but we infer that he had bought it before this, for he leased the property in 1739 to Thomas & Nicholas Baylies (iron-mas- ters), of Uxbridge, for twenty-one years, for £34 law- ful money of Great Britain per year. Lawful money was then worth four and one-half times as much as paper. The inventory of the works is given, and it is described as all furnished and suitable to make pig- metal into bar iron. This is the first mention of the product. It was for many years called Baylies' Re- finery ; but it was still held by Merritt after Baylies'

lease expired in 1760. Before 1765 Merritt, now of Providence, leased the " Iron Works " to John Hesel- tine, of Uxbridge. Merritt held the property until his death. It was sold September 16, 1771, by John Overing, the executor of Mr. Merritt's will, to Col. Ezra Wood, of Upton. for £450, now equal to gold, as specie payment had been resumed. James Fletcher, who married Col. Wood's daughter December 24, 1771, now occupied the property and carried on the " works." The old works were situated about twenty rods below the bridge, on the south side of the river, the water for the power being conveyed in a ditch from the dam, which was about one hundred feet west of the present dam next to the bridge. About this time the works were removed to a building on the south side of the river, close to the present dam, which was built at that time. The new works went by the name of "The Forge." It was also called " Fletcher's Forge," and it had the reputation of early and hard work. In 1794 Col. Wood sold two-thirds of the "Iron Forge and Refinery " to James Fletcher, and one-third to Paul Whitin. Mr. Whitin had married Mr. Fletcher's daughter, Betsy, in 1793.

They continued to manufacture "bar-iron" from scrap-iron until 1812 or 1813. Mr. Whitin did not work in "The Forge." He was a blacksmith, and had a shop on the north side of the river, at the opposite end of the dam from "The Forge." He at first did only the work of an ordinary blacksmith, but he soon determined to engage in the specialty of making hoes and scythes. Hiring a man who understood the art of tempering and other processes in the manufacture, he himself soon became expert in them, and in a few years his business became profitable. During the suspension of trade with England, caused by the embargo of 1807-09, a large demand arose for certain agricultural tools, which had been previously imported from England. One of these, in the manufacture of which Mr. Whitin was one of the first to engage, was the large hoe used by the negroes at the South. He had three forges, a trip-hammer and a grindstone operated by power. Mr. Whitin continued this busi- ness until his death, in 1831, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. Many years before his death he engaged in cotton manufacture. His second son (John C., born 1807) worked in the mill from his ninth year, when not in school, at first in the picker-room. When about twelve he was placed in the machine-room of the company, and for the next three years worked on repairs, thereby serving in some measure an appren- ticeship to the business which he followed for life.

In the year 1826 Col. Paul Whitin formed a part- nership with his two elder sons (Paul, Jr., and John C.), for the manufacture of cotton goods. They built the brick mill now standing on the site of "The Forge," on the south side of the river, having a capacity of fifteen hundred spindles. In this firm Mr. John C. Whitio had the superintendence of the mill and the repair of the machinery. He had early

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been impressed with the imperfection of the machinery used, especially of that used in picking the cotton, and in 1830 he directed his efforts to its improvement. With two lathes, not worth more than fifteen dollars each, and with an occasional job done in a neighbor's shop, he, with his two assistants, completed the first picker in about a year. Having so far perfected the picker, he applied for a patent and secured it in 1832. Meanwhile the new firm, which had been formed on the death of Paul Whitin, Sr.,-consisting of Mrs. Paul Whitin, Sr., Paul Whitin, John C. Whitin and Charles P. Whitin,-had purchased the mill of " The Old Northbridge Manufacturing Co."

The picker Mr. John C. Whitin had made had attracted the attention of other manufacturers, and the firm determined to make them for sale, using as a shop the picker-house of the mill just purchased, a building thirty-two by forty feet. Machinery and tools were set up in it and put in operation. They were crude as compared with what are now used; yet with the improved devices of Mr. Whitin, pickers or lappers were produced so superior to those previously in use that from 1834, when the first machine was sold, the demand steadily increased. For many years most of the pickers in use throughout the country were made at these works.

Mr. Whitin was encouraged to build other ma- chinery in the same line. The list has been increased from time to time, so as to include cards, card- grinders, doublers, railway heads, drawing-frames, ring-trames, spoolers, warpers, dressers, looms, &c .; indeed, all the machinery used in the cotton-mill, except roving machinery, mules and slashers, is now made here. To accommodate this rapidly-increasing business, the original shop, the "Picker-house," was enlarged and new buildings were erected. In 1847 "The New Shop" was built, three hundred and six by one hundred and two feet, two stories with base- ment, on the north side of the river.

This year Mr. James F. Whitin, the youngest son of Colonel Paul Whitin, was admitted to the firm. In 1860 Mr. John C. Whitin purchased the "Hol- yoke Machine Works " on his own account, which he retained until 1864, giving it much of his time for supervision. During his engagement in Holyoke, Mr. Chas. P. Whitin had the charge of the machine- shop.

In 1864 the firm of P. Whitin & Sons was dis- solved and the business of the firm was divided. In this division Mr. John C. Whitin took the manufac- turing of machinery, which had in thirty years grown from one picker a month from the old " Picker House," to the production of hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of a large variety of machinery, from the large shop of 1847 and its adjuncts. On coming into his separate proprietorship, Mr. John C. Whitin erected a new shop parallel with the shop of 1847, north of it, four hundred and seventy-five by seventy feet, three stories, with basement. The

increasing business has compelled the erection of a large foundry, which has been twice enlarged ; of a large blacksmith shop, and in 1883 of a large shop on the south side of the river, three hundred and eighty-six by eighty-six feet, three stories high, so that now there are in all nearly eleven acres of floor all connected, and devoted to the various departments of the manufacture. In place of two men helping Mr. Whitin, the force employed now is over eight hundred, and the improved machine tools render the work of each man equal to that of three men using the old-time tools.

Mr. Whitin secured patents on the Picker or Lap- per in 1833; on the Union Card in 1862. These proved useful to manufacturers and brought consid- erable profit to the inventor. These inventions bore na comparison, however, in intrinsic value with the many improvements in tools and implements for the working of metals and the simplifying of existing methods. As long as he continued in active manage- ment of the shop he took the deepest interest in all improvement in tools. The last to which he gave special attention was the machine for drilling spin- ning-frame rails, which has proved such a success. It was with him a principle not to seek the protection and profit of a patent for any tool he was to use himself. He felt that the gain in his own work was all the profit he should desire.

In 1870 the business, which had been during the six previous years in the sole proprietorship of Mr. John C. Whitin, was organized into a joint stock corpora- tion, under the name of "The Whitin Machine Works,"-John C. Whitin, President; Josiah Lasell, Treasurer ; and Gustavus E. Taft, Superintendent. Mr. Lasell was son-in-law to Mr. Whitiu and had been in his employ since 1860.

In 1881 Mr. Taft became agent and Mr. Harvey Ellis superintendent.

On Mr. Whitin's death, April 22, 1882, Mr. Lasell became president and treasurer. January 1, 1886, his son-in-law, G. Marston Whitin, became treasurer. On the death of Mr. Lasell, March 15, 1886, his oldest son, Chester W. Lasell, was made president. On the death of Mr. Taft, June 24, 1888, his oldest son, Cyrus A. Taft, was made agent. During all these changes in officers of the corporation the hitsiness has gone on with continued success.

Thus for one hundred and sixty-one years has the manufacture of iron been maintained in this place, first as the manufacture of iron from the ore, then as the manufacture of bar-iron from pig-metal and scrap-iron, then as the manufacture of hoes and scythes, and now for nearly sixty years in the manu- facture of cotton machinery, beginning with a single machine and now including almost every kind of cotton machinery. For more than one hundred and sixteen years one family has been in ownership and charge of the works. For nearly one hundred years Mr. Paul Whitin, Sr., and his sons have operated

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

them, and to their mechanical skill, business capacity and industry and energy has this great development been dne.

THE WHITINSVILLE SPINNING RING CO .- In 1872, Charles E. Trowbridge, master mechanic of the Whitinsville Cotton-Mill, and Arthur F. Whitin, who was then employed in the repair shop, perfected and patented special tools for making rings for spinning and twisting. They began the mannfacture of rings in 1873, under the firm-name of the "Whitinsville Spinning Ring Co." By their improved methods and tools superior work is secured, and a great saving of labor is effected. One man can produce a perfect ring in two operations, after the forging, while with the old methods the ring passed through several hands, and numerous operations, and the ring would not be of such uniform excellence of finish.

The company began the mannfacture of rings for the cotton-mills of Whitinsville and vicinity, but the fame of their superiority quickly spread and arrange- ments had to be made for increased production. The rings have been sent all over the country, and many have been exported. The business has increased six- fold since 1878, but its growth has been a natural one; no traveling agents have been employed. Arthur F. Whitin is treasurer, Chas. E. Trowbridge is agent, and George E. Trowbridge is superintendent.

Mr. Trowbridge has secured a number of patents on rings and ring-holders, and has recently patented a new process of producing a metallic ring, which effects a great saving of travelers, on new rings, and a much better yarn is produced by the consequent saving of breakage. The company began the manufacture of the double adjustable ring in 1886, and now produces all varieties of rings known to the trade. The work began in the repair shop of the mill. In 1884, needing more room, it was moved to the "old cotton-mill" building of 1826, on the south side of the stream, and occupied the basement and the first story. In 1887 an enlargement of twenty by sixty-five feet was made, and a new building erected, with a furnace chimney, for hardening and annealing. Twenty-five men are employed.

While the manufacturers in iron at what is now Whitinsville are the oldest in the town and have been the most successful, they have not been the only ones.

At Northbridge Centre a foundry was in operation as early as 1790, situated opposite the Dr. Robinson place, on the west side of the road, some thirty rods south of the present meeting-house. Hollow-ware and sad-irons were cast here. The business was carried on by a man named Lothrop.

The same premises were afterwards occupied by Frebun White for the manufacture of axes, employ- ing two hands besides himself. The axes were car- ried to Providence and sold to the South. This was from 1812 to 1820. Capt. Amos White made "custom axes" in a shop near his home; "afterwards he

manufactured to a considerable extent for the trade boot and shoe edge tools, hammers, &c., &c., until his death, in 1853, a part of the time, in company with Dr. Starkweather, doing the work at Riverdale, on the east side of the river. But that business failing, he removed to his home shop and manufactured for a time alone and then with his son Luke, and last with his son-in-law, Orison W. Brigham.

The stone part of the present cotton-mill at River- dale was built 1852 by Sylvauus Holbrook for Harvey Waters for the manufacture of scythes by machinery which he had invented. These were the first scythes made by machinery in the world. Mr. Waters also made bayonets by machinery during the war of 1861-65. He continned the business here until 1865.

COTTON MANUFACTURES .- In 1808 "the cotton factory fever" struck this town, and in 1809 Col. Paul Whitin erected a cotton-mill at the upper dam, which was about three hundred feet east of the pres- ent dam of the Whitin Machine Works. Col. James Fletcher contributed the water privilege as his share in the enterprise. After the mill was erected Mr. Whitin organized a company, of which he was the principal stock-holder, for the manufacture of cotton goods, styled "The Northbridge Cotton Mannfactur- ing Company." The act of incorporation is later, being dated Jnne 9, 1814. This was the third cotton- mill erected in the Blackstone Valley above Paw- tucket, the mill of Almy Brown and the Slaters at Slatersville and the original mill of the present Black- stone Co., at Blackstone (then South Mendon), pre- ceding it by two years. The manufacturing consisted in breaking, carding and spinning. The raw material, having some seeds and much dirt mixed with it, was put out to families to have the seed and dirt removed. The "pickers " had not yet been introduced. Some families took a bale, some half a bale, and others less. For this work four to six cents a pound was paid. The yarn was also put ont to families to be woven by hand, the weaver receiving eight cents per yard for weaving No. 16 yarn, which was the grade made at that time. The weaving was done in this manner for six or eight years, after which power looms were introduced. The original North- bridge Mill was of wood and had a capacity of fifteen hundred spindles. Paul Whitin, Jr., then ten years of age, commenced work in this factory on the day of its starting, tending a breaking machine. The mill was operated several years with small re- turns. It was rented for two years to Gladding & Cady. It was sold in 1824 to William & Thomas Buffom. It was bought in 1829 by Samuel Shove, who operated it until 1831.

In 1815. Col. Whitin, not content with what he was doing in the Northbridge Cotton Manufacturing Company, entered into partnership with Col. James Fletcher, his father-in-law, and Mr. Fletcher's two sons, under the firm-name of Whitin & Fletcher,

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and they fitted up the " Old Forge " building, on the south side of the river, for a cotton-mill of three hundred spindle capacity for the manufacture of yarns. This mill was operated until 1826, when Mr. Whitin, who had owned an interest of one-half, now purchased the other half of the Fletchers, and formed a new partnership with his own sons, Paul, Jr., and John C., under the name of P. Whitin & Sons, for the manufacture of cotton goods. Paul Whitin, Jr., was at this time twenty-six years of age. His previous training, save what he had as a boy working in the mill, had been mercantile, and in the business of the new firm he took charge of the mercantile and financial department.

John C., then nineteen years old, had had his training in the mill and in the machine-room of the Northbridge Cotton Company, and was thus prepared for his part in the new firm, the management of the mechanical and manufacturing department. Mr. Paul Whitin, Sr., only invested capital and had no personal care or responsibility in the management of the business. The company erected a new mill of 1,500 spindles on the site of the "Old Forge " mill. This mill was of brick, thirty-two by sixty feet, two stories, with attic room and basement, and was used for its original purpose until 1845.

Soon after the erection of this mill, cotton manu- facture was begun in another part of the town and continued for some years. In 1830, Sylvanus Hol- brook built a mill on the east side of the river at what is now Riverdale, and fitted it with cotton ma- chinery and began to make sheetings. The next year he built at the "upper village," now Rockdale, "The Cotton Mill" north of the old woolen-mill, and began the manufacture of sheetings and drillings. In 1836 one-third of the looms were put upon print cloths. In 1837, having discontinned the manu- facture of satinets, Mr. Holbrook put cotton machin- ery into the woolen-mill and he made Kentucky jeans until the mill was burned, in 1839 or '40. He rebuilt the mill and filled it with cotton machinery and manufactured cotton goods.

In 1846, the north or "Cotton Mill" was burned. Mr. Holbrook repaired the walls and floors, but never pro- vided it with machinery. In 1851 fire destroyed all the factory buildings but this and a large number of dwellings. This closed all manufacturing in this village until the property was bought by the Messrs. Whitin in 1856. We now return to Whitins ville.

In 1831, Colonel Paul Whitin having died, the firm was re-organized, Mrs. Paul Whitin, Sr., and her sons, Paul, John C. and Charles P. being the partners. Charles P. Whitin had attained his majority the pre- vions year. He had been employed in the office of the old firm. In the new firm Mr. Panl Whitin re- tained the financial and mercantile departments, Mr. Charles P. Whitin took charge of the cotton manu- facturing and Mr. John C. Whitin took charge of the new department, the manufacture of cotton machin-

ery. The old Northbridge Cotton Mannfacturing Company's mill was bought and put in operation, and continued in operation until 1861. In 1845 the stone mill was built, with a capacity of seven thousand five hundred spindles.

In 1847 James F. Whitin, the youngest son of Colo- nel Paul Whitin, was admitted to the firm. He had, for many years, had charge of the books of the con- cern. In 1849 the firm bought up the capital stock of the Uxbridge Cotton Mill of ten thousand spindle capacity at North Uxbridge. They operated it until the firm was dissolved in 1864. In 1856, having pur- chased the property in Rockdale, they built the Rock- dale Cotton Mill, with a capacity of ten thousand spindles. About 1857, they bought the stone cotton- mill, in East Douglass, of about eight thousand spin- dle capacity, and operated it until the war.

In 1864, the firm of P. Whitin & Sons, mann- facturers of cotton goods and of cotton machinery, was dissolved and the business was divided. The cotton manufacturing, which had increased from one thousand five hundred spindles to thirty thousand, was retained by Mr. Paul Whitin taking the mill in Rockdale and the property at Riverdale, which P. Whitin & Sons had purchased some years before; by Mr. Charles P. Whitin taking the mill in Whiting- ville, and Mr. James F. Whitin taking the mill in North Uxbridge. Mr. John C. Whitin took the man- nfacturing of cotton machinery.

At this time THE PAUL WHITIN MANUFACTURING Co. was formed, with Mr. Paul Whitin as president, and his son, Charles E. Whitin, as treasurer and agent. To the Rockdale Mill this company. soon added the mill at Riverdale, putting a brick addition to the stone building which had been occupied by Mr. Harvey Waters for the manufacture of scythes and bayonets, and filling it with cotton machinery, making it a mill of seven thousand spindles in capa- city. The company still operates both mills, making sheetings.

In 1884, on the death of Mr. Paul Whitin, Mr. Charles E. Whitin became president, and remains such, and Mr. Harry T. Whitin, his eldest son, be- came agent.

Mr. Charles P. Whitin enlarged the stone mill at Whitinsville in 1865, making its capacity thirteen thousand six hundred spindles. In 1866 he united his two elder sons, Edward and William H., with him in the business under the name of "The Whi- tinsville Cotton Mill." The same year he, with his brother, James F. Whitin, built "The Linwood Mill," of fifteen thousand spindle capacity, under the name of "The Whitin Brothers." Since the death of Mr. Charles P. Whitin, the business has been carried on by the sons under the same firm- name, the youngest son, Mr. Arthur F. Whitin, having been added to the firm in 1881.

Thus has this manufacturing interest grown from fifteen hundred spindles in 1810 to nearly fifty thou-

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sand spindles, employing nearly eight hundred hands.

WOOLEN MANUFACTURERS .- We have seen that the privilege at what is now Riverdale was first im- proved by Jas. Nutting before 1764. In July of that year he sold the property to Hezekiah Hall, of Ux- bridge. He sold it the same year, October 4th, to Ed- ward Hall, of Uxbridge. We are unable to trace all the changes, but in March, 1780, Ezra Wood sold the land, " together with a grist mill, and saw mill and mill dam, and all the other buildings on the same," to Henry Dunn. The property descended by will to his sons David and Henry. About 1817, they built the " cloth mill," and began the woolen manufactures of the town. They took wool from the farmers and carded it. Then the farmers spun and wove it and carried it back to the mill, where it was pulled, colored and sheared.

The Dunn brothers fitted np a mill which Sylvanus Holbrook hired, but soon left it, having purchased the property at the upper village, now Rockdale. Osmus Taft now hired their mill and operated it in 1822 and '23. Then the Messrs. Dunn took the mill and manufactured satinets. But they becoming embarrassed, Deacon Solomon Nelson, a relative, and a Mr. Benson, from Enfield, Conn., took the business and carried it on. Not being successful, the business came into the hands of Sylvanus Holbrook about 1829, probably by failure to redeem the property from mortgage given to him in 1826. Mr. Holbrook rented the old mill to the younger Dunn for the manufacture of woolen hat bodies.

All these buildings were on the east side of the river. January 16, 1776, John Eddy, from Smith- field, Rhode Island, bought the property at the " upper village," now Rockdale, of Thomas Emerson. Some time before 1814 a dam was built, and a saw and grist-mill erected. May 30, 1814, Mr. Eddy and his son Jesse sold the dam and buildings, and six- tenths of three acres and eighty-two rods of land, one-tenth each to certain grantees: Antipas Earle, Silas Earle and Timothy Earle, of Leicester, Levi Lincoln and Daniel Waldo, of Worcester, and Amasa Roberts, of Northbridge. The other four-tenths were to lie in common with the six-tenths-that is, two- tenths to Jesse Eddy and two-tenths to William Hen- dricks, all for the formation of a copartnership for the manufacturing of " woolen and cotton goods, or any other business mutually agreed upon." Jnne 14th, the same year, these gentlemen became incorporated as the "Northbridge Cloth Company," and as indi- viduals, conveyed the property to this new company, January 25, 1815, and the company began the manu- facture of satinets, and continued it until 1819. March 2d, of this year, the company sold its property at auction. It was purchased by Esek Pitts, of Mendon, gentleman ; Samuel Pitts, of Mendon, clothier ; John Farnam of Grafton, clothier, and Jesse Eddy, of North- bridge, yeoman, who continued the business. Decem-

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 124

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1576

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1576