History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 217

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 217

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).

836

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

rill bought Charles' share and part of that of Levi, which reduced the firm to four members at the open- ing of 1883, each having an equal interest under the re-adjustment. Four years later George, son of Seth Heywood, left, and George H., son of Henry, pur- chased an interest and become a partner with the remaining members, the charge of the Boston ware- house, then recently opened, being assigned to him. During the present year (1888) an interest in the business has been purchased by Calvin H. Hill, a clerk in the Gardner office, and also by John H. Welch, of the New York house. The firm at this writing consists of Henry Heywood, Amos Morrill, Alvin M. Greenwood, George H. Heywood, Calvin H. Hill and John H. Welch, and retains the name of Heywood Brothers & Co., which has distinguished it for twenty-seven years and by which it is known and honored throughout the land, and in realms beyond the sea.

This company confined itself to the production of the line of goods usual in chair manufactories till the year 1874, when they started the business of making reed and rattan chairs and furniture, as a branch of their regular work. This department has proved a valuable adjunct to the establishment, having in- creased in extent and in variety of style and work- manship from the beginning, incorporating with it a few years since the making of children's carriages in every conceivable diversity of design and elegance, and attaining at length wonderful proportions and unexpected importance. It is carried on in a build- ing three hundred feet long, sixty feet wide and four stories high, well supplied with machinery, run by a Corliss engine of eighty horse-power. The firm have . had a large establishment for the manufacture of the same kind of goods in San Francisco for some years, and this very season have erected a building for the same purpose in Chicago, three hundred and sixty feet long, fifty feet wide and four stories high, in which some four or five hundred hands are to be employed.

The business done by this immense establishment in the town of Gardner for the year ending August 31, 1888, was upwards of $700,000, while its entire business for that period exceeded two and a half mil- lion dollars. Employment is given in the Gardner shops to about thirteen hundred persons, whose monthly pay-roll is not far from fifty thousand dol- lars, or six hundred thousand dollars per year. The extent of floorage in these shops is three hundred and forty thousand square feet, or a little less than eight acres. The several engines used to run the works amount, in the aggregate, to three hundred and twenty horse-power, while the boilers are capable of producing five hundred and sixty horse-power. The concern, including all its departments, is undoubtedly the largest of its kind in the country, and probably in the world.

PHILANDER DERBY & Co .- The site occupied by

the extensive manufactory of this enterprising and prosperous firm experienced varying fortunes during the first half of its history. It was originally pur- chased of William S. Lynde, in November, 1834, by Benjamin F. Heywood & Company, who built a dam and erected a saw-mill for the purpose of getting out lumber for use, probably in their chair factory already in operation on the stream above. The building was afterwards enlarged, furnished with machinery and used in part for the manufacture of chairs. At a later date it was sold to Martin Dunster, who removed to it the business of making boxes and various articles of wooden-ware which he had previously carried on in a shop located on what is now Broadway, near Otter River. A portion of it was let to Colonel Eph- raim Williams, who established there a machine shop for making repairs and doing incidental iron work. In 1844 the whole establishment was destroyed by fire, and the property was purchased by several gentle- men, the principal of whom were John Edgell and the late Charles W. Bush, who, under the name of Edgell, Bush & Company, rebuilt and began the manufacture of boxes, chairs, settees and house-finishing material. After running a few years, they sold to Nichols & Baker, who used the premises for a grist-mill and for carrying on a general flour and grain business. That being given up, the estate was bought at auction, in 1863, by Philander Derby and Augustus Knowlton, who had been making chairs at the present shop of A. & H. C. Knowlton & Company, under the firm-name of Derby & Knowlton. They fitted it up as a chair factory and run it in connection with their other establish- ment. Two years later, Henry C. Knowlton, brother of Augustus, entered the firm, and the name was changed to Derby, Knowlton & Company. Under this management business increased rapidly, neces- sitating new buildings and new machinery, which were supplied from time to time as the case required. In 1868 Mr. Derby and the Knowlton brothers sep- arated, the former retaining this shop and continuing business on his own account for eleven years, when he received, as partners with himself, his son, Arthur P. Derby, and his sons-in-law George Hodgman and George W. Cann, who have gone on together to the present time under the style of Philander Derby & Company. From small beginnings this establishment, under the general supervision of the senior member of the firm, who has displayed great enterprise, busi- ness sagacity and untiring persistence in the pursuit of purposed end-, aided latterly by his younger asso- ciates, has grown to immense proportions, enlarging its facilities from year to year, and increasing its pro- duction until it holds a place second only in import- ance to that of any other concern in town. The firm has warehouses in Boston and New York, and a half- interest in a house in Chicago, one of the largest of its kind in the great West. The amount of business done in Gardner the last year was about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which employed from one

837

GARDNER.

hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty men, while the entire business of the firm has reached in the aggregate nearly a million dollars a year. The commodious shops of the company are filled with a good supply of the best machinery used in the man- ufacture of chairs, some of the most ingenious and serviceable portions of which were devised, con- structed and perfected on the premises, especially those pertaining to the rattan department, which is an interesting and important feature of the estab- lishment.

S. K. PIERCE & Co .- The extensive manufactory with which the familiar name of S. K. Pierce, recently deceased, was identified for more than forty years, occupies the site where long ago stood the old potash works belonging to the estate of Captain Wm. Bickford, a large land-holder of his time in the vil- lage of South Gardner. It was purchased about the year 1830 by Stephen Taylor, a protégé, it is said, of the Pierce family, who had been doing a small chair- making business for a brief period in the fulling-mill of John Merriam, located on the site of the present establishment of S. Bent & Bros. He fitted it up for a chair-shop, and began the manufacture under the old system, all the work being done by hand. The business soon outgrew its narrow accommodations, when the old building was removed and a new, more commodious and more convenient one took its place. A dam was built across the stream near by and water- power was introduced, with which to run the simple forms of machinery that were put in. Here Mr. Taylor, by industry, economy and careful manage- ment, built up a large and prosperous business, ren- dering it necessary for him to secure additional facili- ties in order that he might meet the increasing de- mand for his goods-a demand created by the excel- lent quality of his work and by the reputation he had acquired for integrity, trustworthiness and honor in all his dealings with his fellow-men. Desiring at length to relinquish business, he sold out to Mr. S. K. Pierce, who had learned the trade of making chairs when a youth, and who, after working at differ- ent places, had entered the employ of Mr, Taylor a year before. Mr. Pierce formed a partnership with his brother, Jonas Pierce, and the two went on to- gether for three years, when the relation was termi- nated by limitation. During that period a one-story building, sixty feet by thirty, served the purposes of the firm, in which eight men were employed, besides the proprietors, who themselves performed their regu- lar day's labor with the others. The chairs produced, which met with ready sales, were carried to Boston by the then existing methods of transportation, a single team of two horses doing all the work at first, though at the end of the three years of partnership the business had grown so much as to require two teams of four horses each to meet its requirements in that regard. After continuing alone for some time Mr. Pierce associated with himself Philander Derby, one

of his workmen, who remained a partner only two years, when Mr. Pierce assumed once more the sole control of affairs, going on prosperously as before. With the rapid growth of business, additions were made as seemed desirable to the shop included in the original purchase, until in 1858 it was deemed wise to begin a thorough readjustment of the entire estab- lishment, with its fixtures and appurtenances. Accord- ingly, some of the old buildings were removed to make room for the first part of the present spacious struct- ure, whose full proportions and complete equipment were reached nine or ten years afterward. Since that time additional buildings have been erected for work- shops or store-houses as the interests of the business required. The main factory, as it now stands, is ninety feet long by forty-five wide, four stories high above the basement, with an addition of the same height fifty-six by thirty feet. Numerous other buildings devoted to purposes incident to the business added to this, complete the outfit in the respect under notice of this great concern. The mechanical equip- ment now in use is of the most approved kinds and patterns, and is operated by a water-wheel of forty- five horse-power, with an accompanying steam engine for supplementary purposes of seventy-five horse- power. Over a hundred men are employed in this establishment, and a business is done amounting to about $175,000 annually. Some six years ago Mr. Pierce associated with himself his son, Frank J. Pierce, who had grown up in the manufacture and was well acquainted with its details, and who was therefore qualified to share with his father the responsibility of its management. By a sad fatality the senior member of the firm was stricken with pneumonia in the latter part of the winter of 1887-88, and died after an illness of only five days. Arrange- ments have been made between the several parties financially interested in this establishment, whereby it is now going on as hitherto, under the name of S. K. Pierce & Son, Mr. Frank J. Pierce being manager.

JOHN A. DUNN .- The business of chair-making was commenced on the location where now stands the large and busy factory of John A. Dunn, in 1838, when Elijah Putnam bought the water privilege of Wm. S. Lynde, and, having constructed a dam, moved his shop there, and supplying it with machinery, put himself and his men to work. Seven years after, Mr. Putnam sold out to Thorley Collester, Ruel G. Cowee and Benjamin H. Rugg, who continued the business under the firm-name of Cowee, Collester & Co. for a short time, when Maro Collester and Edward Stevens purchased Mr. Cowee's interest, and the style was changed to Collester, Rugg & Co. At a later day Maro Collester and Edward Stevens retired, and Franklin and George Eaton took their places, when the firm-name was again changed to Collester, Rugg & Eaton. When Mr. Collester died, in 1862, Mr. Rugg and George Eaton left, and Nathaniel Holmes became associated with Franklin Eaton, forming the company

838

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

of Eaton & Holmes. Later John A. Dunn was ad- mitted to the firm, which then took the name of Eaton, Holmes & Co. In 1875 Mr. Holmes sold his interest to Isaac J. Dunn, brother of John A., and the firm-name became J. A. & I. J. Dunn, under which business was carried on till 1886, when John A. bought his brother's share and has since conducted the enterprise on his own behalf. Up to the year 1859 or 1860 the machinery of the factory was run wholly by water-power, at which date, a large addi- tion having been made, a twenty-five horse-power steam-engine was put in for supplementary purposes. In 1870 Eaton & Dunn exchanged this for one of one hundred horse-power, which is still in use. In 1877 another considerable enlargement was made to the es- tablishment. The business has been increasing rapidly in later years and promises well for the future. The amount done advanced from one hundred and forty thousand dollars in 1885 to one hundred and seventy- five thousand dollars in 1887, and the extent of shop- room at the present date is twice what it was ten years ago, while the facilities for doing work have been multiplied proportionally. A great advantage was gained to this establishment and to others in the vicinity in 1881, when a spur of the Fitchburg Rail- road was laid, furnishing greatly-improved and much- needed conveniences for the transportation of stock and manufactured goods.

SAMUEL BENT BROS. & Co .- This is one of the more recently formed chair manufacturing firms of the town, and one which, by inherent energy, close attention to business and personal integrity and honor on the part of those concerned in its management, has attained a well-merited success. The privilege on Mill Street which it occupies was first improved by John Merriam in 1822, who used it for the purpose of carding wool and fulling cloth. In 1836 he sold it to Sullivan Sawin, who had recently left the pail factory and settled near by, and it was fitted up for chair-making, the business being carried on by his son, Sullivan Sawin, Jr., in a small way for a few years. Sullivan, Jr., was succeeded by his brother, John, who improved the premises, increased the CONANT & BUSH .- This company consists of Chas. W. Conant, formerly member of the firm of Conant, Ball & Co., and C. Webster Bush, the present clerk of the town. In 1875, Mr. Conant, having withdrawn from active participation in the business with which he had been connected for some years, took the lead in establishing the enterprise of which he is now the head, for the purpose of manufacturing reed and rat- tan chairs, getting out cane and doing other kin- dred work. The firm commenced operations in 1883, in the building known as the " Alley Paint-Shop," near the railroad stations, which they had purchased, fitted up and furnished with new and improved ma- chinery suited to their special line of production. in- cluding a steam-engine for the supply of needed power. The venture proved successful, the firm ris- business and continued it for about twenty-five years. Besides some of the cheaper grades of wood-seat chairs and stools, he manufactured what were called office-chairs, which had a large run for a time. For many years he made a specialty of school furniture, both chairs and desks, which he sold to William G. Shattuck, of Boston, a large dealer in that kind of goods, and which through him were scattered far and wide throughout the country. He also made large quantities of children's chairs of different patterns and sizes, employing some six or eight men in his business. 'About the year 1860 he retired, and was suc- ceeded by his brother-in-law, A. Allen Bent, who had been many years in his service, and who run the estab- lishment with satisfactory results until 1869, when he disposed of the property to his younger brother, | ing rapidly to a creditable and commanding position,

Charles, then just returned from California. Mr. A. A. Bent made a specialty of children's chairs, but he also turned out bent work, some styles of which, designed by himself, proved very popular, and are still produced and put upon the market. Mr. Charles Bent at once associated with himself his brothers, Samuel and Roderic L., under the name of Samuel Bent & Bros., and the firm started out on its prosperons career. They soon found it necessary to enlarge their accommodations, and improve in many ways their facilities for business, an experience repeated several times during their history. The old buildings have been removed and new ones, adapted to the growing wants of the manufacture, have taken their places. Their main shop is one hundred and twenty feet long by forty wide, two stories high with a commodious, well-lighted basement in which the heavier work is done. There is also a building one hundred and sixty feet long by forty wide, two stories high, which is used for a paint-shop and store-house, and in which is the office of the firm. A large barn has recently been erected for the convenience of the business. In 1880 a spur track was laid to the factory from the B. B. & G. Railroad, greatly improving the shipping facilities -the firm doing the grading at an expense of $4000 and the corporation laying the rails and furnishing the rolling-stock. Besides the common style and grade of goods produced by this enterprising concern, they supply the market with a large number and variety of children's toy chairs, mostly of fanciful design, for which there has in recent years been a great demand. Besides an excellent water-power, which is rendered doubly valuable by reason of the South Gardner Reservoir, elsewhere described, the establishment is provided with a fifty horse-power steam-engine for heating purposes, and for supple- menting the water-wheel if necessary. About one hundred men are employed, and an annual business is done of $150,000. Mr. Samuel Bent, the senior member of the company, died in 1883, his son, Charles Leslie Bent, succeeding him in the firm, the style of which was changed to S. Bent Bros. & Co.

839

GARDNER.

having produced the first year over a thousand bales of cane prepared for use, besides what they did in the chair-making department of their establishment. Two or three years later they entered into an arrange- ment with other cane-workers, whereby they engaged to suspend for a time that line of work, and have since confined themselves strictly to the manufacture of reed and rattan chairs in a manifold variety of useful and ornamental forms. They have recently purchased the "Carney Building," standing near the " Kendall Crossing," on South Main Street, and have fitted it up for the manufacture of all kinds of children's rattan carriages, which will hereafter hold a prominent place in their establishment. They have been employing, on an average, about a hundred men, and doing a business of $140,000 a year, which, by the enlarge- ment referred to, will be considerably increased in the immediate future. With ample accommodations and all needful appliances for turning out work, the pros- perity of this firm, managing their affairs with char- acteristic enterprise and sagacity, is assured beyond all peradventure.

CONANT, BALL & Co .- In or about the year 1852 Aaron B. Jackson and Aaron L. Green wood purchased the water privilege 'which for many years had been utilized by the father of the former for running a grist-mill, with lands adjoining, located on the north side of Broadway, three-fourths of a mile west of the South Gardner post-office, upon which they erected a factory for making various styles of cane-seat and back chairs. Here they started and carried on business till 1857 or 1858, when they sold out to Abner and Leander White, who continued the same under the name of A. White & Co. The leading member of this firm, Abner White, had been engaged in chair-making for many years in Gardner and elsewhere, and occupied, for a time, a notable place in that industry, though he seems to have been a wandering, rather than a fixed star in the brightening galaxy of chair manufac- turers. In the year 1862, John R. Conant, who had been previously associated with Mr. White, entered the firm, from which, a year later, Mr. Leander White retired, Charles W. Conant, brother of John R., suc- ceeding him. Mr. Abner White withdrew in 1866, and the business went on under the management and name of Conant Brothers for two years, when Carlos E. Ball, who had charge of the Boston department established some time before, entered the partnership, the name being changed to Conant, Ball & Co., which it still bears. Seven years later Charles W.Conant retired from active membership in the concern for the purpose of inaugurating a new undertaking, though he re- mained a silent partner till 1884, when he severed hi, connection with it altogether. Additions were made to the shop and fixtures from time to time as the require- ments of the growing business dictated. Beginning with the use of water-power alone, a gradual change to steam was made, resulting in its exclusive use in 1882, when the Gardner Water-Works were established and the

control of the stream issuing from Crystal Lake, on which this factory was located, passed into the hands of the corporation having charge of those works, by act of the Legislature. Early in the year 1888, the firm bought out the stand occupied by L. H. Sawin fora generation, to which the business has been trans- ferred with reasonable expectation of railroad facili- ties not hitherto enjoyed, and of an increased produc- tion of goods. The buildings recently taken posses- sion of are undergoing renovation, enlargement and a general improvement, as are all the accessories of the establishment. The works are operated by an engine of forty horse-power attached to a boiler of twice that capacity. The production of this firm has hitherto been restricted to a fine class of goods, mostly of mahogany, cherry and black walnut stock ; but a decline in the popularity of the latter of these woods has necessitated somewhat of a change in the material used, though not in the quality or style of the work, which has been distinguished for excellence and good taste wherever it has been known. The business of the firm has nearly doubled in ten years, amounting now to about $100,000 annually, and furnishing ent- ployment to forty men. Within a few weeks the main factory, so lately vacated by this concern, has been destroyed by fire.

L. H. SAWIN & Co -In this connection it seem ; proper to mention the immediate predecessors of the last-named company as now located, even though their name has disappeared from the list of those en- gaged in the distinguishing industry of the town. The senior member of the firm of L. H. Sawin & Co. is one of the oldest practical chair-makers in town, and has been identified with the business as workman and as manager for more than half a century. When but eighteen years of age, Levi Heywood Sawin learned the trade of making chairs under Messrs. Amasa Ban- croft and Frederick Parker, who carried on a small business in an insignificant shop on Elm Street. He went thence to the Heywood factory, where he re- mained for fifteen years, when, in 1851, he purchased the shop and privilege, just below, of Ezra Baker, to whose hands it had reverted after the occupancy of it by Mr. Elijah Putnam. It had been used for some years previous to Mr. Sawin's purchase by the firm of Levi Heywood & Company for getting out stock. It was immediately put in order for the manufacture of chairs, and the business was carried on in a small way for four years, when, larger and better accommn- dations being needed, Mr. Sawin removed the old building and erected a new and more commodious one, the beginning of the spacious establishment now occupying the site. The work increasing, Mr. Sawin, in 1861, received as a partner Mason J. Osgood, con- stituting the firm of Sawin & Osgood, which continued till 1869, when Mr. Osgood withdrew, giving place to Reuben H. Twitchell, son-in-law of Mr. Sawin, and Edward H. Sawin, his son, thus forming the new firm of L. H. Sawin & Co., which continued till the ter-

840

HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

mination of business, as heretofore stated, and the con- sequent dissolution of the partnership. An enlarge- ment of the factory was made in 1865, bringing it to its present size of one hundred and twenty by forty feet, to which later subordinate additions were affixed for necessity or convenience' sake. As in all the shops on the Crystal Lake stream, water-power was originally used as the motor, but was gradually superseded by steam-power, which has alone been used in later years. For some years thirty-five or forty men were employed here, producing goods to the value of fifty thousand dollars annually.

A. & H. C. KNOWLTON & Co .- The establishment of this prosperous and reliable firm is located on North Main Street, forming one of the series of chair factor- ies deriving power originally from the Crystal Lake outlet, which has now become practically extinct. It was started in 1848 by Abner White, who, having ob- tained possession of the site, purchased the old Cool- edge house, in the north west part of the town, and moved it thither, fitting it up with machinery suited to chair- making purposes. Going on alone for two years, he took as a partner his brother Leander, whose share was purchased later on by Philander Derby, and the busi- ness continued under the name of White & Derby till 1857, when Mr. Derby became sole owner and man- ager. In 1861 Augustus Knowlton became associated with Mr. Derby under the name of Derby & Knowl- ton. Two years later Henry C. Knowlton, brother of Augustus, entered the firm, the name being changed to Derby, Knowlton & Co. In 1868, Mr. Derby and the KnowItons, who had been operating the present Derby factory for half a dozen years, separated, the latter retaining the site which they still occupy and conducting business under the name of A. & H. C. Knowlton. In 1881, Alec. E. Knowlton, son of H. C., entered the firm, the name being changed to A. & H. C. Knowlton & Co. A large addition was made to the original shop in 1857, and still another in 1881, ex- tending it to its present capacity. The main factory is one hundred feet by thirty, a part of it three stories high, with a basement. Attached to this is a two- story extension and store-honses, affording ample ac- commodations for the business. The machinery, with which the factory is fully equipped, is of the best known to the trade, and is run by an engine of ninety- six horse-power. Both cane and wood-seat chairs are produced, of a grade and quality of material and work- manship that give them a high standing wherever known. The firm has a branch house in Philadel- phia and also in Los Angeles, Cal. Fifty or sixty men are employed in Gardner, and the sales in 1887 amounted to eighty-five thousand dollars. The firm has an honorable reputation in the business commun- ity.

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.

History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 217

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