History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 166

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1464

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 166

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1 " The Heart of the Commonwealth," Henry J. Howland, 1856.

2 John Mascarence's address to His Excellency, Thomas Powoall, Esq., captain-general and Governor-in-chief in and over His Majesty's province of Massachusetts Bay in New England.

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Isaiah Thomas, in 1793, advertised a book on the manufacture of pot and pearl-ash.

It has seemed worth while to dwell at some length upon the manufacture of potash, as it so clearly shows the narrow resources of the provinces at that time, and the lack of any manufacturing interests beyond the simplest kinds designed to meet the wants of a scanty population.

TIMOTHY BIGELOW .- One of the earliest mechan- ics to attain prominence in Worcester was Timothy Bigelow, who, before the Revolution, had a black- smith's shop where the Court Mills afterwards stood, near the present junction of Union Street with Lin- coln Square. Of him a somewhat romantic story is told.

There then stood on the site of the block of brick houses, opposite the court-houses, the residence of the orphan daughter of Samuel Andrews, then the principal heiress in Worcester. To quote from an old newspaper story : 1

" In the rear of the Andrews home Tim Bigelow had a blacksmith's shop, where he blew the bellows, heated and hammered the iron, and shod the horses and oxen and mended the plows and chains for the farmers of the country about him. Now Tim was as bright as a button, more than six feet high, straight and handsome, and walked upon the earth with a natural air and grace that was quite captivating. Now Tim saw Anna, and Anna saw Tim, and they were well satisfied with each other; but, as he was then ' nothing but Tim Bigelow, the blacksmith,' tbe lady's friends, whose ward she was, would not give their consent to a marriage. So, watching an oppor- tunity, the lovers mounted fleet horses and rode a hundred miles, to Hampton, in New Hampshire, which lies on the coast, between Newburyport and Portsmouth, and was at that time the 'Gretna Green ' for all young men and maidens for whom true love did not run a smooth course in Massachusetts. They came back to Worcester as Mr. and Mrs. Tim- othy Bigelow.

" He was a man of decided talent, and well fitted by nature for a popular leader. All the leading men of the town at that time were Tories. He espoused the cause of the people, and soon had a party strong enough to control the town, and, being known as a patriot, he was recognized by Hancock, Samuel Adams, General Warren, James Otis and others of the patriot party throughout the Province. He was sent as a delegate from Worcester to the Provincial Congress, and, as captain of the minute-men, he led his company from Worcester to Cambridge on the 19th of April, 1775, at the summons of a messenger, who rode swiftly into town that day on a large white horse, announcing that war had begun.

" Blacksmith Bigelow soon rose to the rank of ma- jor, and, afterwards, to that of colonel of the Fif-

teenth Massachusetts Regiment, which was composed almost exclusively of Worcester County men. He was at the storming of Quebec, at the taking of Burgoyne, at the terrific scenes of Valley Forge and on almost every other field made memorable by the fierce conflicts of the Revolution.

" When the war was over he returned home, his constitution shattered by hard service for his country, his health ruined, his fortune gone in consequence of the formidable depreciation of the currency, under which forty dollars was scarcely sufficient to pay for a pair of shoes."

CLOTH .- In 1789 a few men formed an association for the purpose of manufacturing cloths, that had theretofore been imported from Great Britain, and in the Spy of April 30, 1789, the following notice is found :

On 'Tuesday last the first piece of corduroy made at a manufactory in this town was taken from the loom ; and March 25, 1790, the proprie- tors of the Worcester Cotton Manufactory gave notice that they would not take any more linen yarn for the present, having a sufficient quan- tity on hand.

May 27, 1790, Samuel Brazer advertises " goods of American manufacture to be sold at wholesale and retail, corduroys, jeans, fustians, federal rib, and cot- ton, for cash only. The prices are reasonable, the quality of the goods superior to those imported, which will induce all to give preference to the manufactures of their own country." Later, we find :

An Overseer wanted at the Cotton Manufactory at Worcester, also three or four healthy boys as apprentices ; two or three journeymen weavers nt said manufactory. Apply, for further information, to Sanıl. Brazer or Daniel Waldo, Worcester.

August 5, 1790, all persons who had demands against the proprietors of the Worcester Cotton Manu- factory were requested to present them to Samuel Brazer and Daniel Waldo, Jr., from which we con- clude that the enterprise had not prospered, and it is probable that upon the declaration of peace, goods could be obtained more cheaply from England than they could be manufactured here.

This factory, containing crude machinery, stood upon Mill Brook, and was located in School Street, east of the present location of Union Street.

When the manufacture of corduroys and fustians was abandoned, the factory was moved to Main Street, and was thereafter known as the Green store (present site of Parker block). Samuel Brazer was from Charlestown, where he was a baker, and in 1782 engaged in the same business in Worcester; he appears to have been somewhat jealous of his good name, for in 1784 we find him refuting a slander in regard to the size of his bread. In October, 1785, he dealt in crockery and West India goods at the sign of The Old Maid, in the centre of the town. From this time on Mr. Brazer was engaged in a variety of occupa- tions.

Daniel Waldo, Jr., who was associated with Samuel Brazer in the manufacture of cordnroys, was a son of Daniel Waldo, who moved to Worcester from Lancas-

1 " Carl's Tour in Main Street."

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ter in 1782, and engaged in the hardware business near the bridge over Mill Brook at Lincoln Square.

PAPER-MILLS .- The manufacture of paper took an early and prominent place among the industries of the Colonies.

May 3, 1775, at a convention of delegates from towns in Worcester County, the following vote was passed :

Resolved, That the erection of a Paper-mill in this county would be of great public advantage, and if any person or persona will undertake the erection of such a mill and the manufacture of paper, that it be recommended to the people of the county to encourage the uodertaking by generoua coctributions and subscriptiona.

In the Spy of July 5, 1775, the following notice is found :

Any person or persons that incline to set up that useful manufacture, the making of paper, may bear of one who will undertake to give di- rectious for building a mill, and will carry on the business in good shape with assistance.

From the pamphlet on "Early Paper Mills in Mas- sachusetts," hy Mr. E. B. Crane, and part of the Pro- ceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity for 1886, we learn that Mr. Abijah Burbank, of Sutton, was the first to respond to this resolution.

Paper was evidently very scarce, for we find that for want of it but one-half of the Spy could be pub- lished October 30, 1776. This was no doubt due to the scarcity of rags, which evidently continued for some time, for on October 30, 1777, the following notice was published :

The paper-milla and, of consequence, the printing offices in this coun- ty must inevitably stop unless the good people are more careful in pre- serving their rags. The advanced price of 3d. per lb. for clean linen raga is now given by the printers, which, together with the invaluable benefit which the public must derive from having a plentiful aupply of paper books, canuot fail of the desired effect.

This difficulty seems, however, to have been over- come, for in May, 1778, Mr. Burbank advertised, -- "The manufacture of paper in Sutton is now carried on to great perfection."

The business of Isaiah Thomas as printer and pub- lisher in Worcester had become of considerable con- sequence. The Rev. Peter Whitney stated that no person had added more to the consequence and ad- vantages of the town and county of Worcester than Isaiah Thomas. The publishing of the Spy was only a part of his business. After the war, in 1788, he conducted a printing-office in Boston and in Wor- cester, and carried on a large business as printer, publisher, bookseller and bookbinder.

Mr. Thomas lived on the site of the stone court- house, just south of which his office was located. He employed in the various departments of his business one hundred and fifty hands.

To provide paper for his needs, Mr. Thomas, to quote from Mr. Crane's pamphlet, " presumably with the intention of erecting a paper-mill, on January 7, 1785, purchased of Ephraim McFarland, for ninety pounds, the southerly half of a dam and water privilege located at what is now known as Quinsiga- mond village, and on the northerly side of the street,

in front of the site now occupied by the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company's Mills.

" Owing, perhaps, partly to the unsettled condition of the affairs of state, and to the impoverished plight of the country, the building of the mill was deferred, and November 9, 1787, he sold the property for eighty- five pounds to Dr. Elijah Dix, from whom he again purchased it January 31, 1793, for one hundred pounds, and soon hegan the construction of a two-vat mill"; and, to again quote from Mr. Crane, "This mill, built by Mr. Thomas, was supplied with two vats , of about one hundred and ten lbs. capacity, and they ran usually fifteen hours each day, employing ten men and eleven girls. The main product of this mill was hand-made paper, and from twelve hundred to fourteen hundred lbs. were turned out weekly." As to price of labor : The skilled engineer received about three dollars per week, vat-men and coucher three and a half dollars each without board ; ordinary workmen and girls, seventy-five cents per week each; boys, sixty cents each, and they were given board.

It was bere at this mill that Mr. Zenas Crane, a native of Dorchester, toiled at the trade of paper- making for several years previous to the summer of 1799, when he set out from Worcester to establish, in company with Henry Wiswell and Daniel Gilbert, a paper-mill in the western portion of Massachusets, and succeeded so admirably in laying the foundations for a business that, through the careful and skillful management of Mr. Crane and his descendants, has assumed the most flattering proportions, and whose trade-marks, known as "The Old Berkshire," " Old Red Mill," " Pioneer Mill" and "Government Mill," stand for as good an article of paper as can be found in this country or perhaps any other.

Mr. Thomas sold his paper-mill to Caleb and Elijah Burbank, of Sutton, February 24, 1798. This paper- mill was the second in the county and the eighth in the State. Another building was erected shortly after 1811, below the Thomas Mill, and used as a sickle-factory by Gardner Burbank, Elijab's son ; afterwards it was converted into a paper-mill. This building was located in what is now the scrap-yard of the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company.

In 1778 the principal articles, aside from food and the ruder kinds of cloth, were imported, and mostly from England. The resident of Worcester could find steel, bar iron, choice brandy, New England and West Indian rum, coffee, alum, brimstone, powder and shot at the store of Samnel & Stephen Salisbury, on the north side of Lincoln Square, just east of the Salisbury mansion, where the depot now stands.

Elisha Clark, at this time, followed the business of rope-making about two miles from the meeting-house, on the road to Sutton.

Clock and watch-work was done in a small way, but not of a very fine grade, if we may judge from the following description of a watch supposed to have been stolen : " A large old-fashioned watch with the

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

glass broken in three places and put together withlı putty."

As a rule, shoemakers in the early days went from house to house, but in 1779 Nathan Heard appears to have established a small shoemaker's shop in Wor- cester.

Daniel Waldo, to whom reference has been made, opened, in 1782, a store near the bridge over Mill Brook at Lincoln Square, where he offered for sale best Heart and Club German steel, bar iron, 4dy. and 10dy. nails, window-glass, Dutch looking-glasses, iron shovels, spades, saddlers' ware, and in general, an assortment of hardware and West India goods, choice Bohea tea, etc.

The firm of D. Waldo & Son, dissolved December 31, 1791 ; Daniel Waldo, Jr., continued.

In 1783, Abel Stowell manufactured clocks and watches in his shop south of the meeting-house, on the west corner of Park and Salem Streets. He made in 1800 the clock formerly in the Old South Church. The business of watch and clock-making appears to have been a considerable industry at this time. Benjamin Willard, of Grafton, who had an office with Isaiah Thomas, had sold two hundred and fifty-three eight-day clocks up to 1784.

The art of hat-making was early practiced in Wor- cester ; John Smith offered one shilling each for cat- skins in 1782, and in 1789 Nathan Blackburn adver- tises for an apprentice in the hat-making business.

In 1789 Palmer & Daniel Goulding owned a tan- yard. Almost every town had a tan-yard, and leath- er of sufficiently good quality was made to serve the needs of the shoemakers and saddlers in the immedi- ate vicinity.

Improvements in the simple conveniences for liv- ing were made from time to time, and in 1791 the appreciation of the necessity for a cheap and satisfac- tory artificial light is found in the construction of a new candle machine,-price, forty-five dollars,-with which it was claimed a boy could make three hun- dred and sixty rods of candles per day.

Abraham Lincoln had a trip-hammer and grist- mill a few rods from the court-house, which he of- fered for sale in 1795. It must have been located on Mill Brook. The works are described as containing two pairs of bellows that go by water, a grindstone and mill all under one roof ; "said works and grist-mill are as convenient and as well situated for custom as perhaps any in the Commonwealth."

The desire for communication between the sea- board and Worcester appears to have been felt pre- vious to March, 1796, when some persons formed an as- sociation at Providence for making a canal to Wor- cester, and they were at that time invited to a confer- ence in Worcester at the tavern of Ephraim Mower. Later on, no doubt as a result of this meeting, a pros- pectus appeared setting forth the purpose of the Ca- nal Company, which was to issue four thousand shares of stock at one hundred dollars each, which

it was estimated would cover the cost of building the canal. Subscriptions were solicited in Worcester ; William Paine (at Dr. Lincoln's store), Joseph Allen (at his office), Isaiah Thomas, Thomas Payson, Daniel Waldo, Jr., and Samuel Chandler were appointed to receive them.

In October, 1796, a number of individuals peti- tioned the General Court for an act of incorporation for the purpose of cutting a canal from Great Pond in Worcester to Boston, but nothing was done at this time either with the Blackstone Canal or with the proposed canal to Boston. In 1822 surveys were made for the Blackstone Canal, which was afterwards put into successful operation, as appears later in the narrative.

In 1798 Daniel Denny had a card-factory on Me- chanic Street near Main, opposite Mower's tavern (present site of Walker's building); later, he moved to Main Street, opposite present site of Bay State House. He, no doubt, bought his wire of Daniel Waldo, who imported it, and who, at this time, an- nounced "Sixteen casks of Wool and Cotton Card wire will be landed in a few days from the brigantine ' Aidar,' just arrived from Amsterdam."

Dutch plows, made in Connecticut, were at this time for sale at Denny's store.

Cornelius Stowell, the clothier, had, in 1785, a shop on the east corner of Park and Orange Streets. Abel (the clock-maker), Peter and Ebenezer were his sons. The two latter he took into partnership with him about 1790, when they began to manufacture woolen goods, print calicoes, carpets, dye and dress woolen goods. They had two fulling-mills, and dyed fine scarlet and deep blue colors in the best manner.

In 1804 Peter & Ebenezer Stowell commenced to weave fine carpets, and at one time had six looms of their own invention and construction in operation. They made the first carpets used in the State-house at Boston. July 19, 1809, a patent on wood screws was granted to Abel Stowell, and in January, 1816, he and his son were located on the Common, a few rods southwest of the Baptist meeting-house, where they conducted a miscellaneous business, dealing in stoves of cast and sheet iron, with their funnels, "as cheap as they can be purchased in Boston or any other place." Machinery of all kinds in brass and | iron, particularly such as are used in carding and other factories ; clocks for meeting-houses and printers' materials in iron and brass. Among his effects of- fered for sale by bis administrators in May, 1819, was an undivided part of what is called the Black Lead Mine, consisting of two acres. This was, no doubt, what was later known as the Worcester Coal Mine. Black lead was procured here and ground into a paint, which was quite generally used.

In January, 1808, Curtis & Goddard were busy making chaises, and at this time appear to have moved from opposite the jail to a building south of

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WORCESTER.

the bank. Samuel Newhall had taken the noted stand of John Johnson, where he intended carrying on the soap-making business. Thomas Stevens, cabi- net-maker, states that he has purchased the right to make and sell two kinds of churns for several towns in the county.

In May, 1810, John Earle and Erasmus Jones erected a wool-carding machine to pick, break and card wool at the building known as Lincoln's Trip- hammer Shop, fifteen rods east of the court-house.

At this time the number and variety of manufac- tures in Massachusetts appear to have increased con- siderably. Some idea of these, in 1810, may be had from a notice issued from the marshal's office in Bos- ton July 17th, asking for information in regard to the following industries : tanneries, distilleries, sugar re- fineries, breweries, paper-mills, oil-mills, snuff-mills, chocolate-mills, gunpowder-mills, glass-works, fulling- mills, carding-machines (going by water), hemp and flax spinning-mills, cotton and wool-spinning mills, rope-walks, furnaces, air furnaces, forges, bloomeries, rolling and slitting-mills, cut-nail factories, trip- hammers and steel-furnaces.

The sudden increase in the variety of manufactures may be attributed to the embargo, declared in Decem- ber, 1807, and to the complications then existing be- tween this country and France and England, which led to an almost complete stoppage of importations, and manufactories of cotton goods, woolen goods, iron, glass, pottery and other articles rapidly sprung into existence.

Previous to the embargo, according to Hildreth,1 there were in the United States but fifteen cotton - mills with a total of eight thousand spindles. By the end of 1809 eighty-seven mills were built, of which sixty-two were in operation-forty-eight by water and fourteen by horse-power-working thirty-one thousand spindles, and many more were in process of erection.

Most of the saws used in Worcester in 1810 doubt- less came from the works of Elijah Waters & Co., at Sutton, who kept on hand steel-plate and saw-mill saws of various sizes.

One of the earliest machine-shops in Worcester was that of Earle & Williams, in 1812, opposite the court- house, where they carried on the business of machine- making, and advertised for sale machinery for spin- ning cotton and wool, carding-machines, and brass castings. Their shop was destroyed by fire January 5, 1815.

In April, 1813, the attention of shoe and boot- makers is called to a new and useful improvement, secured by patent, for putting shoes and boots to- gether with copper nails, without any sewing. The patentee announces that he will attend at Captain Mower's tavern in Worcester (the site now occupied

by Walker's building) from the 12th to the 20th in- stant, for the purpose of selling patent right, and claims that the invention " has been proved to an- swer every purpose for beauty, ease and conven- ience, and vastly more durable, at a saving of about half the work, and remedies all the evils attending iron nails and wooden pegs."

In April, 1815, the Worcester Tannery is offered for sale. It is described as situated in the centre of' the town, and is one of the most extensive and con- venient establishments in the State, in perfect repair, and with all the accommodations and necessary tools for carrying on the business.

"Through the middle of the yard runs a large brook, confined by a very handsome stone wall. A few rods from the tan-yard is a building in which bark is ground by water, and in which there is a patent bark-inill, strong and well-constructed."

This is the tannery formerly referred to as owned by Samuel Johnson, and was located east of the present site of Exchange Hotel.

Some reason for the sale of the tannery may be found in the heavy taxes upon leather. The other tanneries in different parts of the county appear to have suffered, for no less than nine are offered for sale during 1816 and 1817.

The discontent of the workers and makers of leather, and others, finds expression in the following notice, which appeared May 31, 1815 :

Shoemakers aboy ! Have you been at the Collector's and given bonds, with two sufficient sureties, to pay duty upon your work ?

If you make a siogle boot or shoe above 85 value without giving bonds to secure the duty to Government, you do it at your peril, and are subject to a penalty of not less than $500 !

What ia your situation better than that of Virginia negroes? You must account for every pair of boots you make to the Collector. You must tell how much you ask for them, whom you make them for, and how many pair you make; and, to crown the whole, all this must be done under oath. No, that does not crown the whole; one thing more, whenever a customer breaks, or runsaway, or cheats you, in addition to the loss of the article itself, and the labor, you must pay the duty upon it to the Government ! This is the crowning, the cap-sheaf.

Silversmiths, carpeuters, jobbers, hatters, tailors, tobacconists, boat- builders, tin-men, blacksmiths, and ye mechanics and manufacturers of all articles and commodities of whatever name and nature, be ye also ready. A fine of $500 awaits you unless you comply with the provisions of these arbitrary, iniquitous laws passed by Congress the 16th and 27th February, 1815.

In May, 1815, Earle & Williams give notice that in addition to machinery for carding wool, they will have in operation, about the 1st of July, machinery for the spinning of wool, which can be spun at a rate greatly below the price of hand-spon. They also give notice, June 21st, that, in connection with Asa Mann, they have in operation, near Stone's tavern, sonth part of Leicester, machinery for carding wool.

Joshua Hale, at the same time, states that he has put his machines for carding wool and spinning cotton in most excellent order, and attends them himself; also that he has for sale cotton yarn made of cotton selected by himself in Savannah, which he warrants to be the best.

1 Richard Hildreth'a "History of the United States," Vol. III., p. 210.

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In September, 1815, Thomas & William Stowell advertise that they have improved the building lately occupied for a wire-factory, one and a half miles south of -the meeting-house, where they have put their works in the best order for dressing cloth, and are in readiness to meet any demands in their business.

It may be interesting to note, in passing, that at this time the postage to Boston, on single letters, was fifteen cents.

John W. Lincoln, in January, 1816, advertises all sizes of nail-plates from the Millbury Rolling-Mill Company. This company was established in the latter part of December, 1815, for the purpose of manufactur- ing nail-plates and rods.

William Hovey, June, 1816, advertises a double carding-machine in operation for custom work at his factory, one mile south of the meeting-house in Worcester, where merino wool is carded in the best manner.

October 2d he gives notice that he has taken George March into company with him, and that at Hovey's mill they will manufacture wool into cloth ; price for spinning wool, three cents per skein.

At this time considerable interest was manifested throughout the country in manufactures, and frequent meetings were held for the purpose of devising means for their encouragement. A committee of the Legis- lature in New York urged that members of Congress be instructed to attempt to have the duties on woolen and cotton increased ; urged the public officers to clothe themselves in American clothi, and that manu- factures be exempt from taxation, and manufacturers from serving in the militia, and from other public duties.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 166

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1464

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1464