History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 170

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 170

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many persons would go into the spinning business that no hands would be found to weave the cotton. He spent thirty thousand pounds in endeavoring to perfect his loom, and in 1808 received a grant from Parliament of ten thousand pounds for his services. Steam-power was applied to his looms in 1807.

Improvements were rapidly made upon the Cart- wright loom by other inventors, and it was soon brought into general use for both cotton and woolen goods.

Ichabod Washburn speaks in his Autobiography of seeing a power-loom in the winter of 1813-14, which was so crude that all the cog-wheels were made of wood, and expresses the opinion that it was probably the first power-loom in the United States. Whether this he true or not, it is certain the power-loom had not, at that time, been long in operation in this country.

In the fall of 1823, Wm. H. Howard and Wm. Hovey were in business together, and after building various kinds of machinery, commenced building broad power looms, and finally settled on the common Scotch looms as the best, and put them in operation at the factory of the Goodell Manufacturing Com- pany, Millbury, at the Pameacha factory in Middle- town, Conn., at the Torrington and Litchfield factories, and elsewhere.

This partnership was dissolved, and early in 1825 each manufactured these looms on his own account, William H. Howard building broad power cassimere and kerseymere looms, carding and shearing-machines at his shop, one mile south of the Main Street in Worcester,-South Worcester privilege.

For satisfactory proof of the superiority of his looms, he referred to the Goodell Manufacturing Company in Millbury ; to Wolcottville Manufacturing Company, in Torrington, Conn. ; and to Zachariah Allen, Providence, R. I.

These looms were sold for one hundred and twenty- five dollars each, delivered at the shop in Worcester, including the expense of putting them in opera- tion.

In 1828 Rice & Miller advertised for sale satinet power-looms, and in 1830 Wheelock & Prentice took the shop theretofore occupied by William H. Howard at Sonth Worcester, and purchased of him the right to build his improved looms, upon which he had a patent for an improvement in the lay motion, consist- ing of an irregular slot in the sword of the lay through which it was moved. There are many looms now in operation with this movement.

In 1832 Horatio Phelps carried on the loom busi- ness at the shop formerly occupied by William H. Howard, having purchased the right to make and sell the Howard Improved Patent Broad-loom.

The business was conducted at the same place in 1833, by Phelps & Bickford, who advertised that they were prepared to build to order all kinds of woolen looms of the most improved plan. In addition to the

1 Mucb of the material used in the article on card-clothing ie taken from a book called " A Century Old," published by the T. K. Earle Mfg. Co., and written by H. G. Kittredge and A. C. Gould.

2 People's Encyclopædia.

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

business of making the broad satinet cassimere power-looms, they manufactured to order reeds of any description.

Prescott Wheclock was buikling looms at his shop in New Worcester in 1833, of any description that the public might want, and in 1835 Silas Dinsmore and Fitzroy Willard formed a copartnership to man. ufacture power-looms ; they dissolved in November, 1835, Fitzroy Willard continuing the business at the same place in Court Mills, where he manufactured broad power satinet and cassimere looms. Hebuilt fifty broad power looms in Worcester for W. & D. D. Far- num, and Mr. Samuel Porter helped set them up in the mill at Blackstone, in 1835. Most of the ma- chinery for that mill was built in Worcester. Henry Goulding constructed the carding and spinning- machines.

All the looms which have been spoken of up to this time were plain looms, so-called, the fancy loom being an invention of later date. The plain loom is one in which a few harnesses, operated by cams, are used. The goods woven on this loom are like cotton or twilled fabrics.

The modern fancy loom varies in range from two to forty harnesses. The movement of these harnesses is controlled by a pattern-chain, made up to corres- pond with the different make of goods, and for dif- ferent colors of filling in the goods, drop-boxes, or movable boxes are required, which are also controlled by chain, according to the pre-determined pattern. With these boxes from one to seven colors can be used.

In the trade at the present time the cam-loom, with a single box, whether of two or eight harness capacity, is usually spoken of as a plain loom, and any loom whose mechanism is controlled by chain made up according to a pre-determined pattern, is usually spoken of as a fancy loom.

Up to 1836 the harnesses of all power-looms were operated by cams; consequently the changes of weave of which the looms were capable were very limited, and goods for which an intricate figure or design was required were necessarily woven, as formerly, in a hand-loom.

In 1836 William Crompton, a native of Lancashire, England, a practical weaver both by hand and power, came to Taunton, Mass., and entered the service of Messrs. Crocker & Richmond.

While in the employ of that firm Mr. Crompton invented a loom to weave a certain pattern of goods which the looms in the mill could not weave, for which a patent was issued to him in 1837, and the loom was introduced into the manufacture of cotton . goods. This loom was the first power-loom invented in which the figure or pattern desired to be woven could be made up in a small chain, and when placed upon the loom would control suitable mechanism to move the harnesses to weave the proper figure. Mr. Crompton went to England and procured a patent for

his loom in that country, and in 1839 he returned to the United States, and in 1840 introduced his inven- tion into the Middlesex Mills, in Lowell, Mass. Up to that time no fancy woolens had been woven by power in this country or in Europe, except those woven on hand-looms.

In a letter written in 1877 to the late George Crompton, Esq., by Mr. James Cook, agent of the Middlesex Mills in 1840, the following interesting statement is made :

The writer, now in his eighty-third year, in looking over a lot of old samples, came across a piece of fancy woven cloth, the very first woven in this country by power; and the idea crossed his mind that it might be interesting to yon to learn the beginning of this great revolution in the fabric now in use very generally in this country to the extinction of the plain fabrics formerly used to a great extent.

Your father came to the Middlesex Mills in this city from Taunton, and represented to the writer and Mr. Edward Winslow, now deceased, a machinist in the employ of the Middlesex Company, that he had a loom at Taunton for weaving fancy cottons which he thought might be applied to woolen fabrics. The cotton loom was sent for by the Middle- sex Company. Mr. Winslow and myself altered one cassimere loom with the assistance of your father, who was good mechanic, by putting on Crompton's patent. The experiment was an entire success; the altera- tion was extended very soon to all the cassimere Ions and then to the broad looms, so that the whole of the weaving power of the mills was in that direction.

Mr. Samuel Davis states that soon after this, happen- ing to be in Boston, he accidentally met Mr. Crompton at an hotel there, who told him about his loom. Mr. Davis was then building carding aud spinning- machines in the old Court Mills, and Mr. Crompton stated to him that he wished to get some one to build his loom; that he had been to Lowell and Lawrence; also to Dedham, but thought that be should close the contract at Lowell. Mr. Davis said he was not building looms, but that Worcester would be a good place to have the looms built, and that Phelps & Bickford would be good parties to undertake their manufacture.

Mr. Crompton came to Worcester and was intro- duced to Phelps & Bickford, who were then building plain looms. Phelps & Bickford made an arrange- ment with Mr. Crompton to build his looms upon a royalty, and continued doing so till the expiration of the patent.

In February, 1844, the mill at Northville, owned by Ichabod Washburn, F. W. Paine, G. A. Trum- bull, and occupied by William Crompton, was totally destroyed by fire.

In 1848 William Crompton lived in Millbury, where he was engaged in the manufacture of woolen and cotton goods, and where he also had a machine- shop. April 12, 1848, he advertised to sell various kinds of tools used by him in the manufacture of machinery, as he had determined to confine himself to the manufacture of cotton and woolen goods.

Mr. Crompton later removed to Connecticut, where his son, George, worked in Colt's factory. The Crompton patent, meantime, had expired; but it was renewed for seven years, and George Cromp- ton came to Worcester, and associated himself with

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WORCESTER.

Merrill E. Furbush for the manufacture of looms, first locating in Merrifield's building, where they remained till the fire of 1854.

After occupying for a short time quarters in the wire-mill in Grove Street, they hired the Red Mill, near the foot of Green Street, employing about fifty hands in the manufacture of the Crompton loom.

At this time William M. Bickford, the successor of Phelps & Bickford, employed twenty-three hands in the west wing of the Grove Street mill in building looms.

August 1, 1859, Furbush & Crompton dissolved. Mr. Crompton continued the business, buying the Red Mill property, and in 1860 erected a new build- ing, which was a substantial brick structure, one hundred and ten feet long by fifty feet deep, three stories high, besides the attic, exclusive of an ell for an engine-house.

Mr. Crompton at that time employed sixty hands, which number he expected to increase to eighty as soon as buildings could be erected.

The successive improvements in the Crompton loom can best be given by a quotation from an interesting pamphlet on that subject, published by the Cromp- ton Loom Works in ISSI : "Furbush & Crompton made narrow looms from 1851 to 1857, when they brought out a fast-operating, Broad fancy loom, with improvements in box-motion. Broad looms, up to this period, operated at about 45 picks; the new 1857 Broad looms, with twenty-four harnesses and three boxes at each end, reached a speed of 85 picks per minute. This was a great stride in production ; no advance has been so great since then. The nar- row fancy cassimere loom, with three boxes at one end, up to this time had not obtained the speed of 85 picks per minute; but with important improve- ments in the reverse motion, the simplification of devices for operating the lays by means of the ordi nary cranks, the use of the ordinary narrow shuttle and the reduction of the size of the shed made a fast economical Broad power-loom of 85 picks a possi- bility. One weaver could attend one Broad loom as readily as one narrow; therefore 'broads' at once came into favor and use, and the comparative exclu- sion of narrow looms was foreseen.

" Furbush & Crompton built looms until 1859, when the partnership was dissolved. The patents granted to and owned by the firm were in part for improvements in double reverse motion, E. W. Brown's invention, of which they were the sole owners ; said patents were by mutual agreement territorially divided-the New England States and the State of New York to Crompton, and the remainder of the country to Fur- bush, and by said agreement Furbush was debarred from making looms of any kind whatever in Cromp- ton's territory."

In December, 1860, William M. Bickford moved his factory to Exchange Street, in Merrifield's building, where he was prepared to build all kinds of Crompton

looms and other fancy looms, broad and narrow. This led to a lawsuit which resulted in Bickford's being found to be an infringer of the Crompton patents. On his death, in 1863, the business went out of exist- ence, the patterns being sold to the Crompton Loom Works. Various improvements, many of them pat- ented, have been made from time to time, Mr. Crompton having taken out over one hundred patents in the United States, besides a large number in for- eign countries. A number of patents have also been taken out by Mr. Horace Wyman, superintendent for many years of the Crompton Loom Works.

The Crompton Loom Works have thus grown until it is one of the largest manufacturing establishments in Worcester.

Mr. George Crompton died 1886, and the business was incorporated January, 1888, with the following officers : M. C. Crompton, president ; Horace Wy- man, vice-president and manager; Justin A. Warc, secretary and treasurer.

Mr. L. J. Knowles was born in Hardwick, July 2, 1819, and was, in 1836, clerk in a store in Shrews- bury.

In June, 1842, we find the following notice :

" We were shown some miniatures taken by Mr. Knowles at his room in Brinley Row, which we think for beauty, boldness and distinctness, exceed any- thing we have seen."

In February, 1843, L. J. Knowles & Co., in con- nection with their daguerreotype business, advertise to do electro-gilding and silver-plating.

In 1844 Sumner Pratt leased a portion of one of Mr. Curtis' buildings, at New Worcester, for the manu- facture of cotton sewing-thread. Mr. Knowles and a Mr. Hapgood had quarters in the same building, and purchased thread of Mr. Pratt, which they spooled and put on the market.

In 1847 Mr. Knowles commenced the manufacture of cotton warp at Spencer, and in 1849 removed to Warren. During the years 1855 to 1858 he was engaged in the manufacture of satinets in Warren, and made some improvements on the looms he was then run- ning, for two of which he took out patents in 1856- one for a close shed cam-jack for harness motion, and the other for separate picker for each cell in the drop- shuttle box. In 1857 he constructed a drop-box mechanism, for operating drop-boxes by means of cranks set at the opposite extremes of their throw, under the direction of a pattern-chain, or its equiva- lent. This was the germ of the mechanism of the fancy loom, which has developed by successive stages into the loom as built by the Knowles Loom Works at the present day.

L. J. Knowles and his brother (F. B. Knowles) be- gan the manufacture of looms for sale under the firm- name of L. J. Knowles & Brother, at Warren, Mass., in 1862, and the first looms were made for hoop-skirt tapes, with woven pocket for the wires, and for bind- ings, tapes, etc. The loom was patented in 1863.

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

This branch of the business continued till the fall of 1866, when the company removed to Worcester, Mass., occupying Dr. Sargent's Block-Allen's Court. During 1866 the company began the manufacture of cam-looms for satinets, docskins and other plain goods, and patented a cam harness motion for this loom in November, 1866.

In 1868 they began to make these looms with drop- boxes at each end, so as to use different colors of fill- ing for checks, plaids, etc. In 1871 they began to make the drop-box looms, with chain or faney har- ness motion, so as to extend the range of looms according to the requirements of the patterns. Out of this grew the fancy, woolen loom of the present style, the first one of which was built in 1872, and sold to the Jamesville Mills, of this city.

In the spring of 1873 the first broad loom of this style was made from new and heavy patterns, and from that time many thousands have been built for the woolen-mills of the country. This loom was patented in 1873. Meantime, the loom business bad grown so that in 1876 from seventy-five to one hun- dred men were employed. The loom was shown at the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, and as a result won for itself a wide reputation. A forty har- ness loom was made in 1876, and the first one was shown at this exhibition, and a number of them were sold.

In 1879 the business had grown to such proportions that it was necessary to have more room, and the company, in October of that year, moved to what was known as the Junction shop, where the business has continued till the present time, and preparations are being made for the erection of a much larger factory, in order that proper facilities may be secured for the rapidly inercasing demands of the business.

In 1884 Mr. L. J. Knowles died very suddenly, in Washington, and the business was conducted by the surviving brother, Mr. F. B. Knowles, until the 1st of ' frames; they are also designers and buiklers of looms

January, 1885, when a stock company was formed under the name of the Knowles Loom Works, with Mr. F. B. Knowles as president, which has continued the business under the same general management. In 1885 the company brought out a very heavy loom of thirty barness capacity for weaving worsted goods, which has been very largely introduced. Of this loom they have built and delivered the largest single order for heavy woolen looms ever given in this country, namely-two hundred and four looms for the River- side and Oswego Mills, of Providence, R. I.

The old hoop-skirt loom has gradually developed into a loom for silk ribbons, suspenders, bindings and machines and jacks.

all kinds of narrow goods, with great success.

Within a few years the company bas perfected and put upon the market looms for weaving flannels, dress- goods, faney cottons, etc., and large numbers of tbem have been put into the best mills.

They have also recently brought out various looms designed for gros-grains, satins and the various kinds

of silk goods, plain or fancy ; also coverings for up- holstery work, portières, draperies, etc., for silk vel- vets, mohairs and silk plushes; and have probably made the widest looms for fly shuttles ever made, having a reed space of two hundred and thirty-six inches.

They have also introduced, within a few years, a power-loom for ingrain carpets, many of which are now running in the best carpet-mills in the country, and are giving perfect satisfaction.

All the Knowles looms are built on the open shed principle, which is their distinctive feature.

The value of the Knowles loom has also been re- cognized in Europe, and elsewhere, where it is being largely introduced by Messis. Hutchinson, Hollings- worth & Co., of Dobeross, England, who are building them in large numbers and already have several thou- sands of them in successful operation.

The Gilbert Loom Company, Charles W. Gilbert, proprietor, was established in 1866, and is situated at 186 Union and 33 North Foster Streets, Worcester. They employ about fifty hands, using steam-power from a ninety horse-power engine, and are building looms and machinery as follows :

Looms for the weaving of tapestry, Brussels and velvet carpets, mohair and cotton plushes, fancy woolen (twenty-four harness, four drop boxes) for woolen and worsted goods. Fancy cotton looms, gingham looms, coach lace looms, satinet flannel, blanket, jean and cassimere looms, gunny cloth and pine fibre looms, tape and narrow wire looms for No. 20 and finer wine, cam looms for chairs and car-seats, heavy looms for cotton duck and belting, needle looms for wipers and sugar strainers ; and, in addi- tion to looms, they also build yarn-printing drums and belting frames for tapestry and velvet carpets, cop winders for jute, wool, linens and cotton, yarn spoolers, mill shafting, gear cutters and harness for new and special purposes.

In 1854 Rodney A. N. Johnson & Co., composed of Mr. Johnson and Daniel Tainter, manufactured spin- ning machinery for wool carding machines, pickers, twisters, spools, bobbins, boring machines, card cloth- ing, etc., at Merrifield's Steam Mill.

In 1859 Fox & Rice manufactured fancy cassimeres on the stream at the junction of Green and Water Streets, employing two hundred hands and manufac- turing fifty thousand yards of cloth monthly. Daniel Tainter, at the same time, employed thirty hands in Union Street in the manufacture of wool-carding

The business now conducted by the Cleveland Ma- chine Works Company, the well-known builders of woolen machinery, located at 54 Jackson Street, was established in January, 1860, by Mr. E. C. Cleveland, who commenced the manufacture of woolen machin- ety in Central Street in what was then known as Armsby's building. He manufactured cloth dryers,

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WORCESTER.

hydro-extractors, cloth-brushing machines, jacks, presses, fulling-mills and wash-mills, and continued in this business until early in 1863, when, in addition to the above-named machines, he built the first set of the well-known Cleveland cards, which are used for converting wool into roving previous to spinning, These cards were sold to Messrs. Howe & Jefferson, of Jeffersonville, and are now running in the mill of the Jefferson Manufacturing Company, and doing good work after twenty-six years of service.

About this time the late John C. Mason and Mr. J. M. Bassett were admitted to the firm. They, after several years, withdrew, and Mr. Cleveland continued the business until his death, which occurred April 28, 1871. Since the building of the first set of cards hundreds of sets, with improvements from time to time, have been built, and are now in successful op- eration in first-class mills.

Since the death of Mr. Cleveland the firm has been managed by Mr. S. W. Goddard, who has introduced many new machines and many improvements in the machines made previously. They now manufacture about fifty machines for different uses in woolen mills, making a specialty of all kinds of cards for wool, worsted, felt and shoddy ; also twisting, roving, spooling, picking, drying and cloth finishing machin- ery. The product is sold throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

In February, 1863, the late Hon. Isaac Davis sold the lower Junction shop, built by Eli Thayer in 1854 for gun work, and used in 1861 for soldiers' barracks with twelve acres of land, to Jordan, Marsh & Co., of Boston, who intended to convert it into a woolen- mill, with sixteen sets of machinery, making it one of the largest woolen-mills in the State. This shop was first known as the South Junction shop ; later, as the Pistol Shop Barracks and Adriatic Mills. Jordan & Marsh made extensive improvements. The main building was four hundred feet long, forty feet wide and two stories high. The second floor was devoted to carding and spinning, and was ar- ranged for twelve sets of cards and twenty packs of four thousand eight hundred spindles. The first floor was for finishing and weaving ; the weaving all to be done by looms made by George Crompton, of Wor- cester. The main belt was one hundred and fourteen feet long, and thirty inches wide, double throughout, and made at the shop of Graton & Knight in Front Street. Particular attention was called to this, as showing that the equipment of a woolen factory could be procured in Worcester ; the cards, jacks, dryers, dressers, extractors, hydraulic presses, etc., were fur- nished by the Cleveland Company.

This mill is now owned by the Worcester Woolen Company, incorporated in 1881. The building is now five hundred and eighty-two feet long, forty-two wide, two wings-one seventy-two by sixty, the other ninety by fifty-six. The number of the hands, at the beginning two hundred, is now two hundred and

thirty. They have thirteen sets of cards, fifty-eight broad and two narrow looms, and twenty Bancroft operators. They make fine woolens, cassimeres and suitings, and produce from five thousand to eight thousand yards per week, the annual sales amounting to six hundred thousand dollars. The present pro- prietors, the Messrs. Legg, came from Rhode Island. March, 1881, James Legg, Jr., hecame the owner of the mill, and it was run under the name of James Legg, Jr., & Co., until July, 1881, when the present firm, James & John Legg, succeeded.

The Alma Woolen-Mills, in Green Street, employ two hundred hands in the manufacture of fancy cassimeres and suitings, running fifty-nine looms and eight sets of cards with attendant machinery.

The firm of Johnson & Bassett, manufacturers of self-operating mules and jacks, was established in 1870.

In 1868-69 experiments looking towards making the jacks self-operating were going on in several parts of the country, and were being conducted in the shop of Cleveland & Bassett, in Worcester, by Edward Wright.

The failure of Cleveland & Bassett in the fall of 1869 brought Mr. Wright's experiments in their works to an end, but he arranged to go on with John- son & Co., jack builders, and July 1, 1870, the copart- nership was formed between Johnson & Bassett. The first self-operating attachment for jacks of their make was put at work in the mill of John Chase & Sons, at Webster, in 1870, since which time Johnson & Bassett have built up an extensive business in the manufacture and sale of self-operating heads for application to hand-jacks, seff-operating jacks com- plete with heads, and self-operating mules. The business was located in the Merrifield Buildings, 180 Union Street, until October 1, 1886, when it was removed to Mr. Bassett's new building, corner of Foster and Bridge Streets.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 170

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