USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > History of old Braintree and Quincy : with a sketch of Randolph and Holbrook > Part 49
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Braintree > History of old Braintree and Quincy : with a sketch of Randolph and Holbrook > Part 49
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512
STONE QUARRYING.
Wigwam Quarry, now worked by Badger Brothers. O. T. Rog- ers & Co. and Barker & Co. furnished the material for the entab- lature. This building required a large amount of heavy stone, including eighteen fluted columns of over thirty tons each. These columns, when finished, were thirty-two feet, eight inches in height. Among the stone contractors there seems to have been a doubt whether Mr. Willard would be able to secure them, as will be seen by his own statement, viz :- " I do not apprehend much difficulty in getting the whole out, although our neighbors in the stone business appear to be much concerned about it. I presume we can get them, if anybody can, and at less than half the cost to them. We are now drilling a line of holes eighty feet long, and have a fair chance of getting two columns at the next split. We have wedged off our long split about an inch, and I think will make what was intended. Our quarrymen have had to proceed with great caution, on account of the great length ; this block must have measured from one hundred to one hundred and fifty tons. Another block was partly got out which it was expected would make four columns, but it was not successful." One year from this time, during which much of the stone for the Exchange and Custom House in Boston had been secured and forwarded,
The stone for the Portland, Me., Custom House (since destroyed and rebuilt) was furnished by J. B. Whitcher, & Co. and Barker, Wright & Co.
The stone for the San Francisco, Cal., Custom House was furnished by Rich- ards, Munn & Co. and others.
The stone for the Providence, R. I., Custom House was furnished by Fred- erick & Field and E. C. Sargent.
The stone for the Boston Court House was from the Granite Railway Quarry, in 1833.
The stone for the Essex County, Salem, Court House was furnished by O. T. Rogers & Co.
The stone for the Worcester County Court House was furnished by O. T. Rogers & Co., and Thomas Hollis, Jr.
The stone for the Boston Exchange was from the Wigwam Quarry, by Mr. Willard, with the exception of the pilasters, which were furnished by O. T. Rogers & Co.
The stone for the San Francisco Exchange was furnished by Richards, Munn & Co., and others.
The stone for the old Masonic Temple and the old Trinity Church, Boston, were furnished by Richards, Munn & Co .; the temple in 1833 and the church in 1828.
513
STONE QUARRYING.
Mr. Willard wrote, July 8th, 1841, as follows :- " We expect to get through shortly and to have the greatest hurrah and throw- ing up of caps that ever was in Quincy. We have saved three cartridges for the Yankee, to be fired off when the last column is loaded."
Four months later, he wrote,-" We are about getting the seventeenth column to the wharf; the eighteenth we expect to get finished on Tuesday next, and the whole column and archi- trave afloat in the course of next week."
The discarded column was set up in the Hall Cemetery, as we have before stated, in speaking of that cemetery; and here we wish to correct an error that we were led into by the author of Mr. Willard's memoirs, in which he caused ns to make the statement that a full set of stone tools was placed in the top of the monument, when since, we have learned they were placed in the base, and we should say, the most proper locality for them.
The cost of some of the columns as stated in an estimated work, was about fifteen hundred dollars, while two of them, upon which extra work was ordered, are put down at four thou- sand dollars, and Mr. Willard in one of his letters remarks, "that the prime cost of getting out one of these shafts is as much as the prime cost of a Doric column with its capitals, for which five thousand, two hundred dollars was paid at the Custom House." The estimated work upon each was equal to four men for forty-five days. The tall, plain and fluted pilasters in front of the Merchant's Exchange in Boston, which were taken from the old Rogers Quarry, are much the largest in that city, and were raised into position by means of screws. The corner pilas- ters are forty-one feet, eight inches in height, six feet wide, and measure about fifty-five tons. Mr. Willard and others in the business, were enabled to handle these large blocks and stone columns with great ease and facility by Mr. Willard's improved lifting and pulling-jack, in connection with Mr. Hohnes' hoisting apparatus. Mr. Holmes was also the inventor of the derrick.
Mr. Willard, the pioneer of the stone business in this town, lived to see a great change in this branch of business, which was brought about by extensive competition, by quarries being opened in other places where lighter colored and cheaper stone
66
514
STONE QUARRYING.
could be procured for such purposes ; many preferring the lighter shades for the construction of buildings. By far the largest amount of Quincy stone that has of late been used for building, has been furnished by the enterprising firm of Messrs. Henry Barker & Sons, for the Philadelphia market, where many supe- rior public and private structures have been erected, among which are the New Masonic Temple and the Ridgway Library, which for architectural designs, workmanship, finish and cost of manufacture, have not been surpassed in this country.
Probably seven-tenths of the syenite now quarried in Quincy is used for cemetery and monumental work, which is now the principal business of the town. So noted has it become for these purposes, that it has been sent to all parts of the country, and even to South America and Europe.
Syenite and granite have of late years become extensively used for paving streets, and millions of paving blocks are yearly manufactured out of Quincy stone; also from quarries in other places. Mr. Willard somewhere about 1840 furnished the first paving stones from our quarries, and they were laid in front of the Tremont House, Boston. They were, however, much larger than the blocks used at the present time.
The small blocks or cubes now in use were first suggested and manufactured by our enterprising townsman, Mr. Henry Barker, in 1858, now of the firm of Henry Barker & Sons. Much oppo- sition was made to their introduction, especially in Boston, but merit and perseverance have proven stronger than prejudice, as can be shown by the large quantities that have annually been called for and used in the city of Boston; also, their extensive and increasing use in New York, Philadelphia, Washington and other places where durable and economical paving material is wanted. Mr. Barker has the satisfaction of having lived to see them adopted and come into general use.
Up to 1825, syenite and granite were rarely used for anything but rough work; as cutting and dressing stone mouldings and carved ornamental work was little known here. In the con- struction of buildings at that time, the walls were carried up in regular courses of stone, merely squared, and most generally crowned or finished with a cornice of wood.
Prefet Richards
515
STONE QUARRYING.
One Sunday in 1803, the first experiment in splitting stone with wedges, was made by Josiah Bemis, George Stearns and Michael Wild. It proved successful, and so elated were these gentlemen on this memorable Sunday, that they adjourned to Newcomb's Hotel, where they partook of a sumptuous repast. The wedges used in this experiment were flat, differing from those in use at the present time. The stone-cutters found it so troublesome to go to the centre of the town to have their tools sharpened, that in 1804, they had the first blacksmith shop in the Commons built near the quarry of the late Henry Wood.
Mr. Joseph Richards,1 of the former firm of Richards & Munn, was a man of uncommon ability and intelligence, and was pos- sessed of much inventive genius. About the year 1831, he in- vented the bush, or axe hammer ; which term is the more proper we are not able to say, as no name for it is to be found in any of the dictionaries, although this instrument has been in use about half of a century. The name of bush hammer is evidently local, as at Philadelphia and some other places, it is called axe hammer, from the several little axes being keyed into the cheeks of the instrument, and we think it the most correct name of the two. There are six, eight, ten, or more axes connected with it.
1. Hon. Joseph Richards was born in Cummington, Mass., Ang. 26th, 1784, and was educated in the District School. When about twelve years of age, he removed with his parents to the northern part of the State of New York, where he was engaged with his father in farming, until he was eighteen years of age, when he left home and came to Quincy. His first engagement in this town was with President John Adams, as coachman, who after a few months' service in that capacity, suggested to him that he was worthy of a higher position. From these suggestions of Mr. Adams, he went to Abington, where he under- took the duties of a school teacher, a position for which by nature he was eminently qualified even at that early age. Possessing an instinctive knowledge of human nature, he governed without force or coercion. He was an ardent lover of the science of mathematics, in the higher branches of which he was quite proficient. From Abington he returned to Quincy, or " Braintree Neck," (now Quincy Neck) in 1803, where he engaged, for many years, in quarrying and working stone in the summer, with Bryant Newcomb, his futuro father-in-law, and school teaching in the winter until the increase of the stone business in which he was engaged, engrossed his whole timo. Although obliged to aban- don the profession in which he delighted, his love of knowledge continued unabated until the close of his successful life, Feb. 12th, 1848. He was chosen to the State Senate for the years 1843 and '44. Mrs. Richards sur- vived her husband a number of years.
516
STONE QUARRYING.
The number used depends upon the fineness the artisan desires to dress the stone. This useful instrument to stone-cutters was first made by Mr. Richards, solid or wholly in one piece, for which he received a patent ; since then improvements have been made upon it by constructing it in several pieces. Mr. Richards was also the first to suggest, construct and utilize the Louis hole, as now applied for blasting purposes. No consideration would induce the quarrymen to relinquish or give up this improved method of blasting. The advantage gained by the quarrymen is, that the split in the stone generally runs in the direction they desire.
Efforts have been made to dress stone by machinery, but have not been fully successful in this country. A machine for dressing stone, patented by Mr. Charles Wilson of New York, was set up in Quincy in 1853, by Richards, Munn & Co. Not proving a success, it was removed to Cape Ann, where it was used for one season only, by Barker, Wright & Co., with toler- able success. The same principal is said to be in successful operation in Aberdeen, Scotland, at the present time for the dressing of syenite and granite.
As the stone business becomes better understood, greater improvements will be made. Mr. Henry Barker & Sons have recently, or in 1877, had constructed at their stone works a sawing machine, which is the first machine in constant use established for sawing syenite and granite by iron globules, in the United States ; by this means stones are sawed out in the same manner as boards. This is accomplished with great facility with chilled iron globules, but must be seen to be understood. By this method they are able to manufacture stone mantles, tops for tables, or for any other purpose for which marble is used. This sawing machine seems to be, as yet, the nearest approach to a stone-dressing machine, and may at no distant day execute the plainer kinds of work to great advantage.
Within a few years a new process in the dressing of stone has come into extensive use, which is called polishing. So extensive has this process become in the embellishment of our syenite, that most of the firms engaged in this business have been obliged to have constructed within their stone yards, large
517
STONE QUARRYING.
buildings in which expensive machinery has been placed for this purpose. This custom of polishing syenite is a revival or resto- ration of the Egyptian system of embellishing their syenite which is as old as their everlasting pyramids and monument. The im- provement in this branch by the use of machinery has so reduced the cost, as to make polished work more common than formerly. The polished surface is much more beautiful; it is also much more durable, as the surface is thereby rendered perfectly impen- etrable to the disintegrating elements and the ravages of time, as may be seen in the beautiful specimens of polished red syenite of ancient Egypt, which still retain the original polish and color unimpaired. The recent discovery and development of a vein of red syenite in the Greenleaf Quarry, completes the parallel in this respect between the ancient syenite of Egypt and the modern in Quincy. Although a lighter shade of red or pink, syenite of excellent quality has been for years quarried in the South Com- mon, which quarry is now carried on by Capt. George B. Wen- dell & Co.1
1. It may be of interest to enumerate some of the old and large firms of stone contractors that have been engaged in the business. Also, to give the date of their copartnership, which we have done so far as we have been able.
1803. Newcomb & Richards, composed of Joseph Richards and Bryant New- comb.
1817. William Packard.
1 1825. Granite Railway Co., incorporated 1825; Gridley Bryant, agent, suc- ceeded by S. R. Johnson, George Penniman, J. B. Whicher and O. E. Sheldon.
1827. Richards & Newcomb, South Common, composed of Joseph Richards and Jonathan Newcomb.
1827. Bunker Hill Association, Solomon Willard, agent.
1827. Samuel Martin.
1828. Thomas Hollis.
1829. Newcomb Brothers, South Common, composed of Jonathan New- comb and Samuel Newcomb.
1829. Richards & Munn, Boston, composed of Joseph Richards and Luther Munn.
1834. Thomas Hollis, Jr.
1834 to 1842. Wright & Barker, composed of Henry Barker and Abel Wright. 1842 to 1864. Barker, Wright & Co.
1866. Henry Barker & Sons.
1835. O. T. Rogers & Co., composed of O. T. Rogers, Jesse Bunton, Samuel Babcock, and Noah Cummings.
1836. Moses Day & Co., Packard Quarry.
518
STONE QUARRYING.
One important feature of all these quarries is, that the deeper they are worked the closer the texture, and more permanent and durable the color of the material. Some of these quar- ries have been worked to the depth of from seventy-five to one hundred feet, affording a quality of stone that is withont a par- allel either in ancient or modern times. The great strength of Quincy syenite has been proved by experiments. Professor Henry, of the Smithsonian Institute, says, "the result of his experiments upon Quincy stone is, that it will bear a pressure of seventeen thousand pounds to the cubie inch, while marble only stood the pressure of two thousand, three hundred pounds."
The various great improvements in the method of quarrying Quincy syenite must be noted :- At first the rude, primitive manner was to heat the stone and let fall upon it a large iron ball to split it. Another system was to excavate a deep cavity in the ground under the large boulders, and fill the excavated space with brush or some other combustible matter, and set fire to it. When the stone became sufficiently heated, it was broken in various parts by the use of large, heavy sledge hammers. Then came the process of blasting, by drilling single holes in the stone, which was in use until Mr. Richards utilized or sub- stituted the Louis hole.
1836. A. J. Moshier & Co.
1836. Beals & Frederick, composed of Horace Beals and Eleazer Frederick.
1837. Frederick & Field, composed of Eleazer Frederick and William Field.
1838. New York Exchange Co., Solomon Willard, agent.
1840. Richards, Munn & Co., composed of Joseph Richards, Luther Munn, Lysander Richards and John S. Lyons.
1844. J. B. Whicher & Co., composed of J. B. Whicher, O. E. Sheldon, Jonathan Jameson and Samuel Ely.
1847. Newcomb & Chapin, composed of B. B. Newcomb and E. S. Chapin.
The following are names of parties engaged in quarrying, but not contractors for dressing or building stone :- Josiah Bemis, Joel Bemis, George Follett, Thomas Drake, Greenleaf Quarry; James Newcomb worked in the South and North Commons; Bryant Newcomb, South Common; Jonathan Newcomb, do .; Samuel Newcomb, do .; Ezra Beals, Gass Quarry, now worked by John Q. Wild; Wmn. Packard, Packard Quarry, now worked by C. H. Hardwick & Co .; Samuel Martin, Thomas Hollis and Flanders, Rattle-snake Quarry, now worked by O. T. Rogers & Co .; Moses Nightingale, Bass Quarry, now worked by Fred- erick & Field; William Kidder also worked the Bass Quarry; John L. Dutton, Gass Quarry; Ezra Badger, near Mount Ararat, now Churchill & Co.
519
STONE QUARRYING.
There are no monuments that can be placed over the graves of our citizens, so lasting, or appropriate, as our syenite. Many of the sacred and costly sarcophagi, tombs and monuments, con- structed for the honored dead have been dug out of our hills of stone, and now commemorate and adorn the graves of those who quietly lie slumbering in Mount Auburn, Forest Hills, Greenwood and other garden cemeteries of the country. It has also been extensively used for the construction of large and imposing monuments, which have been erected in public places, and important squares in many of our large cities, in commnemo- ration of the memory of our most distinguished and celebrated citizens for their noble deeds and lives.
COACH LACE BUSINESS.
Among the pioneers for the manufacturing of lace for the trimming of carriages, in New England, was Mr. Wilson Marsh, who established this industry in Quincy, abont the year 1797. He began in a small way by placing a few hand looms in his house, on School street, where the old Marsh mansion yet stands. Several years after he began business, his two sons, Elisha and Jonathan, were connected with him, and the firm was called Wilson Marsh & Sons. They continued to successfully prose- cute this branch of industry until the death of the senior part- ner, in 1828, when the surviving partners formed a new firm under the name of E. & J. Marsh. The goods manufactured by this firm became noted as reliable and first-class articles. This established reputation of their coach lace so increased their business, that in 1836, they employed seven males and sixteen females, and the value of goods manufactured was estimated at twelve thousand dollars. Mr. George Marsh, son of Jonathan, having been added to the firm the year previous, the name was changed to E. and J. Marsh & Co. The latter part of 1836, their business had so increased that they built an addition to their factory, which stood near the homestead. After the new addition was completed and before the machinery was ready for operation, Mr. Bigelow invented a loom by which the lace could be woven by water or steam power. This improvement in machinery, by which this class of goods could be manufac- tured with greater facility, gave the old process of hand weav- ing its death blow, and in a few years Messrs. Marsh, finding it useless to compete with the power loom, abandoned the busi- ness.
This manufactory, with its collateral branches, gave employ- ment to many persons who found it very acceptable at that time.
521
COACHI LACE BUSINESS.
"There are still among us elderly ladies who, in their youthful days, carded the wool and prepared the raw material, besides weaving much of the lace. They found this occupation a wel- come source of income."
Messrs. Marsh also had connected with their manufactory a dye house, where the raw material received its various colored hues, preparatory to its being fabricated into fine coach lace. During the dull times of the War of 1812, this firm connected with their legitimate business the dyeing of garments, in which they established quite a business. On the close of this industry and the dissolution of the firm, the. younger members of the family converted the lace house into a boot manufactory, where this business was conducted for years. On its abandonment, the four brothers went to Boston and engaged in the leather business, where one of them is still engaged. The manufacture of coach lace became extinct in Quincy with the dissolution of the house of Marsh & Co.
67
FISH BUSINESS.
The first action the town took in reference to encouraging and establishing this branch of industry was at a public meeting held March 3d, 1755, when as an inducement for the citizens of Braintree, or persons from other towns, to engage in this enterprise, the following terms were voted :- "that for the encouragement of the bank cod fishery to be set up and carried on within this town, that such persons either of the town or who may come into the town from other places, and shall annually during the proper season of the year, employ themselves in their own vessels or those of others, in cetching and curing of codfish, are hereby freed and to be freed from and released of their poll tax, for the space of three years next ensuing the time of their commencing in the said business, and so long as they continue in it within said term upon the pro- vision, that all such persons who come from other places shall be approved of by the Selectmen of the town or a major part of them, from time to time, and such of them as shall be by the Selectmen disapproved of shall be still subject to be warned out of the town according to Law."
To what extent the business was transacted under this encour- agement of the town we are unable to say. However, this in- dustry was carried on at that time to considerable extent, as building vessels for this trade continued to be prosecuted at the Point and neighborhood from that time to the Revolutionary War, when it was suspended, and the hardy fishermen were selected to man our impromptu navy.
The fish business was then, as now, an important item in the traffic and business of Massachusetts. So important was it, that ninety-four years ago, or nearly a century, the State passed a resolution that a codfish should be placed in the Representatives' Hall, in the old State House, as emblematical of this industry,
523
FISH BUSINESS.
which was passed with great unanimity. The codfish was after- wards removed to the present House of Representatives, and hung in the arched niche of the south wall, facing the Speaker's chair.
The person who made the motion to place the codfish in the old State House, which has excited so much inquiry and curi- osity, was Mr. John Row,1 an eminent merchant of Boston, and most active among the sons of liberty. He served on important committees with James Otis, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Thomas Cushing.
After the Revolutionary War the fish business was revived in Quincy. In the early part of this century, Mr. Nickerson, Major Vinal and Mr. Bramhall were engaged, to a considerable extent, in this business at the Point. It continued to be suc- cessful until the embargo and the War of 1812 seriously inter- fered with its prosperity. At the close of the war the business was again revived, and continued to prosper with varied success. A large share of the business was in the hands of capitalists of Provincetown and other Cape Cod towns. In 1833, the fish in- terest began to concentrate at Germantown. Capt. Brown took up his residence there that year ; Capt. Hodgkinson in 1834, and Capts. Prior, Rich, Holmes and others, about that period. The land at Germantown was mostly occupied by fish flakes, as great numbers were brought there to be cured. In 1836, the business amounted to a little rising thirty thousand dollars .- Ten vessels were engaged in cod and mackerel fishing. The amount of codfish caught and cured was six thousand and two hundred quintals, the value of which was estimated at eighteen thousand and eight hundred dollars. The number of barrels of mackerel packed for market, was one thousand and seven hundred and fifty, the value of which was estimated at twelve thousand, two hundred and forty-two dollars. The num- ber of men engaged in the business was one hundred.
Wednesday, March 17, 1784.
1. " Mr. Row moved the House, that leave might be given to hang up the rep- resentation of a codfish in the room where the House sit, as a memorial of the importance of the Cod Fishery to the welfare of this Commonwealth as had been usual formerly. The said motion being seconded, the question was put, and leave given for the purpose aforesaid."-House Journal.
524
FISII BUSINESS.
We believe the old, curious and eccentric Lieut. Peter Bicknell, an old resident of Germantown, was not connected with the fish business. So eccentric was this old denizen of Germantown, that one fine summer day, the 4th of July, we believe, he har- nessed his horse in a sleigh and took a pleasure ride to Boston, which caused no little amusement to those who witnessed a sleigh ride in midsummer. The local fish trade was at first car- ried on by different persons, who would go out in the morning and procure fish, and in the afternoon dispose of their fine large fresh fish from their wheelbarrows, for six cents cach. In 1823 the first cart, owned by a Mr. Rice, was used for the disposal of fish. Mr. Snow of Boston, succeeded Mr. Rice, and made a fortune out of the business. Mr. Samuel Andrews, well known to many of our citizens, was engaged in the local trade longer than any other person, and died at a ripe old age of 75 years, 10 months and 11 days.
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