USA > Massachusetts > History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I > Part 88
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Fort Plain, so called, in the rear of East Street school- house, is understood to derive its name from the location there of the Indian fort of 1664. This was one of the abiding- places, or headquarters, of the remnant of the Non-o-tucks who remained in this vicinity for some years after the sale of their lands. The opening troubles of King Philip's war ex- cited the old feelings of hostility, and, expecting to be disarmed or captured by the whites, these few Indians retired up the valley, and never returned. This was their last residence within the limits of Easthampton. From this " plain" they took up their northward march, leaving forever the fields of their fathers and the streams and hunting-grounds of their ancestral Non-o-tuck.
The company of troops from Northampton that pursued the Indians after the Pascommuck slaughter overtook them on the well-known Wait farm. The exaet field of the skir- mish is not known, but in this immediate vicinity Capt. John Taylor was killed, and here the Indians massacred the little boys, sparing only Elisha Searl, who made signs that he would go with them willingly.
Samuel Janes, one of the boys whom the Indians had tomahawked and left for dead, however, recovered, and lived to a good old age. Ile was the ancestor of the present fami- lies of that name in town.
The other points of considerable historic interest-the loca- tion of the first settler, John Webb, the first mills, the place of the first district-meeting, and other similar points-are fully noted elsewhere.
INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS.
It may have been proper to say before 1847 that agriculture was the principal occupation of the people of Easthampton. It could hardly be true at any time since. Considerable wheat was raised in the early times, while the soil still abounded in the elements of fertility ; flax was also an object of culture ; but both of these ceased to be remunerative, and were mostly abandoned years ago. Rye, corn, oats, and potatoes soon he- came the staple erops, and have been for many years.
During the last twenty-five years large quantities of tobacco have been grown, and the business was exceedingly profitable for a portion of the time. It is yet grown extensively, though like other agricultural products it is greatly reduced in price. The extent of the manufactures of the town compels this notice of the farming interests to be condensed into a brief allusion.
Mills, Factories, etc .- Upon the small tributaries of the Manhan flowing from the north there seem to have been no mill privileges improved except upon the one known as Saw- mill Brook. Upon this, near the Northampton line, was a saw-mill, dating back to 1803. It was owned at various times by Capt. John Phelps; hy Elisha C. and Asa Strong with other proprietors ; by E. W. Lyman ; by Jonathan and Cal- vin Strong, of Northampton ; and probably there were others who at times owned shares. The mill was destroyed in the freshet of 1854, and there are now no buildings near the old site.
277
HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.
Lyman's history gives the original founders as Jonathan Strong and brother, Jonathan Bartlett, John Phelps, and Simeon Clark.
On the northern branch of the Manhan, south of Loudville, and just within the limits of Easthampton, is the grist-mill of Franklin Strong. This is not one of the very old mills, but has been in existence perhaps thirty-five years, and widely known as Strong's grist-mill.
Caleb Loud, of Loudville, also had a saw-mill near the Strong mill,-continued for some years.
The Strong grist-mill was first built as a carding-machine. Below, at Glendale, there was a saw-mill owned at one time by HI. Bartholomew. It went down many years ago, and the present Glenwood Mills occupy nearly the same location.
Descending the Manhan to the mouth of Saw-mill Brook, we reach the vicinity of the earliest improvement of the water- power of the town.
In 1674, Northampton gave " David Wilton, Medad Pom- eroy, and Joseph Taylor liberty to erect a saw-mill on the brook on the right hand of the cart-way going over Manhan River." Here we have a glimpse of this place two hundred and five years ago,-a single road winding through the unbroken forest to the south, crossing just above the present covered bridge at the foot of what a hundred years later was known as Meeting-house Hill.
Above on the little brook was the saw-mill privilege granted by Northampton, near the present residence of Joel Bassett. Little is known of the duration of this mill or its subsequent owners, and it probably lasted but a short time.
In 1686-87 the town of Northampton voted Samuel Bartlett liberty " to set up a corn-mill on the falls below the cart-way on the river." The building of this mill it is supposed fol- lowed soon after the grant. With Joseph Bartlett, who suc- ceeded Samuel, lived Jonathan Clapp, a nephew of Joseph, and the mill passed to him. From that time to this the Clapp family have retained an interest in the property,-one-quarter being now owned by Edward Clapp, a descendant, and three- quarters by Mr. J. E. Thayer.
About 1780, Jonathan Clapp commenced the business of fulling cloth. Ile occupied a portion of the grist-mill, where for a number of years he carried on the business, receiving the cloth which had been woven in the various families of the surrounding town and " fulling" it, as it was called. The cus- tomary charge was three eents a yard. After "fulling," it was " dressed," and thus rendered fit for clothing. This en- terprise subsequently became connected with another. Not long after the opening of Jonathan Clapp's fulling business, Capt. Joseph Clapp built another clothing-mill on Broad Brook, a short distance below the present button- and suspen- der-factories. There be carried on a flourishing business.
Thaddeus Clapp, son of Joseph, about 1792 or 1793 em- barked in the same business at Worthington, but soon re- turned and entered into copartnership with his father.
At the death of Joseph Clapp, in 1797, the works were re- moved to Manhan River, near the grist-mill above mentioned. After the business was given up by Mr. Clapp it was conducted successively by Roswell Knight ; by Lowell E. and Jason Janes ; then by Janes & Alvord ; and lastly by Janes & Ferry. This last-named firm in 1835 ereeted a new building (the one after- ward occupied by H. B. Shoals as a tannery), and went into the manufacture of satinet. The " hard times" of 1837, when cloth was sold for less than the first cost of the wool, brought this enterprise to an end. The first power-loom ever run in this town was started in that mill.
The tannery business at this point was continued for several years.
The present grist-mill building is itself an old affair, as its heavy timbers indicate, but it is not the one erected by Samuel Bartlett one hundred and ninety years ago. It has been rebuilt twice.
At the south side of the Manhan at this point was a saw- mill, owned for many years by L. P. Lyman, but not dating back like the grist-mill to the earliest settlement. Mr. Lyman did a large lumber business for many years. This mill was built by several parties ; among them Benjamin Clapp owned one-fourth, and others of the Clapp family.
Below, along the Manhan to its mouth at the "Ox-Bow," there is not fall enough for any mill privileges. The state- ment of " Nason's Gazetteer" that there was a mill at Nash- awannuek must refer to the Bartlett Mills or to the one on Saw-mill Brook.
On Broad Brook, just above its junction with the Manhan, was the old saw-mill of Capt. Lemuel Lyman and Luther Clark, built no doubt before 1800. About 1845 it was bought by Spencer Janes and Alanson Clark, and it is stated that Horace and Henry Clark were also part owners. The mill was then rebuilt. Mr. Edwin S. Janes states that it was said by the older people that there had been a mill there for seventy- five or eighty years, which would carry the date of its first erection back to 1770 or 1775. The new mill was subsequently owned by Zenas Clark, Obadiah Clark, and Edwin Janes (not Edwin S. above mentioned). Spencer Janes finally became the sole owner. It passed at his death to his son, Edwin S. Janes, who sold the privilege in 1858 to Samuel Williston.
A previous writer gives the builder of the first saw-mill at this point as Bohan Clark, 1797, but the evidence indicates an earlier date. The sons of Asahel Clark owned the mill at one time.
Just above, on Broad Brook, is the site of an old carding- machine, now within the limits of the pond. The present lane upon the farm of Edwin S. Janes is the veritable old "Carding-Machine Lane" of seventy-five years ago. This carding-machine is understood to have been built by Lieut. Jonathan Janes, and seems to have been a distinct affair from the Clapp mill already mentioned, which stood farther up, near the present button-works,
Tracing Broad Brook south ward from the present village, the only water-privileges of early times improved were the following : The saw-mill of Stephen Hendrick, which stood near the present residence of George Hendrick. Traees of the mill all gone ; no mill there for forty years. The saw-mill of Benjamin Strong was near the present residence of Calvin Strong ; buildings still standing, but unused. The saw-mill of Alva Coleman was on Williston's Brook. It was estab- lished for sash and blinds, but the water-power was not enough, and it was not used much and is now taken down.
This is a brief summary of the mills down to the year 1847. At that time the town entered upon a new era.
Modern Easthampton dates from the establishment of the button business. True, Mr. Williston, in his growing wealth and with his liberal plans of benevolence, had already founded the seminary and done much for other public improvements ; but the removal of the button-machinery from Haydenville and the erection of the first large building, 97 feet by 45, and three stories in height, was the beginning of a material develop- ment and a rapidity of growth which have transformed a small rural hamlet into a large and thriving village " with all the modern improvements."
The National Button Company .- In 1847-48, Mr. Williston entered into partnership with Horatio G. Knight, and the firm was known as Samuel Williston & Co. Somewhat later Seth Warner was admitted, and the firm-name was Williston, Knight & Co. The business was carried on by this firm until Dec. 1, 1865, when the partnership expired, and the stock company now carrying on the business was formed. Mr. Williston was president during his life. The present officers are Horatio G. Knight, President ; H. G. Knight, H. W. Knight, H. J. Bly, W. H. Chapman, and M. F. Dickinson, Jr., Directors ; Joseph H. Wilson, Superintendent ; Horace L. Clark, Clerk and Treasurer.
278
HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.
The number of hands now employed is about 175, and the line of work is limited exclusively to the manufacture of cov- ered buttons. The present building was crected in 1861, and is 106 feet by 30, with a wing 40 by 60. At that time the first building was leased to the Goodyear Elastic Fabric Company.
The Nashawannuck Manufacturing Company .- In 1848 and 1849, Mr. Williston erected a brick building by the side of his button-factory, to be occupied in the manufacture of sus- pender webbing, which business he continued in his own name until 1852, when he sold out to the joint-stock com- pany above named. Mr. Williston remained, however, until his death a stockholder, and was president. The present offi- cers are Christopher Meyer, President ; Hon. E. H. Sawyer, Treasurer; G. H. Leonard, Resident Agent. The capital of the company was at first $100,000. It was increased at various times until it reached $300,000, and the charter empowered them to increase to $500,000. The treasurer, Hon. E. H. Sawyer, has been connected with the company in that capacity from the organization, now more than twenty-five years. As- sisted by the board of directors, he has the chief management. The amount of business was largely increased by the purchase in 1853 of the right to use Goodyear's patent vulcanized rub- ber in the manufacture of elastic fabrics. They were the first in this country to successfully introduce the combination of threads of vulcanized rubber with fibrous material in the pro- duction of woven goods, and their example had the effect of stimulating others in the same direction. For some years they made their own rubber thread and all the yarns used in their mills. They have allowed this business to pass into the hands of other concerns growing out of the parent company. The work is divided into two departments, the weaving and the finishing. In the latter the company use great quantities of leather for ends. Their present building is over three hnn- dred feet long and forty wide. The machinery has a capacity of 4000 dozen pairs of suspenders a week, and over 300 hands are employed.
Condensed statements give some idea of the marvelous magnitude of their operations. They have made in one year 7,000,000 yards of suspender goods, equaling 170,000 dozen pairs of suspenders; and also 2,500,000 yards of webs and frills, using 250,000 pounds of yarn and 60,000 pounds of rubber. The New York office of the company is Nos. 74 and 76 Worth Street.
The Goodyear Elastic Fabric Company first commenced operations in 1861, making elastic cloths to be used in shoes. They leased the button-mill first built by Mr. Williston. In June, 1865, they sold to the Glendale Company.
The Glendale Elastic Fabrics Company .- In 1862 a com- pany, consisting of H. G. Knight and E. II. Sawyer, of East- hampton, and William and C. G. Judson, of New York, was organized under the title of the Glendale Vulcanized Rubber Company, with a capital of $50,000. Their business was the manufacture of elastic cords, frills, and other similar goods. They located at the place now known as Glendale, in the western portion of the town. They enlarged and occupied a building that had been occupied as a manufactory of twine and batting by Gregory & Wells. In 1864 they rented the two upper stories of the large brick factory erected by the Rubber Thread Company, near the Easthampton depot. Their op- erations were transferred to the village. They bought out the Goodyear Company in June, 1865, and their business rapidly increased until they occupied four mills.
In 1867 something of a reorganization took place, and the name was changed to its present form. The machinery was bronght from England by Hon. E. H. Sawyer as an agent for certain New York capitalists.
At about the same time the company bought the elastic cord and braid business, originally started by Lieut-Gov. Knight, and they have since successfully connected both the goring and braided goods, together with the weaving of nar-
row-loom or fine garter-web, and have brought the standard of their productions up to that of the best goods made in Europe. The line of work embraces a wide variety.
They are almost the only manufacturers in the United States of elastic goring for congress gaiters and shoes, and produce as handsome and serviceable goods as are made any- where in the world. The goods are made in all qualities, in- cluding silk, worsted, and cotton, ribbed and plain. An article of especial value is their worsted goring. Elastic braided cords and flat braids are made in great variety,-in plain and polished cotton, in black, white, and fancy colors of silks and worsted. There are also made silk and cotton narrow- loom webs for arm elastics, pocket-book straps, and scores of other uses, and these form a special branch of their business. They make webs for suspenders, and keep in stock or make to order almost every conceivable kind of woven and braided elastic goods. About two hundred hands are employed. In recent years the company have competitors, but they are still leaders in the business. The president is Hon. E. H. Sawyer.
Easthampton Rubber Thread Company .- Manufacturers of rubber thread of all sizes from fine Para rubber. This company was formed in November, 1863, with a capital of $100,000, and immediately began active operations. The managers had had previous experience in the business, and were thoroughly acquainted with the needs of the elastic fabric manufacturing business, and were determined to supply them. With this end in view, they employed the latest and best mechanical aids and gathered a corps of skilled workmen. Their produc- tions were at once received with great favor, and gave such satisfaction as to call for increased facilities. In 1869 the capital was increased to $150,000, and their business greatly extended. Their line of work is confined exclusively to the manufacture of rubber thread. They buy only the best quality of rubber, the " biscuits" being expressly selected for this company in Brazil. Every step of the conversion from " biscuits" to thread is taken within the company's works. The last processes are rolling the rubber into sheets of such thickness as may be necessary to make the size required, and then cutting the sheets into strips whose width equals the thickness.
They make thread of all required sizes, from 335th to 2 th of an inch square. All the principal manufacturers of elastic goods in the United States obtain their supplies from this establishment.
Their business has supplanted the foreign trade and almost stopped the importation. The works have a capacity of mak- ing 40,000 pounds of thread a month. It is stated that the company make seven-eightlis of the rubber thread used in the United States. The company met with a severe repulse in the burning of their building, July 12, 1869, cansing a loss of $135,000, with only $70,000 insurance, but with characteristic energy they had a new mill ready for use in five months. Nearly 250,000 pounds of pure rubber are used each year, and they do an annual business of $200,000 to $250,000. The present officers are Hon. H. G. Knight, President, E. T. Saw- yer, Secretary and Treasurer.
The Easthampton Gas Company .- This was organized Sept. 7, 1864, with a capital of $20,000. It was increased April 23, 1866, to $30,000. Ebenezer Ferry was the first president, and Horace L. Clark treasurer. The company make 2,500,000 cubic feet of gas yearly. The present officers are E. T. Saw- yer, President, H. L. Clark, Treasurer, and C. B. Johnson, Clerk. Previous to the formation of this company, as early as 1858 or 1859, the manufacturing corporations had made, in a limited way, illuminating gas from rosin. It was extended somewhat by a desire to light the Payson church for a course of lectures, there not then being a town-hall of sufficient capa- city to accommodate the audiences. A pipe was extended to that point, and the lighting for the lectures was successful.
279
HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.
After that John Mayher, to whom we are indebted for these facts, extended the pipe across the street to his hard ware-store, and Mr. Ebenezer Ferry also lit up his store, adjoining. This led to the formation of the regular company to manufacture coal gas.
The Mount Tom Thread Company .- In November, 1866, J. L. Bassett bought the saw-mill property, near the covered bridge, on the south side of the Manhan, and began the manu- facture of spools and bobbins, supplying the Williston Mills with these articles. After being burned out in 1868, he re- built, and then went into the manufacture of thread, which he has ever since continued. The business is conducted by a corporation entitled as above, organized September, 1873, with a capital of $55,000. J. L. Bassett is president, and J. I. Bassett secretary and treasurer. About 30 hands are em- ployed and a business done yearly of $75,000 to $100,000. They buy yarn, which is mostly imported, and dye, twist, and spool it. It is an excellent thread, mostly for machine use, put up in two-ounce spools, and it goes chiefly to the elothing and shoe trade.
The Valley Machine Company .- In 1868, Mr. Williston, James Sutherland, and Dr. J. W. Winslow formed the East- hampton Steam-Pump and Engine Company. The company sold out in 1870 to the Valley Company, then formed for that purpose. The new company purchased the machinery busi- ness which the Nashawannuck Company had been carrying on in the way of repairs. A new pump was also taken up, which has proved a great success. It is known as " Wright's Bueket-Plunger," patented by William Wright, of New York. It has been greatly improved by the Valley Company, who claim that it is now " the most simple, compact, and re- liable steam-pump ever offered to the public." The company at first received a charter, but surrendered it in 1878, and organized on a partnership basis, with John Mayher as treas- urer and general manager. About 30 hands are employed. A foundry was erected and put into operation June, 1877. The company make also the " Aeme Steam-Pump," Mayher's patent. Several handsome testimonials adorn the office. Their pumps have been sent to Sweden and Norway, and an Egyptian commissioner to the Centennial of 1876 was so pleased that he shipped one home to use in his house in that land of ancient civilization.
The Williston Mills .- The name of Williston is so inti- mately associated with all the leading enterprises of East- hampton that the above title would hardly designate any particular business without explanation.
In the spring of 1859, Mr. Williston commenced the erec- tion of a building for the manufacture of cotton-yarn, partly for the supply of the Nashawannuck Company. He purchased of Edwin S. Janes the old saw-mill privilege at the foot of Pleasant Street. The ground was rough and uneven, and a large amount of grading was required to be done before the foundation could be laid. When this had been partially done, and work upon the foundation was progressing, an unexpected obstacle presented itself in the shape of a spring of water bursting out with great force. It seemed for a time to defy all the efforts of the workmen. But the difficulty was ap- parently overcome, and work on the building went forward. In about a year from its beginning it was finished and put in operation. But the spring and the quicksand around it were destined to cause still more trouble. The dam was under- mined and carried off, with a part of the factory.
A heavy loss was incurred, and the mill was delayed for several months.
Mr. Williston, however, set to work with his usual energy to repair the break, which he completed hy winter. This time no attempt was made to build a dam in the old place, but it was constructed a short distance farther up the stream, and the water brought to the mill in a canal. But the list of disasters was not yet complete. In March, 1863, the water
burst through the bank of the canal, near the trunk which conveyed the water to the wheel. The delay was only for a few days; steam, which had been introduced, furnished the motive-power. Repairs on the dam, which at this time was rebuilt in the original place, required four or five months. By this time upward of $100,000 had been expended. The capacity of the mill was afterward increased by large addi- tions. The spindles number 11,000, giving employment to nearly 200 hands, and consuming 550,000 pounds of cotton a year.
The yarn spun is of the finest quality, equal to the best English. It is twisted under water. The machinery is of the best description.
Quite a village sprang up in the vicinity of the mill. The company, consisting then of Mr. Williston, J. Sutherland, and M. H. Leonard, soon had fifty or more tenements erected for employés. The increasing business demanded greater facili- ties, and preparation for the erection of a new factory com- inenced in the summer of 1865. On the 15th of August the first stone of the foundation was laid, and in four months the walls were up and the building covered.
" Mr. Williston had now undertaken the greatest business enterprise of his life. The manufacture of cotton yarns had resulted so favorably as to encourage a great enlargement of the business, and he was at that time vigorously push- ing to completion a mill with a capacity of 20,000 spindles,-twice that of the first will. It was to be run by steam,-a Corliss engine of 240-horse power. A corporation was formed, with the title ' The Williston Mills,' which had a paid- up capital of $700,000. For a time, at least, it employed from 400 to 500 persons, with a pay-roll of $9000 and a sales account of $50,000 to $60,000 per month, and owned a village of 160 tenements (mostly only two under one roof), a store, and a large boarding-house. To this enterprise Mr. Williston, who was the principal owner, gave the last years of his life, relinquishing to the hands of others the management of the industries of the upper village, in which he still retained his interest. His attempt in the new factory was to establish the manufacture of all grades of spool cotton for hand and machine sewing. With great energy and will he persevered in his undertaking, and for several years turned out thread in large quantities. But the competition was so sharp, and the difficulties and em- barrassments of the work and of the times were so great, that the enterprise failed to be remunerative, and, indeed, was prosecuted at so heavy a loss as greatly to cripple Mr. Williston, and sadly to disappoint his hopes as to the amount of money he was able to leave behind him for educational purposes, although, as it was, his bequests were princely.
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