USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Clinton > History of the origin of the town of Clinton, Massachusetts, 1653-1865 > Part 13
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150
THE FIRST COTTON MILL.
Mr. Poignand settled in a small house on North Main Street, which stood on the location now occupied by Wal- cott's Block. When this block was built the old house was moved a few rods east from Main Street to the place where it now stands. To-day, the building looks small and poor enough, but Mr. Poignand lived there for many years, and there he entertained his aristocratic friends from Boston. It has been claimed that the library belonging to him and Mr. Plant jointly, was the largest at that time in any private house in the state, containing as it did from two to three thousand volumes. These works were in both English and French. Mr. Plant also lived in the house, for a time.
From this house, a daughter of Mr. Poignand, Louisa Elizabeth, was married February 13, 1814, to Colonel Thomas Aspinwall. The Rev. Nathaniel Thayer performed the cere- mony. The bride's dress was made of cloth woven in the factory. This Thomas Aspinwall was the son of Dr. William Aspinwall of Brookline, who was chiefly instrumental in in- troducing vaccination into the country. Thomas was born in 1786. He graduated from Harvard in 1804. He then studied law and engaged in his profession. His intentions of marriage with Miss Poignand were published June 16, ISII, but the war of 1812 delayed their union. At first, he was major in the 9th U. S. Infantry. He received the brevet of lieutenant-colonel for bravery at Sackett's Harbor. At Fort Erie, he lost an arm and received the brevet of colonel for his conduct. The year after his marriage, Colonel As- pinwall was appointed U. S. Consul to London by President Madison, and held that office for thirty-eight years. We shall see him and others of his father's family as prominent stock holders in the later history of the factory.
The water supply at the mill was somewhat irregular on account of the dam at Rice's privilege. This was a source of great annoyance to the partners. The high price received for goods seemed to justify an increase in business. The
ENLARGEMENT.
partners therefore resolved to buy out Rice and build a new mill. Capital was lacking and they sought to obtain it by admitting a new member to the firm. The man secured was David Greenough, a Boston merchant. The share of Poig- nand in the firm was eight thousand seven hundred and ten dollars and fourteen cents ; of Plant, two thousand four hun- dred and twenty dollars and sixty-eight cents ; of Greenough five thousand five hundred and sixty-five dollars and forty- one cents, half as much as the other two together. Green- ough was to be the selling agent, while the others kept to their previous work at the factory. Measures were taken for starting the new building, and the sum of ten thousand dollars was borrowed on the note of the firm. The work must have progressed rather slowly, for the mill was not completed until 1819. Many improvements, however, were made at the old mill in connection with building the new one, for instance, Lyon made two water wheels at the same time, one twenty-five feet in diameter, and another, eighteen, which were evidently for the two mills. The mill at the "upper privilege " when finished was seventy six feet long by forty wide. It had "a porch " sixteen feet long. It was two stories high. It was built, with the exception of the basement, of wood. The lower story held thirty two looms, while the second story was devoted to miscellaneous machin- ery. The building, with its machinery, was valued at nine thousand dollars. This building in later times was known as the "Old Red Mill," and remained until recent years in the yard of the worsted mill of the Bigelow Carpet Company. The Brick Mill, after the changes made in it, was valued, with the machinery, at sixteen thousand dollars. It con- tained eight hundred and ninety- six spindles. The dam was raised a little and the fall was reckoned as sixty-two feet in height. Both mills were heated by stove-like furnaces and lighted by lamps. There was also a machine shop,sixty-one feet long by twenty, valued at twenty-two hundred and ten dollars. This was fifty-three feet from the northeast cor-
152
THE FIRST COTTON MILL.
ner of this factory. In 1829, there were ten other houses belonging to the concern, together valued at about ten thousand dollars. The most important of these was the brick dwelling-house now known as the Parker house, which was built in 1823-4 for Mr. Plant. It was at that time considered the finest house in town, and cost three thousand dollars.
The factories for the years during which we have a record produced a little over two hundred thousand yards of cloth annually. When peace was declared, December 24, 1814, the excessive profits ceased. The market was after a short time again supplied with foreign goods, which were cheaper than could be produced here. The mills had begun to ex- pand at the wrong time, at the flood tide of profit, just before the ebb. Although the farmers rejoiced that the war was over, and that they could once more exchange their crops for foreign goods, the manufacturers, who had started their factories because commerce had ceased, began to feel that their only salvation was in a protective tariff. For this, they had to wait.
Meanwhile, David Greenough became involved in the general ruin of the class to which he belonged. June 23, 1819, a dun came to Poignand & Plant from Israel Thorn dike. He held, through David Greenough, the note of Poignand & Plant for the ten thousand dollars before men- tioned, secured by a mortgage on the factory. No interest had been paid for a year and a half, and Mr. Thorndike stated that the matter must be straightened out at once. Bankruptcy seemed inevitable, as the firm had no ready money, but parties were found who were willing to take up Greenough's relations with the mill after he had assigned. At the request of John H. Bradford and Seth Knowles, made in June, 1819, Poignand & Plant forwarded a state- ment of their affairs .*
*ASSETS, JUNE, 1819.
Value of property when D. G. became partner. .$14,538 62
Additions since 29,729 36
153
FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES.
In the light of transactions that took place at a later date, it is evident that the mills were much less valuable than the partners believed. The parties in Boston, however, were evidently satisfied with this statement, for after due investi- gation, they, in connection with Benjamin Rich, agreed December 28, 1819, to furnish Poignand & Plant with fifteen thousand dollars as they should need it, on certain conditions. This loan was preliminary to a partnership which was formed February IS, 1820. Each of the new part- ners was to pay in five thousand two hundred and eighty-four dollars and twenty-one cents. David Poignand and Samuel Plant were each to have seven thousand nine hundred and twenty-six dollars and and thirty-one cents in the firm. The total value was thus thirty-one thousand seven hundred and five dollars and twenty-five cents.
Debts due firm, cotton, etc., on hand
3,731 19
743 II
Pd. and contracted for new factory and machinery 19,930 00
$68,672 28
LIABILITIES.
To partners D. G
$5,568 41
D. P.
8,352 62
S. P
2,784 20
-- $16,705 23
Note to Israel Thorndike.
$10,000 00
Interest .
600 00
D. G.'s protests
945 64
Debts due.
8,474 28
Bał. on D. G.'s book and notes
4,187 37
- $24,207 29
$40,912 52
New debts becoming due at new factory
15,578 17
$56,490 69
Balance in our favor
12,181 59
$68,672 28
154
THE FIRST COTTON MILL.
By an act * passed by the Massachusetts Legislature, January 27, 1821, these five men, Isaac Bangs acting as attorney for John H. Bradford, were incorporated for the purpose of carrying on the manufacture of cotton in the town of Lancaster, under the title of the Lancaster Cotton Manufacturing Company. This is the first of the many articles of incorporation which have affected the history of this community.
The capital stock was fixed at seventy-two thousand dollars, and divided into thirty-six shares of two thousand dollars, Poignand and Plant were to have six shares each. An agreement was made that no stock should be sold without being first offered to other partners. There were notes against the concern at this time for twenty-two thousand dollars. David Poignand was made president. He was to give his whole time to the business, and to be allowed rent and "reasonable maintenance," together with two per cent. of all dividends. Samuel Plant was made clerk and man- ager. He was to have a salary of five hundred dollars, and the support of himself and family. Isaac Bangs, as repre- senting J. H. Bradford, was made treasurer and selling agent, and was to receive two and one-half per cent. on the
*AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE LANCASTER COTTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY.
Section I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court Assembled and by the authority of the same; that David Poignand, Samuel Plant, Benjamin Rich, Isaac Bangs and Seth Knowles together with such others as may hereafter associate with them or their successors, Be and are hereby made a Corporation by the name of the Lancaster Cotton Manufacturing Company for the purpose of manufacturing cotton in the Town of Lancaster in the County of Worcester, and for that purpose shall have all the powers and privileges and be subject to all the duties and requirements contained in an act passed the third day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nine, entitled, "An Act defining the General powers and duties of manufacturing corporations." Section second fixed the real estate not to exceed $30,000, and personal, not to exceed $70,000.
155
LANCASTER COTTON MANUFACTURING CO.
proceeds. Seth Knowles and Benjamin Rich, together with the other three, were directors. A dividend of seventeen per cent. was declared the first year. It is doubtful if it was earned.
September 2, Lewis Tappan, who was anxious to become selling agent for the corporation, purchased the six shares of Rich, and thus became possessed of a one-sixth interest. Part of these shares went to Thomas Aspinwall. Benjamin Pickman bought out Bradford, in the same month, and Seth Knowles, October 4th, the same year. So that Benjamin Pickman, or he and his son, Benjamin T. Pickman, were then possessed of a one-third interest, twelve shares. Mr. Tappan, as he entered upon his work as selling agent, found that "our goods are unquestionably superior to any others in this country." He was anxious to increase the business, and urged that T. W. Lyon's place be bought in order that the dam might be raised. On the 19th of May, IS23, a deed of the estate was received. Lyon then, or shortly after, moved to Northboro, where he was in the machine business for twenty years or more.
In 1824, much complaint was made of the quality of the goods, and the sales were slow even at a greatly reduced price. The trouble came from the inexperience of Mr. Tappan in buying cotton. September 2, 1824, Benjamin T. Pickham informed Poignand & Plant that he had purchased the shares of his father, and that he, as owner of twelve shares, was dissatisfied with the selling agent, Mr. Tappan. He said the last dividend paid was not earned, and the com- pany was running behind hand. The pressure brought to bear upon Mr. Tappan by the directors caused him to resign in October, 1824, and Benjamin T. Pickman became treasurer and selling agent. Notwithstanding a loss by fire of over one thousand dollars during this year, the profits of the con- cern were such that they could fairly pay a dividend of six thousand dollars for 1825. The tariff of 1824 doubtless helped in this direction. In 1827, the dam gave way, so that
156
THE FIRST COTTON MILL.
work was stopped for some months. The tariff bill of 1828 tended to the increase of profits, inasmuch as it shut out foreign competition.
On the 28th of August, 1830, Mr. Poignand started for the post office in Lancaster, as was his wont. When he reached J. G. Thurston's store in New Boston, he stopped and told Mr. Thurston that he was not feeling well. Mr. Thurston took him into the house, where he lay down. He died within a few minutes. His wife survived him only three years. They were both buried in the cemetery opposite Madame Thayer's. It is hard to separate the work of Mr. Poignand from that of Mr. Plant so as to assign to each his place in the history of the community. The latter was the younger man, was more active, enterprising and, perhaps, more self-assertive, but, without the pecuniary aid of the older man, the factories could never have been started here, and his mature judgment was doubtless a most important factor in the success of the business.
The tariff bill of 1832, with its provisions for decreasing protective duties, injured the business. Benjamin T. Pick- man died in the spring of 1835, leaving his accounts as treasurer and selling agent somewhat involved. Thomas C. Smith, who settled his affairs, was made treasurer. The business prospects were so poor that the factory was closed in May of this year. As the stockholders were discouraged, in September, the factories were offered at auction. They were not sold, however, until July 26, 1836. The purchasers were Nathaniel Rand and Samuel Damon of Lancaster, John Howe and Edward A. Raymond of Boston. The sum paid was only thirteen thousand nine hundred and eighty-one dol- lars and fifty-six cents, for one hundred and seventy-seven acres of land, the two factories with water power and machinery, a blacksmith-shop, machine-shop and eleven other buildings. This property was sold in several lots. The stockholders had their last meeting October 25, 1838. Samuel Plant represented ten shares; the Poignand estate,
-
SAMUEL PLANT.
157
PLANT FAMILY.
nine shares; Thomas Aspinwall, six shares; Augustus Aspin- wall, three shares; Thomas C. Smith, four shares, and Charles Torrey, four shares. Thus passed away our first great textile industry, but it had prepared the way for a greater to follow.
It is said that Mr. Plant tried to buy the house he had lived in, now known as the Parker house, and that he had engaged Nathaniel Sawyer to bid it off in his interest. Through some misunderstanding, Sawyer's bid was not recognized, so Mr. Plant lost his hold on the house. He moved to Leicester, and two years afterwards, to North- ampton. There, we are told, he spent his old age in writing for the press and translating French works. He died in February, 1847.
He had a large and most interesting family. His six sons and six daughters were born in or near Factory Village, and attended school in District No. 10. His oldest son, George Poignand Plant, became one of the great western pioneers. A memorial volume says : "Born in a New Eng- land village, his boyhood was one of thrift and labor and early application to the duties of life, but which, guided by the ambition of a gifted sister, directed his mind toward those studies and pursuits to which he owes his eminence and which in a great measure controlled his after life." "The library of his father, chiefly mechanical, scientific and prac- tical, served to satisfy his first literary yearnings and to form his tastes. The cotton mills of his father afforded his first application of that knowledge to material things * * and he chose engineering as a profession." He moved to the West, and rose to great prominence in his profession. The memorial further states: "The civil engineer under whose supervision the road was built, and who then and there brought the 'iron horse' into harness-the first in the Mississippi Valley-was George l'. Plant." He founded the firm of George P. Plant, which controlled great flouring mills at St. Louis. He held many prominent offices in that
158
THE FIRST COTTON MILL.
city, among them those of president of the Merchants' Exchange, president of the American Central Insurance Company, president of the Millers' National Convention, president of St. Luke's Hospital. He died February 24, 1875. His brothers, William, Samuel and Alfred, were associated with him in business in St. Louis. The latter graduated at Yale College in 1847. These brothers, and their descendants, have been among the ablest men of St. Louis.
It is probable that some one of the Prescotts may have taken possession of the water privilege in the Nashua above the present Lancaster Mills' dam in the early times of the settlement, as such a privilege could scarcely have escaped the notice of such millwrights. The fall at this point is marked upon a map of Lancaster published in 1795, as " seven feet."
August 7, 1796, John Prescott, 5th, sold to Elias Sawyer of Boylston, for five hundred dollars, nineteen acres of land on the west side of the Nashua, four acres on the east side, and "five acres of the river between the two pieces of land so as fully to include falls." No buildings are men- tioned in the deed. About eight weeks before, Elias Sawyer "of Boylston," had sold to Silas Haynes and J. H. Wheeler, one hundred and twenty acres of land, with buildings. Mr. Sawyer evidently began to build without any adequate means for carrying out his plans. A mortgage was placed upon his property in 1798, and another in 1799. In this latter year, Jesse Cook secured a judgment against him, and a part of the land and of a house which had been built, were set off to satisfy this judgment. May 23, 1800, Elias Sawyer sold all his land here, and all the buildings and fixtures, to John Hunt, for a net price of about eight hundred dollars. Ruth Sawyer signed the papers as his wife. Thus, this Elias Sawyer vanishes from our history. On account of a judg- ment secured against John Hunt, the mill privilege of Elias
159
THE PITTS FAMILY.
Sawyer was set off to Stephen Sargent, April 23, 1804. It then passed through the hands of Richard Sargent into those of Daniel Aldrich of Uxbridge. In ISI0, James Pitts, Sr., bought the privilege and the property connected with it, of Daniel Aldrich. When he settled upon this estate, he found the frame of a dwelling-house, which he made into the building now known as No. I, Chestnut Street, but the mill and dam he was obliged to entirely rebuild. His son says : "There was then remaining of Mr. Sawyer's works, the frame of the saw-mill which he had commenced, but never covered, and which had become so much impaired by exposure as to be worthless, and had to be taken down to give room to the new structure. There also remained of Mr. Sawyer's works the mudsill of his dam, * * * the crank and some of the mill-irons which Mr. Sawyer made himself. Mr. S. was a most remarkably hard-working man, but was very poor and suffered great adversity from want of means to complete his mill."
One of the ancestors of the James Pitts who purchased this mill was a maker of clocks in Taunton in the eighteenth century ; another owned a grist-mill in the same place ; another controlled an iron foundry in Norton and cast for the government cannon which were used during the Revolu- tion. James Pitts himself was a millwright, and among other pieces of work constructed machinery for a cotton factory in West Bridgewater. On account of his work else- where, Mr. Pitts did not immediately settle upon his prop- erty here. Although he completed the house on the west side of Chestnut Street, next to the river, partially built by Elias Sawyer soon after his purchase, it was not until Sep- tember 22, 1815, that Mr. Pitts, then a man of thirty-two, began to occupy it with his family. He lived in one half, while in the other half, he and his apprentice, Warren Cud- worth, made" the running gear and fixtures " for the saw and grist-mills. The next spring, he began his dam. This was thirteen feet in height, or less than half as high as that of
.
160
THE FIRST COTTON MILL.
the Lancaster Mills. Most of the ground now covered by the Lancaster Mills Pond must still have been well above the water. Meanwhile the saw and grist-mill was being put up, so that Mr. Pitts was able to do his first sawing in Novem- ber, 1816. In addition to the land which he bought of Aldrich, he bought a piece of Calvin Winter of Boylston and another of Deacon John Burdett, so that his farm was in all some eighty acres in extent. Most of this land was still uncleared forest, which gave material for the work of the mill. A part of the intervale where the Lancaster Mills now stand was diked and made into grass land. .
Mr. Pitts had brought from West Bridgewater some cot- ton machinery which he had there, and in January, 1820, this water power was for the first time made to do service for the spinning of cotton yarn. This machinery was in a room of the saw and grist-mill. At first, very little help was hired for the cotton manufacture, but the four sons of the family had their stints upon this work from the time they became eight years old. In time, the business developed, but the greatest number ever employed did not exceed five men and ten girls, including the family.
We have seen how, in 1818, Alanson and Charles Chace bought of Mr. Pitts an acre of land and one-twentieth of the water power. They built a small tannery about twenty rods below the dam. They carried on business for ten years and then sold out to Mr. Pitts, who enlarged their tannery and changed it into a shingle mill for himself, and a shop which he rented to comb makers. In 1831, he enlarged this mill still further and introduced here his cotton machinery. In 1835, the elder Mr. Pitts committed suicide, and his four sons, James, William, Hiram W. and Seth G., undertook the business.
In 1836, the saw and grist-mill, which was just at the dam, burned down and a new one was built some fifty feet lower down. This mill was sixty feet by sixteen. The other, after all its enlargements, was fifty-six by twenty. The Pitts brothers changed their business from the manufacture of cotton yarn to the making of satinet warps,
161
PITTS MILLS.
In 1841, James Pitts, Jr., by making large additions to a house which had been put up by Charles Chace while the tan- nery was in operation, fitted it up into a dwelling place, which was for forty years or more known as No. 1, Green Street. It was moved to the German Village at the time of the building of the brick boarding-house. Newton Sweet and his son, II. N. Sweet, both of whom worked in the mills, took the old dwelling-house which afterwards became known as No. 1, Chestnut Street. The brothers had for some time discussed the project of greatly enlarging their works and more fully utilizing their water power, but to some of theni it seemed unwise to attempt so much with such small capi- tal as they had. In 1842, certain overtures were made to them by the Bigelows, and they agreed to sell all their prop- erty for ten thousand dollars, a price which seemed most satisfactory to them. Their saw and grist-mill was removed down the stream to Sidney Harris' comb shops. On May 28th, 1844, the mills and the house with the adjoining land were deeded to the Lancaster Mills.
James, William and Seth G. Pitts were all members of the Universalist Church formed in Lancaster. The two first mentioned signed the constitution when it was first adopted in 1838. Hiram W. Pitts was afterward a successful manu- facturer in Fitchburg and elsewhere. James Pitts continued in this section as a machinist, living to a good old age. He conferred a great benefit on succeeding generations by pub- lishing as a "Septuagenarian" his "Reminiscences" in the Clinton Courant.
12
CHAPTER X.
THE EARLY COMB-MAKERS.
COMB-MAKING was introduced by new settlers, who soon became closely connected by marriage with the earlier population. Of the families living within present Clinton limits before the closing years of the eighteenth century, that of the Pollards is the only one which assumed any prominence in the new industry. The names which are especially associated with this manufacture are Lowe, Gibbs, McCollum, Lewis, Sawtelle, Howard, Burdett and Harris.
The Lowes of Clinton were descended from Captain Nathaniel Lowe, who sailed from Ipswich and was captured by the French, May 10th, 1742. He was carried to France, and never returned to America. His son, Nathaniel Lowe of Leominster, the father of Nathaniel and John, was born in 1732. In 1795, Nathaniel Lowe, Jr., then a young man of thirty-one, bought of Moses Sawyer the land northeast and east and southeast of Prescott Mills, which Jabez Prescott had sold to Sawyer four years before. This farm of sixty- seven acres covered the southern portion of the Plain (now so called), together with a greater part of the land between the present Walnut Street and South Meadow Brook to the base of Burditt Hill. The fourteen acres which remained to Capt. John Prescott are spoken of as a notch cut out of Mr. Lowe's South Farm. Whether Mr. Lowe moved to Clinton at the time of his purchase, is uncertain. He was surely settled here when his first daughter, Polly, was born
163
THE LOWES.
in 1798. Nathaniel Lowe is recorded in one of his deeds as a cooper, and it is said that he made most of his money by comb-making, but, after he came to this region, he worked for awhile as a shoemaker, and his farm received consider- able of his attention. He had two large barns, and kept oxen and cows and a large flock of sheep. He built a house northwest of the present intersection of High and Water Streets, which was in later years moved a few rods to the west and made over into the building now standing between the railroad and the Yarn Mill and recently occupied by Luis Burk. He also built a little shoe-shop, which stood northeast of what is now the intersection of High and Water Streets.
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