USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Douglas > History of the town of Douglas, (Massachusetts,) from the earliest period to the close of 1878 > Part 17
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MOSES KNAPP, ESQ.,
who died May 29, 1868, was a wealthy and influential citizen of our town. He was for many years Superintendent of the Howe Mills, and was possessed of excellent business talents. He accu- mulated a handsome property, and on all matters of finance he
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HISTORY OF DOUGLAS.
was considered good authority, and his advice was often sought .. Mr. Knapp married Ola Balcome, daughter of John and Millie Bal- come. The following children survive him : William, Fanny, Ben- jamin, Mary Ann. Edward B., Moses M., Almira M., and Henry II. Mrs. Knapp is still living in East Douglas.
WELCOME WHIPPLE, ESQ.,
born in Smithfield, R. I., Sept. 12, 1772, removed about the year. 1800 to Petersham, Mass., and afterwards to Pawtucket, R. I. In the year 1811 he took up his residence in East Douglas, where he engaged in manufacturing, being one of the proprietors in the Douglas Cotton Manufacturing Company.
After the lapse of some fourteen years, he purchased a farm in. South Sutton, about a mile south of the famous "Purgatory,"' where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits for a short time, after which we find him living again in East Douglas, being drawn. thither by the solicitations of his children and grandchildren, with whom he was ever a great favorite. On his death, which oc- curred Nov. 18th, 1852, his remains were buried in South Sutton.
Mr. Whipple was in early life a Baptist, and as such he con- tributed largely to the erection of the Baptist church in South Sutton and in support of the gospel there. But his religious sym- pathies and efforts were by no means limited to the circle of that denomination. About the year 1845 he was mainly instrumental in establishing an Independent Methodist Church in his neighbor- hood, at South Sutton, erecting a building for it at his own expense, and sustaining its worship for years by his almost unaided lib- erality.
Mr. Whipple was deservedly held in the highest respect and esteem by all who knew him. Repeatedly he served as Repre- sentative in the Massachusetts Legislature, member of the Board of Selectmen, Deacon, Justice of the Peace, etc.
He was of a rather delicate organization, nervous temperament, of fine-grained quality, bodily and mentally, a man of taste, and not lacking in culture. In his boyhood he had made considerable prog -- ress in preparing for college, and. the classical. predilections and.
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL DEPARTMENT.
acquisitions of his early life were not lost. He read much. The names he gave to his sons indicated his favorite authors, - Milton, Virgil, Dryden, Homer, Justin, Cullen. The sons all showed me- chanical ingenuity, and, like their father, they were all musicians. Two of them, Milton and Cullen, were the inventors of valuable machines, as the records of the United States Patent Office at Washington testify. His two daughters, Mary Ann and Ardalissa, were married to Mr. Jonathan Sprague and Mr. B. Norberry, re- spectively. His wife, whose maiden name was Amy Whipple, and whom he married in Cumberland, R. I., in 1796, was one of the most sweet-souled, blameless, and estimable of women. She died Nov. 18, 1851, and sleeps by his side in the little graveyard at South Sutton.
THEODORE STONE,
for many years a resident of East Douglas, will be remembered as a man of rare financial ability and active business habits. Although not possessing a large fortune, yet during his life-time he did more than any other man to encourage industry by generous financial help. Some of the successful manufacturing enterprises of to-day owe their present success largely to the encouragement they received from Mr. Stone while they were in their infancy and struggling for an existence.
His keen foresight and good judgment made him a safe adviser, and in later years of his life he devoted much of his time to the settlement of estates and the discharge of other important trusts.
Mr. Stone came to Douglas from Leominster about the year 1820, with his brother Luther, remaining until the time of his death.
It is difficult, if not impossible, in a work of this kind to com- prise a list of all the names worthy of particular allusion. It must be incomplete. "Time would fail us to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Sampson, and of Jephthah ; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets." The records of the town are marked through- out with names of men who, in their day, were identified with the interests of the town as officers or faithful citizens. We mention
16
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HISTORY OF DOUGLAS.
the following as among those who will be remembered by many now living : -
Nathaniel Fry Morse,
Robert Rogerson,
Samnel Balcome,
Caleb Whiting,
Benjamin Buffimm,
Edmund Carpenter,
Jedediah Bigelow,
Samuel Amidon,
Aaron Marsh,
Capt. John Brown,
Dr. Robert P. Church,
Colonel Balcome,
Benjamin Cragin, Stephen Southworth,
Parley Gould,
Aaron Benson,
Job Knapp,
Nathaniel Carpenter.
John Thayer,
CHAPTER XVI.
MANUFACTURES.
E have had occasion already to refer to the spirit of enterprise which from the first seemed to distin- guish the settlers in "ye four thousand acres of O country land," as the town land grant was styled in the early records. Long prior to the separation from Sherborn this characteristic of the bold adventurers to this region shows itself, if not quite so creditably in all respects, certainly with a good deal of energy, as the following extract from the Sherborn records shows :
" Large quantities of shingles were manufactured from ye excel- lent cedar of Badluck and Wallum Pond cedar swamps, insomuch that ye people of Sherborn, to whom 'ye inhabitants acknowledged allegiance, were compelled to choose a committee and invest them with power to bring to punishment any persons that shall presume to cut, strip or pillage any wood or timber on said lot without right. Hoops and barrel-staves were also manufactured in con- siderable quantities by the early settlers, and transported over the Colony Road (which was then the only road through this part of the Province), through the town of Mendon to Boston market. There was also a saw-mill in the easterly section of the town, where boards were manufactured, and the only grain-mill for many miles around was located there."
One of the first and most imperative demands of a newly-set- tled country - lumber for building purposes - having been met thus early and profitably, the way was naturally paved for a more. systematic development of the manufacturing energy of the people. The result has proved this initial venture to have been one so well
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HISTORY OF DOUGLAS.
supplemented in the town's history that it has proved a somewhat notable feature in its subsequent carcer. The following account of some of the earlier enterprises in this line we have taken mainly from the Douglas Herald : -
THE WALLIS PLANING-MILL.
About the year 1805 Benjamin Cragin built a saw-mill on the small stream which furnishes power for Wallis's box-mill, at a point about one-fourth of a mile from the turnpike, on a road formerly leading to Manchaug, but since then discontinued. It was after- wards owned by David Wallis. It was torn down in 1844, and another building, intended for an axe shop, was erected on its site by Dr. Ezekiel Wood, Oliver Hunt Lee and Jonathan Sprague. No axes were manufactured there, however, and it was afterwards used for a grist-mill, a saw-mill and a shingle-mill. Subsequently an addition was made to it for the purpose of using it for a woolen mill, and it was then leased to Morton Smith, James Simmons and Eli Darling, for the manufacture of what was called " negro cloth," from which fact the mill became known as the " Negro Mill." In the winter of 1845 it was destroyed by fire, and from that time until 1852 it remained unoccupied, when Joseph T. Wallis and Cole Arnold purchased the privilege and erected a building for a planing-mill. In 1856 they took the contract for making packing boxes for the Douglas Axe Manufacturing Company, since which time the mill has been owned and run by Joseph T. and Ira Wallis. In 1872 they purchased the Morse reservoir for storing a more ample supply of water. In order to furnish power for this mill at the time it was built (about 1849), it was found necessary to conduct the water through a trench excavated around the steep side of a hill, and several feet above its base. When the trench was completed and the water introduced, the soil, being of a sandy nature, absorbed the water to such an extent that the pond was exhausted before the water could reach the mill, and the enter- prise was deemed a complete failure ; but after repeated trials the trench was found to answer the purpose for which it had been constructed, and does so at the present day. From this circum- stance the privilege was known as the "Sand Bank" for many years.
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MANUFACTURES.
SAMUEL LEGG'S FULLING-MILL.
In about a year from Mr. Cragin's investment in this direction. Mr. Samuel Legg, a cloth dresser, who lived on the farm latterly known as the "Warren Hunt place," erected a small wooden building on the south side of the river, near the upper stone arch bridge, which was used as a fulling-mill. Two years afterwards the building was carried away by a freshet, and Mr. Legg was financially ruined. Not being able to rebuild without assistance, means were furnished him for this purpose by Benjamin Adams, and the new building was erected on the opposite side of the river, on land owned by Benjamin Cragin.
CRAGIN'S SATINET-MILL.
Mr. Cragin subsequently enlarged this building by adding a second story for a wool-carding department. He was the first manufacturer of satinet in Massachusetts. The wool was carded at this mill, the spinning done on hand-spinning frames, and the cloth woven on hand-looms. The warp used was furnished at the Preston factory. In almost every household there was some per- son who manufactured cloth on hand machines, the wool being carded at Cragin's mill, and the cloth dressed at Legg's fulling-mill.
Benjamin Cragin formerly lived in Uxbridge, moving to Douglas about the year 1797. He married the daughter of Moses Hill, and built the lower part of the Lovell Southwick tenement. This he fitted for a store, remaining there until 1813, when Benjamin Adams was admitted to partnership with him, and the firm was styled Benjamin Cragin & Co. In the same year they built a small factory adjoining Samuel Legg's fulling-mill, directly opposite to the dam now standing, which was designed for the manufacture of both cotton and woolen goods, and contained all the necessary machinery. They also built two of the tenement houses now standing near that place, besides others that have since been removed.
In 1819 Josiah and John Adams were admitted to partnership. The firm was dissolved in April, 1824, by the withdrawal of Mr. Cragin, and was succeeded by J. Adams & Co., the members being Benjamin Adams and his two sons, Josiah and John. One- half of the real estate owned by the old firm was retained by Mr.
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HISTORY OF DOUGLAS.
Cragin until September, 1826, when it was purchased by J. Adams & Co., giving them the proprietorship of the factory, water privilege, machinery, tenements, etc. The old gentleman was identified. with the business and history of his town for many years, possess- ing wealth, energy and ability. He represented the Worcester South District in the Congress of the United States from 1815 to 1822, and died in March, 1837, honored and respected by every one.
John Adams, the junior member of this firm, came from Ux- bridge Nov. 28, 1814, and entered the store of Benjamin Cragin & Co. as a clerk. As manufacturers of cloth, the firm would pur- chase cotton by the bale and distribute it among families, who were at first obliged to subject the cotton to a whipping pro- cess to remove the dirt, when it was picked apart and the seeds separated by hand. After the cotton thus prepared had been spun into yarn at the mill it was again distributed among weavers, who made it into cloth upon hand-looms, which were supplanted eventually by looms operated by water-power.
CASSIMERE FACTORY.
After the firm of J. Adams & Co. was formed they engaged in the manufacture of cassimeres, running two sets of machinery. They also stocked a mill standing near the Baxter Morse place, which was run by Simeon and John Darling, for the manu- facture of satinets, furnishing all the wool and receiving the cloth from the looms before dressing. The Darlings owned two small mills, one of which was burned, and the other was afterwards moved away. They operated two sets of machinery.
J. Adams & Co. failed March 17, 1828. During the preceding winter manufacturing business was exceedingly dull. Goods made at their mill were consigned to commission merchants in the prin- cipal cities, and advances were made to them to the amount of one half their value. A large quantity of these goods remained unsold in the hands of the merchants, and much difficulty was experi- enced in raising means to meet pressing obligations. It was finally decided to consult with a personal friend as to the advisa- bility of making an assignment of all their effects and suspending operations. Such a consultation was held, Josiah being necessarily absent, as he was confined to his bed with consumption. The man
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MANUFACTURES.
thus taken into confidence was shown through the establishment, . and the exact condition of the financial affairs of the firm explained to him. He was asked if an assignment had not better be made, and his answer was, "no; there will be no difficulty in getting along." He advised a mortgage of the property, to secure J. Capron & Sons as endorsers at the Blackstone Bank ; and such a mortgage was given, as appears by the records of the Registry of Deeds, dated March 3, 1828, for the sum of $11,771. This was the only incumbrance upon the property, and within ten days it was reduced to less than $6,000 by selling off a portion of the land and applying the proceeds towards canceling the mortgage.
Josiah Adams died on the 14th of March, and Samuel C., his son, died on the 22d of the same month. On the day of Josiah's funeral (the 17th) a son of the friend whose advice had been sought and followed appeared with demands against the firm, and the property was attached. To add to their embarrassment, J. Adams & Co. had endorsed a note for Paul Dudley & Son, which matured about this time, and was protested and sued. The writ was returnable at the March term of the court, and, instead of allowing the case to be defaulted, Mr. Dudley secured a continua- tion of the suits against himself until June, 1829, which also retarded the disposition of the attachments upon the Adams prop- erty. Then the land was set off, in justification of this claim, at an appraised value not exceeding one-half its marketable price eighteen months before ; the costs of suits also swallowed up a large sum ; the right of redemption of the factory and machinery was sold by sheriff's sale for five dollars ; and J. Adams & Co. were bankrupt, with heavy liabilities. It was a time of great financial distress all over the country, and the Messrs. Adams had the poor consolation of knowing, at least, that there were hundreds no better off than themselves.
In course of time the holders of the mortgage sold their interest to Josiah Chapin of Providence, together with an insurance policy for $7,000. Mr. Chapin in turn sold to Warren Hunt, $7,000 being the price paid. In the following year the factory was de- stroyed by fire, and the insurance was paid to Mr. Hunt, just the amount the whole property cost him, and leaving a valuable water privilege and land which cost him nothing. He received an addi- tional sum of $7,000 from the proprietors of the Hill factory for
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HISTORY OF DOUGLAS.
the privilege of raising both dams two feet. Thus it will be seen that his clean profit by the transaction was $7,000, and still he was the possessor of all he had originally purchased, except the factory and contents.
When the Adams mill was burned, Rowland G. Hazard of Peacedale, R. I., occupied it, and was engaged in the manufacture of satinets. His loss included the entire stock, cloth and machin- ery. In addition to the mill a two-story weaving shop, a two- story wood-house and a blacksmith shop were destroyed by the conflagration. Another building, one hundred feet long, one story high, with basement, was saved. The upper part was used for drying wool, and the basement for tentering cloth. This building was used by the Douglas Axe Company for a hatchet-forging shop until it was also destroyed by fire, together with the building adjoining ..
ELLIS BURT'S PLOW MANUFACTORY.
In 1824 Ellis Burt carried on the business of manufacturing the old-fashioned wooden plows in the basement of the brick house opposite the hotel in East Douglas. This was about the time cast- iron plows were being put in the market by Mr. Nourse of Wor- cester.
EZEKIEL PRESTON'S COTTON FACTORY.
In the year 1808 Col. Ezekiel Preston, Welcome Whipple, Henry Holden, Richard Olney, Joseph Metcalf, Mr. Holman, Benjamin Wallis, and General Martin, from Providence, built a factory at what is now the lower portion of East Douglas village, on the site now occupied by the large stone mill. It was a large wooden building, used for the manufacture of cotton yarn, and a store was kept in the basement. After the building was finished it was known as the "Douglas Factory." At first the work was all performed in families, the weaving being done on hand-looms, and the help paid in yarn. The business was carried on this way during one summer, when hand-looms were introduced at the fac- tory, and men were employed to run them. The mill afterwards passed into the hands of Ziba Angell, who put in thirty-six upright looms, to run by water-power, and other machinery necessary for the production of cotton goods. The bell which called the opera- tives to work was cast at the Holbrook foundry in Medway, and
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MANUFACTURES.
bears the date of 1815. Before the bell was procured a tin horn was used instead, the watchman standing in the belfry and sound- ing a blast that could be heard a very long distance. The factory: was standing and in operation until about the year 1841, when it was removed to make room for the present structure. The small building on the opposite side of the river, known as the " handle shop," was built for a machine-shop, and occupied by Nathan
THE MOSES KNAPP PLACE, EAST DOUGLAS.
Sweatland and Ethan Angell, manufacturers of cotton machinery. After a number of years the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Sweatland occupied the building for the manufacture of cut nails for Benjamin Cragin & Co., who carried them weekly to Newton, and returned with material for continued production.
In 1826-7 the building was leased by J. Adams & Co. for the manufacture of power looms. The saw-mill now owned by George Wallis was then owned by this firm, but was sold about this time to Amariah Chapin of Uxbridge. In 1841 the large stone mill took the place of the less pretending structure, and was started
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HISTORY OF DOUGLAS.
up with eighty looms, the number being afterwards increased to. one hundred and thirty-two. Mr. George Howe of Boston was the principal owner. Later he was one of the owners of the Pember- ton mill in Lawrence, and when it fell, a few years ago, he narrowly escaped with his life, having just stepped out of the building when the terrible disaster occurred. Moses Knapp was the Agent, and from the anthority delegated to him the mill was generally known. as the " Knapp Mill," although he claimed no ownership in it. Fenner Batcheller became Agent in place of Mr. Knapp.
THE LOVETT MILL.
In the year 1814 a forge was standing on the site of the Doug- las Axe Company's machine-shop, in the rear of their office, which was owned and operated by a man named Waters of Millbury .. The property afterwards came into the possession of Gale & Fare- well. The building was of good size, one story in height, but covered considerable surface, in which all kinds of iron work, such. as heavy shafting and wrought-iron mill machinery, was carried on. Mr. Farewell occupied the small cottage house on the knoll, corner of Main and Cook streets, and about the year 1820 Mr. Gale erected the two-story building back of the office.
The present factory was built in 1827 by Paris and Micah Hill, who sold it to the Douglas Manufacturing Company.
Mr. Samuel Lovett, one of the firm, soon after disposed of his interest in the Howe Factory and became sole owner in the Lovett mill, continuing in business until 1849, when Warren Hunt pur- chased the establishment for the Douglas Axe Manufacturing Co. Most of the time when in operation J. B. Whipple was the Agent.
SOUTHWORTH'S GRIST-MILL.
Formerly a grist-mill was standing near Southwick's wheel- wright shop, which was owned by Stephen Southworth. It re- mained there until about 1814, when it disappeared.
CARPENTER'S TANNERY.
For many years there was a tannery at Centerville, built by Edmund Carpenter, Jr., who carried on the business several years. He was succeeded by his son Nathaniel, whose death occurred
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MANUFACTURES.
but a few months afterwards, and the business was again taken by his father, and continued by him until 1836, when the buildings were torn down.
CARPENTER'S SHOE FACTORY.
The shoe business was carried on by Comfort and Seba Carpen- ter at Centerville prior to 1837, when they commenced the man- ufacture of sale work, continuing until 1854, employing about sixty workmen. In 1856 the building was taken down, and the frame removed to East Douglas, when it was remodeled into a dwelling-house, which is now owned by Mr. Nelson Jones.
CHAPTER XVII.
AXE MANUFACTURING.
ANUFACTURING edge tools, and axes in particular, has long been a distinguishing feature of manufactur- ing industry in Douglas. It has not only drawn hither some of the best practical mechanicians of the day, but it has furnished the most uninter- rupted employment to a large num- ber of people, the steadily advanc- ing popularity of the axes made by the Douglas Axe Manufacturing Co. keeping their extensive works in full operation often when similar establishments in different parts of the country have been compelled to either shut down or to run on short time. It has come to be well understood that the production of axes is intermitted only when the annual taking account of stock necessitates a stoppage, and then only for the briefest possible interval. Nearly all the available water-power within the limits of the town is utilized by the many wheels driv- ing the machinery of this establishment. A large capital is of course required in the management of a business which has gained such renown, the demand for their tools reaching quite to the limits of civilization.
Like nearly all similar projects, axe-making had an obscure and humble origin. About the year 1798 Joseph and Oliver Hunt built a small wooden shop on the site of the old axe shop lately demolished on Main street in East Douglas in which they carried on the general custom blacksmithing business. The old shop stood near the present residence of Rev. William T. Briggs. It would happen, as a mere matter of course, that among the miscel-
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AXE MANUFACTURING.
laneous work done at such an establishment a damaged axe would now and then be brought for reparation. Occasionally one- of these indispensable implements to the farmer would need re- modeling, a job which the Hunt brothers did not hesitate to. undertake, and which they accomplished so successfully, making- the renewed axe better than when bought, that their work in this line gradually grew on their hands ; and it was not long before axes of their own make became so popular as to require almost their sole- attention to meet the demand for them.
After a few years, during which the quality of their tools secured for them great public favor, a second establishment for-
HUNT'S SUPERIOR AXES
MANUFACTURED FROM BEST REFINED CAST STEEL BY THE DOUGLAS AXE MF'G CO EAST DOUGLAS, MASS ;.
MODERN AXE.
OLD AXE MADE IN 1825.
their production was thought to be needed, and accordingly a new shop was built at the Center, with Oliver Hunt to manage it, Jo- seph remaining in the business at the old one. But the condition of the business was not quite equal to the capacity furnished by the two shops, and as a result, after a hard struggle against finan- cial difficulties, the proprietors failed. Arrangements were made, however, whereby Joseph retained the old shop at East Douglas, and Oliver went to work for David Dudley, forging axes in the shop which the firm had lately owned. Lindley & Morse then carried on the business for a while, and were succeeded by David' Philipps. In 1814 a new partnership was formed by the indefati-
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HISTORY OF DOUGLAS.
gable brothers, but it continued only for a short time, the property on this failure passing into the hands of Job Knapp and Jesse Balcome, but it was shortly purchased by Oliver Hunt, whose two sons, Warren and Otis, were soon at work again in the old shop with him, the sound of their hammers being heard early and late, and the business soon taking on a new degree of prosperity. A few axes, among the first that they made, were taken to Provi- dence, but they failed to find a sale. Mr. Benjamin Cragin then tried the Boston market, where the reputation of the Hunt tools had probably come to be better known, and through those extensive hardware merchants of that day, Messrs. Charles Scudder and W. T. Eustis, they found ready purchasers, and from this time it rapidly came to be true that neither the makers nor venders of these axes found them a drug either in the general business houses or at the retail stores in the rural districts. Indeed, one of the chief diffi- culties which had to be encountered, and which was quite inevi- table in the then sparsely-settled state of the country, was the lack of ready transportation, not to say anything about its promptness. A forty-mile trip, over rude and rough highways, with only a half ton even of freight, was a very different thing from such a venture to-day. All their tools must be got to market often by ox-teams, and the raw material procured in the same manner. Mr. Asa Thayer relates that when he was about seventeen years of age he and Warren Hunt drove a span of horses to Boston with a load of hatchets. They were all night making the journey, arriving in town at daylight. As they passed along Beacon street numerous purchasers were found, and after considerably reducing the load the balance was disposed of to a merchant in Dock Square. They arrived home in season to take part in a grand muster which oc- curred on the following day, and which probably fully explained the dispatch characterizing this possibly first express trip.
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