USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Fitchburg > History of the town of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, comprising also a history of Lunenburg, from its first settlement to the year 1764 (1836) > Part 2
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
of the place an impulse beyond that of the neighboring towns. The people subsisted principally by husbandry ; and the soil, upon which they toiled, was by no means peculiarly excellent. The unsettled condition of the country, during the period of the commercial restrictions, and the last war with Great Brit- ain, tended still further to check the business of the place .- Manufacturing establishments might have done a profitable business, but this was the period of their infancy in our coun- try ; and the experiment of introducing them was attended with that varied and uncertain success, which usually marks the first efforts for finding new and untried channels for busi- ness and profit.
Many of those, who found manufacturing a lucrative em- ployment during the war, had their profits cut off and their business ruined at the termination of the contest, by the intro- duction of foreign goods, with which the markets were glutted, and with which they could not compete.
NOTE ON THE MANUFACTURES .- As the manufacture of cot- ton and woolen goods form so important a branch of the busi- ness of the town, it has been thought that a more particular account of the time at which the several factories were erected and put into operation, would prove interesting.
The exact period when Dea. Amos Kimball and his cousin Ephraim removed from Bradford and settled within the limits of the present town of Fitchburg, is not known ; but it was probably during the year 1745 or 6, when this town constitu- ted a part of Lunenburg. Amos Kimball settled on the farm which Samuel Hale now occupies, and Ephraim lived on what is now known as the Storey farm. They built the first dam across the Nashua in this town, near to the place now occu- pied by the 'Stone Mill,' and erected here a saw mill and a grist mill. This primitive dam, the model of which might have been taken from the structures of the beavers, was a frail piece of workmanship, and was generally swept away by the annual freshet. After the close of the Revolutionary struggle, a fulling mill and clothier's works, a carding machine, and works for grinding scythes, were erected here. The building occupied by the carding machine was afterwards used for manufacturing satinetts, and for other purposes-but to little extent, and less profit. These buildings have since given place to the excellent stone structure, which will be mention- ed in the proper place.
A new dam of granite was built a few feet below the old one, in 1826.
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
The brick factory, now owned by Messrs. Town, Willis, and others, was the first factory erceted in the town, and among the earliest (probably the second or third) built in this state .- It was commenced soon after Slater's factory at Pawtucket, in the year 1807. A factory was built at New Ipswich, N. H. a short time previous ; Plant's factory at Lancaster, and one at Peterborough, N. H. were undertaken very soon after .- The dam belonging to the brick factory was built by Ephraim Kimball in 1807, and the factory was commeneed at the same time by a company of about thirty individuals, who took shares in this novel experiment of spinning cotton.
The building which they erected, was 30 feet by CO. The lower part was used as a workshop, while the upper was oc- cupied by a picker, and was used as a store house for cotton. The Corporation (the company was incorporated in the winter of 1806-7,) employed one Robbins, who had had some experi- ence at Slater's works in Pawtucket, to make patterns for cast- ings, construct machinery, and 'start' the mill. This Robbins usually drank a quart of brandy daily, and was not altogether a very amiable character. Being puffed up as master-work- man and as the possessor of important secrets, he assumed an independent and overbearing demeanor, which was not very pleasing in the eyes of the Corporation. All the workmen here employed had to take shares in the concern, and when it became necessary to lay an assessment upon these, Robbins claimed an exemption, on the ground of being the most impor- tant man. To this the Corporation would not assent; and thereupon the master-workman determined that they should feel his power. Instead, then, of hastening the completion of that part of the machinery, which would be first wanted, he deliberately went to work upon that which would be needed last, and thus retarded the 'starting' of the factory some time.
But Robbins soon found that he had over-estimated his own importance ; for some of the enterprising young workmen, by 'climbing the lightening-rod and descending the scuttle of the factory, got possession of his chest, which contained his impor- tant patterns, and made themselves acquainted with all the se- cret knowledge which the said chest contained. Hereupon Robbins was unceremoniously dismissed.
Afterwards an individual by the name of Field, who had been engaged at New Ipswich, N. H. was hired to take the immediate superintendance of the factory, which went into op- eration under his direction. The operations of the company do not appear to have been very profitable at first, in conse- quence of the imperfections of the machinery, and the great
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expenditures necessary in such"experimental undertakings .- In a company, too, of such heterogeneous materials great unan- imity could not be expected ; and complaints were frequently heard, and shares often passed from one owner to another.
In a few years, however, the Corporation began to do a more profitable business, machinery of an improved construction having been introduced, and the restrictions upon the com- merce of the country, and the subsequent war operating in their favor.
The Corporation had committed a great oversight in not se- curing a proper title to their dam. The individual who built it was owner of the land on one side of the river, and the Cor- poration owned on the other side. The dividing line between them was in the middle of the river. This individual, having lost money by building the dam, demanded four hundred dol- lars of the Corporation to cover his loss. This was refused. He then informed the Corporation that he was owner of one half of the dam, which he offered to sell them for the sum of twelve hundred dollars. The Corporation having neglected to comply with his terins, he sold his title to the dam and a piece of land (now occupied by Capt. Z. Sheldon's carpenter's shop.) for fifteen hundred dollars to two persons, who soon commenced building some works there. They made free use of the water, and finally cut away a part of the dam. This was a death blow to the Corporation. Their business was sud- denly stopped when they were reaping an immense profit from it, and they were soon involved in a ruinous law-suit. An unusually large quantity of cotton on hand was, after some time, disposed of at a great sacrifice. They were suffering a loss of undoubtedly more than fifty dollars daily-perhaps nearer a hundred.
The question at issue between the Corporation and the owners of the other side of the river, was finally decided by referees against the former. The expenses of this suit and the heavy damages awarded against them were more than the Corporation were able to bear. It failed in 1S16. In addition to the factory, they owned the two brick boarding houses, and the brick store now occupied by Messrs. MeIntire & Caldwell.
After the failure of the Corporation, their property was pur- chased by Messrs. Putnam & Perkins, for about one third of its original cost. It remained in their hands, and the factory was kept in operation, till 1822, when it was purchased by Messrs. Town & Willis, who put in machinery for the man- ufacture of woolen goods. It has remained in their hands since
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that period. In 1834 it was enlarged by an addition of forty feet in length and thirty eight in breadth.
The second attempt at cotton spinning, in this town, was made by Capt. Martin Newton. He had been employed by the Corporation, when their works were first put in operation. The location of the carding machine, near the site of the pres- ent stone mill, has already been mentioned. In this building Capt. Newton put in operation two spinning frames, on 'Elec- tion Day,' in the year 1810. The expense of fitting up this limited concern was about $1800,-and the profits at the end of the first year were but little short of $1000. It yielded an income of at least 60 per cent. on the capital invested. Cotton yarn, at this period, readily commanded 85 cents per lb.
This business proving to be so lucrative, Capt. Newton, in connexion with Solomon Strong (at present one of the Justi- ces of the Court of Common Pleas) and Jonathan Flint, (both of these latter then belonged to Westminster) erected, in the year 1812, the building now known as Newton's factory, and continued there the manufacture of cotton goods.
The dam at the 'Rollstone (cotton) Mill' was built by Jonas Marshall and Dea. Ephraim Kimball* in the year 1794 .- This was the second dam built across the Nashua. At the same time they built a saw mill ; and shortly afterwards cloth- ier's works and a trip-hammer were built on the site of the blacksmith's shop a few rods below the factory. No vestiges of these now remain.
The Red (or Rollstone) Mill was built in 1813, by John and Joseph Farwell and Nehemiah Giles. When Messrs. Put- nam & Perkins purchased the property of the exploded 'Corpo- ration,' they bought the Rollstone Mill also, as the pond of the former intruded somewhat upon the water-wheel of the latter. It was owned by Gen. Ivers Jewett, and, in 1833, it was pur- chased by Messrs. Town, Willis, and others.
The factory on Phillips' brook, generally known as "Bald- win's factory," was built in the Fall of 1814. The persons engaged in this undertaking experienced a fate common to ma- ny, who, about this time, embarked their whole fortune in cot- ton manufactories. Soon after the commencement of their operations, peace was declared between this country and Eng- land, and the company failed. The fall of the water at this place
*He was a son of that Ephraim who was among the earlier settlers of the town. Dea. Ephraim Kimball left a large family, several of whom are now living in this town.
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is very great. The hole occupied by the factory was extreme- ly rugged and rocky, and great expense was incurred in clear- ing it out. The factory is supplied by two small ponds-the surface of the water in the upper one being nearly on a level with the steeple of the factory, which is about thirty rods distant.
The Red Woolen factory, situated about a mile southeaster- ly of the village, and now owned and occupied by Benjamin Poor of Boston, was built in 1823, by Tyler Daniels & Co .- It was in their possession four or five years, when they dispos- ed of their interest in it. After changing owners several times, it was purchased by Samuel Slater, whose heirs sold it to the present owner. For several years it was not in operation .-- It was put in operation again by John A. A. Laforest & Co. in 1834. An addition was made to this mill in IS27.
The Stone Mill (cotton) was built in 1826, by Oliver Fox Esqr. It is very near, or partly occupies, the site of the first grist mill and saw mill erected in the town by Dea. Amos and Ephraim Kimball. The present lessee, and owner of the ma- chinery, is Percy Atherton.
The brick (woolen) factory at South Fitchburg was built by Hollis Hartshorn, in 1832. Soon after the commencement of the building, William Whitney of Boston became joint own- er in the concern. It is now owned by him and Capt. Z. Shel- don. It is leased to Amos Hill, as has been mentioned in an- other place.
The Burbank paper-mill and dam (the third built across the Nashua) were built in the year 1804, by Thomas French .- The mill went into operation the following year.
A. Crocker & Co's. paper-mill was built in 1826; and the dam there was made in the previous Autumn. This place was exceedingly rough and difficult of access. The dam alone cost $1500.
The above account embraces the most important items rela- ting to the origin and progress of the manufactures of Fitch- burg.
Previous to the commencement of the manufacture of wool- en cloths in 1822, some attempts had been made in manufac- turing satinetts, in the Old City, but the scheme was a losing one, and was soon abandoned.
Saw mills were built on several of the minor streams, in different parts of the town, at quite an early period.
When the town was in its infancy, the opinion was general, that it could never be a flourishing place, as its enterprise and prosperity would always be checked by the burthensome taxes
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necessary to keep in repair the roads and bridges. The Nash- wa river was considered as the curse of the place! 'The pres- ent condition and future prospects of the town ate a singular commentary on the opinion of our fathers.
The number of ratable polls at this time is about 700. The militia is composed of three companies, viz :- two standing companies, and one of light infantry.
The town is divided into 12 school districts. From the School Returns furnished to the Legislature, for the year 1835, I gather the following statements :- The number of children attending Common Schools, from 4 to 16 years of age, is males, 271 ; females, 289. Average attendance, 416. Children not attending Common Schools any portion of the year,-15 males, 26 females. Aggregate time of keeping school in all the dis- tricts is, in winter, 23 months, 21 days ; summer, 28m. 7d .- Number of male Instructers, 11; female do. 11. Average wages per month, exclusive of board, winter, $16,67 ; summer, $4,30. Amount of money raised by tax for supporting Com- mon Schools, $1237,50. Estimated amount paid for tuition at the Academy and private schools, $705,00.
The Academy is a commodions, two-story building, situated a few rods easterly of the common. It was erected in 1839, at an expense of about $1200,00. It is furnished with two school rooms on the lower floor ; the former of which will ac- comodate 65 scholars, and the latter 30. The average num- ber of scholars attending, for several years past, has been about 30
CIVIL HISTORY.
Before entering upon the civil history of the town, it may be proper to take a glance of the situation and condition of this part of the country, at the time when the white man first placed his foot upon it, and sought an abiding place and shel- ter in the then unknown wilderness.
What events transpired previous to this period, the imper- fect traditions of the natives do not inform us. The elements of nature were at work upon the soil, but its mould was not disturbed by the arts of civilized life. Trees sprung forth, grew to a majestic height, and then fell to the earth in the nat- ural progress of decay.
The Nashua wound its devious course through the forest, the stillness of which was not interrupted, save by the shout of the savage, the cry of the beast of prey, or the scream of the wild bird of the wilderness. The current of the stream may
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have been choked by the"trunks of trees, hurled by the vio- lence of the tempest into its bosom. The mass of accumula ting water would then burst forth, perhaps seeking a new chan- nel in its onward course. What changes have heretofore ta- ken place in the course of the Nashua, we know not-running water is always wearing.
There is every appearance that the bed of the stream which flows by Messrs. Perkins & Baldwin's factory, once was situ- ated 10 or 20 feet higher than at present, in the ledge of rocks near their dam. But the changes, which have taken place on the surface of our township, are more fit speculations for the geologist. We cannot speak with certainty of its appearance, till after it was visited by the white man.
At this period we know that this section of the country was thinly peopled by several Indian tribes. A few years previous to the landing of our fathers at Plymouth, a deadly pestilence raged among the aborigines, and swept nine tenths of them to their graves. The Indian population did not average one in- habitant to each square mile.
The Indians of New-England were divided into five prin- cipal tribes, all of which extended their jurisdiction into the limits of the present county of Worcester. There were, also, several smaller tribes under their own sagamores or sachems ; but they were all tributary to the larger tribes.
The Pequods, whose sovereign resided at New London, Ct. had dominion over the Nipmucks, in the southern and south- western part of the county. The Narrhagansetts occupied what was then the colony of Rhode Island. They, also, had tribute from some of the Nipmucks. The Pokanokets or Wampanoags lived in the Plymouth colony. Their sachem's seat was at Mount Hope (Haup) near Bristol. The celebra- ted Philip or Metacom was their chief. They extended their authority over another portion of the Nipmucks. It is not probable that either of these tribes extended their jurisdiction so far north as Fitchburg.
The Massachusetts were the next great tribe northward, and extended from the bay of the same name to the Connecticut river. The Nashuas in the vicinity of Lancaster, and the northern portion of the Nipmucks, were under this tribe. If this town was included in the territory of the Nashuas, it was under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts ; but this is not ve- ry probable, as the Nashuas consisted of only fifteen or sixteen families, residing on the interval lands of Lancaster or near the ponds of Sterling.
The Pawtuckets dwelt in the northeastern parts of the state,
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on the banks of the Merrimack and its tributaries. This tribe probably extended over the northern part of the county. If this supposition be correct, then Fitchburg undoubtedly form- ed part of the territory of the Pawtuckets.
Again, it has been supposed that the town was in the terri- tory of the Penicooks, who principally resided in the region about Concord, N. H. But there is not much foundation for the opinion that their realms extended so far south.
'The Nipmucks, if ever an independent, were now a broken down tribe, as most of the neighboring sachems claimed sov- ereignty over them. They were a harmless, simple minded race, and many of them became converts to christianity, thro' the preaching of the celebrated Indian Apostle, Elliot. These Indians and the Nashuas conducted with good faith towards their white neighbors, till King Philip's war, in 1675, when they were induced to unite with him. When the Nashuas were broken up, most of them joined the Penicooks at the north.
The Indian population was so extremely sparse, when this territory began to be settled by the whites, that there is no rea- son to believe that the geographical lines of the different tribes were distinctly marked-they were determined rather by tacit consent or general understanding. Sometimes, when the hunting parties of one tribe pursued their game into the limits of another, or caught their fish in forbidden waters, then feel- ings of indignation were enkindled in the bosoms of the ag- grieved party, and measures of retaliation were concerted .- Hence feuds, not only between individuals, but between whole tribes, arose, and bloody wars were originated.
There do not appear to be any well authenticated accounts, which tend to show that the Indians of any tribe ever made any part of this town a permanent place of residence. Stone arrow-heads have been dug up in various places, and other implements of Indian manufacture have been found in the field opposite to the house of Capt. Philip F. Cowdin, but not in sufficient numbers to authorise a supposition that their own- ers ever permanently resided there. They have, however, left behind them sufficient relies for us to conclude that they were neither ignorant nor unmindful of the excellent shad, alewives, or salmon-trout, which sported in the waters of the Nashua, or of the deer and wild turkeys, which found a shelter and a covert under the branches of the majestic pines which towered above our hills.
It may be an amusing speculation to enquire when the soil pf Fitchburg was first pressed by the foot of the white man .-
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
In 1643, but little more than 22 years after the landing of the Pilgrims a Plymouth, the region about Lancaster was in sub- jection to Sholan, sachem of the Nashuas. He had opened a species of traffic with the people of Watertown, and for great- er convenience in this respect he invited Mr. Thomas King, and others residing there, to remove to the fertile regions of the Nashua. They complied with his advice, andcommenced the plantation in 1643. In 1653, the town then containing nine families, was incorporated by the name of Lancaster. From this time the inhabitants dwelt in peace, till the commencement of Philip's war, in 1675.
To the east of us the town of Groton was incorporated in 1655. Beyond these points, which were on the verge of civ- ilization, the white population did not extend for a considera- ble time. Perhaps some hunter from these frontier settle- ments, in his solitary pursuit after game, may have traversed our hills, and penetrated the unknown wilderness ; but this is altogether conjecture.
Feby. 10th, (O. S.) 1676, the Indians attacked Lancaster, and after destroying the settlement by burning the houses and murdering many people, they marched with the prisoners tow- ards Canada. Among these was Mrs. Rowlandson, wife of the minister of the place. After her return from captivity, she published an account of her journeyings through the wilder- ness, under the title of "Twenty Removes." From this quaint work and other data, attempts have been made to trace her course. But the country being then entirely wild, and her accounts extremely vague in consequence-her mind at the same time being depressed by the hazards of her perilous situ- ation, and by recollections of the recent calamity which had fallen so heavily upon her-nothing very satisfactory has been elicited. Her descriptions answer to three distinct routes, the most northern of which would carry her through Fitchburg.
From her account it appears that she spent the first night of her captivity on a small island in a river. This is suppos- ed to be in Leominster. There is an island there answering very well to her description. The second night she passed upon a high hill-the third night in Narrhagansett, which is now Westminster-and on the eighth day of her captivity she arrived at a place, now in New Braintree.
If then it be assumed that she staid, the first night in Leom- inster, and the third night in Narrhagansett, there is every reason to believe that-independent of all tradition and all cir- cumstances related by her-she passed the second night some- where in the limits of the present town of Fitchburg. Taking
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all things into consideration, there is good foundation for the conjecture that she passed the second night on Rollstone hill. If this conjecture be true, what a scene must have been witnes- sed by her, on the summit of that hill, on the night of the 11th. of Feby. (O. S.) 1676. The merciless savages, exulting in their success, were celebrating the massacre which they had inflicted upon the innocent people of Lancaster, and testifying by their dreadful rites and hellish orgies, their joy at shedding human blood. In the midst of them sat the lone white woman -her spirit crushed to the earth by the weight of her sudden and overwhelming calamities. Torn from her husband, sor- rowing for the destruction of her kindred and friends, with no comforts to supply her necessities-no shelter to protect her from the wintry blasts-and with the dread of a hopeless cap- tivity in prospect, she was entirely dependent upon the 'tender mercies' of the savages, the murderers of her children.
I will now leave these matters of uncertain speculation, and proceed with the dull relations of history.
Previous to the incorporation of this town, under the name of Fitchburgh, in 1764, it formed a part of Lunenburg. To begin then at the beginning, and acquire a knowledge of our origin, it is necessary to search into the early records of Lu- nenburg, in the transactions and events of which town the people, who inhabited what is now Fitchburg, had an equal in- terest and an equal sharc.
In Whitney's "History of Worcester County," the account of Lunenburg commences as follows :-- "On the 4th. of No- vember, 1719, the General Court, at the request of a number of gentlemen, made a grant to them of this territory for a val- uable consideration," &c. Who these "gentlemen" were, is not known ; but it is presumed they were among those, whose names are preserved in the Proprietors' books, as the earliest settlers. The "valuable consideration," above mentioned, will be made known by the terms of the grant. Furthermore, this order or grant of the General Court is of great importance ;- for it is not only the foundation of our municipal rights, but it is the basis upon which rest all titles to real estate in this town and Lunenburg. I will therefore give it entire, from an exact copy of the original records, as furnished by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
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