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 (1865) > Part 2
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Many of those who found manufacturing a lucrative employment during the war, had their profits cut off and their business ruined at the termination of the contest, by the introduction of foreign goods, with which the markets were glutted, and with which they could not compete.
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG,
NOTE ON THE MANUFACTURES .- As the manufacture of cotton and woolen goods forms so important a branch of the business 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 constituted a part of Lunenburg. Amos Kimball settled on the farm which Sammuel Hale now occupies, and Ephraim lived on what is now known as the Storey farm. They built the best dam across the Nashua in this town, near the place now occupied 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 filling mill and clothier's works, a card- ing machine, and works for grinding scythes, were erected here. The building occupied by the candling machine was afterwards used for manufacturing satinets, and for other purposes-but to little extent, and less profit. These buildings have since given place to the excellent Mone structure, which will be mentioned in the proper place.
A new dam of granite was built a few feet below the old one, in 1826.
The brick factory. now owned by Messes. Town. Willis, and others, was the first factory erected in the town, and among the earliest (prob- ably 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 Mit at New Ipswich. N. I. a short time previous; Plant's factory at Lancaster, and one at Peterborough. N. H. were undertaken very soon afor. The dam belonging to the brick factory was built by Ephraim Kopballin 1507, and the factory was commenced at the same time by a company of abank thirty individuals, who took shares in this novel egorwool of spinning cotton.
The building which they erected. was thirty feet by sixty. The
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
lower part was used as a workshop, while the upper was occupied 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 experience at Slater's works in Paw- tucket, to make patterns for castings, 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-workman and as the possessor of important secrets, he assumed an independent and overbearing demeanor, which was not very pleas- ing 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 important man. To this the Corporations would not assent ; and thereupon the master-workman determined that they should feel his power. Instead, then, of hastening the comple- tion 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 impor- tance ; for some of the enterprising young workmen, by climbing the lightning-rod and descending the scuttle of the factory, got possession of his chest, which contained his important patterns, and made them- selves acquainted with all the secret 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 operation under his- direction. The operations of the company did not appear to have been very profitable at first, in consequence of the imperfections of the machinery, and the great expenditures necessary in such experi- mental undertakings. In a company, too, of such heterogeneous materials, great unanimity 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 profit-
C
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
able business, machinery of an improved construction having been introduced, and the restrictions upon the commerce of the country, and the subsequent war operating in their favor.
The Corporation had committed a great oversight in not securing a proper title to their dam. The individual who built it was owner of the land on one side of the river, and the Corporation 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 dollars 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 som of twelve hundred dollars. The Corporation having neglected to comply with his terms, he sold his title to the dam and a piece of land ( now occupied by Capt. %. 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 Isiness was suddenly 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 malonutedy 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 hear. It failed in 1816. In addition to the factory, they owned the two brick boarding houses, and the brick store now occupied by Messis. Me-
After the failure of the Corporation, their property was purchased Is Meses. Putnam & Perkins, for about one-third of its original cost. It remained in their hands, and the factory was kept in operation, till 1-22, when it was purchased by Messrs. Town & Willis, who put in machinery for the manufacture of woolen goods. It has remained in
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG,
their hands since that period. In 1834 it was enlarged by an addi- tion 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 present stone mill, has already been mentioned. In this building Capt. Newton put in operation two spinning frames, on " Election 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 eighty-five cents per pound.
This business proving to be so lucrative, Capt. Newton, in con- nection with Solomon Strong (at present one of the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas) and Jonathan Flint, (both of these latter then belonged to Westminster) erected, in the year 1812, the build- ing now known as Newton's factory, and continued there the manu- facture 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 clothier'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. Putnam & Perkins purchased the property of the exploded "Corporation," 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 purchased by Messrs. Town, Willis, and others.
*He was a son of that Ephraim who was among the earlier sett'ers of the town. Dea, Ephraim Kimball left a large family, several of whom are now living in this town.
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
The factory on Phillips' brook, generally known as " Baldwin's factory," was built in the fall of 1814. The persons engaged in this undertaking experienced a fate common to many, who, about this time, embarked their whole fortune in cotton manufactories. Soon after the commencement of their operations, peace was declared between this country and England, and the company failed. The fall of the water at this place is very great. The hole occupied by the factory was extremely rugged and rocky, and great expense was incurred in clearing 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 southeasterly 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 disposed 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 1827.
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 Deacon Amos and Ephraim Kimball. The present lessee and owner of the machinery, 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 owner in the concern. It is now owned by him and Capt. Z. Sheldon. It is leased to Amos Hill, as has been mentioned in another place.
The Burbank paper-mill and dam (the third built across the Vashua ) were built in the year 1804, by Thomas French. The mill went into operation the following year.
1. Crocher & Co's paper mill was built in 1826; and the dam there was made in the previous autoum. This place was exceedingly rough and difficult of access. The dam alone cost $1500.
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
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The above account embraces the most important items relating to the origin and progress of the manufactures of Fitchburg.
Previous to the commencement of the manufacture of woolen cloths in 1822, some attempts had been made in manufacturing satinets, 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 necessary to keep in repair the roads and bridges. The Nashua river was con- sidered as the curse of the place ! The present condition and future prospects of the town are 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 twelve 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 four to sixteen 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 districts is, in winter, 28 months, 21 days ; summer, 28 months, 7 days. Number of male instructors, 11; female do. 14. Average wages per month, 'exclusive of board, win- ter, #16,67 ; summer, $4,30. Amount of money raised by tax for supporting Common Schools, $1,237,50. Estimated amount paid for tuition at the Academy and private schools, $705,00.
The Academy is a commodious, two-story building, situated a few rods easterly of the common. It was erected in 1830, at an expense of about $1200,00. It is furnished with two school rooms on the lower floor ; the former of which will accommodate sixty-five scholars, and the latter thirty. The average number of scholars attending, for several years past, has been about thirty.
HISTORY OF FITCHBURG,
CIVIL HISTORY.
Before entering upon the civil history of the town, it may be proper to take a glance at the situation and condition of this part of the comtry, at the time when the white mau first placed his foot upon it, and sought an abiding place and shelter in the then unknown wilder- ness.
What events transpired previous to this period, the imperfect tradi- tions 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 natural progress of decay.
The Nashua wound its devious course through the forest, the still- ness of which was not interrupted, save by the shout of the savage, the ery of the beast of prey, or the scream of the wild bird of the wilderness. The current of the stream may have been choked by the trunks of trees, hurled by the violence of the tempest into its bosom. The mass of accumulating water would then burst forth, perhaps seeking a new channel in its onward course. What changes have heretofore taken 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 situated ten or twenty 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 mm.
At this period we know that this section of the country was thinly peopled by several Indian tribes. A few years previous to the land- ing 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 inhabitant to each square mile.
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
The Indians of New England were divided into five principal 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 southwestern part of the county. The Narrhagansetts occupied what was then the col- ony of Rhode Island. They, also, had tribute from some of the Nip- mucks. The Pokanokets, or Wampanoags lived in the Plymouth colony. Their sachem's seat was at Mount Hope (Haup) near Bristol. The celebrated 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 jurisdic- tion 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 very 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, 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 formed part of the territory of the Pawtuckets.
Again, it has been supposed that the town was in the territory 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 sovereignty over 4
HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
them. They were a harmless, simple minded race, and many of thene became converts to christianity, through the preaching of the cele- brated Indian Apostle. Elliott. 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 Peni- cooks at the north.
The Indian population was so extremely sparse, when this territory began to be settled by the whites, that there is no reason 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 feelings of indignation were enkindled in the bosoms of the aggrieved party, and measures of retaliation were con- certed. 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 seidl 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 'Ing up in various places, and other inn lements of Indian manufacture have been fomal in the field opposite to the house of Capt. Philip F. Cowiin, but not in sufficient numbers to authorize a supposition that their owners ever permanently resided there. They have, however, bft behind them sufficient relies for us to conclude that they were neither ignorant nor maninulful of the excellent shad, alewives, or almon-front, which sorted 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 inquire when the soil of Fitch- borg was first pressed by the foot of the white man. In 1643, but Hoffe more than twenty two years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. the region about Lancaster was in subjection to Sholan, Ewhew of the Nashua -. He had opened a species of traffic with the
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
people of Watertown, and for greater 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, and commenced the plantation in 1643. In 1653, the town, then con- taining 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 civilization, the white population did not extend for a considerable time. Perhaps some hunter from these frontier settlements, in his solitary pursuit after game, may have traversed our hills, and penetrated the unknown wilderness ; but this is altogether conjecture.
February 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 towards 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 wilderness, 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 situation, and by recollections of the recent calamity which had fallen so heavily upon her-nothing very satisfactory has been elicited. Her descrip- tions 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 supposed 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 Leominster,
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
and the third night in Narragansett, there is every reason to believe that-independent of all tradition and all circumstances related by her-she passed the second night somewhere in the limits of the present town of Fitchburg. Taking 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 witnessed by her, on the summit of that hill, on the night of the 11th of February (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. sorrowing 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 a dread of a hopeless captivity 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 Fitch- burg, 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 Lamenburg, in the transactions and events of which town the people who inhabited what is now Fitch- burg. had an equal interest, and an equal share.
In Whitney's " History of Worcester County," the account of Lauenburg commences as follows :- " On the 4th of November, 1719, the General Court, at the request of a number of gentlemen, made a grant to them of this territory for a valuable consideration," Ac. 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. Further-
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HISTORY OF FITCHBURG.
more, 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 the 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 Common- wealth :
" Anno Regni Regis Georgii Magnæ Britannia, &c. Sexto.
At a great and General Court or Assembly for his Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, begun and held at Boston, upon Wednesday, the twenty-seventh of May, 1719, and continued by Prorogation to Wednesday, the fourth of November, 1719, and then met ; being their second session.
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