USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Sutton > History of the town of Sutton, Massachusetts, from 1704 to 1876, including Grafton until 1735, Millbury until 1813 and parts of Northbridge, Upton and Auburn > Part 43
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
1826, No record of products.
Prints,
1855,
1,650,375
1827,
1856,
1,676,304
1828,
66
Prints, 2 and },
1858,
1,377,840
1830,
66
66
1860,
2,444,832
1832.
16
66
1862,
1,735,500
1834,
66
66
1864,
1,980,750
1836,
610,640
Cambrics and Prints, 1865,
2,450,875
1837,
674,485
66
1867,
3,960,850
1839,
684,680
66
1868,
4,083,480
1840,
634,775
66
1869,
4,084,716
1841,
1,070,540
Muslins and Prints,
1872,
6,080,480
1844,
1,250,450
Fruits,
1873,
5,328,790
1845,
1,350,800
1846,
1,280,490
1875,
5,567,549
1847,
1,270,850
66
1876,
6,328,050
1848,
1,290,840
1849,
1,350,850
1850,
1,300,480
1851,
1,250,550
1852,
1,200,500
1853,
1,350,750
1854,
1,675,980
.
1857,
1,688,016
1829,
1859,
2,046,960
66
1861,
1,550,780
1833,
66
1863,
926,244
1835,
818,720
66
1870,
4,065,320
66
66
1871,
5,260,670
1843,
1,320,680
1874,
5,480,293
THE STORE.
In tracing the history of Manchaug, it is necessary to speak of the different changes which have occurred in the only store which has been located in this village.
In 1830 Mr. S. J. C. Bartlett opened the store and con- tinued in the business until 1855, a period of twenty-five years. Mr. Bartlett, by strict economy, accumulated a few thousand dollars, and at the period above named, sold out his interest and removed to Connecticut, and engaged in the thread manufacturing business. In this, however, he was unsuccessful, losing his entire property. Mr. Bartlett's successors were Ezra Jones and William Metcalf. They
1838,
605,762
1866,
3,000,540
1842,
640,650
1831,
NEW, OR NUMBER THREE MILL - REAR VIEW.
FFEL
71
1
١٠
563
TOWN OF SUTTON.
continued to carry on the business, dealing in groceries, hardware, dry goods, crockery, green provisions and pro- duce, for nearly four years. At the expiration of Messrs. Jones' and Metcalf's term, the store was kept by the Man- chaug Company, at that time under the management of Scott Mowry. Mr Mowry, after a somewhat eventful experience in that particular line, became convinced that a company store, run upon the basis which had been established, involved an unprofitable investment, and it was sold by his advice to William Metcalf and - Smith. They contin- ued to carry on the business for nearly five years. About the year 1864, Mr. Metcalf bought out Smith's interest, and for a short time was sole proprietor and manager. Owing to ill health, he was compelled to relinquish the business or take a partner.
April 1, 1864, Mr. Metcalf sold one half of the business to William Abbott of Douglas, who took charge of the store, living at Douglas until April 1, 1866. At this time Mr. Metcalf left the store, retiring to his farm, retaining his share in the business until April 1, 1867, when Mr. Abbott purchased his interest and became sole proprietor and man- ager. During the time Mr. Abbott managed the store the business increased from $20,000 to $100,000 per annum.
April 1, 1874, Mr. Abbott sold his entire stock and trade to the Manchaug Company, and in June, same year, removed to Douglas .*
The company selected Mr. J. S. Page, formerly in the employ of Messrs. A. and W. Sprague, to assume the con- trol of the store, and he entered at once upon his duties.
From the time it was first opened, in 1830, until the retirement of Mr. Abbott in 1874, a period of forty-four years, the business was conducted in an old building which stood in front of what is now the agent's house, on the main street, but which was moved to its present location at the north end of the village, and altered into tenements.
* We are informed by Mr. Abbott that during the ten years he had charge of the store, not an unkind or unpleasant word passed between any member of the company and himself. In relinquishing the business, he did so with his best wishes for the future prosperity of the company.
564
MANUFACTURES OF THE
The store into which Mr. Page removed the goods, at the expiration of Mr. Abbott's time, is a massive granite struc- ture, built of the style called " Rough Ashlar," and is two stories high, eighty feet by fifty feet, with a basement. The first story is used for the store proper, and has its various departments separated with taste and care. This was done under the personal supervision of Mr. J. S. Page, upon whom it reflects much credit. The basement is devoted to a meat and vegetable market, and in the second story is a hall the entire size of the building.
Mr. J. S. Page continued in charge of the store until he was called to a larger and more responsible field of duties with the Messrs. Knights, in taking charge of all their stores in their several villages, and he resigned his charge of the one in this village to his brother, Mr. T. C. Page, who had been book-keeper for his brother in the same place for the preceding two years, which enabled him to enter upon his new position with much knowledge of the business and the employes in the village. Mr. T. C. Page took the entire charge of this store in May 1876, and still continues in that capacity, a place he has filled with honor and fidelity. The duties are manifold, and it requires clear discrimination to be enabled to deal with such a large and varied community, in which nearly every nationality is represented.
GUN MAKING. BY COL. ASA H. WATERS.
Among the pioneer families which first came to subdue the primeval forests of Sutton, were four bearing the name of Waters ; two brothers, Nathaniel and Richard, and two sons of the former, Nathaniel, second, and Jonathan.
It may perhaps with truth be said that few families have . left here more foot-prints on the sands of time or more numerous descendants. They came from Salem about 1720, a full half century before the revolution, and on refer- ring to the early records of that ancient town, it is found that Nathaniel and Richard were of the third generation from Richard Waters, the progenitor and terminus a quo of all who bear the Waters name or lineage in this region.
RESIDENCE OF R. MC ARTHUR, AGENT OF MANCHAUG MANUFACTURING CO.
5
567
TOWN OF SUTTON.
Richard, the progenitor, emigrated from England about 1632, twelve years after the Mayflower, was a contemporary of Governor Winthrop, and probably came about the same time, as in a letter to his wife he speaks of a man by the name of Waters, as being a member of his household. Richard was by profession a gun manufacturer ; married the daughter of a gun maker, and it is a noteworthy fact that the busi- ness of gun making has been hereditary in some branch of the Waters families almost continually since. From the original stripe, Richard, down to the present time, they trace their genealogy by official records in an unbroken line through nine generations.
Nathaniel, grandson of Richard, was one of the original proprietors of the Sutton township, owning one-tenth of (estimated) thirty thousand acres, which he bought February 14, 1715. He married in Salem, Elizabeth, sister of Wm. King, who was also an original proprietor, and they formed a colony of emigrants from Salem to Sutton about 1716. Nathaniel afterward removed to Salem, where he died in 1718. He left eight children, of whom four with their families removed from Salem to Sutton in 1739; two sons, Nathaniel, second, and Jonathan, and two daughters, Ruth, wife of Benjamin Marsh, and Elizabeth, wife of Isaac Cook.
Nathaniel, second, settled in North Sutton, now West Millbury, upon the farm belonging to the heirs of Captain Amasa Wood; but the estate did not long remain in the family line.
Jonathan, who inherited much the largest portion of his father's estate, settled upon the farm now owned and ocell- pied by Jonathan E. Waters, and it has remained in the continued possession of a Jonathan Waters for four genera- tions.
Jonathan, first, had ten children, of whom two sons, Asa and Andrus, inherited the mechanical talent of their pro- genitor, Richard.
When the revolutionary war broke out, they were at once called into requisition. There were no national armories, and few, if any, private ones of much account. Guns were scarce, gun makers more so, and neither could be imported.
A
568
MANUFACTURES OF THE
To supply the great demand, Asa and Andrus erected on the Singletary stream a gun factory or armory, which they fitted up with tools and machinery for making guns by water-power. Hitherto they had been made mostly by hand- power, both here and in England. Steam-power had not been introduced. Even the barrels were made in England by hand-power, and the process of making them by motive power was not discovered till the next generation of this family, as will appear farther on. Water-power, however, was used in this armory to aid in the manufacture, and so far as we can learn, was here first introduced for that pur- pose-it being long before it came into use in England.
These brothers early discovered, what has proved to be true to the present day, that the best iron for gun barrels lay in the mines of Salisbury, Connecticut. They obtained it there in pigs, had it carted through the forests to a forge in Douglas, where it was converted into refined iron, and carted thence to their armory in North Sutton, where it was wrought into the various parts of the gun. Andrus died in about two years, from exposures at Salisbury, and was buried at West Point. He possessed uncommon mechanical genius, and his death, occurring when the country was in such urgent need of his services, was deplored as a public calamity.
Asa was thus left alone to pursue the business, which he did with vigor and success through the whole period of the war.
It is a tradition, highly probable, that he received the support and patronage of the State.
On a site next above his armory the State erected a large powder mill, which was the one referred to in the resolve passed by thé Massachusetts Council, October 18, 1776.
" Resolved, that Mr. Nathan Putnam be appointed as the committee for building a powder mill at Sutton, in the room of Colonel Holman (who was called away to the field), and that the further sum of two hundred pounds be paid out of the public treasury of the State to the aforesaid committee to enable them to carry on the building of said mill."
-
MANCHAUG STORE
POSTOFFICE
MARKET
72
571
TOWN OF SUTTON.
This mill had a long row of pestles and mortars on each of its four sides, and was run by water-power. Mr. Waters had the charge of it, and was often heard to say " there was hardly a barn in Worcester county under which he had not bent his back to scrape up saltpetre."
Asa Waters, second, born November 2, 1769, was quite as much distinguished as his father for his mechanical and inventive talents, and he was constantly engaged in the armory business most of his life. Congress having estab- lished two national armories, one at Springfield and one at Harper's Ferry, passed a law in 1808, appropriating $200,000 annually for furnishing arms and equipments to the different States. For this purpose they selected six well known mechanics, among whom were Eli Whitney of New Haven and Asa Waters of Sutton; to whom contracts were issued from time to time, for a term usually of five years. In that same year of 1808, Asa and his brother Elijah erected on the Blackstone river, below the Singletary, the armory building, which still remains in the Armory village of now Millbury, and hence its name. Elijah died a few years after, leaving Asa to prosecute the business alone, which he did with energy and success, and he was continued in the contract service of the United States until the day of his death, which was December 24, 1841.
His armory was in active operation and of useful service in the war with England in 1812, and its business was largely increased by the manufacture of scythes, saw mill saws, smelting iron, cast steel, etc. Mr. Waters at the time of the separation of Millbury from Sutton, in 1813, was forty-four years of age. He was therefore essentially a product of Sutton, and it may not be considered out of place if a few more incidents of his life and his armory are given in these pages.
While in the contract service of the United States he introduced various improvements, among which were two which completely revolutionized the English mode of making gun barrels, which was to weld them by hand, and then grind them by hand before a revolving stone. Mr. Waters
572
MANUFACTURES OF THE
invented a process of welding them by power under trip- hammers, by which the work was done much better, quicker and cheaper.
It was adopted at all the armories in the United States, by many in Europe, and is still in use. He took out a patent, October 25, 1817, and his claim to originality has never been disputed.
Grinding them down was found to leave the metal of unequal thickness, and the barrels liable to explode. In December 1818 he took out a patent for turning them in a lathe. In this he succeeded until he came to the irregular shape of the butt; there he was completely foiled, and so were the most ingenious mechanics in all the armories.
At last, in sheer desperation, he sent for a young man living in a border farming district, of whom he had heard as having some genius for mechanics. When he came he seemed a stranger to all present, appeared uncouth and awkward, had a stammering tongue, and little was expected of him. But he had no sooner glanced his eye over the machine, and seen what was wanted, than he suggested an additional but very simple motion, which relieved the diffi- culty at once, and proved a perfect success. It was adopted at all the armories in the United States, and has been in constant use ever since ; and as it saves more than half a dollar on each gun, some estimate may be formed of its value to this country. This verdant youth, then called " Stammering Tom," was none other than the now famous Thomas Blanchard, whose inventive genius has rarely been surpassed in this or any other age. It was then and there, as he afterwards said, that he first conceived the idea of his world renowned machine for turning irregular forms, such as gun stocks, shoe lasts, tackle blocks, spokes, busts, and so on ad infinitum, and it was here he exhibited his first model.
Mr. Waters was the founder of Millbury bank. Hc obtained its first charter, and was for many years its first president. He was also the founder of five water privileges on the Blackstone, as follows : the Berlin mills, the sash and blind works of C. D. Morse, the Atlanta mills or old armory,
干
MANCHAUG VILLAGE.
575
TOWN OF SUTTON.
the Cordis mills, and the Wilkinsonville mills, for all of which he built the dams and canals, except for the Berlin mills. This he saved from its threatened utter obliteration, by purchasing it of the Blackstone Canal Company, at the time the canal was abandoned and the lands reverted to their original owners. For his moral and general character refer- ence is made to his " obituary," written by Dr. Buckingham, then of Millbury, now of Springfield, and published in the Worcester Palladium soon after his death, December 24, 1841.
After his death, his son, Asa Holman Waters, who was also born in Sutton, carried on the armory business till the expiration of the United States contract with A. Waters and son, January 1, 1845, when the business came to a sudden, abrupt and almost final termination, and not of this armory alone, but of all the private armories in the United States service, of which there were six.
These armories were established under a law of Congress, passed in 1808, which has never been repealed, unless recently ; they had been repeatedly recognized by the secre- taries of war, from John C. Calhoun down, as a part of the United States system of supplying arms, and the duty of sustaining them had been repeatedly enjoined upon Con- gress. The owners, therefore, had regarded them as perma- nent establishments, and had invested largely in tools and machinery, which were nearly worthless for any other pur- pose. This sudden and untimely surcease was a great disappointment, a great injury, and an act of eminent injustice to the contractors, and also to their workmen, who had become expert on certain parts, knew no other trade, and had settled down in comfortable homes near the armories. Their vocation was gone. The real cause of this unjust act was for some time concealed. When the contractors remon- strated to the chief of ordnance, Colonel George Talcott, he said " it was done in obedience to instructions from the Hon- orable Secretary of War." This honorable secretary was Wilkins of Pennsylvania, who soon after retired from the office, and when inquired of why he issued the order, said,
576
MANUFACTURES OF THE
"he did not know he had; that Talcott sent in so many papers it was much as he could do to sign them ; he had no time to read them."
The condition of things at the department appeared to be, that while honorable secretaries were coming and going every few months, Talcott remained there in permanence ; had been there many years, and had become a perfect autocrat in the office. The only use he had for honorable secretaries was to sign his papers, and if any complaint arose, his uniform reply was, " Done in obedience to instructions from the Honorable Secretary of War," thus making the secretary the scape-goat for all his sins. But a terrible retribution came at last.
When President Polk came into power, he appointed as secretary of war a lawyer from New Orleans by the name of Conrad, whose knowledge of war office business was confined chiefly to the " code and pistols for two." He took the customary round of visiting the armories and arsenals, and wherever he went he noticed vast stacks and pyramids of cannon ball. On his return he sent a simple order to (now) General Talcott to issue no more contracts for cannon ball.
Not long after, among the papers sent in for him to sign, he happened to notice a new contract for cannon ball. He writes to Talcott to know why it was issued. Talcott replies in his usual style, " done in obedience to instructions," etc. Conrad answers that " so far from being in obedience, it was in disobedience to instructions," etc. Talcott, in reply, had the presumption to reaffirm his former statement. Conrad's ire was raised at once; said he did not know much about cannon ball, but on questions of veracity he was at home. Being in official station he could not challenge Talcott, and so he ordered him to be tried by court martial before a board of which General Winfield Scott was made judge advocate. Much more was proved on the trial than was expected. It appeared in evidence that General Talcott was the owner of a large iron foundry in Richmond, Virginia, devoted to making cannon ball; that it was in charge of his nephew, to
577
TOWN OF SUTTON.
whom he issued, from time to time, large contracts upon most favorable terms; that he had become very rich ; was the owner of large blocks in Washington, where he was liv- ing in the style of an eastern nabob.
The mystery of the discontinuance of the private armories was now revealed. The moneys intended for their support found their outlet chiefly through this channel.
General Scott, with his high sense of honor, was greatly shocked that a government official so high in position, a graduate of West Point, a Brigadier-General in the army, and chief of the ordnance department, should be found guilty of such corrupt embezzlement. His sentence was terribly severe, almost without precedent. In brief, it was that General Talcott should be removed from the office of chief of ordnance ; be deprived of his commission of Brig- adier-General ; his name erased from the roll of army officers, and he sent in disgrace out of Washington.
The surviving contractors had thus the satisfaction of see- ing the author of their great wrongs brought to condign punishment, but not of having their business reinstated. The system had been broken up, and most of the armories converted to other pursuits.
When the late civil war broke out, the government were surprised to learn that the retiring secretary of war, Floyd of Virginia, had surreptitiously sent down south nearly all the arms contained in northern arsenals, and they had but one armory left-Springfield -to supply the instant demand.
In this emergency they stretched out their arms implor- ingly to the private armories to resurrect them, but they were all dead, utterly dead, but two, which had barely survived. These were Waters' of Sutton, now Millbury, and Whitney's of New Haven. These were at once resusci- tated, greatly enlarged, and given all the work they could possibly do. As the prices paid were liberal, they at last obtained some just compensation for the wrongs they had suffered.
73
HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Part V.
GENEALOGICAL.
The genealogical record of the families of the town, to which we now introduce the reader, is not the least interest- ing portion of this history.
It has been truly said,
" If you would know who you are, Learn whence you came."
Some speak of genealogical study as dry and unprofita- ble ; and they do this from misapprehension of its importance and interest ; but even these have some pride in being con- sidered as belonging to "good families." Under this head, "good families," some very appropriate remarks are made in an article found in a recent number of the "Popular Sci- ence Monthly," from which we make the following extract :
" There can be no doubt that, as each person now living has had a father and mother, grandfathers and grandmothers, and so on, every one really comes of as old a family as every one else. Moreover, every living eldest son is the heir male of either the senior or a junior branch, not only of the fam- ily of the man who first bore his name, but of progenitors hidden still deeper in the mists of antiquity. We so often hear of families dying out altogether or ending in females, that we come to think that such a fate is the eventual end of all families ; but this is far from being the case. Every man
580
FAMILIES OF THE
living could, if he only knew the data, count up from son to father, from father to grandfather, from generation to gene- ration, until he came to Adam himself. And this is the great difference between good families and families of all other kinds : the members of a good family can tell who their forefathers were, where they lived and whom they mar- ried ; while those who belong to no families in particular are classed in a body, as those who don't know their own grandfathers, or who perhaps never had any to know. The goodness of a family depends much more on the number of its own generations than on any other condition. Given two families in which the number of recorded generations are equal, doubtless the family whose numbers have been the more illustrious would be reckoned the better of the two.
* * If to be educated and cultivated is an object of ambition,and if there is anything in the doctrine of heredity, it may be supposed that the members of a fam- ily who have been of importance enough to leave their names scattered on the bank of the river of time, have had a better chance of being polished, and of handing down their good qualities to their posterity, than those who were swept away by the tide without leaving any mark."
We regret that our record is incomplete. The defect in it arises mainly from two causes, the imperfection of the town records-especially the early records-and the fact that many of the families to whom circulars were sent (and these were sent to every family in town) failed to make any return ; so if these families who did not furnish the informa- tion called for, and which they would gladly see embodied in this history, should be disposed to find fault because of their omission, let it be understood that they have them- selves only to blame.
" In tracing the genealogy of our ancestry, the inquiry una- voidably arises, what motives prompted them to leave for- ever their native country, sever the ties of kindred, and part from the scenes and associations of early life, so dear to the human heart? And the answer comes on every page of his- tory, in every important act of their lives, that it was not for themselves alone, but mainly for their posterity.
581
TOWN OF SUTTON.
" Selfishness is averse to sacrifices ; but their sacrifices were manifold. They wrought for the future, planting the seed of truthful principle that others might reap an abundant har- vest. Here upon these forest covered hill-sides they settled, amidst the rigors of a New England climate, patiently enduring the hardships and dangers of a pioneer life, and left to posterity the result of their labors. How they could perform so much, is a problem difficult of solution to the present generation.
"They rose superior to the circumstances with which they were environed, and by dint of the most arduous effort achieved success, in the face of a multitude of obstacles. Honest as well as earnest, they put their own hands to the axe, the plow and the distaff. Industry was deemed an honor and indolence a disgrace, wherever found. Their principles were not for sale at any price. Dishonesty was at so great a discount, that, so far from passing current, it could not pass at all. Genuine goodness in the character of the person was demanded, and no hypercritical counterfeit was accepted in lieu thereof. They adored realities and abhorred shams. In such a society, mutual and implicit confidence was certain, and fellowship and co-operation, the basis of the strength of society, became inevitable. In this manner they sought to promote the general welfare of soci- ety. To this end they made personal sacrifices and endured unremitting toil in the performance of obligations incumbent upon them as citizens. They did not shirk the performance of disagreeable duties, but assumed the responsibilities of life heroically and discharged all duty faithfully. They were not clannish, believing all the excellencies of human charac- ter were concentered in their own family, but were free to criticise and censure any wrong act of any member thereof. They sought not to hold their convictions in abeyance to win applause or catch the current of popular favor. They were modest and reserved, ready to confer favors upon others, . but quite averse to soliciting them for themselves.
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