USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Lee > Lee : the centennial celebration and centennial history of the town of Lee, Mass. > Part 24
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product of the Hurlbut Paper Company per day is 10,000 lbs., all of fine quality. Mr. Owen died at Stockbridge in 1870, no children surviving him. The business of the Owen Paper Company is conducted by Mr. Henry D. Cone, who married the widow of Edward H., son of Major Owen.
HARRISON GARFIELD AND BENTON BROTHERS.
Mr. Garfield, who is a native of Lee, born in 1810, and is now the oldest manufacturer of writing paper in the country in active business, began manufacturing in part- nership with Caleb Benton, operating the old Forest Mill. Previously, he had been three years in the meat business with Capt. T. E. M. Bradley. The Forest Mill, which was built in 1819 by Luman Church for the manufacture of fine writing paper, was the third mill built in town, and the first built on the Lake May outlet. Mr. Church not succeeding in the business, the mill was run for several years by Joseph and Leonard Church, and afterward by. James Whiting & Son, who sold to Jared Ingersoll and Caleb Benton. Mr. Ingersoll sold his interest to his
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partner in 1835, and the firm of Benton and Garfield was formed the following year. For nearly a third of a cen- tury, these two veteran paper-makers worked together in harmony, building up a large and flourishing business. In 1846, they built the Mountain Mill, which they ope- rated 7 or 8 years, and then sold to P. C. Baird. In '49, they bought the Forest Grove Mill, built in 1836, but idle till '40, when Mr. Joseph B. Allen began making coarse papers. In '54 they built the Greenwood Mill. The Forest Mill was burned in '52, but immediately rebuilt. After the death of Mr. Benton in 1866, the business was divided, Mr. Benton's sons, Charles G. and James F. Ben- ton, under the firm name of Benton Brothers, taking the Greenwood Mill, and Mr. Garfield retaining the Forest and the Forest Grove Mills. Benton Brothers have one of the best mills in the country, having an overshot wheel with 30 feet fall. Only fine paper is made at these mills. Mr. Garfield, besides caring for his paper mills, is presi- dent of the National and Savings banks, carries on a store, is largely engaged in agriculture, has one of the finest private greenhouses and graperies in the county, is Pres- ident of the Lee Library Association, and is ever ready to give personal and pecuniary aid to all deserving public and charitable enterprises. He has served the town faith- fully as a Selectman, and represented her in both houses of the Legislature.
THE NEW ENGLAND MILL-CHAFFEE AND HAMBLIN.
This mill was originally built by Church and Brown in 1829, and under the name of Waverly Mill was bought of Mr. Charles Ballard in 1855, by Messrs. Chaffee and Hamblin. Mr. Prentiss Chaffee was born in Becket in 1809, and was a farmer there till, in connection with his nephew, Mr. W. H. Hamblin, a native of Lee, born in 1832, he commenced this new business, of which neither 38
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himself nor his partner had till then any practical knowl- edge. The water privilege is one of the best in Water street, having sixteen feet fall, and the united streams from Lake May and Greenwater Pond for supply. An overshot wheel drives three rag engines, converting 1,600 pounds of rags daily into pulp. The number of hands employed is 24, and the daily production 1,000 pounds flat cap paper, used mainly for blank and writing books. Payson, Dunton & Scribner's writing books are made of this paper. Messrs. Chaffee & Hamblin have built up an enviable reputation for the manufacture of their peculiar paper, and their success in business attests their industry, integrity and talent.
E. & S. MAY AND S. S. ROGERS
The Messrs. May are natives of Putney, Vt. The sen- ior partner, E. S. May, born in 1809, commenced his business life as a woolen manufacturer in 1833, at Wal- pole, N. H., removed his business to Granby Mass., in 1835, began the manufacture of paper in Lee in 1840. His brother, S. S. May, younger by four years, served a regular apprenticeship in paper manufacture, and came to Lee in 1834 as foreman of the Columbia Mill, owned at that time by W., W. & C. Laflin. In 1837, in connec- tion with Jared Ingersoll, he bought an interest in a small paper mill, the first one built on the Lake May stream. In 1839, the mill was burned, and Mr. E. S. May bought out Mr. Ingersoll's interest the following year, when the mill was rebuilt. Lake May reservoir could originally be drawn down only 18 inches, and was used solely for driv- ing a saw-mill at its outlet. But the Messrs. May, in con- nection with other manufacturers, have raised the dam at the outlet so that 13 feet of water can now be drawn, the reservoir being a mile and a half long and three-quarters of a mile wide. In 1845, the May Brothers built the
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Middle Mill, on a site above their original mill. Straw wrapping paper was the manufacture of both mills till competition reduced the profits, when, in 1848, the Mays introduced the first Fourdrinier machine ever set up in Berkshire county for the manufacture of fine paper. In 1853, the Mahaiwe mill was built, and the succeeding year Mr. S. S. Rogers became a partner, the firm name being May & Rogers. Mr. Rogers is a native of New Marlboro, born in 1823, and for the first years of his business life was a merchant. In the division of labor in the new firm, Mr. Rogers had charge of marketing the production, while the Mays attended to the manufacturing depart- ment. The average daily consumption of rags varies from 3,600 to 4,000 pounds. The production of the three mills is 2,500 pounds fine writing paper, largely used in the Government offices at Washington. Their wash water, so essential in the production of fine paper, is of excel- lent quality, from a famous spring on the old Chanter place, to secure which, they bought the whole farm of 180 acres. The firm of May & Rogers was dissolved in 1877, the May brothers taking the two lower mills and Mr. Rogers the Mahaiwe. Both of the new firms are assisted in their business by their sons. The Messrs. May have given much time to the public, both having served faith- fully as Selectmen and legislators, and Mr. E. S. May as County Commissioner. Mr. Rogers was also honored with the Presidency of the Lee and Hudson Railroad.
P. C. BAIRD.
Mr. Baird is the oldest son of the late Kendall Baird, Esq., of Becket. He came to Lee in '53 with his cousin, J. C. Chaffee, who was a jeweler, and through their en- ergy and enterprise built up a large business. In '54 he sold out to Mr. Chaffee, and bought of Benton & Garfield the upper Forest Mill. In '59, he bought of the estate of
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Couch & Clark the Congress Mill built by Bradford M. Couch in 1852. In '61 the Forest Mill was burned and never rebuilt. In '63 he bought of Linn & Smith the National Mill, and of Mr. Orton Heath the Greenwater Mill. Mr. Baird makes collar paper ; can manufacture about 3,500 pounds daily, and sells mostly in Boston and New York. In '64, he began the manufacture of paper collars. In all his enterprises his energy and persever- ance have conquered a success. He has represented the town in both branches of the Legislature.
BLAUVELT & GILLMOR .- JAMES GILLMOR.
Blauvelt & Gillmor came to Lee in '64, to manufacture twine from manila paper, occupying the mill farthest East on Lake May brook, which was formerly owned by Eldridge & Northrup. During the war, when all cotton products were very high, the twine made from manila paper proved an excellent substitute for cotton. The value of the manufactured article has since fallen from 60 cents to 20 cents per pound. In '68, the twine factory was removed to Lee from Paterson. In '72, October 25, the mill was burned, and Mr. Blauvelt returned to Pater- son. Mr. Gillmor rebuilt the mill, but it was burned again 1877, March 1. Not discouraged, Mr. Gillmor re- built in the Summer of 1877, and his mill is now in suc- cessful operation.
In concluding this account of the leading industry of Lee, it is due to the paper manufacturers to say, that they have all stood the panic pressure of the last four years with great firmness. None have failed, and the business probably never rested on a surer foundation than it does to-day. Imports from competing manufacturers in Eng- land, France and Germany, have nearly ceased, and a hopeful effort is now being made to supply these and other foreign countries with many lines of American paper.
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SUBSIDIARY INDUSTRIES.
RAG-ENGINES.
IN connection with the paper business, other industries, aside from the machine shops already mentioned, have sprung up that deserve notice. One of the first wants of a paper mill is knives or rather bars, by which, fas- tened into wooden cylinders, the rags are torn into pulp without injuring the fibre. Each cylinder of a rag-engine requires from forty to ninety of these bars, which are made of one-fifth steel and four-fifths iron. Soon after the manufacture of paper was started in this town, Mr. Cornelius Barlow, a blacksmith, commenced making these rag knives, as they were called, first at his shop which was located in the northeast part of the town near what is now called the Tuttle Bridge. This shop burning down, and the forging of these knives demanding more than muscular power, he bought a water privilege at East Lee, and began forging them by water-power. Mr. Barlow's health failing, he sold out his shop to Henry Murray, who took in John Dowd as a partner in 1847, and the busi- ness was conducted for six years by the firm of Murray & Dowd. In 1853, Mr. R. J. Dowd, a brother of John, bought out Mr. Murray's interest, and the firm of J. & R. J. Dowd was constituted. These gentlemen were na- tives of Sandisfield. Both learned their trade of Mr. Murray and by diligence and skill built up such a repu- tation that their work was sought for from all parts of the country. Their orders varied from year to year, as the paper business ebbed and flowed, some years amount- ing to $20,000, and others to only half this sum. In
the Spring of 1877, Mr. John Dowd bought out his broth- er's interest, and is now assisted by his son, Mr. R. J. Dowd removing to Beloit, Wisconsin, where he has estab- lished a similar manufactory.
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WATER-WHEELS.
A very necessary adjunct of a paper mill run by wa- ter, is a water-wheel. Mr. E. D. Jones, a wheelwright, commenced the manufacture of turbine and other wheels at East Lee in 1856. Mr. Jones was master of his busi- ness, and established an enviable reputation and a snug fortune in manufacturing wheels and building paper mills. He took large contracts not only in this but in neighbor- ing towns, and desiring a more central location, removed to Pittsfield in 1866, selling out his establishment at East Lee to Henry Couch and Freeland Oakley, who learned their trade of him. Messrs. Couch and Oakley have con- tinued the business successfully and are turning out work from their establishment to the amount of about $12,000 per annum.
THE MARBLE BUSINESS.
From the early settlement of the town it was known that extensive beds of limestone cropped out in the west- ern half of the town, being a continuation of the lime- rock of Vermont that extends through Berkshire County into Connecticut. Most of the limestone of Lee is dolo- mite, a compound of the carbonate of lime and magne- sia, but much of it has a fine white grain, and can be cut to a sharp edge and polished highly. The farmers on whose land this rock cropped out regarded it as a nui- sance, little thinking that one day it would prove a source. of great wealth to the town. The marble of West Stock- bridge was quarried and sent to market in the latter part of the eighteenth century, but that of Lee was con- sidered so remote from tide-water that the transportation would be too expensive to allow of its being marketed with profit. On the farm of David Ingersoll, where now is the quarry of Mr. Warren P. Wilde, the stone lay in strata near the surface, and these Mr. Ingersoll got out
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in considerable quantity, but mainly for hearth and step stones. The older inhabitants remember the two large and beautiful specimens of marble from this quarry which Mr. Ingersoll got out for the horse-blocks of the church built in 1800. Many of the step-stones of the present residences of the town were quarried by Mr. Ingersoll in the olden time, and are fine specimens of marble.
But it was not till the Housatonic railroad opened an avenue to market that the Lee marble gained a noto- riety. It was about this time that Congress determined upon an enlargement of the Capitol at Washington and a commission was appointed to examine the marbles of the country and decide which was best for building pur- poses. The Lee marble was found to stand a much greater pressure than any other, and also to be quite free from iron and other impurities. Mr. Charles Heebner, an im- porter and dealer in marble at Philadelphia, was active in bringing the Lee marble to the attention of the com- mission, and in 1852 purchased the farm of William L. Culver, near the village of Lee, made a contract with the Government for furnishing half a million cubic feet for the Capitol enlargement, and in connection with his part- ners, Messrs. Rice and Baird, opened what has since been known as the Heebner quarry, building a branch railroad from the Housatonic into it, so that the marble could be hoisted from the quarry directly upon the cars. Mr. Heebner was the manager of the quarry and was a man of great energy, strong will and good judgment. The enterprise was a success. Twelve years were allowed in the contract for the delivery of the marble at Washing- ton, and during these years, Mr. Heebner employed about a hundred men. He also purchased, in connection with some parties in New York, a section of the farm of Mr. C. K. Lanphier and the whole of the Van Deusen farm, and opened what has been called the New York quarry.
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Mr. Heebner lived to fulfill his contract with the Govern- ment and at its expiration in 1865, he had delivered at Washington 491,570 cubic feet of marble, receiving there- for $865,043, besides furnishing stone for sundry smaller buildings in New York and Philadelphia. The business brought much money into town and was a great help to the Housatonic road, down which the marble was trans- ported to Bridgeport, and thence shipped to Washington. Mr. Heebner died at Philadelphia in 1867, but the Heebner and New York quarries were scon purchased of his estate by Mr. Frank S. Gross, a nephew who had been trained to the business by his uncle, and who still continues to work them. Mr. Gross has introduced all the modern improvements for quarrying, using eight channeling ma- chines driven by steam, each of which does the work of twenty men. He also runs a steam diamond-drill for horizontal drilling, that bores a hole into a rock faster than an auger penetrates wood. In the ten years during which Mr. Gross has had possession of the quarries, he has shipped between six and seven hundred thousand cubic feet of marble, part of which went to Boston and New York, but most of it to Philadelphia, where it has been used for the enlargement of Girard College and more especially for the erection of the City Hall, a magnificent structure which will require years for its completion.
In 1871, Mr. Warren P. Wilde, who had been working the quarries of Pleasantville, N. Y., and had a large con- tract for furnishing marble for the Catholic Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, New York, purchased the quarry originally opened by David Ingersoll, and immediately commenced shipping marble. This quarry works with great ease as the stone are so stratified, but the marble is not of the finest quality, nor does it furnish such magnificent blocks as are quarried by Mr. Gross. Mr. Wilde uses no steam power but employs a dozen men and ships about 30,000
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cubic feet annually. There is no limit to the supply of marble which this town can furnish, and the marble im- proves in color and quality the deeper the quarries are worked.
THE LUMBER BUSINESS.
Lumber, which in the early history of the town was one of the chief articles of export, was pretty much ex- hausted in the first half of the present century, the for- ests being cut off not only for this purpose, but for mak- ing charcoal, and more especially for furnishing firewood, the paper mills using up large quantities for generating steam. The neighboring towns, Washington, Becket, Otis and Tyringham, supplied the demand here for com- mon lumber, but for nice work resort was had to Albany ; no regular lumber yard being established here till 1850, when one was opened by Mr. George F. Bradley. The business was conducted on a small scale at first, but grad- ually increased and proved a great convenience to the town and the foundation of a small fortune to the pro- prietor. Mr. Bradley's health failing, he sold out his business in 1869 to Luther Ball, a grandson of Nathan Ball, one of the original settlers of the town, and his brother-in-law, William H. Baldwin. The new firm of Ball & Baldwin sold, the first year, $15,000 worth of lumber, and the business has steadily increased, amount- ing in one year to $50,000, and in these dull times for building averaging $30,000 at retail and $8,000 by car- load. Most of their nice lumber is brought directly from the saw-mills in Michigan and Canada. They keep on hand a stock varying from $8,000 to $10,000 in value. Much lumber is still brought to Lee from the neighbor- ing towns.
THE COAL BUSINESS.
Coal was an article seldom seen in Lee in the first half of this century. With the building of the Housatonic
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railroad in 1850 came increased facilities for obtaining this most condensed form of fuel, and it has gradually supplanted wood both in mills and private dwellings. Even farmers, owners of wood lots, find it cheaper to burn coal than to haul, cut and store wood. The first dealers in coal were John Ingersoll and William T. Fish. The first regular coal yard in town was started by Messrs. Benjamin Hull and David Dresser, under the firm name of Hull & Dresser, in 1859. The business at first was small; the sales, the first year, amounting to only 200 tons, which were mainly used in private dwellings. The paper mills soon substituted coal for wood in generating steam, but the proprietors mostly bought directly from the shippers by wholesale. Mr. Hull dying in 1863, was succeeded in the coal business by Messrs. Platt & Barnes of West Stockbridge, and the firm name was changed to Dresser & Co., and in this name the business is still con- ducted, though Mr. Dresser and P. M. Shaylor now consti- tute the company. The retail trade in coal of this firm averages 1,500 tons annually. In 1872, Messrs. F. W. Gibbs and A. M. Holmes started another coal yard here which is still continued under the name of Perry, Hull & Co. The sales of this yard also average about 1,500 tons. The whole amount of coal consumed in this town annually is estimated at 12,000 tons, and the consumption continues to increase.
THE MEAT BUSINESS.
So long as Lee was a substantially agricultural town, there was no meat market here nor even a slaughter- house. The farmers fattened and slaughtered their own meat, furnishing the mechanics " by the quarter," mainly in the way of barter, and keeping up a supply of " fresh " among themselves by exchange with their neighbors. In the summer, a calf or sheep was slaughtered occasionally,
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but the main reliance for meat at this season of the year was on the beef and pork barrels, and "potluck " was the staple dish for dinner. Much beef and pork found a market at Hudson, and some was carried to Boston. The price of meat was low in those days, beef selling for five and six cents a pound by the quarter, and pork for four and five. Nathaniel Bassett, the blacksmith of the village, did the " butchering " as it was called, for his neighbors, and took his pay in a piece of meat, which he sometimes sold. He was a very conscientious man, and when meat began to appreciate he hardly dared to ask the market price. Offering a nice cutlet of veal to Dr. Hyde, he was asked the price. His reply was, " They say veal is selling for six cents, but, good George!" a favorite exclamation which he had learned in the days of George the Third, "veal was never worth so much, and you may have it for five cents." In 1830, Capt. Thomas E. M. Bradley started a slaughter-house at the upper end of the village, and commenced running a meat cart from house to house. The first regular meat market was established in 1852 by Messrs. Dyke and Babcock, who were bought out by Messrs. James Bullard and C. E. Hinckley in 1857. Another was started by Robert B. Cheney in 1862, and these two firms still continue the business. Their average sales for the past few years have been $30,000 each. In war times they amounted to $50,000. Much beef and pork are brought to these markets from neighboring towns, and in the Summer most of the beef is purchased in Albany.
THE MERCHANTS OF LEE.
The name of the Lee merchants is legion, for there have been many, and it is exceedingly difficult to trace them through their many changes. Nathan Dillingham was the first who, soon after the incorporation of the
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town, opened a small store in one of the rooms of his hotel, the Red Lion, located on the lot which is now the residence of Abiel H. Pease. Teas, spices, liquors, and a few dry goods constituted the bulk of his goods, and the trade was mostly by barter. The business increasing, he erected a building purposely for trade and took in Corne- lius T. Fessenden as a partner. The firm of Dillingham & Fessenden seem to have had a monopoly of the mer- cantile business here till nearly the close of the last cen- tury, when John Howk, in connection with a Mr. Hall, opened a store in a double log house formerly occupied by his father, Richard Van Huyck, as the name was orig inally spelled, and located west of the residence of the late Albert M. Howk. About the same time, Mr. Eben- ezer Jenkins, a well-to-do farmer living a mile east of Mr. J. B. Freeman on what has been known of late years as the Harteau place, becoming satisfied that the business of the town would center around the church, sold out his farm and built a house and store on the south side of the park, on the site now occupied by Dewitt S. Smith.
Major Dillingham continued in trade till the war of 1812, and may be called the patriarch of Lee merchants. He brought up a large family of children, most of whom made their mark in the world. Two sons were educated at Williams College, one of whom became a distinguished lawyer and the other a prominent educator. Two inher- ited their father's taste for trade and became merchants, one at Hartford, Conn., and the other at Columbus, Ga. Two daughters were deaf and dumb, and these were edu- cated at the Hartford Asylum, one afterwards assisting her father as clerk, and the other becoming an assistant matron at the Asylum.
The war of 1812 brought with it changes in the mer- cantile and other business of the town. Thomas C. Du- rant succeeded Messrs. Dillingham & Fessenden, and
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Messrs. Elisha Foote and Ransom Hinman opened a store in connection with their duck factory. This was located on the site of the store now occupied by William Taylor. John B. Perry, son of Rev. David Perry, of Richmond, Mass., also bought out Mr. Jenkins, and continued in trade here till his death in 1843, in the meantime erect- ing a new store on the west of his house, and selling the old Jenkins building which stood on the east side, and was converted into the rear part of the residence of the late Joseph Bassett. Mr. Perry was one of the most perma- nent and successful of the Lee merchants. His business was never large, but was conducted so prudently that he escaped the wrecks which so many of his contemporaries suffered.
Oliver Ives succeeded Foote & Hinman in 1817, and was in turn succeeded by J. & L. Church in 1820, by Church & Bassett in 1832, and by William Taylor, the present occupant and the most permanent and, on the whole, the most successful of the Lee merchants, in 1837.
In 1824, Messrs. Laflin, Loomis & Co., bought a part of the old duck factory building and moved it to where Chauncey T. Smith's tin shop now stands, and started a store of more pretensions than had been customary in Lee. This firm was succeeded by W., W. & C. Laflin in 1833, by John King in 1835, by Ranney & Boies in 1836, by Laflin & Mills in 1840, and by L. L. Mills & Co. in 1845.
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