USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Marlborough > Marlborough tercentenary celebration : historical souvenir and official program, June 10-19, 1960 > Part 4
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The Marlboro Mirror of March 30, 1861 runs a story derogatory of Sidney Sherman, calling him a pir- ate because he had, just previous thereto, acted as leader of a group of Texans who seized a New Bedford whaling ship laden with oil in Galveston Harbor. This act, the paper said, was not unprecedented, as similar occurrences had taken place in other ports of the sec- cessionist states, and in the pro-slavery states he was being hailed as one of the great heroes of the times. The newspaper recalls the losses sustained by those who had invested in the Texas railroad who would now never get returns on their money. It speaks of his par- ents who sleep in the Spring Hill Cemetery of Marlboro, and as a devastating slur on the Texan hero the paper says, "Sidney is described as a dull boy when at school by those who were his associates".
He died on August 1, 1873 at Galveston, Texas, and his descendants still live in that state. Sidney Sher- man has been highly honored in Texas, and by some factions is esteemed to have done more to establish that great part of our country than General Sam Hous- ton. In Marlboro Sherman's name is scarcely known and nearly lost in oblivion. His case truly represents the biblical saying, "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own Country." Matthew. XIII, 57.
At the time of the Civil War, 1861-1865, Marl- boro's area included what is now the Town of Hudson (which was incorporated in 1866) and over those years the average population was about 6,200 people. The total number who saw war service was, according to a prominent veteran, 831. This would be 131/2% of the population, and of those, 91, or more than one in eleven, died in the service. Marlboro men served in seventy different army organizations in the Civil War besides those who served in the navy.
Continually since the Revolutionary War, there had been at least one militia company in Marlboro, and dis- trict regimental musters were held in Marlboro or some nearby town every year. In the 1840's there were three Marlboro companies, and in the 1850's one com- pany, and in 1860 there were two rifle companies. When the call came from President Lincoln to furnish troops in the spring of 1861, both of these companies were recruited to full strength, and eager to go into action. They were companies F and I of the 13th Regi- ment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. They were fully equipped, even gaudily; their high-crowned hats had a big black feather ornament on one side, and a bronze American Eagle on the other. While they impa- tiently awaited orders in Marlboro, some of their mem- bers resigned to join other regiments that were as- sembled at Boston and ready to leave for the front. Resignations were permissible for the volunter com- panies of that date were unofficial enterprises of patri-
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WAY SIDE COUNTRY STORE
WAYSIDE COUNTRY STOLE
Route 20
Marlboro, Mass.
THE FIRST RESTORED COUNTRY STORE
Established in 1795, purchased by Henry Ford in 1929, moved to Marlboro and reopened July 17, 1930. Must always remain as an Old Time Country Store because of deed restrictions.
Now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Milt R. Swanson and operated on site of Hager's Dam, thus making it the Best Country Store By A Damsite.
FAMOUS FOR . . .
> Old Time Penny Candy > Cheese, strong E'nuff To Vote. > Glass, China and Ironware. > Yankee Saturday Nite Supper. > 55 Kinds of Jam or Jellies.
2 Salty Branches on Tuna Wharf, Rockport, Mass.
otic civilians, and were not subject to government regu- lations until mustered into the United States Army.
Meanwhile a band of music made up of twenty Marlboro men had volunteered and been accepted to accompany the 5th Massachusetts Regiment, and plans to recruit a regiment in Boston to be comprised entirely of Irish immigrants had matured and the Ninth Regi- ment including Company G made up of 65 Marlboro men under Capt. John Carey of Marlboro had been mustered into the U. S. Army on June 11, 1861, for 3- years service. Finally after what seemed to be never- ending delays, the call came for the 13th Massachusetts Regiment, and Marlboro's companies F and I, left by train at the Main St. depot for Boston, and were mus- tered into the U.S. Army for three years on July 16, 1861.
The Marlboro Journal and Mirror of July 16, 1864 notes in two brief paragraphs that Co. I of the 5th Mass. Reg. left Marlboro on July 13th under Capt. A. A. Powers for the camp at Readville near Boston, num- bering 130 men. And on July 15th another company entrained for the same camp under Capt. David L. Brown, who was the lieutenant of Co. I of the 13th when the John Brown Bell was taken from Harper's Ferry in 1861.
Another company was furnished from Marlboro, to serve a term of nine months, so that in all, six com- panies were recruited in Marlboro, the three later ones including many who re-enlisted after being discharged from earlier service. With so many men in so many different branches of the Military Services, Marlboro was represented in campaigns throughout the whole southland. The Irish volunteers who were the first to leave Marlboro suffered the most casualties, including 18 men and Capt. John Carey. The two companies in the 13th Regiment lost in all 21 men, including John L. Spencer who was the first to die of all the Marlboro men and who succumbed at Harper's Ferry. The whole
town of Marlboro turned out for his funeral, even though he had no family in Marlboro, as this was the first instance of the tragedy of war. Many Marlboro men lost an arm or leg, and Postmaster John L. Fay suffered the loss of both an arm and leg, after which he was confined in Libby prison. Others suffered at Andersonville Prison.
At the start of the war Marlboro appropriated large sums of money for equipping her men, and for the sup- port of soldiers' families and after the war for many years for pensions and family relief of service men, before such matters were taken over by the Federal Government.
In 1868 the Civil War veterans formed their local part of the Grand Army of the Republic, naming the post for John Aaron Rawlins who had been a pre-war friend of Gen. U. S. Grant in Galena, Ill. and an adjutant on Grant's staff, and in 1865 chief-of-staff with the rank of general. When Grant was President in 1869 he named John A. Rawlins as Secretary of War in March of that year, but Rawlins died the following September. The Marlboro veterans had at first chosen the name "Lincoln" for their post, but as another post had priority on this name, they adopted the name "Rawlins" shortly after that general's death.
The Spanish American War in 1898 was a brief conflict that began officially April 25, 1898, and treaties of peace were signed August 12, 1898. On May 7, the Marlboro Militia, Company F of the 6th Massachusetts Infantry regiment, entrained for camp at the South Framingham Muster Field, which had been named "Camp Dewey" in recognition of U.S. Admiral George Dewey's sinking of the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay on May 1.
The 1890's - "The Gay Nineties" - was an era of sophistication and the people were tossing about smart phrases with abandon - "Go way back and sit
maricoto Cornet Band
That
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taken
31
CONGRATULATIONS
MARLBORO
ON THE OCCASION OF YOUR
300th BIRTHDAY
We at A&P proudly salute a great city on this memorable occasion. We are very happy to have played a part in the steady growth of this fine community.
For over a century now, our one aim has been to bring more good food to more people for less money.
A&P FOOD STORES
down", "Whede the chicken got the axe," "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay." and other happy verbal shots.
But in Marlboro when Co. F marched down Main Street, carrying full equipment, to enter the Pullman coaches at the loading platform of the Wheeler Dart Express Company's siding, smart quips gave place to solemnity, to tears, and to inspired patriotic declama- tion. Capt. Thomas E. Jackson led his khaki clad com- pany of well drilled soldiers, following the Marlboro Brass Band and a cordon of police. The street was packed with thousands of citizens, and the school chil- dren waving small flags were massed on the High School common. buildings were decorated with bunting; Fac- tory and locomotive engine whistles kept up a continual blast; bells rang and cannon boomed. On May 20th the 6th regiment left Framingham for Camp Alger in Virginia, where Company F was joined later by Marl- boro recruits to bring its enrollment to 109 men.
While the company was at Framingham for two weeks, it was visited daily by hundreds of Marlboro well wishers who brought food in quantity so that the field training there was interspersed with elaborate picnics.
At Camp Alger the food was scandalously poor, and the climate worse. Many were seriously sick, but were able to proceed by boat to join General Shafter's army near Santiago de Cuba, but they did not have a part in the battles of San Juan Hill or El Cavez. Soon after they were transported to Ponce on the island of Puerto Rico under General Miles, and thence marched north along the mountainous roads to San Juan, having a few minor skirmishes along the way. Ernest D. Mar- shall of Company F died in Puerto Rico, and so for him the Marlboro Spanish War Veterans Camp is called the Ernest D. Marshall Post No. 17. William H. Page died on ship board enroute to Cuba, and these seem to be the only deaths while in uniform. Many contracted fevers which later had fatal consequences.
Besides the glory achieved by Marlboro soldiers participating in a war for early victory, Marlboro civil- ians were continually animated by evidences of the war in little trophies sent home - red and yellow rosettes from Spanish uniforms, brass buttons with Spanish in- signia, and small Spanish flags with red and yellow stripes. Captain Jackson brought home a diminutive Puerto Rican lad who had been his servant.
The war had its music - John Philip Sousa's, "Stars and Stripes Forever," and Marlboro quartets on summer nights for many years after sang "Good Bye Dolly Grey," "Just Break the News to Mother," and "The Banks of the Wabash."
As a sort of reward for work well done the State erected the Armory Building on Lincoln Street in 1905. The City erected the "Hiker" monument on Bates Ave- nue, facing the G.A.R. monument.
Since the turn of the century Marlboro citizens along with their fellow Americans have been involved in three serious wars and lived to witness the entirely modern phenomena known as the "Cold War." From 1914 onward the storm clouds gathered until the en- trance of the United States into the First World War in 1917. Previous to the declaration of war, several local men joined foreign armies. Ralph Charleton joined the Canadian Army; Russell Frye and Morgan Curtis joined the "Harvard Unit" for ambulance drivers for the French
army. Many of the Americans who enlisted in foreign armies transferred later to the United States Forces.
Unlike the Spanish American War in which the majority of casualties came from the fevers contracted in a tropical climate, in this war, hand to hand combat, heavy artillery, gas warfare and more advanced weap- ons cost many lives. The leisurely holiday atmosphere of the soldiers drilling at Camp Dewey and picnicking with their families seems idyllic by comparison.
When the war began the 26th Yankee Division under General Clarence R. Edwards left from New England. Included was Marlboro's Company M of the 6th regiment which had been to some extent reorgan- ized to form a military police company. They left Marl- boro on April 17, 1917.
The effects of the war were to be seen in the city as it observed Heatless and Meatless days, joined in supporting Liberty Bond drives, knit innumerable sweaters, and believed religiously that the war was being fought to end all wars.
No sooner had Marlboro extricated herself from the dark days of the depression than the nation was plunged again into the horrors of the Second World War. Approximately 2000 young men and women were drafted or volunteered to serve in almost every corner of the globe. At home citizens bought War Bonds. Practice air raids and blackouts became part of the way of life. There were shortages in most vital commodities and the housewife patiently stood in line waiting to buy with money and handfuls of ration stamps. Civil Air Patrol groups and the Ground Ob- server Corps served in a civilian defense capacity. Fac-
tories worked around the clock and housewives dili- gently saved fats and flattened tin cans. Victory gar- dens flourished and just about everyone learned how to apply a splint or extinguish an incendiary bomb. Fortunately our land was spared the ravages of war but the sense of possibility of attack united all in a sense of the urgency and necessity of community action.
The Korean conflict demonstrated the horrors of even limited warfare and although there was not the same fear of invasion which had encouraged activity during the previous war it is interesting to note that of the 800 Marlboro men who served in this conflict, the majority were enlisted rather than drafted personnel.
Each of these wars in terms of lives lost have been terribly costly. There are few living in Marlboro today who have not been touched personally in the loss of either a relative or friend.
Today we are involved in what has been termed a cold war. Its victories and defeats usually invoive events which can be interpreted for good or evil in the realm of propaganda. The U-2 incident, spy satellites orbiting our globe, and the inter-continental missile which at best might provide a twenty-minute warning system before complete annihilation have removed the concept of war far from the parade ground and musket drill.
The future is unknown. Man by the use of his wisdom might yet prove master of his fate. It is the fervent prayer of all who observe this tercentennial that the historian of a hundred years from now will find himself devoid of subject matter on the matter of war.
33
COMPLIMENTS OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL DRY CLEANERS
ASSOCIATED CLEANERS OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
Hudson - Marlboro - Maynard - Northboro - Southboro - Westboro
CHANI BROS.
MARLBORO
CHARLES CLEANSING CO.
. MARLBORO
CHIC'S CLEANERS
MARLBORO
GOULD CLEANERS
WESTBORO
HILL TOP DRY CLEANERS
MARLBORO
HUDSON CLEANERS
HUDSON
JO-ANN CLEANERS
. SOUTHBORO
JOHN'S CLEANERS
MAYNARD
MAYNARD CLEANERS
MAYNARD
MAYNARD
MIDDLESEX LAUNDERERS & CLEANSERS, INC.
.
NEW SYSTEM LAUNDRY & DRY CLEANSERS, INC. .
MARLBORO
PRIEST'S CLEANING SERVICE
MAYNARD
TOWN CLEANERS
HUDSON
"Mer conceive this lande might he comfortable for our muhsistenre ... "
Towns like Marlboro in the early days were agri- cultural and self-sustaining. Surplus farm products and firewood grown in Marlboro were sold or bartered in Boston to obtain necessary foreign goods. The brooks which abounded in Marlboro provided sufficient water power to run the local grist and sawmills, but not enough to encourage the growth of heavier industries such as weaving or paper manufacture which was de- veloping in other localities.
But by 1810 Marlboro people had found that shoes could be made here entirely by hand labor, using home made tanned leather and linen thread, in quanti- ties large enough to take to Boston for sale. Ephraim Howe is reputed to have been the first to commercialize the home shoe industry, making rough shoes for chil- dren. His success prompted others and soon there were many farmers devoting their spare daylight hours to this business. In 1832 Joseph Boyd and his brother Samuel started a full-time shoe factory, and of course others followed suit and this specialized business grew so fast that by 1850 many Irish and some French-Cana- dian immigrants came here to work in the factories. The discovery of gold at California in 1849 gave impetus to the settlement of the great areas west of the Mississippi and outfitters of expeditions to the west needed shoes in great quantity. This also led to the selling of heavy boots and shoes in the southern states, where cotton raising had reached to boom proportions. Western territorial expansion and southern slave-labor planta- tions had created a demand for shoes in quantity.
The Civil War only added impetus to shoe manu- facturing to equip the northern army. At the end of the war in 1865 many of the Confederate States soldiers were barefoot, but the Union soldiers were well shod.
Meanwhile steam power had been introduced in Marlboro factories to turn the machines that had been invented, by necessity, to speed up shoe production. Bigelow heelmaking and Bigelow peg machines were invented in Marlboro, and the former are still being manufactured; but the greatest boon to the shoemaking industry was the sewing machine with adaptions for heavy leather work. This was the invention of Elias Howe of Spencer, Mass., who was a descendant of John Howe, the first settler of Marlboro. Howe invented the machine in 1845, but it was nearly ten years later before it became used in shoe factories.
The shoe industry prospered after the Civil War in the making of such fine shoes for men, women and children that hand-made shoes were driven off the mar- ket. Many Marlboro men made substantial fortunes in the shoe industry - the Boyd brothers, Joseph, Roger, John and Samuel. The latter, not only employed great numbers in his factories, but built homes for them, es- tablished the gas works and electric plant in Marlboro, promoted the public water supply, built the electric street car line (in 1889, the first in this country), and in 1855 built a branch-line steam railroad to a terminal
station on Marlboro's Main Street, that occasioned the building up of the present business and mercantile sec- tion of the City. He formed a partnership with Thomas Corey for the making of shoes and their several fac- tories were later operated by Rice and Hutchins Co., and then by the Curtis Shoe Co. The Cotting Ave. and Howe St. factories of this concern are today still turning out shoes and operated by the John Addison Foot Wear Co. and the Diamond Shoe Corp.
S. H. Howe and Co. had several factory buildings in the West Village of the City, one of which today makes shoes under the name of B. A. Corbin and Son. Another is occupied by the Koehler Mfg. Co., makers of metal products.
The John A. Frye Shoe Co. had a factory at the corner of Pleasant and Chestnut Streets with a tannery connected. They manufactured men's work shoes, and an annual event was the display in a store window of a pair of shoes, size 22, made especially for a southern negro, who if standing tip-toe must have had a reach that would exceed that of today's seven-foot-tall bas- ketball players. Today the factory operates under the same name, but entirely different ownership.
Another old-time shoe factory is still standing on Howe St. and was owned by John O'Connell and Sons, one of the Irish immigrants who became a factory owner. There were several other shoe factories in Marl- boro, all producing in the 1890's, at which time Marl- boro was rated as producing more shoes per year than any other city in the United States.
T
35
CONGRATULATIONS TO
MARLBOROUGH ON ITS
300th ANNIVERSARY
,
Bay State Abrasive Products Company
WESTBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS
Today the shoe industry still employs a large seg- ment of the local population, but since the turn of the century newer industries here and in the surrounding communities have made gradually increasing demands of the labor supply.
The Koehler Manufacturing Company was estab- lished in 1912 at its present location on Lincoln Street by Mr. Ernest Koehler. The wooden frame factory, a former S. H. Howe Shoe Plant was leased to Mr. Koehler by B. A. Corbin & Son Company for the purpose of manufacturing the Koehler Flame Safety Mine Lamp. In 1915 the business was acquired by Mr. Henry G. Powning and Mr. Henry G. Lapham and incorporated as a new company in 1917. In 1920 a two-story brick building was built adjacent to the original factory, com- pleting the facilities as they exist today. At about the time the present owners took over the company, the late Mr. Grant Wheat, inventor, joined the staff, bring- ing with him his new electric miner's cap lamp. The first Wheat Rechargeable Cap Lamp won U. S. Bureau of Mines approval in 1919 and became one of the first such lamps to be used in this country. Since that time the Koehler Company has continued to specialize in underground lighting equipment and in recent years has grown to become a leader in this field. In 1935 arrangements were made with the firm of Oldham & Son Limited of Manchester, England, whereby the Wheat Electric Cap Lamp would be manufactured and sold under license by them in the Eastern Hemisphere. Since that time the Wheat Lamp has been manufactured by Oldham plants in six different countries. Koehler Manufacturing Company and Oldham & Son Limited continue today to work together on the development of safer and more efficient lamps for the mining industry.
Although specializing in mine lighting equipment, the company has maintained through the years a suc- cessful Metal Stampings business, producing parts on a contract basis for many large New England firms. Over the years it has been a large producer of shoe last hardware and is today the largest single manufacturer of metal parts for the shoe last industry. Recently the company has diversified its stamping business through the requirements of the electronic companies located in this area in the form of miniature parts fabricated from many unusual materials.
Another group of products which the company has developed during the more recent years includes an assortment of hand spotlights for both commercial and consumer use. Today the "Commando," a dry-cell spot- light, stands as one of the most popular hand lamps of its kind on the market. A great many Koehler Lamps of both the rechargeable and dry-cell type may be found in use by the country's leading Fire and Police Depart- ments, as well as the armed forces.
The Koehler Manufacturing Company, presently owned and managed by Mr. Kimball C. Powning, is actively engaged in developing new products and looks forward to an expansive and prosperous future in Marlboro.
Aaron Dennison, a watchmaker and jeweler, trav- eled from Boston to Portland and Brunswick, Me., in 1844 with pasteboard and glazed papers and with the skillful help of his father, Andrew Dennison, a shoe cutter, and his two daughters, completed the first set-up boxes in America. These boxes were sold to the jewel- ry trade in Boston and proved to be better made and
finer appearing than any boxes the jewelry trade had ever seen.
Anxiety to meet the problem of supply was quick- ly overcome for father and son put their heads together and worked out a paper box machine. Before the end of the year ten hands were employed and by the fol- lowing year the output of the homestead workshop yielded $2,000. Within a few years the industry was firmly established and the box business increased con- siderably. E. W. Dennison was put in charge of selling boxes, and seeing unlimited expansion opportunities, he opened an office in Boston in 1850.
In 1894 the manufacturing of boxes was trans- ferred to the Dennison Tag Plant in Roxbury. In 1897 Dennison business had greatly expanded and it was moved to a new location in Framingham. On January 26, 1923, a new five-story factory was opened in Marlboro for the making of boxes. In 1927 an addition was built.
For the past 37 years the Dennison Box Division at Marlboro has produced fine quality paper and plastic boxes for the jewelry trade. It has diversified into the production of made-to-order boxes for some of the country's leading manufacturers of prestige merchan- dise.
A substantial number of the 275 people currently employed are Marlboro folks, many of whom started with the company back in 1923 and are still on the ac- tive payroll.
The Marlboro Wire Goods Company was started in March of 1921 by Hector E. Moineau and three asso- ciates. It was incorporated in April of that same year and activities were started in an old shoe factory which then stood at the corner of High and Exchange Sts. This building has since been demolished.
The business prospered and, in 1924, a part of the present building was built and into it the new company moved in January of 1925.
Rapid progress was made and, in 1929, additional space was required, so an extension was built on the west side of the original plant. This sufficed for ap- proximately eight years.
In 1937, the Marlboro Wire Goods Company found itself again cramped for space so that an additional building, just about equal in area to the original one, was designed and built between the original plant and Winthrop St.
Through the years, a great many different items have been produced in this plant, from small items for household use to wire carrier baskets for super-markets and large size display racks for all types of material.
Lamp guards, fan guards and many other items have been produced also. Besides that, a large number of sub-assemblies and parts for other manufacturers have been made.
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