USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts of today; a memorial of the state, historical and biographical, issued for the World's Columbian exposition at Chicago > Part 77
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LEWIS D. APSLEY.
years he enlarged his plant, and at the end of the third year of his business career in Hudson he was doing the largest business in the manufacture of gossamer gar- ments of any concern in the country. His brilliant business qualities were even then recognized to the extent that he was unanimously chosen president of the Gossamer Manufacturers' Association of the United States. A little later his plant was burned, but with his characteristic will and indomitable enterprise he started at once to build, and build large. Sixteen acres of farm land were purchased half a mile from the town centre, three acres of which are utilized for his plant. Here the style of garments he made was changed. Mackin- toshes became the product of those new brick factories, which are a model of their kind. The annual output now is greater than that of any sim- ilar plant in the country ; and the number of employees is three hundred. Mr. Apsley erected a boarding-house and tenements for his employees, and gave land for the opening of a highway, being desirous that all in his service should fare well. Mr. Aps- ley was chief promoter of the establishment of the town's Board of Trade, of which he is president. He is also a director in the Hudson National Bank and Hud- son Real Estate Company, is a Knight Templar, a mem- ber of the Mystic Shrine, an Odd Fellow, Granger and member of the I. O. R. M. In politics he is a Republican and has represented his party on every committee from representative to congressional. Mr. Apsley was this year (1892) elected to Congress.
606
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
THE career of William H. Brigham furnishes a fruit- ful theme for contemplation, and demonstrates what application to business principles can accomplish in a comparatively brief time. Mr. Brigham comes from a stock that settled early in this region of Middle- sex County, and the Brighams for generations have been noted for their sturdiness and general capacity. Mr. Brigham is now the manager of the boot and shoe firm of F. Brigham & Co., a business which was established in 1834 by Francis Brigham, the pioneer shoe manufacturer in what is now Hudson. He it was who intro- duced the first sew- ing-machine and the first pegging ma- chine, and left as a legacy to his heirs a fortune, a lucrative business and a fine reputation. Upon his death there was or- ganized the firm above mentioned, which consists of two of the sons of the founder, Rufus H. and Wilbur F., and the grandson, William H., who pulls the working and effective "oar" in this long- established and time- honored house. Mr. William H. Brigham was born Feb. 1, 1863. There was nothing to distin- guish his early career from that of other lads.
WILLIAM H. BRIGHAM.
He attended the public schools in his bright and healthy boyhood. Later he graduated from a Boston commercial college, and afterward had charge of the books in the factory over which he now practically presides. Mr. Brigham first came promi- nently to the public attention as an amateur base-ball player, being connected with a local nine which, as a strictly amateur team, had few, if any, equals in the State, and a brilliant success was prophesied for him
on the professional field; but he had entered into athletics for the pleasure and exhilaration to be derived therefrom, not with any view of training for professional honors. As a lad he was much interested in the local fire department, and when the " Buckets " were organ- ized, one of the first of the younger companies of his native place, he was promptly chosen foreman. Mr. Brigham was also much interested in military matters, and was one of the prime movers in organizing Com- pany M, Fifth Regi- ment, M. V. M., and was chosen its first lieutenant. He re- mained in the mili- tia three years, and then resigned only - because of increasing business demands upon his time and at- tention. He is a Re- publican in politics, yet not at all a seeker for political honors ; notwithstanding which fact he was chosen to represent his district in the Mas- sachusetts House of Representatives in 1891 and again in 1892. This is his third year on the Board of Selectmen, of which body he is chairman. Last year as a legislator he was on the Committee on Military Affairs ; was also a member of the Massachusetts Com- mittee to aid in formally opening the World's Fair. Mr. Brigham is a director in both the Hudson National and Savings banks and Hudson Real Estate Company ; is a trustee of Doric Lodge, F. and A. M., Knights Tem- plar, Granger and member of the American Mechanics, besides owning an extensive stock farm. His popularity in politics is not confined to his own party, and apart from politics he has a large circle of friends, who esti- mate his social qualities at their true worth.
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607
HUDSON.
A SOLID and substantial business man is Henry Tower, who, while not a native, has been identi- fied with Hudson's growth and prosperity since 1860, at which time the town was only a village. Mr. Tower was born in Stowe, Mass., and at fifteen years of age began to learn the carpenter's trade under the instruc- tion of his father. This made the third generation of builders in the Tower family. His schooling was in the "little red school-house," for the most part, finishing his schooling, how- ever, at the old Stowe Academy. For some time he was foreman of a large force of men, but, believing himself competent to branch out as a leader of labor, which is a very different thing from a labor leader, Mr. Tower becanie an employer. Casting a business eye to windward he early concluded that the village was des- tined to develop soon, and largely acting upon this be- lief he purchased a tract of land, cut it up into lots, upon which he built com- fortable houses and placed them upon the market. His foresight was re- warded : the pleasant houses he had built became happy homes. Thus he laid the foundation of his financial prosperity. After building about fifty houses he closed his building career by erecting the first business block in the village. Then from 1867 to 1869 Mr. Tower devoted himself to lumber. His next venture was in the milk business, and in 1874 the firm of Newell & Tower was formed, its business being to supply with milk the Boston market. This firm ran one car from the New Hampshire line to the State capital. Three
HENRY TOWER.
years after the firm was changed to Tower & Blodgett. The latter firm later consolidated with P. S. Whitcomb & Co., and the new firm was known as Tower, Whit- comb & Co. At that time three cars were run, and the route was greatly extended. Two years ago that firm, consolidating with Garvestein Brothers, and J. H. Whit- comb & Co., merged into the Boston Dairy Company, of which Henry Tower is president and general man- ager. This company has extended the line of service into Vermont, covers a part of Southern New Hampshire and controls the milk business over the line of the Fitchburg Railroad, so far as the Boston supply is concerned. It fur- nishes Boston with about a quarter of its daily supply of the best milk. Adjunc- tive to this, the com- pany owns and operates extensive creameries, and man- ufactures butter and cheese. Mr. Tower was at one time a partner with C. Brigham & Co., the milk contractors. That firm became a corporation, in which he retains consid- erable stock. Mr. Tower is at present on Hudson's Board of Selectmen. In that capacity he has served eight years; he has also been five years an assessor, also road commissioner. For fifteen consec- utive years he has served as treasurer of Trinity Com- mandery, Knights Templar. He was one of the organ- izers of the Hudson National Bank, and has always been a director of that institution. He is also presi- dent of the Hudson Real Estate Company. His life has been one of constant use to the community, and his personality may be described as well rounded.
Lu
DALTON®
T THE village of Dalton, noted the world over for its manufactories of fine paper lies half hidden n the valley traversed by the east branch of the Housatonic River. Its scenery is most diversified. A range of com- pact hills runs across the northerly end of the narrow township, while the middle section spreads into a broad and beautiful valley, which gathers the waters of the stream that turns its busy mills. The town was once known as "Ashuelot Equivalent," being granted to Oliver Partridge and others of Hatfield in lieu of a township in New Hampshire, supposed by the surveyors to lie in Massachusetts. It was settled in 1755, and was detached from Pittsfield and incorporated March 20, 1784.
Few communities of scarcely twenty-five hundred inhabitants can boast of such varied manufacturing enter- prises or show as valuable a total product. The output of its three paper mills in a recent year was considerably over $700,000, while the total production of the town exceeded $1,200,000. The total valuation, four years ago, reached $1,880,470. Woollens, cottons, shoes, boxes and lumber are among the principal manufactures, which afford employment to about one thousand hands.
The basis of the town's prosperity was laid in 1802, when Zenas Crane, Henry Wiswall and John Willard began the manufacture of paper. It is interesting to read at this late day the notices which the enterprising trio sent out to the women of the community, requesting them to save their rags for the paper mill. The circular stated : "All housewives who have the good of their country and the interest of their own family at heart, will send their rags to this factory and receive highest market prices therefor." The trade-mark "Old Berkshire " was adopted, and, thanks to the high standard maintained, it brought abundant success. Within seven years the partners were obliged to extend their facilities, and ever since the growth of the town has been steady. It boasts to-day seven school-houses, a town hall, free libraries, containing about three thousand volumes, and Methodist, Congregational and Roman Catholic churches, of handsome architecture, while none of the other features of a thriving community are lacking. The town, which was named for Tristram Dalton, who was speaker in the House of Representatives, played its part in the stirring events of early days, and even now the path of Burgoyne's cap- tive army along the road from Pittsfield to Hinsdale is pointed out.
Dalton has no one thing as interesting to the world at large as Crane's "Government Mill," where the distinctive paper for the United States currency and bonds is made. A large national flag floats from the tall staff in front of the factory whenever money is being manufactured. Factory villages are not commonly looked upon as summer resorts, but Dalton is in this respect an exception, being well supplied with hotels and cottages, particu- larly about the romantic spots known as Wahconah Falls and Wizard's Glen. Wahconah Brook flows through meadows, until, hemmed in by giant rocks, it makes a leap of eighty feet into a quiet pool below. The stream was named for the daughter of Miahcomo, chief of the valley, the fate of whose lover the falls eventually decided. Wizard's Glen is an echoing rocky pass, thronged by summer tourists, who can always find some new legend to relate about the place. The Swiss chalet or log house, built by Byron Weston on Mt. Weston, is another of the picturesque points in the town, which has a half dozen of the most remarkable artesian wells to be found in all the country round.
609
DALTON.
B YRON WESTON, son of Isaiah and Caroline Cur- tis Weston, was born in Dalton, April 19, 1832. His father dying when he was four years old, Byron went to live with an uncle. The Mexican War breaking out soon after, the uncle secured a government contract for the manufacture of books and newspapers. Thus it was that young Weston drifted into the paper business upon leaving Williston Seminary, Easthampton. He was first employed in his uncle's mill at Saugerties, N. Y., was later with Lindley Crane at Ballston, N. Y., and afterward with May Brothers and Platner & Smith of Lee, the latter firm then being the largest manufac- turers of writing paper. Mr. Weston was superintendent of their seven mills where he made the first wood pulp ever manufactured, out of which experiment grew the American Wood Pulp Paper Company of Penn- sylvania. In 1856 Mr. Weston formed a partnership with William H. Imlay, who owned three mills in Connecticut. Mr. Imlay died a few weeks later, and this resulted in the business being closed. Mr. Weston spent the year 1857 in Texas, returning to Lee to associate himself with the late Elizur Smith, whose partner, George W. Platner, had died. When the Civil War broke out Mr. Weston raised a company within two weeks, insuring for Berk- shire the Forty-ninth Regiment, which elected him captain. Captain Weston was later offered the col- onelcy of a regiment, but preferred to remain with his acquaintances. He was wounded in the knee by the bursting of a shell at Port Hudson. Upon returning
BYRON WESTON,
home he bought the Defiance Paper Mill at Dalton just as the war was closing, which was a harvest time for paper makers, his profits within twelve months being more than sufficient to pay for the property. The mill has been constantly enlarged and improved, until it is one of the most complete in the country. For many years Mr. Weston has made a specialty of ledger and record papers which "defy the tooth of time " and have attained world-wide reputation. His present out- put of these goods is four tons a day, while twenty-five years ago all the paper for legal docu- ments was obtained from England. The concern is now a corporate enterprise. Mr. Weston has a farm of one hundred and sixty acres and a fine home in Dalton, besides being a large owner of village property. He cast his first vote with the Republicans and has never wavered in their support. In 1876 he was elected State senator from Berkshire, and in 1 879 lieutenant- governor, being twice re-elected. Mr. Weston is vice-presi- dent of the Third National Bank and trustee of the Berk- shire Life Insurance Company and the Berkshire Savings Bank of Pittsfield. He has twice been president of the American Paper Manufacturers' Association and has received the degree of master of arts from Williams College, the athletic field of which institution was given by him and bears his name. Mr. Weston was married to Julia C. Mitchell, June 28, 1865, and they have had seven children, Franklin, Ellen Mitchell, Louise Bryant, Julia Caroline, Philip, Dorothy Deane and Donald Mitchell.
610
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
Z ENAS CRANE, the pioneer paper maker of West- ern Massachusetts, was born at Canton, Mass., May 9, 1777, the son of Stephen and Susannah (Bab- cock) Crane. His home was on the bank of Punkapoag Brook at its junction with Neponset River, near which stood the old Milton paper mill, so that, naturally enough he early became attached to the business. After completing his education in the public schools he went to Newton, where he acquired the rudiments of the business in his brother's mill, after- ward going to Wor- L cester, where he rounded out his training in the mill of General Burbank. Being of an inde- pendent disposition, his first thought was of a good location in which to set up for himself. Accord- ingly, in 1799, Mr. Crane set out from Worcester in quest of a desirable site, travelling on horse- back. He pushed past Springfield, not pausing until he had reached the spark- ling, rushing waters of the Housatonic. Near the site of the little hostelry in which he passed his first night in Berkshire are now clustered the fine residences of his sons, Zenas M. and James B., and his grandsons, Zenas and Winthrop Murray Crane, as well as the mills, the seed of which he planted, now sending out products of national repu- tation. It was nearly two years after the site had been selected that the first paper mill in Massachusetts, west of the Connecticut River, was built. At this time, 1801, the tin peddler was an unknown quantity, and raw ma- terials were sought within a limited territory around the mill by an appeal to women through the public press.
ZENAS CRANE.
Mr. Crane had associated with him at first Henry Wis- well and Daniel Gilbert, the latter taking the place of John Willard. The fourteen acres and the mill thereon were sold to the firm for one hundred and ninety-four dollars. The building was a one-vat affair, the main part two stories high, the upper being used as a drying loft. It had a " day's work" of twenty "posts," a post being one hundred and twenty-five sheets of paper. Mr. Crane conducted this mill, " Old Berkshire," until 1807, when he sold his third interest to Wiswell, and for three years thereafter ran a mercantile business, during which period he wedded Miss Lucinda Brewer, of Wilbra- ham. In 1810 Mr. Crane bought David Carson's interest in what is now known as the " Old Red Mill," which was built the year pre- vious and was run by several partners until 1822, when Mr. Crane became sole proprietor, as he had been superintend- ent and chief man- ager. In 1831 he placed a cylinder paper-making ma- chine in his mills, and in 1834 added cylinder dryers, also adopting the use of chloride of lime in bleaching. Eight years later he transferred his business to his sons, Zenas Marshall and James Brewer Crane, who were already his partners. They died in January, 1888, and August, 1891, respectively. Zenas Crane first belonged to the Federal and later to the Whig party. He served several terms in the State Legisla- ture beginning in 1811, and was a member of Gov- ernor Edward Everett's executive council in 1836 and 1837. He died June 29, 1845.
611
DALTON.
When Zenas Crane in 1801 courageously planted on the banks of the Housatonic the little one-vat mill which has long been known as the "Old Berkshire," he little dreamed what the splendid outgrowth, direct and indirect, of his enterprise would be. To-day there are more than twenty-five paper-making establishments in Berkshire County alone, with a capital of over $3,000,000 and an annual product considerably above that amount. The chief capital of the Old Berkshire was its man- ager's brains, for the annual product was then of variable and uncertain value, depending largely upon circumstances beyond control of the manager. It is difficult in this late day to realize the difficulties against which the elder Crane was obliged to contend.
There were perhaps fifteen paper mills of insignifi- cant capacity scattered through the whole country just as the eighteenth century was closing, when Mr. Crane set out from Worcester to establish himself in business in a wilderness, for Berkshire was then little else, and the waterfalls for the most part dashed on in idle play.
Although the site of the Old Berkshire Mill was determined upon in 1799, it was not built until the spring of 1801, when the following curious adver- tisement appeared in the Pittsfield Sun: " Americans ! Encourage your Manufactories, and They will Improve. Ladies, Save your Rags ! As the subscribers have it in contemplation to erect a paper mill in Dalton the ensuing spring, and the business being very beneficial to the community at large, they flatter themselves that they shall meet with due encouragement. And that every woman who has the good of her country and the interest of her own family, at heart, will patronize them by saving her rags, and sending them to their Manu- factory, or to the nearest Storekeeper; for which the subscribers will give a generous price. Henry Wiswell, Zenas Crane, John Willard."
The deed, conveying " fourteen acres and one hundred and forty-nine rods of land, together with the mill and appendages thereon standing," was given Dec. 25, 1801, in consideration of $194. The mill was two stories high in the main part, the upper being used for a drying loft. It had a daily capacity of twenty "posts," a post being one hundred and twenty-five sheets of paper. The skilled workmen employed were : an engineer, at $3.00 a week ; a vatman and a coucher, at $3.50 each, without board ; one additional workman and two girls, at 75 cents a week each, and a layboy, at 60 cents, all being boarded. A few years later when Mr. Crane served as superintendent and general manager, he was
allowed $9.00 a week. Mr. Crane, in 1807, sold his interest in Old Berkshire to Mr. Wiswell, and in 1812 David Carson bought an interest, becoming sole pro- prietor four years later. He with his sons, Thomas G. and William W., conducted the property with success until 1867, when it was sold to a company. In 1872 it was burned and rebuilt on a larger scale, now being one of the most complete mills in the country. After vari- ous mutations it passed into the hands of the Carson & Brown Company, the stockholders being Chas. O. Brown, John D. Carson, Zenas Crane and W. Murray Crane. Mr. Brown, having sold his interest, the name was, in 1889, changed to the Old Berkshire Mill Company, composed of John D. Carson, Zenas Crane and W. Murray Crane. The capital stock is $150,000.
The mill is equipped with electric lights, steam heat, automatic sprinklers, steam force pumps, etc. There are three buildings : first, the rag rooms and engine room, three stories, forty by one hundred and twenty feet ; second, the machine room, with drying loft above, two stories, thirty by one hundred and twenty feet ; third, the two finishing rooms and drying loft, three stories, forty by one hundred and twenty feet, standing between and communicating with both of those previ- ously mentioned, thus saving time and labor, the rags passing direct to the pulp engines, from there to the machines, and thence to the drying lofts and calenders. In the rear of the finishing department is the one-story steam boiler and engine room, twenty by one hundred feet, where are situated three boilers and three engines of one hundred and fifty, forty-five and twenty horse- power. The machinery is of the most approved pat- tern, suited to the making of the high-grade papers for which the mill is celebrated. It includes four five- hundred-and-fifty-pound rag engines, and two of eight hundred pounds capacity each, two large washer engines, one eighty-inch Fourdrinier paper machine, seven calen- ders, two hydraulic presses, one fifty-six-inch Sandborn paper cutter, etc. A force of one hundred and fifty men and women is required, and the daily output aver- ages two and one-half tons of linen papers.
The bank-note and bond paper mills of Crane & Co. are known the world over. They are two in number, - the Pioneer Mill at Dalton, also known as the Stone Mill, and the Government Mill, which is situated just over the town line, in the city of Pittsfield. At the latter all the paper used by the United States govern- ment for currency, securities, etc., is made, also that employed in Canada, and many foreign countries. At
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MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
the Pioneer Mill the output is bond and parchment paper, such as is used by bank-note companies, and for financial purposes. This business, which has long been conducted as a specialty, was established on much the same general lines as the Old Berkshire Mill.
Its basis was the "Old Red Mill," in which Zenas Crane bought an interest in 1810. The business was thereafter run by the firm of Crane, Wiswell, Chamberlin & Cole, and later by Crane, Chamberlin & Cole, until 1822, when Mr. Crane, who had from the date of his purchase been superintendent and chief manager, became sole proprietor. It would be interesting, were it possible, to note at length the obstacles which beset the pioneer manufacturer from this time until 1842, when he trans- ferred all his business interests to his two sons. All that space permits, however, is the mere mention of foreign competition, rather encouraged than retarded by the fluctuating tariff and the absurd preference of an uninformed public for European goods over American fabrics of equal and often superior merit.
The sons, Zenas M. and James B. Crane, judiciously improved the " Old Red Mill" until the property was burned in 1870. The loss on buildings, machinery, stock, etc., was total. Only the year before the "Old Stone Mill," since known as the " Pioneer," was burned, and was in process of reconstruction when its industrial companion was swept away. Accordingly, the " Old Red Mill" was not rebuilt, the other being so enlarged as to compensate for its loss.
In 1879 Crane & Co. were awarded the contract they still hold for supplying the United States government with all the paper required for national bank-bills, United States bonds, certificates and treasury notes. That this contract might be properly filled, they bought the fine brick mill built at Coltsville by Thomas Colt in 1862.
This was soon popularly known as the " Government Mill," the stars and stripes constantly floating before it. Ten United States officers are detailed at the mill day and night, there being a superintendent, captain of the watch, three watchmen, the register, a messenger and two counters. It is only necessary to say that the con- (luct of the establishment has won the unqualified ap- proval of the Treasury Department. As early as 1846 the idea occurred to Zenas M. Crane that the introduc- tion of silk threads into the fibre of currency would largely prevent counterfeiting.
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