USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 51
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
In 1901, the Saugus postal service was annexed to Lynn district. At an early day all the mail was brought to one central point or station, which was East Saugus, and from there delivered to the various com- munities. East Lynn obtained a postoffice July 1, 1909, at the corner of Essex and Chestnut streets. The Swampscott office was established in July, 1899; Nahant, May 1, 1901; West Lynn, June 1, 1903. The pres- ent postoffice building in Lynn, proper, was first occupied on the night of March 1, 1898.
The first postoffice in Lynn was located in the general store of Post- master Colonel James Robinson, at the corner of what is now known as Boston and Federal streets, but then called "Lower street" and "Rhoades
411
CITY OF LYNN
lane." The office is now one hundred and twenty-eight years old, and has had twenty-seven postmasters, with an average of about one month over four years terms of office. The following is a list of postmasters, with year of appointment: 1793, Col. James Robinson; 1802, Ezra Hitchings; 1803, Samuel Mulliken; 1807, Elijah Downing; 1808, Jon- athan Batchelder; 1829, Jeremiah C. Stickney ; 1839, Thomas J. Marsh ; 1841, Stephen Oliver; 1842, Thomas B. Newhall; 1843, Benjamin Mudge; 1849, Abner Austin; 1853, Jeremiah C. Stickney; 1858, Leonard B. Usher; 1861, George H. Chase; 1869, John Batchelder; 1879, Capt. John G. B. Adams; 1885, William E. Parker; 1889, Capt. A. J. Hoitt; 1894, John D. Dennis; 1898, E. K. Fogg; 1900, Fred H. Nichols ; 1900, Howard K. Sanderson; 1905, William F. Craig; 1913, (Feb. 1), E. C. Mansfield ; 1913, T. W. Swift; 1913, Edmund S. Higgins, present postmaster, whose first commission is dated August, 1913, and signed by President Wood- row Wilson, as was also his second commission, dated 1918.
Lynn was made a branch of the Boston postoffice in February, 1913, but restored to its former status, September 5, the same year.
The present Lynn postoffice building was finished in March, 1898. It stands between Willow and Washington streets, on Liberty. It is a handsome yellow pressed brick structure, constructed at an original cost of about $125,000. The ground originally was the site of the old Kim- ball House. There are now (1921) twenty-three mails received at this office daily and twenty are dispatched during the twenty-four hour period. There are eighty-eight carriers in the city, and one rural route, that from East Saugus branch office. The recent amount in savings deposits was $124,633. Total business transacted (outside money order business) was in the last fiscal year $374,151.64.
The present office corps is as follows: Postmaster, Edmund S. Hig- gins ; Assistant Postmaster, William M. Minton; Superintendent of Mails, Frederick Frothingham; Assistant Superintendent of Mails, Thomas Emery; Foreman of Postal Accounts and Supplies, F. W. Robertson; Foreman of Money Order and Postal Savings, Minnie I. Aspinwall; Fore- man Registry Section, George K. Poole; Foreman Mailing Division, George D. Rogers; Foreman in charge of motor vehicles and parcel post delivery, B. Frank Ford; Superintendent West Lynn station, Henry Garney ; of East Lynn station, John F. C. Stevens ; of Swampscott branch, Royer F. Butler; of Nahant branch, Mary T. Cusick; of East Saugus, William H. Merritt; of Saugus Centre branch, Fred E. Bramhall; of Cliftondale branch, Ernest C. Brown; of Station No. 8, Emma G. Hut- cherson.
From a city directory, now at the Lynn Historical Society Rooms, the following is gleaned concerning Lynn in 1840-41: The population was 9,375. Town government was in vogue and the selectmen and assessors were Stephen Oliver, Daniel Farrington, Samuel Tufts, Ne- hemiah Barry and Henry Newhall. Thomas Bowler was the town clerk.
412
ESSEX COUNTY
The town boasted two lawyers, J. C. Stickney and Thomas B. Newhall. There were eight regular physicians and one dentist. The vegetable physician was Dr. James Clark, who had an office at 4. North Common street, and the botanic physician was Dr. Benjamin K. Ross, who held forth at 16 South Common street. The solitary dentist was Dr. Isaiah Haley, at 5 Exchange street, which was "near depot, upstairs." The Beach committee in 1844 was composed of Israel Buffum, James Breed, Jr., Moses Breed, Samuel Tufts and Samuel Viall. Daniel Moulton was . pound-keeper, and there were two newspapers, the "Lynn Record" and the "Lynn Freeman and Whig." Amos Rhodes was town treasurer, and was also librarian of the Lynn Social Library. There were three under- takers-Benjamin H. Jacobs for the Old Burying Ground ; George Clarge for the Woodend Burying Ground; and Asa Breed for the Friends' Society. The marriages in 1840 were 76. There were three persons in the town over ninety years of age, three deaf and dumb people, and one blind man. The number of dwellings was 1,037; streets, sixty; United States pensioners, twenty-one; persons between 80 and 90 years of age, 32; persons over 21 who could not read or write, 51. Communication between Lynn and Boston was by the old Eastern railroad, and there were six trains each day in the week and one on Sunday. The hotels were the Lynn Hotel, Railroad House, Dye Factory Tavern, Swampscott House, New Cove House, Mineral Spring Hotel, Ocean House, Village Hotel, Nahant Hotel, and Johnson's Tavern. Among the citizens was Moses Yell, who lived at the corner of Newhall Court and South Shepard street. The directory was published by Benjamin F. Roberts, and printed by Perley & Stoneham, 8 Exchange street. Martin Van Buren was President of the United States and John Davis governor of Massa- chusetts. Saugus had a population of 1,202; Marblehead, 5,539; and Nahant had twenty-four, one-half of whom were Johnsons.
Many communities have their own peculiar bridges and manner of constructions. Lynn has had at least two bridge structures of quite an unusual history. What had been known since its construction in 1803 up to the present year (1921) as "Floating Bridge" was over the Glen- mere pond, on the old turnpike between Salem and Boston. It was built under the direction of Captain Moses Brown. In building the turnpike, it was found that the bottom and edges of the pond which it had to span were too soft and muddy to permit of piers, so Captain Brown construc- ted a raft or huge barge, 511 feet long by 28 feet in width, moored at either end. As the decades went by, other and heavier plank and timbers were placed on top of the original material, until when the bridge was torn down in 1921, there was at least fifteen feet of timbers on top of the old floating barge bridge built in 1803. The people of at least four different generations have passed over this unique structure and learned to look upon it as a rare landmark. In the spring of 1921 it was found best to construct a more modern bridge, hence the old one was demolished.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
from !
Above, City of Lynn, from High Rock. Peninsula of Nahant in background. another view of the city
Below.
413
CITY OF LYNN
The new bridge cost over $75,000. It is 115 feet long and 36 feet in width, with ample room for street car tracks, the company paying its portion of the expense. It is built on a hard pine foundation, with a concrete retaining wall six feet high and the road-way is macadamized. This connects Lynn with Salem, and is much used as a highway. It was constructed by T. Stewart & Sons Company, of Newton, Massachusetts. The new bridge was finished in the early autumn of 1921.
The following concerning the Chamber of Commerce is contributed :
The Lynn Chamber of Commerce came into existence in 1913, an outgrowth of the Board of Trade, the old Shoe Manufacturers' Associa- tion and the Lynn Merchants' Association. Its purpose was to foster the industrial, commercial, educational and moral advancement of the city. It is an organization through which the best thoughts, activities and am- bitions of citizenship are crystallized. It develops civic pride and busi- ness patriotism by appealing to its members to be ever mindful of their obligations to their city, their state and their country. It brings about closer relations among the citizens of our city, and through the combined efforts of its members is able to do for the individual that which he can- not do for himself.
With the great primary object of promoting the general good of the City of Lynn, and recognizing that the combined interests which make up the Chamber have individual needs which do not apply to all, the Cham- ber of Commerce was organized on the bureau plan. Each bureau has a separate Board of Directors chosen from the membership of the organi- zation with due regard to the individual interests of the directors. Each board contains twenty-one members. There are four of these bureaus, the Retail Trade Bureau, the Traffic Bureau, the Civic Bureau and the Industrial Bureau. Each of these bureaus had considerable latitude in handling its allotted work, as long as they conformed to the general policy of the organization.
The governing board was and is still a Board of Directors, consisting of twenty-one elected members, plus bureau chairmen, who serve as directors ex-officio. Each elected director serves a three-year term. There is also an Executive Committee, made up of five members, three of whom are chosen by the President from the Board of Directors, plus the President and Executive Secretary ex-officio. The duty of this com- mittee is to direct the administrative work of the organization. Appoint- ed by and under the direct supervision of this committee come all stand- ing committees such as fire prevention, taxation, housing, legislation, etc.
The Retail Trade Bureau concerns itself with all matters which affect or concern the retail merchants of the city. It looks after all co- operative efforts, such as are manifested in the Municipal Christmas Celebration, Dress Up Weeks, Style Weeks, Dollar Days and similar special occasions. The bureau not only seeks to create an interest on the part of the citizens of Lynn in these occasions, but it endeavors to attract the favorable notice of people in outlying districts and nearby cities and towns. A most valuable adjunct to this bureau is its Credit Depart- ment, which maintains a history of the bill-paying habits of upwards of 70,000 people in Greater Lynn. In general, this bureau seeks to raise
414
ESSEX COUNTY
the standard of local stores to improve business methods and promote the welfare of both merchants and consumers.
In 1917, it was felt that some of the previous methods of handling community problems had outgrown their usefulness, consequently the Traffic, Civic and Industrial Bureaus were abolished and the work pre- viously performed by these departments was allotted to special or per- manent committees, which have performed much more satisfactory work than seemed possible under the old plan. During this re-organization, the unit method of operation was adopted, with the aim of putting active- ly at work in some manner or other every member. This was accom- plished in the following manner: The whole membership was divided into subdivisions of trade and professional groups, corresponding to the various lines of trade, industry and profession, manufacturers of a specific line, like shoes, forming one group; retailers of a certain line, like gro- ceries, forming another group, and so on. About fifty different groups, or units, as they are termed, were formed, each a sub-division in itself. Some groups only meet occasionally, when something special arises, while others are very active, meeting monthly or semi-monthly, to talk over those problems of common interest to their unit and solicit such co-opera- tion as they might need from the Chamber as a whole or some particular part of it. This method has unquestionably developed a better feeling among those engaged in the same line of effort, and has permitted accom- plishments which otherwise would have been impossible. Each one of these units elects annually a chairman, who automatically upon election to office becomes a delegate to the Forum. This body meets semi-month- ly, and is the initiative of the organization. Every meeting develops new and diversified problems, many of which, after investigation by forum committees, are settled by that body itself ; while other problems, broad in their nature and involving a question of policy, are forwarded with recommendations, to the Board of Directors. The Forum also provides a referendum upon important matters of public policy, representing as it does every business, profession and trade. Under this plan of organi- zation, every working element is co-ordinated, yet responsibilities and labor are systematically and judiciously segregated and placed.
In the spring of 1921, a Women's Forum was created, which, while still in its infancy, has already proved a valuable adjunct to the Chamber through its desire and proven ability to actively engage in the solution of problems affecting the every day life of Lynn citizens.
Probably but few outside of the Chamber's membership, which con- sists of upwards of a thousand of Lynn's leading men and women, ap- preciate that the organization is a big clearing house for the troubles of its members and the community. Every conceivable sort of information and advice is solicited and given daily. To handle such work promptly and efficiently a fund of authentic information must be available at all times.
The past presidents of the Lynn Chamber of Commerce are: Charles O. Blood, served during 1913-1914 ; C. Neal Barney, 1914-1915; Ralph' S. Bauer, 1915-1917; Edw. S. Underwood, 1917-1919; Charles F. Sprague, 1919-1921. The present officers are: Ralph S. Bauer, president; Arthur K. Blood, C. Hudson Johnson, vice-presidents; Frank A. Turnbull, treasurer; William H. Day, Jr., secretary.
In some of the earlier histories of the city of Lynn, mention has been made of several manufacturing interests not now in existence.
415
CITY OF LYNN
When operated they were in what is now known as Saugus and Swamp- scott, etc., as they existed before the towns named were separated from Lynn. An account of such industries will be found in the respective his- tories of the towns named. Other industries which have a just place within the scope of Lynn history are included in what follows:
In 1726 the Salem court awarded to Nathaniel Potter, of Lynn, £15 15s. for the manufacture of three pieces of linen. It is not clear what kind of cloth this was, but probably it was "tow cloth." Certainly, much flax was grown in this section at that time, and was rotted in large amounts at what is now known as Flax Pond. Of course such fabrics as tow-cloth have long since ceased to be in use. In pioneer days there were quite a lot of fine-wool sheep, and from their fleeces were made the choicest of clothing, but years ago this industry passed, with other pioneer customs and practices.
The making of bricks at an early time was among the paying indus- tries of Lynn. When wood for burning clay was much cheaper than now, this was a business of importance, but in later decades nothing has been done in this line. There was a time when there were but few brick structures in Lynn; as the years passed by, and lumber became more expensive, many built of brick, but the latter were mostly shipped to the city. The manufacture of paper and wooden boxes has long been classed among Lynn's industries, occasioned, of course, by the presence of many shoe factories.
As far back as 1885, the State reports show that the workers in Lynn received higher wages than those of many in the county. The average yearly earning of each employee were $467, this including both men and women. In Salem the average was $343. In Newburyport the average wages per year were only $268. Peabody came nearly up to Lynn, and was placed at $454. In Haverhill the yearly wages averaged $348. It will be remembered that this was thirty-six years ago. Wages have increased wonderfully with the passing decades, here, as well as else- where.
At one time, ship-building was carried on in Lynn. The celebrated frigate, "Constitution" was built in Boston, at the ship-yard of Edmund Hart, a Lynn man. In 1832 a yard was established in West Lynn, where a few small vessels were constructed. Salt-works were established in Lynn in 1805, but never grew to be of much consequence; these works were situated on Beach street, near Broad. Wall paper and rubber goods were also among the industries back in the seventies and eighties. The next industry was connected with the electric works, when Lynn was first lighted by the electric current.
Of all the industries of Lynn, the manufacture of shoes has taken the lead for many years. Historian James R. Newhall, of Lynn, is the auth- ority for the subjoined account of this industry. He should have been well posted in this matter, as he was the great-grandson of Benjamin
416
ESSEX COUNTY
Newhall, one of the very first to settle here. As Mr. Newhall relates:
Edmund Bridges and Philip Kirtland are usually spoken of as the first shoe- makers here. They came in 1635. But John Adam Dagyr, a Welshman, who came in 1750, seems to have raised the humble occupation almost to the rank of a fine art. He took great pains to excel; and he imported the most elegant shoes from Europe, and dissected them for the purpose of discovering the hidden mystery of their make-up. Shoemakers from all over the town went to him for instruc- tions, and he was called in the Boston "Gazette" in 1764, "the celebrated shoemaker of Essex." From this time Lynn took front rank in the manufacture of ladies' fine shoes. Mr. Dagyr, in a financial way at least, never profited much by his skill and labor. The writer has been told, by one who knew him well, that he lived in a homely way, was not very neat in his dress and did not keep his little shop, which was on Boston street, near where Carnes now opens, in the neatest order; in short, that he fell into such habits as were not conducive to a thrifty life. He finally be- came so destitute as to make his home in the almshouse, and there he died in 1808. Kirtland street in the west part of Lynn and Kirtland block in Union street perpetuate the name of the earlier craftsman, Philip Kirtland; and so, in its way, does the Kirtland hotel in Summer street. But as yet no such honor has been bestowed on the name of Dagyr, unless a wild spot in the domain of the Free Publid Forest Association, lately consecrated to his memory, be taken as such. .
At the time of the arrival of Dagyr in 1750, there were but three men in Lynn who carried on the business to such extent as to employ journeymen; and these were William Gray (grandfather of the rich merchant, so extensively known by the inelegent sobriquet of "Billy Gray", John Mansfield and Benjamin Newhall; the latter, the writer is able and pleased to say, was his great-grandfather.
Among the more enterprising and far-seeing men of the town who helped to place the industry on its solid footing may be recalled Ebenezer Breed, a native of Lynn. In 1792 he visited England and other European countries, and from there sent over many fashionable shoes ; he also en- gaged numerous skilled workmen to instruct operatives at home in the art. He seemed bound to make as fine a shoe here as could be produced in Europe. But the cheap labor of Europe prohibited the shoe men here from doing a competitive business. So Mr. Breed, with others, sought Congress, and asked that body to place a duty on shoes imported to our shores, in order to protect home industry. In this they finally succeeded, after which the business took on a new life and vigor which it has kept even to the present time.
In 1810 about one million pairs of shoes were made in Lynn, and the value of the same was not far from $800,000. The earnings of the female binders was $50,000. Twenty years later (1830) the number of pairs made was, in round figures, 1,670,000, while Lynnfield and Saugus had been set off as separate towns, and shops of their own were not counted in this reckoning. Twenty-five years later, in 1855, the number of pairs made was 9,276,000, Swampscott having been set off in the meantime and Nahant the same decade. From 1865 to 1875, there were made, on an average, not less than 10,000,000 pairs a year, of the aver- age value of $1.20 a pair.
The United States Census for 1880 gave out the following: Num-
417
CITY OF LYNN
ber of shoe factories in Lynn, 174; average number of employees, 10,708; capital invested, $4,263,000; wages paid in one year, $4,931,000; stock used, $13,000,000; value of product, $21,000,000; gross profit, $3,097,000 ; average yearly product per employee, $1,956; average yearly earnings of employees, $461 ; percentage of men employed, 71; percentage of women employed, 29; percentage children employed, three-tenths of one per cent. It will be remembered that these statistics are for the year 1880- forty-one years ago.
Before the introduction of machinery for producing shoes, every community had its shoemakers, and the villages and towns had many "twelve footers", as the little shoeshops were called, for they were about twelve feet in length as well as width. Here the journeymen, or "jours", as they were called for short, used to be employed. One would usually make a case of shoes per week, and received from four to six dollars for his labor. He began his work at sunrise and worked into the late evening hours. He frequently had to take orders on the Union store, where he could get such goods as he needed at high profits. If he did not spend all, he was fortunate if he could sell his "order" for seventy cents on a dollar cash. If he refused to take "orders" as his pay, he seldom secured a job. Such a store as above mentioned was established in Lynn in 1830, and it was the property of a combination of shoe manufacturers. Every shoemaker in Lynn in the early days (if a man of family) kept a pig or two. Slaughters were quite common; shoemakers celebrated the butchering day and counted it a great holiday. In the panic of 1837, Lynn shoemakers lived mostly on pork, dandelions, and fish from the harbor.
Improvements in shoe-making machinery and tools included the edge-iron used for hot finishing edges. This tool displaced the old shoul- der stick about 1834. In 1845 the Kimball last came into use. A typical shop of 1850, or just before the introduction of the Mckay sewing ma- chine, revolutionizing hand shoemaking, was that of Christopher Robin- son & Co., of Lynn. It was a two-story brick building, 28 by 57 feet. Its cellar was used for storing upper and sole leather stock. On the first floor was the cutting rooms and the making of turned shoes. This firm employed nine men to cut leather in its factory, and it sent out parts of shoes to 375 men and women, who made them up into shoes in their own homes. John Brooks Nichols, a Lynn shoemaker, about 1851, adopted the hand sewed machinery to sew the uppers to the soles. The first machine was set up in Lynn in 1852 by John Wooldredge. In 1858 Ly- man Blake invented a machine which sewed the soles to the upper. It was financed and improved by Gordon Mckay, and became known the world over as the Mckay Sewing Machine. The first of these machines were introduced in the factory of William Porter & Son, Lynn, either in 1861 or 1862. These were operated by foot power.
About 1880, John Ernest Metzeliger, an employee of the P. J. Har-
Essex-27
418
ESSEX COUNTY
ney Company, shoe manufacturers, conceived the idea of a machine "with human fingers" to last shoes with. He died before his final efforts were shown to the public, yet his models and plans were taken up and gave the world a great time-saving invention. While working on his in- vention for a "lasting machine," young Metzeliger was told by workmen that he could not do it unless he could make a machine with "fingers like men," which gave the inventor an idea ; and in following it out he achiev- ed success. This inventor, born in Dutch Guiana, was a trained machin- Ist. Through this discovery, shoe-making suddenly changed its place in the world of commerce. In olden days one man could "last" only sixty pairs of shoes in a long day's time. This machine as now perfected will allow the single man to "last" from two to seven hundred pair, according to the kind of shoe. At his death, which was caused by consumption, he gave to the North Congregational Church of Lynn a large block of stock he held in the company he had formed to manufacture these machines. In a few years the dividends from this stock paid off a heavy mortgage on the church just mentioned.
The first sewing machine to do practical sewing that the world ever knew, was that invented by Elias Howe, of Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1846, and it made him very wealthy; at one time his royalties amounted to $4,000 per day. In Civil War times Mr. Howe, who was a volunteer himself, finding the government unable to pay off the regiment to which he belonged, came home to Massachusetts, and took a chest with his own money in it to the front, and paid off all the comrades of his command.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.