USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts > Part 43
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A new journal called the Bulletin was started as a weekly on May 6, 1898, and a daily edition was begun on June 16. Samuel Ross is ed- itor and proprietor.
The first number of the Catholic Union was issued the first week in May, 1891, by D. G. Dinnegan, the present publisher and editor. It is devoted largely to the interests of the Catholic denomination.
Besides the numerous short-lived newspapers already described, a number of others were founded after the city was incorporated, to which brief reference will be made. The Weekly Echo made its ap- pearance in March or April, 1849, edited by Moses Brown. The Path- Finder was a weekly anti-slavery paper started April 9, 1854. John Bailey was manager for an association of men and women who thus sought to promote the anti-slavery cause. Under the same editorship appeared, on October 18, 1854, the People' Press, which lived only a short time. The Whaleman was published weekly from January 4, 1854, to August of the same year; edited by William S. Anderson.
The Express was published a part of 1856 by Chaney & Co. The Union was published in 1857 by Henry Tilden. The New Bedford Times was published from 1857 to 1861, by John Fraser. The Citizen
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
issued one number in 1860 and the City Hall Advertiser a few numbers in the same year. The Waste Basket was published about ten months in 1884-85, William M. Emery and George A. Hough, as a semi- weekly school journal. The New Bedford Signal was published and edited by George Robertson, beginning December 14, 1878; it lived only a short time. The Old Colonist, a quarterly, first appeared in July, 1884, with H. J. Stone, news editor and manager; it was devoted largely to religious matters. Rev. Albert Hayford Heath became its editor in October, 1884, and it was made a monthly. The last number appeared in December, 1886.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
The company that used the first fire engine in New Bedford, which has been noticed in an earlier chapter, continued its existence until 1834, when the department was organized under a State act. The next engine purchased was built in Philadelphia in 1802 and was purchased with contributions of property owners and presented to the town. It was called Citizen No. 2 and was kept in a building on the site of the custom house. In 1808 an English engine was purchased in Boston and was called The Jolly Ropemaker; it was attached to a ropewalk in the north end. It was renamed in Bedford village as Phoenix No. 4, and located on the south side of William street, near Acushnet avenue. The first firewards, appointed in 1796, were William Rotch, jr., Thomas Hazard, John Howland, Manasseh Kempton, who, with Jeremiah May- hew and Abraham Smith, served until 1802.
In 1805 the first engine (Oxford No. 2) in Fairhaven, which was then a part of New Bedford, was purchased. The first engine owned in the lower village of Fairhaven, was the Flood No. 1, and was probably bought as early as 1801. In 1836 Dyer & Richmond, of New Bedford, built for Fairhaven the first suction engine, the Columbia No. 3, which was used many years.
The Bedford Fire Society was formed March 4, 1807, with Joseph Ricketson, moderator, and Abraham Shearman, clerk. The following are some of the interesting early records of the society:
10th mo. 12, 1807 .- The committee have examined the state of buckets and bags and find them all in good order, except William Ross, Sands Wing, Benj. Lincoln.
1st mo. 11, 1808 .- The society find their bags and buckets all in good order except- ing Benj. Lincoln's bags, without strings. This gentleman was fined fifty cents for deficiency.
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THE CITY OF NEW BEDFORD.
11th of 4th month, 1808 .- The committee report buckets and bags belonging to the society in good order, with the exception of one of Jahaziel Jenney's bags, the strings of which would not draw it up. Abraham Shearman, jr., Nathan Taber, Fred'k Mayhew, committee.
7th mo. 11, 1808 .- Simpson Hart, Job Eddy, Daniel Taber, Peleg Howland, Josiah Wood and Freeman Taber paid fines of fifty cents each for non attendance at last meeting.
10th mo. 8, 1810 .- Peleg Howland's buckets were not hanging agreeable to regu- lations, and James Arnold's buckets were sitting on the floor without bags. They were each fined fifty cents for the above deficiencies.
1st mo. 13, 1812 .- Sands Wing paid fine, fifty cents, buckets and bags not being in their places.
In 1802 the town was divided into two fire districts, the southwest and the southeast districts From 1809 to 1814 the following served as firewards: Caleb Congdon, Cornelius Howland, Seth Russell, jr., Henry Beetle, Luther Williams, John Alden, Killey Eldredge, John Delano, Joseph Church, Peter Barney, William Kempton, Peleg Jenney and Benjamin Howland.
On January 23, 1819, two tub engines, Nos. 3 and 4, were purchased for $900. The department now owned five engines. The first fire in the place occurred September 6, 1820, and demonstrated that more apparatus was needed. This resulted in the appointment of John Ar- nold, Dudley Davenport and Timothy Delano, who, in 1821, purchased the first suction engine, the Cataract, at a cost of $1,375; the name was soon changed to Mechanic No. 6.
In 1826 a contract was given to Timothy Delano and James Durfee for a suction engine called Columbia No. 5; it cost $762, and was a good machine, and with its companion, Mechanic No. 6, was the prin- cipal dependence of the place during the next forty years.
The first engine placed at the Head-of-the- River was in 1821 or 1822; it was a bucket machine. The Novelty No. 8 was built by William Durfee in 1835 and cost $450. About 1840 the department was in an unsatisfactory condition, and in the next year the following statement was issued by the firewards: "That the New Bedford fire department as at present organized has failed to accomplish the design for which it was established." A thorough reorganization was effected in April, 1842, the force being made to consist of 378 men who were paid $10 a year each for their service. In 1842 there were a number of fires, and the equipment of the department was increased in that and the fol- lowing year by the purchase of Philadelphia No. 7, and the Hancock No. 9 and the Franklin No. 10.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Following is a statement of the membership of the several companies just before the organization of the city government in 1847: Engine Company No. 1, twenty men; No. 2, fifty; No. 3, twenty five; No. 4, twenty-five; No. 6, sixty ; No. 7, fifty; No. 8, forty; No. 9, fifty; No. 10, fifty; Hook and Ladder Company, thirty; Protecting Society, fifty. Besides these there was Company No. 11, for which an engine was purchased in 1846, with fifty men. After the city incorporation, dis- satisfaction arose over the amount of money paid to firemen, and after long discussion, Companies 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11, and the Hook and Ladder Company voluntarily disbanded. This took place in August and for a short time the city was substantially unprotected; but within a short time new companies were organized and the whole department placed upon a more efficient basis.
Ohio No. 3 was purchased in 1850, and after remaining a few years in the North Second street engine house was in 1855, placed in a new brick house on Purchase street, just north of Maxfield. In 1853 a com- pany was organized to man the Young Mechanic No. 6, which was then purchased, and a new hose carriage was ordered about the same time. The old Mechanic was now stationed in the North Second street house and in December, 1854, the Veteran Association of Firemen was or- ganized and attached thereto under the name of Veteran No. 1. Pre- vious to the year 1859 two more hand engines were purchased, which closed the record of that class of machines.
On August 24, 1859, a fire took place which destroyed a quarter of a million dollars worth of property, on which there was very little in- surance. This led to the early abolishment of the hand engines, and within ten days after the fire an order was made for the purchase of the steam engine, Onward No. 1. A company for it was organized January 2, 1860. A second steamer was purchased in 1860, and named Progress No. 2, and a company organized; both of these engines were stationed in the Central engine house. In 1864 Excelsior steamer No. 3 was ordered and a company organized. As these engines gradually came into commission, the old hand engine companies were disbanded. The Cornelius Howland No. 4 was purchased and received in Feb- ruary, 1867. In 1878, the first two steamers, Onward and Progress, having done long service, were disposed of and new ones purchased. The Frederick Macy No. 6 was put in commission November 1, 1882, and 'an engine house built for it on Fourth street. In May, 1884, a new steamer was purchased to take the place of the Cornelius Howland,
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THE CITY OF NEW BEDFORD.
which was held in reserve. In November, 1884, the engine now in commission as Progress No. 2, was placed in commission, and the Silsby engine held in reserve. Steamer No. 7 was put in commission September 1, 1890, located in a new house on Durfee street. Steamer No. 8 was put in commission December 1, 1894. This was the last one bought.
The hook and ladder equipment of the city now consists of three trucks and companies. No. 1 was placed in commission in 1895, taking the place of an earlier one. No. 2 was put in commission in August, 1888, which took the place of one purchased in 1877. No. 3 was placed in commission in November, 1891. Chemical engine No. 1 was pur- chased in 1895. The other apparatus of the department consists of two two-wheeled and one four-wheeled hose reels, seven hose wagons, three Hayes aerial ladder trucks and several wagons for general pur- poses. The city has eight brick and one frame engine houses, and the force comprises 222 men, forty-four of whom are permanently em- ployed, and 178 call men.
The following is the amount of losses by fire in this city for the past twenty-one years, together with amount of insurance on same:
YEARS.
LOSS. $26,063.66
INSURANCE. $21,528.36
1877
1878
28,154.46
66,025.00
1879
9,163.16
54,950.00
1880
7,609.13
49,450.00
1881
29,624.96
86,979.00
1882
23,169.64
692,950.00
1883
17,398.14
77,450.00
1884
134,729.82
310,950.00
1885
6,982.41
148,025.00
1886
26,786.03
1,108,800.00
1887
45,141.50
708,150.00
1888
32,881.87
125,927.00
1889
42,285.71
182,772.00
1890
18,145.02
71,300.00
1891
43,032.65
297,487.13
1892
73,947.46
271,710.00
1893
94,516.21
231,375.00
1894
28,481.98
186,850.00
1895
55,607.61
209,233.33
1896
78,909.83
705,800.00
1897
63,638.76
973,581.34
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
BOARD OF TRADE.
The New Bedford Board of Trade was organized March 5, 1884, with Frederick Swift, president. The chief purposes of the organization were the industrial, financial and architectural improvement of the city, in which directions it has accomplished much good. The board held industrial exhibitions in 1887, 1888 and 1890, which exerted a large influence in favor of home investment of capital. Frederick Swift retained the office of president from 1884 to 1886, when he was succeeded by Jireh Swift, jr., and he by Isaac B. Tompkins, jr., in 1888.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE CITY OF NEW BEDFORD-MANUFACTURES.
As a manufacturing center New Bedford has always held a foremost place, notwithstanding the fact that the character of its manufactured products has undergone radical changes during the nineteenth century. For nearly a hundred years prior to the introduction of cotton mills in 1846 small armies of workers found employment in trades closely allied to the great whaling industry and marine navigation. Sail and rope making, oil manufacturing, boat building, and other kindred enter- prises had their birth, development, and decline, to a large extent, in the whale fishery, and gave to the community its original fame and importance. Since 1812 New Bedford has been the chief whaling port in the world, though San Francisco has rivaled it in this respect for the last fifteen or twenty years, a considerable number of New Bedford's North Pacific fleet having been transferred to that city. The whaling business in New Bedford reached its height in 1857, when the fleet consisted of 329 vessels of all kinds, with a tonnage of 111,364, requir- ing crews aggregating 10,000 men, and representing an investment of about $12,000,000. The value of the catch of oil and bone in that year, was $6,178,728. After the war of the Rebellion the industry steadily declined, and in 1897 the New Bedford fleet consisted of nineteen ships and barks, one brig, and twelve schooners, of a tonnage of 6,410.
While the whale fishery was rapidly ascending to the height of its prosperity there was introduced into New Bedford the manufacture of
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THE CITY OF NEW BEDFORD.
cotton goods, which was destined to outrank all other industries in mag- nitude and importance. From the ninth city in population in the State in 1890 it has now become the seventh; it stands first in the United States in the manufacture of fine cotton fabrics and yarns and second in the number of cotton spindles, and has one of the largest cotton fac- tories in this country. The thirty-four cotton mills and one woolen mill have an aggregate of 1,247,300 spindles and 21,873 looms, and employ about 13,155 hands. The capital stock of these establishments is $13,360, 000.
The first cotton factory established in New Bedford was the Wam- sutta, which has acquired a world wide reputation for the fine quality of its product In the fall of 1846 Hon. Joseph Grinnell, then member of congress from this district, and several men in New York, received a proposition from Thomas Bennett, jr., to establish a cotton mill in Georgia, where he had previously obtained some practical experience. Through Mr. Grinnell, who headed the subscription list with $10,000, the mill was located in New Bedford. Hon. Abraham H. Howland had secured, in 1846, a charter from the Massachusetts Legislature for a company, styled the Wamsutta Mills, to manufacture cotton, wool, or iron in New Bedford, the incorporators being Jireh Perry, Matthew Luce, Thomas S. Hathaway, and their associates. This charter was given to the proposed company, which intended to raise a capital of $300,000 and erect a cotton mill of 15,000 spindles and 300 looms. After persistent efforts $160,000 were secured, Mr. Grinnell adding $2,100 to his original subscription. The principal stockholders were Mr. Grinnell, Gideon Howland, Sylvia Ann Howland, Ward M. Parker, Thomas Mandell, David R. Greene, Latham Cross, Jireh Perry, Mat- thew Luce and Thomas S. Hathaway. The first officers, elected June 9, 1847, were Joseph Grinnell, president: Edward L. Baker, treasurer and clerk; Joseph Grinnell, David R. Greene, Joseph C. Delano, Thomas Mandell, Pardon Tillinghast, directors; Thomas Bennett, jr., agent. Mill No. 1 was designed and built for 15,000 spindles and 300 looms, but owing to the limited capital only 10,000 spindles and 200 looms were put in. The machinery was started and the manufacture of the famous Wamsutta shirting commenced January 1, 1849. All the over- seers, carpenters, machinists and operatives were brought here from Rhode Island, Connecticut, and other points in Massachusetts, and to provide homes for these people the company was obliged to erect and maintain tenements and boarding houses, a feature which has ever
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
since been continued. In 1854 a second mill was built, the capital having been increased to $600,000. On August 1, 1860, the capital stock was again increased to $1,000,000, and in 1861 a third mill was completed, but owing to the Civil war it remained unused until 1865. In 1866 the company was marketing the product of 45,000 spindles and 1,100 looms. In 1870 a fourth mill was placed in full operation, mak- ing the total capacity 89,236 spindles and 2,173 looms, of which 2,071 looms were operated on Wamsutta shirtings and 102 on wider goods. After acting as resident agent for twenty-seven years Thomas Bennett, jr., resigned, and was succeeded by Edward Kilburn, who in 1888 was followed by William J. Kent. From February 1, 1850, to April 1, 1874, the company paid fifty dividends aggregating 301 per cent. Mill No. 5 was built in 1875, No. 6 in 1881-82, and No. 7 in 1893. The seven mills contain 230,000 spindles and 4,450 looms, and furnish employ. ment to about 2,100 hands, manufacturing about 200 varieties of goods, including shirtings, cambrics, muslins, sateens, momie cloth, cretonnes, sheetings, fancy weaves, warp, yarn, etc. The company has a capital of $3,000,000, and is one of the largest of the kind in the United States. Mr. Grinnell, the first president, died February 7, 1885, and was suc- ceeded by Andrew G. Pierce, who had served as treasurer since Ed- ward L. Baker resigned August 25, 1855. Mr. Pierce was succeeded as president by William W. Crapo, and again became treasurer of the company.
The remarkable success of the Wamsutta Mills and the gradual de- cline of the whaling industry turned the attention of local capitalists to cotton manufacturing enterprises. In 1871 a company was organized with James Robinson as president, and a capital of $600,000, and erected Potomska Mill No. 1, 427 by 92 feet, four stories in height, in the south end of the city. Mill No. 2 was built in 1877 and the capital increased to $1,200,000. These mills have 108,000 spindles and 2, 700 looms, and employ 1,300 hands, manufacturing lawns, sateens, cre- tonnes, and print goods. Mr. Robinson was succeeded as president by Edward Kilburn, who was followed by Andrew G. Pierce.
A new era in cotton manufacture in New Bedford commenced with the year 1881, and during the next decade the "boom " was steady and, apparently, substantial. The Grinnell Manufacturing Corpo- ration was organized in 1882. The same year Mill No. 1 was erected, to which additions were subsequently made, giving the plant 100,000 spindles and 2,600 looms. The company employs 800 operatives, has a
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THE CITY OF NEW BEDFORD.
capital of $800,000, and manufactures a large variety of fine cotton goods. Edward Kilburn is the president. The Acushnet Mill Corpo- ration was organized in November, 1882, with a capital of $750,000, which was increased to $800,000, and subsequently reduced to $500, - 000. Mill No. 1 was built in 1883 and No. 2 in 1887, making the capacity 105,000 spindles and 3,400 looms. About 1,100 hands are em - ployed, manufacturing a variety of fine cotton goods. The Oneko Woolen Mills were also incorporated in 1882, with a capital $210,000, and the plant was placed in operation in 1883. It has 4,500 spindles and 63 looms, designed for the manufacture of ladies' dress goods and cloakings.
The New Bedford Manufacturing Company was organized, princi pally by William D. Howland, in February, 1882, and the mill started in 1883 with 11,000 spindles. The original capital, $125,000, was in- creased in 1884 to $150,000 and in 1886 to $500,000, when the second mill was built. The plant has 37,000 spindles and employs 450 oper . atives, manufacturing a variety of cotton yarns. This corporation has recently been reorganized as the New Bedford Spinning Company.
In 1888-89 four corporations were added to the six already men- tioned. The City Manufacturing Company was organized in April, 1888, with a capital of $250,000, which was subsequently increased to $600,000 and later to $750,000. Mill No. 1 was completed in 1889 and No. 2 in 1892, giving the plant 65,000 spindles. The product consists of carded and combed yarns. The Howland Mills Corporation, named from William D. Howland, its first treasurer, was incorporated in 1888, with a capital of $350,000, which was increased to $1,000,000. The main building was completed August 1, of the same year ; a second mill was added, which was enlarged in 1891, giving the plant 80,000 spindles. About 1,100 operatives are employed, manufacturing a variety of cot- ton yarns. The corporation erected for its employees a village of tene. ments with modern conveniences. The Hathaway Manufacturing Com- pany was organized December 22, 1888, with a capital of $400,000, which has since been doubled. The first mill was placed in operation in 1889; since then three others have been added, and the corporation now has 102,000 spindles and 2,750 looms and employs 1,000 hands, manufacturing a large variety of cotton goods. The Bennett Manu- facturing Company was incorporated in February, 1889, and has a cap- ital of $700,000. Its two mills contain 85,000 spindles, employ 750 operatives, and manufacture high grade cotton yarns.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
The Bristol Manufacturing Company, incorporated in 1892, has a capital of $500,000, operates 50,000 spindles and 1,400 looms, and em- ploys 550 hands, manufacturing prints and other narrow goods. The Columbia Spinning Company, also incorporated in 1892, has a capital stock of $750,000, and operates, in two mills, 50,000 spindles on the manufacture of high grade hosiery yarns. The company employs 550 operatives. This corporation and the Bennett Manufacturing Com- pany, above noticed, suffered heavily in 1897, from the misappropria- tion of their funds by their treasurer, but their reorganization has been effected under new management and bright auspices. The Pierce Manufacturing Company was incorporated March 3, 1892, and has a capital of $600,000. Their two mills contain 60,000 spindles and 1,400 looms and give employment to 575 persons, manufacturing fine cotton goods. The Rotch Spinning Company, incorporated February 27, 1892, has two mills, containing 50,000 spindles, and employs 550 operatives in the manufacture of hosiery yarns. The capital is $750,000.
The Whitman Mill, incorporated and built in 1895, has 60,800 spin- dles and 1,710 looms, and employs 850 hands. Its capital is $700,000, and its product consists of cotton novelties, leaders and staples. The Dartmouth Manufacturing Corporation erected its mill in 1896. It contains 60,000 spindles and 1,400 looms, and employs 650 operatives in the manufacture of fine cotton goods. The capital is $600,000.
At the present time New Bedford is the second largest cotton manu- facturing city in New England, being outnumbered only by Fall River. Her thirty-four mills, owned by fifteen large corporations, represent an invested capital of over $13,000,000, and the quality of the product is not excelled anywhere in the United States. The nationality of the operatives has undergone radical changes, the native New Englanders, who originally comprised the majority, having been largely or wholly succeeded by foreigners, Portuguese and French Canadians predomi- nating. The new competition with southern mills, the depressed finan- cial conditions of the country during the past five years, the modern methods of manufacture, and the maneuverings of capital and organ- ized labor are subjects which need not be discussed here, but as a mat- ter of history their results have special significance for the future of the cotton industry in New Bedford. The recent strike of the operatives, which began in December, 1897, and extended over a period of several months, was the outcome of these and other conflicting elements, and was the most serious affair of the kind in the annals of the city.
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THE CITY OF NEW BEDFORD.
Besides the great cotton industry detailed in the foregoing pages there are in New Bedford a large variety of other manufacturing en . terprises, which have more than a local importance, and which bring into the community hundreds of thousands of dollars annually and fur- nish employment to hundreds of artisans. Some of the earlier indus- tries have been already noticed. There were two ropewalks in opera- tion near the South Street Cemetery in 1815. The New Bedford Cord- age Company was started in 1842 by Joseph Ricketson and William J. and Benjamin S. Rotch. The company was incorporated in January, 1846, with a capital of $60,000, which was increased in 1849 to $75,000, and which is now $200,000. The early oil and candle industries have also been mentioned. 1n 1857 Abraham H. Howland purchased the Joseph Ricketson factory and began experimenting in the distillation of oil from coal. A company, consisting of himself, William P. and B. Franklin Howland, Weston Howland, John Hicks, Joseph C. Delano, Henry T. Wood and William C. Taber, was organized and successfully operated a coal oil factory. This industry created a new one, that of manufacturing tin cans, in which Stephen A. Tripp and Wood & Bright- man were largely engaged. Charles H. Leonard was for several years a prominent oil manufacturer, and on January 1, 1869, was succeeded by George Delano. Since the latter's death his sons have continued the business under the firm name of George Delano's Sons. They man- ufacture sperm, whale, sea elephant and fish oils, candles, soap, etc. In 1865 William F. Nye established a factory for the manufacture of lubricating oils in New Bedford and in 1877 removed to Fish Island, where he has a large plant. The sperm and whale oil refinery of W. A. Robinson & Co. was originally started in Rhode Island in 1829, re- moved to New Bedford in 1853, and continued on the site of the Old Colony passenger station until 1863, when it occupied its present quar- ters at 144 South Water street. The late George S. Homer, as surviv- ing partner, succeeded to the firm of S. Thomas & Co. in 1867, the firm having been formed in 1857. This oil business was started about 1850.
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