Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Part 57

Author: Borden, Alanson, 1823-1900; Boston History Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 1399

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts > Part 57

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

could have shown more patriotism, or labored more earnestly and effect- ively, or given more generously of his energy and means for the good of the Union cause.

The part taken by the patriot women of Fall River in various meth- ods of aid to the soldiers and their families must not be forgotten. No sooner had the tocsin of war sounded than the women of the city began their work in this direction. On the 27th of April, 1861, a ladies' sew- ing society was organized, and during the ensuing six weeks the mem . bers met daily and worked from morning till night; later they met usually once a week. The president was Mrs. Richard Borden; Mrs. Avis Ames, vice-president; Miss A. C. G. Canedy, secretary. The society continued in existence until July 28, 1865, and of course accom- plished a vast amount of good in supplying the soldiers with necessa- ries which were chiefly sent to the front through the Sanitary and Chris- tian Commissions. In November, 1863, a great fair was held in the City Hall, in the management of which the women were very success- ful.

Public improvements of an extensive character were generally aban- doned during the war, and during the early years of the conflict invest- ors of private capital were timid and industrial operations of magnitude were checked. The censiis returns from 1845 to 1860 show an increase of population in the city of a little more than 1,000 annually on the average. In 1860 it was 13,240; the annexation of Fall River, R. I., in 1862 (the details of which are given elsewhere in these pages), raised the number to 17,461; in 1865 it was less than 100 more than this, but from 1865 to 1870 the gain was almost 10,000, the number by that census being 27,191.

At the beginning of the sixth decade of the century Fall River was in the enjoyment of prosperity in its several channels of industry. Moreover, the time had arrived when the up-building of new and im- portant industries was to be the work of individual effort and capital to a greater extent than hitherto. Up to that time the Iron Works Com- pany had projected or held large interest in most of the important manufacturing industries of the place. New combinations of individual capital from large and small investors alike were now to take a lead- ing part in manufacturing enterprise, a change that has been justly

one of the aldermen. In November, 1855, he was chosen mayor to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James Buffinton ; in the following year he was elected to the same office; in 1860 he was re-elected and served seven consecutive years, leaving the high and responsible position with a most enviable record. Mr. Buffinton died October 2, 1871.

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THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

credited largely to the judgment, foresight and efforts of Hale Rem- ington' in consultation with the veteran David Anthony. The result of their combined enterprise was the formation of the Union Mill Com- pany (1859), to the capital of which Mr. Anthony was a large subscriber and was chosen treasurer, Mr. Remington serving as one of the orig- inal directors. The time was propitious and the new manufactory was skillfully directed by the management, resulting in unqualified success. The No. 1 mill was erected on a site then selected by S. A. Chace on the Quequechan River. The capital was $175,000, in shares of $1,000 each, and the stock was pledged by about twenty persons. Erection of the mill began in August and was completed in December, and the whole establishment was in operation in March, 1860. S. Angier Chace was elected president; David Anthony, treasurer; Simeon Borden, clerk. The No. 2 mill was built in 1865, with about 30,000 spindles, and with- out increase of capital stock. Through financial mismanagement these mills were assumed by the creditors and under reorganization have since been very successful.

The early success of the Union Mill Company acted as an incentive to the organization of numerous companies and corporations upon similar lines. Among these were the Granite Mills, incorporated 1863; the Robeson Mills, incorporated 1866; the Tecumseh Mills, incorpo- rated 1866; the Durfee Mills, incorporated 1866; the Davol Mills Com- pany, incorporated 1867; the Merchants' Manufacturing Company, incorporated 1866; the Mechanics' Mills, incorporated 1868; other corporations succeeded rapidly. Detailed description of all the foregoing corporations are given in the subsequent chapter devoted to that subject. A new and most prosperous era had begun for Fall River.

Aside from the fortunate inauguration of the system of organization in mill corporations just noticed, the projection of so many important industries at that particular time and in a few succeeding years, was to some extent due to the conditions throughout the country at the close of the Civil war. During the stupendous strife the public mind was

1Hale Remington settled in Fall River in 1833 and entered the employ of Dr. Nathan Durfee in his drug store. He soon afterward purchased the establishment and largely increased the business especially by adding chemicals and dyestuffs used in manufacturing. Later he engaged in the coal business, and to that in course of time added the insurance business, in all of which he was successful. He was for a short time the agent of the Globe Print Works. His observa- tions of the success resulting in other places from the use of the combined capital of men of small means, led him to consultations with David Anthony upon the subject, as above stated. He died August 4, 1870 68

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

engrossed in the one great question-What of the future of the country? In every city, village or hamlet the frequent calls to arms, the great sacrifices demanded in men and money, the pitiful news that came up from every battlefield, all served to distract public attention from the ordinary affairs of life. With the coming of peace all this was changed. The welcome event was properly celebrated in all communities, and the people, so long oppressed by the terrors of war, turned joyfully and full of hope to the prosecution of improvements and industries.

Freight transportation to and from Fall River had by the time under consideration become enormous in comparison with twenty or even ten years earlier. To supply better facilities for this business the Fall River Steamboat Company was organized in 1866. The propellers Albatross and United States, of between 400 and 500 tons each, were purchased and started upon the route to New York, making two trips each weekly. Upon the formation of the Old Colony Steamboat Com- pany, which is still in successful existence, the boats were sold to that organization and other larger boats were added as business required.

When in the spring of 1865 the Fall River and Warren Railroad, connecting with the Providence and Bristol line at Warren, was open for travel, the steamer Oriole was put on as a ferry boat, connecting this road at its eastern terminus opposite the city with the Old Colony Railroad at their Ferry street depot. When the new bridge at Slade's Ferry was finished, the Old Colony Company having in the mean time purchased the Fall River and Warren line, the road was brought across the river, greatly facilitating both freight and passenger traffic west- ward.

It was within the few years after the close of the war also that the parks of the city were established. What is now the North Park orig- inated in a petition dated September 3, 1883, signed by John S. Brayton, and 222 others, asking the city government to set aside for a park a portion of the public land lying near Highland avenue and Brownell street. As a result of this petition it was ordered on October 1 of that year, that all of the unoccupied part of the City Farm (so called), lying west of Highland avenue and bounded on the east by that avenue, west by North Main street, north by Hood street, and south by President avenue, containing about twenty eight acres, should be set apart and dedicated for a public park to be known as North Park.

The other and larger park in the southern part of the city extends from Main street westward to the bay, contains sixty acres, and has a length of 3,800 feet and a breadth of 800 feet. From the high table

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THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

land of the eastern part at Main street a beautiful and extensive view of the city to the northward and of the river and the Mt. Hope and Somerset shores is afforded. With further artificial improvement which this park will receive in future years, it will become a beautiful and popular resort. Liberal annual appropriations are made from the city funds for park improvement.

CHAPTER XXX.

FALL RIVER AS A CITY-1870-1898.

Notwithstanding the enormous cost of the Civil war-a financial drain that was felt in every hamlet in the land-there was, as we have seen, seeming prosperity throughout the North during several years after the close of the conflict. The great demands of the government for war materials, which had for five years stimulated many and varied in- dustries and afforded numerous avenues for speculation and wealth- making, and the abundance of money which had poured from the national treasury in payment for supplies and to the vast armies whose rank and file seldom hoarded it, with the high prices ruling for all products incident to the inflated currency, were all causes of an era of prosperity such as the country had not before experienced.

Though not by any means dependent upon these conditions, they undoubtedly exerted an influence in the immense and rapid develop- ment of Fall River industries and trade, and her consequent increase in population, in 1870 and the few succeeding years. The number of inhabitants in 1870 was 27,191; the number in 1875 was 45,160, a gain of about 18,000 in five years. In 1880 the number was 47,883, while in 1885 it had risen to 56,863, a gain of about 9,000. From a valuation of $11,522,650 in 1860 there was an increase in 1870 to $23, 612,214. This amount was more than doubled in 1875, when the figures were $51,401,467. The number of spindles in operation at the close of the war in 1865 was 265,328; in 1870 there were 544,606; three years later there were 1,212,694-nearly a million and a quarter and indicating an enormous increase at the very beginning of the period of which this chapter treats.

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

The year 1871 saw the incorporation in Fall River of no less than nine cotton mills, with a gross capital of about $6,000,000! It is be- lieved that the history of no other city in the United States will show the founding of so large a number of stable industrial establishments, with so large an investment of capital in so short a period. This list of corporations includes the King Philip Mills, capital $100,000; Nar- ragansett Mills, capital $400,000; Osborn Mills, capital $600,000; Richard Borden Manufacturing Company, capital $800,000; Slade Mills, capital $550,000; Stafford Mills, capital $800,000; Wampanoag Mills, capital $750,000; Weetamoe Mills, capital $550,009; Chace Mills, capital $500,000. During the remainder of this decade up to and in- cluding 1879 there were incorporated five other mills as follows: Bar- nard Manufacturing Company, capital $495,000; Flint Mills, capital $580,000; Sagamore Manufacturing Company, capital $900,000; Shove Mills, capital $550,000; Union Cotton Manufacturing Company, capital $750,000, making a further total capital of about $3,000,000. These various corporations are properly described in the chapter devoted to this subject in later pages.

In addition to the foregoing two other mill corporations were formed that are not now in operation. The first of these was the Crescent Mills, organized October 25, 1871, with a capital stock of $500,000. A granite mill was built in 1872, and a picker house, and the entire mill was in operation in 1873. The original officers were: Ben- jamin Covel, president; Lafayette Nichols, treasurer; Benjamin Covel, Lafayette Nichols, D. A. Chapin, William B. Durfee, J. F. Nichols, Joseph Brady, David F. Brown, G. M. Haffards and A. S. Covel, direct- ors. The site of these mills is bounded by the Quequechan, Eight- rod Way (now Plymouth avenue) and Pleasant street, which contained twenty-five acres and has a valuable water front. This property was purchased by the Merchants' Mill Corporation.

The Montaup Mills was projected by Josiah Brown for the manufac- ture of bags, duck, and cotton bats. The capital was $250,000, and the original subscribers numbered thirty-five. Their first meeting was held November 14, 1871, and the following board of directors chosen : Josiah Brown, Bradford D. Davol, George B. Durfee, A. D. Easton, William L. Slade, Isaac Borden, George H. Hawes, William Valentine, Holder B. Durfee and Thomas J. Borden. Mr. Brown was elected president, and Isaac Borden treasurer and clerk. The act of incorporation was dated December 1, 1871. Between eight and nine acres of land was

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THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

purchased on the northern side of Laurel Lake, and there a brick mill was at once erected. Weaving was begun in February, 1873. The mill contained 7,200 spindles and 112 looms, which were operated by steam. This mill is now No. 2 of the Osborn Mills Corporation.

The banking facilities of the city were increased just before the close of the war by the organization, on January 23,1864, of The First Na- tional Bank of Fall River. This was the first bank in this section of the State to organize under the national bank act. The capital was fixed at $200,000. John S. Brayton was chosen president; Charles A. Bassett, cashier. Mr. Brayton has continued in the office of president to the present time, and Everett M. Cook is the present cashier. In March, 1865, the capital stock of the bank was increased to $400,000 and so remains. The board of directors is as follows: John S. Brayton, D. A. Brayton, jr., James M. Morton, Thomas E. Brayton, Edward L. Anthony, Andrew Borden, John S. Brayton, jr. The new bank build- ing, corner of Main and Bank streets, was erected in 1887.

The Union Savings Bank was incorporated in 1869, April 24, with Gardner T. Dean, Edwin Shaw and Lafayette Nichols and associates, incorporators. The organization was effected by electing Augustus Chace president; James M. Morton, jr., secretary ; D. A. Chapin, treas- urer, and a board of twenty-five trustees. The bank began business in May, 1869, its office being situated in the southwest corner of the Mar- ket building. In 1872 it purchased property on Main street which it has since occupied. The present principal officers are Jerome C. Bor- den, president; Melvin B. Horton, secretary; Abraham G. Hart, treas- urer.

The B. M. C. Durfee Safe Deposit and Trust Company was chartered in 1887, with paid in capital of $100,000, subsequently increased to $200,000, and then to $400,000. It has been a very successful financial institution. The principal officers are John S. Brayton, president; John S. Brayton, jr., vice-president; Arthur W. Allen, secretary and treasurer.

In addition to the banks thus far noticed there are in the city four co-operative banks, with authorized capital of $1,000,000 each. They are the Fall River Co-operative Bank, chartered 1888; Lafayette Co- operative Bank, chartered 1894; People's Co operative Bank, chartered 1882; Troy Co-operative Bank, chartered 1880.

The remarkable development of Fall River during the decade under consideration was not confined wholly to cotton manufacturing corpo-

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

rations. During that period the Fall River Bleachery was incorporated with a capital of $400,000; the Union Belt Company with capital of $48,000; the Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Company; Kilburn, Lincoln & Co., capital $80,000. These were soon followed by other miscellaneous corporations.

In the course of general legislation of the comparatively recent years, several acts have been passed that had a bearing upon Fall River, and the city charter has been several times revised to bring it to its present effective form. . The first revision took place in 1865, when only minor changes were made. In 1879 another revision was made, and the last one in 1886. The subdivision of the six wards into which the city was at first divided into nine, took place under an act of 1881. The several changes in the charter have been in the line of broadening the powers of officials and fixing their responsibility more closely. The date of the municipal election is fixed for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in December, and the fiscal year begins on the first Monday in January. The Board of Health is made to consist of the city physician and two persons to be appointed by the mayor; this provision went into effect in 1885. In the next year one of the charter changes provided for the appointment or election of a chief engineer who should hold office three years.

An act of April 9, 1872, provided for the appointment by the Mayor and Aldermen of a harbor master, and defined his duties; he exercises general jurisdiction and control over the city wharves, controls the movements of vessels in the harbor, and maintains order along the water front.

On June 23, 1874, an act was passed authorizing the city to fund its floating debt to an amount not exceeding $600,000, by the issue of bonds. Again on April 9, 1875, authority was given to fund a debt of $400,000.

Various changes have taken place during the passing years along the shore of the bay and the banks of the river, although the general topo- graphy of the region has not seen much alteration. There was in the early years a large pond that covered the site of the City Hall and ex - tended nearly to the site of the Troy Mill. The early building of ves- sels by Bradford Durfee has been mentioned; this business he carried on on what is now Central street at the extreme end of the Pocasset Mill site. His vessels he rolled down to the brow of the hill where they were launched in the Fall River Creek. At the end of what is

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THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

now Central street was a wharf; this street extended west to Brayton's stone flour mill, then northward to Davol street, which continued north to the Slade wharf. The Fall River creek flowed eastward out of Taunton River, turned south and again entered the river below. A bridge crossed the creek on Central street, and had a draw. When the Brayton mill was built, vessels came up to it, where a wharf was con- structed. The first railroad depot was built at the end of the tunnel, and the second one at the steamboat wharf for the accommodation of the New York boats. The old depot was eventually abandoned for that purpose and now is in use as a part of the railroad shops. When the road was constructed to Newport, a station was built at Ferry street, and another small one at Bowenville, near the site of the pres- ent fine stone depot at Bowenville, for the accommodation of the north- ern part of the city.

An event of the year 1874 that is still remembered with awe and sadness was the burning of the great Granite Mills on the 19th of Sep- tember. On the morning of that day fire was discovered in the mule room on the third floor, which soon spread throughout the six-story structure. There was only one entrance to each of the floors, which was through the tower in the center of the building on the Twelfth street side. As the fire started north of the tower and swept rapidly southward, this avenue of escape for the employees above the third floor was cut off. Many of the hundreds on the upper floors reached the ground by the fire escapes on the front and rear of the building, but a number were badly injured by jumping from the fourth and fifth story windows. A single fire escape on the east side reached to the sloping roof, but it was of no- use to the helpless people in the sixth attic story. As the devouring flames came on toward them, they rushed frantically for the three windows in the south end of the build- ing. The fire department responded promptly to the call, but its long- est ladder was far too short to reach those widows. Bedding was then hastily gathered and piled on the ground under the windows and blankets were held to break the fall of those who were determined to jump. Many took the leap only to meet death at the bottom. Twenty persons were killed in this terrible calamity and more than thirty others injured. It was an awful but effective lesson; although this mill was built upon the best plans then in use, it was realized that in future better means of egress and more adequate safety appliances must be provided in all similar structures. Reforms in this respect were at

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

once introduced and a repetition of the disaster has not since been feared.

An important public improvement in the city was the construction of the Custom House and Post-office building between 1875 and 1880. Originally what is now the customs district of Fall River, including this town and other towns along the Taunton River, was called the District of Dighton, and so continued until April 1, 1834, with Dighton as the port of entry. In 1834 the custom house was removed to Fall River and the name of the village given to the district in 1837. In 1840 there were credited to this district 113 registered, enrolled and licensed vessels, with tonnage of 8,809. The district now includes Fall River, Taunton, Freetown, Swansea, Dighton, Berkley and Somerset, and there are credited to the district 101 registered, enrolled and licensed vessels, with a tonnage in round numbers of 68,000, making it the largest in New England, excepting Boston. The custom house was located in various places in rented apartments, until with passing years and the great increase of business, more commodious quarters became an imperative necessity.

The post-office was established in Fall River in 1811, with Charles Pitman, postmaster, and on February 12 he opened the first mail. Two years later the post-office was removed to Steep Brook, a fact that in- dicates the relative importance of the two points at that time. In 1816 the office was re-established at Fall River and Abraham Bowen was appointed postmaster; he continued in the office eight years until his death and was succeeded by his son, James G. Bowen. The office was at that time kept on what is now the northeast corner of Main and Bed- ford streets. The office was burned in the great fire of 1843, after which a temporary building was used for the custom house and post- office, which stood on the sight of the new Public Library. Later the office was removed to the City Hall, and still later to the Pocasset block, corner of Pleasant and South Main streets; this was done be- tween 1857 and 1861. The free delivery system was inaugurated in the city on July 1, 1863.

The list of postmasters of Fall River succeeding Abraham Bowen, is as follows: James G. Bowen, 1824-31; Benjamin Anthony, 1831-36; Caleb B. Vickery, 1836-49; James Ford, 1849-53; James M. Morton, 1853-57; Ebenezer Slocum, 1857-61; Edwin Shaw, 1681-75; Chester W. Greene, 1875-81; William S. Greene, 1881-85; Nicholas Hatheway, 1885-89; John Whitehead, 1889-94; Daniel D. Sullivan, appointed Feb- ruary 1, 1894. William S. Greene, April 1, 1898, soon resigned to take his seat in Congress and was succeeded by George A. Ballard.

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THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

The collectors of customs for this district have been as follows: Hodijah Baylies, 1789-1809, Nathaniel Williams, 1809-1823; Hercules Cushman, 1823-25; Seth Will- iams, 1825-29; William Wood, 1829-33; Horatio Pratt, 1833-34; P. W. Leland, 1834-42; Charles J. Holmes, 1842-45 (deputy collector, Jonathan Slade); Samuel L. Thaxter, 1849-53 (deputy, Benjamin Earl);1 P. W. Leland, 1853-61 (deputy, Jonathan Slade); Charles Almy, 1861-65 (deputy, Samuel R. Buffinton); James Brady, jr., 1865-95 (deputies, Samuel R. Buffinton, Isaac Borden, Edward T. Marvel); John Desmond, 1895 to present time (deputy, Edward T. Marvel, who has served thirty- eight years.)

FALL RIVER POST OFFICE.

When the business of the custom house and the post-office became too large to be efficiently managed in the temporary places theretofore occupied, measures were adopted to secure the erection of a govern- ment building in the city. Through the instrumentality of James Buf-

1 Benjamin Earl was born at Taunton August 7, 1809, and settled in Fall River in 1826. He was a direct descendant of Ralph Earle, who came from England between 1633 and 1638, and set- tled in Portsmouth. William Earle, son of this Ralph, was a prominent man of his time and be- came owner of half a share of the thirty shares into which the land along the Fall River was divided; his farm included what is now 2 populous part of the city. The father of Benjamin Earl 69

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

finton, then member of Congress, an appropriation was secured in 1873 of $200,000, and a committee of citizens was appointed to select a site. The site finally chosen is eligible and convenient. In 1875 a further appropriation was obtained of $40,000, and in 1876 two additional ap- propriations were made of $25,000 and $20,000 respectively, making a total of $285,000. The erection of the building was begun September, 1875, under direction of Edward T. Avery, superintendent of construc. tion. Further appropriations were made of $70,000 in 1878; $85,000 in 1879; $50,000 in 1880, and $28,000 in 1881, bringing the grand total up to $518,000, of which sum $132,856.65 was expended for land. The building was occupied by the custom house in June, 1880, and by the post-office a few months later. It is one of the most beautiful and costly government buildings in the interior cities of the United States.

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Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Part 57

Author: Borden, Alanson, 1823-1900; Boston History Company, Boston, pub Publication date: 1899 Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Company Number of Pages: 1399

Author: Borden, Alanson, 1823-1900; Boston History Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 1399