USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 34
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There were only three shoemakers in Lynn, in 1250, who employed journeymen. William Gray was one of these. His son, Abraham Gray, who followed in the footsteps of his father, extended the trade to Salem and went there every week, supplying the rich families and some tradesmen with shoes. Salem was at that time larger and more impor- tant commercially than Boston. The house where Abraham Gray re- sided in Lynn is still standing on Marion, near Boston street.
Abraham Gray had a son, born in 1750, and named William, after his grandfather. When he grew up his father undertook to teach him the trade, but confinement at the bench was unfavorable to his health. The family had, meantime, moved to Salem, and young Gray was taken in the counting room of Richard Derby, an eminent merchant. He made several voyages as supercargo, taking ventures of his own, as was the custom at that time. By so doing he accumulated money sufficient to engage in business for himself. From the time Mr. Gray entered upon a mercantile career he prospered exceedingly. He moved to Boston in 1808, and was then considered the richest man in New England. He always maintained business relations with Lynn manufacturers. For more than forty years he supplied them with Russia sheeting, which was used for shoe linings. He built Gray's Wharf, in Boston, at the North End, and did business there. Mr. Gray was elected lieutenant- governor of the State twice (1810-12). He died in Boston in 1825. His grandson, Horace Gray, is an associate chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.
John Mansfield, of this trio of " shoe bosses," lived in Boston street, at Mansfield's End. He was a descendant of Joseph Mansfield, brother of Andrew Mansfield, for many years the town recorder. John Mans- field inherited a good property, and was able to employ journeymen or apprentices, as was the custom of that day. His fame, however, rests mainly on the fact that he was colonel of the Lynn regiment which was stationed at Cambridge, and niarched out to take part in the battle of Bunker Hill, but didn't get to the scene of the conflict. He was after- ward cashiered, but he claimed that orders were transmitted to him that prevented his marching to the battle.
Prominent Lynn manufacturers of the early days were:
Isaiah Breed, who began an apprenticeship at shoemaking when he was fourteen years old (1800), and began manufacturing on his own ac-
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WHOLESALE SHOE TRADE.
count when he was eighteen years old (1804); in 1820 was one of three of the names who were classed as manufacturers. The others were William B. and Nathan Breed. For more than fifty years Isaiah Breed was in business here and he was uniformly successful. He was one of the eight who passed unscathed through the panic of 1837. At twenty- two he had a large business for those days. He took shoes to Boston in saddlebags on horseback.
Mr. Breed was elected a director in the Lynn Mechanics' Bank (now First National) in 1823. This bank was incorporated March 24, 1814; it was located at the head of the Common, opposite the present city Hall. For several terms Mr. Breed was are presentative in the Legis- .
lature, and he was elected a senator in 1839. His services as a trust- worthy and industrious working member were highly appreciated. In person he was commanding, and in manners dignified. One of his daughters married George W. Keene, the present members of the firm of Keene Brothers, being grandsons of Mr. Breed. Mr. Breed built a fine residence at the northeast corner of Broad and Exchange streets, and died there May 23, 1859.
Micajah C. Pratt was one of the most prominent of the early manu- facturers in Lynn. It was his birthplace. From 1812 till he died, in 1866, he made shoes. He was a member of the Society of Friends. In 1830 Mr. Pratt began to send shoes to Maine to be made, and families worked for him for a quarter of a century and sent their children up to Lynn to work for him there. He used to do a large business, making some 250,000 pairs yearly. Mr. Pratt was president of the First Na- tional Bank, and Lynn Fire and Marine Insurance Company for several years. He lived and died in the large house No. 116 Broad street. C. A. Coffin & Co. succeeded to the business. M. P. Clough, of this firm, is his grandson.
Benjamin F. Doak was born in Lynn, 1826; died there, 1876. He began to make shoes about 1853, and was soon rated as one of the fore- most business men. He bequeathed to the city $10,000 to be invested and the income expended for the benefit of the city poor. It is called the " Doak Fund."
Nathan Breed, born 1794, died 1872, was a manufacturer during all his business life. He was for thirty-six years a director in the Lynn Mechanics' Bank and trustee of the Institution for Savings. In his will he left $50,000 to found a school and asylum for destitute children.
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SUFFOLK COUNTY.
Abner S. Moore, at one time a partner with John B. Alley, went to Baltimore in 1865 and established the first shoe factory, for machine work, in that city. His firm was Crane, Moore & Co., afterward Moore, Larrabee & Co., in Baltimore. Mr. Moore furnished the stock sewed on the Mckay machine at its first trial in 1858-9. Mr. Moore did busi- ness about four years in Baltimore, then returned and died in Lynn in 1871.
Philip A. Chase began making shoes in 1856. At that time Italian cloth was in use as a shoe material. Mr. Chase was one of the first to introduce lasting shoes. These had a great run for the next ten years, . and he acquired a fortune. Francis W. Breed was a partner from 1867, but Mr. Chase sold out to him in 1875, leaving $50,000 as a special capital. It didn't take Mr. Breed long to pay that out. Mr. Chase was trustee of the Lynn Institution for Savings from 1868, and elected presi- dent in 1874. He still holds the office, and has been president of the Central National Bank since 1875. He was on the School Board three years and its chairman two years. He is a native of Lynn. "Lynn Woods" is a memorial of his usefulness. He was park commissioner 1889 to 1893.
George W. Keene was born in Lynn in 1816. His father, Josiah Keene, owned a farm where Willow and Oxford streets now run. His mother, Avis Keene, was a preacher of the Friends Society. She was a graceful and influential speaker, amiable, charitable and endeared to an extensive circle of friends. She died in 1867, aged eighty-seven years. George W. Keene manufactured shoes on Exchange street, nearly opposite where the site of the depot is. He owned the "farm " on Willow street. The family own it yet. Mr. Keene married a daugh- ter of the Hon. Isaiah Breed. He was an enterprising, far-seeing busi- ness man, and did his full share in elevating the shoe trade to a posi- tion of commanding importance. He died suddenly in the St. Nicholas Hotel, in New York, January 27, 1874. His two sons, W. G. S. and Frank Keene, succeeded to his business, which is now conducted under the style of Keene Brothers.
Benj. Franklin Spinney was born in Taunton, Mass., September 1, 1832. His father and grandfather were in the shoe trade. In 1858 Mr. Spinney came to Lynn, and with his cousin formed the firm of B. F. & G. W. Spinney. In 1869 they dissolved; the house of B. F. Spinney & Co. was formed, and has continued with different partners since that time. In 1873 they built a factory at Norway, Me. The firm
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WHOLESALE SHOE TRADE.
is among the largest in the trade. W. S. Spinney, of Faunce & Spinney, is a son of B. F. Spinney, and carries the shoe business into the fourth generation.
John Wooldredge was a man that did a good deal for Lynn. He was the first to introduce steam as a motive power. It was used to run a machine for making heels. This was in 1858. He also brought the first sewing machine to the city; it was a Singer. The operator held the work under the needle with one hand and ran the machine by turn- ing a crank with the other hand. Mr. Wooldredge manufactured in 1852 at No. 41 Market street, and lived in Marblehead. His father was the first man to manufacture shoes in that town.
LYNN'S PRESENT AND FUTURE.
From the State census of 1885 the following figures are derived :
SHOE MANUFACTURERS.
Number of firms
174
Value of product $20,946,867
employees
10,708
Gross product
$8,097,296
Capital invested
$4,263,250
Interest and expenses
$2,350,482
Wages
$4,931,530
Net profit $746,814
Stock used
$12,918,221
Average earn'gs of employees $461
Of the employees, ?? per cent. were men; 28 per cent. women.
Lynn shoes find their way into every market, and the demand for them increases year by year. That is conclusive proof that they are such as the country demands. If buyers give Lynn the preference, the inference is natural that they do so because they can make purchases to better advantage there than elsewhere. Lynn has concentrated business far more than most other cities, and concentration is feasible on account of advantageous circumstances and facilities for economical production. The city has also the prestige of long experience. Its record runs back a hundred and fifty years. Much of the material used in its specialty-women's shoes-is made at its doors, enabling Lynn manufacturers to buy on the most advantageous terms. As a rule, the factories produce shoes of medium grades. But there are manufacturers there who turn out the finest qualities, equal in style, finish and excellence to anything in the market. They make what is called for. They are constantly on the lookout for methods for en- hancing the value of their wares. Lynn shoes are worth fully fifty per cent. more in point of quality and style than those made there ten
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SUFFOLK COUNTY.
years ago, yet they are sold for considerably less money. The latest improved machinery is used, as most of that of earlier date was burned up in the great fire of 1889.
The United States census of 1890 gives the following report of the industry in Lynn :
SHOE AND LEATHER MANUFACTURES OF LYNN, 1890.
Boots and Shoes- Factory Product.
Leather.
Morocco.
Establishments.
323
23
CAPITAL EMPLOYED-Aggregate.
$10,569,470
$1,868,276
Hired Property -- Total.
2,815,000
241,720
Plant-Total
1,750,930
419,807
Land.
III,245
87,000
Buildings
259.836
129,635
Machinery, tools and implements.
1,379,849
203,172
Live Assets -- Total.
6,003,540
1,206,749
Raw materials.
1,288,007
274,399
Stock in process and finished product
1,431,105
485,837
Cash, bills and accounts receivable, and all sundries not elsewhere re- ported
3,284.338
446,513
WAGES PAID -- Aggregate
6,832,938
748,829
Average number of hands employed during the year
12,816
1,210
Males above 16 years.
2.373
984
Females above 15 years.
652
5
Children.
61
Pieceworkers.
9,730
221
MATERIALS USED -- Aggregate cost.
14,757,389
$2,009,529
Principal materials
13,586,903
1,947,854
Fuel.
19,785
20,355
Mill supplies
742
All other materials.
1, 149,962
41,32Q
MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES -- Aggregate
1,188,446
157,724
Amount paid for contract work
Rent.
197,038
18,129
Power and heat
102,974
6,045
Taxes.
38,779
5,951
Insurance
54,243
13,721
Repairs, ordinary, of buildings and machinery
42,543.
14,005
Interest on cash used in the business
52,206
48,105
All sundries not elsewhere reported.
700,663
51,768
GOODS MANUFACTURED -- Aggregate value
25,850,005
3,343,533
Principal product ..
25,502,019
907,623
All other products, including receipts from custom work and repairing --
347,986
2,435,910
I
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Marblehead has been a manufacturing town since 1830, when John Wooldredge, formerly a sea captain, commenced making children's shoes here. He had two sons who afterwards became prominent manufacturers in Lynn. Joseph Harris & Son, established in 1845, rank among the largest producers in the town. W. P. Orne perpet- nates an old name in the business. As far back as 1707 an Orne made
John Pesquise
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WHOLESALE SHOE TRADE.
shoes here. Samuel Sparhawk left following the sea, and made shoes in 1850. He died recently aged ninety years. There are fifty-one manufacturers in the town.
Marlboro' is a busy thriving shoe town. It has 14,000 inhabitants (1892). In 1890 it was made a city. Samuel and Joseph Boyd were the first shoe manufacturers there. They date from 1836. S. Herbert Howe has three factories, in which he made 2, 128,000 in 1890. Rice & Hutchins have two, where the output was $1, 200, 000 the same year. They own nine such factories in the State. Men's and women's split, kip and calf shoes are made in Marlboro'. The entire product for 1885 was $5,831,004.
Milford was famous for producing boots fifty years or more ago. Benjamin D. Godfrey, was one of the first to make long legged boots for the California miners. He sent them around the Horn and across the Plains in 1850 and thereafter. Aaron Claflin was born in Milford, and although he afterwards became a great shoe merchant in New York, was always identified with her business interests. He had a farm there, also a boot factory, afterwards run by his son and son-in- law under the style of Claflin & Thayer. Oresen Underwood, Samuel Walker, A. C. Mayhew acquired renown as boot manufacturers.
Lee Claflin, father of ex-Governor William Claflin, was born in Mil- ford. He engaged in business in 1815; moved to Hopkinton about 1840, and established the manufacture of boots; he was also a leather dealer and banker. He led a busy life and accumulated a great for- tune. He represented Milford in the General Court in 1835 and was State senator in 1838. Horace B. Claflin, the great New York dry goods merchant, was born in Milford. He was Aaron Claflin's brother. There are five large shoe factories in Milford now.
Natick brogans have been known all over the country. Edward Walcott, John B. Walcott and Isaac Felch made shoes there about 1830-5. Henry Wilson was the most distinguished shoe manufacturer the town produced. He was in after years a senator, and held the office of vice-president of the United States when he died. Men's and boy's brogans, plough shoes and Dom Pedros are made in Natick now. Cochituate, Felchville, and South Natick are contiguous towns in which shoes are produced.
Quincy was one of the earliest of New England towns to develop the shoemaking industry. There is one example here of an uncommon character in business circles, at least in this county.
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SUFFOLK COUNTY.
Noah Curtis commenced shoemaking in June, 1790, at Penn's Hill in Quincy. His shop was at first a small one, but he did good work and soon had to enlarge, and in a few years he began to make sale shoes of a finer character than were elsewhere produced in the State. He started out a two-horse team to sell his goods, and venturing into the Southern States he soon built up a good trade in Virginia, the Caro- linas, and Georgia. He found a class of merchants and planters who wanted a certain style of "turned pump" or leg boots, with high heels, fancy shanks, and uppers made from the finest calfskin. Up to about 1825 Mr. Curtis made regular trips from Quincy, starting out with a wagon loaded with 800 to 1,000 pairs of pumps, and never turn- ing back until he had reached his southern destination and disposed of his entire load. He sold these shoes for twelve dollars a pair, and be- came so favorably known that rich planters gave him their measures and ordered shoes ahead. It is said that even to this day old planters are found in Carolina or Lower Georgia who speak in warm praise of the boots they wore when young men, and which were made by Noah Curtis, the Yankee shoemaker.
Mr. Curtis once carried Daniel Webster in his covered wagon all the distance from Boston to Washington, and the statesman very much en- joyed the opportunity thus afforded to study the character and habits of the people on the route. After giving up his trips south, Mr. Curtis continued in business up to 1840, when he retired with a competency. Previous to 1833 his sign had read "Noah Curtis." In that year, being sixty-three years of age, he took his son Benjamin as partner ; the sign was only changed by adding "and Ben, too," underneath, which illustrated the quiet humor of the old gentleman. Benjamin Curtis took the business in 1840, conducted it alone to 1859, when he admitted his two sons, Benjamin F. and Noah Curtis 2d and his brother, Thomas, as partners. Noah Curtis is now the head of the firm, with his son, Walter B. Curtis, as partner, thus making four generations en- gaged in the same firm and same line of industry, the manufacture of men's fine boots, shoes and slippers.
A more extended biographical sketch of this well-known family ap- pears in the biographical department of this volume.
, In Rockland, formerly East Abington, there are about $4,000,000 of shoes produced annually. The precursor here was Jenkins Lane, who commenced in 1825. He had a very large factory for his time, and was the first in Plymouth county to introduce steam power, Randolph is
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WHOLESALE SHOE TRADE.
fifteen miles south of Boston. For nearly half a century men's and boys' calf boots and shoes have been made in the town. Alexander Strong was one of the early ones. He was the son of a clergyman of Randolph. James ()'Brien made boots for Australia forty years ago. His son was consul there. In 1865 there were $1,585,000 worth, and in 1885 more than $4,000,000 worth made here.
In Stoughton, eighteen miles west of Boston, the main industry is shoemaking. There are twelve factories in the place. The oldest firm, Samuel Savels & Son, has been in business half a century.
Spencer, sixty-two miles west of Boston, was known as a "boot town," until recently ; shoes as well are now made. J. Green & Co. were the first to manufacture. They date from 1811. Josiah Green, the founder of the house, made up a "horse load " of men's sewed boots, the only kind known at that day, and took them to Boston. They were offered at public auction on North Market street and brought $2.30 a pair. In 1814 he made boots for the army at $2.27 a pair. Isaac Prouty & Co. was established in 1820. They are the largest manufacturers of men's and women's staple lines of boots and shoes in the world. In 1885 the shoe product of Spencer was $2,617, 736. Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine, was born in Spencer.
Stoneham is one of the oldest shoe towns in the State. Hand sewed shoes were made before the Revolution. The leather at that day was brought from tanners in Charlestown and Malden. Stoneham shoe- makers took active part in the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. Shoes were made there for the army during the Revolution and the second war with England. The factories were small but numer- 011s. Forty years ago the town was fourth in value of product in the Commonwealth. This rank is lost, presumably on account of lack of railway facilities. Stoneham has taken a fresh start in the last dec- ade. There are now twenty-three manufacturers in the town. They produce 1,200 to 1,500 cases weekly.
Weymouth is a busy industrial town fifteen miles southeast from Boston. There are four villages, North, East and South Weymouth and Weymouth. In these are twenty-four large shoe manufacturers. All of " the Weymouths " are known as places where reliable shoes, only, are made. There are in East Weymouth several large concerns. Some of them are among the oldest in the State doing business without change of style. N. D. Canterbury & Co. were established in 1836, M. C. Dizer & Co. in 1843. In South Weymouth James Albert and Minot
45
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SUFFOLK COUNTY.
Tirrell amassed great fortunes making calf boots for the New Orleans trade. This was the main business of the town fifty years or more ago. Patent leather boots were very fashionable about 1845, and a large part of the output of the Weymonths at that time was in patent and wax calf long leg boots for the South. Now it is all congress and lace boots. John S. Fogg was for many years a prominent manufact- urer in Weymouth, and afterwards a banker in Boston. An extended sketch of Mr. Fogg appears in the biographical part of this volume.
James, Minot and Albert Tirrell were three brothers who did much towards giving the South Shore a high position in shoe manufacturing in early times. They were born in Weymouth early in the century. In 1831 they formed a partnership for manufacturing shoes in South Weymouth. James attended to making the goods; Minot and Albert
went to New Orleans to sell them. This business they conducted stic- cessfully for more than forty years. They were in the hide trade and controlled it, as far as New Orleans was concerned, for many years. They sent shoes into Texas and took hides in exchange. They built, about 1860, three residences, which were the finest in their native town. Their firm name was J. & A. Tirrell & Co. Minot Tirrell, jr., son of one of these brothers, owned a large property in West Lynn. He got the Thomson-Houston Co. to locate there. This has resulted in building up a business there that gives employment to many thou- sand workpeople.
Marshall C. Dizer was born in Weymouth, September 23, 1822. His father followed the occupation of shoemaking for sixty years. The son commenced manufacturing in East Weymouth when he was twenty years old. He had thirty-five dollars, which he had earned, for capital. He built up a substantial business and rapidly acquired wealth. In 1861 he built a factory, which has been enlarged half a dozen times, and is now the largest in the world for the class of goods he makes. His two sons, Silas C. and Walter M. Dizer, are his partners. They tan most all the upper stock used in their shoes. No other firm in this country does this on any extended scale. The firm of M. C. Dizer & Co. celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their going into business in 1893. The style has never changed in that time, and the firm has always paid a hundred cents on the dollar.
Elias S. Beals was for many years a prominent shoe manufacturer on the South Shore. He was born in Weymouth, October 20, 1814. He always did business in that town. In 1838 he went by sea with a cargo
355
WHOLESALE SHOE TRADE.
of shoes to Charleston and Savannah. This venture was moderately successful. He built a factory at "Torrey's Corners" when he re- turned. In 1849 he became connected with a New Orleans jobbing house, but retired from that branch of the business two years later. He then built a large factory in Weymouth and made shoes for south- ern markets. He purchased the first sewing machine ever used in North Weymouth. He soon after bought another and found that they saved him the first year one thousand dollars in diminished expense and increased production. As his trade was all in the South, the out- break of the Civil War broke up his business, and he closed manufac- turing in 1861. Mr. Beals was appointed internal revenue assessor for his district in 1861, and in 1863 a second commission was given him by President Lincoln. He was in office until it was abolished in 1868. A son of Mr. Beals went to Milwaukee in 1868 and established the whole- sale shoe house of Beals, Torrey & Co. The partners were Frank Beals, Alexis Torrey, and James L. Beals. They have built up a large and successful business.
Worcester has been styled the " Heart of the Commonwealth." It is a great manufacturing city, and in it are produced annually large quantities of boots and shoes. The first name to appear in the business was Captain Palmer Goulding, who tanned leather and made shoes in 1668. His son, grandson and great-grandson successively entered the trade and continued up to the time of the Revolution. The first to make " sale shoes " were John Dollins and Foster Newell. This was in 1813. It was sewed work. In 1818 Earle & Chase dressed black kid and made shoes. In 1824 B. B. Otis commenced. He continued alone up to 1850, when the house of Fitch & Otis was formed, afterward merged in C. H. Fitch & Co. In 1828 Scott & Smith made women's " double prunella shoes and pumps." In 1834 Chas. Wolcot and Thos. Howe & Co. began making shoes, and they contracted to furnish boots for the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. Timothy S. Stone began making boots here in 1835 in Washington Square. He took Samuel Brown as partner in 1864; A. G. Walker in 1868; and event- ually sold out to them. They founded the house of Walker & Brown. In 1843 Joseph Walker came in from Hopkinton. He manufactured alone to 1852, when his son, Joseph Henry Walker, joined him. They dissolved in 1862, and went out of the trade ten or fifteen years later. Levi A. Dowley made brogans here in 1847. He was a Boston leather merchant after that. R. Wesson, jr., commenced in 1849. His son,
356
SUFFOLK COUNTY.
J. E. Wesson, has greatly enlarged the business, and the J. E. Wesson Shoe Co. still continues it. In 1853 C. C. Houghton started making boots in Lincoln Square. His firm now occupies "Houghton Block," and have another factory in New Hampshire. Luther Stowe began to manufacture in 1855. His son, of the same name, now owns the busi- ness. H. B. Jenks and H. B. Fay were large producers from 1860 to about 1880, but went out of the trade. J. U. Green, another of the old manufacturers, retired from business about 1885. J. W. Brigham and D. Cummings & Co., dating from about 1863, are large manufacturers. Bigelow & Trask, who built a factory here in 1864, are merged in the Bay State Shoe and Leather Company. Jonathan Munyan made boots here in 1847. He joined the Bay State Company, was vice-president and agent, and is now president of the Goodyear Shoe Machinery Com- pany of Boston. E. H. Stark & Co. have continued without change since 1863. S. R. Heywood, who began in 1867, built a large factory in 1880, and four years later organized the Heywood Boot and Shoe Co. In 1866 the house of Rawson & Linnell was formed. This was changed to D. G. Rawson & Co., and is now known as Goddard, Stone & Co. They doubled the capacity of their factory in 1887, and it is now the largest in the city. Whitcomb, Dodman & Stowe commenced in 1870; this is now Whitcomb & Miles, and they have two factories on Shrewsbury street. Up to 1868 all boots were hand made; machinery is now generally introduced. Before that time most any shoemaker was able to take the sides of leather and produce an entire boot or shoe. Now there is a division of labor, and few persons are skilled in any but their particular part. Most of the workmen are permanent residents, and many own their houses. There have been only two strikes in the history of the trade: one in 1867, another in 1887. Like in all such outbreaks, the wage earners were the sufferers. A good, substantial article of men's and boys' boots and shoes are made in Worcester. In 1875 the value of product was $2,558,517; in 1885, $4,051,384.
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