USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 41
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Cards of the various kinds used in other manufactures are made in this town in large quantities, and with great dispatch. The manufacture of cards was begun here
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before the Revolution, but the improvements made in it since, have discouraged, and operated to exclude importation of this article into this Commonwealth, and in great measure into the Southern States, they being supplied with a large proportion of what is made at the manufacture in this town by Mr. Giles Richards, who was first named in a company that began this business, in 1788, by newly invented and im- proved machines, the effects of American genius. The principal manufactory is at Windmill Walk, contiguous to the grist mill at the mill bridge. The card boards are cut by the operation of a wind mill. One man working at the machine used for cut- ting and bending the wire, and pricking the leathers, can prepare a sufficient quan- tity of wires in twelve hours to stick upwards of twenty dozen pairs of cards. One- half the number of men skillful in using these machines can perform the same work, in the same given time, which can be done by any other method yet discovered. Between six and seven thousand dozen have been made annually, and, as hinted above, exported southward. Not less than twelve hundred persons, chiefly women and children, have found employment in sticking the cards; and as the manufacture advances in credit, the demand for cards will probably increase and furnish employ- ment for a much larger number. This is a valuable manufacture, not as it employs women and children, but also a great number of others in the Commonwealth, in manufacturing the sheep skins, and making the tacks, etc. Four-fifths of the cards manufactured in the Commonwealth are made in the town of Boston. The new in- ventions in cutting the wires and boards, not only diminish the toil of labor and expedite the work, but also occasion the price of the cards to be used. Mark Rich- ards & Co. also carry on this business in its various branches in a brick building near Faneuil Hall market.
Fish hooks are made by Mr. J. Mead, who is esteemed a good workman. The cod hooks of his make are approved of by the fisherman, being equal if not superior to the imported P. P. cod hooks formerly preferred. As the fisheries are encouraged, so this manufacture will be proportionally encouraged, and the fishermen supplied with hooks and lines, the manufacture of their own country.
Combs of various sorts are made at Graham's Comb Manufactory in Charter street, the workmanship well executed. The importations in this line have greatly decreased since the peace of 1783, and will probably entirely cease, at least into this Common- wealth.
Large quantities of stained paper were imported into this country from England previous to the Revolution ; but at the manufactories in Boston sufficient is now made not only to supply their State, but also for importation to the others.
At the stone pottery lately put up in Lynn street, by Mr. Fenton from New Haven, all kinds of stone vessels are made after the manner of the imported Liverpool ware, and are sold at a lower rate. The clay for this manufacture is brought from Perth Amboy in New Jersey.
Cannon are made and balls now cast at the foundry in Lynn street, under the superintendence of Colonel Revere, the present proprietor. Till lately we have been obliged to foreigners for cannon and balls; but may now have them of American make. Some very neat brass cannon have been made at this foundry, and approved by competent judges. A variety of articles in the iron way are made at these works, viz. : cabooses, stoves, clothier's plates, chimney hearths, anvils, forge hammers, etc.
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Any article of iron manufacture, out of the common, may also be made here by leav- ing a pattern.
Chocolate has for many years been made in this town from the large quantities of cocoa brought into it from time to time; but the process is greatly expedited by late inventions. At the chocolate mills, contiguous to the northernmost grist mill, Mr. Welch can turn out upwards of twenty-five hundred weight in a day.
Calico printing has been undertaken in this town. The plain cottons brought here from India afford an opportunity for printing them. A duty on printed ones im- ported, and a bounty on such as are printed here would be encouraging. Specimens that have been given evince the skillfulness of some persons among us in stamping or printing plain cottons; and as emigrants are constantly arriving here, there can be no doubt some understand this art. If some public spirited wealthy citizen would provide materials and a building for this purpose, it might be carried on advantage- ously. The probability is that the proprietors would be well paid for the monies they might advance, the artists or workmen receive a handsome support, and the pur- chasers or customers make a saving of ten to fifteen per cent. between the American and English stamped cloths, in favor of the former. Since the peace, calico has be- come the general fashion of our countrymen, at all seasons of the year, both in town and country. Large quantities of printed calicoes are annually imported into this town, and large sums of money drawn from it for payment to Great Britain. As we are not restricted in our commerce, we can import the plain cotton cloths on good terms from a quarter we could not formerly. Let us avail ourselves of this advan- tage, and make the most we can of it.
Pot and pearl ashes are put among the manufactures of Boston, as they were begun here, particularly the former, about forty or fifty years ago, and have been made in it since the Revolution. They have now ceased in this town. The price of wood will not permit of their being carried on to advantage in the capital. They are made in many of the inland towns of the Commonwealth and brought to the capital for sale. Many tons are annually exported, the quality of which is ascertained by an inspector, chosen for the purpose by the government, that none but merchantable should be shipped off. Mr. Wm. Frobisher, of this town, claims the merit of being the first manufacturer of potash, who thoroughly investigated the process now in use, and communicated it, and demonstrated the superiority of American potash to that of Russia in making soap. Great improvements have been and are making in the manufacture of potash. The present inspector, Dr. Townsend, appears to have an intimate knowledge of the subject. Under his inspection it may increase its credit. We anticipate the period when it shall rival that of every foreign country.
The manufacture of glass in Boston was undertaken by an incorporated company of adventurers, to whom the General Court, in the month of July, 1787, granted an exclusive right to manufacture for a term of fifteen years. The stock to be employed for this purpose to be exempted from all taxes for five years; and the workmen em- ployed, from all military duty. If any person manufactured this article in the town without consent of the company, a penalty was laid on him of five hundred pounds for each offence. This corporation erected a brick building in the form of a cone, at the bottom of Essex street, but not being sufficiently commodious, it was taken down and a wooden building lined with bricks, of a different construction, was put up in
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its place. The present house is in length one hundred feet, and upwards of sixty feet in breadth. Many embarrassments attended this business at first setting out, but these being overcome, and suitable workmen arriving, they began to blow in the new house the 11th November, 1793. Their first trial was on window glass, which was much improved, and discovered the skill of the manufacturers, and gives a fair prospect of success in this undertaking.
A variety of other manufactures are carried on in the town; but having given an account of the principal of them, it will be needless to mention the others. We would not, however, omit particular notice of the manufacture of hats of various sorts in this town. It is a very considerable branch of business here. The fine beaver hats are preferable to those made in England.
If we extend our view of domestic manufactures, we shall find that many are carried on in the country towns of this Commonwealth. A great variety of articles are made in the neighborhood of the capital, and are disposed of in this market, or shipped hence to some other.
Paper has for many years been made at Milton, and we are told that there are not less than twelve paper mills in this Commonwealth. Saltpetre is made in almost every town. The following articles, with some others, are made a few miles from Boston, viz .: tow cloth, cotton and linen sheeting, threads, checks, bedticks, striped flannels, cotton and worsted hose, gloves and mitts, cotton and woolen coverlids. These articles are brought to Boston for sale.
During the last decade of the preceding century Boston made rapid strides in material development. Improvements both of a public and private nature were carried on. The town was growing in size and importance; wooden buildings were being replaced by imposing stone and brick structures; mechanics of all kinds found ready employment at remunerative wages, and the press of competition was so great that it was difficult to hold apprentices to their agreement with their mas- ters. To remedy this state of affairs the master mechanics formed an association known as the Boston Association of Mechanics, Col. Paul Revere being chosen president and Edward Tuckerman vice-president. The association rapidly increased in numbers, resources and usefulness, and within a few months the title of "The Association of Mechanics of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts" was assumed. Subsequently (1806), it was incorporated as the " Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics' Association," an organization which is still in a flourishing condition and which has been eminently useful in promoting ingenuity and good workmanship in the mechanical branches.
The ship-building industry, which had flourished quite extensively in Boston many years before the Revolution, was almost entirely suis- pended during the progress of the war. The most interesting features of the ship-building industry at Boston during the last decade of the
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preceding century was in connection with the building of the two ships of war, Constitution and Boston, both of which were built in Edmund Hart's shipyard, which occupied the site now covered by the Constitu- tion Wharf. The keel of the Constitution was laid March 27, 1794. She was designed by Joshua Humphreys, of Philadelphia, and con- structed under the superintendence of Col. George Clagborne, of New Bedford. John T. Morgan, a master shipwright, Mr. Hartley, Gen. Henry Jackson and Major Gibbs, of Boston, assisted in her construc- tion, while Edmund Hart was the master carpenter. Paul Revere furnished the copper bolts and spikes, drawn from malleable copper by a process then new. Ephraim Thayer, who had a shop at the South End, made her gun carriages. Her sails were made in the Old Gra- nary building at the corner of Park and Tremont streets. The duck for the sails was made by an incorporated company in Boston, in the factory on the corner of Tremont and Boylston streets. She was launched Oc- tober 21, 1792, having cost, when ready for sea, $302,118. The subse- quent history of this noted war vessel is well known and invests with more than ordinary interest the place where she was built.
The frigate Boston, the second ship of war built in Hart's yard, was designed by Mr. Hart and built under his superintendence. The build- ing of this ship was undertaken and carried through with money pro- vided by the citizens of Boston. At this time the commerce of our country had been subjected to much annoyance by the British and French ships of war. To aid in measures of defence the ladies of Charleston, S. C., built the John Adams, and presented her to the government; the inhabitants of Newburyport built and presented the Merrimac, and the merchants of Salem built and presented the frigate Esser. The merchants of Boston thereupon set about doing likewise, and in the Columbia Sentinel, of June 27, 1798, caused the following notice to be inserted: "Notice-A subscription will be opened this day for the raising of a fund to purchase or build one or more ships of war to be loaned to this government for the service of the United States. Those who would wish to join in this testimonial of public spirit are requested to meet in the chamber over Taylor's insurance office, at 1 o'clock precisely, to affix their signatures and make the necessary arrangements." The next issue of the paper, June 30, 1798, shows that $115,250 had been subscribed. Among the subscribers were William Phillips, $10,000; David Sears, Stephen Higginson, Eben Parsons, John Codman, Joseph Coolidge & Son, Theodore Lyman, Boott & Pratt,
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Thomas Dickinson, $3,000 each; Samuel Parkman and Samuel Eliot, $4,000 each; Benjamin Joy, James & T. H. Perkins, Thomas Walley, John Parker, Stephen Higginson, jr., Abiel Smith, Thomas C. Amory, $1,500 each; St. Andrews Lodge, $1,000; Benjamin and Nathan God- dard and Josiah Quincy, $500 each. Less than two months later the keel of the six-gun frigate Boston was laid. She was launched in May, 1299, and cost, when completed, $137,900. The Sentinel declared she was "one of the handsomest modeled ships in the world." Her sub- sequent capture of Le Berceau and several French privateers are parts of our naval history.
The successful construction of these two ships at Boston had not a little influence in the establishment of the Navy Yard at Charlestown. The agitation of this subject in the closing years of the preceding century gave quite an impetus to business generally, and especially the building trades. It was a project which naturally stimulated the spirit of the industrial classes, and came at a time when manufacturing
enterprises of all kinds were beset by many difficulties.
vessel built at the new navy yard was the sloop-of-war Frolic (in 1813), whose broadsides made mournful music for many a British craft. In 1815 the three-decked Independence was launched. In 1826 the Warren was built, and soon after sailed to the far East, where she did memo- rable service against the Greek pirates in the Ægean sea. The next year the sloop-of-war Falmouth was launched. Among other war ves- sels built at Charlestown were the Cyane, Porpoise, Plymouth, Marion, Alligator, Boxer, Bainbridge, Eric, Princeton, and the line of battle ship Vermont. At this yard were built in 1842 and 1854 respectively the famous war ships Cumberland and Merrimac. During the war of the Rebellion many famous vessels were built at the navy yard, in- cluding the ironclad Monadnock, Nahant, Nausett, Nantucket, Canoni- cus, Casco, Chimo, Shawnee, Squando and Suncook. Of the thirty other frigates built here during the same period, and, as it were, born in Boston harbor, the most notable were the Wachusett, which captured the rebel gunboat Florida; the Huron, whose fatal wreck is well re- membered ; the Tallapoosa, Winooski, Ashuclot and Housatonic. Thirty steamers and numerous sailing vessels were also refitted here for naval purposes. Most of them were prizes captured by the blockading squadrons off the Southern ports. Among them was the formidable rebel ram Atlanta.
The first
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About the year 1800 Thatcher Magoun located his well known ship- yard in Medford, a few miles from Boston, and in 1803 launched the Mt. Etna. He was followed by many other ship-builders, among them Turner, Lapham, Sprague, James, Fuller, Stetson, Waterman & Ewell, Curtis, Foster, Hayden & Cudworth, and others. Mr. Magoun alone built at his yard one hundred and eighty-five vessels, mostly of the largest size, among them the Herald of the Morning, which proved a remarkably fast ship.
Ship-building began in East Boston in 1834, and from that time until several years after the discovery of gold in California, which greatly stimulated this industry, it assumed considerable magnitude. In 1835 a merchant vessel of four hundred and sixty tons was launched from the yard of Brown, Bates & Delano. She was named the Niagara. In 1839 Samuel Hall, who had previously been engaged in ship-build- ing in Marshfield and Duxbury, removed to East Boston and estab- lished the enterprise on a large scale. Within the following twenty years he built over eighty vessels, some of them, says Sumner, in his History of East Boston, were the "largest, fastest and best ships that ever 'skimmed the seas.'"
It was not until after 1840 that the building of the magnificent fleet of Boston freighting ships commenced, a fleet that for twenty years challenged the admiration of the commercial world. Up to 1840 a ship of five hundred tons was considered large, and trading ships were the rule, freighting ships the exception. The ships St. Petersburg and Governor Davis, built by Enoch Train, and the Hope, built by Weston, followed by the Chaos, Nonanton and Atlas, may be quoted as inaugu- rating the fleet of large Boston ships. After this it was a mere ques- tion of rivalry as to who should launch the largest ship. Among the boldest innovators was Donald McKay, who was a natural mechanic. He commenced business in Newburyport with Mr. Currier, and after- ward with Mr. Picket, and with them built several vessels for New York firms. Enoch Train, of the extensive ship-owners, Enoch Train & Co., of Boston, had seen some of the vessels built by Mckay, and gave him the contract to build the ship Joshua Bates, as the pioneer of the famous line of Train packets between Boston and Liverpool. Her success for speed and carrying was complete. At Mr. Train's sugges- tion, Mr. McKay removed to East Boston, and there built for the same line the ships Washington Irving, Anglo Saxon, Star of Empire, Straf- fordshire, Occan Monarch, and others, all remarkable for their fine
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sailing qualities. In the mean time he also built the New World, Cor- nelins Grinnell, Jenny Lind, the bark Sultana, and several smaller vessels. His first great clipper ship was the Staghound, of one thou- sand five hundred and fifty tons, which made the first passage from Boston to San Francisco via Valparaiso in one hundred and twelve days; then the Flying Cloud, of one thousand seven hundred tons, which made her first passage from New York to San Francisco in eighty-nine days and eighteen hours, and her next in eighty-nine days and twelve hours; then the Flying Fish, of one thousand six hundred tons; the Bald Eagle, of the same tonnage; the Empress of the Seas, of two thousand two hundred and fifty tons; the Westward Ho, of one thousand seven hundred tons; the Straffordshire, of one thousand nine hundred tons; and the Sovereign of the Seas, of two thousand four hundred tons.
The ship Great Republic, which Mr. Mckay built in 1853, was four thousand, five hundred and fifty-five tons, and proved to be one of the swiftest vessels in the world. She made several successful trips to California, and afterwards was employed by the French government in the Crimean War. For English houses Mr. MeKay built several fine vessels, among them the Lightning, the James Baines, the Champion of the Seas, the Japan, the Commodore Perry, and many others. In all he built over one hundred and twenty sail of all classes from the Great Re- public of four thousand tons to oyster clippers of one hundred and ten tons. No one did more to give the highest character to the vessels built at Boston than Mr. McKay.
Other eminent shipbuilders kept up the credit of Boston for speed. Samuel Hall, who built the Surprise, Game Cock, Florence, and many more. ranked high as a successful shipbuilder. The quickest time ever made from San Francisco to Boston was made by the ship Northern Light, built by E. & H. O. Briggs at South Boston, making the pas- sage in seventy-five days. Among other notable passages made by Boston built ships may be mentioned that of the ship Midnight, from Hong Kong to New York in .eighty-two days; the James Baines, from Liverpool to Melbourne in sixty-two days; the Charger, from Calcutta to Boston in seventy-nine days; the North American, built by Paul Curtis, made the passage from New York to Melbourne, San Francisco and Liverpool, being two hundred and sixteen days at sea, and averag- ing eight miles an hour during the entire time; the same ship from San
Auture It Pops
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Francisco to Cork was ninety-three days, making a record never ex- ceeded by a sailing vessel.
Paul Curtis, James E. Simpson, Robert E. Jackson, Andrew Burn- ham, C. F. & H. D. Gardiner, G. & T. Boole, William Hall, Pratt & Osgood, Samuel Hall, jr., Joseph Burke, William Kelly, Burkett & Tyler, and Otis Tufts, were also at different periods engaged in ship building at East Boston between 1840 and 1860. The discovery of gold in California gave a wonderful impetus to the ship building interest of East Boston, and for several years thereafter a large force of workmen was engaged in the various branches of the industry. At East Bos- ton was built the iron steamship Le Voyageur de la Mer, which was launched in February, 1857. She was the first instance in this country of the application of American iron to the construction of a first class vessel. This vessel was built for the Pacha of Egypt by Geo. A. Stone, of Boston. The model and details of the ship were furnished by Sam- 11el H. Pook. From 1834 to 1858 over two hundred vessels were built at East Boston.
Among the eminent men who labored long and zealously for the de- velopment of shipping, Captain R. B. Forbes occupies a prominent place. For nearly half a century he was largely interested in ship building. Among many vessels he had built were the steamship of war Meteor, the Paul Jones, Samoset, Farwell, Raduga, Hoaghly, and La- conia; the R. B. Forbes, the first iron steamboat built here, the auxiliary steamship Massachusetts, and many others. Captain Forbes invented many improvements in the rig of vessels and for the saving of life. Captain Frederick Howes, who invented the present mode of double top-sail yards, is also worthy of honorable mention.
Jairus Pratt was another well-known ship builder of East Boston. He was born in Cohasset in 1793. As one of the firm of Pratt & Cush- ing he established a marine railway at the North End, and did an ex- tensive business in repairing vessels. Later on he established himself in East Boston, where he carried on business several years. He died in 1869.
George W. Brown was one of the shipbuilders of Boston, who was extensively engaged in this industry. He was born in Scituate, Mass., 1815. When a lad he came to Boston and learned the trade of shipwright. He soon began on his own account, but for more than thirty years was a member of the firm of Brown & Lovell. In 1847 they bought a wharf in East Boston, where for many years they carried on a thriving busi-
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ness. During the war they built steamers for the government. After retiring from business, soon after the war, he removed to Scituate, where he died January 21, 1888.
Salt was made at the " Salt Pans " in the early days of the settlement of Roxbury, near the town landing. Not far from this place Gen. Joseph Palmer erected salt works which were in successful operation when his sudden death, which occurred in 1788, brought the enterprise to a premature close. General Palmer was one of the most prominent characters in the Revolutionary annals of the State. He was a native of England, and came to America in 1746, and settled in that part of Braintree called Germantown, where he became a leading and influ- ential citizen and acquired considerable property. He was conspicuous among the patriotic members of the Provincial Congresses of 1774 and 1175, and of the Committee of Safety, and as a brigadier-general of the State forces took part in the expedition to Rhode Island in 1478. He lost all his property in the war.
Roxbury was early famous for its manufactures. Here a fulling-mill was established by John Pierpont on Stony River, near the site of Day's cordage factory, in 1658. The manufacture of leather was for a long time the principal one in Roxbury. Early in the present century John Doggett founded the well known looking-glass and carpet works on Roxbury street. The Willards, celebrated clock and watch makers for over a century, established themselves here in 1773. In 1792 there were near the town landing-place, at Parker street, several establish- ments, one of them owned by Ralph Smith, for the packing of provisions and the manufacture of soap and candles. The large establishments of the brothers Aaron and Charles Davis, for packing provisions, and their distillery and tannery, were near the town wharf, now the junction of Albany and Northampton streets. In 1845 the value of Roxbury manu- factures, in which 1,668 persons were employed, was $2,247,684. The largest items embraced were four cordage manufactories, sixteen tan- neries, three rolling, slitting, and nail mills, one carpet factory, three chemical works, three starch mills, one distillery, and one lead manu- factory.
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