USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Northampton > The Northampton book; chapters from 300 years in the life of a New England town, 1654-1954 > Part 30
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The business failure of a friend whose notes he had endorsed after the break-up of the Northampton Association left him with debts he felt morally, although not legally, obligated to pay. In five years the last creditor was paid in full, and from that time on Mr. Hill was successfully involved in most of the industrial enter- prises already mentioned which flourished for many years in Florence.
During the latter part of his life, after retirement from active business, he carefully considered how best to use his considerable fortune to benefit lastingly the people of his village. Always in-
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terested in education, his liberal thought and wide correspond- ence with those who were "reformers" in every field, had brought to his attention the new ideas of Froebel on the education of young children. He consulted Miss Elizabeth Peabody, the most enthusiastic preacher of the kindergarten idea, brought her here to talk, was convinced by her, and in 1876 established one of the pioneer kindergartens in the country. In fact, it was the first en- dowed one, free to every child in the town, with no financial, religious, or racial restrictions. For a year or two classes were held in the parlor of Mr. Hill's own home and in rented rooms, but when the enrollment grew from 15 to over 100 he arranged for the building of a permanent school on Pine Street which was completed and dedicated in 1878. His will provided for a board of trustees to administer the estate and pick suitable teachers, and in 1884 a special Act of the State Legislature made the trustees a corporation which still manages the Hill Institute. Because of failing health his last years were spent in the south, and he died at a resort in Alabama in 1882.
Many of the families who came to Florence to join the North- ampton Association of Education and Industry remained here after the Community formally disbanded, and with them re- mained the liberal outlook and open-minded acceptance of people and ideas representing every political and social theory of the day. Chief among these issues in the '50's and '60's was anti-slavery, and those whose fearlessness and conscience led them to take an active part in the movement found sympathetic followers in Florence. Several active underground stations operated here, but as those who conducted them did so at their peril, there is little public record of who operated them and how many slaves passed' through the village on their way to freedom. It is however a mat- ter of record that Mr. Hill, Elisha Hammond, and Alfred Critch- low had stations in their homes and that among the fugitives they sheltered was Father Henson who was thought to be the original of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom. He made several stops at Mr. Hill's home on his many trips between the south and Canada conducting fellow-slaves to freedom. These men often personally conducted those who stopped at their homes to Whately or Cummington, the next shelters north on the under- ground railroad. Some of the slaves, finding kindly acceptance and employment, stayed in Florence for many years and became
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respected and useful citizens. One of them, David Ruggles, had been cruelly treated in New York, was broken in health and nearly blind. He ran a station himself for a while, and then started a small and unscientific water cure here. "Dr." Ruggles' natural ability and magnetic personality brought him a number of pa- tients, and his method became quite well known even outside Florence. Horace Greeley knew of and wrote about his "cure," and it was probably Mr. Greeley who, after David Ruggles died in the early '50's, suggested Florence to Dr. Charles Munde who was then in New York City looking for a suitable place to estab- lish a water cure on the European principles of Priessnitz.
Sojourner Truth, another Negro crusader for the liberation of her people, found a refuge and home in Florence. Records do not agree on the length of time she stayed here, but she was active in and useful to the Community for several years and always re- membered her friends in Florence as among the most loyal she had. Frederick Douglass met her here for the first time and wrote of her as "a strange compound of wit and wisdom, wild enthusi- asm and flint-like common sense .. . " She was living on Park Street when she left for a speaking tour of the west in 1851.
Although anti-slavery activities were of first importance to the leaders here up until the beginning of the Civil War, there were also those who were deeply interested in economic and labor re- forms, both local and national, and those whose interest in and contributions to Florence were second only to those of Mr. Hill, who by common consent came first in devotion to his town. Al- fred Theodore Lilly came to Florence from Mansfield, Connecti- cut in 1853 at Mr. Hill's request, and was made treasurer of the Nonotuck Silk Co. He was an influential and responsible partici- pant in every phase of village life, and his home was a center of hospitality. He made a considerable fortune, and in addition to the Lilly Library which he built in 1888 and gave to Florence, he had, a few years before, given money to President Seelye for the Lilly Hall of Science which was dedicated at Smith College in 1886. He died in Florence in 1890 and his will provided that the rest of his estate be left to the trustees of Florence Kindergarten for educational purposes. With this money the evening school was started which provided classes in manual training and domes- tic science free to all Florence residents.
Many other names in the history of Florence stand for note-
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worthy achievements. The genial and kindly Alfred P. Critchlow who "had a genius for hard work," was a pioneer in the industrial field and was both respected and loved by his workmen whom he respected in return. Daniel Greene Littlefield, identified with nearly every industrial interest in Florence and also in Northamp- ton, twice represented Northampton district in the legislature and was sent to France in 1878 as an honorary commissioner to the Paris Exposition. Elisha Hammond, portrait painter, ardent abo- litionist, enthusiastic temperance reformer, and extravagant ad- mirer of Bronson Alcott, after the dissolution of the Community managed by the strictest economy to keep his little cottage in Florence where he lived with his adored and adoring wife for 35 years. A life-long friend said of him: "His temperament was sanguine and hopeful; his humanity broad as the world, and of constant, untiring activity; and his sympathies possessed an almost feminine sweetness and tenderness." George A. Burr, another in- dustrial leader, came to Florence as a boy from Worthington, Massachusetts. When still quite young he had developed a re- markable ability to organize and manage men, and was elected the first traveling agent of the Sewing Machine Co. and later served the Florence Manufacturing Co. in the same capacity. He was an ardent supporter of the Congregational Church, a selectman for many years, a director of the Northampton National Bank, and one of the organizers and the first Vice President of the Florence Savings Bank. His death at the age of 52 was a great loss to the town.
These men may be considered representative of the many who lived and worked here in the years following Community times, and from them and others like them came the characteristics which gave to the village of Florence its peculiar element of greatness and the "way of life" that set it apart from the more conservative New England communities of the last half of the 19th century. The failure of the Community in 1846 did not dis- courage or turn aside the leaders whose lives were centered here, who welcomed all parties and sects, invited free discussion, and preached only toleration. Almost without a break the regular Sunday meetings that had been a part of the Community life were continued, and outside speakers were engaged whenever possible. With the coming of the Civil War interest in free speech was intensified, and the need for some sort of organization was felt
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more strongly than ever. Consequently, in 1863 this public notice was issued:
TO THE PEOPLE OF FLORENCE AND VICINITY: All interested in the pro- motion of good morals, general education and liberal religious senti- ments, whether Catholic or Protestant, or of whatever sect, creed, or nationality, are invited to meet in the South Schoolhouse, on Sunday May 3d, 1863 at 31/2 o'clock P.M. to organize arrangements for the better attainment of the objects mentioned above.
It bore the signatures of 27 men and women including those of Samuel Hill, Alfred Lilly, and Elisha Hammond. As a result of this meeting the Free Congregational Society of Florence was or- ganized with 35 charter members. They set up no "theological conditions of membership ... holding it the duty of everyone to keep his mind and heart at all times open to receive the truth and follow its guidance." The organization was called a Society, not a Church, and it seems more than likely that no organized re- ligious body would have admitted them to membership then, as they were too unorthodox even for the Unitarians! But in their own way they were deeply religious, placing emphasis on charac- ter and upright living rather than on ritual observance unsup- ported by practical example. Resident speakers were chosen and paid by public subscription. They addressed the regular Sunday meetings and were regarded as spiritual advisers to the members, acting in much the same capacity as ministers in the orthodox churches, except that they neither advocated nor defended any formal statement of faith. The first speaker appointed in this new Society was Charles C. Burleigh who had come to Florence sev- eral years before as an ardent worker for anti-slavery. He had been admitted to the Connecticut bar as a young man but had soon left the profession to give his full time and talent as a per- suasive speaker to work with the abolitionists throughout New England. He had rare intellectual gifts, integrity, and great ability, and was loved and appreciated by all who knew him. He must have been a commanding if not a startling figure with his gigantic curly beard, long hair in ringlets, and a shawl or blanket instead of a coat thrown over his broad shoulders. For 10 years he served as resident speaker and stayed in Florence with his family for the rest of his life. He was tragically killed by a train at the Florence crossing while hurrying to mail a letter.
Miss Elizabeth M. Powell followed Mr. Burleigh and held the
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distinction of being the first woman in this part of the country to address a religious body as its appointed leader. She also had out- standing qualities of leadership and was honored by those both in and outside the Society. In 1886, soon after her marriage to Henry H. Bond, she left Florence to become dean of Swarthmore Col- lege.
Other resident speakers were Rowland Connor, Rev. David H. Clark (the first ordained clergyman to be appointed), Rev. Wil- liam H. Spencer and his brilliant young wife, Anna Garland Spencer, Rev. Frederick A. Hinckley, and Rev. Alfred Free.
For ten years the Society's meetings were held first in the old South schoolhouse (the only public building in Florence at the time) and then on the top floor of the new school that Mr. Hill had built in 1865. By 1873 it was no longer possible to accom- modate the numbers that were attending the meetings in the school building, and the school was also growing, so the Society, with Mr. Hill and Mr. Lilly as largest contributors, planned and built a hall for the town which would be adequate for all of the So- ciety's needs and would also be suitable for and open to any public gathering. The name Cosmian from the Greek kosmos was chosen as both significant and distinctive, and from 1874 for more than 50 years Cosmian Hall became a center of free thought and free speech. Honored by some, condemned by others, the Free Con- gregational Society became known in these years far beyond the boundaries of the Connecticut Valley, and while its resident speakers were always men and women of distinction, a list of those who came by invitation to speak on and discuss every sub- ject under the sun, represented the most learned and liberal think- ers of the day.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott, and Samuel Longfellow, the brother of the poet, visited the So- ciety, and Emerson and Bronson Alcott spoke a number of times. Julia Ward Howe spoke on "Distinctions Between Philosophy and Religion," and a Gazette reporter said in his review that "her subject, being somewhat abstruse and metaphysical, required close attention and thought on the part of the hearers." Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton expounded on Woman Suffrage and the temperance issue; the abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Theodore Weld were personal friends of many in the Society and came repeatedly
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to speak and lead discussions; Frederick Douglass, the former slave, made long visits and spoke frequently; Professor William Denton, geologist; the Rabbis Wise and Schleisinger; the agnostic Robert Ingersoll; Dio Lewis, the physical culturist; Professor John Fiske, historian and philosopher-an impressive list by any standards, but one not designed to reassure the conservative critic of "what went on" in Cosmian Hall. It was known as "The Tem- ple of Free Speech," but also as "a nest of perdition ... the home of cranks .. . a hall of darkness ... "
The Society conducted a unique Sunday School as well, which was thought by some to be more radical even than the adult meet- ings. After the opening services there were classes for all ages in natural history, drawing, painting, physiology, political economy, bookkeeping, German, French, Shakespeare, and the literature of the Bible-all taught by competent teachers. A part of each ses- sion was given over to moral instruction, often led by the resident or visiting speaker, and emphasis was put on character building and upright living.
A free library and reading room, open to all, had been estab- lished in the first days of the Society. It was first in the school- house and later moved to much more spacious quarters in Cosmian Hall.
The famous and ambitious Florence Dramatic Club, and the Lyceum, a debating society made up of the men of Florence, also met in the school and then in Cosmian Hall where many of the Dramatic Club's more ambitious productions were staged, and the Lyceum's most urgent questions debated.
By 1890 the original leaders had nearly all died; times were changing and many of the orthodox congregations were begin- ning to see the wisdom in some of the "radical" innovations made by the "Cosmians" 2 5 years before, so that the individuality of the old Society was gone. In 1898 the remaining members with Mr. Free as their preacher joined the American Unitarian Association. Cosmian Hall continued to be used for plays, meetings, and public gatherings of all kinds, and in 1920 was sold to the Florence Amusement Association. It has recently been demolished.
Few small towns can boast so many leaders of such outstanding qualities as those that made Florence, for a period of more than 50 years, "a haven of refuge for original minds."
Chapter Forty
Early History of Leeds
By RUTH K. BURKE
FTER the Revolutionary War the Commonwealth, unable to pay many of the soldiers, gave them land in the western part of the state. Such was the origin of the establishment of some of the early homes in Leeds.
The first settler in Leeds was Calvin Clark, who was given land by his father, who resided in Northampton on upper Audubon Road on the boundary line of Williamsburg. His descendants still reside here.
Leeds, which is now known as Ward 7B of the City of North- ampton, Massachusetts, was, in the early days of the town of Northampton, recognized as the industrial center of the com- munity. It was here that the first manufacturing in the town of Northampton was established, and for many years it was the most active section of the town.
Situated four and one-half miles west of the town's business center, in a narrow gorge on the banks of Mill River, Leeds was first known as a portion of the Rail Hill district, and then as Shepherd's Hollow, or Shepherd's Factory, until 1850, when a post office was established and the name changed to Leeds, in honor of Thomas Musgrave, the first postmaster here and a native of Leeds, England. It is of note that in the spring of 1833 the vil- lage was simply called "Factory Village."
Attracted by the abundant water power early in the 19th cen- tury several manufacturers established themselves in this village. The first mill erected was built by Joseph Burnell in 1800 for sawing lumber. In 1809 a cotton mill was erected by Colonel James Shepherd, and was later operated as a woolen mill by the brothers James, Thomas, and Charles Shepherd, sons of the first druggist in Northampton, Dr. Levi Shepherd, and their cousin, James Shepherd. The firm was known as the Northampton Cot- ton and Woolen Manufacturing Company. This business was first
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started as a family partnership, as James Shepherd and Company, then from 1814 to 1817 as Thomas Shepherd and Company. James, who throughout was active manager, then took over the whole interest. Later, in 1819, outside capital entered when a partner from Boston joined the firm. In 1826 the company secured a charter, the capital was increased to $130,000 from the original $ 100,000 and the name changed to the Shepherd Woolen Manu- facturing Company. The rapid changes in organization of the company, from family partnership to individually owned busi- ness, again to partnership, and finally to a joint stock company, were typical of the general movement among woolen enterprises of the time.
Although the factory was in continuous operation from 1809 to 1827, Shepherd's suffered in the period of readjustment after the War of 1812, ceasing to manufacture for its own stock for some 15 to 18 months after the close of the war, and working on contract for others. When a survey on July 1, 1827, showed a loss of $30,000 for the preceding 18 months, the company decided to close. Shepherd assigned the cause of his losses to the "low price of our clothes on the market." General conditions were unfavor- able following the tariff of 1824, but the duty on foreign wool was particularly injurious to a manufacturer of fine goods like Shepherd's who imported nearly one-third of his supply. Cus- tomers, moreover, he complained, seemed to prefer English goods as against those of American manufacture of the same quality and price.
During the period of Shepherd's control, the company ranked as one of the important woolen manufacturing firms in New Eng- land. The first broadcloth in this country was made in Leeds, the weaver's name being Benjamin Jackson. The Shepherd mill had abundant water power to care for the innovations undertaken by the company. The firm early experimented with application of power to spinning machines. The spinning jenny had long been in the factory, but, although manufacturers investigated the pos- sibility, they tended to think jennies were unsuited to power operation. About 1811, one of the weavers, who had come from a woolen mill in Yorkshire, suggested to Shepherd that he have some spinning jennies built and try running them by water.
In 1816 Shepherd received a patent for a power loom, and in 1822 Shepherd began the construction of power looms. He esti-
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mated that prior to the introduction of power looms the cost of weaving broadcloth was between 18 and 28 cents per yard, and subsequent to it but 10 cents. By 1823 the factory had a capacity of 250 pounds of clean wool per day. Craftsmen already working in the mill showed great ingenuity devising improvements.
Besides pushing technical innovations and improvements, the Shepherds displayed extraordinary initiative in regard to raw materials. As manufacturers of fine broadcloth the quality of their wool was a constant problem to them.
Efforts of manufacturers to procure a finer wool than that grown domestically had resulted in 1801 in the importation from Spain of the first full-blooded merino ram. Further importations from both Spain and France in succeeding years greatly improved domestic breeds and were a stimulus to manufacturing. Thomas Shepherd acquired a small flock of merino rams. Like many other sheep raisers of New England, the Shepherds participated in the "merino mania" of the embargo and post-war years, and are said to have paid as high as $1000 for a single buck and $100 to $300 apiece for ewes. By 1818 the enthusiasm for merinos had com- pletely cooled, but another and lesser mania set in a few years later with the importation of the Saxony sheep. Saxony was a finer wool than merino and commanded the highest market price. James Shepherd is said to have been the first to import this breed, probably in 1822, three or four years before general interest in it reached its height. By this time Shepherd had increased his flock to between 1200 and 1400 sheep, which supplied his factory in 1 826 with 3200 pounds of wool.
The Shepherds' efforts to improve the quality of wool must have had results. From 1818 on, their wool won many premiums at Massachusetts fairs and exhibitions.
Here, surrounding the mill a little community grew up, with boarding houses, family dwellings, and a store, all belonging to the mill. The store was kept open until 1827. In the 1820's the factory employed 118 workers, almost half of them women and girls. In 1825-27 girls were tending the mechanical shearing ma- chines, which required one superintendent at $32, and seven girls at $8 a month, including board, and these attended 20 pair of shears. Girls were also employed in burling, linting, and marking cloth. The employment of girls and women to displace men was an obvious step since their wages were far lower than men's. The
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Shepherd mills seem to have been paying wages very similar to those paid by other woolen manufacturers who gave testimony at the Congressional inquiry at the time James Shepherd gave testi- mony.
Working hours were from sunrise to sunset in the summer, deducting one hour for the two meals of breakfast and dinner; this continued for six months. In the succeeding six months work- ers began at daylight and worked until 8 o'clock at night, deduct- ing one hour for the same two meals; a net working day of 9 or Io hours in winter and 13-14 in summer.
In all respects the Shepherds seem to have shown rare entrepre- neurial skill for men whose enterprise came at a time when the factory system was just emerging in America, and who had never worked outside this inland industrial region. When in 1831 James Shepherd gave up the woolen factory, it passed to a firm known as the Northampton Woolen Manufacturing Company. In the first year the output was worth more than $175,000, most of it in broadcloth. The firm employed approximately 120, mostly women, who were paid something less than two-thirds of the wages given to men, 40 cents a day as against 65 cents. This firm no longer furnished board. In 1845 the company had doubled its labor force. In the 1850's there was a period of relative back- wardness in the country's woolen industry, a decade when the number of woolen establishments in the country decreased and the industry generally was marking time. It was the beginning of a decline in the local industry and in 1857 the woolen company in Leeds failed. Part of the property was purchased by the Nono- tuck Silk Company and another part by the Ivory Button Com- pany.
Another industry which had its origin here was the vegetable ivory button business. The leader in this enterprise was Alfred P. Critchlow, who was born in Nottingham, England, in 1813. His father was a silk stocking weaver. At 14 Alfred was apprenticed to a die sinker and served the required 7 years' apprenticeship. On becoming of age he engaged in the horn button business in Bir- mingham and was carrying it on successfully, when in 1843 he met Josiah Hayden of Haydenville, who induced him to emigrate and start the manufacture of horn buttons in Haydenville. At this time his family consisted of his wife and two small children, and their experiences during the six weeks' trip across the stormy At-
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lantic in a sailing vessel were ever after the subject of frequent joking and merriment by Mr. Critchlow. He made buttons for the Haydens for 2 or 3 years and then moved to Florence and commenced manufacturing wood buttons, making them from the common wild laurel found in the woods. Soon he invented a com- position suitable for making buttons, and machinery and appli- ances for its proper manipulation, and began manufacturing but- tons and daguerreotype cases. He made this business a decided success, giving it untiring personal attention: running the mill night and day, much of the time with two shifts of workmen, and frequently sleeping in the mill where he could be called upon quickly in case of emergency.
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