USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume I > Part 35
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In IS47 the new town was incorporated under the name of Law- rence, in honor of Abbot Lawrence, the greatest stockholder and the first president of the Essex Company. The population increased very rapidly; in 1861 it exceeded 18,600, and by 1878 37,500 people were living in an area which, thirty-three years before, had supported only a few scattered farms. The only halt in the rapid growth prior to IS78 followed the panic of 1857, and, by 1861, the population more than equaled the IS57 figure. This sudden growth of a large city from almost nothing is perhaps unsurpassed anywhere in New Eng- land. By 1930 the population of Lawrence had reached nearly 100,000.
The manufacture of textiles was the purpose of the founders of Lawrence, and from the very first to the present time the industry has dominated all other lines of activity. Woolen manufacture has
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been more successful there than any other form. In 1890 Lawrence was the third ranking city in woolen manufacture in the country, fall- ing behind only Philadelphia and Providence. Today, Lawrence is the world's largest woolen and worsted manufacturing center.
The reasons for the development of the woolen textile industry at Lawrence are several, among them being, of course, the presence of an excellent water power at a time before steam had been generally applied to woolen manufacture in this country. With the improve- ment of the technique of the application of steam to machinery, and the increasing abundance of steam coal on the market, the water power ceased to be of great advantage, but the concentration of woolen manufacture here in the earlier days, and the success of res- ident enterprises, made Lawrence a favorite site for new textile mills and additions to already established ones. The presence of a sup- ply of skilled labor, the abundance of soft water so necessary for certain woolen textile processes, and the existence of various sub- sidiary enterprises, such as dye houses, scouring plants, and industries using waste from the mills, all have been in a measure responsible for the continuance of the woolen manufacture, while the energetic and far-sighted management of many of the existing mills has con- tributed greatly to the rise of Lawrence as a textile city.
Cotton manufacture never rivaled woolens for first place in Law- rence, even though the founders were principally men who had been connected with the cotton mills of Lowell. Due to tendencies toward industrial concentration similar to those which made Lawrence a woolen center, the cotton industry became concentrated more and more in Lowell and other places already established in this pursuit. Hence, the additions to the cotton manufacture of Lawrence have been of rather minor importance since 1860, save for the rapid strides made by the Pacific Mills in this branch of their business.
The first textile works to be built and put into operation in the new town were the Bay State Mills. This company received its char- ter in 1845, with capital of $1,000,000. Samuel Lawrence was treas- urer and general manager, and M. D. Ross agent. Work on the mills commenced in April, 1846, and on February 24, 1848, the first wheel was turned by water from the canal. During the spring the machin- ery was placed in position and prepared for operation, and, on the ninth of June production of cloth was actually begun.
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The Bay State Mills were equipped for the manufacture of both woolen and cotton goods, having sixty-five sets of woolen cards and 15,000 cotton spindles. In the production of woolen, in particular, the policy of the mills was energetic and progressive. Types of woolen goods previously untried by American manufacturers were introduced, particularly in the quality group. Fine all-wool dress goods, formerly obtainable only from France, were put on the market after a generous outlay of capital in experimentation, and the "Bay State Shawl," introduced in 1848, soon became famous.
The business of the Bay State Mills prospered in the next few years, and the concern was considered a model of American industrial organization. But with the panic of 1857 the company was forced to the wall, along with so many other woolen manufacturers through- out the country. The program of the management had been over prodigal with the company's capital in the ambitious expansion of plant and in costly experimentation. Hence the concern was in no condition to stand the economic stress of 1857, and, for want of an adequate reserve against the temporary paralysis of the market, the Bay State Mills closed their doors. For two years these splendid mills lay idle, while the population of Lawrence diminished under the shock of the failure, but in 1858 a move was started to rehabilitate them. A new corporation, the Washington Mills, composed largely of the creditors of the old company, was organized, with a capital of $1,650,000, and took over the Bay State property. In 1859 work was resumed, and the Washington Mills came to occupy the same assured and respected position in the market that their predecessor had held.
The new management was perhaps better balanced than the old, allowing its energy to be tempered by prudence.
Joseph S. Fay was the first treasurer and agent, becoming presi- dent of the company in 1862. In the latter year Joshua Stetson became treasurer, and served until 1868. Hon. E. R. Mudge was managing director in 1868 and for a time thereafter.
The Washington Mills were probably the first in this country to introduce worsted coatings. In the 1860's, worsteds, materials of French origin made from combed wool, were replacing fancy cassi- meres for men's wear. In 1868-69, E. R. Mudge, the managing director, imported worsted machinery from France and set it up at
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the Washington Mills. Twilled blue flannel and opera flannels were introduced about that time as well.
The Washington Mills enjoyed a prosperous period for a good many years. In 1878 the company installed new turbines to replace the old type water wheels, and a general improvement in the machin- ery was made. At this time there were about 2, 100 hands employed. In the 'seventies, when worsteds were new, the average annual value of the output was about $3,000,000.
By 1886, hard times, combined with retarded technical progress and lack of capital, had so impaired the business that a reorganiza- tion became necessary to stimulate the idle plant to further activity. Consequently, the new Washington Mills Company, formed by Fred- erick Ayer, of Lowell, and others, purchased the plant and good will of the old company. The antiquated buildings were torn down and the obsolete machinery discarded. In their place there arose in a short time the superb new mill buildings, equipped with up-to-date machinery, which for many years were widely referred to as the most perfect woolen mills in the world.
After the reorganization of the Washington Mills, in 1886, there followed a period of prosperity and progress under the able manage- ment of William M. Wood, treasurer, and Edwin P. Chapin, resi- dent agent. In 1899, as a highly successful woolen unit, the Wash- ington Mills became a part of the newly-formed American Woolen Company. An account of the Washington and other Essex County mills of the American Woolen Company will be found later in this chapter.
The second textile plant to operate upon power from the Mer- rimac at Lawrence was that of the Atlantic Cotton Mills. The com- pany was incorporated on February 3, 1846, with capital of $1,800,- 000, and in October, 1849, the first two cotton mills were in operation. Abbot Lawrence was the first president and Charles S. Storrow the treasurer. In 1847 William Gray, Sr., became treasurer and finan- cial agent, and served until 1877. William Gray, Jr., filled his father's position shortly after the latter's resignation. The local agent for the first ten years was Gen. Henry K. Oliver, and Joseph P. Battles succeeded him.
The Atlantic Cotton Mills operated with fair but not outstand- ing success for some years, but in 1876, because of a protracted decline
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in the price of cotton goods and the need for extensive repairs, it became necessary to reorganize the company. The original capital was scaled down to $300,000, and $700,000 was raised in cash. This transaction placed the capital of the new company at $1,000,000. In IS78 the three mills of the Atlantic Cotton Mills Co. contained 87,883 spindles, 1,804 looms, and employed 1,000 operatives. The product of these mills, consisting of high quality sheetings and shirt- ings, amounted to some 23,000,000 yards of cloth, annually, at this time. In the long run, however, the Atlantic mills were unsuccessful, and the concern went out of business. The plant was torn down long ago to make room for more modern structures.
The first seven years of the Pemberton Mill Company, incorpo- rated in 1853, was fraught with misfortune. The business of the new company had scarcely commenced when the panic of 1857 brought operations to a close. The mill lay idle until 1859, when David Nevins and George Howe, of Boston, purchased the property for $325,000, under the name of the Pemberton Manufacturing Com- pany. On January 10, 1860, without any warning whatever, a num- ber of defective iron columns used in the construction of the mill gave way, and the main building collapsed, fire breaking out immediately in the ruins. Eighty-seven people perished and forty-three were severely injured out of the nine hundred employees of the concern. After this most terrible of all New England mill disasters, a new plant was constructed and operations were resumed in 1861. The Pember- ton Mills continued in business for many years as a small concern. The buildings are still used for a variety of purposes by several small enterprises.
The Lawrence Duck Company, founded in 1852, with capital of $300,000, has been consistently successful on a small scale, and in 1930 was still employing 200 operatives in the manufacture of cotton duck.
The Pacific Mills at the time of their construction were the largest of their kind in the world. They were incorporated in 1853 and capi- talized at $2,000,000, Abbot Lawrence becoming the first president. J. Wiley Edmands, treasurer, guided the destinies of the company from 1855 to 1877.
The Pacific Mills have been among the most consistently success- ful of all New England textile firms over a long period. But only the
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able and courageous management of Mr. Edmands, who was, to a great extent, responsible for the success of the company, saved it from being a failure at the start. Before the mills had been com- pleted the capital gave out, and Mr. Edmands furnished $700,000 from his own pocket so that they could be put into operation.4 In spite of the financially weak position of the mills, they were able to weather the panic of 1857 which wrecked so many textile concerns. How narrowly the Pacific Mills escaped failure in 1857 is shown by the fact that the creditors were forced to grant them a six months' extension of credit as an alternative to forcing them into bankruptcy.
In 1861 the Pacific Mills became profitable for the first time, and thereafter enjoyed many years of prosperity with William C. Chapin as agent and J. Wiley Edmands as treasurer.
The Pacific Mills from the first manufactured woolen, cotton, and mixed goods. By 1878 the business had so increased that the firm occupied twelve mill buildings, with 4,472 looms and 156,000 spin- dles, and employed 5,393 operatives. The year before 65,000,000 yards of cloth were produced, a little over half of which were woolen and worsteds. Even at the outset the largest concern of its kind in the world, the Pacific Mills has increased its production many fold. In 1928 it employed 10,800 operatives in their Lawrence, Dover, New Hampshire, and South Carolina mills, and did a business of $44,000,000. At present the cotton mills at Lawrence are being used in the production of rayon and worsteds, the cotton production of the company being taken care of in the Southern and Dover, New Hampshire, mills, although the print mill in Lawrence does a good share of the company's business.
The most striking experiments in paternalistic labor relations ever attempted in Essex County textile mills previous to the Shaw- sheen Village project of the American Woolen Co., occurred in the early days of the Pacific Mills. The company set out to care for the health, morals, and general well-being of the operatives. Company dwelling houses for men with families were rented at one-eighth of a man's wages, and were made as attractive and heathful as possible. Company boarding houses were supervised with great care in an attempt to make them cheerful and conducive to good behavior. A
4. "Standard History of Essex County, Massachusetts," 1878, fails to mention Edmands' contribution, but on page 223 speaks of a contribution for a like purpose by Abbot Lawrence, president of the company.
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circulating library, which possessed some 7,000 books at one time, was maintained by the company. But perhaps the most progressive of all the measures relating to the welfare of labor undertaken by this concern was the organization of the Pacific Mills Relief Society, to which all employees belonged and contributed two to six cents weekly towards the relief of sick or disabled workers.
The labor policy of the company attracted wide attention, and was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Exposition of 1867. But, with the changing character of the population, the system gradually disappeared. In the beginning nine-tenths of the operatives were native born and of a distinctly higher cultural plane than the illiterate foreigners who followed them. The circulating library fell into disuse, and was taken over by the municipal library. All attempts to supervise or regulate the lives of the employees were discontinued, and efforts to maintain them in pleasant and sanitary surroundings had to be given up because of the lack of interest among the new- comers as to the condition of their dwellings. Although the program was a failure, the humanitarian spirit of some of the Lawrence mill executives was revealed.
The Everett Mills were incorporated in 1860 with a capital of $500,000, and the following year started the manufacture of dress goods, ginghams, and various other cotton fabrics. Operations began in the stone building erected by the Essex Company and first occupied by the Lawrence Machine Shop. New buildings were erected, and by 1862 the capital had been increased to $800,000. Samuel Batchelder was the first treasurer. In IS78 this concern employed nearly 1,000 hands and produced about 8,000,000 yards of goods. The Everett Mills continued with a considerable degree of prosperity, until the export market for cotton goods went to pieces in the early nineteen twenties. Still solvent, the company decided to liquidate before their financial position should become serious, and, besides paying the credi- tors in full, the stockholders were fully remunerated. The closing of the Everett Mills was a serious blow to the city of Lawrence, since in their most prosperous days they had employed nearly 2,000 operatives.
The last textile project to be undertaken in Lawrence before the formation of the American Woolen Company was the incorporation, in 1865, of the Arlington Woolen Mills, with capital of $200,000.
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The new company occupied a power site on the Spicket, and com- menced the manufacture of fine woolen goods. After fire destroyed the mills in 1866, they were rebuilt, and thereafter made both woolen and cotton dress goods. The name was changed to the Arlington Mills in 1875.
The record of this concern is one of constant growth and fine workmanship. By gradual steps the capital had increased from $200,000 in 1865, to $500,000 in 1878, and by 1930 it had reached the sum of $12,000,000. From a small beginning the Arlington Mills have grown to be among the most important in Essex County, employ- ing 7,250 operatives and ranking next to the American Woolen Com- pany and the Pacific Mills in the industrial life of Lawrence.
Since their earliest days these mills have been noted for their effi- ciency and the quality of their products. They were the first in this country to manufacture profitably black alpacas, mohairs, and bril- liantines, which formerly had been a monoply of the mills of Brad- ford, England. Today the Arlington Mills make such standard goods as serges and cheviots, and also are equipped to make any novelties which changes in fashions may demand.
Several other textile concerns of considerable importance, such as the Monomac Spinning Company and the George E. Kunhardt Corporation are located in Lawrence, but space does not permit their description. The story of the American Woolen Company's adven- tures in Lawrence will appear later in the chapter.
Although Lawrence has been the great textile center of Essex County, this industry has figured importantly in several other Essex County communities during the last century. Cotton and woolen mills have thriven on various water power sites, particularly in the Merrimac Valley, and numerous steam cotton establishments have been operated in the seaport towns of Salem and Newburyport. Although most of these enterprises are no longer in existence, because of the tendency toward concentration of the textile industry in the larger cities, their place in the history of several Essex County towns and cities is worthy of note.
The production of textiles by steam-driven machinery was, of course, impossible until both the steam engine and the machines had been developed to the point where they could be combined effectively. But when steam power finally came to be applied to textile machinery
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in this country, it occurred to several New Englanders, notably Gen. Charles T. James, of Newburyport, that the proper place for a steam cotton mill would be in a seaport town, where the cotton and coal could be obtained cheaply by sea, and where shipment of the finished product to foreign markets would be economical. Another advan- tage, of course, was that in Salem and Newburyport there was a great deal of capital going begging for means of investment because of the decline of shipping in those ports.
The Naumkeag Steam Cotton Co., of Salem, is the only one of the several concerns which undertook textile manufacture in New- buryport and Salem between 1833 and 1850 that has survived the ravages of time. This company was incorporated in 1839, with capital of $200,000. In 1847, after the completion of a new mill, the capital having been increased to $780,000, the concern was said to have the largest and best equipped plant in the United States. New mills were built in 1859 and 1865, and the capital increased to $1,500,- 000. In 1878 the company employed 1,200 people and produced 14,000,000 yards of cloth. The business has increased steadily since then, interrupted only by the Salem fire in 1914, when all but one of the twenty buildings of the company were destroyed. The new mills, built after the fire, are considered even now among the best con- structed and equipped cotton mills in the world. At the present time the concern is capitalized at $6,000,000, produces some 20,000,000 pounds of cotton cloth annually, and employs 1,600 operatives.
The products of the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company at first included a great variety of cotton goods, but, since 1890, there has been an increasing specialization, until at present practically the whole of the company's output consists of the famous Pequot sheeting. The success of the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company is, however, not typical among the various attempts to establish textile manufacture on tidewater in Essex County. The theory of Gen. James did not work out so well in Newburyport, for instance, as it had in Salem, Fall River, and New Bedford. Perhaps the smaller population of Newburyport prevented the permanent settlement of the textile indus- try there, or, more likely, the mills of this city were not fortunate enough to receive the constant attention of really able managers over a long period of years that insured the success of the Naumkeag Mills. In any case, the mills of Newburyport were unable to resist
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the trend of cotton manufacturing toward the established textile cen- ters, and now no cotton goods are made in that city.
Between 1833 and 1847 five Newburyport concerns were incorpo- rated and commenced making cotton goods of various types, particu- larly shirting and sheeting. Their total capitalization amounted to $1,200,000. These establishments, the Essex Mill, Bartlet's Mill, the James Steam Mills, the Globe Steam Mills, and the Ocean Mill, played an important part in the economic life of Newburyport for many years. In 1888 the Whitefield Mills, which had taken over the Ocean Mill in 1868, alone gave employment to 1,000 operatives. But as a rule these mills were only moderately successful. The Essex and Bartlet Mills were burned in 1856 and 1881, respectively, and were never rebuilt. The James Steam Mills were taken over in 1876 by a new concern and called the Victoria Mills, which in turn became idle, the building being used for some time, after 1907, by the Warner Cotton Mills in the production of yarns. The Globe Steam Mills were taken over in 1868 by the Peabody Mills, which never enjoyed a great deal of prosperity.
Thus it is seen that the cotton mills of Newburyport have been generally unsuccessful, and in the end either abandoned or destroyed by fire and not replaced. Nevertheless, these enterprises in a sense acclimated the city to manufacturing and paved the way for the devel- opment of the modern shoe industry there. In spite of their lack of permanence, the mills were largely responsible for the increase of almost one-third in the population of this city between 1830 and 1850.
Besides the great textile development at Lawrence, and the tide- water cotton mills of Salem and Newburyport, many of the county's smaller water power sites nurtured mills which grew to rank high among the industries of several thriving communities during the sec- ond half of the last century. A few still operate at the present time. Since the early days of the textile industry are discussed in a previous chapter, only the later developments will be traced here.
The most successful of the old concerns which have grown up on small water power sites is the M. T. Stevens & Sons Company, of North Andover. Nathaniel Stevens, who started the manufacture of flannels at a power site on Cochichawick Brook in North Andover in 1813, had built up a successful woolen business by the time of his death in 1865. In 1854 he bought the mill of Ezekiel Hale & Son, in
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Haverhill, which employed from thirty to forty hands. Under the direction of a son, Moses Stevens, the Nathaniel Stevens & Sons Com- pany was soon ready for further expansion, and in 1879 purchased the property of the historic Marland Mills of Andover, which had been established by Abraham Marland in 1807. Previous to this purchase the Nathaniel Stevens & Sons Company had employed but one hun- dred hands in North Andover and Haverhill. From this time for- ward the concern, which subsequently became the M. T. Stevens & Sons Company, expanded with great rapidity, buying the Andover Mills, once owned by Governor Bradstreet, in 1913; the Merrimack Woolen Mills, in Dracut; the Franklin Mills, in Franklin, New Hampshire; and the Peace Dale Mills, in Peace Dale, Rhode Island. At present the company is capitalized at $4,000,000, and employs 7,000 workers in its Essex County mills.
Another textile community flourished for many years on the falls of the Powow River, a stream that divided the old villages of Ames- bury and Salisbury Mills. On both sides of the falls the manufacture of woolen and cotton goods had gradually expanded after the found- ing of the first cloth mill in 1812, by Ezra Worthen, Paul Moody, and others, until by 1850 there were three prosperous concerns in operation, the Amesbury Woolen and Cotton Manufacturing Com- pany, the Amesbury Flannel Manufacturing Company, and the Salis- bury Woolen Manufacturing Company. The success of these early textile enterprises was due largely to the Powow's remarkable fall of seventy-five feet in less than one-quarter mile. Although the volume of this stream was not large, the fall allowed the water to be used at least five times in its rapid descent to tidewater. In addition, the Powow supplied excellent water for scouring and use in steam boilers.
In 1852 the first labor troubles occurred when the employees of the Salisbury Mills struck for shorter hours and better pay. The strike was finally brought to an unhappy close when Agent Denby, of the Salisbury Mills, brought in a large number of recent immi- grants from Ireland.
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