USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Templeton > The story of Templeton > Part 13
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When the account of the exercises accompanying the open- ing of the buildings on the new hillside site says that "twelve hundred people were present for luncheon", it is not difficult to surmise that a great deal of the preparation and the serving was done by the women of the town, as indeed has been true through the years at every "June Fair" of the Woman's Board.
The report of the Superintendent in 1891 makes note of the fact that much of the great amount of grading necessary around the new buildings was accomplished with the aid of men of the region who gave twenty days of work with teams and men to smooth the surfaces and lay out the roads. A steady succession of girls and men from the town have had periods of service at the hospital, in dining-room and kitchen, in wards or in the engine-room; and some of the "hospital family" have made themselves a real part of the town's life. Now and then it has been possible for the hospital to perform some service for the town and its people. In World War II, the staff helped in the Civilian Defense organization and other war-time projects, such as the training of a Nurses' Aide Class. In the time of almost impossible nursing conditions, when workers were hard to find or to keep, several of the women of
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the town volunteered their help with the nursing, as they had with the canning of the fruit and vegetables from the Hospital Farm, several years earlier. A large number of them belong to the Woman's Board and are ready to further its special prospects in the upkeep of the school, the payment of the salaries of the teachers, and the maintenance of free beds for children from whom no payment can be asked. Several have helped with the work of the Girl Scout troop which has been intermittently possible among the girl patients; and these have come to know, as perhaps few others can, the worth of the service which the hospital is rendering for the physical rehabilitation and the mental and moral training of those committed to its care.
OTHER CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS
In "A.Sketch of Journalism" by R. William Waterman, it is stated that the Worcester West Chronicle was started in Barre in January, 1866, and removed to Athol in November, 1866, under the same proprietor, R. William Waterman. The publication of the Templeton Recorder began in January, 1882, and continued for several years.
"The Cottager" was established as a monthly paper by J. W. Coolidge in 1882, in the interest of the Hospital Cottages. It was printed in Athol at the office of C. A. J. Waterman, son and co-partner of R. William Waterman. The subscription price was fifty cents per year. In 1885, "The Cottager's" name was changed and a new company formed. The paper was then called "Cottager and Ready Record", with Mr. Coolidge as editor, Waterman as printer and W. H. Brock, general manager. In 1890, it dissolved its connection with the hospital and became an independent enterprise. This was largely be- cause the Woman's Board of the Hospital Cottages had estab- lished "The Cottage Friend", printed in Worcester, as its official organ of the hospital.
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Two other papers have since been published in Baldwinville, but they were of short duration.
The Baldwinville Woman's Club, organized in 1899, has influenced greatly the cultural life of the village, ever active in philanthropic work. In 1918, it helped finance the building of Fraternity Hall and has always contributed toward the improvement of the village. It has ever taken an interest in the Hospital Cottages for Children and has been especially helpful in the Scout work there.
Years ago, before the buildings were erected on the land between Elm and Circle streets, that plot was known as the Upper Common, and all the trees around it were set out by M. A. Wilson; the trees around the Lower Common by Dr. Lucius Baker. The trees along the sidewalk on School Street hill were set out in memory of the boys who made the supreme sacrifice in World War I. The trees on the state road leading to Otter River were planted by William and Wyman Stone and Francis Leland.
The Hollyhock Garden Club of Baldwinville was organized July 6, 1930. It has carried on its projects quietly, but efficient- ly; one of the first was accomplished during the presidency of Mrs. A. B. Harwood - planning, grading and planting what is known as the Upper Common, and the Club has been responsible for its care ever since. Through the efforts of Mrs. Caroline Forbes, attractive planting of evergrees and a hedge fence around the library building have been made.
The Club's most recent project is the establishment of a Town Forest, under the leadership of Mrs. John D. Stevens (Edith Nichols Stevens). In 1945, on town land in East Templeton, ten thousand small pines were planted, and that same year, three thousand trees were planted back of the athletic field in Baldwinville.
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This Club is affiliated as a member of the Massachusetts Federation of Garden Clubs.
Great credit should be given to the leaders of the Boy and Girl Scouts for their excellent work, thus helping the young people to become loyal and patriotic citizens.
FLOOD AND HURRICANE Lorey A. Tourtellot
About 6:00 a.m. September 21, 1938, the New England states experienced the most disastrous flood and hurricane in their history. Templeton suffered a loss of over a million dollars. All dams were washed away, and the ponds and reservoirs were drained, leaving but a small stream of water running through them. All the factories along the Otter River were severely damaged and their basements flooded. When the dam at the Bourn, Hadley & Fairbanks Company's pond gave way, the amount of water, so suddenly released, caused the water level at the fire station to rise nine feet in ten minutes; the water receded, however, in about the same length of time.
The air pressure made by the rising water under the steel bridge near the fire station caused the bridge to blow into the air several feet, and it landed about two hundred feet down the river. After the bridge was destroyed, to go to the south side of the river, one had to drive through Winchendon, Gardner, East Templeton, and Templeton Center, traveling a distance of twenty-five miles to get to the other side of a seven- ty foot gap. By nailing planks across the ties of the Boston & Albany Railroad bridge, and a rail along the sides, it was possible to cross on foot; some goods were carried across the bridge on a hand car lent by the railroad company.
Hundreds of shade trees were blown down and were a total loss, though some were left at such an angle that they could
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BALDWINVILLE BEFORE BIRCH HILL DAM CONSTRUCTION
Federal Holdings.
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BALDWINVILLE AFTER BIRCH HILL DAM CONSTRUCTION
be straightened and saved. A number of buildings were damaged also. About forty per cent of the light and power lines of the Templeton Municipal Light Department went out of commission. For two days after the flood, the people of Otter River and Baldwinville were supplied with bakery food by ferrying it across the washed-out places in a boat, with the help of ropes attached to trees on the banks.
After the flood and hurricane, the people went to work with a will to clear the streets and pick up the debris. A temporary bridge was built across the river bed, just below where the old one stood, and was used until the new bridge was built.
At the height of the flood, the water was three feet deep in the stock room of the Light Department; seven feet deep in the lodge rooms in Fraternity Hall; there were about three feet of water over the highway near the fire station; the base- ment of the Bancroft factory was flooded; in the factories of Kenney Brothers and the E. L. Thompson Chair Shop, the water reached the second floor. The South Royalston road, and the Athol road, near the Day Mill brook, were a number of feet under water; and all the cellars of the houses at the lower end of the village were flooded.
Athol, Orange, and other towns along the river, below Baldwinville, were also severely damaged.
To prevent such catastrophe in the future, the United States Government started surveying at once for the purpose of build- ing a dam to control high water caused by spring thaws or heavy rains, and to release water slowly after flood danger was over and the rivers below the dam low enough to take care of the released water.
The Government purchased hundreds of acres of Baldwin- ville land, that would be covered with water during flood season, for the Birch Hill Dam project, causing the Town of Templeton to lose about $180,000 worth of taxable property,
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which included fifty-two dwellings, one store, two roadside stands, and three factories.
The factory of Kenney Brothers moved to Winchendon, the Bancroft factory moved to Gardner; E. L. Thompson Com- pany built a new factory on Prospect Street. The old factories and other buildings were mostly taken down and the lumber sold; a few of the houses were moved to other villages.
Two miles of track of the Boston & Maine Railroad had to be moved to a higher elevation, at a cost of about $1,750,000. Route 202 from Athol, through Baldwinville, to Winchendon, was also raised, at an approximate cost of $225,000 for each end. The bridge over the Boston & Maine Railroad made of steel and concrete, cost around $110,000. The cost of the road from the state road south of Baldwinville, around Nor- cross Hill, to South Royalston, cost $36,000.
The Government agreed, after several hearings, to reimburse the Town of Templeton in the sum of $7,000 a year as com- pensation for taxes lost by giving up the land in the flood area.
Urban Oliver states: "The most tragic and permanent mis- fortune to Baldwinville came in connection with the Federal control construction known as the 'Birch Hill' project; this resulted in permanent Federal acquisition of a large area of land and the elimination of buildings.
In 1943 the record stood:
Value of land acquired by U.S. Gov't. $ 34,995.00
Value of buildings acquired 152,450.00
Tax loss to the Town 8,435.00
There were ninety-one homes and fifty-one other buildings taken; three factories with a yearly payroll of $130,000, and 124 workmen who were obliged to leave town.
Since 1943, there have been additional acquisitions and some extensions of the area subject to Federal control."
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The physicians of Baldwinville have given good service throughout the years. The first resident doctor was Dr. Bar- rett, who began practice in 1847. Then followed Dr. Jewett, Dr. Jonathan White, Dr. William Southard, Dr. J. S. Fogg, Dr. G. I. Perry, and Dr. L. W. Baker, the founder of the Hos- pital Cottages for Children. Dr. Mullins began practice in 1881. He had studied in France and Germany and did special research in the cure for cancer. He remained in the village until his death in 1919. Dr. W. F. Robie came in 1892. He carried on a sanatorium on Memorial Street, and wrote articles for publication. During this period, Dr. D. H. Gatchell gave a few years' service.
In 1899, Dr. C. A. Fletcher began his practice as a dentist and continued until 1941. His son, Louis, is now carrying on his father's practice.
Dr. O. B. Roberts settled in the village in 1900 and has given faithful service, even to the present day. Not only in the north section, but in all parts of the town he answers urgent calls.
For this part of our history, L. Clifford Day's article on Prescription seems an appropriate closing.
PRESCRIPTION
One day, not long after the century had begun, impetuous, young Dr. Gatchell arrived in the village to tack his freshly painted "Office Hours" shingle upon one of the Central Street doorposts. He had lived in town hardly a week when he chanced to meet the venerable Dr. Mullins, as they were both crossing the village green.
"Well, Doc", the younger man exclaimed brusquely, as was his way, "I've looked your town over all the way from Archi- bald Jones' plate-glass bay window to the last shack down the river, and all I can think of is the old saying: 'God made the
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country and man made the town, but the devil made the country town'."
"Meaning, I suppose -" drawled Dr. Mullins in his usual dry manner, "that ours is a country town?"
"Yes", promptly admitted the critical Dr. Gatchell.
"Well -" hesitated the loyal Mullins, ever calm and smiling, "I don't believe we're really as bad as that. Our town is only just like a lot of other small places that have acquired a few waterwheels and smokestacks. It has its unlovely spots, I know, but at its worst, I believe, it is no more than what poetic old Jed Prentiss once said, 'A misshapen jewel in a beautiful setting'."
Dr. Mullins paused a moment, but the young man, though nervously biting his lips, stood still as if waiting to hear more. So the doctor continued:
"We natives, you see, instead of blaming the devil for what man has thoughtlessly messed up, thank God for having so much beauty all about us, spread out right down into our back- yards. We have dark winter smoke, perhaps, but we also have white summer clouds. Our mills may have ugly board piles, but our streets still have fine old shade trees. Man's wastage has given us a few nearby barren gravel heaps, but God's surround- ing, living hills are still here, and will be a long, long time - perhaps long after man and the devil are both forgotten."
"Well, maybe you're right," grudgingly admitted young Gatchell, as he impatiently started away.
But habit was strong with the good old doctor and he could not let a patient go without a final prescription :
"You'll feel better about us, my boy, I am sure, if some day you'll take a drive up Wachusett and on another day attempt the manful climb up Monadnock. Then you'll see the village in true perspective. Then you'll understand why we natives feel about it as we do!"
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BUSINESS OF BALDWINVILLE MILLS AND SHOPS Lorey A. Tourtellot
In May, 1753, The Proprietors voted to build a corn-mill. A tax of six shillings on each right of land was laid to defray the cost of the mill. Thomas Sawyer of Bolton was given about $120. for building the mill, which he would own, and for doing the grinding. It is reported that it was located in Goulding Village, which is in the southwest section of Tem- pleton, now a part of Phillipston. But in 1754, that same Mr. Sawyer, built a saw-and grist-mill in Baldwinville, on the south side of the Otter River, the site formerly owned by the Waite Chair Co. Thomas Sawyer operated these mills until about 1767, when they were sold to Jonathan Baldwin.
Capt. Eden Baldwin, son of Jonathan, succeeded his father in the ownership of the mills. He carried on a lumber business and also made bricks in a yard located on So. Main Street, between Cottage Street and the Boston and. Albany R. R. The clay pit was on the other side of the tracks.
Another brickyard was located near the site of Bourn, Had- ley and Fairbanks Co. and the present Paper Mill, between the mill and the railroad. These clay pits were filled in at the time the Smith and Day factory was built and the land was used as a lumber yard. In the early days, the bricks were smaller than those of today. The regular brick was 61/2 in. long 31/4 in. wide and 31/4 in. thick. A special brick was also made, 18 in. long, 12 in. wide and 31/4 in. thick.
In 1803, Eden Baldwin rebuilt the mills and did business there until 1829, when he rented them for five years to William Kendall and Edward Richardson of Holden. Then in 1836, he sold the mills to Col. George W. Sawyer, and bought them back two years later, retaining them until his
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death in 1839. In that same year, another Eden Baldwin, a distant relative of the former, became the owner and in 1840, he took down the old mill, and built the eastern part of the Red Mill, installed a new grist-mill and a self setting saw-mill.
In 1842, he sold the property to Gilman Day, who in 1843, received Charles Baldwin as a partner.
In 1847, Edwin Sawyer bought Mr. Baldwin's interest. Day and Sawyer built the western half of the Red Mill. They made wood seat chairs, hat cases etc. Mr. Day also built the original saw-mill at Day Mill Pond.
The manufacture of chairs has continued by different firms in successive years:
Sawyer, Thompson, and in 1856, Perley; Thompson, Perley and Waite in 1871. After the death of Mr. Perley in 1886, the firm was divided, Mr. Thompson became the head of the firm at the lower mill, known as D. L. Thompson & Son, and Gilman Waite became the head of the firm at the upper mill, known as the Waite Chair Co.
After operating the upper mill for a number of years Mr. Waite turned the factory over to his two sons, John and Irving, who continued to operate the factory until the death of Irving, when it was carried on by John alone.
In 1904, the Waite Chair Co., built a new factory on the north side of the river, on the site of the box shop destroyed by fire in 1895. After a time, John Waite sold the factory to Fred and Alvin Bancroft, and after their deaths, it was operated by their sons, Raymond and Howard, until the death of Raymond, then it was carried on by Howard and Mrs. Raymond Bancroft until it was taken over by the U. S. Gov- ernment, after the hurricane of 1938 and torn down in 1945.
For a number of years, the chair factories had most of the seating of the chair frames done in private homes, by house-
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wives and children. The frames were delivered and col- lected by teams within a distance of eighteen or twenty miles.
D. L. Thompson & Son operated the lower mill for a num- ber of years, manufacturing cane-seat chairs of all kinds and wood-seated office chairs. After the death of D. L. Thomp- son, the business was carried on by his son, and was known as E. L. Thompson & Co., until Orange Whitney of Winchen- don became a partner of the firm, when it was called E. L. Thompson Chair Co. After a few years, Mr. Whitney sold his share back to Mr. Thompson who continued the business alone until he sold to Thomas Brazell of Gardner in 1922. It was then called the E. L. Thompson Chair Corporation. After the death of Mr. Brazell, the business was carried on by his heirs, with Thomas Brazell, Jr., as President, John Brazell as Treasurer and Manager. They have continued to manufac- ture high chairs as a specialty to the present day.
After the flood of 1938, E. L. Thompson Chair Corporation built a new factory at the corner of Prospect and Mechanic Streets. When they were moving to the new location, Mr. Brazell found the first telephone connection used between the upper and lower mills. This consisted of two boxes, con- nected by wire from one mill to the other. If a man in one mill wanted to call someone in the other mill, he tapped a knob in the center of the box with a hammer, causing a vi- brating noise in the other mill. These telephones are to be seen at the Narragansett Historical Building.
It is probable that the first men to manufacture chairs in Baldwinville were Kilburn and Steven Osborne, but we do not know where their factory was located.
In 1843, Capt. Warren Merrett began the hat pressing busi- ness in the Red Mill, at the end of the upper dam, on the south side of the river. In 1844, a mill was built at the north end of the dam. Capt. Merrett moved his business there and
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continued it until 1850, after which the business was carried on by John Stearns, and then by Lee & Stearns, who employed about twenty hands. After a short time, a building 30 ft. by 40 ft. was added, and in 1853, another addition of 160 ft. was made.
In 1873, Baker & Wilson bought the property and added another 40 feet. In the west end of the mill, Baker & Wilson started a grist mill, where they ground quantities of western corn, selling the meal to the neighboring villages. Lee & Stearns finally gave up the hat-pressing business and the mill remained idle for a few years.
In 1888, the Winchester Box Company, operated by Henry Shepardson and Frank Russell, came to Baldwinville, after their factory at Winchester, N. H., was destroyed by fire, and located in the mill at the north end of the dam. Here they manufactured wooden boxes until the mill was burned in 1895. The company built a new factory at the north end of the village, near the Boston & Albany R.R. Later they added a new line to their business and manufactured special cases for eggs. Charles Porter cut up and turned stock for chairs in the basement of this building, and Captain Chisholm started a business of cutting and bundling kindling wood, made from the waste stock of the Box Company.
In 1898, the Winchester Box Company merged with the New England Box Co., and in 1927, this factory moved from Baldwinville.
The Thorndyke Turning Co., formerly the business of Charles A. Porter, did a thriving business in wood turning and toys in a small building near the New England Box Com- pany's factory. This business was sold to the National Novel- ty Co., of New York and moved to their branch factory in Winchendon. The building was purchased by the New Eng- land Box Co., moved to the south end of their factory and
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used as a storehouse until it was torn down with the rest of the factory, about 1940.
In 1841, Captain Joseph Davis built a saw-mill at the east end of the village where the Bourn, Hadley, Fairbanks Com- pany factory now stands. For some years, pails were made there and afterwards, doors, sash and blinds; in addition, matches were made by Sawyer and Patterson, buckets by Robinson and Hersey and clothespins by James Stimpson.
This first mill was destroyed by fire in 1856, and the site was purchased in 1869 by Charles Perley and Gilman Waite. In 1870, a stock company, the Baldwinville Mill Company, was formed, and a large and commodious factory was built, furnishing accommodations to several firms. L. Greenwood and Company manufactured chairs while Sawyer and Com- pany made furniture. At the same time C. Aylmer Smith, Lorey D. Day and Charles Day started a chair-manufacturing business under the name of Smith, Day and Company, which later took over the entire plant. For many years, Smith, Day and Company maintained a warehouse in Detroit, Michigan, and a warehouse was still in operation at Indianapolis, Indi- ana, at the time the business was sold in 1929. The Baldwin- ville plant was purchased in this latter year by William Bourn, Walter Hadley and Arthur Fairbanks, who formed the Bourn, Hadley, Fairbanks Company, which continues to manufac- ture chairs to the present day (1946). During the occupancy of Smith, Day and Company, the plant was twice burned and twice rebuilt, in 1885 and in 1907.
A part of the water power for this factory was used by H. M. Small, formerly Small Goulding Company, in the manu- facture of sheathing, roof paper, asbestos, paper plates and soap.
The mill was destroyed by fire and rebuilt, and Mr. Small
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sold the business to Philip Carey Manufacturing Co., who made toilet paper, paper napkins and towels. In 1909, this firm sold the mill to Alvin L. Adams who continued the business under the name of Adams Paper Company.
After a few years, Mr. Adams built a new and larger mill and installed one of the largest toilet paper machines in the country, which doubled the amount made by the old machine.
In 1844, Albert Bryant and James Stimpson built a dam across the Otter River, which is now known as Kenney's dam. A shop was soon built at the north end of the dam and in 1846, another was built at the south end by Mr. Stimpson.
In these shops various kinds of businesses have been carried on - hat-pressing, the making of matches, doors, sashes and blinds. The shop at the south end of the dam was burned in 1862 and afterward the water privileges passed into the hands of Baker, Sawyer, Thompson and Perley. This firm and their successors occupied the southerly shop in the manu- facture of chairs.
In 1887, a division of the firm was made. The one at the south end was known as D. L. Thompson & Son, who contin- ued to manufacture various kinds of chairs as previously stated. The shop at the north end was taken over in 1858 by Willard Baker and A. Wilson. Baker and Wilson manu- factured children's and dolls' carriages, carts, chairs and cribs. After the death of Mr. Baker, Mr. Wilson sold the property to Bishop & Streeter, who made reed and rattan chairs for a few years, and then Mr. Streeter sold his share to C. S. Dickinson. After the death of Mr. Dickinson, his part of the business was continued by his nephew, Warren Sibley. Later the buildings were sold to Kenney Brothers and Wolkins Co., who manufactured school furniture. It was destroyed by fire February 8, 1923, and rebuilt that same year.
In 1935, the company added dinette chairs and continued
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until the firm liquidated. The factory was purchased by Wil- liam O. Kenney, a son of the member of the former firm. In 1941, this business was moved to Winchendon, since the Bald- winville plant was in the flood-control area.
James Stimpson built a factory south of D. L. Thompson & Son near Memorial Street bridge, where he made patterns and also lamp-posts for outside lighting by kerosene lamps, until the factory burned.
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