History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 19

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1168

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At this very time, and in the midst of all this joy and popular acclaim, a shadow was settling over the two lives which for forty years had been as one. The beautiful lady of the house, who that night and day had entertained her guests with all her okl-time in- terest and vivacity, was within a few days stricken with a fatal illness. To so large a degree had Mrs. ! could do, Mrs. Smyth died 'January 14, 1885. The Smyth been identified with her husband's public

Anetas Blood

MANCHESTER.

an immense concourse of people eager to bring tributes of affection and to do honor to the lovely character of the departed.

For many years Mr. Smyth has had an extensive acquaintance with the public men of the time. It will be remembered that six months prior to Mr. Lincoln's nomination for the Presidency he intro- duced him from the platform in Smyth's Hall as the next President, and with Mr. Lincoln, and in after- days with his great war minister, Stanton, he was on most friendly terms.

His conservative course in finance, his reputation as a safe adviser and his general good judgment on public affairs has caused his counsel to be often sought in high quarters.

A truth which forms a large part of every man's experience ought never to lose its freshness. There is no royal road to success. Ex-Governor Smyth has had the advantage of good health, a sound constitu- tion and great power of endurance; but he is one of the most industrious men in the State, and the means by which he has achieved his position are open to every young man of equal energy, self-denial, high aim and conscious reetitude of purpose. Some of the results which he set himself to attain were beset with difficulties; but he was not discouraged by op- position or disheartened by delay. .

The Second National Bank was chartered in 1877. The first board of directors, which has not changed since, was as follows : Aretas Blood, Josiah Carpenter, Frank P. Carpenter, John Hoyt and N. S. Bean. Mr. Blood was elected president and Josiah Carpenter cashier, positions which they still occupy. The bank has a capital of one hundred thousand dollars.

ARETAS BLOOD, son of Nathaniel and Roxellana (Proctor) Blood, was born in Weathersfield, Vt., October 8, 1816. When he was but three years of age his parents removed to Windsor, Vt., where he remained until sev- enteen years of age, improving the meagre advantages afforded by the common schools of those days. He was then apprenticed to the trade of blacksmith, which he worked at about two years and a half and then became a machinist. In 1840 he journeyed to Evansville, Ind., where he worked at his trade until June 17, 1841, when he started eastward in search of employment. He stopped at city after city, but each time was disappointed in his hopes. He traveled on, however, still in quest of work, and it was not until he reached North Chelmsford, Mass., that he found employment for his ready and willing hands. After remaining here a short time he subsequently went to Lowell as a machinist in the Lowell Machine-Shop. Here he remained seven years and then went to Law- rence, where he commenced the manufacture of ma- chinists' tools for the large machine-shop then in pro- cess of erection at that place. Here the character of the man asserted itself. His ability demanded greater scope, and soon after he assumed the management of the establishment there and began the manufacture,

by contract, of tools, turbine-wheels, locomotives, stationary engines, etc. His untiring energy had at last found its reward. He was master of the business. September 7, 1853, he came to Manchester and estab- lished the Vulcan Works, under the name of Bailey, Blood & Co., for the manufacture of locomotives. Business was first commenced in Mechanics' Row, but in the spring of 1854 buildings were erected on the present location and in the same year the company was incorporated as the Manchester Locomotive- Works, with Oliver W. Bailey as agent. He was succeeded in 1857 by Mr. Blood, who has since resided in Manchester and has given his personal supervision to the business.

The locomotive-works are located on Canal Street and cover about six acres. The machine-shop is a substantial building, parallel with Canal Street, two stories in height, four hundred and thirty feet in length and eighty-four in width. The wood-shop is also a two-story building, one hundred feet long and forty feet wide; the blacksmith-shop is three hundred and sixty-five feet long and fifty feet wide; the boiler- shop, two hundred and five feet long and fifty-two feet wide.

There is also a large brick building, two hundred and thirty by thirty-six feet, for making brass cast- ings and building steam fire-engines. In the spring of 1872, Mr. Blood purchased the steam fire-engine business of the Amoskeag Company, good-will, pat- ents, etc., and now manufactures the "Amoskeag Engine," which is the old engine in name only, as it has been entirely remodeled and is now one of the most complete, perfect and efficient engines mannfar- tured. There are now over six hundred and fifty of these engines in use. Here are also built all kinds of hose-carriages, fire apparatus, etc.

Mr. Blood has proved one of the most successful locomotive-builders in the country, twelve hundred and twenty-three having been turned out at these works. A thorough machinist and a man capable of handling a large force of men and conducting large business operations, he has commanded success, and the Manchester Locomotive- Works are one of the repre- sentative institutions of manufacturing New England.

Mr. Blood is also a director in the Ames Manufac- turing Company, of Chicopee, Mass. ; president of the Globe Nail Company, of Boston ; and treasurer of the Nashua Iron and Steel Company, which is doing the largest business of its kind in New England. He was a director in the Merrimack River Bank from 1860 till its name was changed to First National Bank, in 1865, and until 1868 a director of the latter ; was a director in the Manchester National Bank from 1874 till 1877, and from 1877 to present time has been president of the Second National Bank.

September 4, 1845, he united in marriage with Miss L. K. Kendall, and their family consists of two children,-Nora, wife of Frank P. Carpenter, of this city, and Emma, who resides with her parents.

HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Politically, Mr. Blood is a Republican. His first vote was cast for General Harrison, but he has been a member of the Republican party since its organiza- tion, although never an active politician. He has been twice elected alderman, and was chairman of the electors who cast New Hampshire's vote for Garfield and Arthur.

The Manchester Savings-Bank was chartered July 8, 1846, and organized with Samuel D. Bell president and the following board of trustees: John A. Burnham, Daniel Clark, Herman Foster, Nahum Baldwin, George Porter, David Gillis, William P. Newell, Hiram Brown. Nathan Parker was chosen treasurer and has held the office to the present time. Mr. Bell resigned in 1847, and the succeeding presi- dents have been as follows : Hiram Brown, William P. Newell and Hon. Daniel Clark. The present trus- tees are as follows : Nathan Parker, Charles F. War- ren, B. F. Martin, Charles Wells, W. M. Parker, Charles D. Me Duffee and Stephen N. Bourne. Present amount of deposits, four million five hundred thon- sand dollars.

The Merrimack River Savings-Bank was incor- porated June, 1858, under the name of the Manches- ter Five-Cent Savings Institution, and the charter was issued to the following board of grantees : Phineas Adams, Joseph B. Clark, John Ordway, Warren Paige,1 Waterman Smith, John L. Kelley, George Porter, B. F. Martin, Daniel Clark, Harry Leeds, Frank A. Brown,1 Samuel Upton, John B. Chase, C. Sackrider,1 Daniel W. Fling, Brooks Shattuck,1 David Gillis, John H. Goodale, William Crane, Henry T. Mowatt,1 Stephen Palmer, Ezra Huntington, Calvin Boyd, Josiah S. Shannon, John B. Clarke, David Cross, John M. Parker, George Thompson, Frederick Smith, Charles H. Campbell,' George W. Thayer, Charles C. Parker, F. B. Eaton, James M. Varnum, Thomas G. Holbrook,1 R. N. Batchelder, James S. Cheney,1 Israel Dow, Ebenezer Ferren, Isaac Riddle,1 M. O. Pearson, W. W. Leighton, Thomas Wheat, E. W. Harrington,' Varnum H. Hill,' Alonzo Smith,1 William Richardson ' and their associates and successors.

In 1865 the name was changed by act of Legisla- ture to that which it now bears. The first meeting for the adoption of by-laws, choice of officers, etc., was held July 11, 1858, and the following board of officers chosen : President, Waterman Smith ; Vice-Presi- dents, E. W. Harrington, George Porter; Treasurer and Clerk, Frederick Smyth ; Trustees, B. F. Martin, Joseph B. Clark, Isaac W. Smith, William B. Web- ster, F. A. Brown, George Thompson, Peter'S. Brown, Frederick Smith, Josiah S. Shannon, John L. Kelley, James M. Varuum, Alonzo Smith, Thomas Wheat, Warren Paige, Albe C. Heath, E. S. Peabody, John B. Clarke, Joseph A. Haines.

The first deposit wasmade August 2, 1858.

The business has been transacted in the rooms or-

cupied by the First National Bank, and its details at- tended to by the clerks employed in that institution.

Waterman Smith remained president until 1884, when he was succeeded by Hon. Frederick Smith, the present incumbent. Hon. Frederick Smyth continued as treasurer until 1884, when, upon assuming the presi- deney of the bank, he was succeeded by C. F. Morrill.

The present members of the corporation are as fol- lows: Jos. B. Clark, Waterman Smith, Jno. L. Kelly, George Porter, B. F. Martin, Daniel Clark, Henry Leeds, Samuel Upton, John B. Clarke, Daniel W. Fling, David Gillis, John H. Goodale, William Crane, Stephen Palmer, Ezra Huntington, J. S. Shannon, David Cross, John M. Parker, George Thompson, Frederick Smyth, F. B. Eaton, James M. Varnum, Ebenezer Ferren M. O. Pearson, W. W. Leighton, Thos. Wheat, Joseph Kennard, Joseph L. Stephens, E. M. Topliff, A. J. Lane, Charles Williams, John Porter, C. F. Morrill, T. L. Livermore, G. P. Whitman, John H. Andrews, A. W. Quint, John P. Goggin.

President, Frederick Smyth ; Vice-Presidents, Joseph B. Clark, F. B. Eaton ; Treasurer and Clerk C. F. Morrill.

The amount of deposits, January 1, 1885, were $1,882,825.38.

Guaranty Savings-Bank was incorporated in 1879, with the following incorporators: Nathan P. Hunt, Robert M. Shirley, William R. Patten, H. K. Slay- ton, Alonzo Elliott, James A. Weston, Jesse Gault, J. W. Hildreth, Horace Pettee, George W. Weeks, James F. Briggs, George A. Bailey, John C. Ray, Patrick A. Divine and Rufus H. Pike. The first offi- cers were as follows: President, John M. Parker ; Treasurer and Clerk, James A. Weston. The present amount of deposit is six hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. The first board of trustees were James A. Weston, Alonzo Elliott, Nathan P. Hunt, John P. Moore, David A. Parker, Patrick A. Devine, Hiram K. Slayton, John Kennard, Bushrod W. Hill. Present board of trustees are John M. Parker, Alonzo Elliott, Nathan P. Hunt, John P. Moore, David A. Parker, John Kennard, Hiram K. Slayton, Bushrod W. Hill, James A. Weston.

The Mechanics' Savings-Bank was organized in 1877, with the following trustees: Aretas Blood, Josiah Carpenter, Frank P. Carpenter, N. S. Bean and George Dodge. Mr. Blood was the first presi- dent, and was succeeded by Henry E. Burnham on October 1, 1880. Mr. Josiah Carpenter has been treasurer from the beginning.

There are also two saving-banks-the People's and the Amoskeag-located in the Amoskeag Bank building.

The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, one of the largest corporations in New England, was ineorpo- rated under its present name in 1831. Manufactur- ing, however, had been carried on at this point with indifferent success since 1809. In that year Benja- min Pritchard, who had built the first cotton-mill in

1 Deceased

MANCHESTER.

New Hampshire, in New Ipswich, in 1803, came to Amoskeag Falls, and, in company with Ephraim, David and Robert Stevens, built a small mill at Amoskeag village. In the following year these en- terprising men organized a stock company under the name of the Amoskeag Cotton and Wool-Factory. The first move in this direction was as follows :

"We, the Subscribers, Owners & proprietors of a large Tract of Land in Goffstown, in the county of Hillsborough, Joining on Amoskeag falls, in the Merrimack river, with the water privilege Sufficient for carrying on the Manufacturing of cotton & wool at all Seasons of the year, and having began the works by cutting a Canal for Carrying the water, erecting Buildings Convenient for Said Factory, & preparing a consider- able part of the Machinery, have agreed to form a Company for improv- ing Said privilege, by dividing the Same into one hundred Shares, by receiving from Said Company a fair price for the privilege, and the La- bour Expended, which, if not agreed upon by Said Subscribers & the Company, to be apprised by men appointed by Said parties, and a Good Title by the Subscribers.

" Signed by

" EPHRAIM STEVENS,

" BENJN. PRICHARD,

" ROBERT & DAVID STEVENS.

"Goffstown, January 18th, 1810."

To this paper was attached a caption of a subscrip- tion and signatures as follows :

"We, the Subscribers, Agree to take the Several Shares in the above mentioned privilege & factory annexed to our names, respectively, agree- able to the above proposals.

Shares.

" Benj'n Prichard, Goffstown 25

James Parker, Bedford 2

William Parker, Bedford 3

Jotham Gillis, Goffstown . 1

William Parker, Jr., Bedford 1

William Walker, Goffstown 1

Ephraim Harvill, Bedford 1

Samuel P. Kidder, Goffstown 1

Robt. McGregore, Goffstown 5

Joseph Richards, Goffstown 1

Seth Bartlett, Goffstown 1

Ephraim Stevens, Goffstown 1

David L. Morrill, Goffstown

Isaac Hardy, Goffstown 1

Moses Hall, Goffstown

Benjamin Allcock, Bedford

Alenson Prichard, Goffstown 3

Elnathan Whitney, Goffstown C

David Sargent, Goffstown 1

John G. Moor, Manchester

The following notice was then issued :

" Notice is hereby given that a meeting of the proprietors of the Amoskeag Cotton & wool Factory will be holden at Col. Robert Mc- Gregore's, on Wednesday, the 31 day of January instant, at one of the clock, P. M., for the purpose of taking into consideration the regulation of Said Factory, & dispose of shares not sold. All persons who wish to become proprietors are requested to attend, when and where they may be accommodated with Shares.

" Goffstown, January 25th, 1810."

January 31, 1810, the company organized with Joseph Richards, of Goffstown, as president, and Jotham Gillis, of Goffstown, as elerk.

March 2, 1810, Messrs. Ephraim and Robert Ste- vens executed a bond to this company, agreeing to keep their dam in repair, and to furnish the "Wool and Cotton Manufactory " a certain quantity of water at all seasons of the year.

and the yarn woven in the neighborhood. It is said that a smart weaver might earn thirty-six cents per day ! This company was not successful, and after 1815 little was done until 1825, when the majority of the stock was purchased by Dr. Oliver Dean, Lyman Tiffany and Willard Sayles. Dr. Dean was made agent and from this time forward manufacturing at this point has been a continued success.

July, 1831, the present company was incorporated, it having up to this time been a private enterprise. July 13th, the act was accepted, which allowed a capital of one million dollars, and on the following day the first officers of the new corporation were chosen : Lyman Tiffany, president; Lyman Tiffany, Ira Gray and Willard Sayles, directors; Ira Gray, clerk; Oliver Dean, agent and treasurer. With Larned Pitcher, these were the five men who accepted the charter on the evening of July 13, 1831.

The property of the old firm (says Mr. Clarke, in his excellent "History of Manchester") was ex- changed for stock in the new company, and the latter acquired by purchase a title to land on both sides of the river, mostly, however, on the cast side, where engineers had decided were the best sites for mills and the best tracks for canals. In 1835 the new organization bought the property and interest of the Bow Canal Company, the Isle of Hooksett Canal Company, the Amoskeag Locks and Canal Company and the Union Locks and Canal, all of which, as their names imply, had built canals at different points on the river. The Hooksett Manufacturing Company was merged with the Amoskeag in 1836 and the Con- cord Manufacturing Company shared the same fate the next year. The Amoskeag Company thus had obtained a full title to all the water-power on the river from Manchester to Concord and all the land in Manchester on the Merrimack available for mill- sites. It was also in possession of large tracts of land adjacent to the river and extending for some distance. from it.

Having thus cleared the way, they soon began operations in earnest. In 1836 the wooden dam which had hitherto checked the river's flow at Amos- keag Falls was thoroughly repaired in order to answer the purposes of a coffer-dam, and the next year was begun the construction of a wing-dam of stone, with guard-locks on the east side, which was completed in 1840. At the same time the farther from the river of the two present canals was built by Lobdell & Rus- sell. In 1838 a contract was made with Russell, Barr & Co., (of which firm Isaac C. Flanders, after- wards president of the City Bank, now Merchants" Bank, was a member), to construct the "lower canal," and the contract was fulfilled. The first building put up on the east side of the river was what was then the Stark Mills counting-room, at the foot of Stark Street, part of which was temporarily used for a counting-room by the land and water-power depart-

The first mill was put in operation in 1810, but it was without pickers or looms. The cotton was picked | ment of the Amoskeag Company. The next was the

" BENJ'N PRICHARD.

HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

one designated as "No. 1, Stark Block," where the , operatives and those of the other corporations, giving agents and clerks of the mills boarded with S. S. away land for churches and public buildings, selling it to manufacturers and business men, and continuing a liberal policy to the present time. Moulton till November, 1839, when the Manchester House was finished. The first mills built on the east side were what were then No. 1 and No. 2 Mills of The first directors of the company were Lyman Tiffany, Ira Gay and Willard Sayles, elected in 1831. The following is a list of officers from 1831 to 1885 : the Stark corporation, which were erected for that company in 1838 and 1839.

At that time a number of men who have since been well known in Manchester were in the pay of the Amoskeag Company. Hiram Brown, afterwards mayor of the city, was employed to oversee the stone-work ; Phinehas Stevens, was its millwright and wheelwright; John D. Kimball was an overseer of carpenter-work ; T. J. Carter was the resident engineer; Henry S. Whitney was an overseer of general out-door work ; Warren Paige had charge of the lumber-yard ; Nahum Baldwin, Daniel L. Stevens and Charles Hutchinson, were employed in the planing-mill ; George F. Jud- kins managed the saw-mill, and Samuel Boice was employed in it ; Samuel B. Kidder had charge of the locks and canals; Andrew Bunton and Levi Sargent were contractors for stone ; John H. Maynard was the head carpenter ; Jonathan T. P. Hunt and Joseph E. Bennett were employed as masons in the building of the mills.

The company laid out the site of a town with a main street running north and south, parallel with the river, with other streets running parallel with this and aeross it, reserving land for public squares, and in 1838, having divided part of its lands into lots suitable for stores and dwellings, sold it, bringing into the market by this and subsequent sales a large part of the land on which the city of to-day stands. In 1838 they sold a site and privileges for mills to a new company which had been incorporated as the Stark Mills, and built for them, in this and subse- quent years, the factories they now occupy. After the burning of their old mills at Amoskeag they finished, in 1841, two new ones just below the Stark Mills for their own use, and added to them in subse- quent years as their needs required. In 1845 they sold land and built mills and a printery for a new corporation which had been organized as the Man- chester Mills. To meet a demand for machinery for their own mills and those they erected for others, they built in 1840 a machine-shop, in 1842 a foundry, and in 1848 replaced both these by new and larger ones, beginning at that time the manufacture of locomo- tives, building new shops for mechanical purposes when needed. In 1859 was begun the manufacture of the famous Amoskeag steam fire-engines. Some time after they had finished mills for the larger corpora- tions already mentioned they built, for the convenience of individual enterprises, a building known as " Me- chanics' Row," at the northern end of the canals, and also sold land and erected shops for small corpora- tions which were subsequently organized. They carried out meanwhile their original idea of the city, building boarding-houses and tenements for their own

1831: Lyman Tiffany (president), Ira Gay, Willard Sayles, directors ; Ira Gay, clerk ; Oliver Dean, treasurer and agent. 1833 : George Dan- iels, clerk. 1831: Harvey Hartshorn, treasurer and agent ; Lyman Tif- fany, Oliver Dean, Willard Sayles, directors. 1836: P. T. Jackson, Ly- man Tiffany, William Appleton, George Bond, Samuel Frothingham, Daniel D. Broadhead, George Howe, Oliver Dean, directors; Francis ('. Lowell, treasurer; Hiram A. Daniels, clerk. 1837 : Robert Read, clerk ; William Amory, treasurer ; Oliver Dean, Willard Sayles, George llowe, Francis C. Lowell, Samuel Frothingham, John A. Lowell, Sam- uel Hubbard, Daniel D. Broadhead, William Appleton, directors. 1838 : Francis C. Lowell, president ; William G. Means, clerk ; George W. Ly- man, Nathan Appleton and James K. Mills succeeded Samuel Frothing- ham, John A. Lowell and Daniel D. Broadhead as directors. 1840: David Sears succeeded Samuel Hubbard as director. 1842: Joseph Tilden succeeded Francis C. Lowell as president and director. 1847 : William Amory succeeded Willard Sayles as director. 1851: Robert Read succeeded William Amory as director. 1853 : Gardner Brewer suc- ceeded Joseph Tilden as director ; Oliver Deau succeeded Joseph Tilden as president ; E. A. Straw succeeded William G. Means as clerk. 1856 : Jona. T. P. Hunt succeeded Robert Read as director. 1857 : David Sears resigned as director. 1861 : Oliver Dean, George Ilowe, George W. Ly- man, William Appleton, Gardner Brewer, Jona. T. P. Hunt, directors. 1862 : William Appleton, deceased. 1865: Daniel Clark succeeded Jona. T. P. Hunt as director. 1866 : T. Jefferson Coolidge and Thomas Wig- glesmith were added to the directors. 1871 : Oliver Dean and George W. Lyman having declined re-election, and George Howe having ceased to be a stockholder, William Amory, John L. Gardner and William P. Mason succeeded them as directors; Gardner Brewer succeeded Oliver Dean as president. 1874 : Charles Amory succeeded Gardner Brewer, deceased, as director ; Daniel Clark succeeded Gardner Brewer, deceased, as president. 1875 : William W. Bremer succeeded Charles Amory as director. 1876 : T. Jefferson Coolidge succeeded William Amory as treas- urer : William Amory succeeded Daniel Clark as president. 1877 : John 1 .. Bremer succeeded William M. Bremer as director ; George Dexter and E. A. Straw were added to the directors. 1879 : Thomas L. Livermore succeeded E. A. Straw as clerk and agent. 1880: Channing Clapp succeeded T. Jefferson Coolidge as treasurer ; Channing Clapp succeeded E. A. Straw as director. 1885 : ITerman F. Straw succeeded Col. Liver- more as clerk and agent.

The company once owned fifteen hundred acres of land on the east side of the river. They own land on the west side also.

The present dam at Amoskeag Falls was built in 1871 by the company, after Mr. Straw's plans and under his personal supervision. Its predecessor had lasted thirty-four years, had become leaky and unsafe, was built low and in the wrong place. The old one ran straight across, but the one which took its place eurved around so as to give a wider entrance from the river, was built two feet higher and farther down the stream. It is in two parts, the main dam, from the west side to the bridge, being four hundred and twenty feet long, and the canal wing, from the bridge to the gate-house, being two hundred and thirty feet long, making a total length of six hundred and fifty feet. It is eight feet wide at the top, averages twelve feet in height, and cost, all things included, about sixty thou- sand dollars. The upper canal extends from the basin at the dam to the weir at the foot of Central Street, where it empties into the lower, and is five thousand

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History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 19

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1168

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1168