USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > Lancaster > History of Lancaster, New Hampshire > Part 43
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This corporation was " authorized to carry on the manufacture of such articles as are usually made of wool, cotton, wood, or timber ; also of paper and woodenware, in all the various departments con- nected with such manufactures, in the town of Lancaster, county of Coös, New Hampshire."
This corporation had not organized, and its valuable franchise was unused for a period of nine years; and then it conveyed its franchise to K. B. Fletcher & Co. The incorporators met in the office of Henry O. Kent, March 25, 1865, for the first time upon a regu- larly issued call, and organized temporarily, by the election of L. F. Moore, president, and Frank Smith, clerk. Henry O. Kent, Jason H. Woodward, John W. Spaulding, C. W. Roby, and Charles E. Allen, of the K. B. Fletcher & Co. firm, were elected associates in
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the benefits of the charter. It was next voted to allow all the origi- nal grantees of the charter to withdraw from the corporation except Edmund Brown and Frank Smith, which they did do.
The corporation then voted to adopt the act of incorporation, and also a set of by-laws for its government, and adjourned the meet- ing to March 29, 1865, at which meeting the organization was completed by the election of J. W. Spaulding, agent; Henry O. Kent, clerk; Charles E. Allen, treasurer.
The stock was fixed at 240 shares of $100 each, and was taken as follows: Edmund Brown, 30; Henry O. Kent, 30; Jason H. Woodward, 40; J. W. Spaulding, 40; Charles W. Roby, 40; F. Smith, 30; C. E. Allen, 15; Isaac F. Allen, 15.
This gave the projectors of the K. B. Fletcher & Co. firm the rights and title of the Lancaster Manufacturing Company. The real estate of the former firm was transferred to the latter company ; and the new company completed the factory, and at once began the manufacture of strawboard. This was for a number of years a very important industry for the community, as it afforded the farm- ers a good market for the product of their farms, and gave employ- ment to a number of people at good wages.
The company paid as high as from five to ten dollars a ton for oat and rye straw, and consumed annually about five hundred cords of wood for fuel. The community was well served by the business, but its projectors had to wait until 1870 for their first dividend, which was only a ten per cent. one. They had spent much of the earnings of the factory on its equipment with the best of machinery. Their product was good and prices fair; but just at that time the country began to be flooded with strawboard, and with declining prices and high freight rates the business soon became an unprofit- able one. When the returns for its product were so low as not to allow the manufacture longer, it was decided to change to straw and manilla wrapping-papers. This course was wise and profitable, as the company made good profits for a time. After a while the intro- duction of wood pulp and active competition drove the prices down; and although the company made a good article, freights being against them, and in favor of mills nearer the market, their profits dwindled again, so that it became necessary to increase the capital stock of the company $12,000, making their working cap- ital now $36,000. Soon the stockholders were assessed on their stock to keep the mill running. About 1867, S. H. LeGro became a stockholder, and as agent and treasurer of the company proved a valuable member. He was a careful and persistent man, who always succeeded in his undertakings, and in whom all who knew him had perfect confidence.
It was finally decided, in 1879, after a thorough trial of its pros-
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pects, to close the mill. S. H. LeGro and Henry O. Kent took the entire stock and met the company's indebtedness. They paid up all claims, and sold the mills, machinery, and stock on hand to Thomas M. Stevens of Boston, Mass., for $20,000, taking in pay- ment for the same Stevens's equity in two apartment hotels in Boston, Mass. In this sale only the property of the corporation was transferred to Stevens, Messrs. LeGro and Kent retaining and still owning the stock and rights granted by the charter. The shares have been reduced to twenty, and the Lancaster Manufac- turing Company still exists with a capital of $2,000. At its last annual meeting Mr. S. H. LeGro (now deceased) was president, and Henry O. Kent, secretary and treasurer.
Starch Factories .- The manufacture of potato starch was intro- duced here by Frederick Fisk and John M. Tillotson, several years before the war. They built and conducted a factory or mill on the site of N. H. Richardson's furniture shop, on Water street, and were very successful in the business for some years, the industry proving a valuable one for the community as it afforded a good market for its surplus of potatoes, and also used up potatoes otherwise unmarketable, at fair prices, largely the huge " California" pota- toes at twelve and one half cents per bushel. Other factories soon started up all over New England, the market became over- stocked, and prices went so low as to make the business a poor one. Many of the new mills made a poor grade of starch, used larger quantities of potatoes, to the ton than formerly, and the " potato rot" broke out, which taken altogether reduced the work to a poor venture. It gradually declined in Lancaster, the railroads so appreciating the price of potatoes for market as to make the man- ufacture unprofitable.
The Lancaster Starch Company was the chief sufferer in this manufacture. It was a joint stock company of forty shares, of one hundred dollars each. It purchased land and water power where the Thompson Manufacturing Company buildings now stand. This company sought to monopolize the business in this section by buy- ing out the Fisk and Tillotson mills, of Benjamin H. Plaisted of Jefferson, and by offering fifty cents a bushel for potatoes when other factories were buying them for from thirty-two to thirty-five cents. Others unloaded their stock of potatoes upon the Lan- caster Starch Company, which took in one season fifty thousand bushels, and by their freezing and rotting lost a large portion of them. And then it took four hundred bushels of potatoes, by their processes, to make a ton of starch while other factories re- quired only from one hundred and eighty to two hundred and fifty bushels to the ton. It was not at first understood that the higher grades of potatoes contained the most starch. Panic spread among
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the stockholders, some of whom got rid of their stock at almost any figure to avoid liability in the ruin they foresaw. A fire destroyed their factory on Canal street, February 7, 1869, together with the peg mill of L. F. Moore and the furniture factory of the Richard- sons. Added to this heavy loss were the many lawsuits that fol- lowed, which consumed the capital of the company, and left it still heavily involved in debt. There were many heavy losers among our best farmers, but the heaviest was the late William D. Weeks, one of Lancaster's most honorable men. He might have saved himself by alienating his stock; but he was hopeful of being able to close up the business without complete loss, and save the credit of himself and associates. It has ever been the pride of Lancaster business men of the old stock, that in all business enterprises involv- ing risks their creditors must not suffer by the failure of their ven- tures. Many of the business enterprises of that class of men have failed, and they have lost heavily, but their creditors have almost invariably been paid to the last penny of their just claims.
Pleasant Valley Starch Company .- On October 19, 1868, several farmers from Northumberland and Lancaster met at the Great Rock schoolhouse in district No. 15, and organized a com- pany for the manufacture of potato starch. A site for a mill was purchased of James Bain, and it was voted to erect the mill at once. The officers elected were : J. C. Marshall, president; Moody P. Mar- shall, secretary; James Bain, treasurer.
James Bain, Moody Marshall, and Zeb. Twitchell were elected a . committee to erect the buildings of the company. They employed Moses Woodward to superintend the construction of the mill, he having had considerable experience in the business of manufactur- ing starch. There was raised the sum of $300 to expend on the mill; and the meeting adjourned until October 31, 1868, when a constitution and by-laws were adopted, which required as officers a president, a secretary, a general managing agent, these to constitute a board of managers.
The original shareholders were Robert Jaques, I; Moody P. Marshall, 5 ; James Bain, 2; John W. Savage, 5; Patrick Connary, 3; Charles Montgomery, I; Thomas Jaques, 3; William G. Ellis, I; Thomas S. Ellis, 1; John Farnham, 3; Zeb. Twitchell, 2; George Farnham, 2; Ransom Farnham, I; Abiathar Twitchell, I ; Edward Fox, 2; Zebulon Black, I; Charles Lee, I; Thomas H. Sheridan, I; Stephen Hartford, 3; William Osborn, I; Isaac F. Cotton, 2; George Cummings, 2; Samuel J. Gerrish, 2.
The mill of the company was completed in due time, and the manufacture of starch was carried on for a number of years with varied success. For a while the prices kept up pretty well, and good returns were secured for the product. The owners began, after some
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years, to sell their shares with which to pay debts, or else to get happily rid of a venture in which they could see but slight hopes of future gains. Most of the shares came into the possession of Col. H. O. Kent and Mr. J. A. Smith, the one a successful financier and the other a successful merchant. From 1871 they had complete control of the factory, and by careful management made some money for themselves and kept a better market for the farmers' potato crop. For twelve years they kept the mill going; but the time came when even they could make nothing out of it, and finally were forced to close it to avoid losses. In 1883 it was closed and some of the property sold. Mr. Kent and the heirs of Mr. J. A. Smith still own the mill and water privilege on Caleb brook.
James W. Weeks ran a starch mill successfully for a series of years at Grange Village, and a good mill was long in operation on Mar- den brook, near the Jefferson line, on the East road.
Pleasant Valley was the last mill in operation for the manufacture of starch in Lancaster. The business has since then been entirely given up as unprofitable in competition with larger producers in other sections of the country. While the lands of Lancaster are quite as productive as those of other sections of the country, it yet costs more to produce and market a crop of potatoes, as the more improved machinery cannot be used to any profitable extent. The work has, in the main, to be done by hand, which increases the ex- pense of the crop. The introduction of railroads, as said, also injured the starch business, as it enhanced the value of potatoes for the market above a price at which they could be profitably manu- factured.
The Thompson Manufacturing Company .- In 1858, Jared I. Williams bought out S. & W. M. Rines, who were then running a foundry and manufacturing plows and other articles just east of the site of the mill and store of Frank Smith & Co. Mr. Williams con- ducted a profitable business here, using more improved machinery than the Rines firm did. The business was conducted under the firm name of J. I. Williams & Co., although Mr. Williams was the sole owner. The second story of the large building was used by Nutting & Brown with their furniture business, which was extensive. In 1865, Alexander and Daniel Thompson were admitted into the firm of Williams & Co. The Thompsons were men of great skill and ceaseless perseverance. They removed the plant of the Chase Foundry Company here from Concord, Vt., and consolidated it with the plant of the J. I. Williams machine shop and foundry. The new firm was styled Thompson, Williams & Co. This company did a good business. In 1869 it was incorporated as "The Lancaster Iron Works." Under this name it only existed one year, when the property was divided up. Williams took the foundry and the
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Thompsons the machine shop. Williams later sold the foundry to Richard Hovey and A. M. Bullard. They soon sold it to A. W. Morrill, who in turn sold it to W. H. Ellis and B. S. Alcott, and Williams took it back, and sold the personal property to Alex- ander Thompson and the real estate to Frank Smith & Co. The Thompsons continued to run the machine shop on Middle street until 1873, when the shops were burned, making a total loss. They lost about $15,000; but being men of boundless courage they pur- chased the property of the lately collapsed Lancaster Starch Com- pany, on Canal street. Here Alexander Thompson laid the founda- tion of the present Thompson Manufacturing Company in the little one-story dry-house of the Starch Company, the only part of their plant that was not consumed in the fire. Thompson only pur- chased one half of the water power on that site. For the first year he occupied that one little building, 24x 30 feet, which is still a part of the present shops. In enlarging the shops from time to time, they have built around this original building. After a hard struggle in building up his business, Mr. Thompson sold a half inter- est to K. B. Fletcher, Jr., and F. H. Twitchell, both of whom had been trained into skilful workmen under his watchful care. At this time the firm only employed three men. They were engaged in the manufacture of sawmill machinery, general jobbing, and steam fit- ting. Close attention to business and hard work improved it, so that the plant grew steadily into prominence, and yielded a good income.
Alexander Thompson's health failed in the early spring of 1882, so he was forced to give up business the first of May. He died the following September.
The surviving partners continued the business under the old firm name until May 7, 1884, when Thompson's interest was sold to William T. Jones, of Whitefield, N. H., and Charles H. Balch, of Lancaster. The name of the company was changed to "The Thompson Manufacturing Company."
On May 21, 1888, the company bought out the door, sash, and blind factory of Leavett & Hartford, in an adjoining building, on the same water power. This they added to their former business, and have ever since made it a profitable industry. This factory also turns out a general line of builders' materials.
C. H. Balch died May 18, 1889, and Ossian Ray and Joseph W. Flanders bought his interest in the company the following Septem- ber.
In October, 1892, a consolidation was made with Charles W. Sleeper, of Island Pond, Vt., formerly of Coaticook, P. Q. By this arrangement the Thompson Manufacturing Company became the manufacturers of a machine, the invention of Mr. Sleeper, for the automatic construction of tin cans for meats and fruits. This is the
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only machine of the kind that takes sheet tin and cuts and makes a completed can automatically. The new company have found in Mr. Sleeper such a genius as the old one had in Alexander Thompson.
In 1893 the private company formed a stock company, under the same name, with a capital of $50,000. It now employs about fifty men throughout the year. Of late years it has been devoting con- siderable attention to the manufacture of machinery for making wood pulp and paper. The company holds patents on these ma- chines, as also on a number of other inventions, tools, and devices.
File Works .- We mention as an evidence of the enterprise and genius of the town, the fact that at one time there flourished a fac- tory in which were made a very good grade of files. It was located on Canal street, and conducted by Moody & Co.,-George Moody and George E. Cave. Later it was owned and managed by Ellis & Olcott (Thomas S. Ellis and Barzillai S. Olcott). It was not destined to long survive, in competition with large factories turning out a larger product in a single day than it could in a year, Be- sides, it was not located near enough to the markets in which its material had to be bought, and those in which its products could find sale.
The Diamond Granite Company .- For a number of years V. V. Whitney had conducted a private business in the manufacture of granite monuments in Lancaster; but in 1894, in order to further develop the business, he consolidated with that of an incorporated company under the name of "The Diamond Granite Company." Mr. Whitney had previously erected the extensive factory and sheds on Middle street for the accommodation of his work. This became the company's plant, and for a year extensive operations were car- ried on. A large force of men have been employed in both the quarry and factory most of the time for the last three years. Some very fine work has been turned out. They quarry the Kilkenny granite from their ledges, taken from the Kilkenny mountains, in the southern edge of the town of Northumberland. This granite, which exists in an inexhaustible quantity, comes to the surface and is eas- ily gotten. Its quality is very good, as is shown by analysis. It is a sienitic granite, of three shades,-dark green, bluish, and light gray. The most of it is of the greenish tint. Its specific gravity is 2.707, which is .047 higher than the average of sienitic granites. It possesses a crushing resistance of 15,360 pounds to the square inch; and its heat resisting power is great, making it a valuable stone for building and monumental purposes.
Arthur G. Wilson & Company carry on an extensive business in marble and granite work, having a wide and valuable connection. Their new shops and salesrooms are on Elm street, opposite the Williams House, where very fine work is designed and completed.
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CHAPTER VIII.
BANKS AND CORPORATIONS.
THE LANCASTER BANK-THE WHITE MOUNTAIN BANK-THE LANCASTER SAV- INGS BANK-THE LANCASTER NATIONAL BANK-THE SIWOOGANOCK SAV- INGS BANK-THE LANCASTER TRUST COMPANY-THE LANCASTER BRIDGE COMPANY-THE COOS MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY-AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.
THE BANKS OF LANCASTER.
It was not until 1832 that the business interests of Lancaster demanded a bank. Up to that time business had followed the orderly course of development of a new community. Trade in the earliest times was chiefly " barter." Comparatively little money was used. The early merchants used the little ready money or credit they had to procure a stock of goods, and then sold it out, mostly for the produce of the farms, and the primitive manufac- tures like "pot and pearl ashes." These they shipped to the cities in payment of their purchases. Added to these were the furs and peltries they received of the hunters and trappers; this traffic, to' a limited extent, still prevails here. Some very fine lots of furs and pelts are bought up by the traders of to-day which go through the same channels of exchange they did a hundred years ago.
An early, and important, medium of exchange between a rural community like Lancaster fifty years ago was the "cattle drover." This important personage would come into town and purchase for ready cash large herds of stock from farmers, thus furnishing to the community a large amount of money to do business on. Some of the traders were more or less connected with this means of ex- change. This, in time, made a demand for a money exchange rather than supplying it, and a bank was the result. In 1832, business men began to feel the need of a bank and took steps to secure the establishment of one.
A number of the most prominent merchants and citizens of means secured from the legislature a charter for a bank for twenty years. This institution was known as the Lancaster Bank. It began business July Ist, 1833, in Gen. John Wilson's dwelling house at the north end of Main street, where the Benton residence now stands. Its incorporators were David Burnside, Benjamin Stephen- son, Turner Stephenson, Ephraim Cross, and Warren Porter. Its first president was John H. White, and Gen. John Wilson was cash- ier. The capital was $50,000. This capital was simply subscribed for and paid up in securities of one kind and another, and not wholly in cash before starting in business as is now the requirement of law.
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On July Ist, 1835, the bank was moved to a room in what was known as the " Green store " standing where the Evans block now does on Main street near Isreals river bridge. This room corres- ponded to that now occupied by G. V. Moulton's shoe store, while R. P. Kent kept a store in the other end of the building. Mr. Kent was appointed cashier of the bank, a position he held for five years, when he resigned and was succeeded by Gen. John Wilson. This bank did a good business, and served the community faithfully for the period for which it was chartered. A few years before the ex- piration of its charter it lost heavily through the failure of its debtors, and did not ask for an extension of its charter, choosing rather to go out of business honorably, paying up its creditors, than to take risks in the future. It finally closed up its business in 1855, two years after the expiration of its charter, without the loss of a cent to any of its creditors.
Royal Joyslin succeeded John H. White as president, and held that position throughout the existence of the bank. George A. Cositt succeeded General Wilson as cashier and held that position until the bank went out of business.
The White Mountain Bank .- In 1852 another bank was char- tered under the name of "The White Mountain Bank," with a capi- tal of $50,000. Its first president was J. B. Sumner; G. C. Will- iams, cashier; directors, J. B. Sumner, Dalton; Barton G. Towne, Hezekiah Parsons, Jr., Colebrook; Moses Woodward, Jefferson ; James W. Weeks, E. C. Spaulding, Lancaster ; and Oliver B. Howe, Shelburne.
This was a bank of issue, and did a good business for many years. Gov. J. W. Williams became president in 1858, and continued in that office until his death in 1864. William Burns succeeded Gov- ernor Williams, and Jared I. Williams was chosen cashier. In the redemption of notes, it was found that a former cashier had made an over issue of some $53,000 in notes, and had also sunk $40,000 more of the funds of the bank.
William Burns, J. I. Williams, J. W. Weeks, and Barton G. Towne settled up the affairs of the bank in a creditable manner, though some of its stockholders lost very heavily, especially the Governor Williams estate.
The Lancaster Savings Bank .- This is the oldest bank now doing business in Lancaster. Its charter was procured by Col. Henry O. Kent in 1868. While serving as bank commissioner of the state he came to think that a savings bank could fill a useful place in Lancaster, and accordingly set about to establish one. It was organized July 29, 1868, as "The Savings Bank of the County of Coös." Its first trustees were H. A. Fletcher, R. P. Kent, Henry O. Kent, A. J. Marshall, B. F. Whidden, Edmund Brown, S. H.
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LeGro, J. I. Williams, L. F. Moore, C. W. Smith, E. Savage, and E. V. Cobleigh.
In 1876, James W. Weeks, William Burns, Hosea Gray, A. Guern- sey, J. H. Hopkinson and J. H. Woodward were elected trustees. The first president was the late Hiram A. Fletcher, a man of large ability and unbending integrity, who held that position until July, 1878, when failing health obliged him to retire. Anderson J. Mar- shall was elected as his successor, holding the position until his de- cease in 1883. He was succeeded by the late Richard P. Kent, who held the office from 1883 to 1885. James W. Weeks was elected in 1885, and held the position until 1894, when he was succeeded by Samuel H. LeGro, and at his decease Dr. Ezra Mitchell, the present president, was elected. Col. H. O. Kent has been its treasurer from the organization of the bank. The management of this bank has been able and careful from the first, winning confidence and a large patronage from the community and people desirous of saving against their possible needs in the future. It now has assets of $609,282, as shown by its " statement of its condition June 30, 1896," with a surplus and guaranty fund of $33,233.
Its place of business has always been in the Kent block, on Main street, where it has the finest appointed banking rooms in the county, with vaults of the most improved construction. The charter of the bank is perpetual, and it is a legal investment for trust funds. Its present officers are (1896) Ezra Mitchell, president; Henry O. Kent, secretary and treasurer; trustees, Henry O. Kent, Ezra Mitch- ell, Frank Jones, E. V. Cobleigh, Edward R. Kent, James H. Curtis, Charles A. Cleaveland, Henry Percy Kent, Stetson Ward Cushing, and Joseph D. Howe.
The Lancaster National Bank .- This institution was incorpo- rated in 1881, with a capital of $125,000. It began business in 1882, in its present location with the following officers :
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