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This page is a part of the Lynn & Nahant town site. Not for Commercial use. All rights reserved. |
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Transcribed and submitted by Shaun Cook
To help transcribe or submit information, please e-mail Shaun Cook.
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CHAPTER XVI. |
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And we’re all workers
here, With busy hand or busy
mind, Each in his destined
sphere. Work’s higher wage – content
and health – Its lesser – luxery and
wealth.” IN a very short time
after the settlement of Lynn was commenced, mechanics of the few kinds
necessary to supply the limited wants of the people appeared. Even before
the Colonial Patent was removed to New England, which was in August, 1629,
the company at home were careful to see that a sufficient number of
skilled artificers were sent over. IRON WORKS. - The
first undertaking of general importance was the establishment of the iron
works on the border of Saugus River. These works were commenced as early
1643, and formed an enterprise worthy of more extended notice than can be
attempted here. The undertaking was one of unquestionable importance, not
only to the narrow circle of settlers in this immediate vicinity, but to
the whole country. It may, indeed, like many other great projects, have
been induced and fostered by hopes of pecuniary gain to those directly
concerned; but certain it is that it resulted in great general good,
though it ended in financial disaster and vexation in individual
instances. Yet, after all, it is by no means certain that individual
selfishness was the mainspring of the scheme. The Massachusetts Company
evidently realized the importance of such works to the settlers, for
before the removal of the patent the subject was earnestly discussed, and
at a meeting in London, March 2, 1628- 29, an agreement seems to have been
made with a Mr. Malbon, "he having skyll in iron works," to come hither on
a prospecting tour. It is apparent that
though the Lynn Iron Works were not sustained by local capital - for there
was little here - some of our leading men were active in promoting their
establishment. Robert Bridges, for instance, in 1642, took specimens of
the ore to England, and was, in truth, instrumental in forming the
company. And Thomas Dexter, who owned some of the land in which the ore
was found also took a lively interest in the enterprise. It is, therefore,
unjust to call it a mere English speculation. The people of Lynn did what
they could to help along the business. Smelting, forging and
casting were carried on at these works, as well as blacksmithing and
various other branches of metal work. And it is singular that there was
not better success. One or two inventions of a very useful kind were
perfected by some of those employed here; notably by Joseph Jenks, who
delighted the farmers with a greatly-improved scythe, or "engine to cut
grass," as the court called it. Here were also made, as Mr. Lewis states,
by the same ingenious The site of the works
was in a sheltered vale on the border of the river, in what is now the
centre village of Saugus; and a picturesque little hamlet called
Hammersmith grew up apace. Henry Leonard and his brother James worked
here, and their descendants have to this day been identified with the iron
manufacture, not only of New England, but the whole country. From the
humble beginning of these Lynn works has developed the enormous iron trade
of the present day. Skilled workmen went from here from time to time, and
established themselves in different parts; and their children and
children's children, adepts in the same calling, borne on the waves of
population as they spread over the land, are still easily identified us of
the old Lynn stock. As before intimated,
these iron works were not a financial success. There was very little ready
money in the colony; and though the manufactured articles were sold at a
very reasonable rate for coin, yet, as the General Court curtly told the
company, an axe at twelve pence was not cheap to one who had no twelve
pence to buy. And again, they had not been long in operation when they
became involved in vexatious and expensive lawsuits. Hubbard says,
"Instead of drawing out bars of iron for the country's use, there were
hammered out nothing but contentions and lawsuits." They seem to have
gained the ill-will of many of their neighbors, had difficulties about
flowage, about contracts for wood, and so on. And a most remarkable
prejudice appears to have arisen from the apprehension that they would
consume so much wood that fuel would become scarce. They, however,
continued in a sort of lingering consumption for many years, when the
fires of the forges went out never to be relighted, the begrimed workmen
departed never to return, and the chief tangible marks of their existence
now remaining are two or three grass-grown hillocks of scoria, called by
the people of the neighborhood the "cinder banks." Curious visitors
sometimes dig through the thin soil that covers the slag and frequently
find bits of charcoal as fresh as when ejected from the sooty portals, and
occasionally a piece of iron casting. In the
description of New England by Samuel Maverick, recently discovered by Mr.
Waters in the British archives, and probably written in 1660, appears the
following: "Five miles westward (from Marblehead, ‘the greatest town for
ffishing in New England') lyeth the Towne of Lynne along by the side, and
two miles above it, within the bounds of it, are the greatest Iron works
erected for the most part at the charge of some Merchants and Gentlemen
here residing, and cost them about 14000L, who were,
as it is conceived, about six years since Injuriously outted of them to the great prejudice of the Country and
Owners." So it seems Mr. Maverick recognized their value; and he must have
been familiar with their whole history, for he came over as early as 1624,
at the age of twenty-two, and settled on Noddle's Island, now East Boston,
which the General Court granted to him in 1633 - a fact which indicates an
appreciation of his character and services, notwithstanding the deep
prejudice that prevailed on account of his being a zealous Episcopalian.
It may be thought
that the most proper place for a notice of these works would be in the
sketch of Saugus, as they were actually within the present limits of that
town; and no doubt the worthy gentleman who furnishes the sketch of that
place will give them suitable attention. But there was no settlement of
the name Saugus during their existence, nor for a hundred years after.
They are always spoken of on the records as of Lynn. While it is of little
moment on which side of the present line they were situated, it may be
thought that their importance entitles them to some notice in both places.
They were the first considerable mechanical industry established here.
Craftsmen there were in sufficient numbers and variety to supply all local
needs, and that was about all. After the now
historical iron works on Saugus River were abandoned there seems to have
been no attempt at iron-working here for almost two centuries, unless
blacksmithing be called such. It was in 1843 that Theophilus N. Breed
built a factory on Oak Street for the manufacture of shoemaker's tools and
for various kinds of castings, erecting a dam and forming what has ever
since been known as Breed's Pond, a description of which has already been
given. After a few years, however, Mr. Breed relinquished the business,
and the pond finally became the property of the city, and yet forms one of
the chief sources of our public water supply, as well as a pleasing
feature of the landscape, surrounded as it is by romantic hills and woods.
Shell-fish have
always been taken in great quantities along the shore, and many an
indigent family have found that the clam banks never refused a liberal
discount. The lobster trade,
too, has been one of very considerable profit, though it has of late years
been so vigorously pursued that fears have arisen lest the dainty
crustacea may be exterminated. As before remarked, the fishing was chiefly
carried on at Swampscott, which was a part of Lynn till 1852. And, as the
writer, when preparing the proposed sketch of that town, will necessarily
have something to say about the fisheries, but little need be added here.
An idea of the extent of the lobster yield on our coast may be gathered
from the fact that during the year ending May 1, 1865, there were taken at
Nahant 150,000, and at Swampscott 37,000. The average value, as taken from
the traps, was six cents each. Since that time the annual catch has
gradually diminished. And under the apprehension that the species may
become extinct, as just stated, the Legislature has been invoked for their
protection. But one would think there could not be much danger in that
direction, as piscatory naturalists assure us that single female lobster
will lay 42,000 eggs in a year. It must be, then, that there are "denizens
of the deep " as fond as we of the savory food. The district of Lynn,
Nahant and Swampscott returned, as the product of their fisheries for the
quarter ending December 3,1880, as follows: Codfish, cured, 300,000
pounds; mackerel, 400,000 pounds; herring, salted, 100,000 pounds;
lobsters, 7000 pounds; fresh fish, daily catch, 315,000 pounds; fish oil,
3200 gallons. Total value, $44,141.50. A brief quotation
from William Wood's quaint description of what he saw in 1631 may close
what is needful just here about the fisheries: "Northward up this river
[the Saugus] goes great store of alewives, of which they make good red
herrings; insomuch that they have been at charges to make them a wayre and
a herring-house to dry those herrings in. The last year were dried 4 or 5
last [150 barrels] for an experiment, which proved very good. This is like
to prove a great enrichment to the land, being a staple commodity in other
countries, for there be such innumerable companies in every river that I
have seen ten thousand taken in two hours, by two men, without any weire
at all saving a few stones to stop their passage up the river. There
likewise come store of basse, which the English and Indians catch with
hooke and line, some fifty or three score at a tide. . . . Here is a great
deal of rock, cod and macrill, insomuch that shoales of basse have driven
up shoales of mecrill, from one end of the sandy beach to the other, which
the inhabitants have gathered up in wheelbarrows." Alewives still go up
the fresh-water streams lor a few weeks in the spring to spawn in the
ponds; especially do they swarm in Strawberry Brook on their way to Flax
Pond; but they are not now esteemed so highly for food as formerly. There
are but few bass, some rock cod and occasionally great quantities of
mackerel. The habits of the latter, however, are so peculiar that
different seasons show very different accounts CLOTH MANUFACTURE. -
In 1726 the Salem Court awarded to Nathaniel Potter, of Lynn, £13 15s. for
the manufacture of three pieces of linen. It is not clear what kind of
cloth this was, but is very likely to have been what was afterwards known
as "tow cloth." Certain it is that flax was raised here in considerable
quantities. The fine pond ncarour northeastern border, known as Flax Pond,
received its name, as mentioned in the description already given, from the
circumstance that much of the flax was rotted there. The tow cloth, as it
came from the family hand-loom, was not regarded as a very genteel fabric,
but its durability could not be questioned, and after being whitened it
was fair, though not so smooth and soft as one of this day would desire
for an innermost garment. The In the early times of
the settlement sheep were raised to some extent, and of course the fleeces
were by the thrifty dames wrought into comfortable clothing. But the whir
of the spinning-wheel and click of the hand-loom have long since ceased to
be heard. SHOES AND LEATHER. -
Shoes. - The history of shoes and shoe-making seems always to have had a
peculiar interest. Workers at the craft appeared at an early period of the
world, for it was necessary to protect the feet from the arid sands of the
torrid zone and the frosty plains of the frigid. The earliest covering of
the feet in the one case was no doubt the sandal, manufactured from some
vegetable production, and in the other, the moccasin, made of uncurried
skin. Sandals are still worn in the eastern countries, though light shoes
seem generally preferred. The manufacture of shoes in those countries is
conducted in the same primitive style that was in practice here in our
early days, though the sewing-machine and other revolutionizing
contrivances are being introduced. The writer, while threading his way
through one of the narrow old streets of Algiers, two or three years
since, came across a shop in which were half a dozen shoemakers busily at
work on the same kind of low seat used in the Lynn shops of sixty years
ago, knee-stirrup, lapstone and broad-face hammer, fulfilling their duties
as of yore. So natural did the whole look that a pause was involuntarily
made; but though the jolly workers seemed not averse to have a chat, the
difficulties of language rendered the communication very limited. In the
same city a Frenchman was seen busily at work on an American sewing-
machine. Of all the industries
of Lynn, the manufacture of shoes lists taken the lead for many years; but
it was not till the middle of the last century that she began to be known,
to any marked extent, in that line of business. Nor is it certain that
there was any special inducement for the establishment of the business
here, though the manufacture of leather, which was engaged in to some
extent in the earliest times, may have had something to do with it. Edward
Johnson, of Woburn, writing in 1651, speaks of a Shoemakers' Corporation
in Lynn, and Mr. Lewis remarks that the papers relating to it were
unfortunately lost, "having probably been destroyed by the mob in 1765."
But it must have been an insignificant association. And what reason there
was for supposing that the papers, if any really existed, were destroyed
in the Stamp Act riot, is not known. It seems more probable that they
would have been destroyed in the disorderly times of Andros; but more
probable still that they never had any papers. Edmund Bridges and
Philip Kirtland are usually spoken of as the first shoemakers here. They
came in 1635. But John Adam Dagyr, a Welshman, who came in 1750, seems to
have raised the humble occupation almost to the rank of a line art. He
took great pains to excel; and, it is said, imported the most elegant
shoes from Europe, and dissected them for the purpose of discovering the
hidden mystery of their elegance. This, however, appears to have been done
before, but without the desired effect. Shoemakers from all parts of the
town, says Mr. Lewis, went to him for information ; and he is called in
the Boston
Gazette of 1764 " the celebrated shoemaker of Essex." From this time
Lynn took rank as the foremost place for the manufacture of ladies' shoes
in all New England - indeed, in all the provinces. But Mr. Dagyr, in a
pecuniary way at least, never profited much by his skill and labor. The
writer has been told by one who knew him well that he lived in a homely
way, was not very neat in his dress and did not keep his little shop,
which was on Boston Street, near where Carnes now opens, in the neatest
order; in short, that he fell into such habits as were not conducive to a
thrifty life. He finally became so destitute as to make his home in the
almshouse, and there he died in 1808. Kirtland Street, in the westerly
part of the city, and Kirtland Block, in Union Street, perpetuate the name
of the earlier craftsman, Philip Kirtland, and so, in its way, does the
Kirtland Hotel, in Summer Street. But as yet no such honor has been
bestowed on the name of Dagyr, unless a wild spot in the domain of the
Free Public Forest Association, lately consecrated to his memory, be taken
as such. At the time of
Dagyr's arrival, 1750, there were but three men in Lynn who carried on the
business to such extent as to employ journeymen; and these were William
Gray (grandfather of the rich merchant, so extensively known by the
inelegant sobriquet of " Billy Gray "), John Mansfield and Benjamin
Newhall; the latter, the writer is pleased in being able to say, was his
great-grandfather. Down to the
Revolution the business moved onward, but its progress was slow. And
during the Without attempting to
follow the progress of the trade into minute details, it may be well to
state a few facts that will enable one to judge of its growth. In 1810
there were manufactured here just about 1,000,000 pairs, and they amounted
in value to $800,000. The earnings of the female binders reached $50,000.
Twenty years later, that is in 1830, the number of pairs made was, in
round numbers, 1,670,000, Lynnfield having been set off in 1814 and Saugus
in 1815. Twenty-five years later, that is, in 1855, the number of pairs is
found to have been 9,275,593, Swampscott having been set off in 1852 and
Nahant in 1853. From 1855 to 1875 there were made, on an average, not less
than 10,000,000 pairs a year, of the average value of $1.20 pair. But a statement of
the condition of the shoe trade at the present time would no doubt be most
interesting as well as useful, and it is proposed to attempt it with some
fullness. Colonel Wright, in
his synopsis of the last United States Census, gives The number of shoe factories In Lynn as 174 The average number of employees as
10,708 Capital invested
$4, 263,250 Wages paid in one year 4,931, 530 Stoke used
12,918,221 Value of product 20,946,867 Gross profit 3,097,296 Estimated interest and expenses 2,350,482 Net profit or loss 746,814 Average yearly product per employee 1,956
Average yearly net profit per employee 70
Average yearly earnings for each employee
461 Percentage men employed
71.7 Percentage women employed 28. Percentage children employed .3 These latest
published figures show that $668,280 more were paid in wages, in a single
year, than the total capital invested. Equally remarkable is the high
yearly average of earnings for each employee, which, it should be
remembered, is the average for men, women and children. It is also
satisfactory to learn that less than one-third of one per cent, of all
Lynn shoo employees are children. The careful attention given, in recent
years, to collecting statistics of employees and wages makes the reports
of statistical bureaus unusually interesting and instructive. Industrial
information is eagerly sought, and an especial interest has centred in
examining the progress of the shoe industry, because of its wonderful
development and because that development is the result of American
ingenuity. Although the shoe
business has such a powerful hold on the every-day life of the people of
Lynn, lofty shoe factories do not, by any means, constitute the whole of
Lynn's wealth and enterprise. Wherever factories of any kind are located,
there naturally spring up a score of subsidiary industries engaged in
producing articles which may be used as component parts of a staple
product. Lynn, rich in its hundreds of large and small supply factories,
which furnish almost everything from tacks, boxes and blacking, to the
beautifully finished kid skins of the great morocco factories, is not an
exception. From sumac-filled vats, sunk deep in the ground, up five and
six stories, the city is devoted to every department of its chosen
industry. Above ground and below ground the business centre of the city is
thoroughly dedicated to productiveness. To speak of
leather-scented Lynn is almost to speak the literal truth. From tall
chimneys, which stand above ponderous boilers and powerful engines, pours
forth the smoke of leather shavings and leather refuse, swept from the
busy workrooms. Thus everything serves its purpose. Hundreds of
leather-shaping machines furnish ton upon ton of fuel for the great
boilers. As moisture from vegetation is taken up by the sun, and formed
into clouds which pour forth rain to increase the same vegetation, so old
leather assists in the manufacture of new leather. Every piece of
discarded leather has a value. Thin shavings are pasted and pressed into
some new form, fibrous pieces are ground into leather board, and even a
ton of factory sweepings has a marketable value. Thus from the time the
tanner sells the hair shaved from the skin, to the time the skin is cut
and split into a thousand pieces, every particle has a use and value. The activity and
bustle of Lynn people is, in no small measure, due to association with
swiftly-moving machinery. Indeed, it is almost impossible to work with
people who are always in a hurry to keep up with machinery without
catching the same habit. There is nothing lazy about Lynn. It is
distinctively a city of workers when there is work to do. There are,
unfortunately, seasons of the year when trade is at a low ebb, and there
is therefore a necessity for making the most of it when the factories are
in motion. There are two busy seasons, one during January, February and
March, when summer goods are manufactured, the other during July, August
and September, when winter goods are manufactured. The Western market
generally requires goods earliest, the Baltimore and Southern market next,
the Philadelphia, New York and New England markets latest. Western
wholesale buyers order sample pairs of the next summer's styles as early
as the preceding October, and for winter wear as early as the preceding
March. Summer is much a preparation for winter, and winter for summer, in
shoe manufacturing, as in any other great industry. Although six months in
the year probably comprise the busy seasons, yet there are often factories
which run exceptionally steady through the greater part of the year. In
fact, there is some trade in every factory every week in the year, as
samples, sample orders and duplicate orders fill up a great amount of time
between the seasons. The uncertainty of constant employment calls for good
wages, so that during the busy season operatives earn a handsome sum,
which, if it could only be continued throughout the year, would make the
trade of shoemaking very desirable. The dull times, however, put the
annual income at no more than a supporting average. The conduct and ownership of Lynn factories is
decidedly different from that of most manufacturing cities. In the large
mill cities especially the factories are owned by corporations, and often
only a small percentage of the stock is owned by residents. The profits of
the corporation are paid to non-residents, who may have little interest in
the city's prosperity. Not so in Lynn. Lynn is almost wholly owned by Lynn
residents. Wages and profits alike contribute to the city's advancement.
There are no stock corporations, but every firm manages its own business.
By the industry and perseverance of its own citizens, Lynn has increased
its wealth, and taken a proud position among the foremost manufacturing
cities of the world. Prosperity is not borrowed, but is a home product.
Wages in Lynn are
paid weekly. It has been so ever since factories were first established,
being an outgrowth of the old custom of paying the shoemaker for his work
as soon as finished. Saturday is the great pay-day. Lynn shoe
manufacturers have always been well rated in the financial world, and no
doubt much of their sound financial standing is due to frequent payments.
They have an immense cash paid-up capital in labor alone, all of the time,
and as labor is estimated as about one-fourth the value of the
manufactured product, Lynn manufacturers would pay one-fourth immediate
cash for all their bills, even if they did not pay any more. Labor bills
are preferred bills in Lynn, and its good effect is seen on every hand. A
"nimble sixpence" has always been a Lynn business principle, and any other
system would seem unnatural. Lynn operatives have
never been called to work by factory bells. Nominally there are fifty-nine
working hours in the week, but practically there is so much work done by
the piece that operatives work a much smaller number of hours. Factory
whistles give alarms at seven o'clock in the morning, at twelve o'clock
noon, and at one and six o'clock in the afternoon. Those employed by the
week observe these hours, excepting on Saturday, when work is over at five
o'clock. Almost every kind of work is piecework, as even in work done by
the week there is some stated amount to perform, which is practically the
same. There is unusual freedom in entering and leaving factories, and a
time-keeper from some strictly-conducted industry would no doubt consider
Lynn perfectly demoralized. It would be hard to name a place where
employees can be more independent and more fully allowed to regulate their
own time than in the factories of Lynn. Lynn employees live
well, dress well and are very thrifty. They live for the most part in
detached houses arranged for one or two families. There are very few
tenement blocks, and on the average there is one house to every seven
persons of the whole population. Manufacturers, as a rule, are not large
real estate owners, and do not attempt to house their own employees, as is
often the case with corporations. The employees themselves are large real
estate owners, hundreds of houses being owned by thrifty workmen and
workingwomen, who have built for themselves neat little homes. Until
recent years people still preserved land for kitchen gardening, even in
streets contiguous to the business centre. These gardens are gradually
filling up, but the same custom still exists in the outlying streets. Lynn
owes much to its working people. Had they been less intelligent and
industrious, the city could never have grown so evenly and so neatly as it
has. Had the working people been less willing to build houses with their
surplus earnings, the increasing population could never have been so
comfortably accommodated. Manufacturers needed money for increasing
business, and could never have afforded to build the houses as fast as
they were needed. Lynn has been the mutual success of employers and
employed, and a history of its progress which failed to give proper credit
to its small property-owners would do injustice to the people - the bone
and sinew of the community. As is the case in
every other great industrial community, Lynn capitalists and workmen have
oftentimes disagreed on the equivalent to be paid for labor. A general
disagreement has almost always resulted in a strike. It is a strange fact
that strikes almost invariably occur with most frequency in years of great
business depression, when manufacturers can least afford to pay increased
wages, and when workmen can least afford to remain idle. The success of a
strike depends greatly on the efficiency of labor organization and the
confidence of the members in the leaders. There are periods when
organizations spring up in great numbers, and other times when the members
lose interest and the organizations are less powerful. Disagreements
between capital and labor are no modern invention. The good old doctrine
of "bearance and forbearance" will do more to engender good feeling than
anything else. Water is bound to seek its own level. If the market will
warrant it, prices go up, and if there is no demand, prices must go down.
Prices get where they belong, despite remonstrance, strikes and
differences of opinion. No combination of capital or organization of labor
can arbitrarily permanently establish them. For short time it may be
possible to govern them, but that progress which changes trades and trade
methods is no respecter of combinations or organizations, and grades and
levels prices in accordance with the prosperity or adversity of the
existing generation. It is for us to adjust ourselves to changing
circumstances with as little friction and as peacefully as possible. The process of shoe
manufacturing does not necessitate so large a plant nor so expensive an
outlay as textile manufacturing. Shoes are composite, and the shoe
industry is composite. The shoemakers take a number of manufactured
articles, and sew and nail them together in a stylish, shapely manner,
thus producing a shoe. There are few chemicals to evaporate if
manufacturing ceases for a day, a month or a year. Nearly everything in
shoemaking represents work. When work stops, the factory process stops.
There is no boiling, mixing or dyeing process going on while the shoemaker
sleeps, but his guiding eye and hand are necessary to progress. Water,
blacking, glue, paste, cement and applied finishes are all the liquids
that enter into the process of shoemaking. In tempering stock, water
exclusively is used, every other liquid being for external application. On
account of this simplicity, shoes can be made economically in a very small
compass, with little outlay, or can be made in great factories with a
perfect wealth of machinery. It is a versatile business, and depends on
the energy and perseverance of the manufacturer. It is more business of
the people than any great textile industry possibly can be. It is possible
for a mechanic to rise from the lowest to the highest position. There are
even workingmen's co-operative factories. The workmen invest a sum of
money in the enterprise, are paid the wages as are paid in other
factories, and are to share in the profits. Shoe manufacturing needs
industry, economy and a natural talent for making business success, like
any other pursuit. Small beginnings are just as possible to-day in any
business as they ever were, and are just as inconvenient. The convenience
only of a large capital seemingly makes it a necessity. Oftentimes a
comparatively newly established firm will outstrip veteran manufacturers
in the race for trade. This has a tendency to keep trade progressive, and
no doubt will contribute to its permanence. With the constant invention of
improved machinery and tools, the style of conducting business changes
about as often as the styles of shoes. To small capitalists
venturing into the shoe business, contractors are a great assistance. With
their help a man can manufacture shoes at a very small outlay. There are
contractors to do almost everything. Large manufacturers even have a large
part of their upper-stitching done by contractors. But to the small
manufacturer, the shoemaking contractor, with a line of machinery, is
incalculably valuable. He not only contracts for making the shoe, but will
even provide lasts and everything necessary to be used. It is possible for
a man to have one small room for headquarters, and yet, by contract,
arrange for the transaction of an extensive and profitable business. The
product does not have that distinctive individuality, however, which
belongs to individual factories, because several manufacturers ure often
supplied by one contractor. But it serves to show how thoroughly Lynn is
equipped for the business in all its phases. Not only in our
country, but beyond the seas, the fame of Lynn factories has attracted
notice. During the year 1885 a young man, the son of a wealthy German,
made his home in Lynn and worked on different machines in a Lynn shoe
factory, studying the ways of Yankee shoemaking. American machines and
Lynn machines have made their way all over the world, attracting great
attention and interest. Lynn is only one large customer for her own great
supply dealers who make the city their headquarters. Lynn supplies go to a
dozen foreign countries as well as all over the United States. If a person were to
ask what grade of goods were manufactured in Lynn, he would be told
everything in the shape of a shoe. The staple grade is a medium and
low-priced article for ladies, misses and children, but there are also
several prosperous firms manufacturing for men, boys and youth. In ladies'
wear, everything is made from elegant hand-sewed French kid button boots
and delicate beaded velvet toilet slippers to shoes of cheaper material,
which are made for the million. Everything that can he thought of or desired for
American wear is made in Lynn. There are some goods made for export, but
the goods for foreign wear form a very small part of the year's business.
Lynn represents a
city built without any natural advantages, excepting a healthy situation
and beautiful natural attractions. There is no reason why it should have
become a prosperous city more than many another, and it would not have
become so but for the untiring industry, energy and perseverance of its
inhabitants. The city is blessed with a very poor harbor, has no extensive
water-power privilege, is not a great railroad centre, and, until a few
years since, had only one steam railroad privilege. Its close proximity to
Boston has, until recent years, been a disadvantage to local
store-keepers, and there has not been that reliable country trade from
neighboring towns which has contributed to the wealth of more distant
cities. Lynn is not a
county-seat, and has no National, State or County buildings or
institutions. The city And this seems a
proper place to go a little into historical detail regarding the leather
manufacture here, as distinguished from the shoe manufacture. But, before
passing to that matter, the writer would acknowledge his indebtedness to
Mr. Howard Mudge Newhall for what is most interesting in the foregoing
account of the shoe trade. Leather. -
There is an old proverb which tells us that there is "nothing like
leather,” so necessary and useful is it in all the arts and for many
domestic purposes. So well aware of this were the early settlers of New
England that we find the General Court voting, in September, 1638, to
"remember to provide bark in the following April for the tanning of divers
hides to come." This importation of hides would seem to indicate that they
had few cattle, or that they purposed to kill as few as possible, that
their numbers might increase. It is probable that the hides of those
killed were not well taken off or properly cured, and thus were lost
through neglect or destroyed. For this reason we find an order passed in
October, 1640, providing for the proper slaughtering and careof hides and
skins, and for sending them to be tanned and dressed, with a fine to be
imposed upon all who neglected such duty. In June, 1642, the Court passed
an elaborate bill, providing that no butcher, currier or shoemaker should
exercise the feat or mystery of a tanner, on pain of forfeiting six
shillings eight pence for every hide or skin tanned; butchers to forfeit
twelve cents for every gash or cut made in slaying; no persons except
tanners to be allowed to purchase any hides; persons selling hides
insufficiently tanned to forfeit them; tanners not allowed to let their
liquors heat or spoil on pain of £20 for every offense; no currier to
dress any leather insufficiently tanned, or burn or injure any leather in
dressing, on pain of forfeiting the full value of every such hide; sealers
of leather appointed, and leather not sealed to be forfeited; sealers to
take oath to perform their lawful duty. This order was afterwards extended
so as to include all leather made into boots and shoes. In 1646 a
stringent law was made to prevent the exportation of any hides or skins,
and persons so exporting, and masters of vessels receiving them, were to
forfeit their full value. A committee was
appointed May 31, 1672, to look after defects in the tanning of leather
and report means to prevent the same. Although goat and
sheep-skins were not classed with hides, yet the same stringent measures
were taken to prevent their exportation. A number of glovers, whose names
were George Hepbourne, Thos. Buttolph, James Johnson, Nathaniel Williams,
Geo. Clifford and Thomas Goulby petitioned against their exportation by
one Ralph Woory in 1645, and he was restrained from sending away more than
eight dozens, and he and all others forbidden thereafter to export any
unless made into gloves or other garments - an early instance of the
protection of labor and home industry. In 1672 every seaport town was
obliged to choose an officer to see that no hides or skins were improperly
transported. That the manufacture
of leather from hides was carried on at Lynn at a very early day is
evident. We are informed that Francis Ingalls, one of the first live
persons who settled within our bounds, was a tanner and carried on the
business on what is now Burrill Street, in Swampscott, and it is claimed
that his was the first tannery in the colony. Mr. Lewis states that he saw
some of the vats removed from their ancient position about the year 1825.
George Keysar came to Lynn about 1639. In 1649 he bought from Samuel
Bennett the land lying between Boston Street and Waterhill, and extending
from the Newhall property to the present city pumping station. This had
previously belonged to Joseph Armitage. Keysar carried on the tanning
business here till his removal to Salem, in 1680. His wife was a daughter
of Edward Holyoke, and he died in Salem in 1690, aged seventy-three. His
son Elizur pursued the same calling at Salem, and his son John at
Haverhill - this fact showing that the sons were educated to their
father's trade here in Lynn. In 1665 a child by the name of Elizabeth
Newhall was drowned in one of Keysar's tan-vats near Boston Street. This
property was not disposed of by Keysar's heirs till after 1702, when it
probably passed into the possession of the Upon substantially
the same premises once occupied by Keysar and Potter a tan-yard and
tan-house have been in operation within the memory of persons still
living, and the last occupant, Samuel Mulliken, finished off the tan-house
into tenements for dwellings. This old building has been demolished within
a few years. The yard is still vacant, and the ancient vats can be found
by digging. Upon the premises
covered by the factory of John T. Moulton, a tan-yard was in operation at
a very early day by Lieut. John Burrill. He was a son of the first
settler, George, and was probably born in England in 1631. He lived on
Boston Street, in what was more latterly called the Carnes house. This
stood upon the spot where Carnes Street joins Boston Street, and was
exactly opposite the tan-yard. Col. John left the tan-yard and buildings
to his son, Theophilus Burrill, Esq., who also carried on the same
business here till 1721, when he sold out to Deacon John Lewis. He in
turn, by his will, gave the tan-yard and tan-house to his grandson, Samuel
Lewis, who sold it, in 1782, to Daniel Newhall and Nathaniel Sargent, who
continued it. In 1793 Newhall sold out to Sargent, and he continued alone
till his death in 1798. In 1805 Joseph Watson was the owner and pursued
the currying trade. These premises were purchased about 1844 by Joseph
Moulton, and have been occupied by him and his successors till the present
time (1887), for the manufacture of morocco leather. Many of the old vats
were removed by him, and some still remain. This spot, therefore, has been
used for tanning purposes for nearly all the time since the settlement of
the town. A fine spring of cold water, with the natural stream now called
Strawberry Brook running through the yard, and in later years a head of
water from the canal above, gave the place unusual advantages for a
business of this kind. To Mr. John T. Moulton, son and successor of Joseph
Moulton, the writer is much indebted for facts here given touching the
leather business. During the latter
part of the last century and the beginning of the present the tanning
business was carried on by Benjamin Phillips at the yard of the mill at
Waterhill. Here he had a chance for a fulling- mill for softening his
hides, running it by water-power, which was quite an advance over the old
method of horse-power. To him were apprenticed the brothers Winthrop and
Sylvanus Newhall, who afterwards had their tan-yards on Market and Broad
Streets, then called Blackmarsh. Winthrop Newhall was succeeded, in 1818,
by his son Francis S. Newhall, who, in 1822, formed a partnership with his
brother Henry for carrying on the morocco leather business. Probably Winthrop
Newhall was the last of the heavy leather tanners here, the morocco trade
having supplanted the heavier business which seems to have taken deep root
in Salem and Danvers at about the same time. The morocco
manufacture was probably commenced by William Rose upon the same spot
where the Burrills began and carried on the tanning of hides. This is
inferred from the fact that when Joseph Watson made a mortgage of these
premises, Rose was called upon to sign his name as witness to the
conveyance. He may have been working for Watson or carrying on business in
a small way for himself in Watson's shop. He shortly after had a shop for
himself on a spot near that now occupied by St. Stephen's Church, on South
Common Street, but left town in 1809, going to Charlestown. On Boston
Street and in the vicinity of these old tanneries lived John Adam Dagyr,
who has been so many times advertised as the celebrated shoemaker of Essex
in 1764, and his opinion and advice in regard to the kinds of material
requisite for ladies' shoes may have had something to do with the
introduction of the morocco business here. At any rate, it came about in
his day. His wife's father, Moses Newhall, was probably a shoemaker; the
father of Moses certainly was, as the records show. It is a very
unpleasant circumstance that both Dagyr and his wife, in their last days,
came to want. Daniel Collins, many
years ago, carried on a tannery on Boston Street, nearly opposite the
present Kirtland Street. Levi Robinson took the business more than fifty
years ago, and it has finally developed into the large morocco
establishment of John E. Donallan. From Rose and his
small beginning has the business gradually increased to its present
extensive proportions. This matter has been faithfully treated by David N.
Johnson, in his "Sketches of Lynn." He brought it down to 1880, since
which time the amount of business has somewhat increased, and two or three
new firms have taken up that other branch of the trade, the manufacture of
tawed and alum-tanned calf and sheep-skins. The manufacture of
leather, of one kind and another, but chiefly morocco, in Lynn, at present
reaches a pretty high figure, as appears by the following from the last
United States Census returns:
Employees,
768 Waiges paid during the year,
Employees, total average number 12,446 (Males above 16, 8924. Females
above 15, 3487. Youth and children, 35.) Stock used
$15,551,938 Value of product
$25,216,778
Bricks. - It was early found that there were
large deposits of excellent clay in and about Lynn. And Boxes. - The value of boxes - paper and wood -
manufactured in Lynn during a year is about one Fisheries. - Lynn, with Swampscott and Nahant,
belongs to the fishing district of Marblehead. But since Swampscott and
Nahant turned their backs upon their aged mother she has had little to
show in the matter of fisheries, and little in the way of shipping, if her
ambitious yacht-fleet is excepted ; but that, by hardy delvers of the
deep, would probably be regarded as belonging to the ornamental rather
than the industrial. Recent returns, touching the fisheries, have already
been given. It appears, by the
last published returns, that the industrial employees of Lynn receive
higher wages than those of any other place in the county - the average
yearly earnings of each employee being four hundred and sixty-seven
dollars. And this average applies to men, women and children. In Haverhill
the bulk of the business is similar to that of Lynn; and there the average
yearly earnings of each employee is but three hundred and forty-eight
dollars, while at the same time the average number of men workers there is
some four per cent. greater than at Lynn. In Salem the average earnings of
each employee is three hundred and forty-three dollars. In Newburyport but
two hundred and sixty-eight dollars. Peabody comes nearest Lynn, showing
four hundred and fifty-four dollars per year for each employee. In closing this
division of our work, it is not amiss to remark that the manufacture of
boots and shoes takes the lead of all the industries of Massachusetts. The
total value of products in the State, in 1880, was $631,135,284; and of
this $105,118,299 was of boots and shoes. Other manufactures, as stated by
the careful hand of Colonel Wright, stood as follows: cotton goods,
$68,566,182; food preparations, $68,035,755; woolen goods, $47,473,668;
metals and metallic goods, $40,190,569; leather, $30,188,859; clothing,
$27,253,582; mixed textiles, $21,601,038; machines and machinery,
$20,894,545 ; paper, $18,358,361 ; furniture, $11,196,827; printing and
publishing, $10, 474,684. "These twelve industries produce $469,352,369
worth of goods out of the total product [$631,135,284] of the State." The actual average
yearly earnings of boot and shoe employees throughout the State, including
both sexes and all ages, is $381.58. A few other
industries of Lynn may be alluded to in passing, which never grew to large
proportions, but yet were of some importance in their day: Ship-Building, or rather boat-building, as it
would be called at this day, was engaged in here to some extent, at an
early period. A sloop of fifteen tons was built in 1677, and another of
about the same burden in 1685. And within some twenty-five years of the
latter date, about half a score of vessels, ranging from ten to
thirty-five tons burden - and one of sixty - were built here. About 1726 a
ship-yard was established on Broad Street, a little east of the foot of
Market, at which were built, as is stated, sixteen schooners and two
brigs. But the business there was abandoned after a few years. There seems
to have been quite a number of expert workmen at shipbuilding in Lynn for
many years, and one or two remarkably skillful naval architects. The
celebrated frigate "Constitution " was built in Boston, at the ship-yard
of Edmund Hart, a Lynn man. In 1832 a yard was established in West Lynn, a
little east of Fox Hill Bridge, at which were built a few small vessels.
The Lynn "Whaling Company" was formed about that time, and hopes of a
profitable maritime business were entertained, but the enterprise proved a
failure. Chocolate began to be manufactured at the mill
on Saugus River, at the Boston Street crossing, as early as 1797. In or
about 1805 Amariah Childs purchased the establishment and commenced
manufacturing an article that soon acquired a world-wide reputation,
continuing the business till 1840. Snuff had been made at the mill as early aa 1794
by Samuel Fales, but the use of snuff becoming, by degrees, unfashionable,
the business died out. Salt. - Salt-works were established in Lynn in
1805, but the business never grew to large proportions. The works were on
what is now Beach Street, near Broad. Silk and Silk Printing. - Some fifty years ago a
number of our people became much interested in the silk manufacture. They
procured collections of worms and planted great numbers of white mulberry
trees for their food. They were successful in a limited way, but the
business never resulted in anything profitable, and in a year or two the
efforts were discontinued. The results in some instances were quite
satisfactory. The writer remembers being shown, by a neighbor, some
handkerchiefs which were woven from silk raised by him and printed at one
of the silk printing establishments, which for a number of years did an
active business in Wyoma village, in the Wall Paper and Rubber Goods were also
manufactured here fifty years ago, and the waters of Strawberry Brook were
utilized in some other small manufacturing enterprises. NEW INDUSTRIES. -
Quite recently there have been added to the industries of Lynn one or two
of much promise, which are well worthy of enumeration. Electric Lighting. - Very soon after it had
become demonstrated that electricity could be successfully utilized for
the illumination of cities, a local electric light company was formed in
Lynn and permission given by the city to supply customers, the city itself
becoming a large customer also. This company introduced into the streets
the very successful arc light of the Thompson-Houston patent, and this
mode of lighting soon became so popular that in 1883 a brick building was
erected on Stewart Street to enlarge the capacity to meet the local
demand. The capitalists who became interested in this enterprise,
recognizing that the development of electric lighting was in its infancy,
were convinced that they could profitably invest capital for the
manufacture and introduction of Electrical apparatus. To that end they
invested money in the Thompson-Houston company, of New Britain, Conn.,
organized under the laws of Connecticut. The machinery and plant of the
company was soon removed to Lynn to occupy the substantial brick factory
building on Western Avenue, erected for them by the late Minot Terrill, a
gentleman who spent nearly the whole of a large fortune, which he had
inherited, in building improvements of lasting benefit to the city. The
company brought many new families to Lynn, the business increased, and the
factory accommodations have had to be enlarged by the addition of another
large building. At the beginning of 1887 fully six hundred people were
employed, and the annual product amounted to one million dollars. This
product is sent all over the world, the demand increases, and oftentimes
the works are kept in operation until late in the evening to keep abreast
of the orders. Prof. Elihu Thompson,
an experienced electrician, from whom the company derives its name, is
very versatile in discovering new methods of applying electricity, which
constantly adds new departments of work in the factory. The company,
although chartered in another State, is practically a Lynn enterprise, and
destined to be of great importance to the city. The main business office
is in Boston; the Western office in Chicago. Hat-Finishing. - In the early part of 1887 a
hat-finishing establishment was commenced on Summer Street by Mr. Timothy
Merritt. The new undertaking will no doubt become a growing success, as
the projector has a good knowledge of the business and energy and
enterprise. Every new industry contributes to Lynn's permanent growth, and
there is no reason why coverings for the head cannot be as successfully
manufactured by her people as coverings for the feet. The Ice Business may not be strictly called a
manufacture unless frost is considered a working partner. But it is now an
important industry, and one to be considered, more directly than almost
any other, a home industry, the material being of home production and the
perfected article being consumed at home. During the last three or four
years there have been harvested an average aggregate of some sixty
thousand tons each year. In the storing season somewhere about three
hundred men are employed in the various departments. At other times, of
course, the number varies, and is considerably less. Occasion has been
taken to speak of the industrious habits of the people of Lynn, and of
their economy. Upon these traits have mainly rested that general thrift
which has been marred by few examples of large accumulation, or of extreme
penury - a condition certainly the most desirable for any community; for
it is the condition that insures the greatest degree of contentment and
freedom of mind. Contentment, however, is not, in a worldly sense, an
incentive to enterprise, for those who feel contented in low degree seldom
put forth the energies necessary to rise above it. Till within a short
period Lynn has had no really rich men; and perhaps it would have been
better had she remained as she was. But strife for riches in an eminent
degree characterizes this period; yet how different is the course men
pursue for their attainment. Some, without genius, culture or special
opportunity, succeed by boldness and courage, others by frugality and
carefulness, others by persistent labor. And then individuals are animated
by very different motives in their desire for wealth; some desire it for
the ease it brings, some for its luxuries, some for the social position it
ensures ; and some, it is to be hoped, for the good it enables them to do
for others. And if, in the whole round of cravings, this latter incentive
does not in some measure enter, one might as well remain idle. "Labor brings the joys of
health;
To the true New
Englander A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed." |
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