The writer of the following pages spent a large part of his early years in the old-fashioned shoemaker's shop. Beginning at the age of ten, he passed most of his waking hours for the next twenty years within the narrow limits of some half dozen of these humble structures, using up a large part of daylight in the warm season, and eking out the short days of winter by the aid of two tallow candles, till nine or ten o'clock in the evening. He there got what there was to be learned of the ancient art, and picked up whatever information lay in his way. He heard all sorts of questions discussed, and became familiar with all the lore that could be gathered in these unpretending seminaries. When he was old enough, (and sometimes before,) he took part in these debates. Whatever training such a school could give to fit him for the task he has undertaken, the writer has had; and as the later years of his life have been spent amid the changing scenes and conditions of our growing city, much that is here recorded came within the compass of his personal knowledge. He has taken no little pains to secure accuracy in the dates and statements here given, and has never been satisfied with anything less than certainty, when that could be reached. But as a perfect book has not yet been seen, it is not unlikely that in the many topics here treated, and the numerous figures employed, some errors will be found. He believes that the first duty of a writer is to make himself understood. He has therefore used, for the most part, short words and short sentences. Having a high respect for the Saxon element of his native tongue, he has generally chosen it, whenever the choice was offered him. He knows of no one using English as his mother tongue who does not understand it much better than any foreign language; and as this book is to be read by those who thus use English, the writer has made use of no words or phrases which the ordinary reader would be obliged to skip. This ought not to be a peculiarity. If it is, the writer consoles himself with the reflection that the nineteenth century will not be held responsible for the style of his book. A book of sketches must necessarily be incomplete. Why was this included, and why was that omitted, are questions which readers have a good right to ask, and they will, no doubt, exercise that right; but, as it could not be settled by a commission, the writer decided it himself. As is usual in such cases, topics aside from those included in his original plan forced themselves upon his attention; but after doing the best he could - enlarging his work much beyond his first design - he has left much unsaid that he intended to say, and can only add at this point that if life and health permit, he may have something more to offer concerning the people among whom he has lived from early childhood. In the preparation of certain parts of this work, the writer was of necessity greatly indebted to the faithful labors of Lynn's historians, Alonzo Lewis and James R. Newhall. To the Librarian of our Public Library, and the City Clerk, and their assistants, he would also express his indebtedness for many courteous attentions, in placing at his command whatever was valuable for his purpose in the books, documents and public records under their charge. He wishes, likewise, to acknowledge his great obligations to the many friends - too many to call by name - whose kind help, so freely given, has made his labor lighter and more pleasant. Fully aware of the short-comings of this humble volume, he offers it to his fellow-citizens as a slight contribution to those records which preserve the simple annals of the every-day life of the common people, and keep alive that which they most care to know and most dearly cherish.
D.N.J.
The Lynn of 1830 bore very little resemblance to the Lynn of 1879. At the first date it was a thriving town of about 6,000 inhabitants, including Swampscott and Nahant. The people, even then, were generally engaged in the manufacture of ladies' shoes, either as bosses, - as those who employed workmen were called,- makers, or binders. Considerable farming was carried on at this time, mostly by those inheriting land, and several excellent farms then lay within the precincts of the town. There were, besides, a number of small farmers owning a few acres, who cultivated their land as a means in part of gaining a living, and gave the remainder of their time to the honored craft of shoemaking. The people of Swampscott then - as since -were almost exclusively engaged in fishing. This diversified industry gave Lynn some advantages over the surrounding towns, and the increase in her wealth and population was, consequently, more rapid. The great manufacturing cities of the Commonwealth had not yet arisen. Only six cities and towns of the State - Boston, Salem, New Bedford, Nantucket, Lowell and Worcester - exceeded Lynn in population, and these four last by only a few hundred each. The impulse given to cotton manufacture had but just begun to be felt in Lowell, where, in 1824, a company was organized to carrv on this business, which has since reached such magnitude. It did not become a great industry till several years later, when it built up Lowell, Lawrence, New Bedford and Fall River; and it was later still before the great iron interest, that for the last twenty years has advanced with such rapid strides, changed Worcester, Taunton and other smaller places from insignificant towns to large cities, producing millions of dollars' worth of every kind of iron manufacture, from the steam engine to the simplest agricultural implement. Boston especially, and to some extent Salem, and even Marblehead, had acquired considerable commercial renown among the leading seaports of New England, while Lynn remained a quiet town with its industry divided between farming and shoemaking. But while the commerce of Salem and Marblehead was on the wane, the shoe business of Lynn was steadily gaining, attracting workmen from the surrounding towns; besides this, it added to the industry and wealth of many neighboring places by furnishing employment to their people. Shoes were sent out of town to be made and bound from quite an early period. The Lynn shoemaker was in many respects a fortunately situated man. His labor was light, making an agreeable contrast to the heavy work of the cobbler and of the maker of men's boots and shoes. He was sheltered from the inclemency of the weather, and his light and generally pleasant shop was an attractive place, not only to those who occupied a "berth" within its narrow limits, but also to the neighboring farmer or fisherman who dropped in on a stormy day or spent the long winter evening in talking about the weather, crops, the "catch" of fish in the bay, on the "Georgies" or on the "Grand Banks," or discussed with the crew the state of business, politics, state, or national, or - more commonly - town affairs, or any other topic bearing a near or remote interest to the gossipers and their hearers. The peculiar nature of his business requiring of the workman little mental concentration, allowed him to take part in discussions, or fix his attention upon any question that might engage his thoughts. His work went on mechanically, as it seemed, without needing any of that nice care which is indispensable in many of the mechanic arts. This circumstance made every workshop a school and an incipient debating' club; and from this, doubtless, has arisen that general intelligence, which is said to characterize the sons of Crispin. It has been remarked that more men have risen to eminence from the "seat" of the shoemaker than from the ranks of any other class of mechanics, except that of printers. It is to this cause chiefly, no doubt, that debating society and other literary institutions flourished to that degree that made them a marked feature in the social life of the workingmen of Lynn; and it is the apology, if any is needed, for the somewhat extended notice of these organizations that will claim the attention of the reader in the following pages. Books were comparatively scarce in those days, but a few were often found in the shops, the character of which was determined by the taste of the owner. The Bible was more frequently seen than any other book, as many of the workmen were members of the various religious societies then existing in the town - Congregationalist, (Orthodox,) Methodist, Baptist, Friends, Unitarian, and a few years later, - the Universalist. As a consequence, religious discussions were often heard in those shoemakers' shops. Sometimes three or four workmen of different religious views would work in one shop. Then the debate would take a wide range, and all the essential points of doctrine laid down in the Catechism or creed would be canvassed with a good deal of earnestness, and often with much intelligence. When the discussion waxed warm, one of these defenders of some cherished doctrine might have been seen enforcing his argument with his hammer poised in an imposing manner, or slowly descending upon the shoe he held on his knee. Or gesticulating with some other piece of "kit" in his outstretched hand he cut the air at various irregular angles making a striking demonstration - especially when one came too near - if not a gesture in strict accordance with the rules of oratory. On Monday morning the text would be reported by one of the crew and a synopsis given of the sermon preached the day before. If it was a doctrinal discourse - and there were a good many of that kind in those days - an animated controversy was likely to follow. Perhaps some one of the five points of Calvinism was the grave theme of the preacher. Then a discussion would arise that would run on until the disputants wandered in "endless mazes lost;" as they grappled with questions bridging the chasm between the known and the unknown - "fixed fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute." If there were singers among the crew, - which was often the case, some of the grand old "Hymns of the Ages" would now and then be sung, to some familiar air,
"Perhaps' Dundee's' wild warbling measures
rise; Next to the Bible, the book most commonly seen was some small copy of the dictionary. Some of the younger workmen in the shops would have within reach a spelling-book or grammar, or some other text book used in the public schools, and now and then they would look over its pages, while they took a brief rest from their work. The daily newspaper was then a few years in the future; but the weekly paper, religious or secular, was often found in these shops; and the best reader among the crew, or perhaps a neighbor who had dropped in, would read the news, which in those days before railroads, steamboats, and electric telegraphs, took a good while to travel from the four quarters of the earth. Comments would be made as the reading went on, and when it was ended a general discussion took place upon the various topics treated - missionary intelligence from the then recently established missions; nullification which was then muttering its threats against the Union; the anti-slavery movement just then launched upon the stormy waves of an excited public opinion by its intrepid leader, Garrison, - these, with other less exciting topics, often made the shop of the shoemaker an arena of debate which stimulated the intelligence and broadened the views of all who came within the reach of its influence. At this time nearly all the workmen owned the houses they lived in, with considerable land adjoining. The few who hired tenements had generally an ample garden where they raised various vegetables and fruits. Potatoes were the chief crop, and it was not unusual for the little plat of ground to yield a sufficient quantity to supply the family through the winter. The cultivation of fruit trees had then hardly begun. There were many old apple orchards, but many of the trees bore natural fruit, the art of grafting being then but little practiced. Pears and other fruits were but little cultivated. Almost every family kept a pig which furnished a stock of meat for a large part of the year. One of the newspapers of the day, alluding to this fact, observed that there were probably more hogs raised in Lynn than any other town of its size in the vicinity. Cows were also very generally kept, and droves of them were seen morning and night on their way to, or returning from, the neighboring pastures. Bread and milk made one of the common dishes of the time, especially for children. The beaches near by yielded an unfailing supply of clams, in the season, and the "clam banks" were spoken of, in those days, when the currency was more miscellaneous than the wants of the people required, as banks that never failed or refused to discount. The contrast between those days and the present cannot be realized except by those who have lived through the transformation. No fifty years, since man inhabited the earth, have witnessed such changes. They have left nothing as it was, - the food, clothes, shelter, the tools with which the poor man labored, and the conditions under which he performed that labor, have all been changed. The multiplied arts of an age more wonderful in its mechanical inventions than any that preceded it, have lightened his labor and increased its recompense. They have placed at his command comforts unknown to the world in former times, and made common luxuries hitherto enjoyed only by the favored few. Fifty years ago and there was not a piano within the limits of the town, and a musical instrument of any description was a comparatively rare sight. The artistically finished parlor organ, elegant as a piece of household furniture, and the great variety of melodeons now everywhere seen, were then unknown; and twenty years later the notes of a piano falling on the ear would attract the attention of the passer by. One living through this period has seen the old tinder box, flint and steel give way to the friction match. He has seen the tallow candle and the smoky japanned lamp, that gave just light enough to "make darkness visible," superseded by the Argand burner and the more brilliant flame of the gas light; and now the application of the electric light," for the common purposes of illumination, heating and other uses, public and domestic, seems about to be realized - a discovery more wonderful, if possible, than any that preceded it, and which promises to bring about greater revolutions than even steam itself. He has seen the coarse, clumsy cowhide brogan, from which the school-boy lised to drain the snow-water at night, give place to the elegant shoe, and the impervious rubber boot. He has seen coarse, patched and ragged clothing, too scanty, often, to afford protection from the cold of winter, gradually disappear and its place supplied with comfortable, neat-fitting garments, scarcely distinguishable from those worn by the wealthiest class. He has seen the two-room tenement, scantily furnished, expand into the neat and often elegant cottage; supplied with every comfort, adorned with pictures and beautified with various ornaments, the evidences of a cultivated taste - pianos, books, albums, vases, and an endless variety of useful and attractive household treasures. He has seen the small, poorly-printed weekly newspaper, worked off on a hand press, with its meager record of events that took place a week, a month or a year before, supplanted by the mammoth daily quarto, struck off on a "lightning press," printed on both sides at once at the rate of twelve to fifteen thousand impressions an hour. He has seen the crowded, ungraded district school, with a hundred pupils in charge of a single teacher, transformed into graded classes of one-half the number of former times; and in place of the contracted, ill-ventilated, unpainted school-house in which it was kept, he sees the well-furnished apartments of magnificent structures that attract the attention of the passer-by. He has seen the few hundred volumes of the little town library expand into the Free Public Library, furnished with its thousands of volumes containing the literary treasures of all ages, and constantly augmented with the world's latest productions of mental genius. He has seen this "college of the people" supplementing the instructions of the public schools, visited by thousands from all ranks of society, and exerting an influence upon the general intelligence and culture of the community that it is impossible to estimate. He has seen the illimitable power of steam, in its ten thousand applications to the wants of business and the comfort of mankind, spread all over the civilized world, revolutionizing commerce and every branch of manufactures, and making obsolete old methods of travel, and the slow, clumsy means of transportation. To add to the marvels of this age of invention, the telephone, in its various applications, is seen in our places of business, and oral communication is held between parties far distant from each other. This communication is so perfect that the peculiarities of voice can be distinguished. And every day brings rumors of new wonders, and the end is not yet. Judging from the last half century, what the next fifty years will bring forth, the marvels still in store will outstrip the imagination of the poet.
THE making of shoes in Lynn dates back to an early period. History informs us that the first shoemakers of Lynn were Philip Kertland and Edmund Bridges, who came here in 1635, six years after the settlement of the town. A corporation of shoemakers was formed soon after. Mention is made of this in the "Wonder Working Providence," a book published in 1651, by Edward Johnson, of Woburn. In his allusion to Lynn manufactures he says : - " All other trades have fallen into their ranks and places, to their great advantage, especially coopers and shoemakers, who had either of them a Corporation granted, inriching themselves very much." Unfortunately, the records of this Corporation are lost, and so we fail to get any hint of the plan of its organization; but it was doubtless based upon the model of the ancient guilds, and corporations of the Old World. It is supposed that these records were destroyed by the mob in 1765, occasioned by the passage of the Stamp Act. Not much is known of the growth and condition of the business of Lynn for the next one hundred years; but it doubtless slowly increased with the gradual growth of the country, and there is little question that at that early day Lynn held the first rank in the manufacture of ladies' shoes. But a fresh impulse was given to this industry by the arrival, in 1750, of John Adam Dagyr, a shoemaker from Wales. He was a skilled workman in ladies' shoes, and under his instructions the shoemakers of Lynn soon changed their clumsy methods for the more skillful means and appliances which this ancient art could furnish. Dagyr's rank as a shoemaker may be inferred from an allusion in the Boston Gazette of 1764, quoted by Lewis in his History of Lynn, where he was referred to as "the celebrated shoemaker of Essex." For the next fifty or sixty years there are
but few facts bearing upon the condition and progress which this great
branch of our industry made in our midst. But there is no question that
Lynn was becoming more and more the head center in the manufacture of
ladies' shoes. During the ten years ending 1810 the population increased
nearly fifty per cent. - an increase owing, doubtless, in a great degree
to the opportunities here offered to the inhabitants of other towns of
engaging in a more profitable business than could be found elsewhere.
The manner of conducting the shoe business fifty years ago was very unlike the methods of to-day. Those were the days of "bag-bosses." A dozen, or two dozen pairs of shoes, more or less, were packed in a bag, and taken to Boston to be traded off for whatever could be got in exchange. Boston was the principal market, though many were sold in the neighboring towns. As there were no steam cars running then, the methods of getting these shoes to market were as various as the circumstances of the manufacturers. Some took the pack on their back and trudged off, the journey to Boston and back being a good day's work. Others took their bundle to the city on horseback. Others went in the stage coach; and still others, who could afford to keep a team, drove over the road. Shoes were not generally packed in boxes until some time after this. Those that were destined for the South were often packed in barrels and sent to Boston, where they were repacked in large boxes, and forwarded to their destination, generally by water, as this means of transportation was cheaper than by land. Shoe boxes did not come into general use until between 1830 and 1840. The business of making shoe boxes on an extensive scale was first established by James N. Buffum, about the year 1836; but it was done in a small way some time before this date. Mr. Benjamin Mudge and Elijah Downing made shoe boxes as early as 1825. Up to this time paper shoe boxes were unknown.
About the year 1840 Mr. Abner Jones began the manufacture of paper shoe
boxes. Very few were made until 1851, when Mr. George H. Cushman set up
the business. This trade increased rapidly, as the practice of double
packing fine shoes - first in paper boxes, which were then packed in
wooden cases - became general.
Soon after this the factory system was gradually introduced. One by one the little shoemakers' shops were abandoned, as the factories of the manufacturers were enlarged and fitted up so that the work, both of the stitchers and makers, might be done under the more immediate Supervision of the employers. (The accompanying illustrations give some idea of the contrast between the little shop of the olden time and the factory of to-day.) In the meantime several minor inventions, all tending to perfect the work of the operative, were introduced. One of these was the use of tin patterns for shaping the soles, in place of the old method of "rounding on" by the last. This simple device gave uniformity to the shape of the shoes - a thing impossible, as experience had shown, under the ancient plan, which left every man to the free exercise of his choice in determining the width and shape of the shoes, and especially of the shanks. It is strange that this simple expedient - for invention it can hardly be called - the advantages of which were so apparent, was not sooner tried. Before this there was no uniformity in the shoes made by different workmen. It was of course necessary to have some general conformity to the shape of the last; that is, the heels were rounded (when the sole was not too short), and narrow-toed shoes could hardly be made on wide-toed lasts; but when it came to the "shank," there was a chance for the display of original genius. A single box of shoes - the product of three or four workmen - would display as many different styles of "shanks." Some workmen ran to very narrow shanks, some to very wide shanks, while some seemed to find the true lines and curves of beauty that fulfilled their ideal of symmetry by observing the golden mean between these two extremes. It required some mechanical genius to make a shoe in those days; and when this genius was not of a tolerably high order, the question of "matching shanks," when the day's work was" tied up," imposed a degree of responsibility not experienced at the present time; as it was found that the range taken in a single day between the two extremes of wide and narrow shanks was considerable, and sometimes exhibited violent contrasts. It will be seen that the chief characteristic of the revolution that has taken place is, that everything is reduced to system. The exactness of scientific measurement is substituted for random guesses. Everything is assorted with especial reference to its fitness for the purpose intended. In nothing is this more clearly seen than in the cutting and sorting of soles. Sole leather, as formerly cut by hand, was subject to the most extravagant waste. It was an easy thing for a cutter of sole leather to waste more than the amount of his wages; and in the classification of the difterent grades - or rather, lack of classification - there was, if possible, a more wasteful expenditure of material. The division of labor had not then been carried far enough to enable the manufacturer to purchase just what he wanted, and nothing else. Now, a dozen different grades, ranging from the lightest and lowest priced soles up to the heaviest and most costly, can be bought in any quantity, and at the shortest notice. As an illustration of the waste incident to the old methods, it is only neccesary to recall the expenence of any of our old "jours." In the season when "welts" (as welted shoes were called) were made, inner soles and light soles were in more than usual demand. As a consequence, the manufacturers frequently ran "short," and were obliged to use soles of a much heavier grade than this kind of shoe required. Soles thick enough for "imitation" were often used as a matter of necessity. The first invention in this line was the simple "stripper." This was a heavy blade worked by foot power. It cut the leather into strips - across the width of the side - of various widths, corresponding to the length of the sole required. This gave exactness of length. Next came the "sole cutter," the invention of Richard Richards, a last-maker and ingenious mechanic of Lynn. This machine was patented in 1844. It gave regularity of shape and uniformity in width. The second great invention, in its labor-saving capabilities, was the McKay machine for stitching the bottoms. (This machine was introduced into Lynn by William Porter, in 1862.) This revolutionized the work of the maker, as the stitching machine has already superseded the needle of the binder. This took the place, in a large degree, of the ancient method of the old-time shoemaker, as, with the shoe held on his knee by the stirrup, and his awl in his hand, his picture has come down to us from a remote antiquity. Soon after this, in 1867, the "beating-out machine" was introduced by the inventor, Joseph Bassett Johnson. This invention supplied the place of "hammering," or the "beating out" process, heretofore performed by the hammer of the shoemaker, as he held the shoe on his knee. Meanwhile the factory system developed various minor inventions which, one by one, took the place of old methods, so that at the present time the ancient "craft" of the shoemaker is practiced and preserved only in the few "little shops" that still linger among us, to remind us of a former age. Meantime attention was turned to the improvement of "upper" patterns. In former years these patterns were made of straw-board, or some less enduring material. Each manufacturer cut his own patterns. As might be supposed, they were not often models of elegance in design, nor were they characterized by mathematical exactness. The first stride taken in this direction was the invention, in 1848, of a "pattern machine," by Geo. W. Parrott, of Lynn. This secured the two chief points - exactness in the proportion between the several sizes, and also the gradual increase in the fullness over the instep and around the ankle, required in the smaller sizes, especially of children's shoes. This second principle had been before applied in turning lasts, to secure the same end, but it was first applied to the machine for cutting patterns by Mr. Parrott. But no single machine, however ingenious, was sufficient to meet the various requirements of the case. The unequal and irregular proportions found in human feet are so marked that no automatic contrivance, even when its movements are subject to the various modifying adjustments which ingenuity has yet been able to invent, can meet all the exceptional conditions so often manifested in this part of man's anatomy. Each case, or each class of cases, must be treated by itself, and various minor inventions and more elaborately constructed tools, aided to bring about the desired end. Several years later, in 1871, Israel G. Sutherland began the business of pattern cutting. Mr. Sutherland was an excellent mechanic, and saw what was required to perfect the improvements already made. He carefully studied the subject, and availed himself of all the mechanical contrivances that would aid him in his work, which was to produce a pattern that should serve as a model for a neatly fitting boot or shoe. Other skillful and tasteful manufacturers directed their attention to the same end, all tending to perfect this the most difficult part of the manufacturer's art, until those models of elegance in the styles of boots and shoes which characterize the products of our manufacturers were, step by step, reached. It is no idle boast to say, that, in the manufacture of ladies' shoes, Lynn holds the first rank in this country, if not in the world. There is nothing surprising in this. As we have seen, the business was established and domesticated here from the first settlement of New England. Capital was attracted to it, and the inventive genius of our people, and the skill of our mechanics, developed its resources and improved the quality of its products. The enterprise and intelligence of our merchants availed themselves of every invention and appliance designed to improve the product or to cheapen its cost; and to-day, as the result of long years of patient toil, of ingenious contrivance, and of business enterprise, the manufacturers of Lynn are able to offer to the world of buyers the advantages of the highest excellence that has been reached in this department of human industry.
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