n J c < c a H c W & W g u J2 p ^ H S ^Vjtl&j TkxjuvA u^^^^v , \_ ^jUC^J^X^^Kil^ , W PAW TUCKET PAST AND PRESENT BEING A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE BEGINNING AND PROGRESS OF ITS INDUSTRIES AND A RESUME OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CITY Printed for SLATER TRUST COMPANY Pawtucket, R. I. 1917 Copyrighted, 1917, BY Slater Trust Company BC|6? .T3 56 The ornament on the cover-page is drawn from a photograph of Main Street, looking east, about 1865. The vignette on the title-page shows Pawtucket Falls and Main Street Bridge about i860. The headpiece at the beginning of the subject matter is drawn from a reproduction of the Central Falls in 1870. The tailpiece is a reproduction from the lock and keys of the Old Slater Mill / IC1.A453774 Written, designed and printed by direction of the Walton Advertising and Printing Company Boston, Mass. FOR EWORD THE Slater Trust Company takes pleasure in presenting to those interested in Pawtucket this brief account of "Pawtucket Past and Present." It hopes that it will be interesting, not only to the business men and the manufacturers of Pawtucket, but also to all who are interested in the city. So far as the space of a brochure permits, herein may be found an account of the Pawtucket of the past and also a presentation of the industries which have made it to-day one of the great manufacturing centres of America. Few even of the residents of Pawtucket are aware that the city is the home of so many diversified industries. Many of those beyond its borders, and some residents, perhaps, think of it only as a textile centre, and know little of the other great industries, particularly those making products of metals, for which Pawtucket should be as famous as it is for its textile products. If this small book makes Pawtucket better known it will accomplish the purpose of the bank in issuing it. We hope that the city by means of this brochure will become better known to those who live here and elsewhere, and whose sole connection with Pawtucket springs from a business relationship through buying its products or selling it supplies. We know this is not a complete presentation of Pawtucket's story — a full account would be impossible to compass in several volumes, but the bank has endeavored in so far as space permits to make this brochure complete and trustworthy. Among those who have helped in the preparation of the book are Mr. William D. Goddard, Librarian, and Miss Gertrude F. Forrester of the Sayles Public Library, Pawtucket; William E. Foster, Librarian, Miss Frances V. Heltzen, and Miss. Bessie Alden of the Providence Public Library; the Boston Public; Library, the Rhode Island His- torical Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, Mrs. Herbert Gould Beede, Mrs. George H. Webb, Mrs. Joseph Ott, Mr. Job L. Spencer, Mr. Lyman Goff, Mr. Charles O. Read, Mr. Albert J. Thornley, Mr. H. C. Whritner, Mr. John W. Little, Mr. Joseph Brennan, Mr. William L. Gidley, Mr. Clovis H. Bowen, Mr. George H. Webb, Mr. Herbert G. Beede, Mr. J. H. Conrad, Mr. E. B. Searll, Mr. William J. Burton, Mr. J. Willard Baker, Mr. Frederick W. Easton, Mr. William P. Dempsey, Mr. Lowell Emerson, Mr. Charles S. Foster, Mr. F. L. Perkins, Dr. J. L. Wheaton. In its compilation the following authorities have been consulted: State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation, Edward Field; History of Providence County, Richard M. Bayles; Memoir of Samuel Slater, George S. White; Historical Sketch of the Town of Pawtucket, Massena Goodrich; Pawtucket and the Slater Centennial, Massena Goodrich; History of Pawtucket, Central Falls and Vicinity, Robert Grieve; The Cotton Centennial, Robert Grieve and John P. Fernald; FOREWORD The Textile Industries in the United States, William R. Bagnall; The New England States, William T. Davis; The Story of Textiles, Perry Walton; Interesting Boston Events, State Street Trust Com- pany, Boston; Genealogy of the Jenks Family, Ida Jenks Beede (Unpublished manuscript); History of Rehoboth, Leonard Bliss, Jr.; Picturesque Rhode Island, Wilfred H. Munro; Reminiscences of Rhode Island and Ye Providence Plantations, Isaac Pitman Noyes; Representatives of New England Manufactures, J. D. Van Slyck; History of American Manufactures, Leander Bishop; North Provi- dence Centennial — address delivered by Massena Goodrich; In- dustrial Life in Rhode Island, William B. Weeden; Journal of Com- merce Guide Book, published by Journal of Commerce, Providence; Introduction and Early Progress of the Cotton Manufacture in the United States, Samuel Batchelder; Cotton Manufacture, Massena Goodrich; Slater Mills at Webster, published by S. Slater & Sons; History of the State of Rhode Island, Samuel Greene Arnold; Pictu- resque Narragansett, Robert Grieve; History of the Nut and Bolt Industry, W. R. Wilbur; Annual Report of Factory Inspection Rhode Island; A Hive of Diversified Industries, Robert A. Kenyon; Bio- graphical History of the Manufacturers and Business Men of Rhode Island, Joseph D. Hall, Jr.; Pawtucket Gazette and Chronicle; Paw- tucket Times; Providence Journal; Boston Globe; Lewiston Journal; New England Magazine; Board of Trade Journal, Providence; Ameri- can Cotton and Wool Reporter; Textile American; Brown Daily Herald; Rhode Island Historical Society Proceedings; Census Bureau's Sum- mary for 1914; Rhode Island Historical Society's Tracts; Report on the Archives of Rhode Island, Clarence S. Brigham. The Slater Trust Company hopes that you will find "Pawtucket Past and Present" interesting as well as instructive and also that you will deem this little brochure not unworthy of a permanent place in your library. Copies may be obtained until the supply is exhausted by calling upon, or addressing, SLATER TRpST COMPANY Pawtucket, R.I. January, 191 7. THE OLD SLATER MILL Built by Samuel Slater in 1793. Reproduction of a sketch made by H. L. Spencer, whose grandfather, Gideon L. Spencer, worked in the mill. From the collection of Job L. Spencer !*-■' JSESLT-"^*- : ? W-;:..»;'f;J%v..' ■ :■. ' THE OLD SLATER MILL AFTER ALTERATIONS From a print in the collection of Job L. Spencer THE OLD SLATER MILL AS IT IS TO-DAY From a photograph taken for the Slater Trust Company PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT Bull ILENCE, deep, vast, and unbroken save for the sounds of the forest, brooded for centuries over a fall of water that dashed its way into a stream in the midst of a wilderness. Indians broke a trail thither, and tradition says they named the place Pawtucket, meaning the "place of the waterfall."' The waters abounded in fish; the redmen built wig- wams and speared the salmon which had found the foaming rapids insurmountable and had congregated in the pools at the foot of the falls. And, days of fever and famine being forgotten in the midst of this munificence, the Indians held their revels there. The man who was destined to name the river that flows through William Pawtucket rode down from Massachusetts to Rhode Island on a Blackstone brindled bull. His name was William Blackstone; and he settled \n an( {his 1623 on the peninsula of Shawmut, where Boston now is. After the „ „ ^ arrival of Winthrop at Charlestown in 1630, Blackstone invited him to bring to Shawmut his company, which was rapidly dying because of the poor water supply. Soon Blackstone's peaceful peninsula became too crowded for him, and the religious dissensions too boresome. So he mounted his bovine steed, and came to Rhode Island, explaining his course thus: — "I came from England because I did not like the Lords Bishops. I can't join you because I would not be under the Lords Brethren. I looked to have dwelt with my orchards and my books, and my young fawn and "my bull, in undisturbed solitude. Was there not room enough for all of ye? Could ye not leave the hermit in his corner?" In 1635 Blackstone settled at "Study Hill" in a place which the Indians called Wawepoonseag, now Lonsdale. He was a hermit; and the General Assembly of the Rhode Island Colony took measures, in answer to his petition in 1668, to protect him from the encroachments, of any "Lords Brethren" or others who might invade his premises. The Providence town records of 1671 have a reference concerning "Mr. Blackstone's river, " — the first time the name of the river as such is recorded. The first mention of Pawtucket in history is in connection with Roger Williams and an Indian chief. Williams gathered up his lares and penates in haste, and fled from the land of the witches (Salem,, PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT Massachusetts) in 1636, to avoid being seized and shipped back to England. According to the Salem authorities he was a heretic, and as such had no business in the Massachusetts Colony. To be beyond the reach of the long arm of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he settled in Providence. If Roger Williams ever viewed Pawtucket Falls, they were evidently not to his liking. He and the men who had come with him to Providence sought land suitable for farming and the pasturing of cattle. Pawtucket was wild. A great forest bordered it. Jagged ledges cut the banks of the stream; and such meadows as there were, were practically inaccessible. Miantonomi, a Narragansett chieftain, in his deed given to Williams granted the use of certain "meadows" up the stream of Pawtucket for a cow- pasture. The northern boundary of this territory was "the river and fields of Pawtucket," four miles from Providence. This is the first mention of Pawtucket in history, and the old_ deed probably refers to the land bordering the western bank of the river. p With a stage carefully set, having a luxuriant forest for a back- ' UC First ground, a foaming waterfall and the music of the wild all about for Settler an orchestra, enters now on the scene the first settler. He was Joseph Jenks, Jr., who blazed a trail through the virgin forest straight to the Falls, and in 1655, by building a forge on the south side of the Falls, he still further set the stage for the drama of one of the world's great- est industrial centres. He took advantage of the industrial resources of the wilderness, and his business grew; and in time four sturdy sons, who became well-known men in Pawtucket, helped him. His frame-house, it is said, stood on the west side of East Avenue, over- looking the forge. Day by day, as Jenks's anvil awakened the echoes of the lofty forest, a village grew about the forge, and the power of the Blackstone River was gladly used by those first settlers. A score of years passed, and King Philip's War broke out. The little settlement of Pawtucket was scattered, its virgin forest black- ened by fire, and Joseph Jenks's forge destroyed by the Indians. Pierce's fight, one of the most disastrous engagements of the war, took place in what was then Rehoboth, but is now territory lying east of Pawtucket. The Indians had been committing great dep- redations throughout that part of the colony, and Captain Michael Pierce's company, composed of more than fifty English and a score of friendly Indians, were sent by the government at Plymouth to resist the invaders. Captain Pierce stopped at Rehoboth over night; and the following day, "having intelligence in his garrison at Seaconicke that a party of the enemy lay near Mr. Blackstone's, he went forth with 65 English and 20 Cape Indians." In the woods near by he found four or five Indians, who pretended to be lame. This proved to be a stratagem to draw the English farther into am- bush; and soon a large company of Indians, headed by Canonchet, a Narragansett chief, were discovered. Captain Pierce's command was surrounded by the enemy; and, as he began to retreat, the four hundred Indians closed in on him. The brave Englishman formed his men into a circle, each man four paces from the other, and thus presented in every direction a front PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT to the enemy. As a contemporary said, "Captain Pierce cast his men into a ring, and fought back to back, and were double-double distance all in one ring, whilst the Indians were as thick as they could stand thirty deep." For many hours Captain Pierce fought valiantly, his men in perfect order and the Indians at a good distance. He was finally slain, overpowered by the numbers of the enemy; and with him fell fifty-five English and ten Indians. The captain fell "earlier than many of the others." Amos, "one of the friendly Indians," had fought by his leader's side "until affairs had become utterly desperate," and then escaped by blackening his face with powder to imitate the enemy. Canonchet later, in attempting to leap from stone to stone near the bridge at Pawtucket Falls, slipped on a wet stone, fell, and was easily captured. Some of the same line of stone may be seen to-day at the Falls. The Indian paths converged at the Falls. Long before a bridge was erected the travel between Massachusetts and Rhode Island was facilitated by this crude stone path. King Philip's War ended, Joseph Jenks returned to Pawtucket and again established his forge. As time went on social and indus- trial ties grew up between Seekonk, on the Massachusetts side of the Falls, and Pawtucket, on the Rhode Island side, and bound closely the two sides of the river. The stepping-stones across the river served to cement the friendliness, and each community desired a bridge. Pawtucket had become a centre of trade and travel. In- deed, Washington Street in Boston led directly to Pawtucket; and so it does to-day, keeping its name all the way. Joseph Jenks, son of the first settler, who afterward became gov- ernor of Rhode Island, wrote to Governor Cranston, asking that a bridge might be placed at the Falls. The Assembly of the colony of Rhode Island found on investigation that the Falls were truly a very suitable place for a bridge; and so one of the earliest bridges in the country was built there in 171 3 at a cost of £223 14s. lid. Joseph Jenks may have superintended the construction. Massachusetts by a vote of her General Court paid one-half of the cost, and built a road leading to the bridge. Soon after trouble began, and the bridge for years was a bone of contention between the two States; for both Massachusetts and Rhode Island claimed all of the land west of the Providence and Blackstone Rivers. With a divided responsibility after a time the bridge got badly out of repair, and the records run that it was "a trap to endanger men's lives." Rhode Island accord- ingly called upon Massachusetts to help in the repairs. When the latter colony paid no heed to this appeal Rhode Island asked if Massachusetts would not at least help tear down the old bridge. To this the bigger colony responded half-heartedly, and some men were sent to demolish the "trap" that was endangering the lives of those who crossed it. The iron from the old bridge was sold, and the money received for it divided equally between the two colonies. So quarrelsome, however, did the neighbors become over the ques- tion of the land that the king was asked to settle the dispute, and he appointed commissioners from the northern colonies, including Captain Pierce and his Fight with the Indians in King Philip's War Building of the First Bridge over the Falls •~Ji PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT New York, New Jersey, and Nova Scotia, as well as the New England Massachu- colonies. The commission met and listened to, and maybe slept setts and through, long reports of surveyors. They examined records and Rhode Island charters. Innumerable lawyers — leading men of their day — argued dispute their the matter, and a decision in favor of Rhode Island was given. Neither colony was satisfied and, like veritable dogs in a manger, they growled until the king ordered them to be silent and commanded that the judgment of the court be adhered to. William Jenks, who helped to tear down the bridge, rebuilt it in Disagree- 1735 and received £100 for his work; and as Massachusetts paid ment over half of this sum the colonies were again connected. The toll troubles the Second shortly after that began and the old boundary question was once f e more agitated. Tax collectors who were found on the disputed ter- r ™ c es a ritory were arrested and put in jail. An armed force came over from Q taae Massachusetts and arrested two Rhode Island men. Immediately a messenger was despatched to the governor and Massachusetts prisoners were taken by the Rhode Islanders. Providence prepared to take up arms over the matter. Legislative bodies argued the boundary question. It was finally agreed to lay the dispute before judges outside of both colonies; if the bodies failed to agree, the matter was to be brought before Parliament. Up to 1840, when the State of Rhode Island assumed the responsibility of bridge repairs, the bills were paid sometimes by the General Assembly and some- times by the town of North Providence, before the long-standing dispute concerning the boundaries between Rhode Island and Massa- chusetts was finally settled in i860, when the town of Pawtucket was ceded to Rhode Island. The change was consummated on March 1, 1862. Fall River, Rhode Island, was given to Massachusetts in exchange for the greater portion of Pawtucket in Massachusetts and the western part of Seekonk, which was named East Providence after its annexation. The bridge was frequently the victim of freshets, three of which Disastrous are mentioned in "Nathaniel Jenks, Jr.'s Book": — Freshets "February ye 12 1732/3 The bridge at petucket falls was carried away with the ise. "January 23rd day 1738 The bridge at petucket falls went A Way ye 2 time. "January ye 14th 1741 ye bridge mill and shoups was carried A Way with ye flood of ise." The worst freshet that Pawtucket has ever known occurred on a Sunday in February, 1807, when the town was shocked by hearing the rush of waters near the bridge. The houses on the banks of the Blackstone River had always been thought high enough to shield them from destruction by the river in its swollen seasons. All night long the surging waters roared through the town. Families were hur- ried from their homes to places of safety as the angry flood seized shops and houses like straws and whirled them away. The cold gray light of Monday morning dawned upon the town. Some one called out: — "Turn out! Turn out! The water is running around Jerahmeel Jenks's stone wall!" PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Photo Collection of Cliarles S. Foster VIEW BELOW THE FALLS LOOKING SOUTH ABOUT 1850 Showing the Pardon Jenks carpenter shop on the rock at the right, with the Jesse Thornton lumber yard and Pawtucket landing below Incidents of Stephen Jenks, tall, commanding, aided in the rescue. A mother the Freshet an( j ^ er f or tnight-old baby were carried in a chair from a house °' about which already the water was dashing. John Pitcher with his daughter and little grandson stayed in his house until the Sunday evening before. The daughter, becoming frightened at the roar of water and crash of ice, said that she did not dare to stay in the house longer, especially as the connection with the western shore was cut off. "Let us go, father!" she pleaded. "The bridge yet stands, and we may cross. I fear this dreadful flood!" While her father hesitated, she hastily wrapped her baby in a shawl, and, springing to the door, ran toward the bridge and crossed its rocking planks. After leaving the baby on the other side, she snatched a lantern and returned for her father. She found him dazed by the noise of the water. "Come, father, come!" she said; and, crossing the rapidly tum- bling bridge, she led him safely to the other side. Hardly had they stepped there when masses of ice swept away the last remnant of the bridge. Fourteen buildings were lost that February, and no flood before or since has been more destructive. The industrial life of Pawtucket, begun by Joseph Jenks, Jr., in 1655, was given a start in another direction when Samuel Slater in PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT 1790 came from England, and successfully built the Arkwright models. ,1 for cotton machinery. Slater's enterprise brought the attention ry , ami of two continents to Pawtucket, and contributed largely to the fame of the city. A half-century after Slater's arrival a political upheaval occurred in Rhode Island, known as the Dorr War. Thomas W. Dorr in 1841 took the law into his own hands, and tried to obtain a more liberal form of government and an extension of suffrage. An episode of this time concerns Pawtucket, where, on account of the riots that were brewing, martial law was proclaimed. Mr. Gideon L. Spencer with two other men was given control of the town. Mr. Spencer's son, Job L. Spencer, who at the time of the Dorr War was about nine years old, recalls incidents of the riots: — " I remember we had twenty-odd soldiers to our house at supper ^emtnxs- shortly after martial law was proclaimed in the town and that I c * nces °J t " ,e went down to the bake-house for a basket of bread. There was a riot, in Seekonk; and father, who had never fired a gun, took one and went off towards the bridge. He spent most of that night driving into Providence for soldiers, being able each trip to bring four. It was a cold rainy night, and mother was dreadfully worried, not know- ing where father was nor how much damage the rioters were doing. She sat by the window all night and frequently from those who- objected to martial law she heard such remarks as 'Let's fire his barn!' meaning father's. "Captain Alvin Jenks headed the volunteer company and he con- stantly told his men, as brickbats flew from the Massachusetts side of the bridge right and left, 'Keep cool, boys, keep cool!' When some- thing hit him in the head, he called quick and sharp to his men, 'Fire, boys, fire!'" The document containing the signatures of the Pawtucket men who. volunteered to serve their town during this time was given by Mr. J. L. Spencer to the Daughters of the American Revolution for the Daggett house in Slater Park. The only bloodshed that occurred during the Dorr War took place in Pawtucket, when some of the militia fired into a crowd of rioters, and killed Alexander Kelby, who was not a participant in the trouble. March 27, 1885, Pawtucket was incorporated a city, with Frederic C. Pawtucket Sayles as the first mayor. Mr. Sayles was the brother and business, becomes partner of William F. Sayles and was a prominent citizen of the l town, having been a major of the Pawtucket Light Guard, which sent a great number of men into the Civil War. He was a director of the Slater National Bank, the first signer of a call for a Business Men's Association in Pawtucket, and later he became the first president of the organization. The Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library of Pawtucket was given to the city by Mr. Sayles in memory of his wife.. Since Pawtucket was incorporated a city, great strides have been taken by its industries. The tax list for 1916 gives a total valuation of $60,660,566. The value of products in 1914 was $42,020,000. The population of Pawtucket is 55,000. From year to year the increase in industry has been steady. No booms have occurred in the city s PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT The growth has been normal, and always steady. Pawtucket has been called " the city of diversified industries," and a remarkable fact concerning the city is its lack of unemployed men and women. If a certain industry is dull, there are always other industries ready to engage hands. The whole community is never unemployed. Of all the historic spots in Pawtucket, the Falls probably are the most interesting. The Slater Mill inspires a keen interest, and also the building where Samuel Slater established the first Sunday school in America. The old Daggett house in Slater Park, which dates from 1685, has been purchased by the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, who have collected and placed in it many articles of historic interest. With these brief glimpses of the growth of Pawtucket, we pass to the story of Pawtucket's industries. Growth of Pawtucket THE STORY OF THE COTTON INDUSTRY IN PAWTUCKET Pawtucket is the birthplace of cotton manufacture in America and Samuel Slater has been called "the father" of that industry. Slater was the son of a yeoman farmer of Belper, Derbyshire, England, where he was born, June 9, 1768. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to Jedediah Strutt, who with Sir Richard Arkwright had erected a factory at Milford, a short distance from Belper. Young Samuel Slater had received a fair education. He "wrote well and was quick at figures," — a fact which probably was the reason that his father placed him, instead of his elder brother, with Mr. Strutt. In this factory at Belper young Slater worked eight years, diligently applying himself to the business. He became superintendent in Strutt's mill where he gained a complete knowledge of the Arkwright machines. America in the mean time had no adequate machinery with which to manufacture cotton. American capitalists were eager to introduce the spinning of cotton by power here; but England, jealous of her industrial prestige, arrested any inventors or artisans who sailed to the United States. Every person leaving her shores was carefully searched. If models or plans were found, they were destroyed and the offenders imprisoned. Young Samuel Slater, having served his apprenticeship, looked eagerly toward America as a field offering great opportunities. He believed that in this country there were more chances for advance- ment than there were in England. In a Philadelphia paper he read an account of a bounty of £100 paid by the legislature of Pennsyl- vania to a man who had imperfectly succeeded in constructing a card- ing-machine to make rolls for jennies. His stock in trade was the knowledge of the Arkwright models that he carried in his head. He left home without telling his mother of his intentions and sailed from London on September 13, 1789. After a passage of sixty-six days he arrived in New York, November 18. With the energy of a young man of twenty-one he secured employment with the New York Manu- Samuel Slater, " The Father oj American Cotton Man-uf act- Slater comes to America PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT Moses Brown engages Slater Slater begins the Manu- facture of Cotton Machinery and Cotton Spinning in America facturing Company but was dissatisfied with the water-power there. It happened, however, that through the captain of a Providence packet he learned of Moses Brown's interest in the manufacture of cotton. Moses Brown, the founder of Brown University, . was a wealthy merchant of Providence, retired from a business in which he carried on an extensive East India trade. At the time of Slater's arrival in this country Mr. Brown was interested in the cotton industry. He had purchased and installed at Pawtucket imperfect machinery; and there his two relatives, William Almy and Smith Brown, were trying to establish cotton-spinning. "I flatter myself," wrote Slater to Mr. Brown, "that I can give the greatest satisfaction in making machinery." A favorable answer was returned; and in January, 1790, he com- pleted an arrangement with Almy and Brown to go to Pawtucket. Mr. Brown, in relating the first interview with Samuel Slater, said: "When Samuel saw the old machines, he felt downhearted with dis- appointment, and shook his head, and said, 'These will not do: they are good for nothing in their present condition, nor can they be made to answer.' "'Thee said,' urged Moses Brown, 'that thee could make machinery. Why not do it?'" The young man said that he would undertake to construct the machine embodying the Arkwright patents. "Under my proposals," he added, "if I do not make as good yarn as they do in England, I will have nothing for my services but will throw the whole of what I have attempted over the bridge." In a shop in what was then Quaker Lane and is now East Avenue, just above Joseph Jenks's original forge, Samuel Slater with meagre assistance began the manufacture of the Arkwright models. His pay was a dollar a day. The windows of the small shop where he worked were shuttered and the doors barred, and every effort was made to keep the project secret. His patterns were made of wood, and the motive power was furnished by a wheel laboriously turned by a negro named Primus. Sylvanus Brown was employed as the wood-worker and David Wilkinson furnished the iron-work. Every forenoon Moses Brown, in a carriage drawn by a span of horses and driven by a colored man, rode over from Providence to see how things were getting on. The task Mr. Slater chose was by no means an easy one. It may be imagined that the only ray of light that streamed across his days was shed by Hannah Wilkinson, daughter of Oziel Wilkinson, in whose house Slater boarded. Hannah Wilkinson later became Mrs. Slater, and it is recorded that she caught her first glimpse of the young mechanic by peering cautiously through the keyhole of his workshop and that Samuel Slater, on turning, found looking at him a pair of roguish eyes and at once he loved their owner and vowed to win her. The achievements of Mr. Slater and his contributions to the cotton industry probably would have been immeasurably lessened, had he not had the close co-operation of his wife, Hannah Wilkinson Slater. A new era was opening for America in that little shop near the Pawtucket Falls. Samuel Slater was reproducing the famous Ark- PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Photo Collection of Frederick W. Easton PAWTUCKET FALLS AND MAIN STREET BRIDGE ABOUT 1850 The mill on the right next to the bridge is the "Yellow Mill"; the stone mill next to it was torn down in 1887. On the left, next to the bridge, is the "New Mill," on the site of the Brownell Building. In front of it is the Pardon Jenks carpenter shop wright machines which were to establish the cotton industry in the United States. "Samuel, thee hast done well," said Moses Brown, when the machines were completed. A new agreement was drawn up, dated April 5, 1790, and a partner- ship formed between William Almy, Smith Brown and Samuel Slater, for the purpose of engaging in "the spinning of cotton by water." So much yarn was produced during the first year by this new method of spinning that in the latter part of 1792, though every effort was made to dispose of the product, several thousand pounds remained unsold. Then occurred the first panic in the American market for cotton yarns. "Thee must shut down thy wheels, Samuel, or thee will spin all my farms into cotton yarn," remonstrated Moses Brown. Slater sent some of his yarns to Strutt & Arkwright in England, who The First Machine- made Cotton Yarn PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT America s First Cotton Mill Samuel Slater organizes the First Sunday School in America President Andrew Jackson compliments Slater on establishing America's Cotton Industry pronounced them as good as their own product. The shop in which Mr. Slater made his first machinery and the small mill where it was later installed, have been torn down. The building, however, known as the Old Slater Mill, — the first cotton-mill in America — where Mr. Slater carried on an extensive business, still stands and may be seen from Main Street bridge. The building is owned by Job L. Spencer. Another building, closely associated with Mr. Slater, still stands in Pawtucket and is interesting because here Mr. Slater organized in 1799 the first Sunday school in America. This school was conducted in connection with his mill, and the idea of it occurred to Mr. Slater on a Sunday morning when, as he was leaving his house, he heard several boys, employed in his mill, debating about robbing a farmer's orchard some miles distant. "Boys, what are you talking about?" he may have asked. "Bill wants to go up to Smithfield and rob Mr. Arnold's orchard, and Nat says he don't think it right to rob orchards on Sunday." "I don't, either," responded Mr. Slater. "I'll propose something better than that. You go into my house. Pll give you as many apples as you want and Pll keep Sunday school." Mr. Slater's Sunday school was patterned after that of Robert Raikes. Reading, writing and arithmetic were taught. Years after- ward a Captain Dexter said, "Our lesson-books were five Webster's spelling-books and our library consisted of three New Testaments." Establishing as he did the first cotton factory in this country, Mr. Slater had the whole market to himself. There was a great demand for the product of his mill and frequently goods were paid for months before he could deliver the order. At the time he died, he owned the Steam Mill at Providence, a third of the manufacturing village of Slatersville and all of the town of Webster. In Mr. Slater's later years he was largely interested in both woolen-mills and machine- shops. More than half a century after the inception of the cotton industry in Pawtucket, President Andrew Jackson said to Mr. Slater: — "I understand you taught us how to spin, so as to rival Great Britain in her manufactures; you set all these thousands of spindles at work, which I have been delighted to view and which have made so many happy by lucrative employment." "Yes, sir," said Samuel Slater, "I suppose I gave out the psalm and they have been singing it ever since." Bonaparte never pursued schemes of conquest more assiduously than did Samuel Slater his business. With him there was no second object on which to divide his thoughts. Like a shrewd, worldly man, he never boasted of riches. When the President of the United States once visited Slater, he told him that he understood he had made a very large fortune. "Why," said Mr. Slater, "I have made a competency." Samuel Slater was wont to say, " Sixteen hours' labor a day, Sundays excepted, for twenty years has been no more than fair exercise." To Hannah Slater, who is considered by many to have been no small factor in the success of her husband, Samuel Slater, belongs PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT a From a Photo Collection of Charles S. Foster PAWTUCKET FALLS AND BRIDGE ABOUT 1859 Sam Patch's first high jump was from the mill on the right, then known as the "Yellow Mill" and owned by Eliphalet Stack and others. It was torn down about 1892. On the left is the high building called the "New Mill," also razed about 1892. The wooden building overhanging the river is the carpenter shop of Pardon Jenks the honor of beginning the cotton-thread industry in America. Mrs. Slater came of the famous Wilkinson family, who were noted for their inventions. Possibly by chance, maybe by intent, comely Hannah Slater spun yarn from Surinam cotton. "It is not very smooth," she is reputed to have said to her sister; "but would it not make good thread?" With the help of her sister she twisted some of it on the spinning- wheel, with the result that she made a very good grade of 20 two-ply thread. "Let us try it on these seams and see if it is as strong as linen thread," she further suggested. It proved to be much stronger. And the outcome of the experiment was that the first sewing-thread ever made of cotton was manufactured Hannah Slater and the Begin- ning of the Thread Industry 13 Frotn a Photo Collection of Job L. Spencer PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Photo Taken for Slater Trust Company THE HOUSE WHERE SAMUEL SLATER STARTED THE FIRST SUNDAY-SCHOOL IN AMERICA Now standing on North Main Street by Samuel Slater, assisted by his wife, in 1793. To Mr. Slater is ascribed the introduction, in 1794, °f tne cotton-stocking yarn in this country. THE PRESENT LEADING MANUFACTURERS OF COTTON GOODS The founder of the Union Wadding Company was Darius Goff, The Union who at the age of twenty-four, in 1833, had accumulated money Wadding enough to buy, in partnership with his brother Nelson, the Union Company Cotton Mills in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Here they commenced to manufacture cotton batting from waste purchased of the Lonsdale Company of Providence, Rhode Island. Soon after they conceived the idea of making glazed wadding, and the process was described as being identical with that used in the manufacture of wadding to-day. As early as 1836 Mr. Goff had given special attention to the busi- ness of buying and selling cotton waste, which up to this time had been thrown away; and he formed a partnership with Mr. George Lawton of Boston, under the firm name of George Lawton & Co., to deal in that class of stock while manufacturing wadding in Reho- 15 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Photo Collection of Charles S. Foster THE SLATER AND OTHER MILLS AT THE UPPER FALLS ABOUT THE TIME OF THE CIVIL WAR both. The mill was burned in 1846, and Mr. GofF moved to Paw- tucket. The firm of George Lawton & Co. bought a mill on the site of the present Wadding Company's property, fitted it with machinery, and began making wadding, which was continued by that firm until 1859, when the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Goff retaining the waste contracts with many mills, as well as the wadding mill property, Mr. Lawton deeding his interest therein to Mr. Goff. Formation Mr. Goff formed a partnership with John D. Cranston and Stephen of the Firm Brownell, both of Providence, under the firm name of Goff, Cranston 0} Goff, & Brownell, to do a general waste business, intending to engage in Cranston bf tne wadding business alone. At this juncture, in i860, Henry A. Brownell Stearns, then a young man of thirty-five, who had been connected with the Stearns & Foster Company of Cincinnati for two years previous, applied to him for a situation; and, as Mr. Goff was alone, he en- gaged him as superintendent, giving him a financial interest in the business. Shortly after Mr. Goff gave his partners a financial in- terest in the mill. The wadding business had been carried on by the firm of George Lawton & Co. under the name of the Pawtucket Steam Wadding Mills, which name was continued until 1862, when the concern was given its present name. Growth of The business was carried on as a partnership until 1870, when it the was incorporated with a capital of $300,000. Mr. Stearns was given Company an interest in the firm in 1872, and from that time the interests in 16 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Photo Collection of Charles S. Foster On the left is the "New Mill," now the site of the Brownell Building, and on the right is the Almy Building, in which the Slater Trust Company was first located. Date of print about 1859 the firm and in the Wadding Company were equal. Some of the partners becoming financially involved, the firm was dissolved in 1879, the stocks of two of the partners being purchased by Mr. Goff and his son Lyman B. The original officers were: Darius Goff, president; Stephen Brownell, treasurer; Henry A. Stearns, super- intendent. Mr. Brownell resigned as treasurer, and Mr. Henry B. Metcalf was elected to that position, which he held for a short time to assist Mr. Goff in the liquidation of the firm. In 1880 the two businesses were merged, and carried on under the name of the Union Wadding Company. Lyman B. Goff was elected to the position of treasurer in 1880, taking charge also of the executive and administra- tive departments. In 1887 he purchased for the company the entire capital stock of p urc ^ ase the Riverside Mills of Augusta, Georgia, thus assuming the most J the extensive waste business in the country. The wadding part of the Riverside business has not increased materially in the past twenty-five years, Mills 17 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT while the merchandising part has shown a wonderful development, its sales running into the millions. In 1891 Mr. Darius Goff died, and his son Lyman B. was elected president, which position he now holds; Mr. Stearns was elected vice-president, and Mr. George M. Thornton, who had served as assistant treasurer for several years, was elected treasurer. Mr. Stearns died in 1910; and Mr. Kenneth F. Wood was elected first vice-president, and Mr. George R. Stearns was elected second vice- president. The treasurer, Mr. Thornton, died in 1916, and Mr. Edward E. Goff was elected assistant treasurer. The present directors are Lyman B. Goff, Darius L. Goff, Patrick E. Hayes, George R. Stearns, Kenneth F. Wood, and George E. Barnard. Mr. Lyman B. Goff is among the few business men of the city, who, born in 1841, have witnessed the remarkable growth of Pawtucket's industries and have had a personal interest in many of them; his gift to the Pawtucket Boys' Club being evidence of his very real interest in the city's present and future welfare. He purchased in 1 891 the Morton estate, erected thereon a hand- some four-story building, 186 feet by 58 feet, and equipped it with a large swimming-tank, numerous shower-baths, play-rooms, two bowling-alleys, a gymnasium, a large auditorium, reading, class, and other rooms. This was built as a memorial to his son, Lyman Thorn- ton Goff, and the completed structure was deeded to the Pawtucket Boys' Club, which is incorporated under the laws of Rhode Island. On his seventieth birthday he endowed it with $25,000 and in his seventy-fifth year he gave to the city as a playground a tract of land in the centre of the city, valued at $25,000. Mr. Goff's gifts to churches, hospitals, and the various charitable organizations of the city have been numerous and substantial. Lorraine The Lorraine Manufacturing Company carries on an extensive Manu- business in the manufacture of cotton and worsted goods. The facturing concern was established in 1 88 1 as a branch of the business of W. F. Company & F. C. Sayles. An extension to an old mill was built on the south side of Mineral Spring Avenue, and cotton spinning and weaving machinery installed. A worsted-mill was erected on the north side of the avenue. In the course of time many additions have been made to the original buildings, and especial care has been taken to preserve the beauty of the grounds. In 1891 the company bought the Crefeld Mill at Westerly, Rhode Island; and, after making improvements and additions therein, the business was called the Westerly branch of the Lorraine Manufacturing Company. The product of the Lorraine is famous, many prizes having been awarded it at different exhibi- tions. United The United States Cotton Company, located in Central Falls, was States incorporated May, 1885, and manufactures extensively sateens and Cotton twills. The plant has an equipment of 80 cards, 1,600 looms, and company 58^200 ring spindles. The officers are: LeRoy Fales, president; J. Richmond Fales, secretary; Fred. W. Easton, treasurer; David Grove, superintendent and agent. The Burgess Mills were incorporated in 1906. They are equipped PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT with 1,500 looms, 60,000 ring and mule and 5,000 twister spindles. The production is fine combed cotton goods. The officers are: George A. Draper, president; George T. Greenhalgh, secretary and treasurer; Richard B. Snow, superintendent. The Waypoyset Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of cotton and silk novelties, was incorporated in 1907. The plant is equipped with 1,800 narrow looms and 35,000 ring spindles. The officers are: F. W. Easton, president; R. B. Easton, secretary; H. C. Barnefield, treasurer. The Darlington Textile Company was incorporated in 1912, and it produces cotton and silk corset cloth. The plant is equipped with 100 looms. Robert Midgley is factory manager and Norman Schloss is general manager and head of the business. Cotton, silk, and worsted novelties are manufactured by the Oswegatchie Textile Company, which was incorporated in 1913 . The plant is equipped with 16 broad and 74 narrow looms. The officers are: John T. Kirk, president; John W. Ramsbottom, secretary; Fred F. Halliday, Jr., treasurer; H. E. Bishop, agent and buyer. Cotton and silk mixed goods and novelty yarn of all kinds are made by the Ervma Weaving Company. The plant has 24 broad and 4 narrow looms and 1,300 twister spindles. G. C. Anderton is the proprietor. Burgess Mills Waypoyset Manufact- uring Company Darlington Textile Company Oswegatchie Textile Company Ervma Weaving Company MANUFACTURERS OF YARNS AND THREAD The Dexter Yarn Company was established in Pawtucket soon Dexter Yam after the time of Samuel Slater. Captain N. G. B. Dexter, who began Company the business, came to Pawtucket from Grafton, Massachusetts, in September, 1798. He used to say that the day he came he "saw the raising of the frame of the second mill here." Captain Dexter was employed by Almy, Brown & Slater and he remained with them thirty years. In 1820 he began to make knitting-cotton and had won considerable reputation as a cotton manufacturer when, ten years later, he entered business on his own account. Wilkinson, Greene & Co. built a stone mill at the end of the upper dam in 1813, and this building eventually became a part of what is to-day the Dexter Yarn Company. In the front of the mill may now be seen, cut in the stone, the following inscription: "Erected 181 3." The land on which the Dexter Yarn plant now stands belonged to Massa- chusetts a hundred years ago, and was a bone of contention for a long time between that State and Rhode Island. Simon W. Dexter, who was taken into the firm by his father, Captain Dexter, in 1844 went on the road as agent; and during his first trip to New York he received an order from John W. Henchman & Co. for 44,000 pounds of knitting-yarn and an order from J. B. Spellman & Sons for 20,000 pounds. Afterward he sold 80,000 pounds to the latter company. This was the beginning of great success for the firm. The company suffered severely from fire losses before its in- corporation in 1880. The old mill was originally four stories. This 19 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT S. it [3 C i EE 1 6 k te fe il'll SI 1 11.11 Fro»z o Photo THE DEXTER MILL, 1840-1873 Present site of the Slater Trust Company building Collection of H. W. Fitz was practically destroyed by fire. An entirely new front was built and many additions have been made. The plant employs 350 hands. Carded and combed yarns are manufactured, mercerized cotton and specialties for the dry-goods and notion trade, also the Dexter knitting-cotton, one of the com- pany's recognized specialties and a standard article in the market. The officers are: William H. Park, president; Joseph L. Brennan, secretary; S. Willard Thayer, treasurer and general manager; John C. Shaw, superintendent. Greene & The Greene & Daniels Company was founded in the village of Central Daniels Falls, Rhode Island, in 1840 by Benjamin F. Greene and four others. Company They started to spin coarse cotton yarns in a small mill of 600 spindles. In 1845 Mr. Greene sold out his interests, and moved to Mapleville, Rhode Island, starting a mill of 1,250 spindles. Here the business continued to grow; and in 1850, needing larger facilities, it was moved to Shannock, Rhode Island, where a mill of 2,000 spindles was started. In 1853 Horace G. Daniels, who had acted as book-keeper and assistant superintendent, was admitted to partnership. Up to this time the mill had sold its product to others to be wound and put on the market but now it began to wind and sell its own goods. The business increasing, it was forced in 1855 to move back to Central Falls, Rhode Island, where a much larger plant was leased for a period of ten years. It was at this time Mr. Daniels invented PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Drawing Collection of Slater Trust Company THE PRESENT BUILDING OF THE SLATER TRUST COMPANY a dressing-machine for polishing thread. Soon after their "Ivory Finish Spool Cotton" was put on the market. It soon became a household word, and made the concern well known throughout the country. In i860 the first part of the present mill was built in Pawtucket. It was enlarged in 1865, and has been enlarged several times since. The business was incorporated in 1876 as the Greene & Daniels Manufacturing Company. Mr. Daniels died in 1876, and Mr. Greene in 1887. In 1912 the business was reorganized as the Greene & Daniels Co., Inc., the present officers being Clark W. Holcomb, president, and William H. Gidley, treasurer. The present capacity is 44,850 spindles, consisting of 35,872 ring and 8,978 mule spindles. It manu- factures high grade combed American and Sea Island single and ply yarns from 20's to 40's put up in skeins, tubes, cones, section beams and ball warps. Though the Slater interests were removed from Pawtucket many Slater years ago, the Slater Yarn Company — an outgrowth of an establish- Yarn ment in 1863 by W. F. & F. C. Sayles — perpetuates the name of Company Slater in this city. The company manufactures cotton yarns and has an equipment of 24,750 ring and 27,700 mule spindles and 3 boilers. The officers are: Frank A. Sayles, president; Charles O. Read, vice-president; E. E. Dodge, secretary; Andrew E. Jenckes, treasurer; Joseph Mercer, agent. PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT J.& P. The J. & P. Coats Company comprises five large mills, equipped Coats with 105,000 spindles, employing 2,500 hands. G. Bion Allen is the Company general manager. The Pawtucket branch of this concern was once the Conant Thread Company, which was established by Hezekiah Conant. About 1868, after Mr. Conant had worked nine years with the Willimantic Thread Company of Connecticut, he came to Paw- tucket with the idea of beginning a similar industry here. Having interested several men in this proposition, with a capital of $30,000 he began the manufacture of thread. That year Mr. Conant inter- viewed the J. & P. Coats people, and convinced them that it would be to their advantage to establish a thread business in the United States. The following year a new company was formed, and the manufacture of the J. & P. Coats famous six-cord spool cotton was begun. From time to time new mills were added until to-day there are five, covering nearly fifty acres. It is claimed that this is the largest business establishment in Pawtucket, and that no industry in the city has contributed more toward the welfare of the working- people. E. Jenckes The E. Jenckes Manufacturing Company had grown to such an extent Manufact- that in 1905 it was thought advisable to make a division and to set off a uring part of the works as the Jenckes Knitting Machine Company, while Company the spinning of yarn and the weaving of cloth were to be carried on and the by t h e Jenckes Spinning Company. Prior to this time — about 1887 — the E. Jenckes Manufacturing Company absorbed the Woon- v socket Yarn Company and the Slater Stocking Company. The Tamarack Company was formed in 1908 for the purpose of weaving silk dress goods. In October, 191 5, the Tamarack Company bought the old Gage plant, in which for a number of years had been operated the American Yarn Manufacturing Company. The old plant was modified, partially rebuilt, and additions made, so that now there is a first-class spinning-mill of 35,000 spindles. In 1916 the company commenced the erection of a million-dollar spinning and weaving shed on Conant Street. The mill will have 53,000 spindles, and the finished product will be tire fabrics. The officers of the Jenckes Spinning Company, and also of the Tamarack Company, are: LeRoy Fales, president; Robert J. Jenckes, vice-president; Frederick L. Jenckes, treasurer; J. Willard Baker, secretary. Crown The Crown Manufacturing Company manufactures peeler and Manufact- Egyptian yarn from 20's to 6o's. It was organized June 23, 191 1, uring under the laws of Rhode Island. The mill is located just over the ompany R n0 cl e Island line in South Attleboro. The original mill was built for 30,000 spindles, and the company is now at work on an addition to its factory which will double the number of spindles. The officers are: Lyman B. Goff, president; K. F. Wood, vice-president; B. C. Chace, Jr., general manager; Edward E. Leonard, secretary and Pawtucket treasurer. Warp The Pawtucket Warp Company manufactures cotton and mer- Company cerized yarns. John Fallow is the manager. PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Photo Collection of Charles S. Foster MAIN STREET LOOKING WEST FROM NORTH MAIN STREET ABOUT 187s The proprietor of the Shaker Thread Company is Harry A. War- Shaker burton, and the products are spool cotton and sewing-silk. Company MANUFACTURERS OF NARROW FABRICS The Hope Webbing Company, founded in 1883 and incorporated Hope _ in 1889, manufactures, dyes and bleaches cotton, worsted, linen, webbing and silk narrow fabrics and non-elastic fabrics. It is the largest Company narrow-fabric plant in America. At the present time the company has 1,000 narrow-fabric looms, also 250 braiders. The first plant, having ten looms and fifteen employees, was installed in Providence. In seven years the equipment was increased to 60 looms, and in 1890 the plant was moved from Providence to Pawtucket. At this time the number of looms was increased to 108. The plant was enlarged several times during the years 1890-1912. At present the com- pany has 1,000 narrow-fabric looms, and it employs more than that number of hands. The officers are: Charles Sisson, president; 23 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT Charles A. Horton, general manager; Charles C. Marshall, treasurer; Attmore A. Tucker, secretary; Percy T. Phillips, superintendent. The John J. Kenyon Manufacturing Company makes braids, spool Kenyon ta p eSj s h oe an( j cor set laces. The plant is equipped with 60 looms urin and . 6o ° braiders - The officers are: R. A. Kenyon, president; G. H. Company Davis, secretary; John F. Kenyon, superintendent. The company " was incorporated in 1897. W hh ^ e Smith Webbing Company was incorporated in 1898. It has ' m Z an equipment of 200 looms, and manufactures narrow fabrics. The - officers are: Frank R. Parsons, president; Allan F. Grant, secretary; E. H. Parsons, treasurer. Shannock The Shannock Narrow Fabric Company manufactures trimming tapes, mercerized shoe and hat ribbons, and all kinds of fine and fancy ~ c tapes. It also makes a specialty of fine corset trims. Nearly all the A product is fine goods. The plant was started in 1899 at Shannock, R.I., by John Crowther and Chas. S. King. Mr. Crowther has been the treasurer and manager since it started, and is the active execu- tive head of the company, with his residence in Pawtucket, R.I. Mr. King is in business in New York, and sells a large part of the product of the plant. It has grown from a plant that had twelve looms and about sixteen hands until now there are sixty-four looms with about one hundred hands. A year ago the plant was rebuilt and enlarged, and now is a fine brick building. The inside is all white, making an ideal place for manufacturing. The machinery and equipment are the finest that can be bought, and are well adapted to their purpose. The present officers are Chas. S. King, president, C. S. Davisson, vice-president, John Crowther, treasurer and manager. Lacings and braids are made by the Providence Braid Company, d which has an equipment of 1,500 braiders. The company was incor- y porated in 1904. H. B. Huntoon is president and treasurer. Glencaim Silk, cotton, and mercerized flat shoe-laces and narrow fabrics are Manufact- manufactured by the Glencairn Manufacturing Company, which was § incorporated in 1908. The officers are as follows: J. N. Alexander, in y president; William Newman, vice-president; J. G. Brown, treasurer; J. P. Brown, secretary. Vienna Elastic braids and tapes are made by the Vienna Braid and Tape Braid Company, which was incorporated in 1908. The officers are: Jessie Wilson, president and treasurer; W. M. P. Bowen, secretary; George - T. Brennan, manager. The Rhode Island Textile Company was organized by J. H. Conrad, Island anc [ incorporated in 1913. The plant began operations with 75 braid- ing-machines, and this number has been increased to 500. The plant ■ has run night and day since operations were first begun; and on August 21, 1916, work was started in the new mill building, which has about 25,000 feet of floor space. This company specializes on fine white work, both mercerized cotton and silk; and the product consists chiefly of corset laces and laces for "middy blouses." The officers are: A. L. Kelley, president; J. H. Conrad, treasurer and general manager. 24 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT Pawtucket Tape Company Tubular Woven Fabric Company P awtucket Braided Line Company Lebanon Mill Company I nited States Knitting Company Lumb Knitting Company P awtucket Hosiery Company The officers of the Pawtucket Tape Company are: John F. Street, president; Charles F. Eddy, treasurer; R. A. Kenyon, agent. The company manufactures tape. It employs 50 hands and has 42 looms. The Tubular Woven Fabric Company manufactures circular-woven fabric. The officers are: William H. Thornley, president and treas- urer; William E. Sprackling, general manager. A. G. Hazard is the proprietor of the Pawtucket Braided Line Company, and the product is braided cotton, linen and silk fish-lines and shoe-laces. KNIT GOODS AND HOSIERY MANUFACTURERS The Lebanon Mill Company was established in 1859 and incor- porated in 1896. The products of the mill are rubber linings, astra- kans, jersey cloths, knitted fabrics, men's, women's, and children's flat-ribbed underwear, cloths for sweaters, golf vests, cardigans, and sweater coats. The plant is equipped with 170 spring-needle knitting- machines, 15 latch-needle knitting-machines, and 100 sewing-machines. The officers are: S. Willard Thayer, president; Alanson Thayer, treasurer; Edward Thayer, secretary. Astrakans, stockinets, eiderdowns, and rubber linings are made by the United States Knitting Company. George L. Miller is treasurer. Mr. Miller started the business in 1888. The Lumb Knitting Company was incorporated in 1903. The plant has an equipment of 90 knitting and 175 sewing machines. Women's ribbed underwear and union suits and infants' wrappers are manufactured. George H. Lumb, treasurer; Ralph G. Lumb, assistant treasurer; Elmer F. Hornby, secretary; E. P. Sheridan, super- intendent. The Pawtucket Hosiery Company makes silk, mercerized, and cash- mere seamless hosiery. The concern was incorporated in 191 1. The officers are: W. S. Carter, president; J. L. Jenks, secretary; George H. Lumb, treasurer; William Comery, agent. DYERS AND BLEACHERS A writer in Ballou's Pictorial, — a New York publication, — under the nom de plume "Neutral Tint," quoting the author of "Reminis- cences" about 1850, says, — "Fifty years ago, the Slater mill was young, and in vigorous opera- tion, to the astonishment of the inhabitants and multitudes of others, who went down to Pawtucket to witness its magical doings which consisted mostly in the manufacture of coarse yarns, to be wove by hand in all the surrounding country. These yarns sold at prices which would now astonish the natives of this or any other country, and yet so great was the demand for them, that for a long time it was impossible to fill the orders which came from all directions. The goods made from them on the country looms soon became the favorites of the country people, so much more durable were they than the old fabrics. From forty to fifty cents a yard were the ordinary prices 26 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Photo Collection of Charles S. Foster MAIN STREET ABOUT 1875 Looking west from junction with Broad Street. Showing the old Peter Warren House at the foot of Dexter Street for the coarse, heavy sheetings of this kind. No one then dreamed of looms to go by water power, and the first fixtures for that purpose were curious, high standing articles. The bleaching business was then truly in a state of nature, and the whole ground adjoining the old mill on the north side, where are now the omnibus stables of Messrs. Wetherell & Bennett, the leather works of Mr. Fairbrother, and many other buildings, was one great bleaching meadow, and Mother Cole, as she was familiarly called, was at the head of operations. Here this excellent and industrious old lady and her few assistants, with their watering-pots, drying sticks, and other simple contrivances, toiled 'from morn to noon, from noon to dewey eve,' and by a slow, laborious process, the cloths, and the yarns from brown to white began to turn." The oldest bleaching and dyeing establishment in Pawtucket, and Robert D. probably the first one established in New England, is the Robert D. Mason Mason Company. The business was begun in 1805 by Barney Merry, Company the grandfather of Frederic R. Mason, present head of the bleachery. After Mr. Merry's death, in 1847, his sons carried on the business. In 1866 Robert D. Mason was taken into the firm, then known as Samuel Merry & Co. On Samuel Merry's retirement in 1870 the firm was named the Robert D. Mason Company. Frederic R. Mason was taken into the company in 1889. Robert D. Mason served for many years on the Board of Water Commissioners of Pawtucket, and 27 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT he was closely associated with the growth and development of the city. The Robert D. Mason Company are bleachers, dyers, and mercerizers of cotton yarns in warps and skeins, also cotton tapes, braids, spool threads, knitting-cotton, stockinet, and jersey cloth. The officers are: Frederic R. Mason, president and treasurer; Will- iam J. Burton, secretary. The firm was incorporated in 1892. Pawtucket The Pawtucket Branch the United States Finishing Company, before Branch the its incorporation in 1899, was the Dunnell Manufacturing Company, United established in 1836 by Jacob Dunnell, Thomas J. Dunnell, and Na- States thaniel W. Brown. The business was carried on under the name ' of Jacob Dunnell & Co. until 1853, when the Dunnell Manufacturing in y Company was formed. For some years printing was done by hand- blocks and with machines of from two to four colors. Gradually machines were brought into use that would print up to twelve colors. In 1884 the plant added a building for the finishing of fancy bleached goods, also a dye-house. The Dunnell Company was reincorporated sixteen years ago as the Pawtucket Branch of United States Finishing Company. An extensive business in finishing cotton piece-goods is carried on at the plant. W. T. Joyce is resident manager, and R. K. Lyons is superintendent. Sayles Two or three miles north of Pawtucket is a small stream called the Finishing Moshassuck River. History says that in its vicinity took place the Plants Indian massacre that annihilated the company of Englishmen under Captain Michael Pierce. In December of 1847 the Pimbly Print Works, situated in the valley of this historic stream, were bought at auction by William F. Sayles, who purchased a mill privilege and converted the old works into a bleachery of shirtings and sheetings. Mr. Sayles was then about twenty-three years old. His father, Clark Sayles, was a prominent merchant in Pawtucket, and young Sayles, after having attended school at Fruit Hill and later spent two years at Phillips Academy, entered a commercial house in Provi- dence, where he was first book-keeper, then salesman and finally manager of the financial part of the business. Shortly after this advancement he purchased the small wooden buildings of the Pimbly Print Works. He started the bleaching of cotton cloth and grad- ually — for he had small means — enlarged his business and became successful. In 1848, having gotten well under way, Mr. Sayles bleached about a ton of cloth a day. The water of the Moshassuck River proved excellent for bleaching purposes. In 1854, having enlarged the bleachery considerably, about four tons of cloth a day were finished and there were from twelve to fifteen people on the pay-roll, which called for a disburse- ment of not much over two hundred dollars per month. On June 4, 1854, the works were destroyed by fire. The buildings were insured, and Mr. Sayles built a new and substantial plant for the prosecution of his business; and by i860 the operations had increased, so that about forty people were employed, with a monthly pay-roll of $1,200. The Civil War halted business of all kinds for a period, but from that time onward expansion was extensive and rapid. The works until 1 876 were for the bleaching and finishing of cotton cloth. About 28 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT that time were added buildings for dyeing and finishing both cottons and worsteds, and the new plant became the Glenlyon Dye Works. In 1890 there were 790 people on the pay-roll of both plants, which amounted to $26,000 a month; and at this time there are about twenty-seven hundred people on the pay-roll, with a monthly dis- bursement of nearly a hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. The two establishments constituted one business under one ownership. About 1900 Mr. Frank A. Sayles, who inherited this business from his father, W. F. Sayles, acquired a new establishment, only par- tially completed at the time, at Phillipsdale, on the east side of the Pawtucket River, in East Providence. This was completed and opened, and is still operated, having been greatly enlarged. Here the process of printing both cottons and silks was added to the bleaching, dyeing, and finishing of these fabrics which had before been established at Saylesville. These three properties — the Sayles Bleacheries, the Glenlyon Dye Works, and the works at Phillipsdale — are grouped under one management, known as the Sayles Finishing Plants; and it is the largest establishment of its kind in the world. The ownership is vested in Frank A. Sayles, there being no outside in- terests. The village which has grown up around the bleacheries is known as Saylesville. The product of the establishment in round numbers and briefly expressed was in i860 about five hundred thousand yards of cloth finished per week, in 1890 it was 1,800,000 yards, and at the present time nearly or quite six million yards. About the year 1863, William F. Sayles formed a partnership with his brother, Frederick C. Sayles; and for years the business was conducted under the firm name of W. F. & F. C. Sayles. The Sayles family has been a well-known benefactor of both Paw- tucket and Providence. The brothers, to meet the growing needs of the community, built at Saylesville, in memory of their deceased children, a chapel, overlooking their bleacheries. In 1877 William F. Sayles erected a stone tower on one corner of the chapel in memory of his son, William Clark Sayles, who died while a student at Brown University. In the same year the Messrs. Sayles built the Moshas- suck Valley Railroad, which runs from the bleachery to Woodlawn. A letter from William F. Sayles was read on Commencement Day at Brown University, 1878, in which he offered the university $50,000 for the erection of a building in memory of his son, William Clark Sayles, who, had he lived, would have been graduated from the university that year. Later the sum was increased to $100,000, and Sayles Memorial Hall was built. William F. Sayles was president of the Slater National Bank. He served several years as State senator, and was a trustee of Brown University and a lieutenant colonel of the Pawtucket Light Guard. William F. Sayles died in 1894, and by a provision in his will a fund was set apart for a suitable memorial to his wife and daughter. The form of the memorial was left to the discretion of his son, Frank A. Sayles, who erected the Memorial Hospital and presented the same to the corporation which now administers the work. Expansion of the Bleaching and Finish- ing Industry in Pawtucket after the Civil War Gifts to Pawtucket 29 SOME OF THE PLANTS OF THE Fales & Jenks Machine Co. LEADING INDUSTRIES OF TO-DAY PAW TUCKET PAST AND PRESENT Home The Home Bleach and Dye Works was established in 1881 and Bleach incorporated in 1902. Peter B. McManus purchased the plant of and Dye the Union Wadding Company some years ago, and since then he Works h as carried on an extensive business in the dyeing (stainless fast black and fancy colors), bleaching, and mercerizing of cotton yarns, braids, tapes, twines, cords, knitting-cotton, and threads. Peter B. McManus, president and treasurer; Edward J. McCaughey, secre- tary and manager. Eagle Dye The Eagle Dye Works carries on an extensive business in dyeing Works and finishing raw cotton, raw wool, and cotton yarn. The company was established in 1881 and incorporated in 1886. The officers are: Moses Pollard, president and treasurer; William J. Reid, vice-presi- dent; Leon F. Brown, secretary. Dempsey The Dempsey Bleachery and Dye Works was established by James Bleachery Dempsey and his sons, John J. and William P. Dempsey, in 1882. and Dye The company was incorporated in 1884. The beginning of this Works bleachery is interesting. James Dempsey worked up from small beginnings. He was born in Rathbran, county Wicklow, Ireland, where he worked on a farm until he was fourteen, when on small pay he was bound out as an apprentice to a firm in Dublin to learn the grain and provision business. In later years he started a store of his own in Ireland; but, owing to a flaw in his lease, he was obliged to abandon his venture, sell his goods, and try another enterprise in Dublin. He had a similar experience there, for he unknowingly rented an entailed estate. The legal inheritor seized his goods. His friends came to his rescue. Shortly after this Mr. Dempsey sailed for America. John "My brother and I landed," he said in after-years, "in New York Dempsey 's in June, 1 841, and came to Globe Village, where we got employment Reminis- m the print works in different departments. I soon gave up my cences mercantile aspirations, and made my best efforts to learn the practice and theory of the bleaching, dyeing, and printing business, which I accomplished with some drawbacks occasioned by hard times in the manufacturing business, causing shut-downs and that sort of thing for short periods. During the delays I invariably turned to something else to bridge over until business in my line should come right. The Globe Print Works shut down in the fall of '43. I bought an axe, went with a gray-haired negro and learned to chop timber at about the place where the Fall River Bleachery is now located." Some thirty-six years later Mr. Dempsey, on the very spot where he chopped wood when he had a lay-off in the bleaching business, helped Mr. Borden lay out the Fall River Bleachery, and was him- self one of the stockholders. Mr. Dempsey eventually came to Providence to work in the en- graving shop of the Old Cove Print Works, and remained there until the plant burned. After that he worked as teamster for the Cranston Stone Ledge Company until the Globe Print Works started up under a new management. He then returned, and remained until 1844, when the works shut down. In the fall of 1844 he helped get a 32 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT bleachery under way at Lonsdale, Rhode Island. He worked there twenty-two years, and then went to Millville, New Jersey, where he put into working order the Monantico Bleachery and Dye Works. From this plant he went to the Danvers Bleachery, which he renovated; and after that he moved to Lewiston, Maine, where he had charge of the Lewiston Bleachery and Dye Works. In later years he es- tablished the Dempsey Bleachery in Pawtucket. John J. and William P. Dempsey managed this bleachery after their father's death. John Dempsey died in 1898 and since that time William P. Dempsey has assumed the ownership and management of the plant. William H. McDermott is superintendent. The concern carries on an extensive business in bleaching, dyeing, and finishing cotton goods. The Pawtucket Dyeing and Bleaching Company, incorporated in 1889, dyes and bleaches cotton yarn (skeins and warps), tapes, and stockinet. It prepares special bleaches for knitted-underwear and the woven-fabric trade. The officers are: William Rapp, president; William W. Orswell, treasurer; F. A. Sargent, secretary. The Solway Dyeing and Textile Company makes the famous Man- hattan shirtings. It also manufactures fancy cottons. The plant is equipped with 550 broad looms. Dyeing and bleaching of cotton yarns (skeins and warps) and mercerizing are carried on extensively at the plant. The officers are: Robert Dow, treasurer and manager; Jules C. Levi, vice-president; Thomas T. Anderson, superintendent. The company was incorporated in 1907. The Acme Finishing Company was incorporated in 191 2. Bleach- ing, mercerizing, dyeing, printing, and finishing of cotton piece-goods are carried on at this plant. The officers are: J. V. Dart, president; A. F. Shaw, vice-president and general manager; F. A. Decker, secretary and treasurer. Dyeing, bleaching, and mercerizing of cotton yarns are carried on by the McKenzie, McKay Company. The company was incorpo- rated in 1914. The officers are: Joseph Quarmby, president; George McKenzie, vice-president; Frank G. Rowley, treasurer; Thomas H. Tarbox, secretary; Arthur A. Morfitt, superintendent. Dyeing and bleaching are also done by the Halliwell Company plant. The company was incorporated in 1916. William Halliwell, president; George W. Halliwell, vice-president; Mrs. C. A. Sherman, treasurer. The bleaching, dyeing, and finishing of worsted piece-goods and worsted yarns are done by the Richardson, Foster Company. The plant is located at Central Falls. The officers are: Ralph Colwell, president; George M. Baker, treasurer; L. C. Hollingworth, general manager. John Kinniburgh is the proprietor of the Le Bon Bleach and Dye Works. Dyeing, bleaching, and mercerizing of cotton yarns, cotton piece-goods, stockinets, rubber linings, tapes, threads, braids, hosiery, sheetings, and astrakans, are done here. Pawtucket Dyeing and Bleaching Company Solway Dyeing and Textile Company Acme Finis lung Company McKenzie, McKay Company Halliwell Company Richardson, Foster Company Le Bon Bleach and Dye Works 33 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT Joseph Jenks in 164.2 establishes the First Iron Works in America Jenks invents the Scythe Stories of the Jenks Familv THE STORY OF THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN PAWTUCKET Joseph Jenks, whose son built the first house and established the first industry in Pawtucket, was a notable master-mechanic of Lynn, Massachusetts, where in 1642 he established the first colonial iron- works of any importance. He was the first founder in the western continent who worked in iron and brass. It is said that Mr. Jenks came from England with Governor Winthrop, and that under his supervision the first iron foundry was set up in Lynn, and various tools and moulds were made. A boon to the housewives were the pots and kettles made by Joseph Jenks. In Lynn to-day is one of the first iron pots cast by him. The first patent issued in this country bears the date 1646, and it was granted by the Massachusetts General Court for fourteen years to Joseph Jenks. It was for an improved water-wheel, which meant a new kind of saw-mill. This saw-mill was the first one put up in this country. Besides, Jenks made the first fire-engine used in America, the first wire, the dies for the famous pine-tree shilling, — the earliest coinage minted in the colonies. He invented the scythe, and obtained a patent for it. Practically the same scythe is in use to-day. Before the idea of it occurred to him all the grain in the world had been cut with a little hand-sickle. Joseph Jenks thought about this for a time, and then said, "Why not make the blade straight and twice as long, and swing it with a handle worked by both hands?" His answer to the question was the invention of the "sithe" itself. This builder of the first machinery made in America, who has come down in history as "a man of great genius," was the precursor of a long line of distinguished inventors. First was his son, the founder of Pawtucket, Joseph Jenks, Jr.; and, in more recent years, Alvin Jenks, one of the founders of the firm of Fales & Jenks. A rep- resentative of this family in the present generation is Herbert Gould Beebe, grandson of Alvin Jenks and president of the Standard Engi- neering Works, who has taken out about twenty patents on the cotton machinery. The sons of Joseph Jenks, Jr., became distinguished men. Joseph was governor of Rhode Island from 1727 to 1742; Nathaniel attained the rank of major in military service; Ebenezer became a preacher; William, a judge. Of Nathaniel, who was active in the defence of Pawtucket against the Indians, are told many tales concern- ing his marvellous strength. He is said to have lifted "a forge hammer weighing 500 pounds, together with seven men thereon." At another time he (on his hands and knees) lifted upon his back timber judged to weigh 3,000 pounds. Still another story will bear repeating. They say that in Captain Nathaniel Jenks's time a high board fence with great gates was built across the western abut- ment of Pawtucket bridge to protect the town against the spread of small-pox from Boston. A stranger came to Captain Jenks on a dark night, and asked that he might take his horse through the gate. Captain Jenks, who was keeper of the gate, refused the 34 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Photo Collection oj Charles S. Foster THE NATHANIEL JENKS HOUSE ON NORTH MAIN STREET request, and told the stranger that he could not be admitted, as the bridge was up. The man said he rode from the east to the fence, and that he did not discover that the bridge had been taken up. He and his horse had come over the Falls on a single string-piece, 14 inches wide and 40 feet long, and 20 feet above the Falls. A trip-hammer-and-blacksmith shop, in which were manufactured iron ship-bolts and other ship-work, was built here in 1763. The ship anchors were made by Stephen Jenks and Oziel Wilkinson. In 1 77S Captain Stephen Jenks patented, and began the manufacture of, muskets for the militia companies of the colony. Under the Jenks patents other muskets were made during the Revolutionary War. Near the close of 1791 Moses Brown wrote a letter in which he says: "The manufacture of iron into blistered steel, equal in quality to English, has been begun within about a year in North Providence [Pawtucket], and is carried on by Oziel Wilkinson. I thought of speaking also of pig iron and bar iron, slitting it into nail rods, rolling it into hoops and plates, making it into spades and shovels and cold nails, anchors, etc., all in this district." To tell fully the story of the Wilkinsons would be to record the history of Pawtucket, for they are closely connected with the growth of the town and were among its earliest settlers. The first steamboat operated in this country was one of 12 tons, built by Elijah Ormsbee of Providence, with an engine provided by David Wilkinson of Paw- tucket. David Wilkinson had a genius for invention, and with but little work he made the patterns for the engine, cast and bored the Ship Anchors, 1763 Muskets in 1773 A Letter written by Moses Brown, 1791 The Iron Industry, the Wilkinsons, and the First Steamboat 35 PAW TUCKET PAST AND PRESENT A Lesson from a Three-legged Milking- stool, 1794 Ten Dollars for perfect- ing a Slide Lathe for which after Half a Century Congress voted $10,000, 1797 An Ingenious Clock- maker, 1799 Ship- building about 1805 cylinder, and suggested to Ormsbee two forms of paddles; and, with neither flags nor crowds, the two projectors of the first American steamboat started on a trip to Providence. They successfully reached that town, and returned to Pawtucket, where from want of funds they drew up their boat. This was ten years before Robert Fulton sailed down the».Hudson River. Nor does the Ormsbee-Wilkinson tale end with "their boat tied on the banks of the Pawtucket River. It really began there, and it was just chance that the Hudson instead of the Pawtucket or Blackstone River was the scene of the display of the first public steamboat. Not many days went by after Ormsbee and Wilkinson had sailed to Providence before a man by the name of Daniel French came to Pawtucket, and asked Mr. Wilkinson if he would show him the plans of his engine. With the request Wilkinson readily complied, and years later Mr. Wilkinson said: "I never knew where he came from nor where he went to. Some three or four years after we laid our boat by, I was in New York and saw some work commenced on Fulton's works for steamboat shafts." Not long after that Mr. Wilkinson learned that the man who some years before spent three days on his steamboat drawings was Daniel French, to whom is attributed a part of Robert Fulton's success, French about that time being employed by Fulton. "About 1794," says David Wilkinson, "my father built a rolling and slitting mill at Pawtucket, on the gudgeon of the wheel of which I put my new screw-machine in operation, which was on the principle of a gauge or sliding lathe now in every workshop almost throughout the world; the perfection of which consists in that most faithful agent, gravity, making the joint, and that almost perfect number three, which is harmony itself. I was young when I learned that principle. I had never seen my grandmother putting a chip under a three-legged milking-stool; but she always had to put a chip under a four-legged table, to keep it steady. I cut screws of all dimensions by this ma- chine, and did them perfectly." A slide lathe which David Wilkinson perfected and patented brought him ten dollars. Since little profit came from the invention, Wilkinson allowed the patent to run out. After half a century, Congress voted him $10,000 as a partial remuneration "for the benefits accruing to the public service from the use of the principle of the gauge and sliding lathe, of which he was the inventor, now in use in the work- shops of the government at the different arsenals and armories." Some of the largest anchors in the country were forged by the Wilkin- sons, and it is said* that they were the first in the world to make cut nails and also to cast cannon solid. A man by the name of Field, who conducted a clock-making busi- ness, resided in Pawtucket about 1799. He commenced his trade by casting brass in the anchor-shop of Oziel Wilkinson. George Robinson testified in the Sergeant Trench case that he was a ship-builder, that his business was in North Providence (Pawtucket), and that between the years 1794 and 1805 he built seventeen vessels of from 80 to 280 tons burden. He said that he employed from nine- teen to twenty ship-carpenters. As early as 1790 the ship "Tyre," 36 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT built in Pawtucket between 1780 and 1785, sailed around the world, — a remarkable feat in those days. Stephen Jenks, of the famous Jenks family who founded Pawtucket, Contract- took an order to supply the Continental troops with 10,000 muskets for 10,000 for the War of 1812. This was a gigantic undertaking for the time. ¥ us ^ ets T u As early as 1777 the General Assembly purchased from Captain Jenks f or tl l e "' a "a small-arm" for £12 and a gratuity of £3, and presented the weapon °- to a chief of the Oneida Nation then visiting Rhode Island. Captain Jenks has been described as a man of sound judgment and integrity. He was a member of the General Assembly for many years, a zealous Patriot, and the presiding officer at most of the public meetings of his town. In his day the picking of cotton was carried on in a crude way, being distributed among the families of the neighborhood, where it was whipped by hand. Captain Jenks introduced a cotton-picker, the first started in Pawtucket. He continued this business until i8i7or 181 8, when pickers were generally used in the mills. John Thorp, an ingenious resident of Pawtucket, in order to supply Invention a long-felt need in cotton-weaving, invented in 18 14 a power-loom, of a Power- which was a great improvement on the old method of hand-weaving, loom, 1814 This machine, later followed by more adequate instruments, stood upright, and was worked by a perpendicular action. Mr. Thorp also invented a machine for winding quills and bobbins. He invented a braiding-machine and also a ring-spinning machine. Another native of Pawtucket, Asa Arnold, invented a machine that separated wool in such a way that it could be spun from cards. About 1 81 7 William Gilmore was employed in Slatersville, and A Successful there he tried to introduce a Scotch loom. His suggestions were not Power-loom, received; but in the mean time Judge Lyman, of North Providence, 18 17 heard of the suggestion, and employed Mr. Gilmore to experiment in his mill. When the loom was installed, it did not work, and David Wilkinson was asked to look the machine over. He discovered the trouble, and soon the news flew that a new power-loom was running in Pawtucket. Men came from all over New England to inspect the machine. Mr. Massena Goodrich points out in an interesting way the fact that Captain James S. Brown, whose inventive genius and business capacity aided so greatly the prosperity of the town, worked, at the time the loom was installed, in the shop of David Wilkinson, and that his first task was the finishing of some patterns of the Scotch loom. In the old coal-yard of Oziel Wilkinson the foundry business was /. S. White established in Pawtucket. The heavy presses that were used at Nan- r d Co. tucket and New Bedford for pressing out sperm oil were supplied for many years by this town, and so great a fame was won by Pawtucket for skilful iron-workers that as early as 1794 Colonel Baldwin came from Boston to have machinery made for a canal that was being con- structed. The Wilkinsons made the patterns, wheels, and racks for this and later they made the iron-work for a drawbridge that was being built between Boston and Cambridge. The spades, shovels, and picks that were used in building the Norfolk and Bristol turnpike, which was laid out from Pawtucket bridge to Boston, were made by 37 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT the Wilkinsons. On the death of Oziel Wilkinson, in 1815, the busi- ness was carried on by his son David until 1829. Zebulon White in 1832 started up one of the abandoned furnaces. Later the business was carried on under the name of the Pawtucket Cupola Furnace Company; and in 1881, on J. S. White's succession to the business, the firm became J. S. White & Co. The establishment has a partic- ular historic interest, as it is a direct outgrowth of the work estab- lished by Oziel Wilkinson. David Wilkinson, in speaking of the foundry, once said, "We built machinery to go to almost every part of the country." William H. The William H. Haskell Manufacturing Company is the oldest Haskell bolt and cold punched nut plant in America. Hence Pawtucket Manufact- justly lays claim to having been the birthplace of the cold punched > nut industry in America. Colonel Stephen Jenks, a skilful mechanic Company and b i acksmith5 began i n l820 ma king bolts in the "Old Forge Shop," the site of which is now occupied by the water power plant of the Blackstone Valley Gas & Electric Company. Colonel Jenks was the first man in Pawtucket to introduce cold punching from bar iron. Gradually the nut and bolt industry which he had begun increased, and was conducted by him until his death in 1837. His son Joseph and Joseph T. Sisson were his successors. In 1835 Tinkham, Has- kell & Co. took over the business, which they sold to W. H. Haskell the following year. Mr. Haskell added to his business the manufacture of coach screws. In 1863 a new site was selected and new buildings were erected on the site of the present buildings, and the firm of William H. Haskell established. In 1882 they obtained a charter under the name of the William H. Haskell Company, and business was continued until 1898 when a consolidation of the William H. Haskell Company and the Pawtucket Nut Company was formed and a new charter obtained under the name of the William H. Haskell Manufacturing Company. The present officers of the company are: John A. Arnold, president; J. Milton Payne, treasurer; E. Shirley Greene, secretary; Wharton Whitaker, vice-president and general manager. During the early years of the William H. Haskell Company many other concerns began the making of nuts and bolts. As early as 1834 and 1835 Jeremiah and Joseph Arnold made iron nuts in a press which they set up on the Moshassuck River, near the present Sayles Bleacheries. A man by the name of Field entered the Arnold firm, and the business was transferred to Pawtucket. Mr. Goodrich mentions Franklin Rand's undertaking. "He first occupied," says Mr. Goodrich, "the old grist-mill house, which, perched on the rocks, outrode the freshet of 1807. He set up a press there for punching iron in 1843. The next year he took as his partner Joseph Arnold, and they remained together till 1847. From that time Mr. Rand was alone till 1863. He introduced an innovation in his business. Before his experiment it was thought that the maximum was reached when nuts were punched from cold iron one and one-half inches broad by three-fourths of an inch thick, but he soon punched nuts two and one-half inches broad by an inch thick. Mr. Rand built the 38 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT |P»r From a Photo Collection of Charles S. Foster THE FIRST PAWTUCKET RAILROAD STATION, CORNER OF BROAD AND EXCHANGE STREETS largest press for this purpose that then existed in the country. He was ridiculed in advance for his undertaking, for his wheel was deemed too small for the object. But he taxed its full power, and showed that, as the business originated in this neighborhood, it was capable of great perfection here." Jeremiah O. Arnold, who was born in Smithfield in the latter part of the eighteenth century, when he was eighty years of age recalled some interesting industrial facts. Mr. Arnold said : " I was acquainted with some of the older residents in Pawtucket seventy years ago [about 1807]. I saw the great freshet which carried off the bridge and Pardon Jenks's buildings. Mr. Jenks said, 'I have lost all my property; I am a poor man.' He was asked how much he would take for his rocks, where the buildings stood. 'I will take forty thousand dollars,' was the answer. I came to Pawtucket when I was twenty years old, and worked for David Wilkinson. In 1817 I helped make a machine for making Scotch plaid. In 1818 I helped build a steam-engine for Dr. Wadsworth to run a steamboat to Provi- dence. In 1819 I built the first bed-tick loom. I saw the first loom run by water-power. It was made to stand upright. [This was probably Thorp's loom.] In 1824 I helped build a hydraulic press. In 1845 I made the first dies for twisting augers under trip-hammers. In 1846 I took charge of the shop called the Providence Tool Com- pany. They run seven presses for making nuts and washers. (The first press I built for this kind of work was in 1833.) I started ten presses for the Providence Forge and Nut Company, — one a very 39 Reminis- cences o/J.O. Arnold about the Great Freshet and Pazvtucket's First Steamboat PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT large press. I punched nuts four inches in diameter, two inches thick, from cold iron." David G. Fales and Alvin Jenks in 1830 formed a partnership, and Jenks began the manufacturing of cotton machinery at Central Falls. In Machine 1832 they began the manufacture of Hubbard's Patent Rotary Pump. Company Later they made ring-spinning frames, the first manufactured in the world, also ring twisters for cotton and wool, force-pumps, water- wheels, thread-winders, drawing-frames, and various other kinds of machinery used in the process of cotton manufacture. The firm moved from Central Falls to Pawtucket in 1865, and in 1876 was incorporated as the Fales & Jenks Machine Company. The firm, which is one of the oldest in the United States, was originally Stephen Jenks & Sons, which was dissolved about 1829, a year prior to the establishment of Fales & Jenks. In later years John R. Fales, Alvin F. Jenks, and Stephen A. Jenks were admitted to the firm. A few years after the death of Alvin Jenks, in 1856, David G. Fales retired from the firm. Stephen A. Jenks will be remembered as a man who had much to do with the successful building up of cotton manufact- uring in the United States. The company builds cotton ring-spinning frames, cotton, wool, and worsted ring-twisting machinery for yarns and thread, also rotary chemical-pumps, rotary fire-pumps, and frictional gearing. Two styles of ring-spinning frames are built by them. One is the type that has been their standard since 1880. The other is the new and improved box-head, adjustable type, having the same arrangement of draft and twist gearing, designed for a much larger range of gearing than was possible in the old type. The officers are: Albert A. Jenks, president; LeRoy Fales, vice-president; Herbert G. Beede, secretary; Frederic W. Easton, treasurer. Colly er About eighty years ago Nathaniel S. Collyer and William H. Has- Machine kell established what is to-day the Collyer Machine Company. Bolts Company and nuts were made by the firm. In 1859 the partnership was dis- solved; and Mr. Haskell took over the nut-and-bolt business, while Mr. Collyer continued the making of machinery. Samuel S. Collyer succeeded his uncle in 1878, and he carried on the business until his death in 1884. Mr. Collyer was a great mechanic. He was the president of the first board of commissioners that built the water- works. The business was incorporated under its present name in 1885; and Clovis H. Bowen has since that time carried on the manu- facturing of dynamos, motors, shafting, pulleys, elevators, hangers, and general mill-work. The Easton & Burnham Machine Company was established in 1849 Bumham in Providence by N. R. Easton and C. C. Burnham. A decade later the Machine business was moved to Pawtucket, and the present plant was erected Company in 1882. The company was incorporated in 1891, and about this time Frederic W. Easton was elected treasurer. It manufactures spindles used in the making of cotton, wool, and silk goods. Other textile machinery made by the company are improved upright spoolers. The officers are: N. Howard Easton, president and secretary; Fred- eric W. Easton, treasurer. 40 PAW TUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Photo Collection of Charles S. Foster THE BALLOU TAVERN, BUILT IN 1740 It occupied the site of the Sheldon Building, on the corner of Broad and North Union Streets, at the junction with Main Street The Jenckes Knitting Machine Company and the Jenckes Spinning Company, which are under practically the same management, are the outgrowth of an industry started in 1854 by Nathan Hicks, who, in following his trade as a ring-spinner, invented an improvement in ring travellers, and began to manufacture them, hardening the first ones over his kitchen fire. It is an interesting fact that the first shop in which these travellers were manufactured was the Old Slater Mill, the birthplace of the cotton industry in America. Hicks continued his industrial ventures in a small way until about 1870, when Edwin and Joseph Jenckes came to Pawtucket from Woonsocket and with Mr. Hicks formed a company. They moved into larger buildings on East Avenue, and became known as general mill furnishers through- out the United States and Canada. In 1883 there was a division of partners, Edwin Jenckes & Son continuing the work under the name of E. Jenckes Manufacturing Company; and in 1887 a new mill was built. The Slater Stocking eventually became the property of E. Jenckes, and the knitting branch of the concern soon led to an interest in knitting-machines. After due consideration of trade demands the company began to build knitting-machines, which have been installed in many of the largest knitting-mills in this country, Canada, South America, and European countries. The Jenckes Knitting Machine Company was incorporated in January, 1903. The officers are: Frederick L. Jenckes, president; Robert J. Jenckes, treasurer; J. Willard Baker, secretary; J. E. Lent, agent. The R. Plews Manufacturing Company was established in 1858 41 Jenckes Knitting Machine Company and Jenckes Spinning Company PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT R. Pleivs an d incorporated in 1900. The plant is in Central Falls. An exten- Manufact- srve business is carried on there in the manufacture of the famous & Plews patent tin cylinders for self-operating mules, spoolers, twisters, Company ^^ S p mnm g_f rameS- All kinds of tin, zinc, sheet iron, copper, and brass work are made and repaired. The officers are: William H. Boardman, president; Holmes Lomas, secretary and treasurer. George W. ^he nrm f George W. Payne & Co. was established by Holmes and Payne xs p a y ne [ n 1865. After a short time Mr. Holmes sold out his interest '" to George W. Payne, and the present firm name was adopted. The company was incorporated in 1903. It manufactures cotton and woolen machinery, a specialty being spoolers, hosiery winders and quillers. The present officers are: Charles Payne, president; Clinton F. Payne, secretary and treasurer. /. M. The J. M. Carpenter Tap and Die Company, manufacturers of Carpenter ta p S anc l dies, was established in 1870 and incorporated in 1 891. ^ The business was established by J. M. Carpenter, who is now president Die and treasurer of the corporation. A. H. Wheeler is secretary and Company ■ . r - assistant treasurer. A- E. A. E. Tenney Manufacturing Company was established in 1885. Tenney ^he firm was originally William Jeffers and Tenney. Mr. Tenney l f a . ct ~ continued the business following the death of Mr. Jeffers. The firm r UJl ] I manufactures general machinery and specialties. The plant of the Pawtucket Manufacturing Company has grown from a very small beginning. It now occupies 137,243 square feet of floor space. The company manufactures bolts, cold punched nuts and a Pawtucket l ar ge variety of kindred articles, including all kinds of cold punching, Manufact- ^ok an( j co \^ punched nut machinery of their own design, and a ; large line of special machinery. George H. Webb has in all cases ' either originated or supervised the designing of all machinery marketed by this company and has from the inception of the company been the only officer with practical knowledge. Since the autumn of 1881, Mr. Webb has devoted all his time to the building up of this plant. In 1882 the Pawtucket Manufacturing Company was incorporated by Stephen A. Jenks, Alvin F. Jenks, John R. Fales, George H. Webb and George H. Fowler. Stephen A. Jenks served as presi- dent from the time the plant was started until his death in 1913, and George H. Fowler served as treasurer until his death in 1895. Mr. Webb has held the office of agent from the incorporation of the company until the present time, and since the death of Mr. Fowler the additional office of treasurer. The present officers are: LeRoy Fales, president; N. Howard Easton, vice-president; Elton G. Cush- man, secretary. There is much in the life of George H. Webb that is interesting and inspiring, for he fought against great odds — and won. He was left an orphan at the age of ten and a half years, when he was forced to leave the village school. He went to work at the Simmonsville Cotton Mills where he remained until the mills were closed during the panic of the winter of 1857. He worked for a dollar a week from five in the morning until seven at night. As a boy and as a man he has had to fight his own way, but he always had before him the 42 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Painting Collection of Charles S. Foster THE OLD JONES SCHOOL-HOUSE Main Street, foot of Park Place, site of the present Cole Building determination to succeed, and not to remain where the circumstances of his youth had placed him. His first work in Pawtucket was done in the winter of 1864, when he worked as a file grinder for the Ameri- can File Company. In March, 1866, he entered the employ of William H. Haskell and remained with him for more than sixteen years. While in his employ he began the improving and designing of bolt and nut machinery. The first machine he brought out was a tool grinder, and this machine is still made by the Pawtucket Manufacturing Company. For the designing of this machine and the improvement of others he received two hundred and fifty dollars. With this he bought a lot in the brush in the section since known as Webb Street, and there, after working-hours, he dug the cellar of his first house. Mr. Webb has taken out nineteen patents. Some of his most valuable improvements he has never patented. The Narragansett Machine Company was established in 1882 for the purpose of manufacturing foot-power lathes. At first these were built by the A. E. Tenney Manufacturing Company of Pawtucket. Among the other things manufactured during these earlier years Narraga\ was a home exercising-machine. This developed later into the mak- ing of gymnasium apparatus. In a few years this new industry grew to such an extent that it became and has continued to be the princi- pal feature of the company's business. Its product in this line has been shipped to almost every country in the civilized world. Machine Company 43 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT The company was incorporated in 1889; and in the spring of 1890, having completely outgrown its enlarged quarters in the Sprague Building, it moved into its new factory in South Woodlawn, Paw- tucket. In 1895 the firm added to its other work the manufacturing of car-fenders for the Consolidated Car Fender Company. These safety devices for electric street railway cars are known to almost every electric railway system, and have become the standard through- Buys the ou t the world. The Hood & Rice Company of Central Falls was Jioodp bought out in 1902 by this concern. The principal products of the P lce Hood & Rice Company were tennis rackets, automatic wood-turning, y and enamelling. In 1904 the building of printing presses for the Bab- cock Printing Press Manufacturing Company was begun, and has since grown extensively. Another large branch of the company's business is the making of steel lockers for gymnasium, office, and factory use. This industry has grown until it is to-day, next to the gymnasium business, the largest item in its total output. It is doubtful if another factory can be found where, under one roof and one management, so diversified a line of manufacturing is carried on. The company has grown from the manufacturing of a single article in rented quarters of a thousand square feet of floor space to the manu- facturing of many things in a factory of its own covering nearly four acres of land. Starting with a capital of a few dollars, it is to-day using a capital of over a million dollars and giving employment to upward of five hundred people. The officers are: John A. Arnold, president; James W. Thornley, secretary and sales manager; John A. Arnold, treasurer; A. J. Thornley, vice-president and general manager. The Pawtucket Spinning Ring Company was established in 1884 pinning ^ j ] in B 00 th and incorporated in 1899. It manufactures spinning- Comtanv rm 2 s - The works are located in Central Falls. Mrs. Mary Booth, president; Mrs. Mary J. Andrew, secretary; J. A. McAllen, treasurer. Collyer p^ Collyer Insulated Wire Company was established by Mr. C. H. m ™ e - Bowen, incorporated in Massachusetts in 1891 and reincorporated Comtanv m *^94 * n Rhode Island. A great deal of the machinery used in this " plant is built in the Collyer Machine Shop. rnillips T^g Philips Insulated Wire Company, the product of which is SU JL? bare and insulated wire, sold all over the world, was incorporated in Company l8 9 2 - H. F. Bassett, president; H. O. Phillips, treasurer; E. B. Phil- „ ,. „ lips, secretary. The business was established by H. O. Phillips in 1884. , ' ■ The H. & B. American Machine Company was organized in i8cn, Machine an< ^ Jt 1S one °^ t " ie l ar g est builders of textile machinery in this country. Company ^ ne °ffi cers are: C. E. Riley, president; E. R. Richardson, treasurer; E. L. Martin, secretary. ■oss erg p^ ]\/[ oss berg Wrench Company was incorporated in 1894. The Comtanv P^ ant 1S located in Chace's Lane, Central Falls. Warp stops for looms, drop wires for warp stops, both electrical and mechanical, Sim-Pull countershafts, and Right-in-Sight copyholders are made here. The officers are: Simon W. Wardwell, president; Edwin C. Smith, secre- tary, treasurer, and manager. An allied corporation is the Wardwell Braiding Machine Company, which manufactures the Wardwell High Speed Braiding Alachine. The officers are: Simon W. Wardwell, presi- 44 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT dent and manager; Edwin C. Smith, secretary and treasurer; and Carl V. J. Christensen, general superintendent. The Excelsior Loom-reed Works was incorporated in 1897. Loom- Excelsior reeds and wire heddles are made by it. The officers are: Edward Loom-reed Adamson, president and treasurer; Joseph Adamson, secretary. Works Covering more than ten acres of land, the Potter & Johnston p ot i er 1$ Machine Company is the largest machinery plant in Pawtucket and Johnston one of the most modern in the world. The business was incorporated Machine in 1899 and reorganized in 1901. James C. Potter, president of the Company corporation, has not only added many improvements to textile and other machinery now in use, but he has invented many new machines and has taken out nearly seventy patents on textile machinery alone, all of which are in operation to-day. Mr. Potter was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and received his education there. He has been mechanical and expert engineer for the firm of H. J. H. King & Co. in Glasgow, engineer of the Anchor Line Steamship Company, and at the head of one of the departments of the Vale of Clyde Engineering Works. These offices were held by him shortly after he had completed his education in Scotland. On coming to America, he was manager of the Whitehead & Atherton Machine Company of Lowell, Massachu- setts. He organized in Pawtucket in 1887 the Potter & Atherton Machine Company, starting the plant with about a score of men. In six years 250 men were on the pay-roll, and their machinery was used all over the country. The Howard & Bullough Machine Company of Pawtucket was organized by Mr. Potter in 1893. The company manufactures high-grade machinery, — tools, shapers, turret lathes, automatic chucking and turning machines, — and ships it all over the world. The officers are: James C. Potter, president; W. Wallace Potter, vice-president; John Johnston, treasurer; Earl H. Roberts, secretary. The Hemphill Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1906. Hemphill An extensive business in the manufacture of knitting-machines is Manufact- carried on by it. The officers are: Walter W. Radcliffe, president; uring George L. Hancock, secretary; A. M. Hancock, treasurer; John Company Lawson, vice-president and general manager. The Sellew Machine Tool Company was incorporated in 1910. Sellew The principal promoter of the company was Ernest B. Sellew, who Machine is the executive head of the business to-day. In addition to the T°°l manufacture of the "Universal Shaping Machine," special machinery Company of all descriptions is made at the plant. The company makes a specialty of a standard line of adjustable as well as special multiple drill-heads which have been developed and patented. The Pawtucket Screw Company was incorporated in 1910. J. A. Pawtucket Taudvin is president, and Oris C. Hill is secretary and treasurer. Screw The Standard Engineering Works was incorporated in 1912 in Company Woonsocket. It moved to Pawtucket in June, 1914. The present Standard officers are: Herbert Gould Beede, president; Albert A. Jenks, vice- Engineering president; J. Richmond Fales, treasurer; B. M. Mills, secretary. Works They manufacture hand milling-machines and do general machine- work. 45 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Photo Collection of Charles S. Foster THE PAWTUCKET HAIR CLOTH MILL AND CENTRAL AVENUE AND CROSS STREET BRIDGE ABOUT 1900 Stephans The Stephans Nut and Bolt Company, incorporated in 1915, raanu- Nut and factures bolts, nuts, and coach-screws. The officers are: Jacob Bolt Stephans, president; Albert C. Stephans, secretary and treasurer. Company The Mackenzie-Walton Company manufactures seamless wire and Mackenzie- tubes. A. J. Thornley, president; J. W. Thornley, vice-president; Walton John M. Mackenzie, treasurer; Joseph J. Walton, secretary. Company Drinking-fountains, stools, and hardware specialties are the prod- H. F. Jenks ucts f tne n Y. Jenks Company. Dr. A. B. Crowe is president, and Company p_ ^ Thomas is secretary and treasurer. Other companies that manufacture iron are: The Champion Horse Shoe Company; J. D. Crosby Company, wire manufacturers; Joseph H. O'Neil, manufacturer of handscrews; American Supply Company, manufacturers of mill supplies; Standard Nut and Bolt Company, F. & B. Suter, manufacturers of loom-reeds; Seth Wilkinson, manu- facturer and washer, and Collins Brothers, machinists. The American Hair Cloth Company THE STORY OF THE MAKING OF HAIR CLOTH IN PAWTUCKET The Old Slater Mill, the mother of cotton-spinning in America, gave shelter to another distinguished company which was known to the world as thePawtucket Hair Cloth Company, established in 1856. Freeman Baxter, who had some knowledge of the manufacture of hair cloth, was the principal promoter of the enterprise. David Ryder & Co., also James Ryder, furnished the capital, and associated with them 46 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT were George L. and Alfred H. Littlefield. Innumerable difficulties were encountered by these men. The industry was a new one, and the foreign manufacturers, in the hope of putting the Pawtucket company out of business, reduced their prices for hair cloth. The Pawtucket Hair Cloth Company, however, had an advantage over Europe from the fact that they were weaving hair cloth by power- looms, whereas in Europe the old hand-loojns were employed. The power-looms were fed by hand, and soon it was found that, in order to make the business a success, someway must be invented to make them self-feeding. About 1861 Isaac C. Lindsley, of Providence, who had been experi- j saac q menting on a self-feeding power-loom, was asked to come to Paw- Lindsley's tucket and perfect his invention. Mr. Lindsley succeeded in inventing Invention an automatic attachment, for which he obtained a patent. Also a of the patent was procured for a stop-motion, which was disputed by Rufus J. Hair Cloth Stafford. Mr. Ryder purchased this patent, and the way for hair- Loom seating was once more clear. Various business men and inventors to-day frequently assert that this machine for making hair cloth is one of the most marvellous contrivances they have ever seen. "Mr. Lindsley was a jeweller and of an inventive turn of mind," says Mr. Grieve, "and his attention was called to the former method of supplying the single hair to the loom by hand to produce the hair cloth. He conceived the idea of a machine which should automati- cally select the single hair from the mass; so locating the mechanism in connection with other parts of the power-loom as to present the hair in and to the loom. After many years of experimenting, this was successfully accomplished. In the production of hair cloth the selection of the hair and its proper presentation to the loom is absolutely essential. When this does not happen, the production is temporarily suspended, and the notched lance devised by Mr. Lindsley secures the single hair from the bunch of horse-tail hair, and presents it properly for the production of cloth. To this invention is due a large portion of the success of the Pawtucket Hair Cloth Company." A stock company was organized in 1861, and General Olney Arnold was made treasurer. The Old Slater Mill became too small for the business, and the plant was moved to its present location in Central Falls. Up to this time the business had been carried on in a small way; and in 1863 Daniel G. Littlefield was made agent, and with Mr. Lindsley perfected the machinery and began to build up the business. Charles E. Pervear was Mr. Littlefield's successor. The present company — a consolidation of the Pawtucket Hair Cloth Company and the American Hair Cloth Padding Company — was incorporated in 1893. Hair-seatings and crinolines are exten- sively manufactured. The plant is equipped with 603 narrow looms. The officers are: E. N. Littlefield, president; J. Milton Payne, sec- retary and treasurer; Edward T. Dolan, agent and general manager. 47 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT First Worsted Goods manufact- ured in Pawtucket D. Goff y Sons Lorraine Manufact- uring Company THE STORY OF WORSTEDS IN PAWTUCKET In the State of Rhode Island in 1810 there were but twelve worsted- mills, and as late as 1832 a canvass disclosed but nineteen. While the War of 1812 lasted, the American woolen-mills flourished; but, as soon as the war closed, prices fell, owing to a great importation of woolens from abroad superior in quality to those made in this country. Woolen-mills throughout the States were closed. President Madison at his second inauguration as President of the United States, on March 4, 1813, wore a suit of woolen material which was manufact- ured in a Pawtucket factory. It is said that this was the first time a high official had worn a suit of American-made cloth. Naturally, it attracted considerable attention. In 1820 the Pawtucket Worsted Company, which had been formed for the manufacture of fine vestings, presented Nehemiah R. Knight, who had been elected United States senator, with a vest of its own manufacture. As this was the first specimen of American-made worsted displayed in Washington, it excited much interest, and was made a subject of comment throughout the country. The first worsted braid-mill started in this country was established in 1861 by Darius Goff. His son Darius L. Goff, then just out of college, was taken into the business by his father, and the name of D. Goff & Son adopted. Until 1864 the business was carried on in a small way; and at that time the firm took the old stone mill on the site of their present location, and began making the Goff braid, which eventually became known throughout the country. In 1872 Lyman B. Goff, now vice-president of D. Goff & Sons, was admitted to the firm, which thereafter came to be known by the latter name. The same year the present plant was erected on the site of the old stone mill. About 1877 a change was made in putting up the goods for market, when Mr. Goff conceived the idea of rolling the braid and fastening it with a wire clasp. This form was substituted for the previous stick form. It was predicted that the change would not prove popular with the trade; but the demand proved to be greater than ever, and several firms began to imitate the invention. The manufacture of mohair plushes for upholstering car-seats, which had not been made before in this country or in England, was begun by D. Goff & Sons in 1882. The manufacture of this fabric was so difficult that the firm sent a representative to various parts of Europe to procure machinery and information. The search proved fruitless; and the firm decided to solve the problem for themselves, the result being that they manufactured mohair plushes in every way equal to the goods of foreign make. D. Goff & Sons manufacture to-day alpaca linings, the "Goff cloth," dress goods, and worsted and mercerized skirt braids. The firm was incorporated in 1884. The officers are: Darius L. Goff, president; Lyman B. Goff, vice-president; Darius Goff, treasurer. The Lorraine Manufacturing Company, concerning which a fuller account may be found in "The Story of the Manufacture of Cotton in Pawtucket," in exhibitions has been awarded several prizes for its PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Photo Taken for Slater Trust Company THE DAGGETT HOUSE, SLATER PARK, ERECTED IN 1685 worsted dress goods. The plant has 35,000 spindles. The company was incorporated in 1896. The officers are: Frank A. Sayles, presi- dent; Alfred M. Coats, vice-president; James R. McColl, secretary and treasurer. THE STORY OF THE SILK INDUSTRY IN PAWTUCKET Joseph Ott, when he came to Pawtucket in 1888, established the Royal silk industry in the old Hicks Building near East Avenue. He began Weaving the industry by operating eight looms. Three years later the business Company was incorporated under the name of the Royal Weaving Company, Darius Goff and Daniel Littlefield having interests in the firm. After the plant was removed to the mill of the Pawtucket Hair Cloth Com- pany, the business was enlarged. Finally the present buildings were erected, and lighted from the roof, — a thing particularly desirable in the weaving of silk. Mr. Ott was born in Trochtelfingen, in the district of Hohenzollern, Germany, in 1861. He came to America to escape military duty when he was about twenty-three years old. After working for several companies, he came to Pawtucket, where he was employed by the Slater Cotton Company, from which he retired to begin the manufacture of silk. The Royal Weaving Com- pany has the largest weave-shed in the world. Upward of three thousand persons are employed at the plant, which manufactures dress and lining silks and satins. Cotton-backed satins, sleeve linings, 49 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT Hamlet Textile Company Leader Weaving Company Eastern Silk Company and yarns are also made. The company was incorporated in 1889. The officers are: D. L. Goff, president; Charles E. Pervear, secre- tary and treasurer; Joseph Ott, agent. Dress linings, lining satins and silks, are manufactured by the Hamlet Textile Company, which was incorporated in 1900 in Maine. The chief mill is located at Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The com- pany operates a mill in Pawtucket. Frank A. Sayles, president; C. O. Read, vice-president; A. E. Jenckes, treasurer; Edward E. Dodge, assistant treasurer and secretary; Edward Wooley, agent. The Leader Weaving Company, manufacturers of lining silks and other silk fabrics, was organized in 1905, since which time the concern has grown from a start of fifty looms to a plant of 300 broad silk looms, housed in a mill of modern construction, with machinery elec- trically driven. The officers are: Herbert O. White, president; H. Arthur White, vice-president; C. J. Fillmore, secretary and treasurer. Broad silk-weaving is carried on by the Eastern Silk Company. The company was incorporated in 1914. Edward Fowler, president and manager; William Roberts, secretary; Thomas Barritt, treasurer. Lace-making established in Pazvtucket THE STORY OF LACE-MAKING IN PAWTUCKET Remarkable advances have been made in the lace industry since it was started in 1589 by a student at Oxford College; but these ad- vances have been principally confined to the Old World, which sur- passes the New in workmanship and machinery. The lace-making industry in the United States is in its infancy. As early as 1826 a beautiful lace dress was made in Pawtucket, now the lace-making centre of the United States; and this dress was exhibited at the Rhode Island State Fair, where it attracted much attention and comment, and eventually was purchased by President Adams. At various intervals after this there were spasmodic attempts made in other parts of the country to establish lace plants. A small one was started about 1887, which proved unsuccessful. About 1910 the late Senator Nelson Aldrich, of Rhode Island, was influential in having measures taken to remove for a given time the duty from lace- machines. Up to this time the lack of adequate machinery had greatly handicapped American lace-makers. This was the beginning of a great lace-making era in the United States and since 1910 the industry has flourished and many new plants have been established in Pawtucket. "Even so," admits Mr. H. C. Whritner, of the Regina Lace Company, "we now manufact- ure in America less than 20 per cent, of the laces used in this country. Here we manufacture and sell Laces at from 1 cent a yard up to $2.50 a yard. We make cheap Vals and also some of the finest silk flounces. The industry is a seasonable proposition for novelty mills and a staple proposition on the staple laces, such as Vals and Clunys. The lace industry is considerably different from other industries, because there is no way, for the average retail buyer, by which the product of any given mill, whether European or American, can be distinguished. . . . The lace industry requires a regular staff of sketchers, draftsmen, and 5° PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT From a Plwto Collection of Charles S. Foster THE LEFAVOUR BLOCK Main and High Streets, when it was occupied by the Pacific National Bank and the Pawtucket Institution for Savings designers. That large machine," continued Mr. Whritner, designat- ing one of a number that were rapidly producing yards of lace, "will do the work of ten men. It is worth approximately $10,000, and is set up with 17,000 threads, which process required the time of four men for a full month." The largest lace-making plant in the United States is the American Textile Company. Cotton and silk trimming-laces are manufact- ured here. The company was incorporated in 1899. There are 66 lace-machines at the plant, and about five hundred employees work there. The officers are: Lyman B. Goff, president; Morris F. Conant, secretary and treasurer. The Seekonk Lace Company was incorporated in 1909, and manu- factures laces and nets. The officers are: Thomas H. Tarbox, president; J. H. Crossley, vice-president; Frank G. Rowley, treas- urer; George R. Ramsbottom, secretary. Laces, insertions, and nets are manufactured by the Regina Lace Company. The company was incorporated in 1910. The officers are: E. Howard George, president; James M. Abbot, vice-president; H. C. Whritner, secretary and treasurer. La Tulia Lace Company was incorporated in 1914. Laces are made extensively at the plant. The officers are: E. P. Watson, Si American Textile Company Seekonk Lace Company Regina Lace Company La Tulia Lace Company PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT president; Louis Lescault, treasurer; Victor L. Duhaime, secretary; Edgar Renault, vice-president and superintendent. Cadoza Cotton and silk laces are made by the Cadoza Sales Company, Sales which was incorporated in 1914. The officers are: Louis Hamburger, Company president; Thomas L. Pryor, secretary and treasurer. Rhode Island Card Board Company Adam Sutclijfe Company THE STORY OF THE CARDBOARD AND PAPER INDUSTRY IN PAWTUCKET The cardboard industry in Pawtucket was originally started by Ray Potter about 1844. The old plant in which he began manufact- uring on a small scale was off of East Avenue, back of where the Slater Trust Building now stands. The industry steadily increased, and in ten years had grown to proportions that were large for the times. Mr. Potter sold his interest in the early '6o's to Henry Dexter and George H. Clark, and the concern became known as the Rhode Island Card Board Company. It is the only plant in Pawtucket that exclu- sively manufactures cardboard, and it was the first establishment in America and probably in the world that made cardboard by machin- ery. In the early days of the business the stock was pasted on sheets, and one man could paste from 500 to 1,000 sheets a day. The firm made great progress at the time the paper collar was in vogue, and the profit made was enormous. The old records show that on a capi- tal of $27,000 the firm made a profit of $89,000. A price list of 1863 shows that the same stock which sells to-day for $12 a thousand sold then for $80 a thousand. The shop was removed in 1879 from its location on East Avenue to the building on Exchange Street. The first building was 50 by 100 feet, and from a plant with twenty thousand feet of floor space the company has grown to such an extent that it occupies more than a hundred thousand feet of floor space. In 1889, at the time when, the Emersons began to hold interests in the business, the output of the plant was about eight thousand pounds a day. Now it is more than ninety thousand pounds. Eventually, Mr. Clark sold his interest in the firm, in order that he might travel; and Mr. Dexter, who usually followed his partner's inclinations, did the same. The company was incorporated in May, 1886. Every class of combined boards is made at the plant. The largest part of the stock goes for photographers' materials and art calendars. The stock of five or six of the largest calendar houses in the country is supplied by the Rhode Island Card Board Company. All kinds of tags are made, and wedding stationery and board for boxes. Goods are shipped throughout the United States, to Australia, and to Cuba. During the last twenty-five years, through various panics, the plant has run full time. The stock goes to so many different lines that financial upheavals have not affected the company. The present officers are: Lowell Emerson, president; L. Pierce Emerson, secretary and treasurer. Printing and lithographing are carried on by the Adam Sutcliffe Company, which was incorporated in 1888. The officers are: Samuel 52 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT M. Conant, president; Robert Cushman, secretary; Adam Sutcliffe, treasurer. E. L. Freeman Company was incorporated in 1906. They are printers, lithographers, book-binders, blank-book makers, engravers, and stationers. Joseph W. Freeman is president and treasurer. The Hope Paper Company, Inc., carries on an extensive manufact- ure of coated papers for the box trade. The business is managed by M. N. Linton, secretary and treasurer. The Pawtucket Glazed Paper Company, an old established business, was incorporated in January, 1914, and is a large paper coater. The officers are: Hugh Linton, president and treasurer; Hugh E. A. Linton, vice-president; Jesse Linton, assistant treasurer; Carroll M. Linton, secretary. The John W. Little Company does an extensive business in mill printing, gummed labels, sample cards, and tag making. John W. Little is owner of the company. The officers of the National Coated Paper Corporation, a successful coating mill, are: Roger Tileston, president; Arlington G. Post, manager. The Blackstone Glazed Paper Company manufactures coated and glazed papers. The officers are: Edward J. Rogan, president; Charles H. Lewis, vice-president and manager; James E. Brennan, treasurer and secretary. The Jacob N. Polsey Company, of 41 Bayley Street, manufactures boxes. Other box manufacturers are the Standard Paper Box Com- pany and the Albert Frost Paper Box Company, 448 High Street. The current publications of Pawtucket are the Pawtucket Evening Times, the Pawtucket Chronicle; the Chronicle Printing Company is an outgrowth of work established by the Pawtucket Chronicle prior to 1855; and Le Jean Baptiste. E. L. Freeman Company Hope Paper Company Pawtucket Glazed Paper Company John W. Little Company National Coated Paper Corporation Blackstone Glazed Paper Company Jacob N. Polsey Company OTHER DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES OF PAWTUCKET The Atwood, Crawford Company has the record of being the oldest spool-manufacturing company in the country. It was established in 1848 by Robert Cushman, who began in a small way the manu- facture of spools for winding spool cotton and silk. The business, under the name of R. & G. Cushman, was moved to Central Falls, Rhode Island, in 1850, and in 1858 was settled at its present location, 5 Central Avenue, Pawtucket. The company was succeeded later by Cushman, Phillips & Co., and in 1874 by Atwood, Crawford & Co. It was incorporated under the present name in 1890. The business to-day is under the management of the son of its founder. A great variety of wood products in the line of spools for spool cotton, silk, wire, and tinsel, braider bobbins and web rolls for the narrow-fabric manufacturers, and winder bobbins and braider bobbins for the silk manufacturers are made; and much novelty wood-turning is done. The yearly consumption of lumber has grown from a few cords of white birch poles brought in by neighboring farmers to 1,250,000 feet. The lumber is mostly in the form of white birch squares, which are shipped from Maine and New Hampshire. The Atwood, Crawford Company 53 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT J.O. Draper Company George H. Fuller y Son Company L. B. Darling Fertilizer Company Perry Oil Company P. E. Thayer Company Other Pawtucket Companies Textile soaps of all kinds are manufactured by the J. 0. Draper Com- pany. The business was established in 1861 by James 0. Draper and Abner Atwood, and was carried on under the name of Draper & Atwood until 1867. After several changes in the firm the name of J. O. Draper Company was adopted. The firm was incorporated in 1904. The present officers are: A. W. Stanley, president and treasurer;- George B. Draper, secretary; G. Bradford Draper, superintendent. The business of George H. Fuller & Son Company, manufacturers of jewellers' findings, was established in 1858 by George H. Fuller. It is one of the pioneer houses in the country in its line and one of the largest concerns of its kind in Rhode Island. Oils, tallow, glue, and fertilizers are the products of L. B. Darling Fertilizer Company. Lucius B. Darling began the business in a small way about 1865, and the plant was gradually developed until most of the bones collected in Providence and Pawtucket and thereabouts were consumed. The company was incorporated in 1889; and Mr. Darling, the first president, continued at the head of the firm until his death. Frank R. Ames is the present manager. The Perry Oil Company was established by R. K. Miller in 1869, and the company takes its name from the man who discovered the oil and soap that are the principal products of the firm. This business was founded in 1870 under the name of Thayer Brothers, Philo E. Thayer and Ellis Thayer being the owners. Later, in 1880, Philo E. Thayer purchased his brother's interest, and the concern continued under the name of P. E. Thayer & Co. until 1907, when it was incorporated under the name of P. E. Thayer Company, P. E. Thayer being the president and treasurer and B. F. Searll sec- retary. Mr. P. E. Thayer died in 1908, and since then the business has been carried on by B. Frank Searll, who has been connected with the firm for thirty years. In the latter part of 1915 the interest of P. E. Thayer's heirs was purchased by B. Frank Searll and his son Earl B. Searll, B. Frank Searll becoming president and treasurer and Earl B. Searll secretary and manager. The company manufactures mill, machine, and jewellers' brushes, and the goods are shipped to all parts of the United States. Among the many other industries of the present are: R. Bolle Manu- facturing Company, 11 Webb Street, manufacturers of jewelry novelties; W. R. Cobb & Co., 244 Pine Street, jewellers; H. M. M. Manufacturing Company, 40—50 Bayley Street, manufacturing jewellers; Sizing and Finishing Products Company, chemicals; William R. Toole Company, 178 Main Street, hardware, mill and electric supplies; Pawtucket Sash and Blind Company, 24-28 Mason Street; Roco Supply Company, plumbers' supplies; Savoie Rubber Company, 18 Fales Street, Central Falls, rubber cements and accessories; New England Machine and Electric Company, machinists and general contractors; Lyons Delany Company, coffee and spice millers; Charles R. Bucklin Belting Company, Slater Avenue, belting and lace leather; Fred J. Bancroft, 35 Bayley Street, tennis rackets; Oscar A. Jillson, 156 Front Street, tanner; E. Kent, See- konk, Mass., athletic goods; Pawtucket Mordant Company, chemicals; 54 PAWTUCKET PAST AND PRESENT the American Electrical Lamp Works; the Bryan March Electrical Works, the Central Falls Carbon Lamp Works, the Central Falls Mazda and the Rhode Island Glass Works (General Electric Co.); Pohlson Galleries' Gift Shop, manufacturers novelties, 255 Main Street; William Roscow, manufacturing chemist; Frank E. Tingley, sash and blinds, 180 Weeden Street; Wetherhead, Thompson & Co., 447 Mill Street, tanners; J. W. Spoerer, cigar manufacturer, 22 Wheaton Street; F. F. Follett & Sons Company, cigar manu- facturers, 119 Brook Street; James Flynn & Co., cigar manufacturers, 45 Washington Street; Phinney Brothers, cigars; May Mora, confec- tionery manufacturer; Lonsdale Baking Company, Saylesville; John Jenkinson, brass foundry, 139 Clay Street, Central Falls. Eureka Dyeing and Bleaching Company, 31 Japonica Street; Chute Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of handkerchiefs; Hesse Manufacturing Company, narrow woolen fabrics, Valley Falls; Keach & Brown Manufacturing Company, underwear and shirtwaists, Valley Falls; Frank Wood Manufacturing Company, braid, Valley Falls; Abedare Weaving Company, 4 Cross Street, Central Falls; Bengal Silk Mills, 82 Hardwin Street, Central Falls; Blackstone Braid Company; J. W. Greenhalge Manufacturing Company, yarns, 129 Front Street; Stuart Boston Company; Star Braiding Company; River Spinning Company, Hamlet Village, woolen yarns; Anchor Webbing Company, Woonsocket, narrow fabrics; Blackstone Specialty Company, 18 Broadway, calico printer engravers; Cher- mack Manufacturing Company, Main Street, corner Carver; Cope- land Mill Supply Company, mill supplies and hardware, 424 Central Avenue; Crown Confection Company, 246 Main Street, confectionery manufacturers. We have given a glimpse of Pawtucket's industries. We have ^ 1 followed the laying of the city's foundation on a corner-stone of iron and have scanned the flashes of invitation that were sent to other j settlers from the forge of Joseph Jenks, Jr. The iron industry which first made the place famous has long given the town a commanding place as one of the great manufacturing centres of the world. Pawtucket has reached heights of which Samuel Slater never dreamed. Industry after industry has sought it, and has proved a source of great creative power and wealth of material output, in many instances second to none in the world. It is a city rich in industrial lore, in inventions, in manufactures. Progressing year by year, to its wealth of industry it adds inventors who are constantly perfecting and originating machinery and manufacturing facilities. Other men have labored and we have taken up their labors where they left off, as well as entered into the benefits which have come to us through their work. What shall the future say of Pawtucket's industries? Let us hope that it will have the same commendations for us that we have for those of the past, and may we achieve in the same spirit that they have achieved — thus working to the betterment of Pawtucket, and through Pawtucket, for the benefit of the country and the world. 55 Backward nd xi ( ; A \ \\ \ I n J u LOCK AND KEYS OF THE OLD SLATER MILL 019 985 390 9 Hollinger Corp. ~u ft n