Fall Rivers' Industries

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B. Borden, 1876 to date . No presidents wer e elected under the original corporation ; since 1862 they have been Richard Borden, Jefferson Borden, John S . Brayton and the tatter' s son of the same name . The directors ar e John S. Brayton, Richard B . Borden . Davol and Oliver S. Hawes. , Bradford D Th e superintendent is William E . Sharples . The Pocasset Mfg . Co. was organized i n 1822 with a capital of $100,000 and acquire d the land just west of Main street, includin g the falls. Samuel Rodman of New Bedfor d was the principal owner . The company voted first to erect a grist mill, but change d its plans and built what was called "The Bridge Mill" on the north side of the strea m near Main street, after tearing down th e old grist mill that stood on the spot . One thousand spindles were placed in the sout h half of the new structure and the north hal f leased to D. & D. Buffinton for the manu - facture of warp and batting. This mill , which was of stone, three stories high, 40 x 100, ran north and south, with a long el l over the river, and it was here that the firs t print cloths were made, 7/8 yd. wide, an d 44 picks to the square inch . It was burne d in 1843, together with the old fulling mill , which stood farther south, and the compan y shortly after erected the present Granit e block on the site, sold a few years ago . A year or two later it erected a part of it s present factory, 219x75, and five stories in height, the first large mill to be constructe d here and notable for its width as well as it s length. It commenced running in 1847 . This plant has been enlarged from time t o time, most recently by the purchase of the Fall River Manufactory. Oliver Chace, th e first agent of the company, served until hi s death in 1837, and was succeeded by Micah H. Ruggles, 1837-57 . Stephen Davol followed Mr. Ruggles as treasurer and agent from 1858 to 1873, when the office was divided an d Mr. Davol became agent, with Bradfor d Davol treasurer. The latter remained i n office till 1891, when he was succeeded by W . Frank Shove, the present treasurer. Henry S . Howe, Theophilus Parsons and Willia m S. Whitney were agents, succeeding Stephe n Davol. Thomas E. Brayton has been president since 1891, having succeeded Stephe n Davol and Horatio Hathaway . The capital has gone through various changes. It wa s reduced in 1888 from $1,160,000 to $800,000 , and in 1893 to $600,000, the present figure , by the payment of $200,000 to the stock - holders. The corporation now operates HISTORY OF FALL RIVER 7 7 114,208 frame spindles, and 2,912 looms, of which 1,862 are for wide goods . The directors are Samuel W. Rodman, B. R. Weld , George S. Davol, Joseph F. Knowles, Thoma s S. Hathaway, B . D. Davol, Thomas E. Brayton, Edward L. Anthony, and W. Fran k Shove. Thomas Connors is superintendent . Early in its history the company built a number of stone structures to rent for smal l manufactories. In one of these, erected i n 1825 and known as the Satinet factory, the business of Robeson's print works was firs t carried on, while the south part was occupied first by Samuel Shove & Co ., and later by John and Jesse Eddy, the successors o f this firm, in which they had been partners , for the manufacture of woolens, a busines s that gave the mill its name. It was built of heavy granite, with the north end on th e stream and the south on Pocasset street , and was three stories in height on the eas t side. It was torn down to make room for the present Pocasset mill, and the Eddy s removed to the Eagle mill in Tiverton, wher e the business was carried on several year s till the factory was burned . The fir m had been dissolved some time before, and Jess e Eddy in company with Joseph Durfee erected the Wamsutta mills. Mr. Durfee die d before manufacturing began and it was carried on successively by Jesse Eddy, Jesse Eddy & Co. and Jesse Eddy's Sons (Thoma s F. and James C .) till a few years ago . The "New Pocasset" was built in 1826, o n the site of the Quequechan mill, and lease d to A. & J. Shove and Chase & Luther, fo r cotton manufacturing . The small mill now run by the Pocasse t at the west side of its main plant was buil t in 1827 and known first as the Massasoit an d later as the Watuppa mill. It was so larg e for its time that it was not thought one fir m would wish to take all so a partition wa s built and two wheelpits put in. It wa s leased by Brown & Ives of Providence for cotton manufacture, but they soon becam e dissatisfied with the water power and pro - posed removing the machinery to Lonsdale . Holder Borden bought out their interest and continued the mill on his own account. It was notable as the first mill in this vicinit y in which power was distributed by belts in - stead of gears. In 1843, when the lease ha d about expired, the Massasoit mill on Davol street was erected and the machinery transferred. This last was better known as "th e Doctor's mill," because in later years largel y owned and run by Dr . Nathan Durfee. It
78 HISTORY OF FALL RIVER had a capital of $120,000, afterwards increased to $200,000, and in 1870 containe d 14,448 spindles and 354 looms. It was burned Nov. 2, 1875, and was not rebuilt . The site, as well as that of the Massasoit flour mill, formerly Chase, Nason & Durfee , is now occupied by the Massasoit Mfg. Co . The old mill on Pocasset street was operate d for a time as a cotton mill under the agency of Linden Cook, by a corporation know n as the Wahtahpee mills (the old spelling o f Watuppa) and eventually became a part o f the Pocasset Company . The Quequechan mill, also erected by th e parent company, was a part of Robeson's Fall River Print Works until 1859, whe n 6,000 spindles were placed in it and cotto n manufacture begun. The capacity wa s gradually increased to 12,800 in 1867 . After the failure of the print works the mill wa s operated for the creditors with Andre w Robeson, third, manager, until 1879, when a corporation called the Quequechan mill s was organized with Mr . Robeson treasurer . He resigned in 1881 and was succeeded b y D. H. Dyer. The business proved unprofitable and after a time the mill was sold an d devoted to other purposes . The Anawan Manufactory, which stoo d over the stream, where the Fall River Iron Works No. 7 mill now is, was erected by th e Iron Works interests in 1825, though as a separate corporation. It was a large factor y in its day, with 10,000 spindles, and wa s notable for the hammered granite block s used in its lower stories, which were utilized in the building of the new mill whe n the old was razed in 1905 . Like the Meta - comet it was run by the Iron Works under the direction of Major Bradford Durfee , Foster Stafford and Richard B . Borden, unti l the division of the property in 1880 . Thomas S. Borden and W. Frank Shove have been recent treasurers of the corporations, with Jefferson Borden and John S . Brayton, presidents . The Anawan discontinued operations in the late 90's . The Wampanoag mills were organized i n 1871, with Robert T. Davis, president ; Walter C. Durfee, treasurer ; and R. T . Davis, W . C. Durfee, John D. Flint, Stephe n Davol, Foster A. Stafford, Simeon Borden , George H. Eddy, Alphonso S . Covel, Lloy d S. Earle, William H. Jennings and .John H . Boone directors. The first mill was o f granite, 298x74, five stories high, with 28,00 0 spindles. Number 2, also of granite, fiv e stories high, 328x74, was erected in 1877 . and a weave shed, 215x96, two stories in height , built in 1887 . The original capital of $400 , 000 was increased to $500,000 in 1877 and t o $750,000 in 1887. The plant now has 14,85 2 mule and 70,336 frame spindles, and 2,21 5 looms, of which 1,547 are more than 32 inch - es wide. It has a weekly production of 12, - 000 pieces. Mr. Davis is still president. Walter C . Durfee was treasurer till 1891 , when he was succeeded by Effingham C . Haight, followed by William Evans in 190 1 and by W. Frank Shove in 1905 . The directors are Robert T . Davis, John D. Flint, Geo. H. Eddy, Franklin L. Almy, John H . Boone , Wm. H. Jennings, Robert C . Davis and W . F. Shove. Jas. O. Thompson, Jr., is superintendent . The Stafford mills were organized in 1871 , with a capital of $550,000, increased in 188 8 to $800,000 and in 1896 to $1,000,000 . Foster H. Stafford was the first president an d agent, with Shubael P. Lovell treasurer an d F. H. Stafford, Samuel Hathaway, Charles P . Stickney, Robert T . Davis, William C . Davol , William L. Slade, Danforth Horton, Edmund Chase and Weaver Osborn directors . The first mill was of five stories, granite , 374x70, and was followed in 1886 by a second of the same material and dimensions . A weave shed, 173x160, was erected in 1900 . The plant has 100,576 frame spindles and 2,617 looms, of which 791 are more than 3 2 inches wide. It employs 825 hands and ha s a weekly production of 14,000 pieces . Foste r H. Stafford, the first president, died in 1891 , and was succeeded by Robert T . Davis. The treasurers have been : S. P. Lovell, 1871 - 82 ; Albert E. Bosworth, 1882-88 ; Effingha m C. Haight, 1888-90; Frank W. Brightman , 1890-1901 ; Fred E . Waterman since 1901 . The directors are Robert T . Davis, Robert Henry, John C . Milne, Edward E. Hathaway , Samuel W. Hathaway, Charles B. Luther an d Fred E. Waterman. The superintendent i s Timothy Sullivan . The American Linen Company was incorporated in 1852 as the American Linen Manufacturing Company, with a capital of $350 . Colonel Richard Borden, Jefferson Bor,000 - den, Oliver S. Hawes and Lazarus Borde n were the chief promoters of the enterprise , which was started for the manufacture of fine linen fabrics. Large store building s were erected, including a mill 301x63, bu t the demand for the product soon fell off , because of the introduction of thin woolen and cotton cloths, which could be purchase d at less cost, and in 1858 the machinery was
Page 1: CHAPTER XI THE CITY'S INDUSTRIE S T
Page 4 and 5: proximately $25,500,000, and factor
Page 8 and 9: emoved to smaller buildings, where
Page 10 and 11: and William F. Draper directors. La
Page 12 and 13: April 2, with a capital of $550,000
Page 14 and 15: fine and medium counts . Mr. Flint
Page 16 and 17: C . Borden, 1896-1900. A. B. Sanfor
Page 18 and 19: tions of the world, to extract the
Page 20 and 21: uildings of the Massasoit Steam Mil
Page 22 and 23: The Joy Steamship Company has lease

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