Chicopee, Chicopee City Directory, 1875-1876

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Title:
Chicopee, Chicopee City Directory, 1875-1876
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CHICOPEE AS once a part of Springfield proper, and now so closely allied to it in its business and social relations, as to still make it substantially a. prominent branch of the growing family which cling to "the old folks at home." It has, nevertheless, a name and fame of its own, most worthily won, and in point of industry, enterprise and intelligent thrift, ranks among the first New England manufacturing towns. We append a brief sketch of many of its prominent industries and business establishments THE DWIGHT MANUFACTURING COMPANY. OF the manufacturing interests of Chicopee, the Dwight Company is the most important, occupying seven large mills, and furnishing employment, at the present time, to 1,500 operatives. It was organized about 1833, with a capital of $1,200,000 which has remained unchanged to the present time. The first mill was begun July 15, 1833; the last one, June 8, 1844. Originally, there were three separate corporations, but these were early combined in one. The total number of spindles, now in operation, is 110,000, of looms, 2,671. The stock is nearly all owned in Boston, as it has been from the first, and the avowed policy of the management is to allow the outside world the least possible knowledge of their affairs. John A. Vernon of Boston, is president, Charles W. Freeland of the same city, treasurer, G. W. Bedlow, agent, and Minot, Hooper & Co. of Boston and New York, are the selling agents. THE AMES MANUFACTURING COMPANY. Second in magnitude of its operations, though first in public interest, is the Ames Company, located on the Chicopee River, just above the Dwight Company's mills, and close by the Center Depot, on the Chicopee Falls branch. It was organized in 1842, with a capital of $30,000, James T. Ames and N. P. Ames, of Chicopee, and J. K. Mills, Edmund Dwight, founder of .the Dwight Manufacturing Company, and Ignatius Sargent of Boston, being the principal Stockholders. Mr. Dwight was its first president. Its early history shows a steady growth and repeated enlargement of its capital, until in 1850, it reached the sum of $250,000, its present figure. During the war, from 1500 to 1600 hands were employed, and large supplies of cannon, swords, and projectiles were furnished the government. In 1867, a change in the management occurred, Messrs. Emerson Gaylord, T. W. Carter and E. 0. Carter, of Chicopee, securing, with Mr. James T. Ames, a majority of the stock, and transferring the headquarters of the Company from Boston to Chicopee. Mr. Ames, who had previously been the Company’s agent, now became its president, and held the position until January, 1872, when Emerson Gaylord was chosen ashis successor, and held the place until last January, when, a majority of the stock having been previously purchased by Clifford Arrick, of Washington, D. C., and Mr. A. C. Woodworth, son-in-law of Mr. .Ames, there was another change in the management, and Mr. Arrick was chosen president, Mr. Woodworth agent, A. G. Bowles, of Boston, treasurer, and Messrs. Arrick and Woodworth, with Nathaniel Hooper, of Boston, A. G. Dexter and James T. Ames, directors, 'with E. 0. Carter as clerk. A short time before his death, Hon. Samuel Hooper, of Boston, purchased a large interest, his stock being subsequently bought by Messrs.' Arrick and Woodworth. The new president will be remembered for his sharp contest with General Dyer, two or three years ago, and is· best known in military circles as the owner of the Eureka projectile which is now being tested by the ordnance department at Washington; so far with very satisfactory results. Should the government approve this projectile, its manufacture will be brought to these works and insure-a material increase of the present working force of 350. At present the Company is manufacturing bronze statuary, for which the works are· widely noted, fancy swords of which from 50 to 10_0 per day are produced, machinists' tools and special machinery. The whole history of the Company has been a prosperous one, the dividends from January, 1847, to April, 1871, aggregating 432 per cent. During the war and immediately after they ranged from 20 to 35 per cent. THE GAYLORD MANUFACTURING COMPANY. The Gaylord Company, manufacturers of cabinet locks and malleable iron castings, are located just above the works of the Ames Company. Their corporate existence dates back only from 1863, but their business dates back to 1856, when Emerson Gay­ lord, who for fifteen years previous had been employed as a workman and contractor for the Ames Company, bought out its interest in the manufacture of military accoutrements; fire hose and leather belting, and set up for himself, employing only three or four hands. In July, 1859, he received the contract for the construction of all the mail bags used by the general government, a contract renewed in 1863 and again in 1867 and this at once gave a great impetus to his business. At the opening of the War the government called upon him for supplies, a new mill was erected, the working force increased to 400, and every nerve strained to meet the demand. Growing out of this came the organization of the Company having a capital ·stock of $100,000, with Emerson Gaylord as president, Jerome Wells as treasurer, and Messrs. Gaylord, Wells, T. W. Carter, James T. Ames and E. N. Snow as directors. Like most institutions of the class they reaped a rich harvest from the war, and after it was over were in good shape to undertake the manufacture of cabinet locks, a difficult and rarely successful work, but one in which their success was all that could be wished. They now make over 2,000,000 locks per year, in 350 styles. The Company has undergone few changes. Sereno Gaylord, brother of Emerson, succeeded Mr. Wells as treasurer in 1864, and was succeeded by A. F. Gaylord, son of the president of the Company, in 1870. The firm at present employs about 60 hands. James L. Pease is agent of the corporation. S. BLAISDELL, JR. & CO. A business wonderful in its growth, and remarkable in its prosperity, is that of S. Blaisdell, Jr. & Co., whose modest office is close by the Chicopee Junction Depot. Its origin dates back to 1863, when George Mattoon and Andrew Hubbard engaged in the Cotton waste business, at Chicopee Falls. Mr. Hubbard died not long after, and in 1865 It was removed to Chicopee, and Mr. Mattoon continued the business alone, untill868, when S. Blaisdell, Jr. joined him, the firm name being Mattoon & Blaisdell, and so continuing until Mr. Mattoon's retirement in May, 1872. At the time the new co- partnership was formed, the firm had a capital of $10,000, and did a yearly business of from $30,000 to $50,000. In less than two years; this was increased over 100 per cent, and the two following years saw it again doubled. Since that time, its growth has been even more rapid, and during the twelve montl1s ending April 30, 1875, the sales aggregated more than a million of dollars, those for the last three months of it reaching the sum of $350,000. The capital stock is now $150,000. The freight bills of the firm for the year, were upwards of $37,000; their telegraph bills, 75 per cent of the total business of The town. The cotton waste business has long been one of secondary importance, their trade being principally in cotton itself, which they receive direct from the cotton sheds, through every port in the South, from Norfolk, Va., to New Orleans and Galveston. They make a specialty of supplying extra fine cotton to manufacturers of fine under· wear, and deal largely in fine waste, to be mixed with wool for spinning purposes. They do likewise a considerable business in paper stock and paper, and anticipate, for the coming year, a trade largely in excess of anything hitherto. The firm at present consists of the three brothers, S. Jar, Charles M. and George A. Blaisdell. CARRIAGE MANUFACTURING. Half a mile west of the Chicopee Junction Depot of the Connecticut River Railroad, and in plain view of it, is the extensive carriage manufacturing establishment of Edison Clark. The business was started about twenty years ago, in two buildings; one sixty feet in length, and two stories in height, and the other sixty-five feet long, and a story and a half high. The works at present occupy four separate buildings, two and three stories high, and respectively, one hundred by twenty-five feet, ninety by twenty-five, eighty-five by twenty-five, and sixty-five by thirty-five. About thirty men are employed, and the business done exceeds that of any other carriage manufactory in the State, outside of Boston, amounting yearly to something more than $40,000. All sorts of light work, buggies, carryalls, etc., are built, and nothing is allowed to go out which is not in every respect first-class work... Most of the workmen are employed steadily, year in and year out, instead of being discharged at the close of the busy sea· son, insuring a reliable force of competent men at all times. In the same line is the establishment ·of W. H. Gilmore, at the intersection of summer and Cross. Streets, just outside the business section of Chicopee. A single small building, now used as a wood shop, sufficed for its beginnings in 1842, since which it has been three times enlarged, and the two or three hands, at first employed, have been in­ creased to from eighteen to :twenty-five, according to the demands of the season. Formerly Mr. Gilmore as engaged largely in building heavy wagons, his goods having the very· highest reputation, and being sold largely at the South. Recently he has confined himself principally to lighter work, his sales some years reaching $10,000 or more, but has never sacrificed his reputation for perfect maternal and honest work. His goods are mostly marketed in this vicinity, though occasional sales are made at the West and South, and some have been sent as far off as California. BYRT & BULLENS. Byrt & Bullens, tanners and curriers, do business on the bank of the Connecticut river, opposite the Chicopee Junction depot, and have been so occupied for the past twelve years, employing from five to ten men and using from 100 to 200 sides of leather weekly, mostly' calfskins, their business being principally in harness and suspender leather. BOBBINS. B. Leavitt is one of the oldest, if not the oldest manufacturer in Chicopee, now actively engaged in business, having occupied his present location between the establishments of the Ames· and Gaylord manufacturing companies, for more than forty years, his yearly business varying from $5,000.00 to $20,000.00. He formerly made both bobbins and shuttles, but for some years past has confined himself to bobbins, supplying the home demand and something beyond it. ATTORNEYS. At the head of the local bar, is George D. Robinson, for nearly twenty years a resident of the town, a practicing lawyer for the past nine years, and for a like number Previously, principal of the High School. Mr. Robinson was a member of the Legislature of 1874, and was last fall a candidate for a second term, when he ran largely ahead of his ticket, but failed of an election. His office is in Cabot Hall block. In the same block is the office of Luther White, for the past five or six years a successful practitioner. He is a young man yet, and has held no public office except that of school committee. L. E. Hitchcock, who has his office in Kendall’s block on Market Square, was admitted to the bar about a year ago. Jonathan Allen, a graduate of the office of E. B. Maynard, of Springfield, has been in practice in Chicopee about eighteen months. He has just opened an office in Burke's new block on lower Exchange Street. H. L. Sherman is also a late comer. His office is with Mr. Robinson. BAKERY. Chicopee's only bakery is that of W. C. Wedge & Co., who have been in business for the past fourteen years on Center street. As patentees and manufacturers of Wedge's rotary oven, the firm has a reputation far beyond its local limits. BANKS. The First National, formerly the Cabot Bank, has a capital of $150,000.00, with a large surplus. The following are its officers: President, Jerome Wells; cashier, F. B. Doten; directors, Jerome Wells, T. W. Carter, Emerson Gaylord, Erastus Stebbins, and E. 0. Carter. The Cabot Bank was instituted March 1, 1845, John Chase being its first president. The Chicopee Savings Bank was organized in 1854 with Jerome Wells as president and Henry H. Harris as treasurer. The latter has held his office ever since. Mr. Wells retired at the close of last year. The present official board is constituted as follows: President, George D. Robinson; vice-presidents, E. 0. Carter, A. G. Parker, Emerson Gaylord, G. H. Chapman; secretary, George V. Wheelock; treasurer, Henry B. Harris; trustees, Benning Leavitt, J. A. Dennison, George S. Taylor, N. Cutler, John B. Wood, C. M Kendall, E. Stebbins, Lewis M. Ferry, John Dixon, George V. Wheelock,. A.S. Hunter, A. F. Gaylord. The present location is in Kendall's new block, opposite the Town Hall, to which it removed in December last, having previously been kept in the same building with the First National Bank. It has at present 1,250 depositors with an aggregate of $4:43,266 deposits. BOOKS, NEWS AND STATIONERY. E. M. Alden, Merchants' row, is proprietor of the only bookstore in Chicopee, combined with which is an extensive circulating library, and large stationery and newspaper department. Mr. Alden has been engaged in his present business, which he has built up with much energy, since 1870. He is, and has been for many years, the local agent of the American Express Company. J. Stackpole, an old and esteemed resident of the town, opened about a year ago a· news and variety store on Center street. .Mr. Stackpole makes the sale and repairing of clocks something of a specialty. He l1as lately taken a partner, the firm at present being J. Stackpole & Co. BARBER SHOPS. Three barbers do the legitimate shaving for Chicopee people, Charles H. Blackmer, who has prominent and attractive quarters in Temple’s block, R. A. Page and T Cronin? BOOTS AND SHOES. Prominent in his line is Mr. W. L. Blackmer, who came to Chicopee in 1861, and after four years' service in the employ of the Gaylord Manufacturing Company opened a fancy goods store on the site of the Masonic Hall block. This he sold· in 1869, and entered upon his present business on Exchange street. Mr. Blackmer does a large custom business in men's fine work. 445 Farther down Exchange street J. O'Donnell is doing a considerable business in boots and shoes. Other prominent dealers are Chapman & Folsom, S. W. Parshley and W. P. Beals. COAL. Carlos Allen, the popular coal dealer, has his office in Temple's block and does a large business. A. B. Abbey, R. W. Bemis and Jolt Dixon are also engaged in it. CONCRETE PAVING. Messrs. Mead & Richards are engaged in the business of putting down the popular concrete paving, and will respond promptly to orders from any part of the country. CUSTOM AND READY-MADE CLOTHING. In the line of custom clothing, Chicopee bas something to be proud or in the establishment of J. P. Buckingham, who has been engaged in the business there over 20 years, sometimes, as at present, alone, though more frequently with a partner. He formerly kept a line of ready-made clothing, but now limits himself to custom work and furnishings. Mr. Buckingham usually employs from twelve to fifteen hands. J. M. Lane and B. Moffit are engaged in the same business. Hitchcock & Hosley is the only American house engaged in the ready-made clothing business. The senior partner, Harvey Hitchcock, started the business about twelve years ago at the stand now occupied by the firm, and in May, 1866, were joined by Mr. James E. Hosley. They deal to some extent in boots and shoes, and are located in Bullens' block on Exchange street. DRUG STORES. Chicopee's three drug stores are all of long standing, but the honor of seniority among the present dealers belongs to W. W. Johnson, who has been engaged _in the business in Cabot Hall block, on Market square since August, 1861. Mr. Johnson has been a resident of the town for 40 years, and was postmaster during the administrations of Presidents Pierce and Buchanan. Warren Smith has occupied his present stand on Exchange street for the past ten. years. He has been a resident of Chicopee most of the time since 1853. Hooker & Co. are later comers, occupying the Exchange street store where Dr. Rou­ Roudiez was previously located. DRY GOODS. The house of Warren S. Bragg & Co., the Company consisting of Jerome Wells and F. B. Doten, cashier of the First National Bank, is confessedly the leading one in the dry goods trade in Chicopee. Located on the corner of Exchange street and Market square, on the site where it was first established by Mr. Wells nearly forty years ago, it occupies three large and commodious stores in Cabot Hall block, one being devoted to dry goods, the second to the carpet trade, and the third to the hardware business. From a yearly business of $40,000 in 1865, the firm showed one of $110,000 in 1873, and now count safely upon one of $100,000 or more yearly. A. J. Jenks was formerly with Bragg & Co., but went into business for himself on the opposite side of Exchange street, about three years ago. Later he bought out Hale & Oakes and removed to the stand in Bullens' block on the same street, formerly occupied by them, where he is now carrying on a large and prosperous business. John B. Wood, whose dry goods establishment is located on the corner of Exchange and Center streets, is one of the old business men of Chicopee, He came here in 1850 from Holyoke, having served his apprenticeship in a country variety store in Ireland Parish, and was for thirteen years engaged in the grocery business, after which he entered upon his present line of trade. In both he has been very prosperous. For the past ten years Mr. Wood has filled the office of tax collector. C. H..Merrick on Exchange street, is the only other dealer of note. 57 446 CHICOPEE DIRECTORY. FUR ITURE. The furniture business in Chicopee is limited to the spacious warerooms of Lafayette Temple in Temple's block on Center Street. YEars ago the business was carried on by Josiah Whitney, and afterwards passed into the hands of Hosley & Co., Mr. Temple being the junior. member of the firm for nine years, and for the past four months sole proprietor. He carries a stock valued at from $12,000 to $13,000, and does large undertakers’ and picture frame business. The establishment has always done a safe and fairly remunerative trade. GROCERIES. The Bullens family was the pioneers in the grocery business of Chicopee, and is identified more than any others with its mercantile history. As far back as 1838, the business was established by the four brothers, E. A. I, I. M., on the site now occupied by Isaac Bullens & Sons, on the corner Of Exchange and Cabot streets. Their business was immense for those times, amounting to $100,000 a year, and they were reckoned the largest retail grocers in the State outside of Boston. Later the brothers separated, each taking a separate line of the business. The junior members of the present firm of I. Bullens & Sons, are I. Newton Bullens, who has been associated with his father for some twenty-three years, nod Lewis C., who was a1lmittell to partnership about four years ago.· All the American grocers in Chicopee were trained in this store. Dullens & Sons do a large business, and carry a considerable line of crockery. C. A. Bullens, representing- another branch of the family, also conducts a large grocery business nearby, and is proprietor of Exchange Hall, which has a seating capacity of about 400. Carter & Spaulding at present do the largest grocery business in Chicopee, their location on Market square being one of the best in the town, and their business having increased every year since they first opened. The present firm dates back ten years Mr. Carter having been in the business alone for three years preceding. Other prominent dealers in this branch are P. Rourke, corner of West and Emerald streets, and Lankton & Pond, on Exchange street. HOTELS. The Cabot House, kept for the past eleven years by W. H. Dickinson, is located on Front street opposite the Town Hall, and close by the Center depot. 1t is well kept, and has a good feeding stable connected with it. The Chicopee House, kept by Merrick Abbe, is near the Junction depot. JEWELRY. C. F. Kent, near the head of Exchange street, carries a well selected $10,000.00 stock of watches and Jewelry. Previous to entering on his present business, Mr. Kent kept a drug store for fifteen or twenty years. E. A. Gallupe occupies a portion of E. M. Alden's store on Market Square, and carries on a watch repairing and general jewelry business. LIVERY STABLES. W. E. Wheeler has carried on a large livery business at his Exchange street stand for the past ten years, and for a year past has combined with it a considerable trade in harness and trunks. He also supplies brass foundries largely with sand for cores, his tra1le in this line reaching from Montreal to Philadelphia. ,V, II. Dickinson's stable, near Mr. Wheeler's, is also an old and prosperous stand as are those of R Corey in the same vicinity, and Merrick Abbe who is located at the Chicopee House near the Junction depot. MEAT AND FISH. The oldest meat market is that of J. A. Denison & Co. on Cabot street, where it has been established for thirty years or more. Mr. Denison himself withdrew from the business in 1873, leaving the firm name to the present proprietors John D. White, W.P. Ferry and A. E. Jones. J. U. McClench is also one of the veteran marketmen of the town, having been for many years on Center street, and lately in his new block on Exchange street W. S. Wood has lately started the business on Center street, where he is building up a prosperous trade. Stoddard & Stedman have been in the same line for five or six years. The fish and oyster business is carried on by Quimby & Beckwith who, not long since, bought out George Barrett's old stand on Exchange street, and by N. Cleveland who opened last September on Center street, near the head of Exchange. MILLINERY. Misses A. & A. McQuade have not been long in the millinery business, but are building up a large and prosperous trade at their establishment in Dixon's block on the corner of Exchange and Dwight streets. Other millinery houses are those of Mrs. A. B. Bagg, Miss A. J. Fuller, John Colby, Mrs. I. F. Connor and J. & M. Follis. PAINTERS. W D. Manchester & Co., Center street, do all kinds of painting and decorative paper hanging. Mr. Manchester has been engaged in the business for eight years, most of the time without a partner, and has prospered. Frank 0. Dayton has opened a shop this Spring on Exchange street. He was, for about two years with Mr. Manchester and pursues the same general line of business. PHOTOGRAPHER. The only established picture gallery in Chicopee, is that of W. S. Butler, on the corner of Exchange and Cabot streets, an old and prosperous stand. PLASTERER. Few men of any station in life, are more highly esteemed than the veteran, Michael McDermot, who resides on Spruce street, and is responsible for a great many firs t class jobs performed during the past ten or fifteen years. PRINTING. G. V. Wheelock, the only job printer in Chicopee, is located in Cabot Hall block, does good work, and keeps two men steadily employed. RESTAURANT. The need of an up-town restaurant has been met by Mr. C. N. Manchester, who has just opened on Center street, nearly opposite Temple Block, the most finely fitted up dining-rooms the town has yet known. STOVES AD TINWARE. H. Cogswell has been for the past six years located at the old stand, on Exchange street, where William G. Bliss, for a quarter of a century previous, carried on the stove and tinware business. .Mr. Cogswell came originally from Keene, N. H., and before going to Chicopee, had charge of the work department of D. B. Montague's Establishment at Springfield. He manufactures tinware extensively, and does a large business otherwise. A. M. Moore, successor to Southworth & Moore, is located, in a handsome brick block, on the north side of Exchange street, and divides the stove trade with Mr. Cogswell. This establishment, like that of the latter, dates back a number of years, though it has passed through several changes, Mr. Simon G. Southworth retiring from the firm about a year ago.
Format:
Documents
Location:
Chicopee Public Library
Collection (local):
City Directories
Subjects:
Chicopee (Mass.)--Directories
Places:
Chicopee, MA
Link to Item:
https://www.chicopeepubliclibrary.org/archives/items/show/3996
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions
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Publisher:
Clark W. Bryan and Co.
Identifier:
CCD-1875-6.441-447