Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1879-11-08
NO. 2O9.
miscellaneous.
An ENTERPRISING CITIZEN AND A PROM
ISING ENTERPRISE.


Mr.. J. X. BodweIl of IIalowell, is best
known to the general public as president
and manager of two of the largest granite
companies of the State, the one having its
head quarters at Fox Island and the other
at Hallowel. The former is known as the
Bodwell Granite Company anddoes an inn
mense business, sometimes employing as
many as fifteen hundred workmen. The
material for many of our national public
buildings has been taken from the Fox Is
land quarries and wrought into the proper
shape by cunning workers in stone, in the
sheds upon the Island. A large capital is
invested in the business, andits general su-
pervision with the finding ofcustomers and
making ofcontracts would be work enough
for any ordinary business man. But Mr..
Bodwell is no ordinary business man; his
talents in this respect are of very high
order, and he is Just the kind of man to
whom the management of great interests
can safely he entrusted.
The business of the Hallowell Granite
Company though small compared with that
of the Bodwell Company, is nevertheless
much greater than many people are aware.
of. The rare quality of this granite which
renders it susceptible of being wrought,
into the finest statuary, has givenit a repurs
tation all over the country. and orders tor.
monuments. statues and other fine work,
come from the far west and south. 1t was =
from this quarry that the famous Pilgrim
Monument was taken. and thoughno other
statue of such colossal proportions as that
which surmounted it, has been cut here,
statues equal and even excelling It, inthe
beauty of their workmanship, are frequent
" turned out. We noticed the statue Of n
female which is to surmount a shaft that
weighs thirty tons. the pose of whose fig
ure and the gracefulness of whose drapery,
we have rarely seen eXcelled. II is per-
fectly wonderful how all the graceful folds
are brought out from the solid granite. In p
this department of the business. none buto
skilled artizans are employed, many of
them being foreigners. The sculptor wh6ii
moulds the figures in clay and has studied '
the art several years in Italy, is the son OF
Mr.. Bodwell's New York partner 1t Is r.
interesting to watch the figure grow and
develope under his skillful hands, and
equally so to seeits exact likeness wrought
out of the solid rock An hour or two
spent in Witnessing the various operations d
required to transform the rough granite
into forms of life and beauty. cannot be
regarded as lost. 'i"
But we did not take up our pen to write
of granite quarries and their products of
monuments, statuary, and other fine work
but to say something of Mr.. Bodwell's
farming operations. for be it known that
after attending to his duties as president Of
both the Fox Island and lIallowell Granite
Companies, part manager of large lum-
Der mill. bank director. &c, he finds time
to farm it in no mean scale, and this he
calls his recreation. In the old town OF
Methuen. Mass, which once formed a
part of the still older town of Haverhill,
Mr. Bodwell was brought up on farm
and when he reached his majority, he
went to farming on his own account He
had u natural aptitude for agriculture and
followed it because he liked it. But
man of his genius and ambition would
not long be satisfied with the moderate
gains which come to the farmer, and he
engaged in the granite business which is
certainly akin to agriculture. for both
have to do with mother earth. Thirty
wears ago he became connected with the
Fox Island works and much later, we
have not the precise time, he became in
terested in the IIallowell granite quarries,
and moved his family there. ,e o.q..
During all these years of business actv-
ity, Mr.. Bodwell did not lose his interest
in agriculture. and by close observation
when on the journeys through the country
which his business requires him to make,
he made himself familiar with all the i'm
proved methods of farming. Five wears
ago he purchased farm lying in the out
skirts of the city properin HalloweH. con-
tanning hundred acres, more or less. for
the purpose of re-engagmg in farming,
not this time as n business, but rs an am
ateur, as II relaxation from other arduous
business cares. The farm had been neg
lected and run down. and the buildings
were unsuited to the purposes of Mr.. Bod
well. He proceeded to erect first-cllss
set of farm buildings with all the modern
improvements, and to bring up the farm
bv iudicious system of fertilization. TO
effect this. besides the use of stable ma
nure. he has applied lime. ashes. muscle.
mud and phosphates. and wonderful
change has been wrought in the aspect of
the farm during the five wears that Mr.
Bodwel has owned it. The fields belong
ing to it can be distinguished by their
vertlure from those surrounding them. as
far rs they can be seen. Some fields
have yielded two crops of clover the pres
ent year, and a third crop-is headed out.
For green dressing Mr. Bodwell has used
both clover and buckwheat, and finds that
they will both do well.
| Forstock, Mr.. Bodwell purchased choice
blooded Shorthorn cows which he has kept
for their milk lIe has found them supe-
rior mixers. but much labor is involved
| in producing milk for the market, and he
now thinks of changing his stock to Here
fords for breeding purposes and for beef.
He has an agent, himself a noted breeder
of Heretords, looking over the, choice
Hereford herds of tue country including
that of L. l.. Miller of Beecher, ILLINOIS,
several cuts of whose fine animals have
appeared upon this page, with orders to
purchase none but the very best animals
and with well established pedigrees. We
learn that Mr. Miller has offered to sell to
/ Mr. Bodwell's agent. eight OF his first
premium cows and heifers, though, of
course, at very high price. and Mr.. Bod
well has the matter under consideration.
If he cannot find animals and prices to