The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1892-09-14
A GREAT SHOE CITY.
HISTORY OF LYNN AND ITS SHOE
MAKING INDUSTRY.

= n,.-,- :
as l-"iy rs io$'A oity renowned
ior It's patriotism and Wealth.
The history of tha citv of WIN ord
that Of its shoe industry are chronoloo-
ically speaking. almost identical The
shoe industry originated in LYNN in
1885. two wears before tbe terse man
date was PROMULGATED hv the general
court Nov. is. 1887. "Saueust il called
Linz
Lynn was originally a pretty large
town. Its bounds were sat Chariestown
line, Reading pond, Ipswich river. Sa-
lem and Nahant."
3 A few men termed cordwinders cord
wainers) in the Plymouth charter were
sent over and laid the foundations of
the shoe business.
Shoemaking has taken a front rank
among the useful arts. The pilgrim IA
theirs recognized this, and ON the third
voyage of the Mayfower the governor
and deputy of the New England COM
pany sent over a62S) Thomas Beard and
0Isack" Hickman. who were to receive
"their dyett and houseroom at the
charge of the companie.n Hickman
went back. Thomas Beard remained.
He was the first shoemaker in New Eng
land.
The first white men known to have
settled in Lynn (1829) were Edmund In
gals, a brewer, and his brother. Francis
ingalls,, a tanner. There was plenty of
raw material Cattle had been intro
duced by Edward Winslow 18o4). and
there were over 200 head. "besides
horses. sheen and goats' brought over
in the next six years. There were deer
and moose in plenty, and indeed buck
skin was the principal wear of the early
colonists. Francis Ingalls, built his tan
nerv on what Ia now Burrill street ON
uHumfry's brook now a mart Of
Swampscott.
This no doubt gave an impetus to the
sboe industry The Burrill tannerv was
established in 1880. and stood for almost
200 wears. The Bnrrills were called the
"Roval family of LYNN" John Burrill
was for twentv-ono wears n member and
ten wears sneaker of the house Of repre-
sentatives Of Massachusetts
The frat Lynn shoemaker was philin
KertIond Little ia known of him
save that he came here from gucl,ino-
hamshire. England. in 1895. and made
shoes for Boston. salem and lynn neo-
nle
Thence commenced the remarkable
Growth In 1e43 we find the first iron
WORKS In America established l., tha
town These INDUSTRIES thrived until
1750 Ahout that time mn artistic
ohoan,alrer frn,n I,ondnn ra,na n town
and another i,npulse was given the in
dustrv This man became Famous
Tvnn made n good record In the
Revolution. Meetings were called in
IRIS. and the TEA ana other taxes de-
nounced. A company Of women. emu
latinp the Boston Tea party, went to
the shops and DESTROYED all the tea in
the town. John Mansfield and Eben-
ozer Burrill. representing the shoe and
leather trade at that time, were mem
bers of a provincial congress which con-
yened at Salem In l774 to choose a
COMMITTEE of safety" -Four Lynn men
fell at Bunker Hill. The trade revived
after this war, though there was but
little money.
AS early MS 1888 Lynn asked that
protective tariff be imposed. 1t was at
this time that Ebenezer Breed. a native
of the town. used his wealth and his in
fiuence to Improve the trade. After him
came the johnson family, which accom-
plished much toward the building up Of
the town. Then came the Breed family,
hardly less we'll known.
From 1900 to 1910 West Lynn, under
the inspiration of Ebenezer Breed, soon
became manufacturing mart, probably
the most fiourishing of any In the state
Farming became Of secondary impor-
lance. Large factories were built. The
famous Salem and Boston turnpike was
then completed (1So3) and an imposing
hotel constructed. The population Of
Lynn increased at this period more than
ever before-from 2, 887 in 1900 to 4,OS7
in 1910. e
Ebenezer's son, Isaiah, inherited the
spirit of his father. He was progressive
and above all philanthropic.
AT the time when schools were few
and education difficult to obtain no
built school house onto his home, and
for thirty years maintained, at O large
expense, the best school In town.
Workmen's mutual benefit associa-
tions were organized in 1914, and in the
same year we find the Lynn Mechanics
bank incorporated with capital Of
$3.50 900.
In 1882 the first directory of Lynn was
published. In it was list Of shoe man
ufacturers. There were sixty. or
morocco manufacturers there were six.
a,d a. . sootrota a "a statad that utbair
CIV =. .ooso'o - - i;.t,. ,s.s.,
yealiy Du oon aii'oun'' W i'''' '''oio
IMAM *oo'ooo. :.
ran tbe manufacture Of shoes. establish
in0 a house which was afterward re-
snected throughout the country. The
Eastern railroad extended a branch TO
the c;tv in 1888.