Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1892-09-08
a GREAT SHOE CITY.
HISTORY OF LYNN AND ITS SHOE
MAKING INDUSTRY.

The Massachusetts Colony Was n Pioneer
In the Business of Making Footwear
rs Early as Isas-A City Renowned
for Its Patriotism and Wealth.
The history Of the city of Lynn and
that of its shoe industry are, chronology
ically speaking. almost identical. The
shoe industry originated in | in in
1885. two years before the terse man.
date was promulgated by the general
court Nov. Is. 1857. ''Saugust is called
Lin"
| Lynn was originally a pretty large
town. Its bounds were lat Charlestown
line. Reading pond. Ipswich river. Sa-
lem and Nahant."
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 Mayflower the governor
and deputy of the New England com
pany sent over 1629 Thomas Beard and
"lsack" Hickman, who were to receive
their dyett and houseroom at the
charge of the companie." 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 Q62Y were Edmund In
gals, brewer. and his brother, Francis
Ingalls,. a tanner. There was plenty of
raw material Cattle had been intro
duced by Edward Winslow Q624, and
there were over 200 head, besides
horses, sheep 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
merry on what is now Burrill street, on
"Humfry's brook" now a part of
Swampscott.
This no doubt gave an impetus to the
shoe industry The Burrill tannery was
established in 1880, and stood for almost
200 years. The Burrills were called the
Royal family of Lynn" John Burrill
was for twenty-one years a member and
ten years speaker of the house of repre-
sentatives of Massachusetts.
The first Lynn shoemaker was Philip
Kertland Little is known of him
save that he came here from Bucking-
hamshire, England, in 1885, and made
shoes for Boston. Salem and Lynn peo-
pie.
Thence cr.m .mmenced the remarkable
growth. In 1643 we find the first iron
works in America established in the
town. These industries thrived until
1850. About that time an artistic
shoemaker from London came to town
and another impulse was given the in
dustry. This man became famous.
Lynn made a good record in the
Revolution. Meetings were called in
l773. and the "tea" and other taxes de-
nounced. A company of women. emu
lating the Boston Tea party, went to
the shops and destroyed all the tea in
the town. John Mansfield and Eben-
ezer Burrill. representing the shoe and
leather trade at that time, were men,
bers of provincial congress which con-
Vened at Salem in 1774 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 as 17S3 Lynn asked that
protective tariff be imposed. 1t was at
this time that Ebenezer Breed, native
of the town. used his wealth and his in
f1uence 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 well known.
From 1900 to 1910 West Lynn, under
the inspiration of Ebenezer Breed, soon
became manufacturing mart, probably
the most fourishing of any in the state.
Farming became of secondary impor-
tance. Large factories were built. The
famous Salem and Boston turnpike was
then completed (1S03) and an imposing
hotel constructed. The population of
Lynn increased at this period more than
ever before-from 1887 in 1900 to 4,0S7
in 1910.
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 he
built school house onto his home, and
for thirty years maintained, at 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 a capital of
$3.50, 900.
In 1889 the first directory Of Lynn was
published. In it was list of shoe man.
ufacturers. There were sixty. OF
morocco manufacturers there were six.
and in a footnote it is stated that their
yearly business amounts to a little more
than $50, 600"
A few years later Mr.. John B. Alley.
long leading citizen of the town, be-
gan the manufacture of shoes, establish
ing a house which was afterward re-
Spected throughout the country. The
Eastern railroad extended branch to
the city i'll 1888.
The wholesale shoe trade had now in
creased in proportion, and, as might be
expected, did much for the trade in
general.
In 1850 Lynn was incorporated city
The population was 1858. The first
mayor was George Hood, who. like most
of the inhabitants, had been shoe
maker, and whose industry was re-
warded by success both in business and
political life.
Shortly after the breaking out of the
war of the rebellion there came the ap-
plication of steam and the multiplied
ton of auxiliary machines. At the
present time everything except cutting
the uppers is carried on by machinery
and steam power. Lynn was the first
shoe town in which machinery for shoe
making was introduced.-Boston Jour
nal
Importations of Sheilac.
The amount of shellac that was i'm
ported into Boston for the year ending
June 30, 1890, was 1876 pounds, about