The Washington times., 1901-11-10
sHoEMAKING YEARS AGO.

SHoEMAKING YEARS AGO.
Ex-Gov. CIaHin, of Massachusetts,
Describes the Pioneer Industry
About the year 1880 1 started working
in the shoe factories of Milford. I was
then eleven years old. Associated in busi-
ness in the same town was Horace Clafiin.
my brother. There were also General UH-
derwood. Rufus Chaplin, and Mr.. BraS-
These men were beyond doubt the iarg-
est shoe manufacturers in the country
at that time. and Milford was their head
quarters. We had one or two shops in
Philadelphia Manufacturing was carried
on on q small scale in Newark and New
York, and also in Cincinnati. There was
no industry west of the Rocky Mountains,
and St Louis was considered simply a dis
tributing centre for the Eastern product.
n the year 1888, having been taken sick,
1 went West and established a branch In
the city OF ST. Louis. st. Louis at that
time was a leading re=ort for Eastern
people, and for that reason l had chosen
it as my future home.
Hood & Abbott were the principal
wholesale dealers al that time. Mr.. Hood
was the grandfather or uncle Of the pres
ent head of the rubber company which
bears the name. He was Lynn man, as
was also his partner. There were as
many shoe centres as there are today
If my recollection serves me right, L. L.
Warren was the principal distributing
agent in Louisville, which practically con-
trolled the trade in the South. Cincinna-
ii also had one or two of these distribut-
ing agents, and at that time nothing was
heard of the city of Chicago. There were
no manufacturers South. New Orleans,
Natchez, Charleston, and all other large
cities in that portion of the country were
supplied by Massachusetts,. Philadelphia
distributed its quota of womeu's fine
shoes Strangely enough there were two
shoe factories in the State of COnnecti-
cut. situated in the town of Milford. They
were practically our only competitors.
During this period there was no such
thing ever heard of as shoe statesmen
If a man wanted to buy shoes it was
necessary that he should go into the
market This dealers did twice a year.
Lynn. OF course, was the fountainhead.
along with Danvers. Haverhill, Abing
ton, and Bridgewater. The wholesale
| houses made their headquarters at Bos-
ton. and, like the retail merchants. they
| Travelled through each of these sections
| in order to buy goods. The great stamp
| ing ground Of shoemen In the city at that
| time was wilde's Hotel. on Elm Street.
| A noticeable character during these
| times was Mr.. HolbrooK. from whom the
| town OF HoIbrook was named. He used
| to drive in a surrey and a regular dinner
| suit, with his top hat and this he con-
| tinued doing up to the year 1860. L.
| Curtis was also another of these famous
| characters.
| Our section of the country was devoted
| to boots. In the year 1S47 we built In
Hopkinton the largest shop there was at
| that time in the country. and carried the
| business on for twenty years. Associated
| with us were the Colemans, Mr.. Barker.
my brother, and the same character of
boots was made in Arlington. Bridgewater
| and Weymouth Shoes and fine calf boots
! were made at Natick, and Vice President
! Henry Wilson was among the prominent
| makers Lynn and Haverhill were the
| home of women's shoes. We had no sew
! ing machines. no pesging machines, and
even pegs themselves were made by hand,
| for which we had to pay 10 and Is cents
| a quart.
| In the year 1850. the time OF the intro
| duction of the pegging machine. we had
our first strike. The men in the shop re-
chinery into the works. This was the
| only labor trouble we had during our
| whole business career
The industry of Massachusetts received
an awful setback during the war. One OF
the most honorable men who ever entered
the trade was the firm of BatchelleI
Brothers, from which the present firm de-
seconded. They controlled the great trade
of the South. and it was reported that al
| tbe outbreak of the war they held S40O. .00l
in paper from people in the Southern ter
ritory. They were crippled for the time
being but after short period they re-
covered all they had lost, and the present
firm is the firm of these Batchellers, who
are among the pioneers in Massachusetts
Perhaps the largest wholesale firm during
that time was the firm OF Mitchell Il Bry-
! ant Seth Bryant died about two years
ago. InSy were very successful, and per
haps did as large q business as anyone
| and they did much to raise the condition
of the industry in Massachusetts.
During the pioneer days all of the shoes
were not made under one roof II was
| usually a case of the manufacturer MN
self cutting out the uppers and bottom
stock, but most of the men had Htut
shops built adjoining their own homes
| They made tue Work III uoHel p"t'7 ~
then brought them TO the original shoP
where the finishing was done. Ihe nitro
duction of the pegGing machine perhap;
mad more to do with amalsamating tins
interests of the shoemakers and bringing
them under one roof than anything else
This naturally did away with a grea'
portion of the work which had formerly
been done outside.
The sewing machine was another lnVeh
tion which tended to the st--le result, sc
that by the introduction Of the Mckay
machine in 1862 we had the foundation oil
| the present system of shoe Industries
That We have made wonderful progress
in shoemaking can easily be seen by
everyone. and that we are better capable
of handling the trade at the present time
than we were formerly is also noticeable
Our increase has been greater than the
natural increase of the population. Massa-
| chusetts owes this TO the character OF Its
shoemakers, and to the men who have
| always been at the helm. The West has
undoubtedly improved. but there is nc
State within the Union which will ever be
able TO wrest from Massachusetts, the
| name of the most advanced of all the
States in the shoemaking industry.-Shoe
| and Leather Reporter.
4 Fancy College Crow.
al, rraa1 \