The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1904-04-27


Garland Woolen company. Later on
he bnilt the Hope mill, which was
twice destroyed by fire and twice re-
built. In 1853 he built the Tucker
vile mill and in 1864 the Hope mill,
all OF which at that time were de-
voted to the manufacture of satinets,
a medium quality of woolen goods.
Simon Fairman, Jr., was the great
est inventor of his age. One inven-
tion was an oscillating steam engine
made in Troy, N. Y. A steam coach
which ran from Nassau to Albany, N.
Y, in 1888, a machine for boring and
turning car wheels, a machine for
making nails and ship spikes, cutting
thousands in day, which previously
had to be cut by hand, and a machine
for ernbossing woolen goods were
among his other inventions. In 1910
he received patent for manufacturing
"chucks, and in 1857 the patent
was extended. These were made in
West Stafford. The "Diamondville
Machine Works. were owned by him,
the outcome of which can be traced to
d. e. Wilton g works in New London
and the shops of E. NJ Horton in
Windsor Locks and of A. T. Cushman
in Hartford. He invented many other
useful and important machines, and
his motive seemed for the public good
rather than for personal gain. Mr..
Fairman died in West Stafford, the
town in which he was born.
In 1841 Jasper Hyde and Olney B.
Golf organized the Granite Mill COM
pany and built the stone part of the
present plant for the manufacture of
cotton goods, and the same year they
built two tenements near the mill.
Within year or two thereafter the
company failed and the property was
bought by Deacon Porter of Monson
and George M. Ives, who increased
the capacity of the mill, and also
built store and the houses on what
was called "the island.'' In 1888
the property changed hands, and Cyril
johnson of the Hollow secured con-
trolling interest in the mill and the
plant became the Central Woolen COM
pany. Under this, the present man.
agement, several additions have been
made to the manufactory, until now
it is one of the most important indus
tries in Stafford -r....
Also in the year 1841 q number of
manufacturing industries were car
ried on at West Stafford, among which
we're the making of linen shoe thread,
knit goods, tape and braids. At pres
ent the most important of the West
Stafford enterprises is the manufac-
ture o. water motors and machinery,
which is extensively carried on by G.
P Bradway and g. W. Pawnall.
In 1850 the manufacture of flocks
and shoddy was begun in Stafford
Springs by William Fl. Smith. The
Glynn mill, which had been built by
Moses B. Harvey in 1852 for the man
ufacture of satinet warps, was pur-
chased in June, 1885, by the firm of
Smith & Cooley, who still own and
operate both plants. -......... ...
The woolen mill at Orcuttville has
been in operation since 1852, in which
year it was built by Harvey Orcutt,
who manufactured satinets until 1869,
when the property was purchased by
Josiah Converse and others. A few
years later Dwight Ellis of Monson,
Mass, bought controlling interest
in the plant, and the concern became
Ellis, Converse & Co. In 1892 JUS
tice J. Ellis purchased the Converse
interests in the property, and since
that time the mill has been owned
and operated by the Ellis family, the
present company being J. J. & A. D..
Ellis.
In 1854 Capt. Farley Converse sold
his interest in the Mineral Springs
company to his brother, and in asso-
citation with his sons in law, B. w.
and Robbins Patten, built what was
known as the Converseville mill. The
main stone mill was destroyed by fire
in 1862, but was Immediately rebuilt
on much larger scale. In 1879 the
mill changed hands and the Warren
Woolen company was formed, with
D. d. Warren as principal stockhold-
er. In 1890 the property again
changed hands, though continuing
under the name of the Warren Wooden
company, with W. @. Avery. F. F.
Patten and J. M. Valentine of New
York as the principal owners. In
1897 J. FL. Valentine of New York,
q SON of the former stockholder, and
others bought the property, and they
have continued to operate the mills
since that time.
In 1870 the Beckwith Card COM
pany was established in Stafford
Springs by Charles W. Beckwith for
the manufacture of card clothing,
strippers, hand cards, curries, Jim
crows and hand card boards. This
plant has been greatly enlarged and
is now owned and operated by G. f.
Beckwith, son of the founder.
The Rawitser Brothers River mill
was built by Mr.. Corp about 1870,
ard was at first used as machine
shop, and later for the manufacture
of tape. Neither of these ventures
proved successful, and the property
was bought by the Messrs. Rawitser
in 1872. Dress goods of medium
quality were manufactured by them
and sold throughout the country. The
firm also owned the lower shoddy
mill and the Home mill at Stafford
H0w's This.
We offer One Hundred Dollars Reward for any
case OF CatarTh that cannot be cured by HaIps
Catarrh Cure.
+. j. CHENEY o CO., Props, Toledo, o.
We, the undersigned, have known r. j. Cheney
for the last 10 years, and believe him Derfectly