Worcester City (part 22 of 58)

The early School Committees seem to have been chosen for prudential purposes only, until 1808, when an additional committee of eleven (reduced to five the next ye.ir) was appointed to examine and inspect the schools. After 1826, in accordance with legislative enactment. School Committees were chosen to exercise substantially the same powers and functions as at present.

This law was passed in 1826, and at an adjourned town-meeting in that year it was voted "that the Selectmen be a committee for the superintendence and regulation of schools agreeably to an act of the General Court passed 1826." Later at the same meeting it was voted to add the clergymen of the town to the committee. The first School Committee actually chosen by the town under this law was in 1827, and consisted of Rev. Calvin Lincoln, Rev. Rufus A. Putnam, Dr. Jonas A. Marshall and Messrs. Ebenezer Torrey, David Brigham, Ivers Jewett and Abel Fox.

During the second half-century of the town's existence considerable progress was made in educational matters. Fitchburg grew rapidly, and increased accommodations and more teachers were necessary, and

About 1830 the High School Association, of Fitchburg, was formed by a number of prominent citizens who were interested in education. The directors of the Association were Benjamin Snow, Francis Perkins and Dr. Charles W. Wilder, and its secretary and treasurer was Dr. Jonas A. Marshall. This Association proved to be of very material assistance in promoting the cause of education here, and many of our older citizens owe tlieir knowledge of the higher branches of learning to the instruction rendered available by it.

A building called the Academy was erected in 1830 by the Association at a cost of twelve hundred dollars. It stood just in front of the location of the present High School building, on land given for the purpose by Capt. Zaohariah Sheldon. The Academy was let to private persons, who taught therein almost all the higher branches. At one time Hebrew was included in the list of studies. Benaiah Cook, A.B., with Mr. Ezra Reed as his assistant, kept the first school in the Academy, and the building was used for private instruction until 1849, when the town purchased it of the Association and established a high school in it.

In April, 1831, a committee of one from each school district was chosen " to examine into the evils of our schools and point out remedies." The report of this committee was read June 11, 1831, and "accepted very unanimously," and it was voted to print and distribute four hundred and fifty copies of it.

In 1835 the number of children attending the district schools in Fitchburg was 560 - 289 girls and 271 boys - and the teachers employed numbered 25, of whom 14 were ladies. The average wages per month were, in winter, $16.07 ; in summer, $4.30.

Of the Academy, which was intended only for young persons who had already acquired a commonschool education, Mr. Torrey, writing in 1836, says in his " History of Fitchburg ": " It is a commodious, twostory building, situated a few rods easterly of the common. It is furnished with two school-rooms on the lower floor, the former of which will accommodate 65 scholars, and the latter 30. The average number attending for several years past has been about 30."

In 1835 an attempt was made to have the higher branches of learning taught in the district schools, but the town refused to sanction any such proceeding.

In 1840 the need of a new school-house in District No. 1 became very evident. The "yellow schoolhouse," built in 1815, was filled to overflowing, and the pupils were soon all transferred to a new brick school-house - the pride of the town - erected on what is now School Street, near Main Street. This house is still standing, and is occupied by schools of the primary grade. During the summer of 1888 an extensive addition was built, reaching nearly to Main Street.

In 1846 the brick house in District No. 12 was abandoned and the pupils transferred to a new and commodious brick school-house on Day Street.

The first printed school report of the town of Fitchburg was for the year ending April 3, 1843. It was not printed by vote of the town, but by the subscriptions of public-spirited citizens, and is an eightpage pamphlet in large type, bearing the imprint of " W. J. Merriam, Printer, Fitchburg, Mass."

It contains no tabulated statistics, but deals chiefly with the defects in the school system of that day. Some of the "causes unfavorable and, in some cases, almost ruinous to our schools, which neither good teachers nor faithful committees can obviate " are enumerated as follows :

First. Bad School Houses. - Vinder this head it is stated that a few of the school-houses in town are good ones, pleasantly located, in good repair and provided with suitable grounds, etc., while the rest are very bad in all these respects.

The irregular attendance of pupils is spoken of as a third serious drawback to the prosperity of the schools, and also the non-attendance of "young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one," of whom there were said to be over two hundred in town, "only eighty of whom attend our public schools at all,'' The report closes with an earnest exhortation that parents and guardians exert their utmost influence to have the young persons under their care attend school.

No school report was printed the following year, but since then annual reports have been printed, and the writer is fortunate enough to possess a complete set of them, including the report for 1842-43.

The report (or the year ending March, 1845, was printed by vote of the town. It is a pamphlet of twenty-eight pages, closely printed and containing in addition six tables of attendance, &c. It was prepared by Charles Mason, Esq., chairman of the School Committee, and is an exhaustive document containing much valuable information regarding the conduct and condition of the schools and useful suggestions in the way of their improvement.

The year 1845 was a lively one in the school affairs of Fitchburg. At the annual town-meeting, March 3, 1845, sundry articles iu the warrant relating to the establishment of a town school, new districting, &c., were referred to a committee composed of one chosen from each district, as follows: No. 1, Charles Mason ; 2, Robert L. Friar; 3, John Whitcomb ; 4, Abram

This committee met March 18th and thoroughly discussed the subject and adjourned to the morning of April 7th, when a report, prepared by the chairman, Mr. Mason, was read in committee and unanimously agreed to. In the afternoon of the same day this report was presented in town-meeting and the measure.s therein recommended were adopted. Of these measures the following were a part:

That the present di\ision of the town into school districts be discontinued, sucli discontinuance to take effect on the 15th day of May next, from and after which day the existing school districts of the town, including No. Vl}4t shall he abolished ; and that the town purchase of the several districts, at a fair and just appraisal, their respective schoolhouses, and their right and interest in the land on which the same stand, . . . and that henceforth tho town provide, at the common expense of the town, school-houses for the several school districts that shall be formed within its limits.

It was the portion of the above relating to school districts that produced contention. No objection was made to the purchase of the school-houses by the town, though it was an unusual proceeding in those days.

At this meeting, April 7th, a committee was chosen to appraise the school-houses and report their value to the assessors, to be by them credited to the taxpayers in the several districts toward payment of their taxes. This was attended to and the transfer duly made to the town.

A committee was also chosen at this meeting to divide the town into suitable school districts. This committee performed their duty and presented a report at a town-meeting held May 5, 1845. The report was accepted and referred, together with the whole subject matter, to a special committee for revision. This committee, which consisted of Nathaniel Wood, Levi Downe, Ivers Phillips, Abel F. Adams and Levi Kendall, was requested to report August 11, 1845. This date found nothing done by the committee and the four first-named gentlemen sent in their resignations. Charles Mason, John Whitcomb, Dr. Thomas R. Boutelle and William Woodbury were chosen in their places respectively, and the members of this new committee were "authorized to have their Report or Reports printed and distributed among the inhabitants of the town for their examination prior to the next March meeting."

There resulted from the labors of this committee two reports, - a majority report, signed by Messrs. Mason and Whitcomb and Dr. Boutelle, recommending the division of the town into eight school districts, to be wholly under the supervision of the School Committee ; and a minority report, signed by Messrs. Woodbury and Kendall, recommending the division of the town into ten school districts, each district to have entire control of its own school, and the School Committee to serve only for the purpose of examining teachers and occasionally visiting the schools.

These two reports were read in town-meeting, March 2, 1846, and were both accepted and laid on the table. It was then voted " to adopt the territorial limits for school districts as they existed in 1844, except the half-district." A committee, consisting of Levi Downe, Abel Marshall and William Carleton, was chosen " to assign the territory which was formerly the half-district, and fix the limits of the old districts." This committee reported April 6, 1846, and their report was accepted. The town clerk added to the record the following comment: "So ended our great effort to new district the town."

The year 1845 was also noted in the educational annals of the town because of a very large and successful Teachers' Institute held here. The Institute began its sessions October 28th and closed November 7, 1845. The attendance was fifty males and eightyfive females, most of whom were teachers in Fitchburg and neighboring towns.

The following gentlemen contributed their services as lecturers or instructors, or both, during the session : Hon. Horace Mann, Boston ; R. B. Hubbard, Esq., Worcester; W. B. Fowle, Esq., Boston; Thomas Sherwin, Esq., Boston ; Rev. Barzillai Frost, Concord ; N. Tillinghast, Esq., Bridgewater; Amasa Walker, Esq., North Brookfield; George S. Hillard, Esq., Boston ; Charles Mason, Esq., Fitchburg; and Asa Fitz, Esq., Boston. Mr. Hillard was unable to be present, and the lecture prepared by him was read by Charles Sumner, Esq., of Boston, at that time just entering upon his glorious public career.

The pecuniary means necessary for holding this Institute, as well as three others held at about the same time in Pittsfield, Bridgewater and Chatham, were furnished by Hon. Edmund Dwight, of Boston, who placed in the hands of Hon. Horace Mann, then Secretary of the State Board of Education, the sum of one thousand dollars for this purpose ; and at a special meeting of the Institute, November 7th, a set of resolutions were adopted expressing the obligation and thanks of the memliers to Hon. Edmund Dwight for his munificence, to Hon. Horace Mann and Charles Mason, Esq., "for the efficientservice they have rendered to the cause of popular education by their labors in the establishment of this Institute,'' to the lecturers and instructors for their valuable gratuitous services, and to the citizens of Fitchburg for their hospitality.

All the local work was performed and arrangements made by Mr. Mason, and at the close of the sessions, November 7th, the ladies of the institute presented to him a handsome gold pencil in recognition of his efforts to make the Institute a success.

In 1845 the School Committee established a small library for the use of the public school teachers. A subscription paper, now in Mr. Mason's possession, was circulated, and the money thus obtained was used for the purchase of some forty books and pamphlets on educational subjects. These were afterward presented to the Fitchburg Public Library.

The town did not vote to print the school report for the year ending March, 1846, and in April of that year a subscription paper, also now in Mr. Mason's po-session, was carried around and $23.16 raised, for which sum the report was printed the following May.

On several occasions since 1836 there had been articles in the warrants relating to the establishment of a high school in town, but these had always been "passed over." March 5, 1849, however, the town voted " to establish a High School to be kept throughout the year, with suitable vacations, the school committee to put it in operation as soon aa convenient," and eight hundred dollars were appropriated for this purpose.

The town purchased the Academy of the High School Association and enlarged it. Mr. Anson S. Marshall was engiged as the first principal of the Fitchburg High School, and in March, 1850, there were eighty-two pupils in attendance.

The town was now thoroughly awake on the subject of education. During the year ending March 1, 1850, over two thousand dollars were e.tpended for new school-houses in South Fitchburg and Crockerville and the addition to the Academy building, and about eleven hundred dollars for painting and repairing the old houses. The annual appropriation had risen to about four thousand dollars.

During the next ten years much was done towards bringing the schools into good working condition. The High School was well attended, and proved a success from the start. The scholars in the school were divided into two grades called the First and Second Departments. This method was retained until the spring of 1855, when the town voted to abolish the Second Department of the High School and establish in lieu thereof three grammar schools - one on Day Street, one on West Street and the third in West

It was becoming very evident that increased accommodations would soon be necessary, especially for the High School ; but it was not till 1859 that buildings were actually erected, though in 1858 the South Street house was enlarged at an expense of nearly two thousand dollars.

In ISfiO what is now the High Street Grammar School building was erected at a cost of about twelve thousand dollars. This was a commodious, well-built, brick house, with accommodations for three hundred and sixty scholars; it was heated by furnaces. The High School occupied the upper portion, and several schools of lower grade were kept in the rest of the building.

The West Fitchburg Grammar School building was also erected in 1860, at a cost of about three thousand three hundred dollars, and furnished accommodations for seventy -two scholars. Both these houses reflected great credit on the building committee, consisting of Edwin Upton, William O. Brown and Arnold Wilson.

After the removal of the High School to the new building the Academy was used for various purposes. It was here that Mr. E. Butterick began the business of making shirt-patterns. He was successful and later removed to New York City, where he established one of the largest pattern and fashion houses in the world. About 1865 the town sold the Academy building for seven hundred dollars, and a few years later it was moved, and became a portion of the Rolletone House.

In 1867 began another period of school-house building. During that year the Middle Street house was erected at a cost of upwards of thirteen thousand dollars.

In 1868 the town appropriated 816,000 for the support of schools and expended nearly $100,000 for new buildings and alterations and repairs of old houses.

The High School had outgrown its quarters, and in 1868 the erection of a handsome High School building was begun on the old Academy lot. It was completed in 1869, and cost upwards of $.50,000. It still serves the purpose for which it was built, and is a well-arranged, commodious school edifice - an ornament and credit to Fitchburg.

Early in 1873 Mr. Eli A. Hubbard, who was principal of the High School, 1854-57, was secured to fill the newly-established office of superintendent of schools. He began his duties in April, 1873, and held the position about two years, when he resigned, much to the regret of our citizens. In 1875 Mr. Joseph G. Edgerly was elected his successor, and has held the office to the present time. Mr. Edgerly has attended faithfully to his duties, and his annual reports are documents full of interesting and valuable information regarding the progress and needs of the schools of the city.

The general condition of our public schools since the city form of government was adopted can perhaps best be shown by the following table giving the annual appropriations, number of teachers employed and average daily attendance of pupils from 1873 to 1888 inclusive :

The appropriations above given do not include the amounts voted for repairs and new school-houses, but simply the appropriations for teachers' salaries, fuel, care of school-houses and rooms, and minor incidental expenses.

The law passed in 1884, requiring cities and towns in this State to furnish school-books to the pupils, caused an average increase of $4500 in the annual school appropriations for the last four years, and this ia included in the figures for 1885-88 in the above table.

In 1886 the Catholics established a parochial school here, and converted their old church into a schoolhouse for this purpose. A large proportion of their children attend this school, thus causing a considerable falling off in the attendance of the public schools. A parochial school building is now in process of erection iu West Fitchburg.

was considerably enlarged, at an expense of $10,000, and within a few years the Day Street house has been much enlarged and improved, at considerable expense.

During the past five years a number of new and substantial brick school-houses have been built, the most important of which are the Rollstone Street house, erected in 1883, one on Maverick Street and another on Highland Avenue, built in 1885, and the Clarendon Street house, built in 1887. The aggregate cost of the four structures was about $50,000, nearly one-third of which was expended on the Clarendon Street house, which has several improvements that the older buildings lack. It is said to be the best lighted, best heated and best ventilated building in town.

The city now owns school property valued at about $250,000. There are twenty school building'', in which are kept forty-nine schools, graded as follows ; one High School, four grammar schools, twelve intermediate, twenty-five primary and seven suburban ungraded schools. These are taught by some seventy teachers, most of whom are graduates of our own public schools. Instruction in singing and drawing is also given throughout the school year by two competent teachers.

The passage of the Illiterate Minor Bill by the Legislature in 1887 obliged the city to largely increase its provisions for evening schools. During the fall session in 1886, and the two sessions in 1887, 622 pupils registered at these schools, though the average nightly attendance was only sixty-three. At the session early in 1888, 588 pupils registered, and the average nightly attendance was 227.

We will conclude this section on the public schools of Fitchburg with a few remarks concerning the High School. The building, which is pleasantly located on a lot bounded by Academy, Davis, Pleasant and High Streets and is surrounded by well-kept grounds, contains one large school-room, one smaller and five recitation-rooms, besides a laboratory, mineralogical cabinet, reception-room, etc., all of which are exclusively devoted to the High School.

The school has prospered and been a credit to the town and city since it was established, in 1849, and has been under the care of competent instructors, both principals and assistants, who have labored faithfully to maintain a high standard of scholarship.

Herbert William Kittredge, A.M., the present principal, began his duties here in September, 188G, and under his management the school has been satisfactorily carried on since. He is efficiently aided in his work by six assistant teachers - four being ladies and two gentlemen.

The number of pupils in the High School at the present time (autumn of 1888) is two hundred and .fifty-six - the largest number ever enrolled in the school.

In one respect, we regret to say, our High School has not kept up the high standing it once had. Fifteen years ago the Fitchburg High School was recognized as an excellent fitting-school for college, and ranking with the High Schools of Worcester, Somerviile and other large cities. During the eight years following 1867 thirteen of its graduates entered Harvard College alone, and every one passed through the entrance examin.ations with credit to himself and the school; and during the same eight years as many graduates entered other colleges.

Since 1875 the school has lo*t its prestige in this respect, not because of lack of ability or desire on the part of the principals of the school to fit boys for college, but because the popular sentiment decreed that so much time and attention should not be devoted to classical study in the High School ; but it is to be hoped that some time in the future the Fitchburg High School may regain its former high rank as a fitting school.

Libraries. - The Fitchburg Public Library, which is one of our most valuable and highly appreciated educational institutions, was not established until 1859; but for thirty years previous there was in Fitchburg some description of library, whose volumes were more or less accessible to the ciiizens.

Inasmuch as our present library is the natural outgrowth of these early collections of books, it is proper and advisable to give a short history of these efforts of the citizens to get a library together, prior to 1859, when the town came to the re-cue, appropriated money and provided accommodations for a free public, library.

The Fitchburg Philosophical Society. - This appears to be the first literary association in Fitchburg of which we have any knowledge. It was organized about 1828 for the purpose of having lectures and debates, - what, in the rural parlance of today, is called a " Lyceum." It was before this society that Mr. Wood, in 1831, delivered his course of lectures on the early history of Fitchburg.

It was the intention of this society to accumulate a library, and, with this purpose in view, a number of books were purchased with money subscribed by the member.'*, and Drs. Marshall and Abercrombie kindly furnished accommodations in their office for these books. The principal portion of this early col- . lection consisted of a set of forty-seven large volumes, entitled "The Cyclopedia; or. Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Literature." This work was compiled by Abraham Rees, D.D., F.R.S., and comprised forty-one volumes of print, the other six containing maps and plates. These books were in themselves almost a complete library, and must have been quite expensive. The entire set has come down to our day, having been successively the property of the Philosophical Society, Library Association, Athenaium and Public Library.

At the present time the " Cyclopedia" is in the Wallace Library and Art Building, and one day in July, 1888, the writer took occasion to go there for the special purpose of seeing this relic of by-gone days. All forty-seven volumes were found packed away in a basement room, and the librarian informed the writer that no one had ever before, to his knowledge, asked to see these books since he became librarian, fifteen years ago.

The volumes are in an excellent state of preservation, and it seems as if they ought to occupy a place of honor in the library, and be carefully preserved, for unquestionably Rees' " Cyclopedia " may be considered the foundation of the Fitchburg Public Library.

The Fitchburg Library As.sociATioN.^This was a stock organization, each member thereof holding one or more shares. The Association purchased the books belonging to the Philosophical Society and in the course of the next fourteen years added enough to make, in 1852, a total of about five hundred volumes.

The library of the Association was kept in Mr. Phineas S. Crocker's book-bindery and stationery store, a small, one-story wooden building on the site now occupied by the Stiles Block. Mr. Crocker was for several years librarian, and some of our older citizens well remember his genial and accommodating manners. George E. Towne, Esq., in his address at the dedication of the Wallace Library and Art Building, July 1, 1885, speaking of Mr. Crocker as a librarian, said, "The care bestowed by him upon the few volumes, the satisfaction with which he aided applicants in their selections, and the pride he felt in having been selected as worthy to bear such tremendous responsibility, were something marvelous to see."

Books were loaned to members, and it is probable that no very strict account of the delivery and return of books was kept, for when the affairs of the Asso-

The Fitchburg Library Association cannot be said to have been a flourishing institution. The people _ did not take hold of the enterprise with the enthusiasm that was essential to make it a success. The membership was not large, there being only thirtythree shareliolders in 1852.

By that time it had finished its mission of preserving and gradually increasing a collection of books, the nucleus of a future public library, and was ready to give way to, and be absorbed by, a new and stronger library organization, -

The Fitchburg Athen^um. - December 6, 1851, a number of citizens who were desirous of having a new library association formed in town, met at the Fitchburg Hotel to talk the matter over. At this meeting it was decided to start a subscription paper, and also to confer with the shareholders of the Fitchburg Library Association, and ascertain upon what terms they would dispose of their library to the new association. A committee of five, consisting of Charles Mason, Rev. C. Woodhouse, Asher Green, W.B. Wood and L. H. Bradford, was chosen to take the matter in charge and report at a future meeting, " to be called at such time as the committee shall see fit." It was also voted that this committee report, at the same time, a plan of organization for the proposed library association.

It was not until March 4, 1852, that the committee made their report to the citizens interested. The meeting was held in the town-hall and a preliminary report read by Mr. Mason, chairman of the committee.

The substance of this report was that the names of one hundred and twenty-five subscribers, at five dollars each, had been obtained by Mr. William B. Wood ; that the members of the Fitchburg Library Association had voted to transfer their library to the proposed new association, provided each of its members be entitled to one share in the new association, and become a member of it, with all the privileges of new subscribers. As the membership of the Library Association was thirty-three, and each share in the new association was worth five dollars, this would be equivalent to paying one hundred and sixty-five dollars for the library which contained, as was supposed, about five hundred volumes. The coinmittee considered this a fair price and recommended that the library be purchased on the terms stated.

The report then proceeded to enumerate the advantages that would arise from the institution of such a library in Fitchburg, and marked out, in a general way, a plan of organization and the methods to be used in carrying on the association. Each member (except those who came in from the Fitchburg Library Association) was to pay five dollars, and thereby be entitled to one share in the association and to pay one dollar per year, to be applied to the increase of the library. Provisions were also made for officers, board of directors, etc., and .suitable regulations for the loaning and returning of books.

It was also recommended to have a course of lectures each winter, that vigorous efforts be made to increase the number of fubscribers and that, "at a proper time, the Association be organized, as Proprietors of a Library, as a corporation, under the provisions of the Revised Statutes."

The above report was unanimously accepted and the committee were instructed to present apian of organization at a future meeting and, in the meantime, to take measures to procure additional suljscribers and to obtain suitable accommodatious for the Library in the new Town House.

In accordance with the last instruction, the matter of providing a room in the town-house, that was to be built immediately, was brought before the citizens at the annual town-meeting, April 5, 1852, and it was voted " that the building Committee be authorized to procure or provide a room for the Library Association in the new Town House."

Matters progressed favorably in all respects, and by the following autumn the association was about ready to begin its work. The name fixed upon was the Fitchburg Athenajum, and the shareholders were duly organized as a library association under that name.

One of the first acts of the Athenaeum was to make arrangements for a course of lectures by well-known men during the winter of 1852-53. The committee on lectures was Charles Mason, Rev. John Jennings and Rev. Horatio Stebbins, and no pains were spared by this committee to secure an able and popular course of lectures.

This was essentially an ^periment, but the citizens appreciated the earnest labor of the committee and made it a success in every way. Season tickets for the course were put at a price certainly within the reach of all, a price that seems ridiculously small in these daj-s, viz., one dollar for gentlemen and fifty cents for ladies.

A course of twelve Lectures will be delivered before the Fitchburg AthenaniDi the current winter. The Introductory lecture will be by the Rev. Mark Hopkins, D.D., President of Williams College, on Tuesday evening, Dec. 2l8t, at the Meeting House of the Calvinistic Congregational Society. The e-vercises on the Tuesday evening succeeding will be a Poem, by the Rev. John Pierpont, of Medford.

The announcement then went on to state that the list had not yet been completed, and mentioned the names of iive prominent lecturers with whom dates had already been arranged.

The following is a correct copy of the list of lecturers and the dates on which they appeared before the Fitchburg Athenieum audiences. It is a list with which any lecture bureau might well be satisfied and even be proud of. It is copied directly from the manuscript list in the possession of Mr. Mason, the chairman of the Lecture Committee, who did most of the arranging and corresponding with tho various lecturers :

The first three lectures were given in the Calvinistic Congregational Church, but the remaining nine were delivered in the hall of the new town house, as the following extract from the Sentinel of January 7, 1853, shows :

Athen.i:um Lectures. - The remaining nine lectures of the couree will be in the New Town Hall, which will be first used for that purpose on Tuesday evening, Jan. 11th. A lecture will then be delivered by the Hon. Horace Greklet, of the New York Trilmic, and a poem by Ch.\rlE8 TllURRER, Esq., of Worcester. We anticipate seeing the elegant and spacious hall filled with an audience of the intelligent citizens of the neighboring towns, aa well as of our own, to enjoy the rich intellectual treat which may be expected on the occasion.

These anticipations were fully realized, for the audience that evening was the largest of any during the course, numbering about nine hundred and fifty.

That the course of lectures, as a whole, was a success, financially as well as intellectually, is shown by the following, taken from the " First Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Fitchburg Athenaeum."

The average attendance upon the lectures was about 750 ; the largest number present at any one time was probably 950, which was on the evening of the fii^t lecture in the new Town Hall. About 725 tickets were sold for the whole course, and about 950, in all, for single evenings. The gross proceeds of the lectures amounted to SG30.G9, the expenses of the course to ?4ll.2o, leaving a surplus of 8219.44 to be applied to the uses of the Library.

From this same report we also learn that five hundred and fifty books were purchased during the year and about forty-five donated ; and these, with the four hundred and thirty-five volumes in the library transferred from the Fitchburg Library Association, made a total of over a thousand volumes, which, thirty-five years ago, might well be considered a very good-sized library.

At any rate, it is certain that the oflicers and members of the Fitchburg Athen;eum had every reason to be fully satisfied with the results of the association's first year of existence.

Lack of space forbids our speaking at greater length of the Athena>um and its work. For several years more it continued in a prosperous condition, and in 1858 had a membership of one hundred and sixty, and a library of about fifteen hundred volumes.

The time was then near at hand for the establishment of a free town library; the Athen.Tum, as had been the case with the library associations preceding it, had fulfilled its mission and was soon to be absorbed by a library of larger scope and greater permanency.

The Fitchburg Public Library. - In 1851 the Legislature enacted a law which provided that any town or city, so desiring, might appropriate a sum, not exceeding one dollar for each ratable poll, for the establishment of a free public library.

At the time when preparations were making for the organization of the Athena?um, in 1852, some of the citizens were rather in favor of changing the plan and organizing a town library, as provided for by the statute of the preceding year. There was much uncertainty, however, as to whether the town would vote the money at that time or not, and the idea was not pushed.

By 1859 the town of Fitchburg was ready to take measures to secure a free public library. It must be admitted that Fitchburg was rather slow in taking action on this matter. Our neighbor, Leominster, had a public library some three years before ours was established.

The subject was debated by the citizens of Fitchburg more or less, but no decisively favorable public action w.as taken in regard to it until the spring of 1859.

The warrant for the annual town-meeting that year was given March 26th, and was the longest warrant since Fitchburg's incorporation. It contained thirtytwo articles, the twenty-fifth of which was as follows:

Art, 25. - To see if the Town will appropriate the amount allowed by law for the establishment of a Free Town Library, or act anything thereon.

The sentiment of the citizens seeming to be in favor of establishing a free library, the shareholders of the Athenaeum held a meeting March 31, 1859, to consider the expediency of presenting their library to the town. After much discussion it was decided in the negative, by a vote of twenty-five to fourteen.

Annual town-meeting day in 1859 was April 11th. It was a dull, disagreeable day, but as the citizens were more than ordinarily interested in the municipal proceedings, there was a good attendance. Every one of the thirty-two articles was acted upon in the course of the day, and the people doubtless left the townhouse with the firm conviction that they had done a good day's work. And so they had ; for, by voting " to appropriate the sum authorized by law for the establishment of a Free Town Library " (this sum being one thousand, eight hundred and thirty-one dollars in the case of Fitchburg), they pledged their money and best efforts to found and jjerpetuate an institution which has proved to be a great blessing, and whose usefulness and value will Increase as the years roll on.

consisting of the following gentlemen : Goldsmith F. Bailey, Joseph W. Mansur, Dr. James R. Wellman, Dr. Jabez Fisher, Dr. Thomas R. Boutelle, Thornton K. Ware, Hanson L. Read, Moses G. Lyon and John J. Piper.

May 10, 1859, occurred the annual meeting of the shareholders of the Fitchburg Athenfeum; and at this meeting it was voted " to instruct the president and treasurer to sell all the property of the institution, aside from the money in the treasury (about seventyfive dollars), to the town of Fitchburg for four hundred dollars." The town subsequently authorized the purchase of the property for the sum named, and thus cameinto posse^sionof some sixteen hundred volumes, which made quite a nucleus for the public library. Several members of the Athenoeum very generously relinquished their proportion of the sale, to the amount of $160.84, so that the books really cost the town less than two hundred and fifty dollars.

There was also in town another collection of books, about two hundred in number - the Agricultural Library - which the trustees purchased on very favorable terms.

The trustees entered upon their work with zeal. It was decided to continue the library in the room previously occupied by the Athenteum, in the townhouse (corresponding closely to tlie present o.Bces of the city auditor and mayor), and it was somewhat enlarged by the addition of the room adjoining in the rear. Mr. Daniel Stearns, who had been connected with the Athentcuin as its secretary, was appointed the first librarian of the public library, and during the summer and autumn of 1859 the books were placed on the shelves and catalogued, new books purchased and all arrangements perfected; and about the middle of November the following notice appeared in the Sentinel:

All persons wishing to avail tlieinselves of tlie privileges of the Fitchburg Public Library are requested to open their accounts at once, as it will be impossible to do so in Library hours after the Rooms are open for the delivery of books.

The Library will be open for the purpose of opening accounts with such as may desire it, until further notice, during the regular Library hours, viz., -

The first donation to the library was $100 from Thomas Mack, of the firm of C. F. Hovey & Co., of Boston. Mr. Mack was born in Fitchburg, and has, on several occasions, remembered his native town in a similar manner. This generous sum was used for the purchase of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica." Seventy-five volumes were presented by Hon. Eli Thayer, of Worcester, and various citizens of Fitchburg donated books. The trustees purchased 1200 volumes; so that in all there were over

It is quite evident that the people of the town freely availed themselves of the privileges offered them, for in the Sentinel of December 23, 1859, it was stated that during the three weeks that the library had been open, 2775 volumes had been delivered and 1937 returned. Over 1200 persons had opened accounts. It was further stated that the hours were insufficient, and " while the present demand continues " the library would be kept open every evening, except on Sundays and holidays.

Since then the number of volumes has steadily increased, and the figures, at intervals of five year.j, as given in the Trustees' reports, are 6244 in 1865, 805.'! in 1870, 10,676 in 1875, 12,481 in 1880, 16,146 in 1885 and at the pre.«ent time there are upwards of 19,000 volumes on the shelves in the handsome and commodious Wallace Library and Art Building.

Since the founding of the library four catalogues have been issued, viz., in 1859, 1873, 1881 and 1886. The last is in itself quite a large volume. Much time and care were devoted to its preparation by a gentleman skilled in such work, and it is a very complete and accurate catalogue. Supplements have also been printed, in the intervals between the issuing of the catalogues, giving the list of books added from time to time.

As before stated, Daniel Stearns was the first librarian, being appointed to the position by the trustees in November, 1859. The names and terms of service of the librarians succeeding Mr. Stearns are as follows: Benjamin P. Todd, from April, 1861, to April, 1862; John M. Graham, from April 1862, to April, 1865 ; Charles N. Fessenden, from April, 1865, to September, 1866; Henry Jackson, from September, 1866, to January, 1873 ; Prescott C. Rice, from January , 1873, to the present time.

The control of the library has, from the beginning, been vested in a board of trustees, chosen annually by the citizens while Fitchburg was a town, and by the mayor and aldermen since the city form of government was adopted. The number of trustees was nine at first, but later was increased to twelve, the present number.

It is worthy of note that one of the present trustees was also a member of the first board chosen in 1859 - Judge Thornton K. Ware. Judge Ware has more-

In 1861, Rev. William P. Tilden, then pastor of the Unitarian Society here, presented to our library a model of a full-rigged ship of war, of his own construction. It was a fine and very perfect piece of workmanship, and for year.s occupied a conspicuous and honored place in the library-room. In 1885 it was transferred to the "Relic Room" in the Wallace Library and Art Building, where it continues to attract attention and elicit admiration.

In 18G1 the town voted to authorize the trustees to invite the officers and soldiers from this town serving in the army to donate any trophies they might obtain and wish to present to the library for preservation, and in response thereto a number of Hags, swords, muskets , shells, etc., were sent by Fitchburg men, and are now to be seen, together with other similar ar icles since contributed (Including the elegant sword, sash and belt presented to Colonel Edwin Upton by the enlisted men of the Twenty-fifth Regiment) in the relic room.

A sum of money sufficient for the maintenance and suitable increase of the Fitchburg Public Library has been annually appropriated by the town and city.

Hon. William IT. Vose, at the time of his death in 1884, left the sum of one thousand dollars to the city of Fitchburg, the income thereof to be paid annually to the trustees and used "for the purchase of periodicals or other reading matter for the reading-room."

The library remained in the rooms first occupied until the latter part of 1879, when it was removed to more commodious quarters provided for its accommodation in the extension built just previously on the rear of the City Hall building. Here it remained until the summer of 1885, when it was removed to its present elegant and spacious abode in

The Wallace Library and Art BuiLDiNCi. - Early in 1884 one of our most prominent and benevolent citizens, seeing and appreciating the fact that our public library was sorely in need of more ample and fitting accommodations, was prompted by his public-spirited benevolence to make to the city of Fitchburg a most generous proposition.

Before the City Council, in joint convention assembled, on the evening of Tuesday, March 25, 1884, appeared Judge Ware, who said that he was present at the request of Hon. Rodney Wallace, who, before his departure for the South, a few days previous, had left with him the following communication to be presented to the City Council :

GentlemkK: - The subscriber has felt for a long time that a building, with )iroper appurtenances, for our Public Library here in Fitchbuig wag much needed and makes the following proposition, viz. -

I propose to convey by proper deed to the city of Fitchburg my lot of land situated at the corner of Main Street and Newton Place, and to expend, with the advice and approval of the Trustees of the Public Library, within the next two jeara, a sum not less than forty thousand dollars (840,000) in erecting a building on said lot; said building to be under the care and management of the Board of Trustees of the Public Library for the time being, and to be used for a Free Public Library, Reading Rooms and Art Gallery, and for no other purpose.

And it is understood that the city government, accepting these donations for the above purposes, shall assume and bear the current expenses of said building, grounds and apj'urtenances, after the Library Building shall have been completed and furnished.

This was a most complete and gratifying surprise to the members of the city government, and also to all the citizens of Fitchbuig when they learned of it, as they very quickly did.

Ordered, Tiiut the city of Fitchburg accepts the donation of Hon. Rodney Wallace of the lot of land on the corner of Jlain Street and Newton Place, and the Library building to be erected by him thereon, upon the conditions and in accordance with the terms an<I provisions contained in his written communication and proposal to the Mayor and City Council ; and places on record its profound appreciation of the public spirit and munificence of the donor, and its recognition of the incalculable benefits which will result to his fellow-citizens and their descendants and successors for all time from this noble gift.

On motion of Alderman Joel a committee, consisting of Mayor Davis, Alderman Joel and Councilmen Flaherty and Parkhill, was appointed to prepare a set of resolutions, thanking Mr. Wallace for his munificent gift; and at a subsequent meeting appropriate resolutions, prepared by this committee, were read and placed on the records, and a copy forwarded to Mr. Wallace.

At a meeting of the trustees of the Public Library, held April 7, 1884, a resolution was adopted, expressive of their hearty appreciation of Mr. Wallace's action, and their desire to co-operate, in every way, with the generous donor in carrying out the details of his proposed undertaking; and a committee, consisting of Rev. Philip J. Garrigan, Henry A. Willis and Lewis H. Bradford, was authorized to present a copy to Mr. Wallace.

On the lot of land donated to the city for the library building stood a mansion-house, for many years familiar to our eyes. For a considerable time it was the residence of Dr. Charles W. Wilder, and later of Otis T. Ruggles, Esq. This house was sold at auction May 5, 1884, and soon moved to the lower part of the city.

Work was begun on the foundation of the new library building on June 10, 1884, and from that date to the completion of the edifice, early in the summer of 1885, was continued without intermission, and every portion of the work (which, by the way, was mainly done by Fitchburg mechanics and artisans) was done in a most thorough manner.

sandstone trimmings and is in the Greek style of architecture. Its frontage on Main Street is seventyfour feet, its depth sixty-five feet, and there is a central front projection, six by twenty-five feet.

The front entrance is approached by a wide walk of pressed brick and a flight of twelve steps of dressed granite, between ornamental buttresses of the same material. The front doors are placed in a recess eleven feet wide and six feet deep. Over this recess is a heavy double arch, supported on either side by two columns of polished red granite with carved capitals. Above the arch are three square-headed, single-light windows and the name of the building in raised letters - the word " Wallace " above the middle window, and the words, "Librarj- and Art Building " just under the three windows. Still above are three circnlar windows, set in sandstone and round sandstone columns with carved foliage capitals occupying the spaces between the windows. The whole projection is surmounted by a gable with modillion and dentil cornice, all of copper. In the frieze of this cornice is inscribed " 1884," the date of erection, with scroll-work either side of the inscription.

In the window over the doors of the main entrance is the city seal, an exquisite piece of work, upon a plate of Venetian and antique glass, of two thicknesses, and five feet in diameter ; and in the lower corners of this window are panels of glass emblematic of art and literature.

Passing through the front doors one enters the entrance hall, floored with Italian marble and wainscoted with Italian and Tennessee marbles, relieved by rosettes of French red. The ceiling is handsomely frescoed in oil. This hall is lighted by a large brass chandelier.

From the entrance hall one passes into the waitingroom, which is finished in oak and frescoed in neutral tints. Around the sides are placed oak seats, upholstered in brown leather.

The delivery counter is beneath the arch opening into the main library room. This book-room is twenty-six by seventy feet and sixteen feet in height. It is well filled with neat oaken cases, to hold the many thousand volumes, and at either end of the room are large fire-places of brick, sandstone and marble. Connected with this room, at its southwest corner, is a small room for the librarian's use, and next to that is the elevator, which runs from the basement to the upper story.

On the left of the waiting-room is the room for books of reference, and on the right the readingroom for magazines. Both of these apartments are simply, yet elegantly, finished in oak, handsomely frescoed, and contain large fire-places. All the furniture is of oak. Connected with, and in front of, the reference-room is a small, well-furnished apartment for the use of the assistant librarian.

east side, two staircases, - one leading downward to the basement, where is located the public readingroom, which is furnished with a large number of daily and weekly newspapers. In the basement are also the boiler-room and two large apartments used for working-rooms and storage purposes. The other staircase leads upward to the Art Gallery, and is made entirely of marble in the same style as the entrance hall.

Ascending this really palatial stairway, one comes to the upper vestibule, whose high, arched ceiling is most artistically and elegantly frescoed. It is lighted by a magnificent chandelier, of eight burners, made of brass, copi)er and oxidized silver.

On the right of the vestibule is the Trustees' Room, which is handsomely frescoed, carpeted, finished in mahogany and heated by an open fire-place. All the furniture in this room is of mahogany. Adjoining it is a toilet-room for the use of the trustee*.

From the vestibule a door leads directly into the Art Gallery, a room thirty-three by forty-four feet, and thirty-two feet in height. It is lighted entirely from above by corrugated glass panels in the ceiling and windows of the same glass on the four sides of the monitor roof.

The wood-work of the ceiling is frescoed in dark olive and bronze, and the general effect of the cove beneath is a gold scroll upon a light blue background. In the cove are four large paintings, one on each side of the room - "Apollo Musagetes," "Old Masters," " Arts and Sciences " and " Modern Art."

The fresco painting of this room is of the pure German Renaissance style, and is remarkably rich and harmonious in color eflfect. The dado is a dark olive, relieved by a band of gilt, and the walls for the oil paintings are a Pompeiian red, surmounted by a frieze of rich color and handsome design. Upon these walls already hang thirteen large and valuable oil paintings, the works of well-known artists. These were all presented to the Art Gallery, most of the donors being citizens of Fitchburg. Two were presented by Thomas Mack, Esq., of Boston, and one each by the late Robert Graves, Esq., of New York, W. G. Beaman, the artist, of Boston and R. Lovewell, the artist, of Chelsea.

At the sides and in the rear of the Art Gallery are four smaller rooms. The west room is devoted to photographs, and contains a valuable collection of about three hundred photographic copies of works of art in European galleries, selected for the library some years ago, by Miss Eleanor A. Norcross, a set of fifty photographic copies of works of art in the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D. C, presented by the Corcoran Art Gallery, beside other photographs that have been purchased or presented.

The east room is devoted to engravings and water colors, and is already quite well filled with works of various artists. Among the many pictures in this room may be mentioned an " artist's proof" engrav- ing, "The Jersey Beauties," by Douglass, presented by Henry Hale, Esq., of New York ; a water color, " Gathering Sea Weed, Pacific Coast," by F. A. Mc- Clure, presented by Dr. D. B. Whittier, of Fitchburg ; and a pastel, "Woodland Solitude" by our own townsman, Mr. E. H. Kogers, presented by Hon. Eodney Wallace, who is also the donor of many of the paintings, pictures, etc., that adorn the walls in various portions of the library building.

Of the two rooms in the rear of the Art Gallery, one is used for the exhibition of drawings and other art work by the pupils in our public schools, of which a very creditable display may now be seen there, and the other is the " Relic Koom," tilled with interesting and valuable antiquities and curiosities, collections of minerals, coins, etc., all of which have been donated. The works of art, relics, etc., in the Art Gallery and the rooms adjoining are worthy of a much more extended description than is allowed by the limits of this history.

All these rooms are open to the public on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, and are much frequented and enjoyed by our citizens, as well as by strangers visiting the city.

The library is open for the delivery of books from 9 A.M. to 9 P.M. every week-day, and the readingrooms are open during the same hours, and also Sunday afternoons.

The present librarian, Mr. Prescott C. Rice, has held the position since January 1, 1873, and is aided efficiently by two assistants. Miss Florence R. Dwinnell, assistant librarian, and Mr. George E. Nutting. The Wallace Library and Art Building was dedicated July 1, 1885. The main library room (the bookcases and delivery counter not being at that time placed in position) was used for the exercises, which were attended by a large assemblage of invited guests and citizens of Fitchburg. Mayor Alonzo Davis presided.

Rev. S. L. Blake, D.D., pastor of the Calvinistic Congregational Society, invoked the divine blessing, after which Mr. Wallace formally presented the building to the City Council in the following words :

To convey to the city, by deed, this lot of land and, with the advice and approval uf the Trustees of the Public Library, to expend, within two years, not less than forty thousand dollars in erecting a building on said lot, to be under the management of the Trustees for the time being, and used for a Free Public Library, Reading Rooms and an Art Gallery, and for no other purpose. The City Government in accepting this shall assume and bear the current expenses of the same.

Plans were prepared and received the approval of the Trustees, and June loth work was commenced upon the foundations of this building. The best materials of all kinds were selected, the best mechanics employed, and more faithful service could not have been rendered had each man employed been the sole owner of the building.

Our best thoughts have been given to have the building adapted to the purposes for which it was intended, and I have found pleasure in giving it my personal attention. No pains or expense have been spared to make the building fii-gt-class in all respects, and it is nearly or quite fire-proof.

In the hands of the City Government and under the management of the Trustees, I have perfect confidence that the building will be well cared for, and, as a home for the Library, Works of Art and Free Reading Rooms, it will be of increasing value to our people. With pleasure and the most earnest wish that to many of our people these rooms may prove to be a place of rest and profit, and help make the journey of life more pleasant and useful, I now present to you the deed of this property and keys of the building.

Mr. Wallace : The city council, in behalf of the citizens of Fitchburg, accept your munificent gift and returu their sincere and heartfelt thanks. You have more than fulfilled your promises to the council in March, 1884. Through your great generosity this community will attain higher degrees of moral and mental worth. May your life be spared many years to witness the noble results you desire.

Ex-Governor John D. Long then delivered an eloquent and impressive dedicatory address, the original manuscript of which is now in the " Relic Room."

Interesting addresses followed, given by Judge William S. Shurtleff, of Springfield ; George E. Towne, Esq., of Boston ; and Professor Henry M. Tyler, of Northampton.

The day of the dedication of this beautiful and valuable building will ever be regarded as among the most memorable in'the history of Fitchburg.

Chapter Xliil

Fitchburg has for many years been a manufacturing place of considerable note, and the varied products of her mills, factories and great machine-shops have to-day a reputation which, in many cases, is by no means limited to the United States.

The origin of all these industries, of which our city is now so justly proud, can be traced back to that unmitigated nuisance of the early settlers of the town, the north branch of the Nashua ; and to Amos and Ephraim Kimball, who had the temerity, in 1750, to build a dam across this obnoxious stream, belongs the honor of being the pioneer manufacturers of what is now Fitchburg.

carried off by freshets, but in a few years a more substantial dam was built of logs and V-shaped. Here the Kimballs erected a siw and grist-mill, which was in operation for many years thereafter.

It was fortv-four years before a second attempt was made to build a dam across the stream, and one of the daring Kimball family had a hand in the building of it.

In 1791 the son of Ephraim Kimball (who was also named Ephraim) and Jonas Marshall built the second dam, near the present site of the Pitts Mill, on West Main Street, and erected on this water privilege a saw-mill, and soon afterward clothiers' works and a trip-hammer were built a few rods below it.

Soon after the close of the Revolutionary War a fulling-mill and clothiers' works, a carding-machine and works for grinding scythes were established on the water privilege of the elder Kimball.

No further attempt was made during the rest of the century to utilize the water power, and the abovenamed concerns seem to have constituted the " manufacturing establi.shments " of Fitchburg up to the year 1804. In that year the third dam was built, and will be spoken of under "paper manufacture."

This was certainly a very small beginning, but it taught the people here that possibly the river was good for something after all, and that they might make it do enough work for them to pay for all the bridges it had carried away.

Cotton Manufacturing. - In 1807 there was another Ephraim Kimball (this time a grandson of the first Ephraim) on hand to build a dam, which was the fourth, across the river. On this site was erected a cotton-factory, now a part of the brick mill in Factory Square.

This was the third cotton-factory erected in the State, and was built and operated by a company of about thirty persons, including the workmen, who were obliged to take shares. The building was of brick, and thirty by sixty feet in size.

For a time the company did not prosper, but in a few years improved machinery was put in, and the business began to be lucrative. Unfortunately, however, the company had neglected to secure a proper title to the whole dam, and trouble soon began. The builder o( the dam owned the land on the opposite side of the stream, and the line between his property and that of the company ran in the middle of the river. He had lost money in building the dam and demanded four hundred dollars of the company to cover his loss. No notice was taken of this demand, whereupon he informed the company that half of the dam belonged to him, and offered to sell it to them for twelve hundred dollars. This offer being refused, he sold a part of the land and the title to his half of the dam to sundry persons, who immediately began to erect works on the bank across the stream. They freely used the water, and finally cut away their half of the dam. The cotton company, then in the enjoyment of a prosperous business, had to suspend operations, and became involved in a lawsuit, which wa^ finally decided again.st them, with heavy damages.

The result of all this was that in 1816 the company failed, and the property was sold for about one-third of its value to Messrs. Putnam & Perkins, who operated it as a cotton factory until 1822, when they sold it to Messrs. Town & Willis, who converted it into a woolen-mill ; and its history as such for the following sixty-five years will be given under woolen manufacture.

In 1887 the Parkhill Manufacturing Company purchased the property, enlarged the building and put in cotton machinery, thus restoring to the first cotton f^ictory built in Fitchburg its original industry.

The second attempt at cotton manufacture in this town was made by Captain Martin Newton, in 1810, in a small building near the site of the present "Stone Mill." He succeeded so well that in 1812, with Solomon Strong and Jonathan Flint, he built a cotton factory on what was afterwards called Newton's Lane. Here cotton manufacture was profitably carried on for over a quarter of a century. Later the building became a part of the Atherton estate, and was used fur manufacturing of various kinds. It is now owned by the Putnam Machine Company.

The " Red " or " Rollstone " Mill was built in 1813 by John and Joseph Farwell and Nehemiah Gile-, on the site of the Kimball & Marshall saw-mill, previously mentioned. Cotton cloth was made here.

In 1816 the mill was bought by Putnam & Perkins, who soon sold it to General Ivers Jewett, who, in 1833, sold it to Town & Willis. This firm continued the manufacture of cotton goods in this mill, and in 1834 secured Mr. Levi Sherwin to manage the business. Mr. Sherwin bought one-quarter interest in the mill in 1843, and the other three-quarters in 1857. In 1867, after having had the active management of the mill for thirty-three years, Mr. Sherwin sold it to Mr. Hiram W. Pitts, of Leominster.

Mr. Pitts built the present substantial brick mill to take its place in 1876. He died a few years ago, and, since 1882, his son, Mr. B. M. Pitts, has operated the factory, which is known as the Fitchburg Cotton Mill, or, perhaps, better as the Pitts Mill.

Cotton and carpet warps, batting, twine, etc., are produced. There are five buildings, the largest being the brick structure erected in 1876, which is fifty by one hundred feet and three stories high. It is well equipped with machinery, which is run mainly by water-power ; but there is steam-power in readiness to use when the water is too low to be of service.

The cotton-mill built on Phillips' Brook, about 1815, was afterward operated by Perkins & Baldwin. It was swept away in 1850 by the flood caused by the giving way of the Ashburnham reservoir.

1845. It was soon converted into a Hannel-mill, and, in 1850, was swept away by tlie flood. It was rebuilt and burnt in 1852. Soon afterwards a mill was erected on the same site, and used by Colonel Phillips for the manufacture of hosiery, etc., and, since 1861, has been operated as a woolen-mill by various parties.

The "Stone Mill," on Laurel Street, was built by Oliver Fox, in 1826. [t was operated as a cottonmill for a time by Mr. Fox, but he soon leased it to Percy Atherton ; still later it was run by other persons and used continuously as a cotton-mill until 1868, when it was purchased by Joseph Gushing, who has since operated it as a flour and grain-mill and elevator.

A curious fact in relation to the couatruction of this massive building is, that no derrick was used to place the huge blocks of granite in position. The-blocks were all hauled up an inclined plane by oxen.

The Fitchburg Duck Mill in South Fitchburg, now owned by David Nevins, was built about 18-18, and was formerly the property of George Blackburn & Co. Cotton duck is made here and the salesrooms are in Boston.

In the autumn of 1879 John Parkhill, Arthur H. Lowe and Thomas K. B. Dole formed a partnership and purchased the building long owned and operated j by the late Hon. Alonzo Davis as a chair shop. The firm put in thirty looms, and began the weaving of colored cotton goods in February, 1880.

In 1882 the firm was dissolved, and the Parkhill Manufacturing Company incorporated with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. Since then their business has enlarged wonderfully. In 1882 an addition, one hundred and thirty-five by thirty-five feet, and two stories high, was built ; in 1883 a third story was added ; during the next two years another building, one hundred and fifty by fifcy-five feet, three stories high, and a new engine-house were built; in 1887 a new dye-house, one hundred and forty by fiftyfive feet, two stories high, and an immense steam chimney were put up, and the factory of the Fitchburg Woolen Mill Company purchased, as has been previously stated.

This thriving company, of which John Parkhill is president and Arthur H. Lowe treasurer, now operates about one thousand looms, employs about five hundred hands and produces something like nine million yards of cloth annually. The Toile du Nord goods made here have a justly celebrated reputation.

Early in 1888 the company built a causeway from their Circle Street mills across the pond to Rollstone Street, the intention being to fill up most of the pond, and utilize the made land, as the interests of the company may indicate.

The Cleghorn Mills, incorporated in 1885 with a capital of (me hundred thousand dollars, are located near River Street, and include a brick building, one hundred and seventy by sixty feet, and four stories high, and an annex of wood of the same dimensions, two stories high.

These mills went into operation in December, 1885, employ over two hundred hands and produce fine dress goods. Andrew Cleghorn is president and A. H. Lowe treasurer.

The Orswell Mill, ihe latest addition to the cotton industries of Fitchburg, was incorporated in 1886 with a capital of two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. The mill was built in 1886, and is three hundred and forty-six by seventy-eight feet, and four stories high. It has a capacity of twenty thousand spindles, is now in full operation, and produces a fine quality of cotton yarn. Warren M. Orswell is president and manager and Walter F. Stiles, treasurer.

Woolen Manufacture. - This was early begun here, though in a small way. In 1793 Ephraim Kimball had a carding-machine and fulling-mill near his saw and grist-mill, and close by were clothiers' works, where cloth was dyed, fulled and sheared.

The first woolen-mill put into operation here was the brick building, which, as before staled, was originally a cotton-factory, and was converted into a woolen-mill in 1822.

The following concise history of this enterpri.-e, written just previous to his death, in 1884, by Hon. William H. Vose, for thirty-five years manager, and for many years ti'easurer of the company, is well worth preserving here :

III 1822 Samuel Willis and Abial .1. Town purchased the Brick Cottonmill in the centre of the then village of Fitchburg, and founded what has ever since been known as the Fitchburg Woolen-BIill. They furnished it with two sets of cards and the necessary looms, spinningjenuies and finishing machinery for the manufacture of cassimeres made exclusively from fine wool. Subsequently Paul Farnum and Daniel Kimball (commission merchants of Boston) became owners in part, Abial J. Town, Samuel Willis, Paul Farnum and Daniel Kimball constituting the Company, and having an equal interest in the business.

In 18a4. the mill and machinery having been injured to some extent by lire, an addition was made to the main building, other necessary buildings erected, the water-power improved by a new dam and the capacity of the mill increased to three sets of narrow cards with Goulding's improved Condensers and Spinning-Jacks, whereby the process of first carding the wool into rolls and then converting the rolls into roping, on what was called a Bdhj, was ilispensed with, and the wool was taken from the Condenser to the Jacks, without any intervening process, and spun into yarn.

The writer was employed in this mill in 1828-29 as a spinner on a Jenny of 80 spindles. The yarn was wound {as spun) on the spindles in "cops," and then "warped" on " warping-bars," consisting of a wood frame with pins in the sides, or posts, on which the female operatives extended tlie yarn by passing to and fro as many times, and using as many pins as would give the required length to the warp, after which the warp was '* sized " in a tub and drawn through a metal tube by hand to press the sizing out, and then stretched out in the sun, or in a warm room, to dry, and was tiien ready to be drawn into the barnesa and reed for the loom.

Later this primitive process has been superseded by the '* Dresser," as now practised, by which the yarn is warped, sized and dried by one continuous process.

After the enlargement of the mill in 1834 the proprietorship continued unchanged until the death of Mr. Willis, in 1843, -when the interest belonging to his estate was purchased by Porter Piper, and the interest of Paul Farnum was bought by William B. Towne. The Company, as thus constituted, continued until 1848, when the interest of Porter Piper was bought by William H. Vose, the present treasurer and manager. William B. Towne died in 1853, when Roby B. Safford became the owner of the one-fourth belonging to his estate. In 1855 Abial J. Town, the senior member, and one of the pioneers of the Company, died, and his interest was purchased by Daniel Kimball and William H. Vose, two of the surviving partners.

In 18Ij4 Daniel Kimball sold one-half of his interest to two of his sons, Daniel Kimball, Jr., and Herbert W. Kimball ; and William H. Vose sold one-half of his to his only son, George F. Vose, and the ownership became as follows, viz.: Daniel Kimball, one-fourth ; M'illiam H. Vose, one-fourth ; Daniel Kimball, Jr., one-eighth ; George F. Vose, one-fourth ; Herbert W. Kimball, one-eighth.

In 1SG1-G2 the mill was enlarged and new machinery put in, increasing its capacity to five sets, and other improvements added, materially increasing its capacity and value.

In 1867 George F. Vose died and bis interest was purchased by Kodney Wallace, Rufus S. Frost and Paul R. Hazeltine, and the ownership became as follows: William H. Vose, one-half; Rufus S. Frost, one-eighth ; Rodney Wallace, one-fourth ; Paul R. Hazeltine, one-eighth.

Paul R. Hazeltine died in 1878 and William H. Vose purchased the interest of his estate in the Company, making the several interests in the following proportions, viz. : William H. Vose, five-eighths; Rodney W'alUce, one-quarter ; Rufus S. Frost, one-eighth.

The Company has never, from the outset, failed to meet every obligation ; has always maintained a high reputation for the char.acter of its goods - having never used any cotton, slioddy or flocks in them - and for integrity and honorable dealing. Its members have been prominent amongst the business men of the community, connected with its financial institutions, and most of them honored, at various times, with positions of public trust and responsibility.

The invariable and continued success of the Company affords an example of what may be accomplished by careful, prudent and economical management of a comparatively small mill, with constiint supervision of the details of its business, without making haste to be rich.

After Mr. Vose's death the mill was managed for a year by his grandson, William V. Lowe, who was succeeded by Mr. Marcien Jenk^i, and in 1887 the property was sold to the Parkhill Manufacturing Company.

In 1823 a brick mill was built by Tyler, Daniels & Co., near the location of the present mill of the George W. Wheelwright Paper Company. It was later owned by various parties, who operated it as a woolen-mill. Samuel Slater, a noted mill-owner in those days, purchased it about 1830, and although, on account of his death soon after, it was in his possession but a short time, it was for many years thereafter known as the " Slater Mill." It was pulled down some twenty-five years ago. Hon. Joseph W. Mansur, one of the prominent men ofFitchburg thirty years ago, was one of its latest owners and occupants.

In 1832 Hollis Hartshorn built a brick woolen-mill nearly half a mile below the Slater mill. It was in operation for only a few years, being burnt in 1836.

of the town. Two of them were in Rockville and located on Phillips' Brook. One was the hosiery-mill previously spoken of as belonging to Col. Ivers Phillips. In 1861 it was fitted up as a woolen-mill, and has since been run as such by various individuals. It has been enlarged and additional buildings have been erected For some years the plant Las been known as the Berwick Mills, and is operated by James Mc- Taggart, Jr. The mills consist of three buildings, the main one being of brick and wood, forty by one hundred feet, and three stories high, and equipped with suitable machinery. It is run by water-power, but steam-power is in readiness to use if the water gets too low.

During the summer of 1888 Mr. McTaggart erected, close by the mills, a fine brick building, forty by fifty feet, to be used for a spinning room, and put into it three new Bassett & Jones operators.

The mill just below this was for some time occupied by Whitman & Miles, but in 1803 was converted into a woolen-mill. It became known as the Baltic Mill, and was for some years operated by James Phillips, Jr. In January, 1880, James McTaggart, Jr., acquired possession of it, and ran it in connection with the Berwick Mills. During the summer of 1888, however, it was not running.

In 1864 Alvah Crocker, Charles T. Crocker, George F. Fay and others built a woolen-mill near the junction of Westminster and Sanborn Roads, in West Fitchburg, to which the name of Beoli Mill was given.

The only woolen manufacturers now doing business here are James Phillips, Jr., and James Mc- Taggart, Jr. Of the mills operated by the latter we have already spoken.

Mr. Phillips ranks among the heavy woolen manufacturers of New England. He began business about 1872, in partnership with Edward M. Rockwell.

In 1872 Messrs. Rockwell & Phillips purchased the Beoli Mill, which at that time contained but twelve looms. In 1875 Mr. Phillips became the sole owner, and since then the business has increased vastly, and the greatly enlarged mills, which are now widely known as the Wachusett Mills, contain 150 broad looms, give employment to some 400 hands and produce worsted coatings and suitings of well known excellence, to the value of over $1,000,000 annually.

About 1875 Mr. Phillips began to run the mill previously occupied by J. Booth & Co. It was known as the Booth Worsted Company until 1882, when the Star Worsted Company was organized with a capital of fifty thousand dollars - James Phillips, Jr., president, and George N. Proctor, treasurer. This com- pany has since continued to run the same mill on West Street - now known as the Star Worsted Mill. Worsted j'arn is here made to the value of about four hundred thousand dollars annually, all of which is u<ed by the Wachusett Mills and the Fitchburg Worsted Company. The Star Mill gives employment to one hundred and twenty-five hands.

The Fitchburg Worsted Company was incorporated in 1880 with a capital of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars - James Phillips, Jr., president, and George N. Proctor, treasurer. The brick mill in South Fitchburg, formerly owned by George Blackburn & Co., was purchased and enlarged, and has since been used by this company for the manufacture of fine worsted suitings. The mill contains two hundred and fifty narrow looms and employs nearly four hundred operatives. The value of the annual product is about one million dollars.

The cloth made at the Wachusett Mills and the Fitchburg Wors!;ed Company's mill is all of high grade, and is considered equal to any manufactured in the United States.

The goods made at the Berwick Mills, operated by James McTaggart, Jr., arelikewiseof excellentqaality, and embrace a fine line of fancy cassimeres for men's wear.

Chaik Manufacturing. - This industry was begun here about 1816, by Levi Pratt. He built two dams on Sand Hill Brook, and at the northerly dam erected a saw-mill, and at the southerly a small shop for the manufacture of chairs. This shop was on the present easterly portion of the Pratt Road, near the house where Andrew Pratt now lives. In this shop and in a larger one, built in 1833, he made chairs for over thirty years.

John D. Pratt, afterward in company with Alonzo Davis, manufactured chairs here at an early period, his shop being located at the old Punch Brook Dam, near Academy Street.

In 1845 Alonzo Davis came to Fitchburg, and in company with Augustus Rice began the manufacture of chairs in Newton's Lane. The business was soon removed to the "Newton Factory," adjoining. Mr. Rice retired from the firm and John D. Pratt and Hiram Wood became partners with Mr. Davis. Still later this firm was dissolved and Mr. Davis formed a partnership with Mr. Pratt's sons, Henry T. and Charles E. Pratt.

In 1855 increase of business necessitated the construction of a new factory, which the firm built on what was known as "Tuttle's Flat." It was of brick, one hundred and fifty by forty feet, and four stories high. Here, the firm of A. Davis & Co. carried on the chair business until 1864, when Mr. Davis became sole proprietor. He continued the business until 1877, when the depression in trade made it unprofitable, and he closed the concern, which, till then, had been a source of profit to himself and a credit to the manufacturing interests of Fitchburg. In 1879 he

At this time there is but one corporation engaged in this industry here - the Walter Heywood Chair Manufacturing Company. This is a representative establishment, one of the largest in the country and widely known in foreign lands.

The founder of this company was Walter Heywood, who came to Fitchburg in 1841. In company with Leander P. Comee he built the Heywood & Comee block, and for a time the firm dealt in dry goods and groceries in the store now occupied by Leander Sprague &Co.

In 1844 the firm hired a part of the "Red Mill " on West Street, and began to make chairs. Ten hands were employed at first. The business increased, and two years later was removed to the upper portion of Alvah Crocker's building just erected on the site now occupied by the Fitchburg Steam Engine Company's shop.

Mr. Heywood, by no means dismayed, secured temporary accommodations fur the business; and as soon a.* Mr. Crocker completed the erection of a new building, one hundred and thirty by forty feet, three stories high, on the site of the one burned, he hired the whole of it. The business prospered, and in 1852 Messrs. Alton Blodgett, Lovell Williams and George E. Tovvne were admitted as partners; and soon afterward the firm leased land belonging to Mr. Crocker, in the rear of the chair-shop, and erected two large buildings thereon.

May 31, 1869, the Walter Heywood Chair Company, with a capital of $240,000, was organized as a stock company, under a special act of the Legislature.

The prosperity of the new company was, however, doomed, in the near future, to meet with a serious check. On the night of July 21, 1870, a fire broke out, which proved to be the most disastrous and costly in the history of Fitchburg, even up to the present time. By it was laid in ruins the entire establishment of this company, as well as several other buildings. The property loss amounted to over $120,000, of which $90,000 fell on the Walter Heywood Chair Company. Their insurance was .152,500.

This was a severe, but by no means a fatal, blow. Very soon after the fire the members of the company began to look about for a new site, and shortly purchased some nine acres of land on River Street, where the erection of the present commodious and well-appointed buildings was immediately entered upon and prosecuted with vigor.

brick, two stories high, with an attic. Two of these structures are each three hundred feet long and fifty feet wide, and the third is the same length, but ten feet narrower. All of them are located on the westerly side of River Street, ranging one behind another. Some three hundred men are employed in these shops.

There is also a handsome brick building, just north of the shops, used for office purposes, besides numerous lumber shed^^, stock-hnuses, etc. A railroad track, a quarter of a mile long, owned by the company, connects their premises with the main line of the Hoosac Tunnel Route.

This corporation successfully weathered the longcontinued depression in trade which began soon after the new buildings were occupied, and at the present time h.as a large and firmly-established business.

The founder, Walter Heywood, died in 1880, and, in order to settle Mr. Heywood's estate, the company, in 1885, sold out to a new corporation, composed of the surviving members of the old company, known as the Walter Heywood Chair Manufacturing Company, which company carries on the business at the present time, Lovell Williams being the president and George H. Spencer, superintendent and treasurer.

Soon after 10 o'clock on the night of April 6, 1888, fire broke out in the shop next to River Street, the eastern of the three main buildings, and for a time threatened to outrival the fire of 1870. The building was used as a paini and varnish- shop, and burnt fast and furiously ; and but for the heroic exertions of the entire Fitchburg Fire Department and the aid of a strong west wind, whicti blew the flames away from the other two huge buildings close behind it, the entire establishment would have been destroyed. As it was, the paint-shop was mainly destroyed, the loss being twenty-five thousand dollars. It was rebuilt of its former dimensions during the summer of 1888.

Fitchburg has but one establishment devoted to this industry exclusively. The business is conducted by Carmi M. Parker, under the name of Parker & Co. Mr. Parker began the manufacture of furniture in Merrimac, N. H., and in 1880 came to Fitchburg, where he has since carried on the same business in a large factory, formerly occupied by the American Rattan Company, in Newton Place.

The machinery is run by steam, and about forty hands are employed, most of whom are skilled workmen. House and office furniture is here manufactured from the various ornamental and durable woods, and is of excellent quality and finish. Mr. Parker has a .salesroom, under the name of the Fitchburg Furniture Company, on Main Street.

Mr. Parker has already built up a thriving business, and his factory has made a place for itfelf among the longer established manufacturing interests of the city.

Furniture is made to some extf nt by Mial Davis, at his North Street mills ; and the Charles A. Priest Lumber Company make the manufaciure of school furniture one of their specialties, at their factory on Rollstone Street.

The first individual, however, to use machinery in the manufacture of shoes in Fitchburg was Elijah M. Dickinson. He began to make them by hand in Marlboro' in 1842. Twelve years later he removed to Fitchburg, and continued the business in a shop at the corner of Main and Laurel Streets. He soon removed to a shop that he built on Oliver Street. Here he remained about six years, when, needing more room for his increasing business, he hired the factory in Newton's Lane, formerly the property of Captain Martin Newton, but then owned by Shepard F. Atherton.

Here he first began to use machinery, and soon built up a flourishing busine.-'s, and after remaining in this factory for some ten years, he moved into a building on Summer Street, owned by the Simonds Manufacturing Company.

During the last few years of his stay in Newton's lyane, Mr. Dickinson was in partnership with Henry D. Goodale, the firm-name being E. M. Dickinson & Co. Nathaniel Corning succeeded Mr. Goodale as partner about the time of the removal of the business to Summer Street. In 1876 Edgar F. Belding succeeded Mr. Corning, the firm-name remaining E. M. Dickinson & Co. This |)artnership continued some eight years, during which the firm, in 1881, erected the present substantial brick factory on the corner of Main and North Streets. The firm of E. M. Dickinson & Co., as at present constituted, consists of Mr. Dickinson and his son, Charles P. Dickinson, who has been associated with his father since about 1878.

The firm manufactures a fine grade of misses' and children's shoes, and employs about one hundred and twenty-five hands. The capacity of the factory is one thousand five hundred pairs per day, and the firm's trade is largely in the West and Northwest.

The Sole-Leather Tip Company, located in this building, is also owned and operated by this firm. Several million pairs of sole-leather tips are annually produced by this company, which are purchased by shoe manufacturers all over the United States and in Canada.

Dickinson, began to manufacture shoes on his own account in November, 1885. His business is carried on in the name of E. F. Belding & Co., and occupies the two upper floors of the Fitchburg Steam Engine Company's building. Children's and masses' shoes of a fine grade are here made at the rate of seven hundred pairs per day, and employment is furnished for some eighty hands.

Mr. Belding intends soon to erect a new factory which will double his present capacity and afford better facilities for carrying on his rapidly increasing business.

He was one of the first to make and introduce soleleather tips, and in 1884 the Fitchburg Sole-Leather Tip Company was incorporated with a capital of thirty thousand dollars, Henry A. Willis being president and E. F. Belding, treasurer and manager. The company does an extensive business in this line, selling their sole-leather tips for children's, misses' and youths' shoes to many of the leading shoe manufacturers of this country. The company owns valuable patented machinery expressly designed for the manufacture of thesf tips.

The first paper-mill in town was built by Thomas French in 1804, and stood on the site now occupied by the Rollstone Machine Co.'s works on Water Street. Mr. French also built a dam across the stream at this point. It was the third dam and was constructed in 1804.

General Leonard Burbank was the owner of the mill, which went into operation in 1805 ; and as long as it remained standing it was known as. the Burbank Paper Mill, though it was afterward owned by Crocker & Gardner and still later by Alvah Crocker. For over twenty years it was the only paper-mill in town. Alvah Crocker was the founder of the paper-makiu ' industry here, though he did not build his first mill until 1826. This mill was erected in what was then a swamp, difficult of access, as there was at that time no road along the river. It occupied the site of Rodney Wallace's present middle mill. Mr. Crocker expended considerable money on this spot, the dam alone costing fifteen hundred dollars; and in addition to the natural disadvantages of the place, he had other great difficulties to contend with.

Soon after his mill was built it was badly damaged by a freshet, and before long, to keep up with the times, he had to change from hand-labor to machinery, involving an expense of some ten thousand dollars. He was owing several thousand dollars on his original investment in the dam and mill, and to cap the climax, the commission house in Boston that had taken his paper in exchange for rags, chemica's, etc., informed him that he was in debt to them some four thousand dollars, and refused him further credit. With his characteristic indomitable pluck, Mr. Crocker worked day and night, opened separate accounts with his paper customers and exerted himself to the utmost to pay his debts, both principal and interest. The success of his arduous toil is well known.

Mr. Crocker was a true business man in every sense of the word - honest, clear-headed and possessed of great foresight. The majority of so-called business men do not look beyond their own particular line of business, and the advancement of their own interests.

Fitchburg has been blessed in the past, and is blessed at the present time, with some men who have broader views - who see that whatever advances the public good will be sure, sooner or later, to help them also. Among such the name of Alvah Crocker stands out prominently, and will be long remembered.

As an instance of his way of doing, the follojving is worthy of preservation. In 1834 the town of Fitchburg employed Mr. Crocker to secure a road along the Nashua River to the Westminster line. The landholders on the route of the proposed road refused to part with their land on terms which Mr. Crocker considered just and favorable to the interests of the town. He therefore bought the whole strip of land along the river to the Westminster line himself, and gave to the town what was needed for the Westminster river road. He did this at considerable personal expense, both of money and time, but it proved to be the basis of his financial success, for since then most of the paper-mills of Crocker, Burbank & Co., have been built on this land.

In 1851 Gardner S. Burbank came to Fitchburg, and went into partnership with Mr. Crocker, thus founding the well-known firm of Crocker, Burbank & Co, Charles T. Crocker was admitted to the firm in 1855, and George F. Fay and Samuel E. Crocker in 1863. Mr. Burbank retired from the firm in 1866, and in 1874 Alvah Crocker died. The business was carried on by the surviving members, under the same firm-name, until about 1879, when two new members were admitted - George H. Crocker, son of Samuel E. Crocker, and Alvah Crocker, son of Charles T. Crocker.

During the first twenty years of its existence this firm acquired the control of a number of large papermills, of which the following, taken from Mr. Eben Bailey's sketch of Fitchburg in the " History of Worcester County," published in 1879, is a brief history:

The Snow Mill, or Upper Mill, was built in 1839 by Samuel S. Crocker. Benjamin Snow, Jr., bought it in 1847, and Benjamin Snow, Jr., and Samuel Whitney sold it in 1802 to Crocker, Burbank & Co. The Cascade Mill was built about 1847. It was owned in that year by Samuel A, 'Wheeler, George Blown and Joel Davis. It was afterward bought by Franklin Wyman, E. B. Tileston and Jonathan Ware, who sold It to Crocker, Burbank & Co. in 1863, The Upton Mill, on the road to William Woodbury's, was Irailt in 1851 liy Edwin Upton and Alvah Crocker, and came into the possession of Crocker, Burbank & Co. in lf69. Tho Lj-on Mill was built in 1S53 by M. G. & B. K. Lyon, and bought of Moses G. Lyon by Crocker, Burbank & Co. inl8G9. The Hanna Mill was built by George and .Toseph Brown about 185'2. It was afterward owned by Samuel Hanna, who bought it in IHoli and sold it in 180(1 to Crocker, Burbank & Co. The Whitney 31ill, in Rockville, was built by Whitney & Bogart in 1847. It was afterward owned by Crocker, Burbank & Co., then by Samuel Whitney and later by William Baldwin, .Jr., who Bold it in 1SG8 to Crocker, Burbank & Co. The Stone Mill, below the Snow and Cascade Mills, was built in 1.S54. Onehalf of it was owned for some time by Samuel A.Wheeler and Joel Ames, and the other half by Alvuh Crocker. Crocker, Burbank & Co. came into possession of one half in 1864, and Alvah Crocker sold the remaining half to Crocker, Burbank & Co. in 1871.

The Snow Mill was destroyed by lire, October 15, 1884, the lo.ss being thirty-five thousand dollars. All the other mills are in operation at the present lime, and produce about thirty tons of book, card and newspaper every twenty-four hours.

As is seen by the above list of mills belonging to this firm, there were other persons here engaged in the manufacture of paper prior to 1860. Prominent among them was the firm of Jesse Lyon & Sons. One of their mills came into the possession of Crocker, Burbank & Co., and the other became the basis of the Fitchburg Paper Company.

December 31, 18G4, Rodney Wallace, Benjamin Snow, Jr., and Stephen Shepley bought this papermill, and the Kimball scythe-shop near bx, and began the. manufacture of paper under the firm-name of the Fitchburg Paper Comjiany. Stephen E. Denton was soon after admitted to the firm and took charge of the business at the mill.

In July, 1865, Mr. Shepley sold his interest to Messrs. Wallace and Snow. Mr. Denton died in June, 1866. January 7, 1869, Mr. Wallace bought Mr. Snow's interest, and January 23d of the same year purchased the interest of Mr. Denton's estate of Mrs. Denton. Since then Mr. Wallace has been sole proprietor of the Fitchburg Paper Company.