Sanford Blackinton Through Times of Change
This is the second of a two part series
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Sanford Blackinton built a church at his own expense, and presented it to a society representing a union of the Baptist, Methodist, and Congregational churches of North Adams, whose pastors found no difficulty in filling its pulpit harmoniously, as they certainly would have done when Mr. Blackinton began to make the village which bears his name.
Oscar A. Archer, at first only the firm's bookkeeper, gradually assumed the role of spokesman for the owner in dealing with the operatives. But there was never any doubt about who the big boss was. Sanford Blackinton personally ruled over this entire domain.
This village was his home until 1872 when he built his palatial residence on Church Hill on the corner of Main and Church streets. Even after he moved from the village of Blackinton, he continued to make daily rounds of the mill, inspecting the finished cloth, pinpointing causes of technical problems, reprimanding recalcitrant workers and frequently leaving one of his walking canes in some corner of the mill as tangible evidence of his rule. The period from 1858 until 1876 was a time of change.
The protests of the Blackinton mill workers marked this transition with significant strikes and there was a gradual shift away from the traditional assumptions of paternalism and toward more assertive and independent work relationships.
The old moral economy, based on paternal rights and obligations and the absolute authority of the entrepreneur, collided with a new standard of legitimacy in which the workers would have the right to bargain for the terms of their own work but would also have the obligation to take care of themselves.
Outside of his personal manufacturing business, Mr. Blackinton had been an active man, and so continued. He had been a director of the Adams National Bank since its organization in 1832, and president since it became a national bank. Besides his handsome residence and his factory he has contributed to the architecture of the town the fine Blackinton Block, on Holden Street.
He was not at all an office seeker, but had always taken an intelligent interest in politics, being at first a Whig and then a Republican. Besides holding some honorable municipal offices, he represented Adams in the Legislatures of 1831 and 1832. He was an earnest and consistent member of the Baptist church, but liberal in regard to other denominations as his action with regard to the chapel at Blackinton showed.
He was one of the most generous contributors to the building of the Baptist church in North Adams, one of the most beautiful ecclesiastical structures in Berkshire. Mr. Blackinton's first wife was Mary, daughter of Asa Russell, of Pownal, Vt., and their children were William S., Mary Frances, and Austin; the last dying at the age of 3 years.
His second wife was Eliza, daughter of Joel Robinson, of Attleboro, the old home of the family; by her he had one son, Everett Austin.
William S. Blackinton married Susan Frances, daughter of Benjamin F. Robinson, of North Adams, by which union there were two sons, and three daughters. His daughter, Mary Frances, married William L. Pomeroy. Sanford Blackinton acquired trusted successors. William L. Pomeroy became president in 1881, four years before Sanford's death.
Pomeroy was a son-in-law and had marketed the Blackinton products through his woolen goods commission house in New York. Upon incorporation of the company in 1876, Oscar A. Archer became treasurer after 20 years as bookkeeper. Until 1893 the concern was called the S. Blackinton Woolen Company. It was again reorganized in 1893 under the new and shorter corporate name of Blackinton Company. Mr. Pomeroy retired in 1885.
A view of the Blackinton area in 1890 after the death of Sanford Blackinton would have shown the stone mill, the wooden addition, supplementary buildings, and the original 1822 building (used as a warehouse). Nearby there were 100 tenements for the workers.
In 1871 at the age of 74, Sanford Blackinton built and furnished the Blackinton Union Church.
"The floors were carpeted in small figures of two shades, harmonizing with the woodwork of the room. The church is heated by three coal stoves and lighted by gas. A beautiful chandelier hung over the center of the audience room, and two light brackets were placed on the walls at short intervals entirely around it. The fittings and appointment, even to a splendid bible on the desk, was most complete and received the personal supervision of Mr. & Mrs. Blackinton, throughout. The grounds around the church were tastefully and carefully graded."
At the top of the driveway stood a horse and buggy shed -- a three sided shelter to drive in. In the late 1880s, it was removed. The annex was added to the church in 1878.
The first regular tailor in North Adams was a Mr. Thomas, a Welchman. According to an article in the North Adams Transcript of April 26, 1905, Oscar Archer stated: "In 1858 there were only two Welch, two or three Irish, one Scotch and two or three English families in Centerville as Blackinton was called then. The help in the mill was nearly all plain Yankee. Gradually, as the Welch people in the woolen manufacturing town of Newtown, North Wales, began to hear good things of us they came over here; now the head of a family, now a boy or a girl, nearly all remaining and in good time, after getting a little start, sending for the rest of the family, helped often by a steamship agency that I started in those days, at which tickets were supplied on easy terms.
"This depletion of Newton continued for many years until our population became largely Welch, with a happy mixture of excellent English, Irish and Scotch families until today a full-blooded Yankee is a rarity with us. But Wales sent us good, law-abiding, patriotic people, many of whom with the other nationalities above named, went out in the dark days of '61 to help preserve our nation.
"In connection with the work in the old days a curious custom was instituted for the benefit of the housewives who had no clocks. At 11:30 a.m. every working day, the mill bell was rung as a signal for preparing dinner. Then the potatoes were put on, the cloth laid and 30 minutes later all was ready for the hungry ones, whose opportunity for satisfying their hunger had a time limit and must be begun on time. The old 'half hour bell' had continued to sound from the mill belfry until stopped by the new owners and now the old people felt somehow as if something had gone out of their lives. In fact one good lady has thus dropped into poetry as final good-bye to the old custom."
"Of all the sounds on land or sea, The sound that most appeals to me Is the good old 'half hour bell', Ringing its message loud and clear, Through all the valley far and near, The dear potato bell. Faithful it's been for many a year, Through summer heat and winters drear, The warning 'half hour bell,' For mothers to hast the noontide meal It sounded out its clanging peal, The good potato bell. That the dear old bell should cease to ring, From the stone mill tower is a sad sad thing, The useful 'half hour bell'
"The time honored custom has passed away, A link to my childhood, slack the day! Good-bye potato bell."
Beginning on March 30 and ending on Sept. 28 in the early years, work began at daylight in the morning. Thus in the long days of summer the wheels started at about half past four. Breakfast was eaten from half past six to seven, three quarters of an hour for dinner and on again until sunset. During the other half of the year work began at 6 a.m. and continued until 6 p.m. with the usual recess for dinner.Then after supper in again until 8:30 p.m. The only holidays observed were the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
Archer wrote, "When I took charge of the books of the company they were kept in the store where the hands got their supplies of groceries and provisions. There was no regular pay day. Most of the help had running accounts at the store where they drew money when wanted. They intended to settle at least once a year and draw their balances, if they had anything left after paying their store bills, rents, fuel and cow pasturage. The books were opened in double entry after my advent and a regular pay day established once in three months."
The first payroll in the book was made out for the three months ending June 30, 1858, and contained about 100 names, 60 of whom, nearly all women, were weavers. The mill at that time was superintended by the owners, Charles Atkinson, a former superintendent having left in 1856.
The wages paid were as follows: Bookkeeper $50 per month, boss card, then Joseph Allard and a good one, $1.87 1/2 per day; card room helpers, from 50 to 75 cents a day; boss dyer, then Thomas Walker, an accomplished indigo expert from Galushiels, Scotland, $1.75 a day; day house helpers 80 cents a day, boss finisher, Daniel Stillson, $1.75 a day, women helpers, buriers, etc. $2.00 per week; boss spinner, Thomas Rickards, none better, $1.13 1/2 per day; other spinners, $1 a day; boss weaver, W. A. Hopkins, $1.67 1/2 a day and the deacon is still young and vigorous at 82...Designer, H.J. Chapman, later for many years superintendent $1.75 a day; boss wool sorter, William Wilkinson, $1.12 1/2 a day; other sorters worked by the pound and made about 75 cents to $1 a day; mill carpenter, George W. Nottingham, $1.75 a day; master machinist, Albert Darling, $2 a day; fireman for boilers, Samuel Millett, who later died in Andersonville prison, 87 1/2 cents a day; loom fixers, $1.25 a day.
The weavers were nearly all women. For the three months under consideration, Eliza Brady led the shop, earning $71.72 in 78 of the longest summer days. A fair average for weavers was $20 a month. The best weavers now, on good work, often earned $20 a week. For the next three months Sarah Slocum earned $77.89, and three months later John Taft rolled up the astonishing total of $86.76, breaking the record.
The Blackinton Company was one of the largest woolen manufacturers in Western Massachusetts and has a most enviable reputation in this line of industry. It occupied a very important position in the industrial life of North Adams. By the turn of the century the firm produced one-half million dollars annually of high grade cassimeres and worsteds. John H. Waterhouse was born March 1, 1870, and his education was begun in the public schools of Rhode Island. Later attending Bryant and Stratton Business College of Providence he prepared himself for a position in the executive personnel of the industrial world.
Entering the woolen textile field he gained his first experience in the manufacture of worsteds, and in 1899 accepted an executive position with the Washington Mills, of Lawrence. There he was active until 1924 as a designer for the company. In 1898, he became identified with the Blackinton Company, of North Adams, as a designer. In 1901 the Blackinton Company went out of business and was taken over by John H. Waterhouse who sold it to outside interests in 1903. About 1901 he organized the firm of Waterhouse & Buffum, 1907 to 1911 inclusive he was in business elsewhere, returning to North Adams in 1912.
In 1917 the business was incorporated and Mr. Waterhouse became president. He is a leading textile executive in New England, his experience having linked his name with various concerns of this general purpose in Massachusetts and neighboring states, while his present affiliation carried him to marked eminence in this industry, Mr. Waterhouse was a man of large natural ability and in his position held a leading rank in the industrial affairs of Western Massachusetts. His usefulness was a matter of general recognition over a period of many years and his influence was always cast on the side of progress.
The North Adams City Directory of 1889-1890 describes the Village of Blackinton as a thrifty village on the Fitchburg railroad, two miles from North Adams. It derives its name from Sanford Blackinton, the president of S. Blackinton Woolen Company, which gives employment to about 350 operatives and manufactures about 60,000 yards of fancy cassimeres per month. The present officers of the company are: President William L. Pomeroy, Vice President, S.B. Pomeroy; Treasurer, O.A. Archer. The village contains a post office, a telegraph and express office, two general stores, one carriage shop and drugstore.
The most commendable efforts have been made by the leading citizens to promote intellectual and moral culture, as will be seen from the following list of organizations which are in a flourishing condition: Blackinton Union Church; Blackinton Free Library; F.M.T.A. Society; O.O.G.T.; Brigade 6, Alfredians; Reading Room Association; Blackinton Brass Band; Blackinton Woolens Ball Club.
This concern, now known as the Blackinton Company, was one of the long established mills of this section of the state and produces a fine quality of worsted materials for mens wear. In 1919 the company employed 300 people which was slightly below the national average of 350. As a firm of moderate size and long experience, it survived, owing partially to its concentration on high-grade fabrics requiring close supervision of the process of mixing various grades of wool in the final product. By the late 1920s the company employed 350 hands under the direction of John W. Waterhouse, president; Albert J. Buffum, treasurer.
The mill never regained its former stature and now stands ghost-like in its use as a warehouse. The houses once built by the mill for its employees have been sold into private ownership; most of them remain standing today in various states of condition. Mr. Waterhouse was further identified with local affairs as a director of the North Adams Trust Company, and a leading republican of this part of the state. He served as councilman of North Adams from the year 1908 and in 1909 and 1910 filled the highest local office in the gift of the people, that of mayor. In 1920 he was made alternate delegate to the National Convention, and in the year 1924, served as delegate to the National Republican Convention. Mr. Waterhouse was fraternally affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, and his clubs in the Berkshire; the North Adams; the Park Club, of Pittsfield, and the Country Club of North Adams. John H. Waterhouse married in November of 1878, Charlotte Louse Archer, daughter of Oscar H. and Helen B. (Blackinton) Archer. John H. Waterhouse died at 78 yrs., 1 mo., and 28 days of age in Springfield, Mass. on April 29, 1948 and was buried on May 1, 1948 in Lot 399 of the Hillside Cemetery in North Adams.
The Blackinton Company was one of the largest woolen manufacturers in Western Massachusetts and had a most enviable reputation in this line of industry. This enterprise made of Blackinton a neat and prosperous village; it had in fact made the place. In the hands of most competent management it occupied a very important position in the industrial life of North Adams. The mill closed its doors in 1950.
Sources: Western Massachusetts: A History 1636-1925, Volume IV, Pg. 772, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc. New York and Chicago 1926 Cemetery Department, North Adams, Mass. North Adams and Vicinity Illustrated, published by The Transcript, 1897 History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Volume I, New York: J.B. Beers & Co., 1885 Biographical Review Life Sketches of Leading Citizens of Berkshire County, MA The Story of the Blackinton Mill by Oscar A. Archer, North Adams Evening Transcript, April 26, 1905 History of North Adams by Morris. Elizabeth A. Baker, Master's Thesis for Manhattanville College, April 8, 1980 Ross Baldessarini, term paper, Williams College, January 1958 and Historic Building Survey of North Adams, Massachusetts November 1977 - November 1978.
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