Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1911 edition. Excerpt: ... XI Miscellaneous Town Subjects Manufactures The value of the water-power afforded by the Ware River was recognized at an early date, the river dropping seventy feet in less than a quarter of a mile; but with the exception of saw and grist mills already described, there was no utilization of the power until after 1813, when Alpheus Demond and Col. Thomas Denny purchased the Magoon property, consisting of some 400 acres of land, for $4,500. They built a new dam above where the lower stone bridge now stands, repaired the saw-mill and grist-mill, started two carding machines, and a small plant for making machinery. The machine shop stood just above the bridge on the north side of the river. The carders were intended to supply merely a local need. Colonel Denny died in 1814, and the business was not pushed. Early in the year 1821 the entire property was purchased by Holbrook and Dexter of Boston for $15,000, and a company formed in which a number of wealthy and influential Boston men were interested. In 1823 the Ware Manufacturing Co. was incorporated with a capital of $600,000. Gardner Green was president. John Tappan, Samuel Hubbard and S. V. S. Wilder were among the directors. The company at once erected a woollen mill on the south side of the river, a part of which is still standing, by far the oldest of the factory buildings in Ware. In 1824 the Company branched out and built a large mill, 271 feet long, a little farther up the river, taking its power from the upper falls. Great expense was involved in making the water-power available, as a large amount of excavation through the solid rock was necessary, and the Company failed within a few years. In the "Gazetteer of Massachusetts " published in 1828 by Jeremiah Spofford there are...