{"id":5112,"date":"2018-12-05T06:58:30","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T11:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lizzieborden.org\/CuratorsCorner\/?p=5112"},"modified":"2018-12-05T06:58:30","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T11:58:30","slug":"sagamore-manufacturing-company-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/2018\/12\/05\/sagamore-manufacturing-company-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Sagamore Manufacturing Company Records"},"content":{"rendered":"

The FRHS collection of 19th and 20th\u00a0century Fall River textile mill material is, without doubt, the largest in existence \u2013 and is ever-growing, evidenced by the following:<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week a Somerset woman visited the museum as a follow-up to a prior telephone call; she was carrying an opaque plastic bag with LAUNDRY printed on its surface in bold black letters \u2013 she was not, however, delivering laundry, although it may have seemed so to a few customers in the museum shop at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bag contained a small but very interesting collection of Sagamore Manufacturing Company records and demonstrates why I repeatedly say \u2013 the proverbial broken record \u2013 that there is still much significant material out there.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sagamore Mills was originally established in 1872 with Louis Laurent Barnard (1815-1880) as president; it failed in 1879. Barnard was heavily invested in Fall River\u2019s textile industry and served on the boards of numerous highly profitable corporations \u2013 the Barnard Mills bore his name.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was a somewhat eccentric individual with a penchant for a grand lifestyle and resided in Fall River\u2019s largest house \u2013 \u201cBarnard\u2019s Folly\u201d on North Main Street contained a whopping twenty-two rooms on its first and second floors, boasted a pipe organ, and an inordinately large collection of clocks, precisely maintained to strike in unison. How many additional rooms were on the third floor, I wonder? It still stands on French\u2019s Hill in an eviscerated and far less grand form, having been cut in two in 1906 by Barnard\u2019s equally eccentric granddaughter, Mrs. Philip Scully, n\u00e9e Jessie Amelia Barnard (1868-1967), and converted into multiple apartments; the addresses are 547-549 and 553-555 North Main Street.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Barnard saga reads like an epic novel, but was all too true \u2026 fascinating family! Fall River\u2019s gossipmongers had a field day with the Barnards.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I digress.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bankrupt Sagamore Mills was reorganized by prominent Fall River industrialist, Hezekiah Anthony Brayton (1835-1908) \u2013 the polar opposite of Barnard \u2013 as the Sagamore Manufacturing Company and was a very successful and long lived corporation.<\/span><\/p>\n

They operated three mills, constructed of brick or granite, on Ace and North Main Streets: Sagamore #1 was constructed in 1888 to replace the original structure, built in 1872 and destroyed by fire in 1884; Sagamore #2, built in 1882; and Sagamore #3 built in 1908.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brayton descendants maintained principal interest in the company until it was liquidated in 1970; it was one of the last cotton mills to operate in Fall River.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is a brief inventory of the contents of the Laundry Bag:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Account Book:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1879 & 1880<\/span><\/p>\n

This record of financial accounts was kept by Hezekiah A. Brayton, who served as treasurer of the Sagamore Manufacturing Company.<\/span><\/p>\n

In true Yankee fashion, an ever-frugal Brayton recorded these accounts in an unused Fall River First National Bank account book, in which the institution name was stricken out in ink.<\/span><\/p>\n

Waste not, want not.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Bank Book:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

November 8, 1892, to December 22, 1896<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cB.M.C. Durfee Safe Deposit and Trust Company, Fall River, Mass., in account with Hezekiah A. Brayton<\/em>.\u201d This was one of Brayton\u2019s personal bank books \u2013 clearly, times were good, if you were one of the fortunate few that was a principal shareholder in a mill(s); for the rest of us \u2026 well, not so good.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cotton Accounts:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

March 23, 1915, to June 24, 1916<\/span><\/p>\n

This red leather-bound notebook contains a wealth of details pertinent to cotton purchases made over a fifteen-month period, including the quantity of bales \u2013 a staggering amount \u2013 the place or origin, broker(s), and any identifying marks. There was a complex system established for safeguarding the identification of cotton bales during shipping, with labels usually affixed to the heavy wire strapping securing the bales.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the entries:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c17,179 Bales Bought during six months ending Mar[ch] 27, 1915. Ave[rage] price 7.60<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fascinating information, especially so to anyone researching the history of cotton production in the United States, and\/or the inner working of the supply chain.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Summary of Machinery Mill #1:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1880s \u2013 Early 20th<\/sup> century<\/span><\/p>\n

This account book details the particulars of the cost of construction of Mill #1, constructed in 1888, and details of machinery purchased for every department.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example:<\/span><\/p>\n

Construction of Mill #1:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $137,563.81<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Machinery:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 $383,995.47<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Improvement:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 13,745.00<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Total:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 $535,604.28<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The financial and statistical information contained in this volume is detailed and extremely precise, furnishing important data. For anyone researching the cost of constructing and fitting up a mill in late 19th<\/sup> century Fall River \u2013 here it is.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ephemera: <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1896; 1897; 1919; 1920 and undated<\/span><\/p>\n

This small collection of ephemera \u2013 that is, material on paper, printed or written, and not expected to be preserved \u2013 includes receipts and cancelled payroll or business checks. This material offers insight into the day-to-day operations of the mill.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example:<\/span><\/p>\n

On October 4, 1919, employee Manuel Cabral received $11.52: \u201cIn payment of difference between what I earned #3 Slashing Room and what I received from State Guards \u2013 3 weeks @ 3.84 per week to date<\/em>.\u201d Service in the State Guard brought Manuel $1.55 per day; he served seven days for a total of $10.85.<\/span><\/p>\n

Obscure information, likely not recorded elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to this acquisition of these Sagamore Manufacturing Company accounts, the FRHS archival collection catalogue contained only nine records for that mill, including: a cost of operations ledger; directors record books; insurance plans; a labor book; liquidation records; property plans; and a rent book.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through the acquisition of this seemingly small collection, the scope of the Sagamore Mills material held by the FRHS has increased considerably \u2013 furthermore, none of the records recently acquired were previously documented by type in the collection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another link \u2013 links, actually \u2013 in the chain of Fall River history.<\/span><\/p>\n

The FRHS continues to forge additional links at an impressive rate.<\/span><\/p>\n

A remarkable accomplishment, that.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The FRHS collection of 19th and 20th\u00a0century Fall River textile mill material is, without doubt, the largest in existence \u2013 and is ever-growing, evidenced by the following: Last week a Somerset woman visited the museum as a follow-up to a prior telephone call; she was carrying an opaque plastic bag with LAUNDRY printed on its …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5112"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5116,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112\/revisions\/5116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallriverhistorical.org\/CuratorsCorner\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}