An Incalculable Endowment
It's hard to imagine, but even today, the power that unleashed the Industrial Revolution across America still meanders through the 22 communities of the Blackstone River Valley. By standing on lookout point in Northbridge, Ma., surveying the wondrous beauty below, or commuting through the Walmarts and MacDonalds of valley suburbia, one could easily miss the faint heartbeats of rich heritage that exist here, just beneath the surface, not far removed from the consciousness of long time residents.
Here in Massachusetts, the Blackstone Valley is a far different place than it was just a few decades ago. Once a network of booming mill towns situated along the banks of the Blackstone River, the communities here recognized long ago the need for change and transition. Where once provincialism and favoritism may have dominated government, today tax breaks for businesses and lowered tax rates are the order of the day. Community leaders have long understood, in order to continue expanding services to residents, new and emerging technology companies must be attracted to the area. This has lead to the development of "economic opportunity" area's in Northbridge, tax increment financing in Uxbridge, and a myriad of other enticing proposals from area municipalities looking to expand the tax base and economic opportunities for its residents. The valley has become an attractive region for companies to expand and relocate. And "tourism," a concept unimaginable even a decade ago, is fast becoming a reality.
Clearly, the valley has emerged from its recent past determined, no longer dependent on one industry, mill or dominant employer as in days gone by. Today the landscape is much more diverse, with an educated workforce engaged in a wide variety of occupations and endeavors.
Yet, even now, if you're quiet long enough, you can hear still the distant rumble of the old mills, pounding away in an endless cacophony of grinding gears and thundering waterfalls. The gears stopped churning long ago, the mills having been replaced with new industry, apartment complexes, even shopping centers, but there's no escaping the imprint those mills left on the "eternal landscape" and character of the people that live here. The traditions of present day Irish, French Canadian, Armenian, Polish and Dutch, have endured and flourished, melding into a rich, distinctively American culture.
Ask any long time resident about the history of the Blackstone Valley and their countenance will instantly be animated. There's a story to tell.
Can you imagine, it was the water and the steep falls (descending at 10 feet per mile), along with the promise of profit that attracted industrialists to this area in the late 1700's. Water cascading down into buckets on a wheel (sound incredible?) created a "spinning wheel" that brought the gears of machinery to life. In those days, the demand for anything cloth created a plethora of investment in the textile industry. From Pawtucket in the South to "Mill" bury in the North, numerous mills sprouted up along the banks of the river. With profit came more investment and quickly the demand for labor exceeded the meager populations of the formerly agrarian countryside. By the early 1820's the mass migration to the area had begun. Spurred by the tall tales of relatives and textile company agents alike, countless immigrants flooded the area looking for opportunity.
With immigration came the need for expanded housing for the new hires and that led to the uniquely structured "Mill Village," developed by Samuel Slater in the Rhode Island portion of the river in the 1790's. The Slater companies built homes for their workers, company stores, houses of worship - even town halls, all within walking distance to the mill. This model, which came to be known as the Rhode Island System, was duplicated all along the river and inevitably led to the forming of villages owing their name to the owner of the mill. Thus in northern Rhode Island you will find Slatersville, in Massachusetts you'll find Wilkinsonville, Farnumsville and, of course, Whitinsville, former home of the Whitin Machine Works, at one time the leading producer of textile machinery equipment in the world.
It can properly be said that Slater was the "Father" of the American Industrial Revolution, having surreptitiously bolted England with the plans necessary to break the English stronghold on cotton production. Slater's Mills in Pawtucket and later, in Slatersville would be the first of many water-powered mills along the river, earning him the distinction "Father of American Manufactures" by President Jackson.
Though Slater was clearly the first to bring cotton manufacturing to the area, there is one man, a family really, that had by far the greatest impact on the life, history and culture of the Blackstone Valley. In all its wonderfully rich history no one casts as immense a shadow as Col. Paul C. Whitin, (1767-1831) and his descendents, who built numerous mills along the river and dominated civic life in the area for over 150 years.
Of the many Mill owners that have come and gone, the Whitins are the one family whose beneficence can still be felt today. You can trace their lineage to England, where in 1636 Nathaniel Whiting came to America and settled in Dedham, Ma. After the sudden death of his father, Paul, still an infant, moved with his mother Sarah to Sutton, Ma. She would settle down and marry James Prentice, a local farmer. Paul took an apprenticeship in the blacksmith shop of a Chester Williams. It was there, in a small shop in Northbridge center, 5 miles from the Prentice farm, that Paul Whitin honed his skills as a blacksmith and settled into the community life of Northbridge. Soon after he completed his apprenticeship, he moved to So. Northbridge (present day Whitinsville) and rented his own smithy from Ezra Wood, a prominent landowner, who also operated a forge along the Mumford River. It is significant to note that it was Mr. Wood who held water privileges to the rivers in So. Northbridge. In 1793, Paul would marry Betsy Fletcher, grand daughter to Wood and daughter of James Fletcher, who had earlier married Wood's daughter and purchased an interest in his iron forge. The business would be known as Fletcher's Forge for the next 33 years.
It was just one year after marrying Betsy that Paul Whitin and James Fletcher would purchase the water rights, iron forge and blacksmith shop from Mr. Wood. For the next 15 years Paul Whitin would be content to work in his blacksmith shop, raise his five sons and daughter with Betsy and involve himself in the civic affairs of Northbridge, serving as town clerk for 13 years. All the while his business flourished, building considerable trade with southern plantation owners interested in farming tools. In 1809, Whitin entered into a joint venture with his father-in law and wealthy mill owners from Providence and Leicester, looking to duplicate the success Samuel Slater had in Rhode Island. Whitin never actually worked in the Northbridge Cotton Manufacturing co. Fletcher was brought in for the iron forge and Paul for his skills as a blacksmith, creating the parts necessary to operate the mill.
Again, Paul was content to continue on in this way for the next 16 years, operating his smithy and raising his children. In 1826, his oldest children having reached maturity, Whitin purchased the forge from the Fletcher family, and built a new cotton mill, turning over management to Paul Jr. (1800-84') and John C. (1807-82'). That shop is still standing today located adjacent to the Northbridge town hall, on the opposite side of the river. It is at this point that Whitin family interests, under the name of P. Whitin & Sons became an enterprise. Father Paul's patience and thrift had set a solid foundation for the youthful ambitions of his children. Unfortunately he didn't live to see the fruit of his labor, he had passed away in 1831, just five years after acquiring the mill for his children.
Thomas R. Navin, in his History of Whitin Machine works, noted "in his way of life Paul followed the ideals associated with Benjamin Franklin, for he was industrious, virtuous, self-disciplined and thrifty…like Meyer Amschel Rothchild, his chief accomplishment in life was not so much in the business field as in the begetting of five remarkable sons." In 1835, in honor of Paul Whitin, the village voted to change the name of the community from So. Northbridge to Whitinsville. Shortly after their father's death the brother's Whitin purchased the struggling Northbridge Cotton Manufacturing Co. and immediately increased the productive capacity of the mill. In addition, John C. paid close attention to the machine shop, converting it from an operation that produced parts for it's own mills to a factory that turned out textile machinery for the entire industry. John C. Whitin was a man of great engineering genius, who had a profound effect on the textile machine industry (thus all textile mills) during its infancy and development stage of the 19th century. In 1831, he received a patent for a new cotton picker machine that proved to be vastly superior to any in the industry up to that time. This patent, more than any other event set the course of history for Whitinsvillle.
Powered by a series of engineering marvels Whitin Machine Works became an industrial giant, supplying machinery the world over. Over the next 90 years (1835-1925) the Whitin family would expand the shop in Whitinsville six times, create separate mills in Rockdale, Riverdale, Linwood, North Uxbridge and Douglas. At its peak the Whitinsville shop alone employed over 5,600 people, all in a community with a total population under 10,000!
Life in the village revolved around "the shop," providing the means and the opportunity for successive generations of mostly Europeans to immigrate. The Whitin's built the entire village to support their expanding business operations. In all the company would erect 1,000 buildings (2200 units) to house their growing workforce.
The work was hard and often dangerous. There were recorded incidents where workers lost their lives working in the shop foundry or the machine shop. But working and living in Whitinsville was much better than the average mill town.
"The company" provided amenities unheard of in neighboring villages; such as heating coal at company cost, free snowplowing, landscaping and property maintenance. The Whitin's allowed any employee who heated their homes with wood access to their properties to cut down as many trees as needed, free of charge. The company constructed the first reservoir, creating meadow pond, (west of Main St.) which was the first system that pumped water directly into village homes. A typical sight on weekends would be the villager's sailing and fishing on the pond using equipment rented from the company provided facility.
Through the 1860's the work schedule was 11 hours (7am-6pm) per day and 6 days per week. And yet, there was a long-standing tradition of allowing up to 4 unpaid personal days off per month. It is well known, for instance, that during slow times in the shop, John C. would hire idle employees to work on his property, farms, or, as in 1879, build the Town Hall as a memorial to his late father and mother. As the fortunes of the company grew, so would its generosity to the town. Many public buildings still in use today were built with Whitin funds and then donated to the town; the Whitin Community Center being a prime example.
All of which explains the lasting impression of the Whitin's as a decent family that, for the most part, had an abiding sense of obligation for the well being of the community.
Not a few tears would be shed, however, when on March 4, 1946, E. Kent Smith tendered his resignation as President of Whitin Machine Works, thus ending more than a century of Whitin family stewardship of the company. The withdrawal came amidst considerable labor strife, where employees had voted to join the teamsters union and strike for higher wages. Kenneth M. Warchol, in his History of Whitinsville makes the point that "the workers had made their choice of security; unionism in lieu of paternalism." The union's decision to strike in January 1946 was a bitter defeat for the Whitin family, who felt betrayed by the very families they had always taken responsibility for. But the times had changed. The confluence of union pressure, government regulation and a more mobile, transient population made the transition inevitable. Slowly but surely the family withdrew from Whitinsville. Plans to expand the Whitin Machine Works and develop more company housing were cancelled. Stock holdings were diversified, the company owned housing and, in time, family mansions would be put up for sale. Finally, in 1966, Whitin Machine Works was sold to White Consolidated Industries. The plant would struggle along for another decade, when in 1976 the doors were closed and the gears finally stopped churning.
After a difficult transition that lasted more than 15 years, the massive Whitin Machine Works facility is now fully occupied. Still referred to as "The Shop" at Whitinsville, WMW has been replaced with 26 different businesses providing employment for approx. 2,000 area residents. That's a far cry from its post war zenith, but still a crowning achievement for local officials. Change has come gradually. Whitinsville has become part of a greater Northbridge, no longer dominating the local landscape as it one did. With the passing of time and the development of new industry, the Whitin's have become a distant memory, with many younger residents having little or no understanding of the great shadow that was cast here beginning 200 years ago.
And yet, there is symmetry here, between the past and the present, the Whitins and those they employed. In the eternal present, the past is as much a part of who we are as the future. In as much as Paul Whitin, by practicing the virtues of hard work, industriousness and patience set a solid foundation for his children to build upon, just as much, the employees, those courageous and hard working immigrants laid a solid foundation for their own children. All across this Blackstone Valley are literally thousands of doctors and lawyers, bankers and business people owing their existence to the sweat and blood their ancestors left on the floor and in that "eternal corridor" of numerous Whitin enterprises.
The endowment is simply incalculable.