Linen Thread Donation

I saw some familiar faces at the Battenkill Inspired exhibit a couple of weeks ago, but I also met some new people! One such person was Nancy Hand Higby, a garden designer from Salem. Nancy told me that her great-grandfather worked at the Dunbarton Mill & she had a bit of linen twine. Would the Town be interested in having it? Of course, I said "Yes!" & here it is...

Spool of linen twine from the Dunbarton Mill, Greenwich, NY

Nancy writes, "This spool of linen thread was given to me by my grandmother, Florence Wallace Hand, whose father managed the Dunbarton Mill where the thread was made."

In looking through William T Ruddock's book Linen Threads and Broom Twines... Volume 2- The Directory, I was able to find the man in question. James Wallace was born to Hugh & Elizabeth (nee Hunter) Wallace in Loughbrickland, County Down, Ireland (now Northern Ireland) in 1859. After graduation, Wallace spent 7 years at Dunbar, McMaster & Co. in nearby Gilford. In 1888, he was promoted to General Manager of the Dunbarton Mill in Greenwich, NY & married Jennie Arnold. The couple had one daughter, Florence (Nancy's grandmother). Mr. Wallace also held important positions after leaving the Dunbraton. He was director of the Mahican Pulp & Paper Company, Consolidated Electric, & the Adirondack Trust Company. He died in 1909 due to complications after contracting ptomaine poisoning. His wife, Jennie, died in 1940. (pp.376-8)

Ruddock's 2 volume set about the Dunbarton

For more information on the Dunbarton Mill & the people involved, I highly recommend William T. Ruddock's 2 volume set, Linen Threads and Broom Twines.

Greenwich Artifacts on Display at Crandall Library

When Todd DeGarmo, Founding Director of the Folklife Center, asked me if I had an artifacts pertaining to the Batten Kill to round out his exhibition I had to step back & think. As a public historian, not a museum, or historical society, I don't collect objects. This is mainly because there is little to no place to store anything properly, but I looked around my office & found a few items.

As you can see from the images below, there was a bit of adjustment until the objects were finally set, & the labeling complete.

First stage of setting the objects for display

Adding some maps

Some of the artifacts are from Hollingsworth & Vose Co. The paper company still operates two factories along the Batten Kill in Greenwich & Easton, has made many different kinds of paper products over the years. Featured here are automotive filters, paper used at the top of drapes, and a disposable bed sheet.

The layout is taking shape with maps, images, & labels

Also included is a painted serving tray attributed to the American Tea Tray Co, linen broom twine attributed to the Dunbarton Mill, & parts from the Eddy Plow Company. (There is an Eddy Plow on display, but it is not owned by the Town of Greenwich.)

To see the completed exhibit, which includes much more than the artifacts seen here, stop by the Folklife Gallery at Crandall Library during regular library hours. Or, better yet, come to the Open Reception on Thursday, March 12, 2015 from 5-7 pm. RSVP on Facebook.

See you there!

Battenkill Inspired exhibition at the Folklife Center of Crandall Public Library, Glens Falls, NY

St. Joseph's Cemetery

As I was snapping some pictures at Greenwich Cemetery last week, I realized I had never been in St. Joseph's Cemetery before. & it is just across the road. So, after work, I drove over & snapped some pictures there. I didn't realize how large it was, & that you can see the high school. I use to run cross country (for Schuylerville) around the cornfield on the other side of the cemetery fence.

Now for a bit of background provided by Joseph L. Shannon, who wrote Saint Joseph Parish Greenwich, New York in 1978. This book is available for research at the Greenwich Free Library & Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls (all copies are non-circulating).

History of St. Joseph's

Albany Catholic Diocese established April 1847
Visitation Catholic Church, Schuylerville founded 1847
St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Cambridge founded 1853
St. Joseph's Catholic Church founded 1870

The plethora of mills in the area brought immigrants to rural areas upstate.  In 1865, 80,000 of the estimated 134,000 Catholics living in the area covered by the Albany Diocese were Irish immigrants (Shannon, p.8) escaping the Great Potato Famine. When the Greenwich Dunbarton Mill opened in 1879, many of the 200 workers were Catholic (Shannon, p.4).

Shannon states "After the Mass of 24 January 1869, which marked the opening of the Mission of Greenwich, until the first Mass offered in the building now call "St. Joseph [sic] Church" 24 July 1870, the Fathers from Cambridge held services in various places in Greenwich" (p.15-16). The only other option was to travel to Mass in Schuylerville, Hudson Falls, Salem, or Schaghticoke.

St. Joseph's first resident pastor & proponent of the Temperance Movement, Fr. Thomas A. Field, was the one who set about founding the St. Joseph's Cemetery. Shannon writes "By Deed,  dated  6 November 1881 (Book 91, page 30) Fr. Field purchased for $1,000 two parcels of land, one  of sixty-seven acres and the other of one acre on the northern edge of the village of Greenwich from Charles Stevens and his wife, Sarah A. Stevens" (p.44).

Some of the artistry on the tombstones in St. Joseph's

The first burials (& tombstones) appear to be transferred from other cemeteries as the deaths predate the founding of the cemetery. The oldest date is 1863 (Shannon, p. 45).

Well, St. Joseph's is just a peaceful as Greenwich, except for the neighbor's dog who decided to bark at my car. But even (s)he didn't sound too upset by me being there.

St. Joseph's Cemetery, Greenwich, NY- 10 May 2013

Historians Make Mistakes

I made a mistake in one of my posts. This comes as no surprise to me. I am just happy that a reader told me. So many times mistakes unacknowledged & wind up in a paper or a book.

So, "Thank you" to Bill Ruddock for letting me know my error. I have fixed the image issue.

I hope you also like the new image at the top. It is also the header on the Town of Greenwich, NY Facebook page. (Have you "Liked" it yet?) I like to keep them the same, kind of a marketing technique. Below you can see the front & back of the postcard.

postcard sent to Miss Marnie Kallihan in Wells, VT

Strike!

On a recent trip to Massachusetts, I visited the Lowell National Historical Park in the city of Lowell http://www.nps.gov/lowe/index.htm. I love old mills, as does my mother & daughter. One particular mill is the Boott Cotton Mill where they made cotton cloth on large, mechanized looms. In the "Mill Girls" exhibition nearby there is some talk about the strikes that occurred in Lowell. This got me thinking about the Dunbarton here in Greenwich & their one strike...

In October of 1937 a union was formed at the Dunbarton in Greenwich. (The Paterson & Kearney, NJ & Anniston, AL plants were already unionized by this time.) A 10% wage increase was agreed upon in May 1938, but was revoked in February 1939 after the US & Great Britain signed a reciprocal trade agreement. This made imported linen thread cheaper, thus hurting the market for US produced thread & twine. Both NJ mills strike & shut production down.

Odd Fellows Hall in Greenwich where strike meetings were held



After an unenthusiastic strike meeting the day before, only about 20 workers picketed the mill on February 13, 1939. Estimates have Greenwich strikers at 12. Nine days later only about 10 workers were striking. A February 25th meeting has workers severing ties with the Textile Workers Organization & forming an independent union. By mid-March all workers were back at the Greenwich mill. Workers at both NJ mills were still out on strike.

The NJ strike ended on April 19, 1939. Workers gained some ground with the wage reduction changed from 10% to 7%, essentially giving all workers a 3% raise from pre-May 1938 wages. Greenwich's independent union was recognized by the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB). 40-hour work week, time & a half on Saturday, one week vacation, & no pay reductions for one year were also approved. The Union hosted a party at the White Swan Hotel on October 14, 1939. Dinner was brought to the boiler room for Sam McCune, the only employee left on duty that night!

For more information:

*Ruddock, W. Linen Threads and Broom Twines: An Irish and American Album and Directory of the People of the Dunbarton Mill Greenwich, New York 1879-1952. Bowie, MD: Hertiage Books, 1997.

^ Reciprocal Trade Agreement: http://www.washingtontradereport.com/RTAAcanada.htm

Broom Twine & Shoe Thread

What? You heard right. Broom twine & shoe thread. That can only mean one thing...

You guessed it! Linen. What does linen have to do with Greenwich you may ask? I'll tell you.



From 1879 to 1952 Greenwich was the home to an (almost) continuously run linen mill. The Dunbarton Mill processed flax into study linen thread to be used  for the manufacture of brooms and shoes. Linen makes great thread because of the long, stiff fibers. Cotton has short, soft fibers and replaced linen for use in making clothes because the cotton gin, patented by Eli Whitney in 1794, made cotton cheaper to use. During the Civil War, cotton was in short supply, and linen was in demand. The Greenwich Linen Mill (1869) was built on the banks of the Batten Kill, to capitalize on the increased linen prices. The prices didn't last & by 1879 Dunbar & McMaster were able to open the doors as the Dunbarton Mill.

Some Dunbarton employees with 25 years on the job- 1945




Dunbar & McMaster also operated mills in Gilford, County Down, (Northern) Ireland and Patterson, NJ. Many of their workers came over from Ireland & settled in Greenwich (& NJ) bringing an influx of people to the small village. The Irish that came were Protestant and Catholic. They lived in mill houses which are still in use along Hill and John Streets.



The Old Gilford Mill in Northern Ireland*

In the weeks to come I'll write more about the mill, including a strike, a novel, and a tragedy...


For more information:

Ruddock, William T. Linen Threads and Broom Twines: An Irish and American Album and Directory of the People of the Dunbarton Mill: Greenwich, New York 1879-1952. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc. 1997.

* © Copyright HENRY CLARK and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence- http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/517473



Edited 10/11/12- I removed the mill image previously posted. That mill image was of another Greenwich Mill, not the Dunbarton. Unable to locate a verifiable image of our Dunbarton in the town photograph collection, I opted for a more personal image. Thank you to Bill Ruddock for the clarification.

-Tisha Dolton, Historian