Creator, that they might enjoy Him forever. In his
business relations he was just, fair, honest, diligent
and above suspicion. He was generous, kind-hearted,
and on principle, a promoter of religious and philan-
thropic enterprises. He was diligent in business,
" fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."' He was econom-
ical, careful in details and wise in the disbursement
of charity. He was modest ; reticent as to himself,
shunning rather than courting notoriety or conspic-
uous position.

But Deacon Smith had his limitations and defects.
He was human. It may with justice be said, how-
ever, that his many and wide-spreading excellencies
of life and character would cover a multitude of blem-
ishes, did they exist. " He was a man into the four cor-
ners of whose house there had shined, through the years
of his pilgrimage, the light of the glory of God.'' In the
dawning light of July 6, 1880, at the age of nearly
seventy-eight, with a mind unclouded, with a heart
still warm with tenderest love, his ransomed spirit



VER. 1651

gently, peacefully, sweetly sank to rest on the bosom
of his Lord.

Mr. John Dove was born in Brechin, Forfiirshire,
Scotland, May 5, 1805. In early life his opportuni-
ties for education, while limited, were somewhat su-
perior to those enjoyed by his townsmen with whom
he was afterwards associated in business. He was a
schoolmate and playmate of the celebrated astronomer.
Professor Nichol, and the no less celebrated preacher.
Dr. Guthrie. He was not, however, distinguished for
his studiousness and proficiency in school studies
at this early day. He preferred to spend his time in
getting up some mechanical contrivance for his own
amusement and that of his associates. The bent of his
mind was decidedly towards mechanics. On leaving
school he followed this natural bent and was appren-
ticed to a machinist. There he was systematically
and carefully trained, according to the custom of that
day and country, in all the details of the craft. On
leaving the shop of his master he was a thorough
workman, qualified to engage in the business on his
own account.

But remunerative employment was difficult to ob-
tain in Scotland. He married, and, when twenty-
eight years of age, finding it far from an easy task to
support a family from the proceeds of his labor, he
began seriously to meditate trying his fortune in a
foreign land. Australia and America were the two
countries then presenting the greatest inducements
for emigration. After much inquiry and thought he
fixed upon the latter as his future home. Leaving
his native country, he landed in New York in 1833.
Here he found employment for a year. But this was
unsatisfying. At this crisis in his history a slight .
circumstance — providential, he was accustomed to
regard it— intervened to determine his life-work.

The brothers, Peter and John Smith, townsmen of
his, had preceded him, and were located in An-
dover. Peter had been in childhood for a short time
a school-mate. He had also been for some months
a fellow-workman in the same shop with him. Be-
fore leaving his native city, 3Ir. Dove had received
a letter from an aged citizen of the place, introduc-
ing him to Mr. John Smith. This letter, written at
the request of Mr. Dove's father, and by a friend of
the Smith and Dove families, had been put at the
bottom of his trunk by the young man, as a thing of
little practical use, and was forgotten. There it lay
for a year after his arrival in New York. One day,
on an overhauling of the trunk, this forgotten letter
came to light. The unsettled condition of Mr. Dove
led him to use it as a possible means of obtaining
suitable employment. The letter, being forwarded to
Andover, reached its destination just at the time
when Mr. John Smith was preparing to take a busi-
ness trip to Washington. On his way J;hither he stop-
ped over in New York to see his correspondent and
countryman. In the friendly interview which took
place between the natives of Brechin in a foreign



1052



HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.



city, they were drawn towards each other, not only
by their common nativity, but also by sympathy and
mutual respect. It also appeared that Mr. Smith,
engaged in the manufacture of machinery, needed a
well-trained machinist to oversee his shop, and that,
in this regard, Mr. Dove was just the right man for the
place. It was soon arranged that he should go on to
Andover, make a personal examination of the busi-
ness, and see if some arrant:ement might be made be-
tween him and the company, by which he could
enter their service to their mutual advantage. Find-
ing the condition of things satisfactory, he at once
engaged with the JIachine Company, and went to
work in their shop.

But his fertile mind could not be confined to the
routine of his daily labor. His busy thoughts were
alert to discover some way by which certain products,
made by hand, might more readily be made by ma-
chinery. The problem was to devise machinery
suitable for the purpose. The result was his inven-
tion of a machine for the manufacture of chalk-twine
from cotton thread, and also a partnership between
himself and Mr. Peter Smith, in which the new ma-
chine was to be utilized. But, before this enterprise
had gone into operation, Mr. John Smith entered into
the partnership, and the plan was changed. Instead
of manufacturing cotton twine they resolved on the
manufacture of flax thread by machinery.

At that time there was no such thread made by
machinery in the country. Mr. Dove was sent to
Scotland to obtain drawings for ihe requisite ma-
chinery, which he speedily secured. His labor in this
direction was made the more easy from the fact that
his father was at that time proprietor of flax-spin-
ning mills on the South Esk Elver, about four miles
south of Brechin.

The position of Mr. Dove in this new company
was that of superintendent of machinery. In this
employment he found much pleasure. The constrnc-
tion and management of machinery, and the overcom-
ing of difficulties in its working, gave his mind its
appropriate exercise and consequent satisfaction. It
was a common remark of his : " I never enjoy myself
better than when my mind is taxed to overcome some
mechanical difficulty."

Aside from his aptness for mechanics and his
genius for mechanical invention, Mr. Dove had a de-
cided taste for scientific studies in other directions.
In his hours of recreation he turned to them with
delight. Had his chief attention been given to the
natural sciences instead of the Application of me-
chanics, he would doubtless have distinguished him-
self as a scientist in the special direction to which he
would have given his energies and his life.

He was something more than a skillful machinist
and successful business man. He had a loving heart,
full of symi)athy for the ignorant and poor. He gave
freely to the needy and to objects of charity. He was
especially interested in, and generous towards, institu-



tions of learning. He found pleasure in assisting
promising but poor young men to obtain a liberal educa-
tion. In co-operation with his associates in busine.-is,
he contributed liberally to found a free high school
in his native city. In like manner, with his associ-
ates, he contributed largely to the Theological Semi-
nary. To the Memorial Hall building and Library
he gave seven thousand dollars. He was a warm and
liberal friend of temperance and the slave. While
thus prosperous and benevolent, he was never assum-
ing, self-conceited, or exacting in his treatment of the
less successful. While firm in his convictions ami
independent in his conduct, he was modest in his
demeanor towards others not in agreement with him-
self. In a word, he was a practical no less than a pro-
fessed Christian. He united with the church at the
West Parish July 4, 1841, and ever after honored his
profession. His piety was of the reticent, unostenta-
tious sort, not given to much talk, but operative in
his daily life. It was influential in his treatment of
his workmen, in his bearing towards the poor and
ignorant, in his business transactions, in his daily in-
tercourse with his fellow-citizens, in his strict and
what some would call Puritanical observance of the
Sabbath, (he reading upon that day scarcely any book
but the Bible), in his regular and reverent attention to
family worship, in a general interest in the promotion
of religion at home and abroad, and in the cultivation
of a meek and quiet spirit, that would be at peace
with all men. His example as a business man of
sound judgment, unimpeachable honesty, unques-
tioned honor, always true and reliable, gentle, cordial,
cheerful and devout, is still felt as a blessing by his
fellow-citizens. He died at his home in Andover,
Nov. 20, 1876.

Smith & Dove Masxjfacturixg Company.— In
the fall of 1834, Mr. John Dove and Mr. Peter Smith,
both then in the employ of Mr. John Smith in his
machine shop, the latter as superintendent, entered
into an agreement to form a partnership for the manu-
facture of chalk-twine from cotton, Mr. Dove having
invented a machine for that purpose. The machine
of Mr. Dove was to be patented. Before this was ac-
complished, and while the new partners were hesitat-
ing about the best way of procedure, in 1835, they
were joined by Mr. John Smith bringing in capital to
their aid. But before actually starting operations
the plan was modified, and it was determined to set
up the manufacture of flax thread. This led to the
sending of Mr. Dove to Scotlaud to obtain drawings
of flax-spinning machinery. These he, with some dif-
ficulty, obtained, and returned after a few months'
absence, when the proper machinery was made in the
machine shop of Mr. John Smith. In the mean time
Mr. Smith erected a building of brick, on the west
side of the Shawshin River, in Frye Village, opposite
his machine shop, for the purpose of carrying on the
business, which went into operation in 1835. The
goods manufactured were flax yarns for carpet weav-




/^^^^^ ^2S2i?^c^



THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY



ANDOVER.



1653



ers, sail twines, shoe thread and other goods of a like
character. At that time there was no flax-spinning
machinery in operation in the country. Ail the goods
of the class they made that were in the market were
imported.

There had been, as early as 1820, an enterprise of a
similar character started in Patterson, N. Y., but after
a short existence it failed. The Messrs. Smith & Dove
may be said to have been the first successful manufac-
turers of flax thread by machinery and power in the
country. They had no competitors at the start, nor
for some time after, in America.

Their competitors were foreign manufacturers, chiefly
the mills of Great Britain. At first they met with con-
siderable difliculty in disposing of their product, there
being a prejudice in favor of the foreign article on
the part of both merchant and consumer. This had
to be overcome by the manufacture of an equally
good or better class of goods, at a cheaper rate if pos-
sible. These enterprising manufacturers undertook
this difiicult task. That they succeeded is evident from
the fact that within a few years they secured a market
for all the goods they could make, and a reputation
for the quality of their goods that placed them on an
equal footing in the market with the best foreign
made of the same grade. In less than eight years
from the start the demand for their threads exceeded
their ability for manufacturing. This led to the pur-
chase, on the 1st of December, 1843, of the mill
privilege and buildings of the woolen-mills at Abbot
Village.

These mills had been established in 1814 by the
brothers Abel and Paschal Abbot. They at first built
a wooden mill on the west side of the Shawshin, after-
wards, as their business increased, adding other build-
ings. In these mills were manufactured flannel and
cassimeres, and cotton and woolen yarns were spun
for sale, and for the accommodation of farmers,
who came from a considerable distance with their
wool to have it spun for domestic uses. This enter-
prise was pecuniarily unsuccessful, and, in the finan-
cial crisis of 1837, the Abbots were obliged to suc-
cumb.

Besides the business of the brothers Abbot in this
village there was, on the east side of the river, a stone
mill, in which the manufacture of flannels was com-
menced in 1824 and continued for some years by
James Howarth's sons, under the firm-name of "John
Howarth & Company." This company also failed in
the financial crisis of 1837. The property of this
company fell into the hands of Mr. Henry H. Stevens,
of North Andover, and others, who carried on the
woolea manufacture till 1843, when they also sold out
their interest to Smith, Dove & Company.

The mills on both -ides of the river were repaired
and furnished with flax-spinning machinery, thus
very essentially enlarging the producing capacity of
the company. Still the demand for their goods kept
pace with the production, and a lucrative business



was carried on for a series of years — John Smith hav-
ing the general management of the mercantile and
financial department, Peter Smith the superintendence
of the mills and of the operatives, and Mr. Dove hav-
ing charge of the machinery, looking not only to its
running, but also to any improvement that would in-
crease its efficiency.

In 1864 the firm underwent some modifications. A
joint stock company was organized. The sons of the
original proprietors — ^Joseph W., son of John Smith,
James B., son of Peter Smith, Ge.rge W. W., son of
John Dove— and George H. Torr were taken into the
company. From that time to this the business has
been successfully prosecuted, necessitating the erec-
tion of new buildings, and in all directions an en-
largement of their capacity for the production of
goods.

Other mills producing the same class of goods have
sprung up in the country, so that, of late years, the
competition has been more sharp, thus demanding
more close attention to all the minor details of the
business and reducing to a degree its profits. It is
still a profitable business as at present managed.

The original promoters and proprietors have all
passed away, Mr. Dove dying first in 1876, Mr. Peter
Smith in 1880 and Mr. John Smith in 1886.

The property is now owned and operated by the
heirs of the above-named original proprietors. Joseph
W. Smith is president of the company ; James B.
Smith, George W. W. Dove and George H. Torr are
directors, and the latter is secretary, treasurer and
general manager. Mr. Torr came into the employ-
ment of the firm in 1858, taking charge of its books,
leaving for this position a situation he held with the
Cocheco Manufacturing Company, at Dover, N. H-
On the resignation by Mr. Peter Smith of his position
as treasurer and agent in 1876, Mr. Torr was chosen
to fill his place, having, by eighteen years' service in
the employment of the company, merited and secured
their confidence in him as a man of the strictest in-
tegrity, of sagacity, of untiring industry and of good
business ability. The business of the company under
its present management is apparently prosperous.
The help employed is of the best character. A strike
or lock-out has never been known in its history. A
large number of the employes are from Scotland, and
make permanent and valuable citizens,

The original firm was rarely constituted. They
were, in the first place, all of them, men who had
been trained in the school of poverty — who knew
what it was to struggle for their daily bread — men who
had the daring to breast difficulties, dangers and fear-
ful hardships— men whom no obstacles or failures
could cast down or greatly discourage. Secondly,
they were all men of great energy and native ca-
pacity for business. Though possessing bijt a meagre
education from the schools, they had been taught in
the weaver's room, in the wheelwright's shop, in their
contacts with men, lessons in endurance, persistent



1654



HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.



effort and sagacious conduct, which gave them a men-
tal training and practical knowledge well calculated
to fit them for their after-career. They were also
men of tried and unimpeachable integrity, altogether
trustworthy, and trusting implicitly each other. They
were not only natives of the same city, but their
general views of life, its moralities and duties, were
much the same. They were alike religious, and ac-
knowledged their obligation to serve God with their
substance as with their speech. So harmonious were
they in their opinions, judgments and sentiments as
to business affairs, moral duties and religious obliga-
tions, that there never was any serious disagreement
between them on any matter, and never an angry or
harsh word passed from one to another during their
long connection.

Their diversities of judgment but served to in-
crease the sum total of their combined practical
wisdom. While diverse in temper, they were
united in conduct. So in agreement were they as to
contribute jointly in their large donations to benefi-
cent objects— such as Brechin Hall, the free schools
in the city of Brechin and the Memorial Hall.

And further, each was especially adapted to fill
that department of the work in which he engaged.
Mr. John Smith was by nature a skillful financier,
a far-seeing and sagacious manager of monetary affairs.
Mr. Peter Smith had a talent for the management of
men and the minute regulation of the internal af-
fairs of a large industrial establishment. Mr. Dove
had a genius for mechanics. To work amongst ma-
chinery, search out its defects, make improvements,
invent new methods and combinations, and thus get
the most possible out of a given plant, was his great
delight. They were a cord of triple strands which,
thus bound together, made a cable of rare strength.
Such a combination is seldom seen, and, when seen,
commands our admiration, and is sure of success.

Ballard Vale MANrFACTURixo Company. —
When the Ballard Vale Manufacturing Company was
incorporated, in 1836, the village contained but a few
scattered and cheap houses. Mr. John Marland was
the enterprising manager and treasurer of the com-
pany. Some Boston gentlemen of wealth and a few-
citizens of Andover were associated with the Marland
Brothers in this enterprise. The lir.st business en-
gaged in was the manufacture of flannels. This was
profitable. But Mr. John Marland was not satisfied
with this measure of prosperity. His ambition craved
a larger business and a variety of production. He
experimented a little in the manufacture of silk, and
set the farmers to work in planting mulberry trees.
He aimed not only to take the lead in the country in
the manufacture of the finest flannels, but also in that
of the choicest woolen fabrics of all kinds.

In 1843 he started the manufacture of delaines and
stuff-goods, and, for this purpose, imported from Eng-
land the latest style of machinery adapted to it. His
activity extended beyond the Vale. In other parts of



the country he superintended the erection of delaine
mills, taking an interest in them. His ambition and
enterprise went beyond the manufacture of textile
fabrics to that of machinery. For this latter pur-
pose he erected a large stone building at the Vale, in
which he purposed to carry on the manufticture, not
only of factory machinery, but that of locomotives
and all other products of a like nature.

These extended and varied operations were beyond
the financial ability of the company, and beyond the
business ability'of Mr. Marland as well. The com-
pany failed, the stockholders lost heavily and Mr.
Marland's career as a manufacturer closed.

Mr. Marland was a man of boundless ambition, of
large projects, of a sanguine temperament, of su-
preme confidence in himself, daring, but indiscreet.
His attempts largely exceeded his means. He had
the genius of an inventor. Could his ability as a
manufacturer, his knowledge of the special business
in which he at first engaged and his indomitable en-
ergy have been under the control of a cool head,
steadied by practical wisdom, his success must have
been phenomenal. Soon after his failure he went to
England seeking to retrieve his fortunes, returning,
however, the next year. Again, in 1858, he went to
England, returning in 1861. But he was unable to
secure the confidence of moneyed men so as to start
up another business. He settled down in a modest,
quiet but comfortable home in Andover for some
years. But his restless mind sought occupation. He
obtained an island on the coast of Maine upon which
he engaged in farming. Here he lived two years in-
dustriously cultivating the soil. This labor was too
arduous for him. He contracted a disease of the
heart, and died April 16, 1865, aged sixty-two years
and four months.

The flannel-mill, after the failure of the company,
came into the hands of its treasurer, Mr. J. Putnam
Bradlee, of Boston, who was a creditor of the com-
pany to a considerable amount. When he purchased
the property he knew nothing about the manufacture
of flannel, but at once applied himself to acquire the
requisite knowledge. Concentrating his indomitable
energy and masterly business tact upon the work, he
was soon able to pay up the stockholders, whose stock
he had purchased, from the profits of the mills. The
flannels here manufactured have acquired a reputa-
tion for beauty and quality, in this and in foreign
countries, second to that of no other establishment of
the kind in the world. The business in the hands of
Mr. Bradlee became very profitable, so that, at his
death, he left an estate valued at over a million of
dollars, most of which, at the decease of his surviv-
ing sister, is to be devoted to charitable purposes.

Mr. Bradlee not only profited himself by the run-
ning of these mills; he wjis also of great service to the
village and to a large number of employes and their
families. When other enterprises in the place failed,
and loss and discouragement came to the people of the



ANDOVER.



1655



village, when financial stress closed other similar estab-
lishments and their operatives were set adrift, his mills
were kept in full operation and his employes paid
their cuatomarj- wages. By his death, which occurred
in January, 1887, Ballard Vale met with a severe loss.
There was sincere mourning among his work-people
when the news of his decease was spread through the
room.s of the factory.

Mr. Bradlee e^er had the interests of his employes
at heart, and did everything in his power to better
their condition. The result is that Ballard Vale is
considered one of the finest manufacturing villages
in the State. Evening schools were established, a
selected library of some two thousand volumes pro-
vided and a public hall and reading-room erected. A
course of lectures and concerts was given every win-
ter. All this was free to his employes. The churches
in the village — three in number, Methodist, Congrega-
tional and Roman Catholic— have all been furnished
and repaired at his expense.

Since his death the mills have been operated by
his executors and trustees in accordance with the
methods he had established.

Craighkad and Kintz MANrFAC'TURixG Com
PANY. — The stone building erected for a machine
shop by Mr. Marland was, for a time, used by a Bostoi
corporation, called the Whipple File and Steel Com
pany. This company, in the spirit of the original
designer of its work-shop, laid out a large sum of
money in buildings, machinery and improvements,
and, for a time, can led on an extensive business in
the manufacture of steel and files. After a few years,
either from misfortune, mismanagement or the lack
of business sagacity in its inception and conduct, the
losses of the company were so great that they were
forced to close up their shops. The extensive build-
ings remained for a number of years unoccupied —
going to decay.

A new company, called the Craighead and Kintz
Manufacturing Company, now occupies a portion of
the file-shops. This company was started in 188;i for
the manufacture of brass and bronze goods of a mis-
cellaneous character. It is now in successful opera-
tion, employing some two hundred and eighty hands,
much the larger portion of whom are 'men. Their
products amount to about one hundred thousand
dollars yearly.

A number of other manufacturing enterprises have
been started at Ballard Vale, first and last, within the
past thirty years, which have flourished for a brief
period and then disappeared. The only business that