Three Rivers
Hudson~Mohawk~Schoharie
History From America's Most Famous Valleys

The Mohawk Valley
Its Legends and its History
by Max Reid
New York and London G. P. Putman's Sons
The Knickerbocker Press, 1901
with illustrations from photographs by J. Arthur Maney

Chapter XVIII Early Industries

In the year 1902 the Rev. John Taylor, while on a mission through the Mohawk Valley, made in his journal the following entry about Amsterdam, which was formerly part of the ancient town of Caughnawaga: "Near the center of this town (Amsterdam) the Ouctanunda Creek empties into the Mohawk--a very fertile and useful stream. On this stream and in this town there stand 4 grist mills, 2 oil mills, one iron forge and 3 saw mills."

On an old map, dated 1807, is shown an oil mill, situated near the mouth of the creek and near the present site of the Pioneer Knitting Mill. This seems conclusive evidence that an oil mill was in operation at an early date, although our oldest residents confess that they have no knowledge of such an industry at that period. Where the other was situated it is impossible to say at the present time, unless it may have been in operation on the Juchtanunda Creek, and antedated the primitive mill of Supplina Kellogg, one of the early settlers at West Galway, who founded a linseed oil mill at that place in 1824, where he carried on the business in a small way until 1848.

Those who are familiar with the road from Hagaman to West Galway will remember that after passing Conner's grist mill they come to a long stretch of sandy road, and the road beyond becomes narrow and rugged on account of the dense growth of underbrush that lines each side of the wagon track.

The Road to Galway (Hagaman's)

Emerging from the bushes, the road forms a junction with another, running north and south, either branch of which, if followed, will lead to West Galway village.

In front and distant about a hundred yards from the junction is visible an ancient dam across the Juchtanunda and a number of buildings, some of which have all the appearances of antiquity. To the left of the lane that leads to the old buildings are two cottages pleasantly situated, one of which is the home of Robert Calderwood and family. The writer feels under obligations to Mr. Calderwood for courtesies extended and interesting information given.

The old buildings mentioned above are all that remains of an active business center, located here three-quarters of a century ago.

The dam, although the water is allowed to run through a large opening on the south, is in a remarkable state of preservation, considering the manner of its construction.

The wings of the dam are embankments about two hundred feet long to the north and to the south, but the pour, or dam proper, is about fifty feet wide, and constructed by laying heavy logs the full width of the stream, upon which were placed other logs about five feet apart and laid at right angles with the foundation. Then another row of long, heavy logs and a row of smaller ones at right angle and so on until the desired height was reached. Leading from the dam on the north side is a square, open flume, showing signs of age and usage. Some years previous this square flume replaced a round tube that had worn and rotted away. The old round flume carried the water that furnished the power to turn the water wheel that operated the machinery that ground the seed that made the oil in the pioneer oil mill of Supplina Kellogg, which was located below the dam on the north side of the stream. The building is still standing, although dismantled of all the machinery used for the manufacture of linseed oil, and though the exterior of the structure shows evident signs of age the interior displays immense beams and girders that seem to bid defiance to time and decay.

I was informed that part of this old building was formerly located below the Beaver Dam Creek about a mile below a grist mill belonging to Robert Campbell, whose residence is still standing near the northwest corner of the roads mentioned above. Two of the millstones of this grist mill may be seen in a field opposite the Campbell residence near the junction of roads.

The back part of the Kellogg mill was used as a fulling mill, where the farmers brought cloth, woven by their wives and daughters, to be fulled and dressed. In the upper story, bins were arranged in order to keep each customer's cloth separate, and the fields adjoining were fitted with apparatus for drying the same. Back of this building and disconnected from it was a sawmill.

On the opposite side of the creek was a tannery, where hides were made into leather by the old fashioned tedious process that took twelve months to complete. The building has been destroyed, but the old vats are still pointed out, in which may yet be seen portions of the wooden frames. To the west of the tannery was a fair sized building, still standing, and formerly used a s a shoe shop.

The oil, fulling, and saw mills were conducted by Supplina Kellogg, and the tannery and shoe shop by George Dunning.

Across the fields to the south, but on the main road, still stands the long, low farm buildings of Mr. Kellogg and the birthplace of his sons, John and Lauren, who succeeded their father in the linseed oil business, and subsequently established the same in the village of Amsterdam, in an old stone building which was formerly a distillery conducted by Benedict Arnold and others.

Opposite the residence of Supplina Kellogg was the home of George Dunning, and it is mentioned that between the two families such cordial relations existed that they might almost be called one household.

The method of making oil in those days was crude in the extreme, but the principle of manufacture was practically the same as now; that is, the crushing of the product to extract the oil.

This primitive mill had but one set of stones and one press. The crushing process was accomplished by two circular stones, shaped like grist mill stones, attached to an axle, like cart wheels, and connected to a vertical shaft, which in turning gave two motions to the stones, that of their own axis and the axis of the upright shaft, and revolving on a stone bed on which the seed was placed. This process was continued until the seed became a paste, when it was tempered with heat and water, placed in bags and subjected to great pressure by hand in order to extract the oil, which was then conducted to the rude cellar beneath and placed in barrels. The capacity of this rude mill was about one barrel a day, which was disposed of to neighboring farmers and the nearby village. It is said that a large proportion of the oil manufactured was consumed by the veteran painter of those days, Gardner Clark, the grandfather of William G. Clark, of Amsterdam.

The residuumn, called oil cake, was allowed to accumulate until such time as a market could be found for it in some neighboring city, when it was hauled to Amsterdam and shipped to its destination by canal.

Almost the first building erected by the early pioneers after building their rude log huts was a sawmill to prepare their timber for dwellings, then the grist mill to grind their grain, and afterward a fulling mill for the dressing of cloth, woven on their rude looms at home.

The definition of fulling or milling is as follows: the operation of removing greasy matters from woolen goods and of giving to them a more compact texture by causing the fibers to entangle themselves from closely together, as in the process of feling. Fulling mills are a very ancient invention.

After the death of Supplina Kellogg and the removal of the plant to Amsterdam, his sons, John and Lauren, increased the capacity by larger sets of stone. The increased product of the mill made it necessary to buy seed in larger quantities than our farmers could furnish, although they were encouraged by Messrs. Kellogg to plant increased acreage by loaning them seed for that purpose. At that time Boston was the center of importation of Indian seed and from that city the firm bought most of their supplies.

When the firm decided to engage in the manufacture of oil in Amsterdam, in 1851, they purchased of the estate of Benedict Arnold the mill property they now occupy.

Some years earlier Mr. Arnold purchased of Tunis I. Van Derveer this mill site and water power and erected a stone building sixteen feet high for a distillery building, which formerly stood where the Y. M. C. A. building now stands. When Messrs. Kellogg bought the property, the still had not been in operation for a number of years, and the dam was in need of repairs.

Mr. John Kellogg informs me that in making the needed alterations evidence was found in the bottom of the dam that a primitive oil mill had been located on the banks of the creek at this point at some early period in the history of the village. Probably this was one of the two oil mills spoken of by the Rev. John Taylor in 1802.

Messrs. Kellogg at once added two stories to the old distillery building, repaired the dam, and otherwise improved the property. They increased the capacity of the old mill to four sets of stone for grinding the seed and the necessary presses for extracting the oil. These presses were run by hand and the work was very laborious. Gradually the business increased, requiring additional machinery and more adequate means for extracting the oil and additional buildings for storage of raw material (which they imported direct from India) and the manufactured product. The dam was enlarged, and the water power thereby increased fourfold. Upon the death of Lauren Kellogg, Mr. James A. Miller was admitted to the firm. As the years rolled around, other changes were made in the firm by admission or withdrawal, until now the firm consists of John Kellogg and his two sons, George and Lauren, under the firm name of Kelloggs & Miller.

In order to accommodate the constantly increasing business of the firm, a branch railroad was built in 1879, connecting with the New York Central Railroad and owned by a private corporation, consisting of members of the above firm.

The same year the branch was opened a very serious accident occurred on this branch, whereby Mr. George Kellogg lost his left arm by falling from a train of freight cars in motion. Previous to this the younger son, Lauren, nearly lost his life by the accidental discharge of a gun while hunting on the banks of the Galway reservoir. In both cases their vigorous strength and indomitable will snatched them from the jaws of death and restored them to health.

Fifty years ago the capacity of the small mill on the banks of the Juchtanunda at West Galway was one barrel of oil a day or 10,000 gallons a year. Today the yearly output is: linseed oil, 1,700,000 gallons; oil cake, 15,000 tons; and the consumption of flaxseed about 750,000 bushels

Practically, Amsterdam is a city of the nineteenth century, and beyond a few primitive sawmills and grist mills all of the industries that have made it a city have been inaugurated, extended, and multiplied with the nineteenth century.

The very first year of the new century or the very last year of the old (1900) was the centennial of the erection of the first church building in the village of Amsterdam (Veddersburg).

Among the many and varied industries that have been the potent element that has developed a primitive hamlet of a half dozen families to a thriving city of 20,000 inhabitants, is the carpet industry. I speak particularly of this industry as it seems to have been woven into the early life of the city more than any other, from the fact that the persons who have done more than any others to establish the two great industries of Amsterdam--the manufacture of carpets and the manufacture of knit goods--were formerly partners in a small carpet factory standing on the site of the present buildings of the Greens Knitting Co.

An Old Deserted Home, West Galway

The history of the carpet industry of Amsterdam reads like a fairy tale; with its small beginning and struggle for existence, and its present immense plant and the affluence of its proprietors.

Sometime about 1836, William K. Greens, Senior, met with reverses in business in Connecticut, his former home, but at once set about retrieving his fortune; his son, William K. Greens, securing a situation in a silk mill at Poughkeepsie as bookkeeper. Thinking that there was a good opening for business in the village, he advised his father to come there and open a boarding house. Poughkeepsie was then quite a manufacturing town, and, besides fulling mills, woolen factories, an oil mill and a large number of grain mills, there were fifty looms in families for the manufacture of cloth for common clothing. In 1810 there was only one hotel and about 3000 inhabitants in the village. W. K. Greene, Senior, went to Poughkeepsie and opened a boarding house, as advised by his son.

Among his boarders was a man by the name of Douglass, an experienced dyer, whose father was a manufacturer of ingrain carpets in Scotland.

A great deal of his conversation was about carpets and carpet manufacture, and he soon interested Mr. Greene and his son to the extent that they began to think seriously of starting a factory in a small way.

One day, while talking with Mr. Douglass about carpets, being undecided where to locate, Mr. Greene picked up a copy of the New York Herald, and noticed an advertisement of an old satinet mill and dwelling at Hagaman's Mills, offered for rent of one hundred dollars a year.

They at once secured the buildings, purchased six hand looms and the necessary apparatus complete and loaded them on a sloop en route for Albany.

Thus by accident or by fate the carpet industry was brought to the Mohawk Valley. This was in the month of December, but before the vessel reached Albany a severe spell of cold weather closed the river and they found their plant fast in the ice fifty miles from their destination. Nothing daunted, however, they caused their looms to be loaded on sleighs and in that primitive fashion, after a journey of fifty miles, arrived safely at Hagaman.

With the Greenes came Douglass, William Perkins, and William Wright, son-in-law of Mr. Perkins, experienced weavers, but like all of the others except Douglass, knowing little about the manufacture of carpets.

After a few years of varied success at Hagaman, the firm was induced by the advice of Mr. John Sanford and others to move their plant to Amsterdam village and establish themselves in a long, low, yellow building, formerly the mill site of the sawmill of Albert H. Vedder, the founder of Veddersburg, and now occupied by the immense factory of the Greene Knitting Company. After the change in the location of this primitive carpet factory, John Sanford became associated with the Greens in the manufacture of carpets, and continued a member of the firm for some time.

The old yellow mill was burned in 1849. How well I remember that cold, windy, midwinter night! It being my first experience of a fire of magnitude is probably the reason that the occasion has made such a lasting impression on my memory. Even the weird, undulatory clang of the old Baptist Church bell, as its sound, borne upon the wind, reached the ear, from the frantic efforts of some person unused to the method of ringing the alarm, seemed to cry "Fire! fire!! fire!!!" which sound was soon changed to the harsh, meaningless sound of a broken bell, as the bell had indeed been broken by the frantic efforts of the ringer to arouse the sleepers. As we reached the foot of the hill the sight that met my inexperienced eyes was grand and fearful. Truly it was a light set upon a hill that could not be hid. The tongues of flame borne to and fro by the wind, the myriads of sparks vanishing in the blackness of the heavens, the somber evergreens on Cornell's Hill fitfully lighted by the roaring flames, the creak, creak of the fire engine toiling up the hill through the ruddy whiteness of the snow-covered street, the hoarse shouts and oaths of the firemen, the cries of "Fire! fire!!" gave a nervous chill to the looker-on that was not all attributable to the intensely cold night.

The building was totally destroyed. Shortly afterwards Mr. Sanford sold the land and mill site to W. K. Greene (whose heirs are in possession of the property at the present day), and in company with his son, Stephen Sanford, fitted up an old stone mill at the head of Church Street for a carpet factory.

Jehiel Dan also erected a weave room on Livingston Street where a box factory now stands, and W. K. Greene, Sr., also engaged in the manufacture of carpets in a small way on the opposite side of said street.

The building on the north side of the street was afterwards bought by Mr. Stephen Sanford, and subsequently destroyed by fire, and the building on the south side was purchased by John M. Clark and moved to the corner of Livingston and Chuctanunda Streets and used as a carpenter shop. This building was subsequently burned and rebuilt of brick, and after numerous changes is now known as Morris Mill No. 3

In 1853 the old stone mill, as it was then called, was destroyed by fire but was immediately rebuilt, only one story high, but covering about three times as much ground.

Mr. Stephen Sanford entered the carpet manufactory in 1844, and in 1848 formed a co-partnership with his father, Mr. John Sanford. After the destruction of the old stone mill, Mr. Stephen Sanford purchased his father's interest, which was little else than the ruins of the burned mill. He immediately set to work rebuilding and enlarging the factory, which year by year has increased in magnitude under his person supervision.

As the business prospered, new buildings were erected for the manufacture of different materials that enter into the manufacture of the various kinds of carpets produced in these mills, and for the storage of raw material.

At present this immense plant comprises thirty-six buildings, whose floor space amounts to six hundred and sixty-three thousand square feet, or about fifteen acres.

When we think that this immense floor space is covered with machinery, engines, boilers, looms, and shafting, together with stock and manufactured product of the mills, and that the daily product of the mill would carpet the road from Amsterdam to Johnstown, or more than five million yards in a year, with a payroll of over $1,000,000 in twelve months, we may being to conceive its magnitude and to feel additional respect for the man and mind that has created and controls it.

I think it is safe to say that during the last half century at least forty thousand persons have earned a living and in some cases a competency in this mill. Some have grown gray inside its walls; other have built factories of their own, and have shown their business ability by making a success of their undertaking.

A long list could be made of men holding prominent places in the business interest of our city who served apprenticeship in the Sanford carpet factory. Among them are W. B. Smith, James T. Sugden, William McCleary, the late John Howgate, Almon Filkins, Samuel Wallin, John Crouse, and a host of other, including John Lorriner of Philadelphia.

I might go on and give statistics of the business of this mill, of the millions that have been paid to employees during the last fifty years, of the thousands of miles of carpets that have been manufactured and the thousands of employees who thus earn their daily bread, and of the capital that is required to conduct this immense business; but this has so often been written by other pens than mine that I shall refrain from statements whose figures, in the language of the old Scotchman, would only "begumble the senses and confound the imagination," and would be revealing matter of a personal character to which the public can claim no right, although the proprietors might not have any desire to withhold them.

The success of this great business is a matter of pride to the citizens of Amsterdam, from the fact that not alone has the city been benefited by its success, but private individual and organizations of all kinds have received benefit, by its enabling the proprietors to gratify the natural impulse of their generous hearts "with hands open as day to milting charity."

Of course there have been seasons of depression in this business, seasons that come in the life of most business men, when profits are light or none at all, seasons when looses are heavy and money hard to get. But although there have been times when money had to be hired at as large a rate of interest per month as it can be secured for now per year, the proprietors' paper has always been paid at maturity.

If I should be asked why this firm, which is composed of Hon. Stephen Sanford and his son, Hon. John Sanford, has succeeded while other have failed, I should say that it is because the senior member is possessed of seemingly opposite characteristics, -- cautiousness and boldness; cautious not to enter upon any method of action until he is sure he is right, and then to execute the same with boldness and energy.

Up to 1854 the product of this mill was ingrain and three ply carpets manufactured on hand looms, and as the business increased it gave employment to a large number of experienced weavers. Previous to 1849 an old frame building stood on Main Street just west of the present site of the Farmers' National Bank, and was used as the post-office and law office of Joseph French, who was also postmaster. Mr. John Sanford bought the post-office building and had it carefully torn down and re-erected as a loom shop next to his buildings on Church Street. This building was used as a hand loom shop for a great number of years, even after the large mill buildings had been filled with power looms for the manufacture of Brussels carpets. In fact, this old building was retained and land looms used for a long time, more for the purpose of finding employment for a number of old and experienced weavers who had been in his employ for a number of years than for any pecuniary benefit to be derived therefrom. This old landmark was torn down a few years ago to make room for the large Axminster mill that now covers its site.

The history of the carpet industry would not be complete if mention were not made of the carpet factory of Shuttleworth Brothers. About 1872 or 1872, Mr. James Wade, and Englishman of good family connections in Bradford, England, was brought to Amsterdam by Mr. Stephen Sanford to do some special work in his mills. He was a man of education, of fine personal appearance, and gentlemanly address, and soon won the confidence of some of the business men of that place. With James Wade came Joseph Coats, Elijah Smith and John Simpson, all experienced workers in the carpet business.

A short time after coming to Amsterdam, Mr. Wade, in company with Charles De Wolfe, William H. Arnold, and Stephen H. Kline, organized a stock company for the manufacture of carpets, and succeeded to the extent that a building was erected on the bank of the Mohawk River at the foot of Vrooman Avenue. The factory was stocked with looms and other machinery, but owing to dissensions among the stock holders or want of capital, it was not run as stock company, and soon passed into the hands of Stephen H. Line and William H. Arnold, under the firm name of Kline & Arnold. This firm conducted the business a few years, making Brussels carpets, which from various reasons did not prove a success, and the mill was closed. Subsequently the looms and machinery were sold by parties interested in New York, and the building stood empty awhile, or until it was purchased by the Shuttleworth Brothers.

In 1875 Mr. William Shuttleworth, the father of the "Shuttleworth Brothers," came from England to Glenham, N. Y., to start a carpet factory for A. T. Stewart & Co., and was made superintendent of the same, his sons, some of whom had grown to man's estate, being engaged in different departments of the mill.

After the death of William Shuttleworth in 1878, his sons bought, of New York parties, the carpet mill building on the bank of the Mohawk at Amsterdam, and returning to England, advantageously secured fifteen looms for the manufacture of body Brussels carpet. The firm at that time consisted of James, John, and Walter Shuttleworth,who together with Herbert, a younger brother, constituted a quartet in which was comprised knowledge, ability, and skill to operate every department of the factor.

The family connections are quite extended, and many of them may be found among the skilled workers indifferent departments of the mill and are among the most estimable residents of the city.

After the burning of the carpet factory on Market Street hill, W. K. Greene, Senior, had a small factory for the manufacture of carpets in a building on the Juchtanunda Creek in the rear of what is now called the Sanford flats. He afterwards moved the plant to the upper story of a frame building situated on the south side of Livingston Street, the lower story being occupied by William Connell for the manufacture of rugs.

Contents

Introduction

Links

Home