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    Wilton
    Wilton
    Wilton
    Ebook149 pages42 minutes

    Wilton

    By Tamara N. Hoke

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Wilton was incorporated in 1803, when it was a mostly self-sufficient agricultural community. Manufacturing was the backbone of town even before it was fully incorporated and would continue to be until the late 20th century. Early industrial success can be attributed to Wilson Stream, which provided waterpower for Wilton s mills. The names of Bass, Butterfield, Furnel, Walker, Robbins, and Goodspeed would become well known in Wilton as early entrepreneurs. George Henry Bass entered the shoe manufacturing business in 1876 and started his first shoe shop in 1879. G.H. Bass & Co. went on to become a major employer in the area and a nationally known company. The early 1900s was a time of great progress for the town in which the Wilton Academy was accredited, the town library was acquired, and the Wilton Woolen Mill was established. Several businesses also emerged on Main Street, including the Cony Miller Grocery Store, Mrs. Magrath s Millinery, Holman s Drug Store, and Stockford s Drug Store. Today, the essence of Wilton is still reflected in its official motto, A great place to live, work & play.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateDec 8, 2014
    ISBN9781439648933
    Wilton
    Author

    Tamara N. Hoke

    Tamara N. Hoke is the director at the Jay-Niles Memorial Library in Jay. Images have been drawn from the Wilton Historical Society.

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      Book preview

      Wilton - Tamara N. Hoke

      book.

      INTRODUCTION

      In 1785, Tyng’s Township (or Tyngstown) was created. One of the first settlers to the area, which would later be known as Wilton, was Samuel Butterfield, in 1796. The town was fully incorporated in 1803. Abraham Butterfield offered to pay all costs associated with incorporation if he could name the town after his native town of Wilton, New Hampshire.

      From approximately 1800 to 1820, many necessities such as molasses, rum, grindstones, tea, hardware, and saws were brought from Hallowell by ox team. This trip typically took six days or more. Many other necessities families were able make themselves, such as clothing, shoes, and furniture.

      Manufacturing has almost always been a part of the town. This was so even before Wilton was fully incorporated. Industrial success was possible in part because of Wilson Stream, which provided abundant waterpower to factories until electricity superseded it as a power source. Many of the early factories were established along the banks of Wilson Stream for this purpose.

      Samuel Butterfield started the first sawmill and gristmill in 1789 in East Wilton. He also built the first dam on Wilson Stream. In 1820, Elisha Bass established a factory to manufacture silk and fur hats. Following that, in 1826, Hildreth Robbins built a mill for hulling and cleaning sweet clover seed. Dimon Furnel built a yarn mill in the 1830s, and, in the 1850s, the Bass family built a starch factory.

      When the railroad came to Wilton in 1859, the town was then able to access items coming from a distance. Inhabitants no longer had to be entirely self-sufficient.

      It must be noted that Wilton continued to remain a primarily agricultural town from 1860 to 1900. In 1861, a group of 138 men from the Wilton area responded to the call of duty to serve in the Union army during the Civil War. After the war, Dimon Furnel built a textile mill on the site of the yarn mill he had built years before. In 1880, this property was sold to the Walker family, and they, too, had a mill there. Later, in 1891, Flavius J. Goodspeed purchased the mill.

      In 1879, G.H. Bass started his first shoe shop. Most of the work had to be done by hand. The first Bass Shoes were made in this year. The first records show eight people on the payroll. In 1887, Bass moved to another location. Here, machinery that could be run by waterpower was installed. Eventually, even bigger quarters were needed, so Bass purchased an old sawmill site near the lake and constructed what was later known as Building No. 1 in the early 1900s.

      Some other industries of note early on include a shoe peg factory owned by a Mr. Sturtevant in the 1870s. C.G. Sawyer would also start a canning business in Wilton around this time, and he would later purchase the peg mill and establish a small grocery store there.

      In 1875, John Legroo and a Mr. Goding owned a sawmill on Depot Street in Dryden, a village within Wilton. It was later co-owned with Rawson Fuller. They supplied wood to railroad cars for the Farmington-to-Livermore Falls train, which went through Wilton.

      Another date of import was 1903, when Frank G. and George F. Goodspeed, owners of Wilton’s first complete textile mill, formed a corporation with their father known as the Wilton Woolen Company.

      In 1906, the first Bass Moccasin appeared. Preceding the moccasin were the leg boot and plow shoe for farmers and the famous river driver’s boot and guide shoe.

      The 1900s brought a great deal of growth to the town of Wilton. In 1901, the Wilton Academy was accredited; in 1902, a library was started; in 1912, a girls’ camp, Camp Kineowatha, was started; and, in the 1920s, the town acquired a fire department. The 1930s was the decade in which the town acquired a community building and a golf course. The 1940s and 1950s saw continued growth in the town, as readers will see in the chapters on business and industry. Several businesses and industries ended up thriving in this small town, and many people had great accomplishments. This book strives to cover the major highlights; however, this author knows that it would be impossible to cover everything in the pages that follow.

      Lastly, I would like to add a quick note

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