. Fitchburg, Massachusetts, past and present . ar hours oflabor. In 1820, he went to work in a paper-mill in Franklin,N. H., and in 1823, removed to this city and entered the em-ploy of Gen. Leonard Burbank, the pioneer paper-maker ofFitchburg. Three years later, becoming dissatisfied withworking for wages, and impelled by his active and ambitiousspirit, we find him embarking in business for himself. Se-lecting a spot of land, in West Fitchburg, he built, with the PAPER MAKING. is:; aid of borrowed capital, his first paper-mill, its locution be-ing in a birch swamp, and not easily accessible a
. Fitchburg, Massachusetts, past and present . ar hours oflabor. In 1820, he went to work in a paper-mill in Franklin,N. H., and in 1823, removed to this city and entered the em-ploy of Gen. Leonard Burbank, the pioneer paper-maker ofFitchburg. Three years later, becoming dissatisfied withworking for wages, and impelled by his active and ambitiousspirit, we find him embarking in business for himself. Se-lecting a spot of land, in West Fitchburg, he built, with the PAPER MAKING. is:; aid of borrowed capital, his first paper-mill, its locution be-ing in a birch swamp, and not easily accessible as the riverroad was not then built. In addition to the natural disadvantages of location, soonafter starting, changes had to be made from hand labor tomachinery, in order to compete successfully with other mills,and to add to his difficulties, the mill building was injured bya freshet, calling for expensive repairs. The times werehard, threatening financial disaster, but through it all heworked on with untiring energv, hopeful and THE BRICK MILL. and finally weathered the storm. Some idea of the obstacleshe encountered at this time may be learned from the fact thathe then owed twelve thousand dollars on his original invest-ment, and an expenditure of ten thousand dollars had to bemade for machinery, beside the amount due his commissionagents. Up to this time, he had sent his product to a com-mission house in Boston, as an offset to rags and chemicalsused, and the returns made by them showed that some of hispaper had been sold, but much of it had not, and they in-formed him they had concluded not to guarantee, Inningagainst him a balance of $4,000 in their favor : this, althoughnot due, was loudly and unscrupulously called for. There 1S4 FITCHBURG, PAST AND PRESENT. was but one course open for him to pursue. He began tosell his paper directly to consumers, opening accounts, withyearly settlements only, for what stock he wanted, through-out the country, working month
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidfitchburgmas, bookyear1887
