http://www.vvcs.com/clinton/townhistory.html
also see Erastus Brigham 7 Bigelow erastus7.htm
Rural Lancaster, formed in the mid-1600s, originally included the area now known as Clinton. The first industries in the region were combs and textiles. The Bigelow brothers, Horatio and Erastus, originally from West Boylston, came to the Lancaster area to set up a new textile business for weaving an ornamental cloth bordering known as coachlace. Erastus invented a power loom to mass produce this cloth and Horatio created a company to manufacture it. They chose the name, "The Clinton Company," because of their love for the DeWitt Clinton Hotel in New York. Thanks to this new industry, the district first became known as Factory Village, then Clintonville. Bigelow's invention dropped production costs of coachlace from 22 cents a yard to 3 cents a yard and created many new jobs in the area.
Within ten years another Bigelow loom was invented for the power weaving of counterpane, a heavy raised-design cloth. This brought even more people to the area seeking employment. In 1845, Erastus Bigelow received a patent on a new loom that revolutionized the making of gingham cloth, and the brothers went to work and created a new company, Lancaster Mills on Green Street, to manufacture this bright, plaid cloth. The influx of engineers, merchants, and professionals brought about a building boom to the area. New roads were laid out, houses and tenements built, and stores and shops formed &endash Clintonville had its first major industry!
It was becoming more and more evident that Clintonville was taking a completely
different path than her "mother" town, Lancaster. Clintonville was a hustling,
bustling little manufacturing village; Lancaster was a quiet, farming community.
Lancaster's population was scattered over many miles; Clintonville's population
was very highly concentrated &endash 90 percent of the population lived
within ONE square mile! Clintonville had fresh young blood and intense enthusiasm;
Lancaster was a rather settled, static, and conservative community. Finally,
in 1850, Lancaster accepted the inevitable division and
"Clinton" became legally incorporated on March 14, 1850.
The Bigelow brothers influence was far from over, however. Their crowning
achievement was the development of the carpet loom. The Bigelow Carpet Company
in Clinton manufactured the world's best carpets from 1849 to 1933. Its carpets
could be found in the White House, the U.S. Senate and House, the State House,
the Waldorf-Astoria, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the SS Titanic, and many of
the finest restaurants and theaters in the world. The Bigelow brothers final
company, the Clinton
Wire Cloth Company, produced woven metal screening and fencing.
Erastus and Horatio Bigelow not only gave Clinton its name, but actually created wealth in this village that would prove to be our economic base for many years. Although Erastus was the famous inventor, Horatio had an even greater impact on this community. The school department, fire department, library, local banks, and many churches in town all got their start thanks to Horatio Bigelow. Central Park, the town common, was given to the town by Mr. Bigelow.
Clinton's involvement in the Civil War was well documented. The Clinton Light Guard, a forerunner of today's National Guard unit, was organized in 1853 with fifty local men. In 1860, interest rekindled in anticipation of the slavery issue coming to a head. On March 4, 1861, Clintonians appropriated $1,000 for the benefit of the Light Guard to prepare for war. Thus Clinton was the first town in the entire state to appropriate money in anticipation of a call for troops. Clinton furnished about 139 percent of her required quota of soldiers &endash a remarkable record and proof of how anxious local men were to enter the war. It is believed that no other city or town in the Commonwealth could beat that record!
The building of the Wachusett Dam and Reservoir at the turn of the century changed Clinton forever. The Metropolitan Water Board selected the south branch of the Nashua River in Clinton as the best site for Boston's new water supply. Churches, factories, homes, and schools within the valley had to be knocked down or moved. Roads and rail lines had to be relocated; a railroad tunnel and trestle had to be built in order to relocate the Central Mass. Line; and over four thousand bodies had to be dug up and moved in the local Catholic cemetery. The project brought thousands of immigrants to the area for work; it proved to be one of the most amazing engineering feats in history, and is still considered the largest "hand dug" dam in the world today.
Clinton has produced some very important people in its short history: David
I. Walsh was a Clinton High School Class of 1890 graduate who became governor
of Massachusetts in 1913 and our senator in 1918. Phil Philbin, Class of
1916, served a total of fourteen terms in the U.S. Congress, as did his classmate,
George Donovan. Joseph Casey, Class of 1917, was elected to the U.S. Congress
in 1934 &endash at the time he was the youngest member of Congress. Matt
Connolly, Class of 1925, was President Harry Truman's personal secretary
and assistant. "Sliding" Billy Hamilton was one of the greatest baseball
players in modern history &endash he ended his career with 937 stolen
bases and is a member of the baseball Hall of Fame. Clarence Brown was born
in Clinton and became a famous Hollywood director &endash his films include
The Yearling, National Velvet, Anna Christie, and Angels in the Outfield.
Agnes Moorehead was born in Clinton and was an award-winning actress in both
movies and television. Francis O'Malley, Class of 1926, spent forty-two years
as a professor of English at the University of Notre Dame and had a profound
influence on his students. Carroll Gibbons was a band leader for thirty years
at the Hotel Savoy in London, England; he wrote a number of songs including
"Garden in the Rain." Sydney Schanberg, Class of 1951, won the Pulitzer Prize
for international reporting for his coverage of the fall of Phnom Penh and
the popular movie, The Killing Fields, is the story of his friendship with
his Cambodian assistant, Dith Pran.
More:
http://www.clintonmass.com/history.shtml
1. The Town of Clinton straddles the valley of the south branch of the
Nashua River and is the site of the Wachusett Reservoir, formed by damming
the river in 1905 to provide drinking water for the City of Boston. Clinton's
terrain was partly shaped by retreating glaciers which created the present
landscape.
The town's abundant water power potential invited textile manufacturing,
and a diverse ethnic population followed the creation of mill jobs. These
included Irish, German, Scots and English immigrants who worked in the cotton
and fabric mills and made combs. The invention of power looms brought young
women from New Hampshire and Vermont to tend the looms. The town was incorporated
in 1850 and was already a sizeable community with over 3,000 in population
and the fourth largest manufacturing center in Worcester County. Clinton
benefited greatly from the ability and ingenuity of the Bigelow brothers,
Horatio and Erastus, who invented new kinds of power looms and set up profitable
mills to house them.
By 1850 five million yards of cloth was woven by 700 mill employees and in
the following year an additional 2 million yards of lace, tweed and pant
fabric was being turned out at the mills in Clinton. The Bigelows continued
to refine their equipment, developing rug weaving looms and wire cloth looms.
Ancillary industries sprang up in town, such as foundries and machine shops,
to service the mills and companion factories for making clothing, shoes and
boots were also established. Clinton became successively the state, national
and world leader in the manufacture of carpets, cotton gingham and wire cloth
and by 1885 was the largest carpet maker in the world. Not unexpectedly,
there are also early records of labor movement activity in Clinton, which
was the site of the notorious Lancaster Mills strike in 1912 with its mass
meetings, picketing and riots. The huge mills of the early 19th century still
remain in use, housing a diverse group of manufacturing uses.
2. Rural Lancaster, formed in the mid-1600s, originally included the area
now known as Clinton. The first industries in the region were combs and textiles.
The Bigelow brothers, Horatio and Erastus, originally from West Boylston,
came to the Lancaster area to set up a new textile business for weaving an
ornamental cloth bordering known as coachlace. Erastus invented a power loom
to mass produce this cloth and Horatio created a company to manufacture it.
They chose the name, "The Clinton Company," because of their love for the
DeWitt Clinton Hotel in New York. Thanks to this new industry, the district
first became known as Factory Village, then Clintonville. Bigelow's invention
dropped production costs of coachlace from 22 cents a yard to 3 cents a yard
and created many new jobs in the area.
Within ten years another Bigelow loom was invented for the power weaving
of counterpane, a heavy raised-design cloth. This brought even more people
to the area seeking employment. In 1845, Erastus Bigelow received a patent
on a new loom that revolutionized the making of gingham cloth, and the brothers
went to work and created a new company, Lancaster Mills on Green Street,
to manufacture this bright, plaid cloth. The influx of engineers, merchants,
and professionals brought about a building boom to the area. New roads were
laid out, houses and tenements built, and stores and shops formed - Clintonville
had its first major industry!
It was becoming more and more evident that Clintonville was taking a completely
different path than her "mother" town, Lancaster. Clintonville was a hustling,
bustling little manufacturing village; Lancaster was a quiet, farming community.
Lancaster's population was scattered over many miles; Clintonville's population
was very highly concentrated - 90 percent of the population lived within
ONE square mile! Clintonville had fresh young blood and intense enthusiasm;
Lancaster was a rather settled, static, and conservative community. Finally,
in 1850, Lancaster accepted the inevitable division and "Clinton" became
legally incorporated on March 14, 1850.
The Bigelow brothers influence was far from over, however. Their crowning
achievement was the development of the carpet loom. The Bigelow Carpet Company
in Clinton manufactured the world's best carpets from 1849 to 1933. Its carpets
could be found in the White House, the U.S. Senate and House, the State House,
the Waldorf-Astoria, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the SS Titanic, and many of
the finest restaurants and theaters in the world. The Bigelow brothers final
company, the Clinton Wire Cloth Company, produced woven metal screening and
fencing.
Erastus and Horatio Bigelow not only gave Clinton its name, but actually
created wealth in this village that would prove to be our economic base for
many years.
Although Erastus was the famous inventor, Horatio had an even greater impact
on this community. The school department, fire department, library, local
banks, and many churches in town all got their start thanks to Horatio Bigelow.
Central Park, the town common, was given to the town by Mr. Bigelow.
Clinton's involvement in the Civil War was well documented. The Clinton Light
Guard, a forerunner of today's National Guard unit, was organized in 1853
with fifty local men. In 1860, interest rekindled in anticipation of the
slavery issue coming to a head. On March 4, 1861, Clintonians appropriated
$1,000 for the benefit of the Light Guard to prepare for war. Thus Clinton
was the first town in the entire state to appropriate money in anticipation
of a call for troops. Clinton furnished about 139 percent of her required
quota of soldiers - a remarkable record and proof of how anxious local men
were to enter the war. It is believed that no other city or town in the Commonwealth
could beat that record!
The building of the Wachusett Dam and Reservoir at the turn of the century
changed Clinton forever. The Metropolitan Water Board selected the south
branch of the Nashua River in Clinton as the best site for Boston's new water
supply.
Churches, factories, homes, and schools within the valley had to be knocked
down or moved. Roads and rail lines had to be relocated; a railroad tunnel
and trestle had to be built in order to relocate the Central Mass. Line;
and over four thousand bodies had to be dug up and moved in the local Catholic
cemetery. The project brought thousands of immigrants to the area for work;
it proved to be one of the most amazing engineering feats in history, and
is still considered the largest "hand dug" dam in the world today.
rodbigelow@netzero.net 
