The Worcester Wire Industry
By Richard Tremblay
(Washburn 1)
The barbed wire industry had a tremendous impact on the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. If not for its earliest founders like Ichabod Washburn and Benjamin Goddard Worcester would be a very different place. From its humble beginnings as the Washburn and Goddard firm beginning in 1831 until the time that the plants were closed in 1978 (Ricciardi 1), the wire industry in Worcester helped to shape the history of the city. Worcester would not be where it is today if not for the tremendous success of its barbed wire industry.
The Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company had a tremendous influence on the history and culture of the Worcester community, as well as the rest of the United States. In addition to Ichabod Washburn, a number of other people played important roles in the shaping of that history, including Philip Louis Moen, Charles Washburn, Charles F. Washburn, Henry S. Washburn, William E. Rice, Charles H. Morgan, and John W. Gates. The three different mills in Worcester used by Washburn & Moen also played important roles in the development and success of the company, and had their own unique functions and purposes. The involvement of Washburn & Moen in the production and sale of barbed wire, as well as their continued success through patent monopolies and vertical integration also proved to be important to the company’s overall success. The company also had an influence on the local ethnic background of Worcester. Without any one of these elements or people, the history and success of the company would have been very different. The people and elements that made up the Washburn & Moen Mfg. Co. and its successors greatly helped to influence the history of Worcester and the country as a whole.
The wire industry in Worcester proved to be tremendously successful in the mid to late 1800s and as such, the Washburn and Moen firm proved to be the city’s largest employer for many years. One researcher even noted about Washburn that, “at his death in 1868, he presided over a million-dollar manufacturing concern that produced more than half the wire in the United States,” (Rosenzweig 35). By 1889 the company had over 3,000 employees (Ricciardi 1). As such, the immigrant workforce in Worcester grew and developed some of its own local traditions. In addition, the philanthropy of its founders helped with the construction of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and several religious institutions around the city.
The most important figure behind the barbed wire industry in Worcester was Ichabod Washburn. Washburn was born on August 11, 1798, along with his twin brother Charles in Kingston, Massachusetts (ABSW 1). Ichabod was not born into wealth, but instead made his fortunes through his entrepreneurship, inventiveness and hard work. Before going into business for himself, Ichabod worked as an apprentice to a chaise and harness maker, in a cotton mill, and an apprentice to a blacksmith. He also “engaged in business on my own account for the first time, manufacturing ploughs” (Cheevey 38). He then moved on to working in the armory at Millbury, where he worked until he began work with William Hovey as a smith forging machinery (Cheevey 41-42). Through these jobs Ichabod was able to learn and gain enough skill in the mechanical professions to go into business for himself successfully. This experience also helped with Washburn’s inventiveness, which proved to be of monumental aid to his later success.
Washburn first went into business with William H. Howard. Together, they manufactured woolen machinery and lead pipe. This continued until Washburn bought Howard’s half of the business when wanted to leave town. Washburn continued with this business, taking in Benjamin Goddard as a partner and forming the firm Washburn and Goddard (Cheevey 43-45). In 1830, Washburn developed a method for drawing wire from steel rods. Initially, the “process was crude, and production could not exceed fifty pounds a day,” (ABWS 1). Washburn later improved this process in 1833, such that the process could be used to draw up to 2500 pounds of wire a day, almost two orders of magnitude more than what could be initially done. This was achieved by Washburn and Goddard when, they substituted the drawing block in the machine. It had never been improved upon, and with this improvement, the operator was able to achieve a greater reduction in the wire diameter per pass with the machine, which allowed production to be increased greatly (Cheever 46-47).
Washburn’s partnership with Goddard continued for eleven years until January 30, 1835 (ABSW 1). The two men dissolved their partnership on the grounds that Washburn desired to move their business to Worcester and Goddard did preferred to remain where he was. This split was caused in large part by the fact that their plant in Northville had “so far out-grown the water power, that we were obliged to remove to where we could obtain more,” (Cheevey 43). This was the end of Washburn’s first firm. Washburn then moved his wire drawing business to the Grove Mill. He continued his wire drawing business there. This was the beginning of his partnership with his brother, Charles Washburn, and the birth of the North works what would later become the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company. Its history continues from there.
Ichabod Washburn was also a truly great philanthropist. Hey donated money to causes here in Worcester, the school that became Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Washburn died before the original shops’ completion, but he played a central role in its establishment, and insisted that, “this industrial education have a strong practical component,” (Papers 1) which is a tradition of the school that continues to this day. Washburn stated in his autobiography that, “at my own expense I have erected the Mission Chapel on Summer street, and mainly supported it. I aided, with others, in giving to Worcester one of the best Hotels, "The Bay State House." I originated the idea, and contributed some twenty-five thousand dollars towards the erection, of Mechanics' Hall, now so indispensable in meeting the great wants of the city for lectures, concerts, and various social gatherings, and I may say of the State also, since it affords a convenient, spacious, and commodious place for great political gatherings,” (Cheever 53). Washburn had almost as much influence on Worcester’s history through his philanthropy as he did through the industry that he created there.
The most important figure next to Ichabod Washburn in the development of the Washburn & Moen Mfg. Co. was Philip Louis Moen. Philip L. Moen was Ichabod Washburn’s son in law. Moen managed the Quinsigamond mill for three years before Washburn gave him a full partnership in the business. After Washburn’s death in 1868 he became the president of the company. In his memorial, it was noted that, “If Mr. Washburn was born a mechanic, Mr. Moen was born to complement him in developing the manufacturing establishment which has proved such a benefit to themselves, to their workmen, to the city, and to various institutions that have enjoyed their beneficence,” (Memorial 10). He was an extremely talented and respected businessman in the Worcester community. In the twenty three years that he served as the president of the company, he was able to increase its daily production of wire by nearly 3500%. The wire produced by the company went from 8½ tons per day in 1868, to 15 tons per day in 1873, and finally to 300 tons per day in 1891 (Memorial 63). He was also noted to have, “built the business on a broad foundation,” such that it, “did not depend on any one individual,” (Memorial 88). This helped the company to remain diverse and continue its operation even in the absence of its key officers.
Philip L. Moen was also noted as being a compassionate and effective businessman for a number of reasons. He was held to be a very insightful and cautious businessman. It was noted in his Memorial that, “in every improvement or change or enlargement contemplated, he never lost sight of the safety or profitableness of the works as a whole. He wanted to see every risk clearly reduced to the absolute minimum before consenting to take it” (Memorial 10). In addition to being a successful businessman, he was also a respected as an employer by his workers and others. It was also noted in his Memorial that he had a, “constant courtesy and tender regard for the interests of others,” (Memorial 88), and that he was, “never indifferent to the humblest employee,” (Memorial 93). Moen was regarded to be a fair and kind employer, and was respected as a businessman. Even in spite of his regard for the interests of others, he was noted for his constant ability to use his time effectively.
Moen was also largely responsible for the ethnic groups that were employed by the Washburn & Moen Mfg. Co. He had gained a respect for the work ethic of both Swedish and Armenian people during his service in the Civil War. He actively recruited both Swedish and Armenian workers for their strong work ethic, and possibly their tendency to not unionize.
Moen was also known and sought out for his wisdom and philanthropy by charitable, educational, and financial institutions. Among his other accomplishments, Moen was elected the deacon of his church by his congregation and was valued for his wisdom and knowledge (Memorial 12-16). He was also a member of the board of trustees to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Memorial 28).
Next in importance to the company after Ichabod Washburn and Philip L. Moen were William E. Rice, Henry S. Washburn, and Charles F. Washburn. William E. Rice served as both the treasurer and president of the company at different times. He was also instrumental to Washburn & Moen in bringing over the technology for a continuous rolling mill from overseas. Henry S. Washburn was Ichabod Washburn’s cousin. He served as the manager of the South Works for a number of years, and helped with the vertical integration of the company. Finally, Charles F. Washburn, the nephew of Ichabod Washburn and son of Charles Washburn, served as the vice president of the company after the death of Ichabod. Charles F. Washburn was instrumental in bringing Washburn & Moen into the barbed wire industry.
William E. Rice was at one time the treasurer, and after the death of Moen, the President of Washburn & Moen. He started his career in the wire making business in 1852, at the age of 18, in the accounting office of Washburn & Moen. After spending seven years learning the wire business, then left to form his own firm (People 2).
The firm was called William E. Rice and company, and Rice partnered with Dorrance S. Goddard, the son of Benjamin Goddard, to form it. Rice later purchased Goddard’s interest in the business in 1865 and sold the plant to a paper mill company. At that time, Ichabod Washburn purchased the wire-drawing machinery and fulfilled his promise to rise and made him the secretary and sales manager of his company (Worcester Units 19).
Rice was also instrumental to Washburn in his contributions to the company’s interests in establishing a continuous rolling mill. He had been closely following the technical developments in England on the subject. Rice was commissioned by Washburn to visit George Bedson, inventor of the Bedson mill, or continuous rolling mill (Worcester Units 20). Washburn had Rice report on the advisibility of purchasing a Bedson mill with a Siemen’s furnace. Unfortunately Rice found that the same invention had been patented in France by Comer and Levis. Washburn & Moen then purchased the interests in the US patent, and hired Comer to come to Worcester to operate the new equipment and supervise the construction of the new mill.
He continued in the business and later became the manager and treasurer of the South Works. He continued with the company until the South Works became a part of the Washburn & Moen Mfg. Co. in 1868. It was at this time that he was given the position of treasurer in The Washburn & Moen Mfg. Co. Shortly thereafter, upon an argument between Washburn & Moen over the appropriate location of the new continuous rolling mill, Rice submitted an “unlooked-for” letter of resignation to Washburn (Worcester Units 21). Washburn wanted the new mill to be built at the Grove Street location to preserve the prestige of that mill, while Rice wanted it to be built at the newer, South Works location. In a bit of diplomacy, Washburn accepted his resignation in order to ensure that the new continuous rolling mill be built at the Grove Street mill. Rice continued in the wire drawing business separately until 1891, when, upon the death of Moen, the Moen family asked Rice to take over as president of the company. Rice accepted this position and continued at it until the sale of the company in 1899 to the American Steel & Wire Company of New Jersey.
Henry S. Washburn was Ichabod Washburn’s cousin. Henry was born in Providence RI in 1813. He graduated from Worcester Academy but had to leave Brown University before graduating due to health reasons. (Worcester Units 12). He later became the head agent for the Baptist Sabbath School Depository in Boston.
Due to the poor quality of iron and steel rods produced locally, Ichabod Washburn imported all of his wire rods from abroad. Up until 1845 Ichabod had been personally traveling to Boston to get each importation of wire rods. As he aged, he felt it would be helpful if he could get someone he knew to pick up the wire rods for him. Then, in 1845 Ichabod made the proposal to Henry that he, “come to Worcester and supervise the erection of a mill for rolling wire rods and take charge of its operation,” (Worcester Units 12). He would also be responsible for picking up the imported wire rods from the custom house in Boston. Henry would sell the rods to Ichabod at actual cost, and Ichabod also had the advantage of obtaining wire rods from a home source. Henry’s compensation for doing so was to be that he could sell whatever remained of the wire rods after supplying local needs for his own profit.