From Essex Events, Fall 1997
"It was early morning on April
7,
1814 when Samuel Williams, still strong and active for his 63 years,
left
his home for the short downhill stroll to work. At the head of
Mill
Lane, he paused and surveyed the scene before him. "What a change
the last 37 years has brought," he mused. "I moved here in 1777
to
run the small gristmill that existed next to my father's forge and
ironworks.
""Now look at it: my son
Ezra is operating his bone and ivory shop on the south side of the dam,
the gristmill is doing more business than ever, the forge of the
'island'
can hardly keep up with all the orders, the sawmill seems to never stop
turning out lumber for various boatbuilders around town, the retail
store
is selling goods locally and shipping to the West Indies, and finally,
my pride and joy, the shipyard is turning out 2 to 3 vessels a
year.
That ship now on the stocks, almost ready to be launched, is the
largest
I have ever built. It is 344 tons and due to sail to the South
Seas.
Its name is unusual: 'Osage.'"
*****British Destroy Ships*****
"Little did Samuel Williams
realize
what would happen within 24 hours. The British would arrive and
destroy
the ships he was building, extremely upsetting his pre-industrial
complex.
Indeed, the burnt hull of the "Osage" lay in the cove mud for over 100
years, before being salvaged. Samuel Williams died in 1822,
leaving
his wife Irena (Pratt) and six sons, all of whom became important
locally,
in various business ventures. As a matter of fact, a ship of 268
tons was built in the Williams "yard," named "6 Brothers," in 1822.
"As one views the same area
Samuel
Williams did almost 200 years ago, he/she sees a dam, broken by the
tumultuous
storm of June 1982, sitting amidst a rather bucolic scene, where the
Falls
River enters Falls River Cove in Essex. The pastoral nature of
this
place today belies the busy entrepreneurial location it once was.
The foundation remains of Samuel's house are still obvious, by both the
Williams and Doane families, but business ventures have long since
vanished.
"Captain Benjamin Williams
initially
purchased property around a dam located here in the early 1760s.
He operated a gristmill, and subsequently a small ironworks. In
1775/76
Benjamin got an order from his old friend Captian Uriah Hayden to
produce
all the "ironwork" on a new ship Uriah was building at the foot Main
Street
in Essex--it was to be the largest ship built to date in the Colony of
Connecticut, and was named the "Oliver Cromwell." The colony
shipped
7 tons of raw iron to Benjamin for this vessel. This event set
the
Williams family firmly on a new and enlarged business path.
*****Samuel Moved Here in 1777*****
"Samuel, the oldest son of
Benjamin,
moved here from Centerbrook in 1777, occupying an older house
previously
owned by the Denison family. Events moved quickly (for those
days),
as the end of the Revolutionary War led to a demand for shipping and
Essex
entrepreneurs replied in a positive manner. Initially, Samuel was
content to operate the existing gristmill, but soon set up a sawmill,
which
fed finished lumber to the "downtown" Essex ship builders. By
1795,
however, he decided to set up his own shipyard, and did so on the north
bank of Falls River Cove.
"This operation turned out an
average
of 2 ships per year until its demise in 1840 (under Samuel's son
David).
So, it is obvious that Samuel had a rather "vertical" business (in
today's
vernacular) operation, in which he was supplying the raw material
(lumber
and iron) and then building the finished products (ships). This
activity
augmented the growth of a section of Essex known as Meadow Woods, as
houses
were built all around this new pre-industrial complex. Samuel
himself
owned over 60 acres on both the north and south sides of Falls River
Cove,
and interestingly enough, considered the cove his property. The
name
Meadow Woods persists today.
"In addition to Samuel's own
operations,
Ezra, one of his sons, set up an ivory and bone cutting business,
employing
between 9 and 15 people. It was so successful that Ezra moved to
Deep River in 1817 (a new area then) and went into business with a
friend
named George Read. The ultimate result of this union was the
Pratt,
Read, & Co., in Deep River, which of course eventually combined
with
the Comstock, Cheney and Co. of Ivoryton in the 1930s.
*****Other Dams Built*****
"The demise of this whole
operation
came as a result of specialization and demand. The dam (or
actually
amount of water backed up) could not supply enough power to operate so
many businesses at the same time. Other dams sprung up on the
Falls
River which were specifically designed to power one business. The
best example is Mason Hamilton Post's taking over the bone cutting in
Meadow
Woods after Ezra Williams had departed, and subsequently moving it
(building
and all) to a site on a new dam 1/4 mile up the river, where he had an
exclusive power source. This is where the current Kuralt
homestead
stands today on Dennison Road."
Note: this county and town is up for adoption.
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