THE OLD STORES OF FITCHBURG. Read at a Meeting of the Society, February 19, 1900. BY FREDERICK A. CURRIER. In the rural towns of New England the country store has ever been the portal of advancement in the community for any one having sufficient capital and enterprise to enable him to engage in the retailing of merchandise. No one was more likely to be honored by his townsmen, to be elected to the General Court, and ultimately to write Esquire after his name, than the village storekeeper. It may be of interest to recall the names of those who have been among the merchants of our city, and who have aided in building up its business life. The old country store embraced in its assortment of goods about everything salable that a customer was likely to call for; and a generous source of profit was the sale of spirituous liquors. As the sale of liquors required a license from the courts, we may trace from their records the names of the merchants of the town before the days of newspapers and directories. The first storekeeper of Fitchburg was Amos Kimball, who was in business in 1764, the year the town was incorporated. He doubtless followed the custom of the times, giving the display of his little stock of goods in one of the rooms of his dwelling house. He continued until 1767. After the closing of this store the Lunenburg store was depended on to supply the needs of the scat tered inhabitants of Fitchburg until 1772, when Ephraim Kimball opened a store on or near the site of the stone mill of J. Cushing & Co., Laurel street, where he continued in business until 1776. In front of this store, on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, were fired the signal guns calling the Fitchburg minute men to assemble for their march to Lexington, the store being the appointed rallying place, where their guns and equipments were kept ready for instant use. Soon after the opening of the war the store was closed. In 1773 Joseph Fox commenced business in the Boutelle house on the site of the present American House. While following his trade of shoemaking he brought a few of the necessaries of life from Boston in his saddle-bags, retailing them from his shoemaker's bench. About the time of the closing of the Kimball store, in 1776, he removed to the corner of Main and Laurel streets, now occupied by the Chamberlain Huntress Co., and opened what was known for many years as the "Old Red Store,” and which long remained the business center of the village. He was a man of great influence in the affairs of the town, and acquired a large amount of property for those days. Originality in advertising is not wholly a characteristic of the present day, as we find in 1776 a facetious merchant announcing on a placard at his door, "A fresh stock of lickers," when he had received a supply of smoked tongues; and another was, "Wanted, a stout, active man, one who feareth the Lord and can carry two hundred pounds." The unsettled condition of affairs before the Revolutionary war made money very scarce, and the severe pressure of the war raised the price of all articles of consumption. Everything was high and few had money with which to buy. The General Court endeavored to remedy the difficulty by having the price of provisions established by committees, whose specified prices it was unlawful to exceed. Fitchburg was in a district with Groton, Shirley and Townsend. In February, 1777, the committee established their list of prices. Some of the items were as follows, the values being in shillings and pence: Butter, 9 pence per pound; cheese, 6d. per pound; fatted pork, 4d. per pound; oats, 2 shillings per bushel; wheat, 6s. 8d. per bushel; salt pork, 8d. per pound; beef (grass fed), 3d. per pound; beef (stall fed), 4d. per pound; peas, 7s. per bushel; potatoes, 1s. per bushel; beans, 6s. per bushel; lamb, mutton and veal, 3d. per pound; wheat flour, 22s. per hundred pounds; milk 2d. per quart. The scheme, however, proved a failure and was abandoned after a few weeks' trial. In 1781 William Hitchborn, a hatter by trade, built a building adjoining the red store, where he manufactured hats to order and for sale,-buying the skins of rabbits and muskrats from the boy trappers, from the hair of which he made the felting for his hats. In 1781 the selectmen licensed Joseph Fox, John Selloy, and William Hitchborn to sell tea, in accordance with the Acts of the General Court for that year. Hitchborn was evidently not very popular. Having a brother in Boston with sufficient political influence, he secured the appointment of Justice of the Peace, in spite of the vigorous protest of the principal men of Fitchburg. But his business evidently suffered in consequence, and soon after he sold out his stock to Joseph Fox and left town. Joseph Paterson, 1779; William Thurlow, 1780-83; Benjamin Danforth, 1784-85; and John Brown, 1786-88, were in business at locations now unknown. The merchants of 1780 experienced the difficulties incident to a depreciated paper currency, when $1 in specie was equal to $32.50 in continental money. In 1784 David Gibson established the first bakery, on the site of the present "Torrey house," opposite the city hall. He continued until 1792, when he removed from town, and was followed by Edward Durant, 1793-96; Jackson Durant, 1797-99; Allen Hallett, 1800-04; Robert Allen, 1805-10; Edward Durant, 1811–15. On the Pound Hill road, John Upton, 1792-94; Simon Whitney, 1795-96; Nathaniel Cunningham, 1797-98, were in business. Rev. Peter Whitney, in his "History of Worcester County," published in 1793, in a sketch of Fitchburg, says: "They have a few dealers of European, East and West India goods." The town then had 166 houses and 1151 inhabitants. Abijah Whitney, 1802-03; Moses Darby, 1804; Peter Kimball, 1805; Samuel Putnam, 1806-12; George S. Putnam, 1804-06, were early Fitchburg storekeepers; locations unknown. From 1793 the decimal currency of the United States was in use. For many years most of the coin in circulation was of foreign coinage, mainly English and Spanish. For nearly forty years later, in the daily traffic, merchants stated their prices in shillings and pence, as three shillings; four and sixpence; five and threepence; not half a dollar, seventy-five cents, eighty-seven and a half cents; although the coins of the former denominations slowly gave way to the decimal currency issued by the government mint. Among the charges on the old day book of the Lunenburg store I find in 1800 the following: 1 gal. N. rum, 3s. 6d. 6 yds. India cotton, 12s. 1 doz. crackers, 1s. 2 lbs. of sugar, 1s. 10d. 1 qt. N. rum, 11d. 14 calico, 4s. 5d. Rum and crackers, 1s. 3d. Spirits and snuff, 10d. 4 lb. Souchong tea, 1s. 6d. 2 qts. molasses, 1s. 9d. 2 lbs. cotton, 4s. 21⁄2 lbs. salt fish, 111⁄2d. 1 lb. butter, 1s. 9d. 3 mackerel, 10d. 14 muslin, 1s. 5d. Peck of salt, 2s. 1/2 doz. eggs, 1s. 11⁄2d. 1 lb. raisins, 10d. Spirit and lemon, 1s. Lemon and spirit, 1s. 6d. Nearly every third charge included some kind of liquor, mostly New England rum. The "Old Streeter Store" on West Main street, now occupied by Kelley Brothers, was established by Capt. Oliver Fox, son of Joseph Fox, in 1803. The following account of him is given: "He was a good example of a Yankee restless, active, enterprising, always looking out for a chance to make money." He was a very successful business man, and became one of the wealthiest and most influential men in town in his time. He sold out this store in 1806 to Jonathan Haskell and John Whitcomb, who as Whitcomb & Haskell continued until 1807, when Mr. Haskell became sole owner until 1815. He was followed by Walter Johnson until 1825, when Mr. Haskell again became proprietor until 1828. The old day book of a store commencing April 15, 1805, is interesting as showing the articles consumed by the average family of that time. Along with charges for butter, tea and sugar, rum seems to have been the most staple article handled by the merchant. Two grades of rum are shown. One kind costs 30 cents for two quarts, while another man is charged 28 cents for five pints. Brandy retailed at 26 cents per quart, but most customers appeared to prefer rum. Tea was 26 cents per pound-most families bought it by the half-pound-walnuts were worth four cents per quart, tobacco, four and one-half cents a punk. Six yards of cotton are set down at 10 cents, and a skein of silk at 5 cents. Eggs retailed |