Petersham High School - Hilltop Yearbook (Petersham, MA)

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EARLY INDUSTRIES OF PETERSHAM CFirst Prize! Machinery humming, saws buzzing, the rattle of stagecoach wheels, the shouts of the people working in the fields,the drone of the voices of the factory workers on their way home after a difficult day's work--this was Petersham about one hundred fifty years ago. The most common employment of the people of Petersham, even from the very beginning of their settlement,was that of farming. There were many large farms in various parts of the town, where heads of cattle, flocks of chickens, and goats were raisedg and acres of oats and flax were grown. There were also grist-mills, saw-mills, and blacksmith and wheelwright shops. Many of the saw-mills were located in the Nichewaug area. There were, however, no manufacturing corpora- tions during the early part of the development of Petersham. Industry on a larger scale began in the year 1826 when a Mr. Samuel Witherall introduced the braiding of palm-leaf hats. After procuring the necessary material,he employed alhss Gilbert to teach the'braiding. A room was furnished in Mr. Witherall's home for this purpose. The people taught by Miss Gilbert became teachers of others throughout the town. The first expenses of this new industry were borne by the Witherall R Brown,Merchants. Thereafter, the expenses were obtained by making each of the pupils pay the fee of one dollar to the instructor. Ten years after the introduction of the hats, the gross business amounted to the sum of S24,429.00, the value of 105,525 hats in one year. The making of palm-leaf hats proved to be an important industry in Petersham households for many years. During this same period of Petershamis development another industry appeared, one which became closely allied to the school system. This might be considered, in retrospect, as the begin- ning of the community's awareness of the namifor vocational work for the children. This new industry was the seating of chairs. The frames for the chairs were procured from Gardner, now known as the famous nChair Cityu. Some of the school children were given the task of making a chair seat for their homework. In this way, seats were made, and the children learned at the same time. The adage nNecessity is the mother of inventionn proved to be as true then as now, for it was because of the Revolution that the importance of saltpeter, essential in the manufacture of gun- powder, was realized, and great quantities of it produced.