Boothroyd - Assabet Mills

ASSABET MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1870 ASSESSORS VALUE. In 1870, the Sudbury Town Assessor (the mills were in the town of Sudbury at that time) valued the Assabet Manufacturing Company at $255,000.

AMORY AND MARY (PRIEST) MAYNARD. Amory Maynard was born in Marlboro in 1804 to Isaac and Lydia Maynard. His early education was limited. He worked on his fathers farm, but much of his time was spent in a sawmill in Marlboro owned by his father. When he was 16 years of age, his father died and he was given management of the estate. He continued the mill business for a period of 25 years, during which time he became quite widely known as a carpenter and builder. At one time he had 60 men in his employ erecting mills, houses, and other buildings in Marlboro, Concord, Framingham, and neighboring towns. In 1846, the city of Boston purchased the sawmills water privilege and spent $60,000 in the construction of a reservoir, today known as the Fort Meadow Reservoir. While searching for another site on which to locate a mill, Maynard came to little Assabet Village on July 2, 1846, which was then in Sudbury. At that time there was no good road through the place and it had but 14 dwellings. Maynard formed a partnership with W.H. Knight of Saxonville in the same year, built a 50-by-100-foot woolen mill, and began the manufacture of carpets and carpet yarns for the Boston market. Maynard repurchased the Fort Meadow Reservoir property, which was no longer needed by Boston, along with several hundred acres of land in its vicinity c. 1859. He used the reservoir as a reserve water supply for the woolen mill.

LORENZO, WILLIAM, AND AMORY MAYNARD. The first member of the Maynard family connected with the Assabet Mills was Amory Maynard, after whom the town was named. When he retired in 1855, his son Lorenzo Maynard became the mills superintendent. Lorenzo Maynard was very active in town affairs and held several town offices. After the failure of the Assabet Mills, he moved to Winchester where he died on March 13, 1904. His brother William Maynard also held a management position at Assabet Mills. Amory Maynard II, son of William Maynard, retired in October 1902 from his management position at the American Woolen Mills, thus ending the Maynard family mill connection. Shown above, from left to right, are Lorenzo Maynard, his brother William Maynard, and William Maynards son Amory Maynard II.

CIVIL WAR LETTER. The Civil War in 1861 created a demand for woolens, flannels, and blankets for the army, and producing these provided new life for the woolen mill. In 1862, the Assabet Manufacturing Company was incorporated under the laws of the State of Massachusetts, with T.A. Goddard as president, T. Quincy Browne as treasurer, and Amory Maynard as agent. Under this management and with large orders of woolen goods, the mill underwent a rapid expansion. (Case.)

ASSABET MILLS, 1867. This view of the Assabet Mills is from Main Street. At that time, Walnut Street was on the southern side of the river and ran from Main Street to Thompson Street. In 1872, the street was relocated on the northern side of the river, running from Main Street to Parker Street, and an iron bridge was built across the river on Walnut Street.