We are heading back to the horse and buggy days, when a company operating in Holyoke was the largest manufacturer of horse blankets in the country. This is the story of the Springfield Blanket Company.
The Springfield Blanket Company did not at one time operate in Springfield, but received its name, as its management and financial officials hailed from that city. The company was organized with a capital stock of $80,000 on May 2, 1870. The initial factory opened in Winchendon, Massachusetts, in 1870.
The company produced horse blankets and shipped many of its products to the Midwestern Corn Belt and the Mississippi Valley. Although mechanization had made advances, it was not ready to replace horses in farmland, especially the extensive corn fields. The company also manufactured bed blankets and linings for duck coats.
On February 28, 1872, the Wichendon mill was destroyed by fire. Warren H. Wilkinson and his partner at the time, Joel O. Belding, relocated his mill to Holyoke along the third-level canal, adjacent to and north of the Newton Paper Company. The company used the "Foot of Sargeant Street" to announce its location. The Connecticut River Railroad planned to extend rail service to its mill, as well as to Warren & Dickensen and a new paper mill.
In 1874, the company leased Murdock's Mill in Winchendon to expand its manufacturing. Additionally, the company wanted to expand its Holyoke mill and add a storehouse facility.
Joel O. Belding died in 1875. Shortly thereafter, Springfield Blanket left Winchendon entirely in 1876, and from that point on, its manufacturing took place solely in Holyoke.
In 1878, the company added a storehouse measuring 200 feet by 85 feet and a 65-foot tower to improve exiting from the building and to accommodate an elevator. The contractor for the brick building was E. T. Richards. By 1879, with its plant additions, it was the largest horse blanket mill in the country.
The company had a contract to produce 25,000 blankets at the time.
There were five fires within a year during the early 1880s. Fortunately, the factory was insured, as large sections of the building needed replacement after a particularly destructive fire occurred on February 5, 1881. The water damage from fighting the fire destroyed completed products, affecting the dyes of their finished products.
In 1882, W. H. Wilkinson purchased the Excelsior Paper Mill building from George R. Dickinson to further expand the business. Excelsior would remain in the factory until Mr. Dickinson built his new $250,000 paper mill on Sargeant Street.
Also, in 1882, the Springfield Blanket was granted a corporate charter with W. H. Wilkinson, assuming the positions of President and Treasurer. Its capital stock was raised to $150,000.
In 1890, the protective tariff bill was signed by William McKinley, and the company resumed full-time operations, receiving orders for 1,000 cases of blankets from both Chicago and New York.
Warren H. Wilkinson died in 1892. His obituary recounted another path for his mill locations, which included harnessmaking businesses in Greenfield and Springfield, Massachusetts, before converting to blanket production in Winchester, New Hampshire, and finally in Holyoke. According to several contemporaneous news articles from the 1870s, Wichendon, Massachusetts, in Worcester County, was the location of the initial blanket plant.
There were more fires in the 1890s; however, the company repaired and continued operations. There were about 300 employed at the end of the 19th century.
Springfield Blanket was now under the management of Edward H. Wilkinson, the nephew of Warren H. Wilkinson. Walker Ainsley became plant Superintendent in the 20th century. There were more fires in the 1890s; however, the company repaired and continued operations. There were about 300 employed at the end of the 19th century.
More will be shared about this fascinating company in the 20th century in Part 2 of the Springfield Blanket Company.
Citations:
Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram;
Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican;
Chicago (Illinois) Weekly Post and Mail;
The Evening Herald, (Boston, Massachusetts);
Boston (Massachusetts) Evening Transcript;
Buffalo (New York) Commercial;
Boston (Massachusetts) Globe;
Hartford (Connecticut) Courant;
Fall River (Massachusetts) Daily Evening News;
publication dates and pages are shown.
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