The Town of Wilbraham was incorporated on June 15, 1763, and split into two parishes, the North and South, on June 20, 1782. Later these parishes were referred to as Wilbraham and South Wilbraham. Much of its early manufacturing was established on the Scantic River in the south while in the north was along Twelve Mile Brook. The Scantic River has furnished power for manufacturing since the first sawmill and gristmills were built on its banks in 1772 by Lewis Langdon. The first mill located in town (Outward Commons of Springfield or the Mountains) as it was known, was on Twelve Mile Brook and Caleb Stebbins built his gristmill in 1762. These smaller waterways made it much easier to harness power versus the Chicopee River, in the northern part of town, where larger manufacturing came in the mid to late 1800s.
One such manufacturing company was a woolen mill, which was the largest mill along the Scantic River that was built in 1843 by Deacon Sumner Sessions and was located in the area of what is now 498 Main Street in Hampden. The granite walls of this mill were quarried from the hills nearby on Chapin Road. This quarry was owned and operated by the Flynt Granite Company of Monson. An interesting note, Deacon Sumner Sessions was a decedent of Robert Sessions, who had taken part in the “Boston Tea Party” and settled here in 1781. The Sessions family was very prominent in this area of town.
Mr. Sessions rented out this mill to Levi Bradford and Eleazer Scripter in 1844, with one set of machinery and which they produced a good quality of satinets. Levi Bradford retired in 1847, in that same year the plant now operated by Luther E. Sage, William V. Sessions, and Samuel Beebe, as partners, and they, in turn, were succeeded by the firm of Scripter, Sage, and Company. Under them, the capacity of the works was increased and tweeds, cassimere, and doeskins were added to the production.
A new company was formed in 1856 and the name was changed to the South Wilbraham Manufacturing Company, incorporated with $200,000 in capital. A large addition and new machinery were added in 1862. According to Rufus P. Stebbins, the 1864 “History of Wilbraham”, this was a very successful business. It turned out one thousand yards of satinet daily in 1863.
Some years later, a new company was formed and the name changed to the Lacowsic Woolen Company, the business was conducted by Charles Parsons, who failed, then by Brown & Chapman, and still later by Hinsdale Smith under the immediate control of his son. This mill contained five sets of machinery and sixteen looms and employed from 75 to 80 people. About 16,000 yards of fancy cassimeres were produced every month.
The Lacowsic Woolen Company owned many homes and barns in the area where the mill complex was located. One such building directly across the street was a house owned by Robert A. Sessions who then sold the house in 1848 to the owners of the woolen mill. Both the house and its barn were very important to the mill’s operation. The house was known as the “Soap House”, its product was used in washing the wool for the mill. The barn was used for storing wool. In addition, before the mill bought the house, it was used for the manufacture of soft soap.
The mill complex included the original three-story building, with the first story made entirely of granite, and a three-story granite building with a smoke stack near the river. One-story “weaving room” addition was built in 1862 to the east side of the two-story building. As mentioned prior, this mill passed through many owners in succeeding years.
The mill did have a dam that furnished water power and was located on the river near the three-story granite building. Another dam further upstream just west of the Chapin Road Bridge was used as well. In 1847, Erasmus Chaffee deeded to Samuel Beebe, William V. Sessions Eleazer Scripter, and Luther Sage the right to dig and construct a canal across his home lot of what is now Riverside Drive in Hampden. In the deed, it stated that the canal was to be “four feet wide at the bottom and eight feet wide in the clear, on top of the water”. This canal would carry water to the Scripter, Sage, and Company mill for powering the mill. This canal would cross along the higher ground, alongside the original road. The canal would enter a penstock that was supported by granite piers that were above the mill pond near the mill. One tale that was told was how the “boys” fishing from their boats would take shelter under the penstock.
During the summer and winter months, the mill pond served as a popular recreational spot for residents, in swimming, fishing, and ice skating. There was even a large boulder where the children would dive off and into the refreshing water. It was said during the winter months, that the mill pond would freeze over with an ice thickness of 18” or more. It was safe for skating in mid-November and lasted until mid-March. In January, the men would begin cutting ice by hand so that they could fill the ice house, in which the ice would be used for refrigeration in the warmer months.
An interesting article appeared in an 1879 newspaper, as follows: Lacowsic Mill “The strike in the mill is over. Most of the tramps in the mill have left while the help hereabouts have gone back.”
The Lacowsic Mill burned in 1892 and was never rebuilt. Most likely the reason was that the proposed railroad of 1870 never materialized, and getting goods and materials in and out of these mills was more costly than mills in other communities that had access to railroads, such as the mills located in North Wilbraham. After the fire, these granite walls remained standing for years. In 1968 the remaining stones were used in the widening of Main Street where the bend of the river is located.
