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    New Bedford
    New Bedford
    New Bedford
    Ebook192 pages36 minutes

    New Bedford

    By Anthony Sammarco and Paul Buchanan

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    About this ebook

    In 1765, when Joseph Rotch sailed across the bay from Nantucket, he brought with him the skills and knowledge to start New Bedford's whaling industry. By 1830 the town was a larger whaling port than Nantucket, with an immense fleet employing more than 10,000 people.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439628881
    New Bedford
    Author

    Anthony Sammarco

    Massachusetts historians and authors Anthony Sammarco and Paul Buchanan worked together with the New Bedford Free Public Library - which donated all of the images in this collection - to immortalize the remarkable history of this colorful town.

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      Book preview

      New Bedford - Anthony Sammarco

      Mayor

      INTRODUCTION

      No history of New Bedford could be written without a mention of Bartholomew Gosnold as the first European to touch the rich and beautiful wilderness that was to become the thriving, bustling city of today.

      It was exactly fifty years after his explorations that land in the area was purchased by white men. The illustrious names of many of these men we know still today—Myles Standish, Manasseh Kempton, John Cooke, John Howland, John Alden, and William Bradford. They came from Plymouth Colony seeking a freedom from the oppressive life of the Puritans. Most of those who came were Quakers and Baptists and not inclined to settle close together around a meetinghouse. Rather, they settled apart from each other, on sites often separated by the many rivers of the area, and lived independently.

      Shortly after the dawn of the eighteenth century Joseph Russell bought land from Manasseh Kempton and settled into farming. It was here that Joseph Russell III, later known as the founder of Bedford, was born. By 1750 he was laying out streets for the village. To this developing hamlet came men with skills in shipbuilding who gave birth to a new industry. In 1765, when Joseph Rotch sailed across the bay from Nantucket, he brought with him the skills and knowledge of the whaling industry, as well as the associated commercial skills of selling the oil and the making of candles.

      By the Revolutionary War the Quaker values were dominant in the town and the citizens refused to participate in the fighting and privateering. Despite this, British forces landed on the night of September 5, 1778, and burned the entire business district, including ships, wharves, and the associated buildings. No ship sailed from Bedford for another seven years, the destruction was so devastating.

      In 1787 the rebirth of the village was under way and the villagers successfully petitioned to become a separate town with New added to the name.

      The second decade of the century brought the age of prosperity of whaling. By 1830 New Bedford was a larger whaling port than Nantucket, and by 1857 it could boast of a fleet of 329 ships and more than 10,000 men employed in the industry. The decline of the source of this wealth set in gradually, caused by fleets trapped in the Arctic, severe storms of destruction, and the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania in 1859.

      Abraham H. Howland was elected the first mayor of the city of New Bedford after a new charter granting city status was received on March 18, 1847. Following his leadership, the people turned from the sea to develop mills and factories, which generated an even greater wealth than had been seen before. During the same year, the Wamsutta Mills was incorporated and production of shirting began in 1849. By 1883 Wamsutta was annually producing 23 million yards of cloth. Other companies quickly followed so that by late in the century there were more than fifty mills flourishing in the massive buildings.

      Other industries also came. Copper and brass foundries, iron works, shoe factories, and machine shops all contributed to a vital, growing economy. New kinds of products reflected the new level of lifestyle—the Pairpoint Manufacturing Company and the Mount Washington Glass Company produced art specialties in glass and silver.

      Economic well-being rode into the twentieth century. The economy flourished until, as in so much of America, the labor problems of the late 1920s were followed by the Great Depression. Most of the industries did not survive.

      Today, New Bedford is continuing to exhibit the ability to adapt and adjust. Diversified industries are once again growing. Also, as more people have become aware of the rich history of the area, tourism has developed. It is anticipated that with the establishment of the National Park, New Bedford will once again see a thriving economy, this time assisted by tourism.

      Throughout its history the richest asset of New Bedford has been the diversity of its people. Since its settling people have been welcomed to the area because of the skills and abilities they brought with them. As

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