In 1820, the Fall River Manufactury, built a little earlier, on a bank
of the Quequechan River in Troy, was incorporated. David Anthony,
Israel’s brother-in-law; Dexter Wheeler, his wife’s uncle; and Abraham
Bowen, were behind its building, and, under the circumstances, Israel
got yarn for his farmhouse weavers, as soon as it was spun in any
quantity by this Fall River Yarn Mill. Making the connection still
closer, it was David Anthony who took charge of the running of the
mill--call him Agent or treasurer. In the year of this incorporation
of the company, 1820, Anthony sent over to Israel’s Egypt store, a
consignment of cotton yarn, woven at once by the weavers of Somerset
into 253-1/2 yards of plaid cloth.
At another time, David Anthony as Agent, sold Israel, outright, some
blue and white warp, for $77.00. And the weavers of Swansea wove it
into bedticking which Israel kept for his own trading purposes.
Toward the end of his trading career, Israel bought from the Fall River
Manufactury some cloth not only spun but actually woven in the mill. He
bought 52 yards of checks at $.15 a yard. The downfall of Israel’s big
yarn business was at hand, for this cloth, woven as well as spun in the
factory, was not too bad--not too bad.
The weave books that Israel must have kept to record his trading with
the yarn mill of Troy, were not in the barrel. So all the information
we have on the matter is contained in a few letters and bills which
passed between Mr. Brayton and Mr. Anthony, as they were careful to
call each other on paper. Except, of course, the names of the Troy
weavers who wove the yarn for other factories, and appear in other yarn
books. And we have found in this way that a very great number of Fall
River-Troy people did home weaving for Israel. The Fall River-Troy
nomenclature is confusing, for all during the barrel period, that part
of the present City of Fall River which lies along the banks of the
lower Quequechan River, was legally called Troy. Though it had been
called Fall River before 1804 and was called so again after 1834. In
all the weave books “Troy” is used, always. But some of the oldest and
more sophisticated concerns had letter heads with “Troy. Fall River”.
That part of the present city of Fall River which lies around Brightman
Street, was in the barrel days called Freetown. And in the Weave Books
are many persons listed as living in Freetown. Their names can be found
on the tombstones in the old North Burying Ground. You will find 12
members of the Brightman family in the Weave Books. And 20 members of
the Read family who lived at the foot of French’s Hill.
I am somewhat clumsily explaining to the present generation that most
of the old families of Fall River had one or more members who took yarn
from Israel Brayton and wove it up into cotton cloth right in their own
homes on their own looms. And that this yarn they wove was spun in the
factories of Fall River as well as in a number of small factories on
the west side of the Taunton River. I am printing at the end of this
book a list of the people who are known to have done this weaving, and
it is surprisingly long, for the village was small. But I think, even
so, it is not a complete list.
Israel had other connections with Troy, of course. He bought nails from
the Iron Works as soon as the Iron Works made nails. He sold nails to
the ships that were building in Somerset and Egypt. Ships had to have
kegs of nails on board, of course, and Israel took to outfitting ships,
getting requests for odd things, such as “a few yards of white flannel
suitable for lining pea-jackets”. And “Tarpolin hats.”
The ship “Rosette” of Troy bought her stores from Israel in Egypt. The
ship “Rambler” of Troy landed 240 pounds of yarn one day in Egypt, for
Israel. The sloop “Reindeer” bought her stores from Israel. But the
Troy ships were a bit high and mighty. Troy was beginning to grow.
Hezekiah Anthony wrote from Providence to Israel in 1827:
“To Israel Brayton. Sir:
I could not get the Fall River Packet (the new Steamer “Handcock”
this may have been) to take your goods today as the amount was so
small. I expect the Somerset Sloop here tomorrow. I presume she
will take the goods and land them on Slade’s Ferry Wharf.”