With a strong, abundant water source provided by the Sebasticook River, an ample work force available and town officials willing to make the necessary concessions to attract a large new business, industrial expansion on a formidable scale was an inevitable destiny.
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Linn Woolen Mill from Pittsfield Avenue – c1910
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There were numerous small industrial businesses located throughout Hartland Village and in the outlying areas of North Hartland & West Hartland since the early settlement of the region. They included several sawmills, blacksmith shops, gristmills, brick foundries, a shoe shop and a carding mill, among others. All of them provided important contributions to the overall growth and prosperity of the town however most operated with just a handful of employees with none of them employing more than a dozen people or so.
By the mid-1800s, new production techniques and advancements in technologies were being utilized by the industrial sector including an efficient harnessing of steam power which in turn relied on a steady water source. Industrial expansion on a larger scale was inevitable in the Village with a strong water source provided by the Sebasticook River, an ample work force and town officials willing to work with a new industry.
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In 1860, businesses located around the Lower Dam area on Main Street included a sawmill (S.M.) located at the original William Moor Sawmill site, a Gristmill (G.M.), the John Page Tannery, 3 Blacksmith Shops (B.S.S.), the Stinchfield Carding Mill and The Park House further up the street. Commercial Street (then known as North Street) was home to just a dozen or so residences, a carriage shop and a single general store on the corner of Main Street.
Hartland Village – 1860
(See Maps page for a complete and enlargeable 1860 Map)
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Linn Woolen Mill | 1864-1889
Archibald Linn (1818-1889) was born in Biggar, Scotland where he was raised and educated. He married Grace Wilson in 1842 and they moved to her native town of Galashiels, Scotland where 3 children were born to them; Christiana, Robert & Thomas, who died as a young child. He engaged in the woolen mill business in Galashiels before he left Scotland for America with Grace and their 2 surviving children arriving in Boston by ship on June 9, 1848. He worked at woolen mills in Cherry Valley, Saugus and Lawrence, Massachusetts for the next 10+ years where 3 more children were born to them; Thomas, Mary & William.
In the late 1850s, Linn came to Dexter where he co-owned and operated an existing woolen mill with David Campbell, also a native of Galashiels, which had been built in 1846 (future Fay-Scott location). As noted in the 1860 Census, Archibald was still residing in Lawrence, Massachusetts in June of 1860 with Grace and their children before moving the family to Dexter where their youngest child William Linn passed away in May of 1863 at 3 years old followed by the death of their oldest daughter Christiana Linn in August of 1863 at 20 years old leaving Robert Wilson Linn, Thomas Archibald Linn & Mary Isabelle Linn as their only surviving children.
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Around 1862, Archibald Linn came to Hartland where he found conditions quite suitable to build and operate his own woolen mill business including a prime location along the Sebasticook River and 3 year tax abatement offering by the town. As reported by a local newspaper, Linn began building the new mill in late 1863 next to the Lower Dam on Main Street encompassing the site of the original sawmill off Commercial Street which had been constructed by William Moor around 1798.
Bangor Daily Whig & Currier – November 16, 1863
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The timing of the new woolen mill’s construction coincided with the ongoing Civil War providing Linn an opportunity to garner a lucrative contract from the government to produce ‘Union Blue’ wool and the new mill prospered greatly. With the completion of his new mill in Hartland in 1864, Linn sold his business shares in the Dexter Woolen Mill to Mr. Campbell. Linn later purchased and operated the existing grist mill located next to his new building.
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Early publications and newspapers often referred to the company as the Sebasticook Woolen Mill of Hartland, Maine into the mid-1870s. It is currently unknown if the business name was officially changed to the Linn Woolen Mill but all further documents after that time period refer to it as the latter.
Woolen Mill Industry Publication
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Following the end of the war, Linn refocused his manufacturing efforts to the production of high end cassimeres, cloakings and shawls.
February 24, 1868
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November 16, 1869
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An 1869 letter from a correspondent in Hartland to The Portland Daily Press concerning several of the town’s industries also included several details about the woolen mill as well as another general reference to when it was built.
The Portland Daily Press – April 29, 1869
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On October 26, 1874 a detailed inspection for insurance purposes was conducted at the Sebasticook Woolen Mill, so called. By this date, Linn had built a large, new addition to his mill connected to the rear of the original building.
Insurance Company Rendering of Sebasticook Woolen Mill – 1874
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Insurance Company Inspection Report Details – 1874
(Photos courtesy of American Woolen Mill Museum, Ohio)
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The new mill dramatically changed the landscape of Main Street as well as inducing several new store businesses to open in the village. Fire fighting equipment owned by the Linn Woolen Mill was shared by the town’s volunteer fire department and was stored under lock & key at the mill. It was a convenient arrangement until a massive weekend fire at the Fuller-Buck Store at Warren Square in late 1878 forced the town to rethink its equipment and storage strategy when its firefighters were unable to access the equipment locked up at the mill in time to save the building. In 1879, the town built a dedicated Fire Hall on Water Street with its own fire equipment.
Front of Linn Woolen Mill (right w/chimney) & Grist Mill looking West on Main Street from Baptist Church Steeple – c1877
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Linn Woolen Mill seen behind Drug Store from Baptist Church Steeple – c1877
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The original Linn Woolen Mill and its rear addition are seen across the river from the future Hubbard Avenue with its peaked roof over 3 floors along with the catwalk seen crossing to the Grist Mill as drawn in the 1874 insurance rendering above.
Original Linn Woolen Mill – c1877
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In the 1890’s, its more familiar flat roof was added to the rebuilt 3rd story of the original building.
Remodeled former Linn Woolen Mill – c1915
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Upon moving from Dexter to Hartland around 1864, Archibald & Grace Linn soon built a new large and luxurious house on Commercial Street where they resided for the rest of their lives. The original house which had stood on the lot was owned by Sewell E. Prescott as seen on the 1860 Village Map and was likely built by his father, Sewell Prescott, Sr, who had moved to Hartland from Monmouth in the early 1820s.
Archibald & Grace Linn Residence – Commercial Street
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Archibald & Grace Linn were known for their numerous social gatherings at their home including those with family, friends or employees.
Archibald Linn (center) hosting Linn Woolen Mill Employees at his Commercial Street Residence – c1877
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Family & Friends at the Linn Residence on Commercial Street – c1877
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Archibald Linn’s business, real estate and political interests were vast. Along with his successful woolen mill business, he also operated a grist mill and granite quarry. He was a Maine State Senator in 1879-’80 and played a leading role in bringing the Sebasticook & Moosehead Railroad to Hartland in 1886. Linn purchased numerous houses and real estate in Hartland, much of which would later be sold in the Great Auction of 1932. He also donated some 900+ acres of his large land holdings in Harmony on Great Moose Lake for the Wild Goose Club’s Castle Harmony complex built in 1872.
Former Archibald & Grace Linn Residence as later owned by Elmer Burton – c1940
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Work conditions at the woolen mill or any factory in these times were particularly dangerous. Workers performed their tasks under minimal natural light from windows and a few gas lights. There were unprotected drive belts and open machinery parts with numerous accidents reported over the years. One particular deadly accident was reported in the Bangor Whig newspaper as noted:
February 23, 1878: “Isaiah Woodbury (III) was instantly killed on Saturday in Lynn’s Woolen Mill in Hartland, being caught in a belt.”
March 2, 1878: “The reporter says that Mr. Isaiah Woodbury (II), father of the young man who was killed at Linn’s Mills in Hartland, was at work in the woods at the time of the accident, and on the same day had a presentiment of his son’s death. The effect upon his mind created considerable alarm among the men at work with him. He left his work and arrived at his home just as the messenger came to communicate the sad intelligence of his son’s death.”
Isaiah Woodbury III was 36 years old at the time of his death. He was born in Hartland in 1841, the son of Isaiah Woodbury II & Mary “Polly” Cook. He was a Civil War Veteran and had married Mary Nevens. Their daughter Adeline Woodbury would marry Allen R. Burton who would later operate “A. R. Burton & Son” store on Commercial Street.
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Young women made up a large portion of the work force at the Linn Woolen Mill.
Linn Woolen Mill Workers – c1877
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Along with the new woolen mill, Linn also built a storage building on Main Street beside the Drug Store (future Robert E. Latty Hardware Store) and the Linn Woolen Mill Company Office (future Library) on Commercial Street next to his residence. Several new stores had also been built along Commercial Street after he built the mill.
Hartland Village – 1883
(See Maps page for a complete and enlargeable 1883 Map)
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The Great Flood of 1887 caused major damage to numerous Hartland industries located at the Upper Dam and Lower Dam including the Linn Woolen Mill and the John Page & Son Tannery which ended Page’s tannery operations when he sold out a few weeks later to Archibald Linn. Greenville J. Shaw’s Tannery at the Upper Dam had already been dealing with major shortages of a special tree bark key to the tanning process which had threatened to close his operations and the damaging flood was the final event to cause its demise soon after.
Pittsfield Advertiser – May 1887: “The (raceway) dam between Linn’s Mill and the Grist Mill gave way Sunday morning and the vents through the bridge being choked, the water broke across the (Main) street in front of the Grist Mill and the lower end of the dye house gave way on Tuesday. The (Andrew) Buck Store is very insecure, knocked out some of the area supports. The water went into Morrison’s (Carding) Mill, Knowle’s Shop and White’s Blacksmith Shop. The modus operandi in getting from the west side of the Post Office (then at Alden Sampson’s Drug Store) consists of going up into the Grist Mill, climbing over a lot of flour barrels, through a window upon the roof of a shed and then from the lower side by a plank laid across the rushing water. The section of town known as “Georgetown” (Water Street) is more or less submerged. A house owned by Major (James) Fuller (on the dam end of Water Street) is described at an abrupt angle Sunday, the foundation having gradually been worn away. The Boat House at the Upper Dam and a wing dam connecting to the end of (Greenville) Shaw’s Tannery were carried away. Mr. (Amasa) Moor’s Sawmill (Upper Dam) is all right but on Sunday, some 10,000 logs belonging to him went down river.”
St. Paul (Minnesota) Daily Globe – May 6, 1887: “THE FLOOD IN MAINE: The woolen mills and other factories at Hartland are flooded, and five stores there are undermined and fell from their foundations causing great loss. Boats are used to pass along the streets, and hardly a building has escaped. Archibald Linn, the great mill owner, is the heaviest loser. His damage will be over $150,000, it is thought, and two months will be required to get the factory running.”
Linn Woolen Mill & Lower Dam
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As compiled from an 1896 article in the Pittsfield Advertiser, the town of Galashiels, Scotland had an extensive history in the textile industry and furnished five men who had a potent influence in the building of woolen manufacturing mills in Maine including Robert Dobson of Pittsfield (Pioneer Woolen Mill), Archibald Linn of Hartland (Linn Woolen Mill), David Campbell of Sangerville (Dexter Woolen Mill), Lewis Anderson of Skowhegan and Thomas Walker of Warren. All of them became successful woolen manufacturers and took a prominent place in developing the resources of the State and building up their respective localities.
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Linn Manufacturing Company | 1889-1915
Archibald Linn passed away on November 18, 1889 in Thomasville, Georgia where he gone about 6 weeks previously to seek treatment “on account of his feeble health”. He was predeceased by his wife Grace (Wilson) Linn (1819-1884) and interred with her at Ireland Cemetery joining their children Christiana & William and his mother Anne Nicholas (Golden) Linn.
Following his death, the mill’s operations were taken over by his surviving sons, Thomas Archibald Linn, Robert Wilson Linn, Sr and his son-in-law Henry Clay Fuller, the husband of his daughter Mary Isabelle (Linn) Fuller. As noted in Henry’s obituary, he had been hired by Mr. Linn soon after he had married Mary in 1875 when “he was taken into the Linn Office in a confidential capacity, and as he became an expert in wool manufacturing, relieved Mr. Linn of the cares of management for many years.”
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In his Will, Archibald Linn had recommended Henry oversee the business operations with Linn praising Fuller’s management and business skills. Linn also noted his sons Robert W. Linn, Sr and Thomas A. Linn should play major roles in the company. With Archibald’s blessings, Fuller became President & General Manager of the reorganized Linn Manufacturing Company and along with the Linn brothers, led the way for a new woolen mill building addition in 1890.
Linn’s vast real estate holdings throughout Hartland and the surrounding areas and his numerous business interests initially remained under the watch of his Estate Trustees, Greenville Jefferson Shaw of Hartland and General Charles Hamlin of Bangor, son of former Vice-President Hannibal Hamlin.
Summary of Archibald Linn’s Will – December 12, 1889
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Since the 1870s, Archibald Linn had been suggesting in local newspaper article interviews an expansion to his original set of buildings, however a satisfactory location didn’t appear to present itself at the time. That changed a few weeks after the Great Flood of 1887, and the resulting demise of the John Page & Son Tannery on the lower side of the island at the Main Street Dam, when Linn purchased the heavily damaged tannery building and lot for $6,000. Soon after, Linn brought forth a proposal to the town requesting a 10 year tax abatement on a new woolen mill he proposed to build at the former tannery location.
Although Archibald died in November of 1889, a special Town Meeting held in early 1890 granted the proposed tax abatement to the newly formed Linn Manufacturing Company who began demolition and construction soon after. By late September of 1890, the foundation had been completed and within a couple of months, contractor Preston Hersey of Pittsfield had completed initial construction of the new 3 story building measuring 80 feet long x 55 feet wide bordering along Main Street.
The new building was still an empty shell in late 1890 and there was much to do before full scale manufacturing could begin including the addition of a Dye House and a tower to house the large water storage tank for a planned automated sprinkler system.
New Linn Woolen Mill with Water Tower and rear 2 story Dye House additions
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While the new building wasn’t anywhere near ready for manufacturing purposes, it was still cause for a grand celebration by the Linn Manufacturing Company. A local newspaper article noted a large Grand Opening Dedication Ball was held on Friday, January 9, 1891 on the empty 3rd story of the new building to which some 500 people from many area towns attended the lavish event which included a special train run from Pittsfield arranged for the dedication. The 3rd floor was decorated “to present a most brilliant appearance” and featured music by Lougee’s 8 piece orchestra from Bangor for dancing followed by a midnight supper arranged on the 2nd floor. Along with the numerous special guests, each employee of the mill was given a complimentary dance and supper ticket to attend the event.
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In May of 1892, most of the remaining portion of the former Page Tannery lot behind the new mill building was cleared to make way for the planned addition of a 2 story Dye House to the new building. A local newspaper article lamented the old tannery location having been “removed by the march of progress.”
In the midst of preparing the new building for full operations, the company was awarded a large order in 1894 which likely hindered progress to some point at the new mill. “The Linn Woolen Mill in Hartland has received a $25,000 order for shawls from the U. S. Government for the use of Indians on the Reservations in the West.” ~ Pittsfield Advertiser – June 28, 1894
A May 2, 1895 newspaper article indicates progress clearing the entire lot for the new Dye Room addition noted above had been halted as the old chimney, seen in the 1877 photo above, had just been reported being removed. The article reads, “The chimney of the old Page Tannery, which has been a landmark for many years, was undermined and tipped over the other day to make room for the new building of the Linn Woolen Company. Work has commenced on the foundation and will be finished as rapidly as possible.”
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It would take until 1896 before the new building was fully completed as workers put the final touches on the structure including completion of the automated sprinkler system water storage tank. Elevators in the building were noted as already functional and shafting to power machines was being placed as they prepared the building for machinery to begin full-time production within a few months…or so they thought.
February 13, 1896
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The new mill building along with its water tower and dye house are seen in this close-up cropped photo below from the 1896 Map. The Linn Manufacturing Company’s woolen mill operations now expanded across most of the entire Lower Dam area on both sides of Main Street with the new mill replacing the former tannery and some of the stores and blacksmith shops which formerly stood on the lower side of the dam.
Hartland Village – 1896
(See Maps page for a complete and enlargeable 1896 Map)
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Along with the numerous properties inherited from Archibald Linn in 1889, the Linn Manufacturing Company continued to acquire additional real estate holdings over the years throughout Hartland. Among them, they purchased from Greenville Jefferson Shaw in 1898 his razed tannery lot at the Upper Dam and its supporting buildings & lots bordering the Sebasticook River on future North Street.
Shaw Tannery seen from Water Street before it was razed in the early 1890s
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Shaw also sold Maple Place Farms, his former residence on Commercial Street. In 1899, Robert Wilson Linn, Sr moved there with his family.
Former Maple Lane Farms – Commercial Street
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In 1898, the Linn Manufacturing Company also purchased the former Fairgrieves Homestead and property followed by their purchase of the remaining property past the homestead from Miss Caroline Prescott in 1902 effectively splitting future Hubbard Avenue lot into 2 sides with the other side owned by Ensign Hubbard. Soon after, they extended the Main Street entryway past the Fairgrieves Homestead and built 3 nearly identical houses on their property as homes for some of their management employees and their families. By 1923, the former Fairgrieves Homestead was razed and a 4th house was built in its place.
Sanborn Insurance Map – 1917
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What the company could not foresee as they made plans in 1896 to purchase and install machinery at the new building was an abrupt change in the woolen market which forced them to delay a large capitol expenditure for new machinery. Some of their existing machines were moved from the old mill into the basement to enable some production with the rest of the building mostly used for storage. Fortunately for the company, a unique opportunity arose a couple of years later to purchase some used carding and spinning machines allowing the company to finally begin full production throughout their new building soon after.
Linn Woolen Mill Machinery Purchase – February 3, 1899 – The Industrial Journal
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With both mills now operating near full production, the Linn Woolen Company sought to control more of the water flow of the Sebasticook River particularly at the Upper Dam. Water was a vital resource for providing power at their woolen mill operations further downstream and regulating its flow with a rebuilt Upper Dam to meet their needs was a priority for the company. In 1900, they purchased rights to the Upper Dam from Walter H. Moore.
“A year or more ago the Linn Woolen Company purchased from Walter Moor the water power at the Moor Mill, paying a large sum, and now has one of the best powers in the state for its business. Between the Upper Dam and the dam at the Linn Woolen Company’s mill there is quite a mill pool and by regulating the gates at the Upper Dam the head of water on the Linn Company’s wheels is maintained at a given point at all times and there is sufficient amount so that the company will never in all probability be called upon to use steam for power, notwithstanding an immense power is required to run the machinery in both their mills.
The company is now having a new boiler set which will increase the amount of steam available by 100 horse power to be used in dyeing and as needed for other purposes. The company’s business at present is as good probably as most any mill in the state, but the proprietors do not regard the outlook as especially bright. The conditions of the woolen business are not of a very settled character and as a well-known woolen manufacturer remarked Friday, the reputation of a firm does not count now in the sale of goods. It’s the fabric that talks and the mill that banks upon a reputation acquired in the past is wasting valuable time. It’s the mill that meets the demand that gets the orders.” ~ Pittsfield Advertiser – July 4, 1901
Undated Reconstruction at Upper Dam
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The 3 Linn Heirs with their spouses and other Linn Family members posed for an undated photo taken before 1903 on the roof of the new mill. Some of the names are listed on the back of the photo but are not all identified as to match who is who except for the 2 names written on the front identifying Mary Fuller & “Belle” Linn.
Those noted to be in the photo are Thomas Archibald Linn & wife Clarabelle “Belle” (Osborne) Linn, Robert Wilson Linn, Sr & wife Eva (Weymouth) Linn and Mary Isabelle (Linn) & husband Henry Clay Fuller. 2 other unknown couples are only noted on the back as Linn cousins.
Members of the Linn Family pose on the roof of the new Linn Woolen Mill
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It is to be noted as part of the Linn Woolen Mill’s history that the once thriving woolen industry throughout New England was in terrible decline at this time and had induced the creation of the American Woolen Company.
“The American Woolen Company was originally established in 1899 through the consolidation of eight financially troubled New England woolen mills. Overproduction, competition and poor management had brought the New England textile industry to its knees by the 1890s. In particular, family trusts, the main shareholders of many of the mills, insisted on receiving high dividends instead of making necessary capital improvements.”
Linn Woolen Mills from Water Street
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With the addition of the new modern state of the art building which substantially increased their production capabilities, the company was soon able to efficiently compete in a regionally down market and take on more larger and lucrative orders nationally resulting in the addition of an evening shift added to their regular work week.
Pittsfield Advertiser Article – August 16, 1900
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In the Fall of 1900, the Linn Manufacturing Company began construction on an additional building located behind their newly built woolen mill. As noted in an October 27, 1900 newspaper article on its progress, the new 3 story building was 100 feet long x 60 feet wide and was being constructed by Harrison T. Burns of Fairfield. The article noted hard pine timbers were being used in the event heavy machinery might be later moved into the building.
New 3 story rear addition to the Linn Woolen Mill seen from Pittsfield Avenue
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Fuller-Osborne Company
In 1901, Henry Clay Fuller and his son-in-law George Teel Osborne began a new business venture known as the Fuller-Osborne Company. The new company had several business interests including real estate, newspaper printing and a large greenhouse operation on Elm Street. Henry’s brother-in-law Thomas A. Linn would also take part ownership in the company by 1902.
Among the Fuller-Osborne Company’s numerous business ventures, the largest and most successful was the Fuller-Osborne Manufacturing Company which produced skirts and various other clothing items. By 1901, production operations for the company were moved into the new 3 story building built behind the new woolen mill as noted in this Pittsfield Advertiser article from December 12, 1901.
“The entire third floor of the new mill contains the plant of the Fuller-Osborne Manufacturing Company, which is doing an extensive business in manufacturing of ready-made clothing, ladies’ capes, skirts and other lines of goods of this character.”
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Photo noted as “Home of Sebasticook Skirts” taken from the side of Albert W. Miller’s Main Street Drug Store
(Courtesy of Maggie Smith)
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A. W. Miller Drug Store & New Linn Woolen Mill – Main Street – c1903
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“The Scotch Thistle Greenhouses, which have been built by the Fuller-Osborne Company in this village this season are now completed and the growing of flowers of all kinds is progressing finely. The owners of this new enterprise announce that they are now ready to supply anything in this line at short notice. The houses are under the charge of a florist who has had much experience in this work and he knows how to produce the daintiest and sweetest flowers imaginable.” ~ Pittsfield Advertiser – 1901
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On March 11, 1903, Henry Clay Fuller succumbed to his lingering battle with Tuberculosis at 49yrs old at Boston City Hospital where he had gone to seek advanced treatment. In 1904, his widow Mary (Linn) Fuller had the Fuller Mansion built across from their original homestead on Elm Street next to the Scotch Thistle Greenhouse.
Fuller Mansion & Scotch Thistle Greenhouse on right – Elm Street – c1910
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As noted in his 1903 obituary, Henry C. Fuller also personally invested in several other local area business interests. “Several years ago Mr. Fuller, with George Dobson and J. W. Manson of Pittsfield, bought the woolen mill in Newport, which has been successfully operated by them since that time. Of this corporation, Mr. Fuller was the Treasurer and Wool Buyer.”
Newport Woolen Mill – c1905
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Henry Fuller’s death was a devastating loss of leadership for the company. His brother-in-laws, Thomas Archibald Linn & Robert Wilson Linn, Sr, were among the management team to continue operating the Linn Woolen Mills for a few more years.
A 1902 article notes, “Thomas (Linn) was educated in the public schools of Lawrence, Massachusetts, where the family moved when he was a young child, and also attended an Episcopalian school at Portland, Maine. He went into the mills to work at Lawrence when very young, and learned the business of textile manufacturing from bottom to top. He engaged in manufacturing on his own account, and at the present time is Treasurer of the Linn Manufacturing Company, of Hartland, Maine, and is an owner in the Fuller-Osborne Manufacturing Company of the same town. He has taken a leading position among the manufacturers of his section and has done much to make the town of Hartland a busy industrial center.”
Thomas & Clara Belle (Osborne) Linn Residence at Academy & Blake Street
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Linn Woolen Mills from Pittsfield Avenue
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While working conditions improved over the years at the Linn Woolen Mill, employees were far from immune to accidents, many of them fatal.
“Ronald Bean, 24 years old, was fatally scalded in the dye room of the Linn Woolen Mill in Hartland on Friday. Mr. Bean was stirring wool in the dye vat and standing between that vat and one of boiling hot water. In reaching with a fork into the dye vat, he lost his balance and fell backward into the scalding water. He was hastily rescued from the vat, but was so badly scalded that Dr. Jennie Fuller, who was first summoned and who dressed the burns, gave almost no hopes of his recovery and his death resulted Sunday evening. The deceased was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Dana Bean of Harmony who were both hastily summoned after the accident and remained with their son until his death. This is one of the saddest and most terrible accidents to occur in Hartland for many years.” ~ Pittsfield Advertiser – March 23, 1905
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Since opening their clothing manufacturing business in the new 3 story building built behind the new Linn Woolen Mill in 1901, product demand had increased significantly at the Fuller-Osborne Manufacturing Company by 1905 as had their need for additional labor.
Fuller-Osborne Manufacturing Company Help Wanted Ad – 1905
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Officers of the Fuller-Osborne Company in 1907
President – Robert Wilson Linn, Sr | Secretary – Thomas Archibald Linn | Treasurer – George Teel Osborne | Superintendent – Daniel A. Packard
Fuller-Osborne Manufacturing Company Post Card
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The company’s trademark “Sebasticook Walking Skirt” became a very popular fashion item nationally and was in such high demand in 1907 they were unable to fill orders by the end of the year.
Sebasticook Walking Skirt featured in a 1907 Advertisement
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Fuller-Osborne Manufacturing Button
(Photo courtesy of Sam Fuller)
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In 2020, a group of followers from the Hartland Historical Society’s Facebook Group rallied together to purchase an original Sebasticook Walking Skirt manufactured by the Fuller-Osborne Manufacturing Company being offered for sale online then graciously donated it to the Hartland Historical Society for our collection.
Sebasticook Walking Skirt as seen on the online advertisement
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Close Up of the Sebasticook Walking Skirt Details
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“The Panic of 1907 was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange suddenly fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. The panic occurred during a time of economic recession, and there were numerous runs affecting banks and trust companies. The 1907 panic eventually spread throughout the nation when many state and local banks and businesses entered bankruptcy.” ~ Sourced from Wikipedia
It was implied in this article published years later that the “Panic of 1907” had in part led to substantial financial issues soon after for the Linn Woolen Company. On April 15, 1908, they mortgaged ownership of the woolen mills and much of their vast real estate holdings in the area for $146,000 to a group of bond investors referred to as the Linn Woolen Company Mortgage Bond controlled by a Board of Trustees who also took oversight of woolen mill operations.
Published August 1, 1914 – Lewiston Daily Sun
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A detailed description of the real estate holdings mentioned above may be found on the American Woolen Company page.
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The Trustees of the Linn Woolen Company Mortgage Bond were Henry F. Libby, cashier of the First National Bank in Pittsfield, William L. Pushor, cashier of Pittsfield Trust Company and George Merrill Lancey, a cousin by marriage to the Linn Family, who operated a branch of the Waterville Trust Company on Commercial Street in Hartland. Among some of the other investors, the largest was Charles A. Cross, a wealthy businessman from Boston, who also held financial interests in the Fuller-Osborne Manufacturing Company. Cross was also personally associated with Thomas A. Linn and Robert W. Linn.
Linn Woolen Mills from Pittsfield Avenue – Undated
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Production continued in 1908 at the Linn Woolen Mills now under direction of the Trustees of the Linn Woolen Company Mortgage Bond.
Linn Woolen Mills Postcard – c1912
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Although the Linn Woolen Mills were now under new controlling ownership, the Fuller-Osborne Manufacturing Company continued its independent and successful clothing manufacturing business in the 3 story building built behind the new Linn Woolen Mill.
Fuller-Osborne Company Officers on the roof of the new Linn Woolen Mill – 1910
(L-R): Fred Fuller | Percy Butterfield | Jim Young
(Courtesy of Maggie Smith)
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For the next few years, operations continued at the Linn Woolen Mill despite implications of creditor complaints and investor pressures. Production of wool cloth for the Fuller-Osborne Manufacturing Company clothing business was likely a major part of the woolen mill’s business, however articles from May of 1913 also indicated the mills were temporarily operating at half-capacity on a 3 day work week at the time.
Linn Woolen Mills – Main Street – c1912
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On April 21, 1914, Thomas Archibald Linn passed away at 59 years old. Thomas had worked in his father’s woolen mill in Hartland since he was a young man and became Treasurer of the Linn Woolen Company in 1889 holding the position as late as 1910. He had ownership interests in the Fuller-Osborne Company which he also had served as Treasurer.
Thomas A. Linn Obituary
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In August of 1914, the Trustees of the Linn Woolen Company Mortgage Bond closed the Linn Woolen Mill citing a “business depression” although other factors were also speculated to be part of the closure such as pressure for a return on investment from some of the bond investors. Regardless of the reasons, this would mark the last date these mills would operate as the Linn Woolen Mill.
Former Linn Woolen Mill Lower Addition
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With the closure of the Linn Woolen Mills in 1914, operations of the Fuller-Osborne Manufacturing Company were also suspended. As their search for a new location began, they reincorporated in late 1914 as noted in an article of newly formed corporations in New England.
Boston Globe – Published January 4, 1915
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In order to raise more funding for the new company, capital stock shares were publicly offered at $12.50 each.
Fuller-Osborne Company Stock Certificate purchased by Frank Lee Griffith – January 22, 1915
(Donated by the Griffith Family)
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The original embossing tool used by Fuller-Osborne Company for their stock certificate purchase validation.
Fuller-Osborne Company Stock Certificate Embosser
(Photo courtesy of Joe & Christine Lewis)
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100+ years later, the original embosser tool still leaves its clear and distinguished imprint.
Embossing Tool Imprint – Made in 2021
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With the end of operations as the Linn Woolen Mill in 1914, the American Woolen Company, which had been buying up numerous other woolen mills in the area, was about to begin a new era of production and employment in Hartland. Its story is continued on the American Woolen Company page.
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