George C. Ewing

George Clinton Ewing (March/April 1810[lower-alpha 1] – July 16, 1888)[6][7][8] was a salesman, wainwright, land agent, superintendent, assessor, selectman, state representative, and most notably one of the chief founders of Holyoke, Massachusetts; he is credited as having first brought the idea of building a dam and industrial city at Hadley Falls to investors in Boston, New York, Hartford, and St. Johnsbury, Vermont in 1846.[11][12][13]:31

George Clinton Ewing
Member, Board of Directors of Holyoke National Bank
In office
1872
Vice President of the Board of the Holyoke Public Library
In office
1870-1871[1]:48
Selectman of Holyoke
In office
1869-1870[2]
Superintendent of Holyoke Public Schools
In office
1867-1869[3][4]
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office
1852
Assessor of Holyoke
In office
1851[5]
Personal details
BornMarch/April, 1810[6][7][lower-alpha 1]
Hudson, New York
DiedJuly 16, 1888(1888-07-16) (aged 78)[8]
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Political partyWhig Party[9]
Prohibition Party[10]
Spouse(s)Lydia Ann Stillwell (m. 1834-1854; her death)
Children5[7]
Signature

Personal life

Ewing was born in Hudson, New York on a day in March or April 1810 to Noble and Miriam (née Wolcott) Ewing.[6][7] Early in his life, Ewing travelled to many locations, opening wainwright shops in Walpole, New Hampshire, Westminster, Vermont, and Littleton, New Hampshire.[6] By the age of 30, he and his family had relocated to New York City where he became an associate of the Fairbanks Scale Company, serving as both a maker of scales and subsequently as a sales representative.[7]

Founding of the Hadley Falls Company

As a salesman for Fairbanks, Ewing travelled across the United States, Europe, and even Russia to expand the company's market.[14] During his travels he had a chance to see the new dam and canals constructed at Lowell, and by 1846 had noticed that a 60-foot drop in the Connecticut River, at what would be Hadley Falls, would serve as an ideal location for a similar project.[15][16] Having served many mills across the country as customers, Ewing was familiar not only with their operations but with their financiers as well. Although the company left the project soon after land was amassed, the Fairbanks Scale Company was largely responsible for the initial charter and water rights of the Hadley Falls Company. Ewing, having personally known Erastus Fairbanks,[17] was able to convince him and a number of backers from Boston, Hartford, and New York to charter the company tasked with building a new planned industrial city.[2][16] In March 1847 Ewing was appointed land agent and transferred 37 acres to the company, with very little resistance from the farmers whose land he had purchased.[2] By the time Holyoke was chartered as a municipality this number had reached 1,300 acres.[11] The one farmer who pushed back against the effort was one Sam Ely, who "declar[ed] that he would not sell to the 'cotton lords' of the Hadley [Falls] Company 'if they covered the entire field with gold dollars.' Finding no support from his contemporaries, Ely delayed sale of his land, but ultimately sold as well.[18]:5–6

Labor disagreements and resignation

While Ewing, Fairbanks, and their associates were responsible for the conception of the Hadley Falls Company, their direct involvement in Holyoke's founding was cut short when Ewing severed ties as a company agent. Even during his time with the enterprise, Ewing had misgivings with his partners, the Boston Associates, including a decision to pay the dam's laborers 75 cents a day rather than the 85 cents they were initially promised; for the time he remained with the project Ewing paid the difference out of his own personal funds.[13]:34 A devout Christian, he fervently believed Sundays were a day of rest. When dam laborers were forced to work on Sundays, a strike broke out which was met with response from the state militia; it was not until a Catholic priest was brought from Springfield that the standoff was resolved. Finding fault with the actions of the company, Ewing and Fairbanks resigned from the enterprise thereafter.[14][18][19] Their decision to leave the business proved sound when a series of poor design and construction decisions by the associates led to the very first dam washing down the Connecticut River within hours of its gates closing.[20][21][22]

Political career

Throughout his life Ewing had a varied political career of many positions both in Holyoke, and as a figure in Massachusetts politics. In his early political career he remained active in the Whig Party, serving as a delegate in at least one of the party's conventions in Boston.[9] Having founded a Temperance Society in the city's earliest days,[23] following the Whig Party's dissolution, Ewing became identified with the Prohibition Party.[10]

In Holyoke, Ewing remained an ardent advocate of not only the city's development but also for reform of its labor, seeking to "bridge the growing gulf between the established and working classes",[18]:43 through such proposals as shorter hours for workers. One of the reforms he proposed was a law that would use state funds to compensate families whose children were attending school for the wages they would have made from working during that time; the motion lacked any political support.[18]:31 However, as superintendent of Holyoke's public schools from 1867 to 1868, he was able to successfully start an evening school program which proved a marked success; in 1868 there were 20 pupils in this program, by 1879 the number had grown to 300.[24]

Among his many various positions in Holyoke civic life, Ewing served as an assessor in 1851, and a justice of the peace in 1855.[25] In 1852 he served as a state representative to the Massachusetts General Court, the only official state office he held.[26] Prior to its incorporation as a city, Ewing served as one of its selectmen from 1869 to 1870.[2] When the Holyoke National Bank was founded in 1872, Ewing would serve as a member of its first board of directors.[7][2]:927

Believing in prohibition for much of his life, Ewing was initially selected to run on the gubernatorial ticket of the Prohibition Party in 1878, but objected "the party ought to head the ticket with a bigger man than [himself], unless they prefer some one who isn't very well known".[27] Ultimately the party selected Alonzo Ames Miner, Tufts University's second president to head the ticket instead. Ewing would run unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in the gubernatorial race of 1878, receiving only 2,117 votes or 0.83% of the final count.[28]

Later life and death

George Ewing was a Congregationalist, serving as a lay preacher even into his later years for the Second Congregational Church of Holyoke, which he had joined in 1864. In his final years he wrote a history of the city to be published by its YMCA, which he proclaimed to the secretary of that chapter as well as his son, George Ewing Jr., would be his "last work".[7] George Ewing died between the hours of six and seven on the evening of July 16, 1888; he was 78 years old.[7]

Ewingville
A section of a map of Ireland Parish, Holyoke, showing Ewingville as well as those properties owned by George C. Ewing, abbreviated "G.C.E."
The George C. Ewing House; built before 1870,[29] this Italianate structure was moved to its present site in 1925 during the construction of Our Lady of the Holy Cross Catholic Church.[30]

In addition to purchasing land for the company, Ewing purchased a section of land for himself in an area between the Highlands and downtown Holyoke. With a patchwork of parcels owned by others, Ewing's large tract of land extended from west of Linden Street to Northampton Street; as far south as the present location of Forestdale Cemetery, and as far north as Beacon Avenue.[31] Among his developments to that area, Ewing built four Italianate tenements along Dwight Street, connecting it from the Hadley Falls Company's grid to Northampton Street, a major thoroughfare.[14]

Ewing constructed his own home there as well; the George C. Ewing House is a large brick Italianate structure with triangular windows and a brick cornice, built sometime before 1870.[29] Following Ewing's death the building was sold to the Highland Parish in 1895 and used as a rectory until the house was moved to its present location in 1925 with the construction of the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church.[13]:83[30][32]

See also

Notes
  1. The sources cited dispute Ewing's month of birth.

References
  1. Copeland, Alfred Minot, ed. (1902). "The City of Holyoke and the Factors in its History". "Our county and its people" : A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts. III. The Century Memorial Publishing Company. pp. 1–122. OCLC 5692695963.
  2. "Holyoke". History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. II. Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts; Press of J.B. Lippincott and Co. 1879. p. 917. OCLC 866692568. In the autumn of 1846, George C. Ewing, of the firm Fairbanks & Co., of New York, began negotiations for the property at this point, which at the close of three months were finally and satisfactorily concluded, and the transfer of about 37 acres was made in March, 1847. Soon after, the property of the Hadley Falls Company, and the mills mentioned above, were also purchased by Mr. Ewing, and thus he succeeded in accomplishing what others had failed in. Mr. Ewing is still a resident of Holyoke, and may justly point with pride to the success of his mission, which added another flourishing city to the constellation that has rendered the commonwealth of Massachusetts famous both at home and abroad.
    The first company was incorporated for the development of Fairbanks & Co., of which firm Mr. Ewing was a member, together with a number of Boston and Hartford capitalists... The Messrs. Fairbanks withdrew from the enterprise in January, 1848, when Mr. Ewing resigned
  3. "New England News Items–Hampden County". Springfield Republican. June 3, 1867. p. 4. George C. Ewing has been chosen superintendent of the public schools at Holyoke, in place Dr L. F. Humeston, resigned
  4. "Intelligence". Editor's Department. The Massachusetts Teacher. XXI (4): 189. May 1868. Holyoke. George C. Ewing has been re-elected Superintendent of Schools
  5. "Town Elections, April 7". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Massachusetts. April 9, 1851. p. 2. Holyoke—...Assessors, George C. Ewing, Abraham Jones, Jr.
  6. Cutter, William Richard; Adams, William Frederick (1951). Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts. II. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 894. OCLC 1547995.
  7. "G. C. Ewing of Holyoke Dead". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Massachusetts. July 17, 1888. p. 5.
  8. "Lineage Chart for Living Ewing [MS, Group 1*]" (PDF). Ewing Family Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  9. "Whig Supper at Holyoke". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Massachusetts. November 20, 1851. p. 2. The following is the list of delegates, chosen by the Whigs of Holyoke, to attend the Webster Convention, at Boston: C.B. Rising, Otis Holmes, Geo. C. Ewing...
  10. "State Conventions and State Nominations". Springfield Republican. XXVIII. September 12, 1878. p. 2. The prohibitionists were in council at Worcester...after some discussion Geo. C. Ewing of Holyoke was nominated by acclamation as candidate for lieutenant-governor...
  11. Warner, Charles F.; Johnson, Clifton, eds. (1891). Picturesque Hampden. Picturesque Massachusetts Series. Part II - West. Northampton, Mass.: Picturesque Publishing Company. p. 10. OCLC 70679168. In 1847, George C. Ewing, a salesman for the Fairbanks Scale Company of St. Johnsbury, Vt., and who in his journeyings up and down the valley had acquired considerable familiarity with the region, became impressed with the idea that at the South Hadley falls was one of the largest available water powers in the country, going to waste. He interested his employers in the scheme of building a dam here, and shortly had brought up 1,100 acres of land on the present site of Holyoke. The total number of acres was afterwards increased to 1,300.
  12. Breitbart, Myrna Margulies, ed. (2016). "'There are Only Three Cities in the World, Holyoke, Paris, and New York'". Creative Economies in Post-Industrial Cities: Manufacturing a (Different) Scene. Routledge. The idea for the city originated with George C. Ewing, a traveling salesman who sold scales and knew of the mills in Lowell, Massachusetts and along the Blackstone canal in Rhode Island.
  13. Harper, Wyatt E. (1973). The Story of Holyoke. Centennial Committee of the City of Holyoke. OCLC 8060402.
  14. "What Is Going on at Holyoke- Anecdotes of George C. Ewing". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Massachusetts. July 22, 1888. p. 6.
  15. https://archive.org/stream/storyofholyoke00harp#page/32/mode/2up
  16. Della Penna, Craig P. (1997). Holyoke. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 9-10. ISBN 9780738586571.
  17. Goodell, C. L. (January 1867). "Erastus Fairbanks". The Congregational Quarterly. IX (1): 11. George C. Ewing, a merchant in Philadelphia, writes: — 'It was my privilege for many years to enjoy his intimate friendship, and he was ever an affectionate, tender, sympathizing friend.'
  18. Hartford, William Francis (1983). Paper City: Class Development in Holyoke, Massachusetts (PhD). University of Massachusetts.
  19. Copeland, Alfred Minot, ed. (1902). "The City of Holyoke and the Factors in its History". "Our county and its people" : A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts. III. The Century Memorial Publishing Company. p. 71. OCLC 5692695963. Early in January, 1848, the Fairbanks interest was withdrawn from the concern, Mr. Ewing resigned
  20. Holland, Josiah Gilbert (1855). History of Western Massachusetts; the counties of Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire. Springfield, Mass.: Samuel Bowles. pp. 76–77. The first matter to be attended to, was the construction of a dam. This was completed in 1848, and constructed upon so poor a plan, or in so poor a manner, that it was swept away within a few hours after the gates were shut
  21. Nutting, George M. (1937). Massachusetts; a guide to its places and people. Cambridge: The Riverside Press. p. 249. In 1848 a $75,000 dam was completed, and on the same day it was swept away by the terrific pressure, incorrectly calculated, of the water behind it. The story is said to have been graphically told in a series of telegrams directed to the Boston office: 10 A.M. Gates just closed: water filling behind dam. 12 A.M. Dam leaking badly.2 P.M. Stones of bulkhead giving way to pressure. 3.20 P.M. Your old dam's gone to hell by Way of Willimansett.
  22. McWilliams, Mark, ed. (2015). Food & Markets: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2014. London: Prospect Books. p. 277. OCLC 908992067. By 1847, the Hampden Freeman reported... a salesman named George C. Ewing, from the Fairbanks Scale & Company of St. Johnsbury, Vermont had organized a group of Boston venture capitalists and obtained a charter from the Massachusetts Legislature in the winter of 1847–1848 under the relicensed Hadley Falls Company. The company's plan was to build a dam across the Connecticut River, between Ireland Parish and South Hadley Falls village on the east. Ewing was appointed as land agent for the Hadley Falls Company, and began the task of acquiring riverfront farmland on the Ireland Parish flats. The newly formed development company also purchased the land and business of the Locks and Canal works in South Hadley that had been facilitating passage of riverboat traffic since 1796. The... Company, backed by Boston investors, secured water rights with the purchase of 1,100 acres on both sides of the river in 1848 and immediately began the design and building of the largest dam in the country. After a failed initial effort that sent $40,000 worth of timber and building materials down the river in a spectacular disaster, a second dam was successfully completed in 1849.
  23. "Summary of News". Springfield Republican. September 10, 1851. p. 2. A Temperance Society has been lately organized at Holyoke, George C. Ewing, President
  24. "The Education Weekly" (108). March 20, 1879: 123. The evening schools were started at Holyoke in 1868 by George C. Ewing when he was superintendent. That winter's attendance was 20 girls; this winter's attendance numbered 300 pupils with 17 teachers. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  25. The Massachusetts Register and United States Calendar for the Year of Our Lord 1855. Richardson, Lord & Holbrook, and James Loring. 1855. p. 66.
  26. "List of the Civil Government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Officers Immediately Connected Therewith for the Political Year 1852". Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts in the Year 1852. Boston: White & Potter: 341. 1852. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  27. "[George C. Ewing]". Springfield Republican. August 14, 1878. p. 4. The 'stalwart' prohibitionists appear to have settled down upon George C. Ewing of Holyoke as their candidate for governor of Massachusetts. They have been searching the files of the Boston papers of late to see what Mr. Ewing said while in the Legislature, years ago, and have found one or two speeches which are to be used as campaign documents. Mr Ewing himself says that the party ought to head the ticket with a bigger man than he is, unless they prefer some one who isn't very well known. If Mr Ewing contributes generously to the campaign funds, he will probably vindicate the reasons for his nomination.
  28. "[Results for Election of Lieutenant Governor]". Journal of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Boston: Rand, Avery, & Co.: 12 January 2, 1879. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  29. "Holyoke, Massachusetts" (Map). Atlas of Hampden County, Massachusetts. F.W. Beers. 1870.
  30. "Knotty Problems in Moving Buildings- Louis Turgeon of Holyoke Has Been at it 40 Years and Knows Some Tricks—Took Four Months to Move a New York Church". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Massachusetts. February 5, 1925. p. 7.
  31. Allyn, George H. (1912). Thirtieth Anniversary Sketch, Holyoke Daily Transcript, 1882-1912. The Transcript Publishing Co. p. 19. OCLC 24571746. Several houses were also built on Hampden street. In this vicinity the section came to be known as Ewingville from George C. Ewing, who had owned most of the land west of Linden street to Northampton street as far north as the south line of Beacon avenue.
  32. Dawson, Devon (2004). Holyoke. Arcadia. p. 59.
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