Barre's Scottish heritage
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Toolbox
By Paul Wood - Published: December 1, 2008
The first Scottish granite workers came in significant numbers to Barre from Aberdeen via America's established granite centers in Quincy, Westerly, Ryegate and coastal Maine in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Some used Canada as a stepping stone into the United States.
Many had heard from friends and family about Barre's granite center not near the ocean that had a drier and perhaps a healthier climate than the coastal centers. In the mid and late 1880s, many came directly from Scotland as letters and trips home spread the word. Most originally came from farms and small villages in the Aberdeenshire after having learned their trade in Aberdeen's granite industry.
As early as the 1730s, Aberdeen had an active granite industry. Aberdeen had relatively easy access to the sea for low-cost shipping of granite.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, many granite quarries were opened throughout Aberdeenshire – mostly yielding building grade granite. Thus Scottish stone worker immigrants were trained as building granite quarrymen and cutters. Not surprisingly, Aberdeen is Scotland's "Granite City," with a large number of granite public, commercial and residential buildings.
The primary motivation for immigration from Scotland to the U.S. was the wages and a more democratic society with a chance for advancement. However, some viewed Barre as too cold in winter, fever-prone in summer, and out of the way. Whereas Barre lacked good water and sewer systems, Aberdeen had an enhanced water supply by 1830 and an underground sewer system by 1865.
By 1890, Scots made up about 20 percent of Barre's population, including quarrymen from the Scottish Highlands (the northwestern half of Scotland) in Graniteville and Websterville. Scottish immigrants often arrived in groups of two or three brothers, as well as sisters and cousins – usually in steerage. They endeavored to quickly become citizens and to bring over family members.
Initially quarrying was a major focus of Scots in Barre. George Milne, an early Scottish granite entrepreneur, married the daughter of Eliphalet Hewett, one of Barre's granite quarry pioneers. Scots became the owners of some of Barre's largest and most important quarries and finishing plants. In addition, Scots were active in both the local branch of the Granite Cutters' International Union (established in 1886) and the Granite Manufacturers' Association of Barre (organized in 1889).
Scottish owners of small and medium-sized companies often worked alongside their former "butties" and did the office work at night or on weekends.
The first Scottish granite shed, owned by George C. Mackie and J.C. Simpson, was established in 1880. The statue of the Alonzo Fisher Monument in Elmwood Cemetery, the first sculpted granite figure erected in a Barre cemetery, was carved ca. 1894 in Mackie's shed.
Scotch-owned quarries included Barclay Brothers, Alex E. Bruce, Gamble & Young, Mackie & Simpson, Marr & Gordon, Milne & Wyllie, and James K. Pirie. Scotch-owned sheds included Barclay Brothers, Bruce Brothers, Gamble & Young, Garrow & Rose, Alexander Gordon, Littlejohn, Odgers & Milne, C.W. MacMillan, Mackie & Hussey, Mackie & Simpson, Marr & Gordon, McDonald & Buchan, William Milne, Mortimer & McKenzie, George Rose, and Young Brothers.
Aberdeen contributed many granite working technologies to the Barre granite industry. With plentiful local granite and the nearby English development of the steam engine by Thomas Newcomen and James Watt, it is not surprising that Aberdeen pioneered in applying the steam engine to working granite.
Alexander MacDonald of Aberdeen introduced many steam-powered machines for granite working, including a steam-powered polisher, gang saw, and lathe. In 1832, using power from a steam engine in a neighboring comb factory, MacDonald manufactured a polished tombstone of Aberdeen granite. About 1834, he developed a steam-powered polisher that used sand and water abrasive and had an iron polishing head. MacDonald also invented a steam-powered pendulum frame (gang) saw.
John Fyfe opened the Kemany Quarry (20 miles northwest of Aberdeen) in 1858. Fyfe opened other Aberdeenshire quarries, mostly deep pit quarries because it was found that the deeper the quarry the better the quality of stone. Fyfe introduced the "Scotch steam derrick" (a stiff-leg derrick) to lift the quarried stone from these deep pits. Fyfe was also an early adopter of the traveling steam crane (locomotive crane) for moving granite in stone yards and among stone sheds.
Marr & Gordon installed ca. 1884 the earliest overhead traveling crane in Barre – manually-operated and based on Scottish designs. Scotch-owned granite companies were also the earliest users of pneumatic tools in Barre. In 1892, pneumatic tools made by the American Pneumatic Tool Co. were first used at Marr & Gordon and then at Barclay Bros. Barre returned the technology favor by introducing the pneumatic carving tool to Aberdeen. William Christie, who came from Aberdeen to Barre in 1886, returned to Aberdeen in 1894 as an agent of the Clement Pneumatic Tool Co. of Philadelphia. In 1896, the Alexander MacDonald Co. was the first in Aberdeen to install a proper pneumatic plant under Christie's direction.
A majority of Scots were Presbyterian but some joined the Congregational Church, which was very similar to the non-ritualistic denominations of the Presbyterian Church. In 1889, a Presbyterian Church was established and Scottish stoneworkers laid granite for the church foundation. A Presbyterian Church was established in Graniteville whose membership was mostly Highland Scotch. The Graniteville church bell has a Gaelic inscription – an incomprehensible foreign language to most lowlanders of Aberdeen!
Clan Gordon No. 12 (of the Fraternal Order of Scottish Clans) was established in Barre in 1884 with help from Scotsmen from the granite centers of Quincy and South Ryegate.
The Clan was a social society with three main objectives: (1) to retain affection for the Scottish land, history and traditions, (2) to provide a mutual aid fund for funeral benefits, and (3) to uphold the institutions and laws of their adopted land – the United States.
The Robert Burns Monument, Barre's most famous, was erected in 1899 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the death of Burns and honoring Scottish contributions to Barre. The monument was commissioned by the Burns Club, which held an annual Burns birthday party on Jan. 25. It was sculpted by Scotsmen J. Massey Rhind and James B. King. The granite came from the Barclay Quarry and was carved by two of Barre's most celebrated artists – the statue by Samuel Novelli and the base panels by Elia Corti.
Ladies of Clan Gordon (established in 1898) created a mutual aid program for health insurance and funeral benefits. Almost all members were married to, widows of, or children of granite workers. Dr. W.D. Reid who had been physician for Clan Gordon since 1888 became official physician for the Ladies of Clan Gordon in 1898. Three dollars per week was paid to any lady certified sick by Reid. Benefits were paid for broken bones, influenza, surgery, cancer, and back injuries. Reid was paid $1 per member per year and for this he agreed to visit any sick member within three miles of downtown Barre.
Favorite Scottish foods included oatmeal, oat cakes, scones, "stovies" (potatoes with onions and gravy fried on the stove), barley soup, chicken with oatmeal dressing (oatmeal, shortening and onions), and shortbread. Scones and oat cakes were a common everyday fare but shortbread was for special occasions only. Oat cakes could be purchased at most general stores in Barre. It has been observed humorously that "in England oats are fed to horses; in Scotland oats are fed to Scotsmen." Scottish "Hogmany" (New Year's Eve) was the most important Scottish holiday and, by tradition, the first visitor to enter a Scotch house on Hogmany had to have a gift in hand (often food) else there would be a year of bad luck.
The Scotch of Barre attended concerts, highland dancing, and picnics. The high-spirited young Scots liked to pull various stunts and pranks and participated in a number of athletic events including sack races, hammer throw, stone put, jumping, curling, caber toss, weight throw, weight over the bar, and sheaf toss.
The annual Clan Gordon picnic was held in Caledonia Park – a short distance off the Barre-Montpelier Road. In the early 1900s, the Scots could ride a trolley from Barre to the picnic. William Barclay Jr. used to come to the picnic with a bag full of dimes that he gave out to the children – this alone made it worthwhile for them to attend the picnic!
Although there was a Scotch neighborhood in Barre humorously called "Oatmeal Flats" (near Circle St.), Barre did not tend to have Scottish districts since the Scots integrated easily into the existing Yankee population and were welcomed into guest rooms in private homes. Bachelors and married men with family elsewhere stayed in boarding houses whereas men with families stayed in tenement houses. Later, home ownership increased and perhaps George Mackie set an example by his own mansion with a Scotch castle-like turret (located behind the old Spaulding School) that other Scots could aspire to home ownership. Nelson St., Barre's "mansion row," includes the stately homes of George Milne and Barclay on large landscaped lots.
Many Scottish women earned income from a few empty rooms by boarding granite workers. About 13 percent of Barre boardinghouse keepers were Scottish-born women. Many were widows of granite workers who had succumbed to silicosis. Clan Gordon and the Granite Cutters' Union placed boarders in the homes of women who needed income. Boardinghouse keepers earned about $15 per month per boarder in 1906. A room had a bed, a chair, and a place to hang clothes. Board consisted of three meals per day (including lunch packed in a bucket) plus laundry.
The Scotch have placed their indelible stamp on the business and culture of Barre. It is certain that the Barre granite industry would not have reached its high level of fame and success without the hard work and business acumen of the Scotch granite worker.
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