crow hill

The Brickyard at Crow Hill prepared for the Worcester Historical Museum http://www.worcesterhistory.org/ the Greater Worcester Land Trust http://www.gwlt.org/  by Therese Boucher

crow hill brick 1895 AW Howes 1447

crow hill brick 1895 by AW Howes

Earliest Records

The earliest records of the Crow Hill brickyard are associated with Ebenezer Dana, son Ebenezer Beaman Dana and son George Dana. The elder Dana (b.1783) moved from Oxford to Worcester, where his second marriage occurred in 1841. The 1850Census list 5 brickmakers living with the Danas, who are farmers. The brickmakers were all Canadian: Peter Major, John Champney, Levi Pronteau, Andrew Russell and John Defo (all born from 1829 to 1831).

Both the 1854 and the 1859 City Directories list Ebenezer Beaman Dana (the son) as a brick manufacturer. The 1860 Census entry for this family lists the elder Ebenezer as a farmer with land valued at $6,000, and his sons, Ebenezer Beaman Dana (b.1828) and George Dana. On this census, there are also eight brick workers listed with the Danas: Francis Gib, Stephen Dag, Joseph Brothers, Leander Devard, Jerome Lambert, John Graham (from Ireland), Antoine Coleman (from Ireland) and Augustus Pino. All of the workers listed with the Danas are from Quebec (Lower Canada), with two exceptions. I am assuming that the designation “manufacturer” could mean: foreman, business owner, operations manager, or landowner; but not necessarily all of these.

According to maps located in the Worcester Library, the Dana land seems to extend from at least Dell Ave to Amanola St., and from Plantation St. to Dana Ave. References to the Dana brickyard can be found on Worcester city maps dating from at least 1871to the 1920s. The naming of Dana Rd. and Ebenezer St. offer further evidence of the boundaries of the brickyard. Worcester city directories from 1865, 1867, 1871, 1878 , 1885 list the Dana Brothers (E. Beaman and George) as brick makers with a home on Plantation St near Division. It was during these years that we find maps designating George Dana as the owner of the brickyard area, perhaps after his father’s death.

The 1880 census lists Ebenezer and George as brick manufacturers, Henry Hammell (from Vermont) as a teamster for the brickyard and eight brick makers: the first, Joseph Duprey is from Maryland and the rest from Quebec. They are Daniel Boulder, Leonis Sonkee (sp?), Eli Prou, Lasalle Brikkea (sp?), Joseph Boucher?, Abraham Lubroe (Le Beau?) and Napolean Lubroe. By 1885 George is still living on the property, but is not listed as a brick manufacturer. The only listing is for a John Morse with an office at nearby 84 Bloomingdale St., in the same business location as the next owner, Edmund Paqette. Since John Morse is only found in one city directory, his involvement seems doubtful or at least short-lived.

Brickyard source Doc5French Canadian Ownership at Crow Hill

In 1890 the Worcester business directory lists Edmund Paquette as the sole manufacturer at the brickyard, or at least the only one who advertised. In the following year, 1891, we find three separate listings under “Brick Manufacturers and Dealers”. They are Boucher & Bourgarde, plus Mercier & Dounaie and Edmund Paquette. All three entities are listed as being on Plantation St with business space, or perhaps an area where brick “hakes” could be stored, at 84 Bloomingdale, near the railroad tracks.The History of St Joseph’s Church by Desautels documents the 1891 use of “bricks from the brickyard of Paquette, Beauregard, Boucher and Charpentier as being used in the building of the new church and schoolDesautel’s book also includes an 1895 photo of “an old brickyard on Bloomingdale Road.” 

It is difficult to speculate on the relationships between so many brick manufacturers, or the ways in which they related to the business community in Worcester. Some time between 1890 and 1900 a crisis hit the brick making business on Crow Hill. A Connecticut company changed their operation, so that they could fire bricks with manufactured gas instead of firewood. This meant that they could reduce the price of finished brick, to the point where bricks from the Crow Hill manufactures were no longer competitive. This was the scenario, which led Joseph Boucher to become full partner  (with Paquette) and probably led Mercier, Dounaie and Bouregarde to drop out. There is no other evidence of their ownership or involvement beyond this one listing in the 1891 Directory.

An ad in the 1901 city directory lists only Boucher and Paquette as owners. At this point there was also a recession in the US and Canada, so Joseph’s solution was to recruit unemployed men back in St. Philippe, load them into leased baggage cars, and send them to Worcester via Nashua, NH. So this is why the 1900 census for 178 Plantation St. lists thirty-four brickyard workers in residence. The Census listing for this house also includes Boucher, Paquette, and Bourgarde as heads of families. There is strong evidence that workers lived in the large front house and the families of brick manufacturers lived in a separate, smaller building in the rear.

Boucher family explorations seem to indicate the remnants of a house’s foundation on the property behind the buildings on Plantation St. There is also evidence of a small office, as well. The house at 178 Plantation St. is now adjoined by at least two or three smaller buildings . Further research is needed on the location of buildings. It is also important to note that the barn, which housed over twenty horses, and probably some manufacturing equipment, was converted to a large brown house that still stands between 178 Plantation and the tiny brick house where Joseph Boucher’s oldest son, Joseph, lived. One of Joseph’s daughters remembers the Boucher and Paquette men forming a shoulder to shoulder barrier between the French and Polish brickyard workers as they collected their pay and jostled each other to get their money and be on their way to spend it in downtown Worcester. Joseph also made a little money by selling them liquor on their day off.

By 1907 Joseph Boucher is listed as the sole owner of a flourishing brickyard that continued until 1916, when WWI dried up the supply of cheap labor. In 1917 Joseph sold the brickyard for $22,000 and moved to 15 Division St. where he founded “J. Boucher & Sons Milk Company”. To supplement income from the dairy operation, he used the wood-cutting equipment from the brickyard to cut firewood for his milk delivery customers. In his will, before his death in 1934, he left the dairy to his sons, Louis and Salime Boucher.

Recent History

Boucher family records indicate that the Crow Hill brickyard was later taken over by the Worcester Brick Co , although the exact years for this manufacturer are unknown. Entries for the Worcester Brick Co, Inc can be found in City Directories for 1927, 1930 and 1931-32. We do not know about the time period from 1917 to 1930, except that no brick manufacturers are listed in 1922 or 1924. A search of the years from 1932 to 1948 yields one last brick manufacturer, Worcester Clay Brick Company in the year 1940. An Ernest J. Langloise is also listed at the same address, 188 Plantation St. It is interesting to note that Mr. Langloise next door neighbors were E.(Ebenezer?) Beaman Dana, and Joseph E. Boucher. History had come full circle!

It is not in the scope of this paper to list all the owners of the brickyard property, although it is tempting to say that most of the land seems to have been idle since the 1940s. At some time, part of the land was sold off to create Robin Rd.

Most recently, Crow Hill was listed in the top ten sites for acquisition in the City’s 1987 Open Space plan. Shortly after that time, the brickyard property was acquired by the Greater Worcester Land Trust. On August 3rd, 2005, an outdoor meeting was held at Crow Hill summit to discuss plans to protect this area. Specific concerns about new development adjacent to the conservation land were discussed. Representatives of Mass Audubon and Greater Worcester Land Trust  were at the meeting. Trails to the summit were flagged, and can be accessed from Dartmouth Street.  Basic conservation work continues onsite.

Features of the Brickyard

Brickmaking was possible on Crow Hill because of a geologic feature that was formed by the glaciers 10,000 years ago. The one-time exposed, white hardpan clay escarpment is a significant geological formation in and of itself. It remains today at the heart of the property on Crow Hill that is being preserved by the Greater Worcester Land Trust. Evidence of the brickyard can still be found on the property, through large boulders that, at one time, lined the road from Plantation St. to Clarendon St. Also, remnants of the drawing pits were visible up to ten years ago. What looks like a well was also found on a Boucher family expeditions in November 2006 and 2007. Most artifacts discovered at that time, and during Earth Day cleanups by the Greater Worcester Land Trust, were close to the surface and included bricks, thick glass or metal bowls for eating. Since then the Bouchers have found tar paper and flashing from roofs, the foundation of one owner’s house, slag, the location of the drying floors and strapping from a small kiln. Photographs of some of these items, and of brickyard workers from the turn of the century, are available.

Both wooden and stone/brick structures can be seen on old maps; but evidence of brickmaking buildings is rare because of the makeshift quality of wooden structures.

The brick-making process 

The first step is mining the clay, at first by hand, and then after 1879, it may have
been done by steam shovel. Mining was done in autumn. Then during the winter, the clay was exposed to the weather so that the freeze-thaw cycle could break down the clay. In some cities it was then ground into powder.

The second step is preparing the clay and screening out stones. Clay was placed
into a soaking pit (or pug mill) where it was mixed with water to obtain the right consistency. This was also called tempering or pugging. In the mid-1800’s it could have been done by hand with paddles or with horse driven pug mills. Then it was “drawn” out.

The third step is moulding, done at a table for twelve to fourteen hours, resulting
in 3,500 to 5,000 bricks in a day. The molder would take a clot of clay, roll it in sand and “dash” it into the sanded mould. Then it would be taken to a drying area.

The fourth step is drying, and involved laying “green,” or raw, bricks in the sun, and turning them after two days. Drying might also take place in a drying shed, drying tunnel, or a section of the property set aside as a drying yard. Later the bricks were re-stacked for more drying.

The fifth step is firing the bricks in a kiln. Fired bricks could be used as an outer wall for the kiln. Wood and coal were used for fuel. The firing temperature was low for a day or two, until moisture escaped. Then the bricks were heated for as much as two weeks at temperatures of 1800 degrees F. Then, of course, they were sorted and piled in brick stacks called hakes, until they were hauled away by horse cart. A small office may have been a part of the selling end of the operation.

 

Author’s Postscript

I would like to thank everyone who has provided information and inspiration, especially Gerry Boucher (1928 – 2006), who functioned as the keeper of family records and the teller of family stories. Gerry even brought some rudimentary tools into the brickyard a few years ago, so he could make a brick on the property, just like his grandfather. I would also thank Richard Boucher, author of an earlier article, Marianne and Travis Boucher, neighborhood family guides, Susan Fenner and Pamela Dietz, who acted as research assistants, and David Beale, a nephew with archeology experience.

 

Resources

VIDEO: The Last Brickmaker in America starring Sidney Poitier, Empire Home Entermtainment, 2008

Making, Baking, and Laying Bricks – Colonial Williamsburg website

http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/trades/tradebri.cfm

Machines for Making Bricks in America, 1800-1850 Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association, Inc., The,  Jun 2006  by Pulice, Michael

Up Against the Wall –Archeology Field Guide — information about age, color, size and making of bricks

http://www.buffaloah.com/a/DCTNRY/mat/brk/vogel/index.html

(RecommendedBrickmaking History (lots of photos) http://brickcollecting.com/history.htm