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Page 31
From that time the growth of the city has been rapid. In 1860, there
were 13,395 inhabitants; in 1870, 18,547; in 1880, 21,785; to-day there
are probably 24,000. The Honorable Hosea Ilsley was the second mayor; he
was succeeded by the Honorable Frank B. Fay, in 1861; by the Honorable
Eustace C. Fitz, in 1864; by the Honorable Rufus S. Frost, in 1867; by
the Honorable James B. Forsyth, M.D., in 1869; by the Honorable John W.
Fletcher, in 1871; by the Honorable Charles H. Ferson, in 1873; by the
Honorable Thomas Green, in 1876; by the Honorable Isaac Stebbins, in
1877; by the Honorable Andrew J. Bacon, in 1879; by the Honorable Samuel
P. Tenney, in 1881; by the Honorable Thomas Strahan, the present mayor,
in 1883.
[Illustration: FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.]
In 1849, the railway connected Chelsea with Boston, and in 1857 the
horse-cars commenced running.
During the Rebellion, Chelsea responded loyally for troops. In the Union
army there were sixteen hundred and fifty-one soldiers from Chelsea. Of
that number, forty-two were killed in battle; sixteen died of wounds;
seventy-five died in hospitals; nine died in Rebel prisons; besides one
hundred and four who were more or less seriously wounded. The city also
furnished one hundred and thirty-seven recruits for the navy during the
war. The city has commemorated those heroes who died for their country,
by a very appropriate monument in Union Park.
The conservative character of the political fathers of the city may be
judged by the fact that Samuel Bassett, who was first elected town clerk
in 1849, has served the town and city continuously in that capacity to
the present time. For the half-century before his election there had
been only three incumbents of the office.
[Illustration: Jonathan Bosson's house. Deacon Loring's house.
EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Present site of D. & L. Slade's grain store; burned just after the late
war.]
The efforts of the land company, who fostered the early growth of the
city, were directed to induce people doing business in Boston to select
homesteads in Chelsea; but manufacturing was gradually introduced, until
to-day many important industries have become established, which have
given the place a world-wide reputation. Chief among these are the works
of the Magee Furnace Company. Their buildings occupy a lot of several
acres, fronting on Chelsea River. Here the celebrated Magee stove, in
all its various forms and patterns, is manufactured from the crude iron.
The establishment consumes two thousand tons of coal annually, and
converts four thousand tons of pig-iron into graceful and useful
articles. John Magee, the organizer and president of the company, is the
patentee of all the improvements. The works were established in Chelsea
in 1864; they employ five hundred operatives, and produce thirty
thousand stoves and furnaces yearly. These are shipped by car-load all
through the Northern and Western States, to the Pacific slope, reaching
Oregon without breaking bulk. Their goods are sold in England, Sweden,
Turkey, Cape Colony, Australia, China, and the islands of the Pacific,
although the home demand almost forbids their seeking a foreign market.
The popularity of their work may be known from the fact that one hundred
and fifty thousand stoves of one pattern have been sold. The iron
entering into the manufacture of stoves must be of a peculiar fineness
of texture. The best of ore of three or four qualities is mixed,
frequently tested, and constantly watched during the manufacturing
process.
[Illustration: OLD UNITARIAN CHURCH.]
The beauty of their stove castings has led to a new industry,--the
fine-art castings,--in which the most marvelous results are produced.
Professional artists and art critics are constantly employed in the
establishment, and many thousand dollars are judiciously expended
yearly, for the purpose of forming and perfecting new designs to meet
the popular demand.
[Illustration: NAVAL HOSPITAL.
Erected in 1836. Wing added in 1865.]
Another celebrated industry of Chelsea is the manufacture of the Low
tiles, for household decoration. John G. Low, son of the pioneer
merchant, is the artist who has created this class of goods, and he has
succeeded in producing a tile of special artistic value. His work
surpasses anything of the kind made in the world, and finds a market
wherever works of art and beauty are appreciated.
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