H. Ross & Co.’s Steam Cotton Mills were built in 1863 by a stock company organized in 1862, with a capital of $80,000, which was increased in 1864 to $100,000, which is the present capital. The first president was Hector Ross, who held the office till, and was sole owner of the establishment at his death, July 24, 1872. The present proprietors are the heirs of Hector Ross. They employ about one hundred persons, about two-thirds of whom are females. The building is a three-story brick structure, 164 by 60 feet. It contains some 8,000 spindles. About 46,000 yards of cotton cloth are manufactured per week. Connected with the mills is a store, in which a general stock of merchandise is kept. It was built at the same time as the mills and enlarged in 1878.
Walter F. Blanchard is the proprietor of an extensive sash, door and blind manufactory. The business was established in 1847, by Walter F. Blanchard and Whitman Kenyon, who carried it on in company till 1853, when Mr. Blanchard bought his partner’s interest, and has since carried it on alone. The original buildings erected here stood above the present ones, near the cotton mill, on the opposite side of the canal, and were burned Oct. 5, 1868. The present buildings were erected in 1868, and the machinery put in and the business resumed the following spring. The machinery is propelled by a forty horse-power engine. The business requires a capital of about $40,000, and gives employment to some forty men in the manufacture of sash, doors, blinds, molding, brackets, stairwork, &c.
C. Hart & Son’s Pottery was established in 1841 by James Hart and his son Charles, who came from Fulton. James Hart and his son carried on the business nine years, when Charles went to Ogdensburg. In 1858 Charles returned to Sherburne and took the business off the hands of his father who retired. April 1, 1866, Charles admitted his son Nahum to partnership, and the business has since been conducted under the name of C. Hart & Son. They employ seven hands and manufacture all kinds of stone ware. The clay used in its construction is obtained from South Amboy, N. Y. The value of the annual product is about $6,000.
S. W. Lobdell & Co., (William E. Davis,) are the proprietors of the Sherburne Steam Flouring, Custom and Plaster Mills, which came into their possession Jan. 21, 1874. They were built in 1863, by White,
Gridley & Co., (Alexander White, John T. Gridley and Stephen W. Lobdell). They also manufacture cheese boxes, and furnish stock for them, and are dealers in all kinds of lumber, shingles, coal, salt and lime. The machinery is propelled by a forty-seven horse-power engine. The business requires a capital of some $23,000, and gives employment to some fifteen persons during eight months of the year, and five the remaining four months.
M. Palmer Newton, George Pulver and Michael Farland are now (November, 1879,) erecting a wooden building, 30 by 70 feet, two stories high, with a wing 16 by 30 feet, for a steam saw, grist, cider and lathmill. They bought in August, 1879, of Edgar G. Baker, and tore down the saw-mill built by him about 1872 or ’73, which stood about eighty rods south of the depot.
Caulkins & Bennett, (Enos Caulkins and George Bennett,) employ from two to six men in the manufacture and repair of carriages. The business was commenced some six years ago by Enos Caulkins. Mr. Bennett became his partner in 1877. They made twenty-four carriages and wagons in 1878.
White, Smith & Co., represent an extensive manufacturing interest in butter and cheese. They own twenty-three factories in Chenango, Madison and St. Lawrence counties, viz: five in Sherburne, two in North Norwich, four in Smyrna, one in Georgetown, two in Hamilton, three in Lebanon, three in Nelson, and three in St. Lawrence county. They received in 1878, 28,228,501 pounds of milk, from which they made 705,713 pounds of butter and 47,340 boxes of cheese, averaging about 40 pounds to the box. The business was commenced in 1869 by A. White and H. L. Smith. In 1876 M. D. Botsford was admitted to partnership, and the firm name, which was previously A. White & Co., became White, Smith & Co.
On Handsome brook, about two miles above Sherburne, is a grist-mill owned by James Kershaw, whose father James Kershaw, built it at an early day. It contains two run of stones. On the same stream (which, at this point, has a fall of some five feet,) two miles above the Kershaw Mill, is a gristmill owned by Walter Furman. It contains two run of stones, which are propelled by water from the creek, which has a fall of about twelve feet. The original mill on this site was built at an early day, and was rebuilt by the present proprietor in 1875.