Download Waltham Watch and the Civil War

Waltham Watch
and the
Civil War
The impact of the Civil War on the
Fortunes of the Waltham Watch Co.
•
•
•
The Boston Watch Company had been
purchased at a Sherriff's sale by R. E. Robbins
and associates in 1857
The Waltham Improvement (land) Company was
merged with the watch company early in 1859
Several key design employees (Stratton,
Moseley, Vander Woerd and others) had left the
company late in 1859 to form the Nashua Watch
Co.
Pre-War Period
October 16–18, 1859
John Brown, in an attempt to amass arms for a slave insurrection, attacks the
federal armory and arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
December 2, 1859
Brown is hanged for murder and treason at Charles Town, Virginia.
November 6, 1860
Abraham Lincoln is elected President, with Hannibal Hamlin as his Vice
President.
December 20, 1860
As a consequence of Lincoln’s election, a special convention of the South
Carolina legislature votes to secede from the Union.
Organization Structure
• The Waltham Improvement Company was formed at the same time as
the Boston Watch Company and owned the land and factory when the
watch company failed in 1857.
• Edward Howard had intended to reorganize the company with Rice
who had a mortgage on much of the machinery. They removed their
goods from the premises just before the sale.
• Dennison went with Robbins, Tracy and Baker and was hired on
generous terms by the surviving Appleton, Tracy and Company when
Baker withdrew from the partnership.
• The key management roles were:
– R. E. Robbins, Treasurer and managing partner (85%) in Appleton Tracy & Co.
– William Keith, President Waltham Improvement Company
– A. L. Dennison, Superintendent and N. P. Stratton Assistant Superintendent
Making the American Watch Co.
• In the first year of operations Appleton, Tracy & Co. was producing
watches even though Howard and Rice had taken much of the machinery
• After two years the watch company did not have enough capital to
continue development.
• In January 1859, the Waltham Improvement Company purchased
Appleton, Tracy & Co. by issuing additional stock to subscribers and
paid the watch company owners with stock.
– The Waltham Improvement Company petitioned to change the name to The American
Watch Company.
• R.E. Robbins was made Treasurer of the new company and owned 62%
of the stock. He also owned the stock of watches in inventory.
– Factory employment contracts were carried over to the new company
– Robbins and Appleton retained their contract as exclusive selling agents
Stresses and Problems
• In late 1859, Stratton and several other key factory employees left to
form the Nashua Watch Co. in Nashua, New Hampshire.
• Dennison’s lack of discipline and experimental developments were
viewed with concern by Robbins and Keith.
• Robbins was not comfortable living in Waltham and was having
difficulty managing the factory and helping his partners in Robbins
and Appleton develop a selling strategy for the factory’s products.
• Dennison was pursuing his own vision of what the company should be
and as tensions developed between the North and the South was
negotiating with a jeweler in Washington for a low cost watch
offering.
• These stresses came to a head in December 1861 when Robbins
returned from his honeymoon and Dennison was dismissed for
insubordination.
1861 Was a Busy Year
• Lincoln was inaugurated and the southern states seceded.
• Ft. Sumter fell and the war had begun. The ensuing depression caused sales
to fall by more than 60%
• Robbins had wooed Elizabeth Horton of Gloucester. They wed on October
2, 1861 and left the next day for a 3 month honeymoon in Europe.
• Robbins had left strict instructions that Dennison was to be kept in check in
this letter to Keith.
– “This firm1 cannot be bursted or damaged by anything likely to happen in this War. They
are, I find, strong and saucy and in better credit than ever. I am determined however that
their position shall not be weakened by any calls from the company2 not absolutely
necessary; and that not a dollar be put into the manufacture that can be withheld. There
can’t be half a dozen financial managers; and no interference with finances on the part of
anybody. I know exactly what I am about and I know that everything will come out right
with any one man’s management of money matters; “he” must do exactly as he is bid. If
he don’t there will be a row.”
1Firm
refers to Robbins and Appleton
refers to the American Watch Co.
2Company
While the Cat Was Away
• Dennison was busy selling watches instead of operating the watch factory.
–
–
–
–
I. P. Libbey of Washington D.C. lobbied Dennison to produce a cheap watch for soldiers.
The low cost Ellery grade was produced and 300+ were sold.
The P.S. Bartlett grade of the thin model was sold to the U.S. Navy through Bond & Co.
These sales by-passed the exclusive sales arrangement with Robbins & Appleton and
were totally unacceptable to Robbins
• Robbins had ordered development of a cheap watch when he first took over
the company in 1857. The C. T. Parker was the result. Instead of reviving
the C.T. Parker Dennison invested in the new Ellery grade.
• Stratton’s “Thin Model” had also been cost reduced as the P.S. Bartlett
grade. It underwent further cost cutting to become the Ellery thin model.
•
Purchased Bartlett
Aug 5 1861 thin model
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
39830 Portsmouth
39860 Portsmouth
39890
39896
39903 Portsmouth
39921 Kingfisher
39922 W.G. Anderson
39951 Portsmouth
39973 Str Mohican
39978 Str Sagamore
Bond Navy Records
•
Returned various
–
–
–
–
–
–
136974 Ellery June 15 1865 Pontivsur 1857 model
82441 Ellery July 14, 1865 Richmond 1857 model
111607 Ellery July 25, 1865 Tsefon? thin model
68082 Ellery Aug 25 1865 Sophronia 1857 model
39995 Bartlett Aug 25 1865 Sacramento thin model
60503 Ellery Aug 29 1865 Niagara thin model
“Lincoln's Pocket Watch Reveals
Long-Hidden Message
Lincoln's English gold watch was
purchased in the 1850s from George
Chatterton, a Springfield, Illinois, jeweler.
Lincoln was not outwardly vain, but the
fine gold watch was a conspicuous
symbol of his success as a prominent
Illinois lawyer.
The National Museum of American
History acquired the watch in 1958 as a
gift from Lincoln Isham, Abraham
Lincoln great-grandson.
Lincoln’s English
gold watch
Lincoln’s
Waltham Watch
After the delivery of the Gettysburg
Address, Lincoln was presented a
“Soldier’s Watch” serial number
67613. an 1857 model Wm Ellery
grade that was from a run of 320
examples made during January
1863.
Pictures are of another watch from the same run.
Robbins View From The
Treasury
•
R. E. Robbins reported on the affairs of the company each year.
– There are no reports until the Watch Company was merged with the land
company in 1859. The small partnership did not require such reports.
– In the initial 1859 report Robbins declined to give an account of the stock
of watches and cases on hand however the accounts did show an advance
payment of almost $20,000 from Robbins and Appleton against future
purchases. (At that time Robbins personally owned the watches in
inventory from before the reorganization.)
– The 1861 report showed modest continued progress but noted a dividend
had been skipped. The report was given by Keith because Robbins was
away tending to his sick father.
– In 1862 the business showed its first loss under Robbins, but the impact
was greatly reduced by sacrifices made by the employees
– The financial impact of the start of the war was brief and the business was
recovering by 1863 when the runaway Nashua Watch Co. was purchased.
– By 1865 plans were underway to increase the workforce and the size of
the plant.
R. E. Robbins’ Production Reports
Feb
1st
Mvts
Made
Cases
Made
Mvt
Sales
Case
Sales
Mvt
Inv
Case
Inv
Net Inc.
Emp
1859
*5,500
*3,500
*4,000
*2,000
^2,711
^1,844
$56,655
180
1860
12,304
6,146
10,799
5,212
^4,216
^2,778
$180,523
1160
1861
12,055
3,768
10,206
5,041
^6,065
^1,505
$164,546
NA
1862
2,734
1,654
4,145
1,967
4,654
1,192
$61,465
280
1863
19,059
8,450
20,341
7,700
3,278
1,959 $242,779
429
1864
38,103
12,059
39,188 11,506
2,167
3,253 $576,885
1865
44,632
14,485
36,376 11,719 10,373
6,604 $838,534
Fiscal not
Calendar Year
Notes to Treasurer’s Report
* Estimated numbers
^ Extrapolated numbers
1. Laid off 20, remainder @ 4/5 time.
2. Reduced to contract hands working at ¼ to ½ reduction in pay.
The record of watches lists all
production runs through 7,555,000.
This snapshot is from 1863.
Record of Watches
“Record of Watches” Production
War Models
Yr\Mdl
Full Pl
Thin
Ladies Spc’l
KW16
KW20
Ladies
Total
1859
12,350
10
12,360
1860
11,532
952
12,484
1861
1,113
1,247
200
1862
11,760
4,320
1,200
1863
25,315
6,740
1864
37,600
1865
2,560
201
249
17,820
1,600
1,876
200
35,731
6,940
2,740
900
500
48,680
43,960
1,200
2,560
100
801
740
49,361
1866
65,175
700
2,900
190
2,850
700
1,800
74,315
TOTAL
208,805
22,109 11,200
380
6,628
2,389
1,800
253,311
90
“Record of Watches” Production
War Grades
Yr\Grd
ATCo
AWCo
Ellery
PSB
Other
Total
1859
2,500
10
9,210
640
12,360
1860
1,473
251
9,830
930
12,484
1861
710
383
1,157
310
2,560
1862
1,250
149
13,185
3,215
21
17,820
1863
3,476
185
23,400
8,670
35,731
1864
5,070
100
24,800
18,710
48,680
1865
5,531
90
23,600
20,139
1
49,361
1866
8,745
160
26,920
37,845
645
74,315
Total
28,755
945
112,288
108,776
2,547
253,311
May 24
Union troops cross the Potomac River from Washington and
capture Alexandria, Virginia, and vicinity. Colonel Elmer E.
Ellsworth is killed by a local innkeeper and is the first officer to
die in the war. He becomes a martyr for the North.
May 29
Richmond becomes the capital of the Confederacy.
July 21
Confederate forces win a victory at the First Battle of Manassas. Confederate General Thomas
J. Jackson earns the nickname “Stonewall” for his tenacity in the battle.
November 1
George B. McClellan, thirty-four, replaces the aging Winfield Scott as general-in-chief of the
Union armies.
November 8
The Union navy seizes Confederate commissioners to Great Britain and France—James A.
Mason and John Slidell—from the British steamer Trent, inflaming tensions between the
United States and Great Britain.
November
Julia Ward Howe, inspired after seeing a review of General McClellan's army in the Virginia
countryside near Washington, composes the lyrics to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." It is
published in the Atlantic Monthly in February 1862.
January 9, 1861
Star of the West, an unarmed merchant vessel secretly carrying federal troops and supplies to
Fort Sumter, is fired upon by South Carolina artillery at the entrance to Charleston harbor.
Run up
1861
January 9–February 1
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas follow South Carolina’s lead
and secede from the Union.
January 29
Kansas is admitted as a state with a constitution prohibiting slavery.
February
Delegates from six seceded states meet in Montgomery, Alabama, to form a government and
elect Jefferson Davis President of the Confederate States of America.
March 4
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the sixteenth President of the United States.
April 12–13
Fort Sumter is bombarded and surrenders to South Carolina troops led by P. G. T.
Beauregard.
April 15
Lincoln declares a state of insurrection and calls for 75,000 volunteers to enlist for three
months of service.
April 17–May 20
Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina secede from the Union.
April 19
Lincoln orders a blockade of all Confederate ports.
April 20
Colonel Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army.
“Record of Watches” Production
War Models
Yr\Mdl
Full Pl
Thin
Ladies Spc’l
KW16
KW20
Ladies
Total
1859
12,350
10
12,360
1860
11,532
952
12,484
1861
1,113
1,247
1862
11,760
1863
25,315
6,740
1864
37,600
1865
200
4,320 1,200
2,560
201
249
17,820
1,600
1,876
200
35,731
6,940
2,740
900
500
48,680
43,960
1,200
2,560
100
801
740
49,361
1866
65,175
700
2,900
190
2,850
700
1,800
74,315
TOTAL
208,805
22,109 11,200
380
6,628
2,389
1,800
253,311
90
February 6, 1862
General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Henry, Tennessee. Ten days
later he accepts the “unconditional and immediate surrender” of Fort
Donelson. These victories open up the state of Tennessee for Union
advancement.
March 9, 1862
The ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (formerly the sunken USS Merrimack,
which the Confederates had raised from the Norfolk Navy Yard and rebuilt as an
ironclad) battle to a draw at Hampton Roads, Virginia, demonstrating the superior
potential of vessels made of steel.
April 4
On the peninsula southeast of Richmond, McClellan leads the Army of the Potomac
toward Yorktown, Virginia, beginning the Peninsular Campaign.
April 6–7
Union General Ulysses S. Grant prevails at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, but not
without enormous losses.
April 16
Conscription is adopted in the Confederacy.
April 25
Federal fleet commander David G. Farragut captures New Orleans.
May 8
Stonewall Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley campaign begins successfully with a victory at
the Battle of McDowell in Virginia.
1862
May 31–June 1
During the Battle of Seven Pines in Virginia, Robert E. Lee takes over command of the
Confederate army from the wounded Joseph E. Johnston.
June 25–July 1
Lee forces McClellan’s army to retreat, ending the threat to Richmond in the Seven Days’
campaign.
August 20
Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune publishes The Prayer of Twenty Millions, a plea for
Lincoln to liberate slaves in the Union.
August 29–30
The South is again victorious at the Second Battle of Manassas.
September 17
The Battle of Antietam, Maryland, exacts heavy losses on both sides.
September 22
President Lincoln issues the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
November 7
General McClellan receives Lincoln’s order relieving him of command of the Army of the
Potomac.
December 13
Lee wins the Battle of Fredericksburg decisively.
“Record of Watches” Production
War Models
Yr\Mdl
Full Pl
Thin
Ladies Spc’l
KW16
KW20
Ladies
Total
1859
12,350
10
12,360
1860
11,532
952
12,484
1861
1,113
1,247
200
1862
11,760
4,320
1,200
1863
25,315
1864
37,600
6,940
2,740
1865
43,960
1,200
2,560
1866
65,175
700
TOTAL
208,805
2,560
201
249
17,820
1,876
200
35,731
900
500
48,680
100
801
740
49,361
2,900
190
2,850
700
1,800
74,315
22,109 11,200
380
6,628
2,389
1,800
253,311
90
6,740 1,600
January 1, 1863
Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation,
which declares that slaves in the seceded states
are now free.
March 3
President Lincoln signs a federal draft act.
April 7
In a test of ironclad vessels against land fortifications, Union Admiral Samuel F. Du
Pont’s fleet fails to penetrate the harbor defenses of Charleston.
May 1–4
Lee hands the Army of the Potomac another serious loss at the Battle of
Chancellorsville. “Stonewall” Jackson is wounded during the battle. He will develop
pneumonia and die on May 10.
June 9
Confederate cavalry under Jeb Stuart clash with the Union mounts of Alfred Pleasonton
in an all day battle at Brandy Station, Virginia. Some 18,000 troopers—approximately
nine thousand on either side—take part, making this the largest cavalry battle on
American soil. In the end, Stuart will hold the field. Yet this battle signals the rise and
future domination of Union cavalry in the eastern theater.
July 1–3
The Battle of Gettysburg is fought in Pennsylvania. General George G. Meade
compromises his victory by allowing Lee to retreat South across the Potomac.
1863 Mid-War
Timeline
July 4
After a long siege, Confederates surrender Vicksburg to Ulysses S. Grant, thus securing the
Mississippi River for the Union.
July 13–15
Violent riots erupt in New York City in protest of the draft.
September 19–20
Confederates under General Braxton Bragg win a great tactical victory at Chickamauga,
Georgia. Union General George H. Thomas wins the nickname "Rock of Chickamauga" for
his stubborn defense of his position.
November 19
Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address, in which he reiterates the nation’s fundamental
principle that all men are created equal.
November 23–25
After three days of battle, the Union victory at Chattanooga, Tennessee, opens the way for
Union advancement into the heart of the Confederacy.
Ladies Watch
The Watches
Nashua KW20 Watch
Full Plate Watch
Thin Model Watch
Waltham’s 1857 model was just called the Full Plate watch.
The Thin Model was the name used for the ¾ plate 1859 model
The Ladies Watch was a small version of the 1859 model
With the purchase of the Nashua Watch Co., the KW20 and
KW16 were added to the repertoire.
Nashua KW16 Watch
“Record of Watches” Production
War Models
Yr\Mdl
Full Pl
Thin
Ladies Spc’l
KW16
KW20
Ladies
Total
1859
12,350
10
12,360
1860
11,532
952
12,484
1861
1,113
1,247
200
1862
11,760
4,320
1,200
1863
25,315
6,740
1864
37,600
1865
43,960
1,200
2,560
1866
65,175
700
TOTAL
208,805
2,560
201
249
17,820
1,600
1,876
200
35,731
6,940 2,740
900
500
48,680
100
801
740
49,361
2,900
190
2,850
700
1,800
74,315
22,109 11,200
380
6,628
2,389
1,800
253,311
90
March 10, 1864
Newly commissioned to the rank of lieutenant general, Ulysses S. Grant is
given official authority to command all of the armies of the United States.
May 5–6
The Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia is the first of a bloody series of month-long
engagements between Grant and Lee.
May 10–12
Battles at Spotsylvania Court House and Yellow Tavern impede Grant’s drive for Richmond.
Confederate cavalry commander Jeb Stuart is killed at Yellow Tavern, May 11.
June 1–3
The Battle of Cold Harbor results in heavy Union casualties. Grant prepares for a ten month
siege of Petersburg.
June 19
The USS Kearsarge sinks the CSS Alabama off Cherbourg, France, where the Confederate
raider was bound for refitting.
June 28
Lincoln signs a bill repealing the fugitive slave laws.
July 11–12
Confederate forces under Jubal Early probe and fire upon the northern defenses of
Washington, D.C., throwing the Capital into a state of high alert.
August 5
Union Admiral David G. Farragut wins the Battle of Mobile Bay.
1864
September 2
After forcing the Confederate army of John Bell Hood out of Atlanta, Georgia,
General William T. Sherman captures the city, a major munitions center for the South.
October 19
A Union victory at Cedar Creek ends the Confederate threat in the Shenandoah Valley.
November 8
Lincoln is reelected President, with Andrew Johnson as Vice President.
November 16
Sherman leaves Atlanta and begins his “march to the sea,” in an attempt to demoralize
the South and hasten surrender.
December 15–16
General George Henry Thomas wins the Battle of Nashville, decimating John Bell
Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee.
December 21
Savannah falls to Sherman’s army without resistance. Sherman gives the city to
Lincoln as a Christmas present.
“Record of Watches” Production
War Models
Yr\Mdl
Full Pl
Thin
Ladies Spc’l
KW16
KW20
Ladies
Total
1859
12,350
10
12,360
1860
11,532
952
12,484
1861
1,113
1,247
200
1862
11,760
4,320
1,200
1863
25,315
6,740
1864
37,600
6,940
1865
43,960
1866
65,175
TOTAL
208,805
2,560
201
249
17,820
1,600
1,876
200
35,731
2,740
900
500
48,680
100
801
740
49,361
2,900
190
2,850
700
1,800
74,315
22,109 11,200
380
6,628
2,389
1,800
253,311
1,200 2,560
700
90
1865 Last Days
Time Line
January 31, 1865
Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment, which
abolishes slavery throughout the United States.
February 17
Columbia, South Carolina, is almost completely destroyed by fire, most likely set by
Sherman’s troops.
March 4
Lincoln is inaugurated as President for a second term.
March 29
The Appomattox campaign begins, with Grant’s move against Lee’s defenses at Petersburg,
Virginia.
April 2
Petersburg falls, and the Confederate government evacuates its capital, Richmond.
Confederate corps commander Ambrose Powell Hill is killed in action while attempting to
rally his men.
April 3
Union troops occupy Richmond.
April 9
Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at Appomattox.
April 14
John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln at Ford’s Theater; Secretary of State William H.
Seward is stabbed and wounded in an assassination attempt inside his Washington home.
April 15
Lincoln dies, and Andrew Johnson is inaugurated as President.
April 26
Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to William T. Sherman in North Carolina; John Wilkes Booth
is shot in a barn in Virginia and dies.
May 10
Jefferson Davis is captured and taken prisoner near Irwinville, Georgia.
May 26
In New Orleans, terms of surrender are offered to General E. Kirby Smith, commander of
the Trans-Mississippi Department. His acceptance on June 2 formally ends Confederate
resistance.
June 30
All eight conspirators are convicted for the assassination of President Lincoln; four are
sentenced to death.