My first blog on early shovel workers was a snapshot of
people who were shovel workers in the U. S. census of 1850. I used other census
and tax records that reached back to 1840 and swept forward to 1870, and I also
looked at death and burial records that stretched into the beginning of the 20th
century. Today, we will be looking at the state census of 1855 for people who
became shovel workers from 1851 to 1855. We need to remember that we are
pulling this group out from those of the earlier group who were still working
at the shovel shop. These new workers saw the building of the shovel shops we
know today, and many were probably hired to fill the increased capacity of
those new shops.
Prejudice was also growing in Easton. It’s a mistake to
think that all the Irish immigrants to Massachusetts poured in at the height of
the potato famine in the mid-1840s. Immigration from Ireland continued strong
for decades. In the 1850s a political party, the American Party, sprang up to
fight the growing influence of Irish and German immigrants. This party’s
membership was supposed to be secret, and members when asked a question about
membership were supposed to respond with “I Know Nothing.” The Sergeant Schultz
response gave the party the nickname it is best known by today “The Know Nothing
Party.” I would be factually inaccurate not to note that most Massachusetts
“Know-Nothings” ultimately joined the Republican Party (both parties were
anti-slavery) as did a majority of the German immigrants in the Mid-West! The
Republicans bought bigger tents in those early days.
There were 131 new men listed in the census of 1855 as
shovel makers including three “engineers” who ran the brand new steam engines
at the rebuilt shovel factory. Thirty-three men were born in New England and
six men came from Scotland. Ninety-two men came from Ireland. OK, 91 men said
they were born in the Emerald Isle and a man named Gallagher claimed he was
Dutch, but I’m just not going to believe it. While all these men were new to
the shovel business, there were many who had come of age in Easton in families
where a father or older brother was already a shovel maker.
In 1855 the shovel shop was becoming decidedly more Irish.
In 1850 only 54% of the workers were Irish, but among the new workers in 1855
70% were Irish. This new group was a much less stable work force as well. In
the 1855 group only one in four of the Irish workers were still on the job in
1860. This is a dramatic change from the earlier Irish immigrants of which 41%
were still on the job five years later.
Something was either pushing or pulling Irish workers out of
the shovel shops. Taking a closer look we find that in 1850 three of every five
Irish shovel workers were unmarried exactly the opposite of the American born
workers. These unmarried Irishmen were the most transient members of the shovel
shop’s work force. Even back in 1850 three quarters of the single Irish were
not at the shovel shop five years later. These numbers did not change
dramatically among the new men of 1855. With them 80% would be gone by 1860.
Although fewer married Irishmen worked at the shovel factory
in 1850, they were much more likely to stay there for five years. In fact,
almost 60% of the married Irish remained for five years a much better rate of
stability than the less than half of the married native-born Americans who
stayed. Anecdotal evidence suggests that older American born workers, the ones
most likely to be married, may have left for opportunities in other local businesses
or to start local businesses of their own.
Persistence rates for unmarried American-born workers
remained about the same in 1850 and 1855 with around 40% lasting at least five
years. This higher rate compared to the single Irish can probably be explained
by hometown family connections. The present generation was not the first to
have an unmarried son living in a basement or attic!
In 1855 once again 61% of the Irish were unmarried. As we
have seen, these unmarried men were slightly less likely to remain here than
their counterparts in 1850. More surprising we discover that less than 40% of
the married Irish remained for at least five years compared to the nearly 60%
in the 1850 group. This is a remarkable difference.
In summary, nothing much changed for the single shovel
worker. An American born single man was not quite twice as likely to stay for
five years as an Irishman just about the same as in 1850. Family connections
and a greater availability of Protestant brides (“mixed” marriages were rare)
probably account for this difference. In a growing economy, unattached men
could move where they thought the financial opportunity was best. However,
given the relatively good pay at the shovel shops it is doubtful that money
alone accounts for the difficulty the Ames family had in holding onto their
single Irish workers. Our exciting downtown was about as stimulating in 1855 as
it is today, but imagine not having a car to visit someplace else! Add Yankee
prejudice, and the turnover rate is not that surprising.
On the other hand something made working at the shovel shop
much less attractive for married Irish men and much more attractive for married
Americans in 1855. Good wages, a decent school system, an equitable company
store, and available rental housing would seem to have been very attractive to
a family coming from poverty in Ireland. The shovel shop was indeed an
“American Dream Factory” for the Irish families that were here in 1850.
By 1855 changes in working conditions related to the new
factory may have reduced the attractiveness of shovel work, but the other
difference between 1850 and 1855 is the presence of an organized anti-immigrant
party. This may have provided a less than welcoming atmosphere in North Easton
Village. Oliver Ames II and his brother Oakes favored the employment of the
Irish. There are several anecdotes of warm relations between Oakes and
individual Irishmen. On the other hand Old Oliver Ames, now officially retired
from the shovel company, was a leading Know Nothing. We don’t know how Yankee
shovel workers, overseers, or local shop keepers reacted to the Irish, but we
can assume from human nature that many joined the “hot” new political party
while others kept silent in the face of prejudice. Dr. Caleb Swan, a friend of
the younger Ames men, was an exception and a thorn in the side of the Know
Nothings.
How likely were the new men in the 1855 census who continued
to work at the shovel shops for at least five years to achieve homeownership? Interestingly,
as fewer Irish families chose to remain at the shovel shops, more married
Americans did so. However, among those Americans of 1855 only 39% eventually
owned a home here compared to 64% of those Americans from the 1850 census. It
seems as the shovel shops became more Irish, it became less likely that an
American would buy a home in Easton. Opportunity elsewhere or prejudice? As always
more research needs to be done.
Remember the vast majority of Irishmen left the shovel shops
and most moved away from Easton, but for Irish immigrants who stayed at least
five years there was no difference between homeownership in the 1850 and 1855
groups. About one third of the men in each group eventually owned a house here.
Many more continued to rent housing. Among the 27 Irish who were in the 1850 census
and continued at the shovel company at least five years two-thirds lived the
remainder of their life here. For the persistent members of the class of 1855
nearly 80% eventually died in town. By 1855 the Irish had strong roots in
Easton that eventually wore away the prejudice although it would take many more
decades to fully end.
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