178 History of Hingham. 



about 1818, and established himself at his trade on South Street, 

 about where the northerly corner of the West Schoolhouse yard 

 is now. He followed the business until about 1833. Joseph B. 

 Thaxter was the last person who carried on this pursuit here. 

 He continued in it for a longer time than did any of his pre- 

 decessors. His shop was on the northwesterly side of South 

 Street, between Broad Bridge and Magoon's Bridge. His specialty 

 was in the manufacture of spectacles for the Boston market. Sil- 

 ver spoons, of various sizes, made by Mr. Thaxter, and having his 

 name stamped upon them, are still in use here. A large propor- 

 tion of these bear the inscription, " Pure coin." 



Hat-manufacturers in olden times were usually called " felt- 

 makers," and their business, being principally local, was carried 

 on without much outside help. They felted the material used, 

 and shaped the bodies over blocks in accordance with the prevail- 

 ing fashion of the day. After the last war with England the 

 business of hat-making in Hingham began to assume some im- 

 portance. It was carried on quite extensively in the north part 

 of the town by Thomas Loud, and later by Atherton Tildcn and 

 Elijah L. Whiton ; and in South Hingham by Andrew and Laban 

 Cushing, at the corner of Main and Friend streets. The statis- 

 tical tables relating to this industry in Hingham for the year 

 ending April 1, 1837, furnish the following : number of hat- 

 manufactories, 4; number of hats manufactured, 3,422; males 

 employed, 7 ; females employed, 5. In 1845 there were three 

 manufactories, employing twenty-three hands. The number of 

 hats and caps made was 11,916, valued at $26,500. This indus- 

 try was discontinued here more than twenty years ago. 



In the early history of the country the limited number of books 

 in circulation were bound principally in London, England. The 

 covers were of wood covered with paper, or pasteboard covered 

 with leather. A majority of those published in the present cen- 

 tury are cloth-covered. The business of book-binding in Hingham 

 was carried on to a considerable extent between 1800 and 1870: 

 first by John Cushing, on South Street ; then by Elisha Cushing, 

 at the corner of Main and South streets ; and afterwards by Caleb 

 Gill (1827), on Main Street at Broad Bridge, who was succeeded 

 by C. and E. B. Gill (1829) ; afterwards by Elijah B. Gill (1839), 

 in Tilden's Building, opposite the post-office ; and lastly by Dixon 

 L. Gill at the corner of South Street and Central Row. 



On April 13, 1827, Caleb Beal announced through the columns 

 of the " Hingham Gazette " that he " has taken the stand for- 

 merly occupied by T. A. Davis, near the harbor, where he intends 

 to manufacture and keep constantly on hand a complete assort- 

 ment of Tin Ware. Also Sheet Iron Stoves and Funnel manufac- 

 tured to order," etc. At a later period Enos Loring was taken in 



