21 



ent generation, probably, realize the great benefit which has been 

 derived by the population of this section within the last sixty 

 years, from this business. In the Transactions of this Society for 

 1850, some account was given of its origin ; but it is believed that 

 a more particular history of some points connected with the busi- 

 ness will be read with interest. In the visit alluded to, our atten- 

 tion was naturally directed to an establishment which has been 

 justly regarded as one of the most attractive, both in a utilitarian 

 and ornamental view, that exists in the country. We mean the 

 " Union Straw Works." The Committee took an external and 

 internal view — really no trifling labor — of the noble building, 

 under the guidance of Mr. E. P. Carpenter, one of the propri- 

 etors. Instead of attempting a description of the numerous ol)- 

 jects and points to which their attention was drawn, they submit 

 the following communication, which furnishes much matter suitable 

 to be preserved in the archives of the Society : — 



" The notice of the origin of straws-braiding in this County, 

 published in the Transactions of the Norfolk Agricultural Society 

 for 1859, seems to contain about all the facts known touching the 

 business in its earlier years. Straw-braiding commenced in Fox- 

 boro' about the year 1800. Misses Mary Clark and Anna 

 Leonard were the first braiders. They learned of braiders in 

 Wrentham, who had learned the art of Miss Sally Richmond, of 

 Providence, R. I., she having learned of the original inventor, 

 Miss Betsey Metcalf, then of Providence, now Mrs. Baker, of 

 West Dedham, Mass., who, still in the enjoyment of health and 

 mental vigor, rejoices, as in the days of her youth, in the ' oppor- 

 tunity of doing good.' 



" Preparatory to braiding was the process of splitting the straw, 

 and for this purpose was at first used an appendage of that most 

 complex of all machines, the human hand, viz., the thumb-nail. 

 Afterwards the points of scissors came into use ; still later a very 

 simple machine superseded the thumb-nail and scissors. This 

 was no less than a common pin stuck through a piece of shingle, 

 with which the straw was divided in the middle, repeating the 

 process until the required fineness was obtained. This machine 

 came into general use, but was in time displaced by a new inven- 

 tion of some aspiring young American, which consisted of several 

 pins or points protruding through a small piece of wood, with a 

 thumb-piece attached, which, in use, held the straw down to the 

 points while the splitting was completed by drawing the straw 

 horizontally through it. This machine, it will be perceived, was a 

 compound of the two former, with an enlargement of the number 

 of points. It is still in use. 



" The straw used for braiding in the earlier years of the busi- 



