NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
AND REMINDER 
Vol. XIV 
Manchester, Mass., Friday, June 16, 1916 
No. 24 
Old Time Cabinet Makers of the North Shore 
By HELENE SHERMAN 
N the 18th century there flourished in all New England 
an industry known as cabinet-making, now fast  be- 
coming but a memory. Along what is now called the 
North Shore, cabinet-makers were especially expert and 
many names associated with the thrift and enterprise oi 
long ago have been preserved, reminders of the days of 
1837, when in Manchester alone there were 12 manufac- 
tories of strictly hand-made cabinet ware, employing 120 
men. Still later, in 1865, 160 men were employed 11 
Manchester, and $60,000 was the invested capital. 
As is well known along the Shore, the name of Moses 
Dodge “led all the rest,” as cabinet-maker de luxe of his 
time. He began work in 1775 and this work is still car- 
ried on by his descendants, Melville and Charles Dodge. 
Another whose products exemplified good taste and 
thorough work was Ebeneezer Tappan, born in 1761, the 
son of a Revolutionary soldier. ‘Then followed others al- 
most equally good,—Caleb Knowlton, who was in Man- 
chester previous to 1808. Among the others who came 
into prominence as time went on was John Perry Allen, 
who had worked for Caleb Knowlton before the war otf 
1812 and, when the “troublesome times” led Mr. Know!- 
ton to retire from this seaboard town, had set up business 
for himself. He was a man of great initiative and wis- 
dom. At one time, in order to increase his business, he 
took a voyage from Boston to Manchester, carrying witn 
him two mahogany bureaus which “bureaus he did find a 
ready sale for at a large profit, but which he hopeth noi 
too large in the eyes of the Lord.” Mr. Allen died in 
1875 in his 8oth year. He is spoken of as a leader of men 
and a man of great force of character. 
Lynn, Salem, Marblehead, Ipswich, Gloucester, Wen- 
ham and other towns contributed their names of cabinet- 
makers who were prominent in these early days. Some 
of the cabinet-makers of the Shore moved South in order 
to settle there and to spread the knowledge of cabinet- 
making. Thus, we find the following advertisement 
which appeared in the South Carolina Gazette of Nov- 
ember 2, 1874: “This is to give notice that Mr. Charles 
Warham, joiner, late from Boston, New England, maketi 
all sorts of Tables, Chests, Chests of Drawers, Desks, 
Book-cases, etc.; also Coffins of the newest fashion never 
as yet made in Charlestown.” 
Among others we find the following which will be 
recognized by many: Lynn was the home of John Davis, 
1703; Thomas Burrage, 1718; Thomas Burrage, his son, 
1751; Timothy Harvard, 1764. Jonathan Johnson was a 
chairmaker of Lynn, who attained great repute before 
his death in 1751. Joseph Symonds plied his trade in old 
Lynn in 1769 and John Young in 1773. Lemmon Beadle 
was a wood carver in Lynn in 1717, while Benjamin Gray 
was a chairmaker, 
Newbury, or Newburyport, sheltered Francis Halli- 
day in 1767. Jeremiah Pearson and Spindelow Morrison 
lived and worked there in 1768, Parker Titcomb in 1762 
Samuel Long in 1774. Moses Bayley made Newburyport 
The Old Mill on Elm St., 
Their Cabinet-Making Business in 1872, 
7 This Building is now Used 5y Roberts & 
Manchester, where Rust & Marshall Established 
Installing Steam Power, 
Hoare, Builders, 
