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 Copyright, 1915 
 By Silas Peirce & Co. Ltd. 
 
 PBE88 OF MURRAY AND EMERY COMPANY 
 KENDALL, SQUARE, CAMBRIDGE
 
 TO OUR CUSTOMERS 
 
 WHO HAVE MADE THIS HISTORY POSSIBLE 
 THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED
 
 "A Century of Service" thus the years 
 
 Have kept a record of the good deeds done 
 
 By all the men whose training sprang from one 
 
 Who started doubtfully 'mid hopes and fears. 
 
 For he, far-sighted, stout-willed pioneer, 
 
 So careful, planning, toiling, strong in all 
 
 That marks the man who listens to the call 
 
 Of Right and Duty, keeping vision clear, 
 
 Was but the first of a long line of men 
 
 That through the years have helped his cause so well, 
 
 Striving to serve their fellows worthily. 
 
 Such honors as they gained were past the ken 
 
 Of the wise founder. To their lot it fell 
 
 The work to finish that he did foresee. 
 
 j. B. c.
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
 
 IF the original Silas Peirce had had any idea of the 
 task it would be one hundred years after he started in 
 business to write an account of what has occurred during 
 the "Century of Service" that he and his family have 
 rendered to the business community and to the world, 
 there is no doubt that he would have kept a record so 
 that we should have been able to learn something of his 
 early career without the great amount of work that has 
 been entailed in gathering the few facts presented here. 
 It is earnestly hoped that any one who has in mind the 
 welfare of the historians of the business houses that start 
 this year on a century run, will keep elaborate notes of 
 their doings. In Mr. Peirce's day, however, quill pens 
 that needed frequent sharpening were not conducive to 
 ready writing. It even took longer to blot correspon- 
 dence then, for instead of blotting paper the sand-box 
 must be used, as witness many letters and bills preserved 
 from those days on which the adhering sand still glistens. 
 
 In the preparation of this book, assistance has come 
 from many and varied sources. A fact here, a date there, 
 have helped to round out the story of an American 
 grocery house, unique because this house has run for a 
 hundred years under the founder's name, always having a 
 member of his family of the same name in the concern. 
 Mr. Walter K. Watkins, who has added much to our 
 knowledge of Old Boston, has supplied many important
 
 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 facts. The researches of Mr. Gaillard Hunt, chief of 
 the Division of Manuscripts, Library of Congress, have 
 been the basis of the notes on men's fashions. 
 
 Mr. John B. Read, of William Read & Sons, loaned a 
 picture of Market Square, reproduced here, which has 
 excited the interest of antiquarians; the Bostonian So- 
 ciety searched carefully through hundreds of pictures 
 for views of the Peirce stores and put its valuable library 
 at our disposal; Mr. Charles E. Goodspeed, the book- 
 seller, generously gave several of the rare prints repro- 
 duced, and members of the families of those formerly 
 connected with the concern have done everything in their 
 power to furnish the best pictures of relatives. The kindly 
 spirit exhibited by all who were asked for data or pic- 
 tures is worthy of note. So rarely is one solicited for 
 anything that relates to a business that has reached the 
 century mark, that the novelty of the request accounts 
 for some of the interest shown. 
 
 J. B. CLAPP 
 
 Boston, April, 1915.
 
 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 iiiiiiiiiiiinB 
 
 ILAS PEIRCE, the first of 
 that name to make Boston 
 his home, was born on the 
 old farm homestead in the 
 village of Egypt, in Scituate, 
 Massachusetts, in the year 
 1793. This farm is now occu- 
 pied by Silas Peirce, the third 
 of the name, who is of the ninth generation of 
 ownership and president of Silas Peirce & Co. Ltd. 
 Their ancestor was Captain Michael Peirce, the 
 famous Indian fighter, who probably came to Amer- 
 ica some years prior to 1647, the year in which he 
 settled in Scituate, and his descendants grew up 
 on the farm. He was killed by the Indians in 
 King Philip's War, but his name and fame spread 
 beyond the confines of the colony and even in the 
 distant parts of New England the savages knew 
 of the intrepid fighter who had done so much to 
 break their power in southeastern Massachusetts. 
 
 THE FOUNDER OF THE HOUSE 
 
 Silas Peirce received the ordinary country school 
 education and grew up on the farm like other boys 
 
 [i]
 
 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 of his time in New England, doing the chores about 
 the place and assisting his father in the farm work. 
 He also assisted, as far as a very young boy could, 
 in the duties connected with the country tavern 
 that his father kept. Though there were not many 
 travellers in those days, this was the only inn for 
 miles around, and doubtless the boy gained some 
 idea of the world from the people who stopped 
 there. A few years after young Silas left Egypt 
 for Boston, the family moved across the road to 
 the homestead that is still standing. In the wing 
 of this house Silas's brother opened a country store, 
 in which was a case for books that the neighbors 
 would lend to each other. This social lending 
 library, established in the early part of the last cen- 
 tury, was one of the first in that section, and years 
 afterward, when Silas Peirce, 2d, father of the pres- 
 ent Silas Peirce, lost his wife, he gave as a memo- 
 rial to his native town one of the most attractive 
 libraries to be found in the State. 
 
 It is easy to believe that the first Silas Peirce 
 had his imagination and his desire to see the world 
 stimulated by the travellers' tales that he heard 
 about the fireplace in his father's inn. These trav- 
 ellers doubtless gave him an idea of what was going 
 on in the great world outside the little village, so 
 when he was fifteen years old he left home and came 
 to Boston to seek his fortune. He began work in 
 a ship carpenter's shop, where for a fortnight he 
 wielded his tools most industriously, but one day 
 he dropped an adze on his foot and the slight acci-
 
 mi mi mi 
 
 -
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 
 
 dent changed the entire course of his life and inci- 
 dentally led to the founding of the present grocery 
 business. He gave up the ship carpenter's place 
 and found work in an importing house. Here he 
 remained for some years, getting a good insight 
 into the methods of the merchants and importers. 
 In those days the importing houses were situated 
 close to the wharves, and the young clerk visited 
 many ships and became acquainted with the offi- 
 cers of vessels from all over the world. 
 
 VOYAGE TO OPORTO 
 
 The firm with which he was connected had deal- 
 ings with many foreign countries, and probably 
 through its influence he went as supercargo on a 
 vessel that sailed for Oporto, Portugal, in 1814. 
 Oporto was then, as now, the most important sea- 
 port of the country after Lisbon. Only five years 
 before his arrival it had been taken from the French 
 by an Anglo-Portuguese force under Wellington, 
 that same great general who, only a few weeks after 
 the supercargo started in business for himself over- 
 threw Napoleon at Waterloo and made 1815 the 
 most important year of modern times. The town, 
 one of the dirtiest and most picturesque in Europe, 
 its irregular outline accentuated by many towers, 
 its whitewashed houses gleaming among trees and 
 terraced gardens, must have presented a strong 
 contrast in the young man's mind to the staid 
 Puritanical Boston that he had left at the other 
 end of his long voyage. No doubt on his return
 
 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 trip he often contrasted mentally the filthy streets 
 and the uncomfortable houses of the Portuguese 
 city with the well-swept streets and neat dwell- 
 ings of the Massachusetts town, and this voyage 
 to foreign parts convinced him that Boston was 
 the best place in the world for an American. At 
 any rate, when he reached Boston he remained here 
 and never left again as long as he lived. 
 
 BOSTON IN 1815 
 
 In 1814, on account of the large numbers of 
 militia quartered in Boston, local trade in food- 
 stuffs was brisk. On the thirteenth of February 
 of the next year news of the conclusion of the 
 war with England reached here and the town 
 celebrated the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. 
 Peace once assured, Boston continued to grow 
 rapidly. The census of 1810 showed more than 
 33,000 inhabitants, and by 1815 this number was 
 increased by at least 5000. Every one was doing 
 his share to make the town a better place in which 
 to live and do business, for every one was keenly 
 alive to the necessity of increasing the importance 
 of the town as a mercantile center. The last 
 year of the war found the citizens preparing for 
 a possible attack by the British, when two hun- 
 dred grocers, as well as merchants and mechanics, 
 lawyers and schoolmasters, Harvard students and 
 clerks, took pick and shovel to complete forti- 
 fications that should withstand the enemy. Now 
 that the hostilities were ended, picks and shovels
 
 lll Hll 
 
 I'll 
 
 1111 
 
 *
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 
 
 were used for a different purpose, as the work of 
 filling in the mill pond, bounded by what are now 
 North and South Margin Streets, which had been 
 interrupted by the war, proceeded rapidly and 
 large numbers of laborers found employment. 
 
 The importation of goods from abroad had almost 
 entirely ceased during the War of 1812, and the 
 spring of 1815 saw a great revival of business in 
 this direction. Besides, the resumption of trade 
 with the West Indies was important. It had been 
 customary before the war to ship fish, hoops and 
 staves, and other distinctly New England prod- 
 ucts to the West Indies, where the vessels would 
 reload with molasses, sugar and rum for England. 
 Then they would return to New England with 
 articles of British manufacture. All this business 
 had been practically killed by the war and its 
 resumption meant much to Boston and its 
 merchants. 
 
 FOOD AND FASHIONS 
 
 An adequate picture of life in the town when the 
 returned supercargo opened his store would fill 
 many pages. The citizens were hard working and 
 plain living, and while there was little poverty, the 
 number of wealthy men was small, so that the gro- 
 cer was not obliged to carry a large assortment of 
 fancy groceries. Indeed, the mechanic or laboring 
 man of today who earns from fifteen to twenty 
 dollars a week has a greater variety of food on his 
 table than the wealthy men of Mr. Peirce's early
 
 6 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 days. There is one important fact in connection 
 with Mr. Peirce's career that should be mentioned 
 here. Years and years ago, before the "Pure Food " 
 question had ever arisen, he used to say that he 
 had always prided himself on selling pure goods, 
 and that he thought the grocer who sold adulterated 
 articles, while perhaps making larger profit on them 
 than on better goods, would lose by such sales in 
 the long run. He was always glad to think of him- 
 self as one of the pioneers of the pure food move- 
 ment. 
 
 But if the people of Mr. Peirce's early days were 
 living simply on plain food, they were also dressing 
 in what seemed to certain old-fashioned Bostonians 
 an extremely plain and radical fashion. For the 
 past year or two the costumes for men had been 
 in a transition state. Gorgeous coats and bro- 
 caded waistcoats, with silk knickerbockers and 
 silver buckled shoes were now worn only by a few 
 of the wealthy and conservative Bostonians, for 
 it was in the Waterloo year that pantaloons had 
 come into use in this country. These were worn 
 by the younger men, although there was much 
 variety in the costumes and at any gathering of 
 note the dress of the younger generation was be- 
 coming strikingly plain. At such a gathering there 
 would be seen square-skirted coats and others of a 
 style just coming in vogue made of green or blue cloth 
 with large gilt or pearl buttons, a high rolling collar 
 and long narrow tails, reaching down to the calves. 
 Starch had been introduced into the neckcloths of
 
 IN A STORE IN THIS BUILDING SILAS PEIRCE BEGAN BUSINESS APRIL 1, 1815
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 
 
 the gentry of Europe and the fashion had reached 
 America. Shirt collars were so high that they touched 
 the wearer's ears. "Pudding cravats" were designed 
 to make the chest look deep, and stocks were just 
 coming into use. There were a few old men who still 
 powdered their hair and a few dandies had theirs 
 curled, but most men wore the hair long and parted 
 on the side. In all these fashions the one that most 
 affected the grocer was the introduction of the stiff 
 neckcloth, which helped the sale of starch. 
 
 THE FIRST STORE 
 
 Young Peirce had the shrewd Yankee instinct 
 for barter and trade, which had been sharpened 
 by his years of service in the importing house and 
 by his experience as supercargo. He lost no time 
 after his return in looking about for a location in 
 which to start in business for himself. Soon he 
 found a building at 13 Dock Square, later num- 
 bered 21, which he thought suitable for the grocery 
 business. The building is still standing and is 
 occupied by several business concerns. It was 
 owned by the town of Boston as late as 1795, and 
 in that year was sold by auction to the highest 
 bidder, the Rev. Isaac Story of Marblehead, a 
 prominent clergyman of that town, for whom the 
 Story School was named. The building in 1795 
 was described as of brick and wood, four stories 
 high and covering eight hundred square feet. It 
 was valued three years later at $8000. In 1850 it 
 was occupied by Johonnot & Saunders, hardware,
 
 8 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 and later the next neighbor towards the market 
 was George Fenno, famous as the originator of the 
 advertising phrase, familiar to all Boston lads of a 
 half century ago, "Clothe Your Boys at Fenno's." 
 In time Fenno acquired the whole building. 
 
 At the sale of the property in 1795 the following 
 notice was circulated: 
 
 AUCTION 
 
 AT 11 A.M. MONDAY 15 JUNE 1795 
 Three very valuable Brick Stores fronting Dock Square 
 and adjoining the Market being the most advantageous stand 
 for Business in the Town of Boston, now occupied by William 
 Dawes, Jr., Austin & Crocker & Eliakim Morse; also row of 
 bldgs improved as shops fronting Concert Hall. 
 
 In April, 1815, Mr. Peirce opened his store. He 
 was then just past his majority and was far more 
 active and alert than the average business man, 
 for his experience at sea had done much to develop 
 him. 
 
 IN THE MILITIA 
 
 When the country boy first came to Boston he 
 was naturally much interested in seeing the 
 soldiers when they marched in honor of some 
 special event or escorted some dignitary to his 
 hotel. On Artillery Election he followed the 
 Ancients as they paraded, and it is not surprising 
 to find that he soon joined the militia, and doubt- 
 less on his return from Portugal had an oppor- 
 tunity to train with his fellows before the
 
 AN EARLY VIEW OF DOCK SQUARE, WHERE THE FIRST STORE WAS LOCATED 
 
 From the collection of Dr. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff in the possession of 
 the Bostonian Society.
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 
 
 announcement of the Treaty of Ghent, for Boston 
 was full of militia at that time. After he had 
 started in business he still attended to his military 
 duties and in 1816 was made an ensign. Two 
 years later he was promoted to be a lieutenant 
 and in 1821 he became captain of the Seventh 
 Company of the First Regiment, Colonel Thaddeus 
 Page commanding. In 1823 he was changed to 
 the Second Company, of which he remained 
 captain for years. The First Regiment belonged 
 to the Third Brigade of the First Division of the 
 Massachusetts Militia. Meanwhile, in the year 
 that he was made a captain, he joined the Ancient 
 and Honorable Artillery Company, and began to 
 take an interest in the affairs of that organiza- 
 tion. To his friends and to many of his customers 
 he was always "Captain Peirce," and letters that 
 have been preserved show that it was the custom 
 to address him as "Captain Silas Peirce, Merchant." 
 
 RETAIL PRICES IN 1815 
 
 The prices of groceries at the time that Mr. 
 Peirce started in business were so different from 
 those at present that a few figures may be of 
 interest. At that time sugar, the brown Havana 
 sugar that did not entirely disappear from the 
 grocer's stock until after the Civil War, retailed 
 at 14 cents a pound. Molasses was 80 cents per 
 gallon at retail, Hyson tea $1.40 a pound, rice 4^ 
 cents a pound, common salt 11 cents a quart, and 
 malt $1.50 a bushel. A few weeks after Mr. Peirce
 
 10 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 had opened his first store in Dock Square a bill of 
 groceries was sold by one of his retail neighbors 
 amounting to $9.31. This consisted largely of New 
 England rum, the total amount of the groceries 
 being less than one-half of the value of the rum, 
 which was sold at $1.10 per gallon. It is note- 
 worthy that payment for these items was made 
 largely in butter at 24 cents a pound and eggs at 
 20 cents per dozen. In making the settlement the 
 wise Boston grocer took no chances of a mistake 
 occurring in the bill, and instead of receipting it, 
 simply marked it "errors excepted" and signed his 
 name. 
 
 The great changes that a century has made in 
 prices will be seen from the above, for it must be 
 remembered that in 1815 the purchasing power of 
 a dollar was probably from two to two and one-half 
 times as great as at present. Molasses at what 
 would be now two dollars per gallon is an advance 
 on even the "war prices" that so many of the 
 grocers of two-score years ago used to quote. 
 
 IN MARKET SQUARE 
 
 The young grocer remained in his first location 
 for a year, and in 1816 moved to No. 6 Market 
 Square, on the south side of Faneuil Hall. On 
 November 16, 1819, this was described in a court 
 document as "a Shop numbered six on the south 
 side of the Market." This store was in a brick 
 dwelling of three stories, which had just been sold 
 by Nathaniel Noyes, an apothecary, who had kept
 
 mi 1111 mi 
 
 . 
 
 WOODEN-WARM 
 
 SECOND STORE OCCUPIED BY SILAS PEIRCE, MARKET SQUARE, 1816 
 
 Described in Early Records as "The Shop numbered six 
 on the south side of Market Square."
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 11 
 
 a shop there since the Revolution, to Captain 
 William Thompson of Charlestown. On the east 
 side of this house was Corn Court and on the west 
 was Fitche's Alley, afterwards Flagg Alley, then 
 Change Alley, and now Change Avenue. This 
 passageway was originally named Pierce's Alley, in 
 compliment to the captain of the Mayflower. The 
 building covered a thousand feet of land space 
 and was lighted by twenty-six windows, a large 
 number for a building of that size at that time. 
 According to the earliest picture extant, the front 
 was clapboarded, but this was probably done after 
 Mr. Peirce's day. Back of the store ran an ex- 
 tremely narrow passageway called Damnation Alley, 
 through which one could go to the Hancock House, 
 which was said to have sheltered Louis Philippe when 
 that monarch was for a short time an exile here. 
 
 Afterwards the Peirce store was demolished to 
 make room for a stone building that was occupied 
 by the Reads, dealers in firearms, and it was here 
 that the police boldly met the trouble makers 
 during the draft riots in July, 1863, when thirty 
 people were killed. 
 
 Some ten years later, in the upper attic of the 
 Read store, the writer, in preparing for a mountain 
 trip, found a knapsack that had been captured 
 by Northern troops during the Civil War when 
 the Confederates were trying to run the blockade 
 at Charleston, S. C. Within recent years the 
 stone store has given place to a brick building 
 that is now leased by a firm of seed merchants.
 
 WEST INDIA GOODS 
 
 Mr. Peirce occupied store No. 6 as a "grocer." 
 In the cellars were George Leland, provisions, 
 and Elijah Bruce, "stall keeper." Evidently Mr. 
 Bruce was a butcher, so that under one roof the 
 thrifty citizens of the town could buy everything 
 that was needed in the way of food. Later, when 
 Mr. Peirce moved to Elm Street, it was as a 
 dealer in "West India goods and groceries." Just 
 what the distinction was between a grocer and a 
 dealer in West India goods and groceries, even the 
 most learned antiquarians who have studied the 
 history of Boston are unable to state positively. 
 It was about the time that Mr. Peirce started in 
 business that grocers added "W. I. Goods" to 
 their signs. In that year there were listed one 
 hundred and ten dealers in "W. I. Goods" in 
 the town of Boston, besides a large number who 
 called themselves simply "grocers." As the latter 
 class had stores in the residential district it is 
 likely that at first the retail grocers did not 
 designate themselves as dealers in West India 
 goods. 
 
 THE FAMOUS BITE TAVERN 
 
 Few locations in the old town appeal more 
 strongly to historians and antiquarians than the 
 "Shop numbered six on the south side of the 
 Market." A century before the Corn Market, 
 "on Pierce's Alley," held in front of the site 
 of the Peirce store, had brought trade to the
 
 .3
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 13 
 
 vicinity, and now with Boston's market business 
 all done near the store, no wonder that the young 
 grocer thought his new move beneficial and wise. 
 Close by was the Bite Tavern, built in 1795, a 
 three-story wooden house. During the first half of 
 the nineteenth century this building was numbered 
 8 Market Square. At one time it was known as 
 the "Bight of Leogan," which may have been its 
 original name. Few of the names of old Boston 
 landmarks have been more discussed than this. 
 According to Webster a bight is "a bend in the 
 sea-coast forming an open bay," and the suggestion 
 has been made that the name came from the town 
 of Leogane on the west coast of Hayti, which lies 
 in the angle or bight of the Gulf of Leogane. Pos- 
 sibly some returned sea-captain suggested the name. 
 Certain it is that in the thirties the boys at the Fort 
 Hill School when studying geography were taught 
 by Charles Fox, the master, that the peculiar shape 
 of the lot on which the Bight Tavern stood was 
 a good illustration of that portion of the sea called 
 a "bight." The teacher was a very old man and 
 insisted that the name of the tavern was originally 
 Bight, but was gradually changed to Bite, as the 
 latter related more to its use than its form. 
 
 In the picture of the second Peirce store, taken 
 probably in the late fifties, the word "Bite" is con- 
 spicuous on the tavern signs. The house was a 
 favorite resort for the merchants and marketmen 
 who wanted their drinks regularly at eleven in the 
 morning and four in the afternoon, and was noted
 
 14 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 for the excellence of its table as well as the quality 
 of its liquors. Famous as the resort of checker 
 players, the visitor could usually find some enthu- 
 siasts having a quiet game at almost any hour of 
 the day or evening. 
 
 HORATIO HARRIS AND THE "BITE" 
 
 There is a story that may be apocryphal but is 
 apropos, because each of the three Peirces was a 
 friend of Horatio Harris, the auctioneer, of whom 
 it is told. Mr. Harris was known to thousands of 
 Bostonians and his auction sales were always lively, 
 for he was quick-witted and bidders rarely got the 
 better of him. He was once auctioning the tickets 
 for a Jenny Lind concert and the bids kept the 
 prices at good figures. "Sold to the Tremont 
 House," "Sold to the American House," he would 
 say when accepting bids for the guests of the hotels. 
 At last five tickets were run up to a price so 
 high that the bidder hesitated to take the seats. 
 "Whose bid?" asked the auctioneer, but there was 
 no response. "What name?" again queried Mr. 
 Harris, after a pause, and this time came the 
 answer, much to the amusement of the crowd, 
 "Bite Tavern." 
 
 PARTNERS AND CHANGES 
 
 In 1818, Mr. Peirce took as a partner William 
 Thompson, Jr., son of the owner of the building in 
 which the store was situated. Two years later
 
 Thomas L.Perkins ! 
 
 F. Lorin0 Wheeler 
 o
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 15 
 
 they had another partner, William Borrows, who 
 remained with them for one year. In the fall of 
 1822 Mr. Peirce removed to No. 2, Sears Build- 
 ings, Elm Street, a store in a block built by David 
 Sears, where he continued the business alone. 
 Mr. Thompson kept on in business in Market 
 Square for a decade longer. 
 
 On November 18, 1822, the Boston Commercial 
 Gazette published the following advertisement: 
 
 
 
 SILAS PEIRCE 
 
 Has taken Store No. 21, (sic) Sears Buildings, Elm 
 Street, where he offers for sale, a good assortment of 
 SUPERIOR GROCERIES, and respectfully solicits the 
 patronage of his friends and the public. 
 
 4 wis Nov. 18 
 
 The movement of his business northward was 
 really the result of good judgment on the part of 
 the young grocer. Some of the leading merchants 
 were interested in developing Boston towards the 
 north, and Mr. Peirce, learning of their plan, de- 
 termined to take advantage of this growth. In 
 1817, David Sears and other progressive Bos- 
 tonians had cut through and laid out Market 
 Street, now known as Cornhill. Later some of 
 these men had become interested in the City 
 Market on Brattle Street, a building that ran 
 through to Elm Street. Years afterwards- the 
 building was occupied by the Allen Furniture 
 Company. It was to a store next to this City 
 Market that Mr. Peirce moved. The projectors of
 
 16 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 the new market felt sure that it would become the 
 "great market" of the young city; but for some 
 reason the authorities discouraged the project, with 
 the result that the large Faneuil Hall Market, 
 popularly known as Quincy Market, was built 
 in 1826 and the City Market building taken for 
 other purposes. 
 
 The grocer, however, had made a good move, 
 as there had been changes in the neighborhood 
 which made the location desirable. David Sears, 
 owner of the block in which the store was located, 
 owned also a large number of buildings in the 
 vicinity, many of which were leased for long terms of 
 years. Later Mr. Sears's real estate holdings became 
 the basis of the organized "Fifty Associates" from 
 whom the firm hired the Elm Street store. 
 
 ELM STREET STORE 
 
 The new grocery store was of brick and was 
 occupied at first only in part by Mr. Peirce, the 
 upper portion of the building being used as a hotel. 
 The innholders who kept the house were con- 
 stantly changing. It was on the south side of 
 the street next to an eight-foot passageway running 
 along the east side of the City Market. Almost 
 opposite was Wildes' Hotel, one of the most 
 popular places in the city for the country folk 
 to visit. The hotel did a large business in stabling 
 the horses of the country merchants who drove to 
 Boston, sometimes in their carriages, but more 
 often in their large canvas-covered wagons, in which
 
 DUE 
 
 TTTT 
 
 HIT 
 
 TUT
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 17 
 
 they transported the goods bought here back to the 
 villages of New England. 
 
 Across the street stood the house in which Edward 
 L. Davenport, the famous actor, father of Fanny 
 Davenport, was born in 1815. This house, as well 
 as a part of the Peirce store annex, was torn down 
 on the widening of Washington Street. 
 
 In 1846 Mr. Peirce enlarged his quarters by 
 hiring the building on the east of his store that was 
 owned by the heirs of Samuel Torrey. The store 
 was then numbered 22 and 25 Elm Street. In 
 1854, 22 and 25 Elm Street became 49 and 51. In 
 those days the city fathers, not having a large 
 amount of business on their hands, were contin- 
 ually changing the names and the numbers of the 
 different streets, which was annoying, but was 
 comparatively harmless, considering the mischief 
 that they might have done. 
 
 Three or four years after he began business, Mr. 
 Peirce had married Hannah Lopez, a school mis- 
 tress living on Charter Street. The couple first 
 lived at No. 5 Portland Place on the north side of 
 Portland Street, between Hanover and Sudbury. 
 The place is now built over. In 1825 they had 
 moved to Derne Street, then becoming quite a 
 fashionable residential section. Hannah Lopez was 
 the daughter of John and Hannah (Tuckerman) 
 Lopez and was connected with that Lopez fam- 
 ily whose fame as merchants had spread to every 
 port in Europe. She was born in Boston in 1793, 
 and^died here at the great age of ninety-two.
 
 18 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 WILDES' 
 
 When Mr. Peirce kept in Dock Square and in 
 Market Square he was on historic ground. There 
 was no more important section of Old Boston than 
 that which lies around Faneuil Hall, for the corn 
 market, the town dock, the early buildings, some of 
 them dating back to within a few decades of the land- 
 ing of the Pilgrims, all combined to make that part of 
 the town interesting to those who a century ago 
 could see some of these historic places and hear the 
 traditions about those which had passed away. One 
 building, the "Old Feather Store," built in 1680, 
 was not torn down until 1860. It is to be regretted 
 that better records were not kept of these surround- 
 ings, for their full history would show the large place 
 that they held in the story of Boston. 
 
 Elm Street was famous for its hotels, one of the 
 most famous being Wildes', nearly opposite the 
 Peirce store. Next to Wildes' at 9 Elm Street was 
 Jacob Barnard's stage office, from which many stages 
 started. In the last years of the eighteenth century 
 Patterson's House became a tavern and stage house 
 at 11 Elm Street, and in 1826 it was taken by 
 Solomon Wildes. By the middle of the last cen- 
 tury it had passed into the hands of Moses Wildes, 
 and old Bostonians are still living who remember 
 that innkeeper. All through the first half of the 
 last century this tavern was the starting place for 
 various stage lines and it was one of the places 
 where books were kept for passengers who desired 
 the stages to call for them. In 1828 the stage
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 19 
 
 for Haverhill, Exeter, Dover and Portland left 
 there every week day at 7.30 A.M., arriving at 
 Portland at four o'clock in the afternoon of the 
 next day. 
 
 STAGE COACH DAYS 
 
 The Dorchester and Milton stage left Wildes' at 
 four P.M. daily. It went through Roxbury and Dor- 
 chester, a distance of seven miles, the fare being 
 thirty-seven and a half cents. The Boston and 
 Lowell stage left the same tavern at three o'clock 
 in the afternoon by way of Charlestown, Medford, 
 Woburn and Billerica. The distance was twenty-six 
 miles and the fare was one dollar and a quarter. 
 
 On Monday, Wednesday and Saturday a stage 
 left Wildes' at 3.30 P.M. for Newton Upper Falls, 
 Dover and Medway. On Monday, Tuesday, Thurs- 
 day and Saturday a stage left for Uxbridge at noon, 
 running through Brighton, Newton, Natick, Hollis- 
 ton and Milford, the fare being two dollars. There 
 were two lines of stages running to Weymouth on week 
 days at three and four o'clock in the afternoon for a 
 sixty-two and one-half cent fare. A daily stage for 
 Watertown and Waltham left at four P.M., the fare 
 being thirty-seven and one-half cents to the former 
 place and fifty cents to the latter. These prices 
 seem high considering the value of money at that 
 time and the present low rates. For long distances 
 horses were changed every ten or fifteen miles and 
 travellers were obliged to be early risers, as they often 
 had to put in long days on the road.
 
 20 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 Other figures regarding stage coach travelling of 
 that time are interesting. The Albany mail stage 
 left Boyden's, No. 1 Dock Square, at three o'clock in 
 the morning on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 
 for the New York Capital. Springfield was the 
 principal stopping place on the road. After crossing 
 the Connecticut River the stage went on to Ely's, 
 stops being made on the road at Emerson's Tavern 
 in Westfield; at Knox's in Blandford; at Rowley's or 
 Emerson's in Greenwood; at Chad wick's in Tyring- 
 ham; at Root's in Great Barrington; and at Hicks's 
 in Egremont. From this inn ran also the Plymouth 
 and Sandwich stage, the trip to the latter place 
 taking exactly twelve hours. This stage left Boston 
 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, returning on 
 Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 
 
 Another tavern on Elm Street was Bradley 's, 
 from which the stage ran to Amherst, N. H., and 
 Windsor, Vt., carrying the mail. This stage left 
 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, usually 
 reaching Windsor at four P.M. on the day following. 
 Passengers on the Saturday stage spent Sunday at 
 some point on the road. From Windsor, another 
 stage ran to Burlington, Vt. As the journey be- 
 tween these points could be made in fifty-six hours 
 under favorable circumstances, it is easy to figure 
 that the traveller who started on Saturday took the 
 better part of a week in making a journey of less 
 than two hundred and fifty miles. 
 
 Bradley's Tavern also was the starting point of 
 the stage for Hanover, N. H., which went by way of
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 21 
 
 Andover and Haverhill and through Concord, N. H. 
 This stage started at five o'clock in the morning and 
 sometimes reached Concord, N. H., in twelve hours. 
 Twice each week this stage went from Concord to 
 Hanover, the trip between these places taking eleven 
 hours. 
 
 Often the dealers sent their own wagons over 
 the stage route and it is a conservative estimate 
 that the trip took usually twice as long as by 
 coach. The letter from Hanover, N. H., repro- 
 duced here, is interesting as it indicates the method
 
 22 
 
 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 of transportation four-score years ago, and also is 
 eloquent testimony to the confidence that the 
 customers had in the house, a confidence that 
 succeeding generations have continued to express. 
 
 MAIL CHARGES 
 
 Six hours was the time of the Newburyport stage 
 in its daily trips (Sundays excepted) to and from 
 Boston. The Newburyport stage started from 
 Hale's Inn in Ann Street, now North Street, every 
 week day at noon. The regular eastern mail also 
 left from this inn every morning at ten o'clock. It 
 was due at Salem in two hours, reached Newburyport 
 at half past three, and at half past six was in Ports- 
 mouth, N. H. Half an hour later the stage went on 
 to Kennebunk, reaching there at midnight, then 
 leaving for Portland, and if conditions were favorable, 
 arriving there at half past eight the next morning.
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 23 
 
 The mention of the Newburyport stage is a re- 
 minder of the address of a letter reproduced here that 
 was brought by one of these coaches in 1824. In 
 those days the charge for carrying a letter of one 
 sheet was eight cents for forty miles, ten cents for 
 ninety miles, twelve and one-half cents for one 
 hundred and fifty miles, and twenty cents for five 
 hundred miles. Any letter weighing an ounce was 
 counted as four single letters. It must be remem- 
 bered that there were no envelopes in those days, 
 the sheets being folded and sealed and the address 
 written on the outside. Magazines and pamphlets 
 were carried to distances of over one hundred miles 
 for two cents per sheet, the minimum charge for the 
 distance under fifty miles being half that amount. 
 
 FIRST BUSINESS CARD 
 
 Some thirty years ago Mr. C. C. Rowland, a 
 customer who had a store on Shawmut Avenue, 
 Boston, went to Dover, N. H., to settle the 
 affairs of his uncle, E. C. Andrews, who had just 
 died. Among the papers left by Mr. Andrews 
 was a card which he had received from the first 
 Silas Peirce in 1828. The card was probably 
 printed in 1822. At the time that the firm cele- 
 brated its seventy-fifth anniversary fac-similes of 
 the card, on the same style of brown pasteboard 
 that was used in the original, were distributed 
 among the customers. These fac-similes were sent to 
 various parts of the country, and one day the
 
 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 JV0. 3, 6EAR& BUILDINGS, ELM-STREET, BOSTON, ] ; 
 
 BAS COYSTAWTLT (AT WHOLKSAIE AKD KSTAIL.) A COKPL2TK 
 
 :Teas, 
 Sugar. 
 
 Coffee, 
 Spices, 
 
 Raisins, 
 Currant;, 
 
 V12: 
 
 ! I Grapes, | Olives, | Cayenne, 
 
 i : Prunes, : : Capers, : : Chocolate, 
 
 ; ; Nuts, ; : Fish Sauces, : ; Shells, 
 
 : : Oils, ; Preserves. ' Bird Seed, 
 
 : i Wines, i Spanish Cigars, : : Oranges, 
 
 ' Spirits, : : Dun Fish, | Lemons, 
 
 : : Cordials, * Mostard, 
 
 liF 
 
 With a great variety of other Luxuries, Delicacies and Necessaries. 
 
 *.'JB. P.rices will be such as to offer great inducements to \ \ 
 
 who -purchase wilh CASH. 
 
 < 
 
 postman brought a letter directed to "Silas 
 Peirce, No. 2, Sears Buildings, Elm Street, 
 Boston." The writer of the letter said that he 
 had seen the card and noticed that "prices will 
 be such as to offer great inducements to all who 
 purchase with cash," and as he wished to pay 
 cash he asked what inducements would be offered. 
 
 AN EARLY ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 Early in the last century it was not customary 
 for grocers to advertise their goods unless they had 
 some specialty that could not be found elsewhere 
 in town. The importers were more liberal in an- 
 nouncing their wares, and if a vessel arrived with 
 spices or teas the fact was advertised in the news- 
 papers. One of the first advertisements of the 
 founder of the house that has been discovered was in
 
 Illl 1IH
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 25 
 
 the Columbian Centinel of January 10, 1824, and 
 reads as follows: 
 
 ESSENCE OF ROSES 
 
 J. P. HALL, No. 1 Union Street and SILAS PEIRCE, 
 Elm Street, Boston, keep constantly for sale Gould's real 
 ESSENCE OF ROSES. One bottle will make from 6 to 10 
 of Rose Water. Price 50 cents per bottle. Ask for Gould's 
 real Essence of Roses. 
 6 Dec. 1823, 6 m. 
 
 THE FIRST "DRUMMER" 
 
 WILLIAM STEARNS, a grocer who later established 
 the present firm of William Stearns & Co., was 
 taken into partnership by Mr. Peirce in 1826, and 
 six years afterwards withdrew to go into business 
 for himself, at first as the head of the firm of Stearns 
 & Crosby. He was a fine representative of the 
 business man who used to be called "a merchant 
 of the old school." Born in Lunenburg, Mass., 
 he came to Boston when quite young. Mr. 
 Peirce, an excellent judge of human nature, 
 saw that the youth had good business ability and 
 was just the partner needed to help carry on 
 the business. Mr. Stearns opened a store on Chat- 
 ham Street, Boston, and in a few years took as a 
 partner James Dana Hutchinson, who was in this 
 store for over three-score years. The business 
 thus established has been carried on in the same 
 building for eighty-one years. 
 
 In a sales book dated 1829, there are numerous 
 notes regarding the business. From this it is
 
 26 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 learned that Mr. Stearns went to New Bedford, 
 Lowell, Salem and Portsmouth frequently. He 
 evidently acted as a travelling salesman, although 
 the custom of sending out men to sell goods did not 
 become common until many years later. 
 
 THE NEW PARTNERS 
 
 After Mr. Stearns had withdrawn, Mr. Peirce 
 remained alone until he took as partners Hayward 
 Peirce Gushing, a relative, and Thomas Hall. In 
 searching the files of the newspapers that were 
 published during the early years of Mr. Peirce's 
 business career, no mention of his partners has 
 been found until Mr. Hall and Mr. Gushing went 
 into the firm. On Saturday morning, October 12, 
 1833, the Independent Chronicle and Boston Patriot 
 published the following: 
 
 COPARTNERSHIP NOTICE 
 
 Silas Peirce has taken into copartnership Mr. HAYWARD 
 P. GUSHING and Mr. THOMAS HALL, and the business will 
 hereafter be conducted under the firm of SILAS PEIRCE & CO. 
 Oct. 8, 1833. 
 
 HAYWARD PEIRCE GUSHING, son of Nathaniel 
 Gushing, Jr., and Jane Peirce Gushing, was born 
 in Scituate on May 3, 1812. Coming to Boston 
 he entered the employ of Silas Peirce in 1826 and 
 in 1833 was admitted, with Thomas Hall, to the firm. 
 Mr. Gushing was a man of strong and decided 
 character and did much to make the firm successful, 
 for at the time he was taken as a partner Mr.
 
 CUSTOM HOUSE, 1915
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 27 
 
 Peirce was alone and the increase in business made 
 it necessary for some new blood to be infused 
 into the concern. 
 
 Mr. Gushing was quick and correct in his judg- 
 ments. In purchasing goods he made up his mind 
 at once whether or not he wished them and it was 
 rare that his decision failed to be right. A director 
 in several railroads, he was especially interested in 
 the Metropolitan Street Railroad, with which he 
 was connected for a long term, serving it in various 
 official capacities. He was a patriotic man and 
 believed in the Union, showing steadfast loyalty 
 and a willingness to do everything in his power to 
 uphold the government during the darkest hours of 
 the Civil War. At one time he made a large pur- 
 chase of an issue of government bonds that was 
 not being taken up as rapidly as the authorities at 
 Washington had hoped. He had put so much money 
 into these bonds that it led to some conversation 
 with his business associates when he remarked, in 
 effect, "If these bonds are not worth anything, then 
 there is nothing that we have that is worth any- 
 thing." 
 
 He died October 13, 1870. One of his five chil- 
 dren is a successful physician and another a well- 
 known lawyer in Boston, where they have practiced 
 for many years. 
 
 THOMAS HALL, who was admitted to the firm 
 with Mr. H. P. Gushing, was born on September 
 2, 1812, at Leominster, Mass., the son of Gershom
 
 28 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 Hall and his wife Barbara Gershom. The name 
 Thomas went back in the family for several 
 generations, and it was afterwards borne by Mr. 
 Hall's son and grandson. Mr. Hall was a very 
 dignified and precise merchant of the old school, 
 who remained in the firm until 1857, dying at 
 Lynn in 1879. 
 
 It is hard at this distance of years to do justice 
 to the business acumen and ability of the early 
 partners of the house. In the case of Mr. Hall his 
 contemporaries have all passed away and there are 
 few anecdotes or incidents of his life that have come 
 down to the present time. Fortunately among 
 other records is a letter that he wrote from New 
 York on November 19, 1850, when he went there to 
 examine a cargo of raisins that had arrived from 
 Spain in a damaged condition. These raisins were 
 needed by the firm for the Thanksgiving trade and 
 the letter that Mr. Hall sent back regarding them 
 and the work that he did with the custom house 
 authorities and the insurance adjusters give an in- 
 sight into his methods of business. The firm had 
 in him a man who could grasp the details of a trans- 
 action and the letter proves that he was equal to 
 any task that might be given him in connection with 
 his business. 
 
 A FAEMER'S SON 
 
 SILAS PEIRCE, 2d, the son of a farmer, born on 
 the Peirce farm in Egypt, decided on a mercantile 
 career when eighteen years of age and in 1845 
 came to Boston and entered his uncle's store.
 
 111! llll 1111 
 
 mn 
 
 Tnr
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 29 
 
 He commenced on a salary of fifty dollars per 
 annum, his father furnishing board and clothing the 
 first year. Beginning at the bottom of the ladder, 
 he mastered the details of the business, and 
 showed marked ability as a buyer. He became 
 a partner in 1857, and was at the head of the 
 firm at the time of his death, October 15, 1898. 
 For the last ten years of his life he was not 
 actively engaged in the grocery business, but 
 devoted his time to the Boston National Bank, 
 of which he was the president; the North American 
 Insurance Company, which he served in the same 
 capacity, and various other corporations of which 
 he was a director. He was connected with many 
 charitable and philanthropic enterprises, officiating 
 as president or treasurer of several benevolent 
 organizations. An active participant in the affairs 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he served 
 on important committees at conventions of that 
 body and his advice in business affairs was often 
 sought by his colleagues. 
 
 In all his religious and philanthropic work he 
 was ably assisted by his wife, a woman of remark- 
 able executive ability, who did everything possible 
 to make her husband's plans successful. For 
 years the Boston Young Women's Christian 
 Association owed a great part of its success to 
 her energetic and untiring work, and after her 
 death her place was taken by her daughter, Mrs. 
 Edward H. Nichols, whose husband became a 
 member of the firm, who continued to serve the
 
 30 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 Association with the same constant faithfulness 
 that her mother had done. 
 
 COPPERS AND SOAP 
 
 One anecdote of Mr. Peirce has been told with 
 embellishments for many years, but it happened 
 exactly as related here and is now repeated for 
 the benefit of coming grocers. Shortly after the 
 Civil War, the soap manufacturer, B. T. Babbitt, 
 established a quantity price on his soap. One 
 hundred boxes could be bought for so much, 
 two hundred for a trifle less per box, and so on 
 up to one thousand. One thousand was the 
 maximum number of boxes at the minimum price. 
 The salesman from Babbitt's came to Mr. Peirce, 
 and, anxious to make a large sale, tried to induce 
 him to purchase a thousand boxes. Ever ready 
 for a trade, the latter told the salesman that he 
 would buy more than a thousand boxes if the 
 right price could be named. After some talk, 
 an offer was finally made for twelve hundred 
 boxes of the soap, to be paid for largely in coppers, 
 the exact amount of these not being designated. 
 The salesman submitted the offer to New York 
 and was told to accept it. The result was that 
 the firm received the large invoice of soap and 
 under Mr. Peirce's directions the clerks bought 
 up at a discount all the coppers that could be 
 obtained from the bakers, confectioners and other 
 dealers who were known to have such money on 
 hand. A small proportion of the bill was paid
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 31 
 
 by check, and the heavy coins, packed in nail 
 kegs and in soap boxes securely strapped, were 
 shipped by freight to New York City. It is a 
 matter of record that the salesman never again 
 approached Mr. Peirce with the intention of 
 making a large sale. 
 
 ONE STREET AND ANOTHER 
 
 A short record of the places where the early 
 partners lived from time to time will give some 
 idea of the widespread changes in our city. 
 Mention has already been made of Mr. Peirce's 
 residence in Derne Street. In 1825 he lived at 
 No. 4, a building now used for tenements. Five 
 years later he moved to 45 Bowdoin Street and 
 a decade after that was at 3 Montgomery Place, 
 now Bosworth Street. Early in the fifties he 
 built a large house at 3 Somerset Street and 
 resided there until his death. This house, which 
 is now given over to offices and stores, is, with 
 its high stories and long flights of stairs, of a 
 far different type from modern dwellings. But 
 it was erected "on honor" and the workmanship 
 was such that the building will last into the next 
 century unless the march of improvement changes 
 still more the section in which it stands. 
 
 Mr. Stearns lived on Belknap Street in 1832, 
 and two years later Mr. H. P. Gushing was 
 living at 101 Washington Street. Some twenty 
 years afterwards he moved to a house numbered 
 620 Washington Street, almost opposite Common
 
 32 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 Street, and in the same block with Charles 
 Sprague, the banker-poet. At one time Thomas 
 Hall lived on Wendell Street, later moving to 
 Kingston Street. Silas Peirce, 2d, boarded for 
 a time at the Merchants' Exchange Hotel on State 
 Street, over the Merchants' Exchange and Post 
 Office, on the site of the present Exchange Build- 
 ing. Later he lived on Summer Street not far 
 from the residence of Daniel Webster, where the 
 present Silas Peirce was born, and then moved to 
 Franklin Street. When Silas Peirce, 3d, was a 
 very small boy the family went to live in Mont- 
 gomery Place, near the house of Oliver Wendell 
 Holmes, and the little lad often saw the genial 
 Autocrat as the latter came and went on his 
 daily duties. 
 
 COMMERCIAL STREET 
 
 Meanwhile the Elm Street store, even with the 
 additional building, was becoming too small for 
 the growing business, and Mr. Peirce, looking 
 for larger quarters, decided that he would continue 
 at the North End, as near the market as possible, 
 for the dealers in groceries and provisions would 
 naturally cluster about Boston's famous market 
 house. In May, 1855, Silas Peirce & Co. com- 
 pleted the purchase of a lot of the Mercantile Wharf 
 Association, although, curiously enough, the con- 
 tracts for building were signed in April, and during 
 the summer the large block of stone stores on 
 Commercial Street, extending from Clinton to Rich-
 
 TUT 
 
 nit mi 
 
 PRESENT LOCATION, 59-61 COMMERCIAL STREET, BOSTON
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 33 
 
 mond Streets, was erected, the Peirce store being 
 numbered 59 and 61. A year later the grocers 
 occupied a part of the new building and not long 
 afterwards the entire store was given up to 
 their use. From that day until the present the 
 headquarters of the concern have been at 59 
 and 61 Commercial Street. 
 
 Commercial Street sixty years ago was far 
 different from what it is now. The west side of 
 the street was occupied by buildings that had 
 been erected some years before. The Mercantile 
 Block was built on made land and a narrow 
 street, now called Mercantile, separated the stores 
 from the waters of the harbor. Captains of the 
 coasters ran their vessels so close to the street 
 that often the bowsprits projected nearly to the 
 back door of the Peirce store. Later this space 
 in the rear of the block was rilled in with earth from 
 Fort Hill, and the land lay idle for years. The firm 
 hired the newly made land directly back of the store 
 and built a fence around it. In this enclosure 
 molasses could be kept excepting during the hottest 
 of the summer months. 
 
 THE "DUMP" 
 
 The "dump," as it was called, was a popular 
 place for the firm's customers to visit, as a buyer 
 who wished to lay in his year's stock of molasses 
 had only to step across the street to find himself 
 in a large yard, with the hogsheads and tierces 
 and barrels arranged neatly in tiers, so that he
 
 34 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 could make his selection with little trouble. 
 Afterwards the "dump" became too valuable a 
 piece of Boston real estate to be used for the 
 storage of molasses. The farmers wanted some 
 open place in which to dispose of their produce 
 and for a time the land was used for a farmers' 
 market. The idea of an open air market even a 
 few rods away from the great market, was com- 
 bated by many of the raisers of produce who 
 drove in with their own teams and wished to 
 establish themselves next Faneuil Hall Market 
 itself. In the end, the farmers and others who 
 came to sell their wares from their wagons were 
 established on South Market Street and the 
 "dump" was built over, so that what was a 
 part of Boston Harbor three-score years ago, is 
 now covered with an extensive meat market. 
 Near by is the produce district of the city, with 
 the buildings in which dealers in potatoes and 
 other vegetables house their wares. The land 
 on which the store stands is becoming as solid 
 as the street in front of the building, but for 
 many years the cellar was always overflowed 
 at the highest tides. Only the heroic treatment 
 of emptying eight hundred loads of dirt and 
 gravel into the cellar at one time made it watertight. 
 
 DEATH OF SILAS PEIRCE, IST 
 
 Silas Peirce, 1st, died at his residence, 3 Somer- 
 set Street, at six o'clock on Wednesday evening, 
 August 27, 1879, at the advanced age of eighty-
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 35 
 
 six years and six months. Few men rise by their 
 own efforts from the small beginnings which 
 marked his entrance into business life to such 
 places of prominence in the community. He had 
 inborn the Yankee characteristics of thrift, shrewd- 
 ness and good common-sense. For years he 
 declined public office, but in 1857 he consented 
 to run for alderman and was elected, serving the 
 city of Boston in that capacity for six years, 
 during one of which he acted as Chairman of 
 the Board. One of his associates among the 
 aldermen said that Mr. Peirce was known as the 
 "Watch Dog of the Treasury" and that no 
 schemes to use the public money extravagantly 
 were ever successful while he was on the Board. 
 It was during his term of service that many 
 plans were made for improving the North End, 
 but the Civil War changed all these and improve- 
 ments that had been contemplated for years 
 were at last given up on account of conditions 
 caused by the strife. 
 
 Mr. Peirce's municipal services were charac- 
 terized by the sound judgment, independence and 
 tact that had made his career as a merchant 
 successful. At the time of his death he had been 
 retired for years and many of his former business 
 associates had passed away. Yet he was pleas- 
 antly remembered by those who were left and 
 one of them told the story, that was later cor- 
 roborated, of a meeting of the directors of an 
 insurance company after the great fire in this
 
 36 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 city. Mr. Peirce was one of these directors, and 
 the question arose as to what should be done 
 with the stock of the company. It looked as 
 if the stock would be entirely wiped out unless 
 some move were made for the benefit of the 
 smaller stockholders. Mr. Peirce offered at once 
 to give up his holdings, amounting to more than 
 fifty thousand dollars, and by so doing something 
 might be saved for the small shareholders. The 
 idea staggered the other directors and the move 
 was not carried out, but as the narrator of the 
 story states, the aged grocer offered to give up 
 fifty thousand dollars as readily as if it had been 
 fifty cents. 
 
 OTHER PARTNERS 
 
 A lad from New York that found work with the 
 firm was CHARLES E. MOODY, who after some years, 
 in 1857, was admitted to partnership. He was 
 much interested in shipping, and at one time owned 
 shares in many vessels. In 1868 he established the 
 successful firm of Charles E. Moody & Company. 
 Associated with him in business were a number of 
 his relatives, and at the present time, Charles H. 
 Goodridge, a grand-nephew, is in the firm. 
 
 Mr. Moody died in Detroit, Mich., in 1893. He 
 had been at the World's Fair in Chicago and was 
 taken ill, dying while on his way home. 
 
 It was in May, 1840, that J. HAMILTON FARRAR 
 entered the employ of the firm. At the age of four-
 
 William Stearns 
 1826-1832 
 
 Nathan Gushing 
 
 Hayward P. Cushind l86 3 - 1871 
 
 y i8 - i8ta 6 
 
 Charles E. Moody 
 1857-1868 J 
 
 A. Moreton Swallow 
 
 J. Hamilton Fa rrar 1871-1890 Edward H.Nichols 
 
 1863-1876 1876-1900 
 
 Jormer Partners
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 37 
 
 teen he had gone to work for Lemuel A. Cooledge, 
 the grandfather of F. Loring Wheeler of the present 
 concern. Mr. Cooledge kept one of the principal 
 retail grocery stores in Boston, situated on the cor- 
 ner of Essex and Washington Streets, where Bacon's 
 store now stands. Mr. Farrar remained with Mr. 
 Cooledge until he had become thoroughly acquainted 
 with the retail business, for his employer had prom- 
 ised that in time he would get the lad a position in a 
 wholesale grocery. Six years later the young man 
 began his career as a wholesaler with the Peirce 
 firm on Elm Street. In 1863 he was admitted to 
 partnership, retiring after thirteen years. His death 
 removed the last partner who had been connected 
 with the first Silas Peirce. 
 
 Mr. Farrar was a director in a number of railroad 
 companies and was actively interested in several 
 philanthropies, serving for many years as the treas- 
 urer of the North End Mission. He was born on 
 the last day of the year 1820 and died on February 
 17, 1906. 
 
 AN OLD-TIME GROCER 
 
 Mr. H. P. CUSHING'S brother NATHAN, his junior 
 by two years, was a grocer on Commercial Street 
 almost opposite the Peirce store, where for years 
 he had been at the head of the firm of Gushing 
 & Clapp. This concern did a large business with 
 Maine and with the British provinces, especially 
 with Prince Edward Island, sending annually 
 to that island goods worth thousands and thou-
 
 38 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 sands of dollars. It was noted that after the 
 introduction of railroads they were of little use 
 to Mr. Nathan Gushing, as he shipped nearly 
 all the goods he sold by schooners. This concern, 
 which had been dealing extensively with Silas Peirce 
 & Co. for years, was dissolved and in 1863 Mr. 
 Gushing became the head of the older house, retir- 
 ing eight years later. He was a man of marked 
 characteristics, well informed on a great variety 
 of subjects and an omnivorous reader, especially 
 of works of natural science and history. Many of 
 the younger men in the store stood in awe of him, 
 but as a boy, I was brought by a fortunate chance 
 to his notice, so that we became friends in 
 spite of the great difference in years. The 
 chance that brought us together was this: One 
 day Mr. Gushing was arguing with a visitor and to 
 enforce his argument wished to quote from Edmund 
 Burke. He had Burke's idea but could not think 
 of the exact words. Turning around, he said, 
 "Young man, you ought to know what Burke 
 said on that occasion. Don't you remember his 
 words?" 
 
 Memories of numerous school recitations brought 
 back Burke's speech and the retired merchant was 
 greatly pleased, as the exact quotation fitted what 
 he wished to say. Sometime later it developed 
 that Mr. Gushing was well read in the works of 
 Emerson, Theodore Parker and Oliver Wendell 
 Holmes, three writers who were favorites of the 
 boy who had furnished the Burke quotation.
 
 GEORGE E.PRATT 
 
 WILLIAM H. ECKERT 
 
 S.P. MOORHOUSE. HENRY J. WILSON CHARLES W TUCKER
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 39 
 
 Indeed, while Mr. Gushing was reading "Over 
 the Teacups" in the Atlantic Monthly he often 
 spoke of them and recommended them as good 
 reading. 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF NATHAN GUSHING 
 
 Mr. Gushing read the Boston Advertiser from 
 beginning to end every morning, and at night 
 studied the Transcript. One year there was a 
 bill before the legislature to which he was strongly 
 opposed, and he requested me to send letters 
 to the Advertiser and Transcript against the bill. 
 This was not at all agreeable as the bill seemed 
 a desirable one, but Mr. Gushing, in his authorita- 
 tive way, said: "Young man, a good lawyer can 
 always see both sides of a case." The result 
 was that for the next few weeks every point that 
 could be found against the bill was diligently 
 studied and letters sent to the Advertiser and 
 Transcript which, much to Mr. Cushing's delight, 
 contained arguments that were never refuted. 
 He was a man of few words and little was said 
 about the matter until nearly a year after my 
 marriage. Then Mr. Gushing, pulling a good- 
 sized bill out of his pocket, said: "I have always 
 intended to make you a wedding present, for I 
 have not forgotten how hard you argued against 
 your convictions on that legislative bill. Probably 
 you will want to buy some books. Get what 
 you want."
 
 40 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 THE FAMILY CIRCLE 
 
 While Mr. Gushing in his later years was not a 
 theatre-goer, he had formerly taken an interest in 
 plays and players and was well read in Shakespeare. 
 At one time he boarded at the New England House, 
 a noted hostelry, still standing, which was patronized 
 by city as well as country merchants. There he 
 made the acquaintance of Walter M. Leman, a cul- 
 tured, educated actor, who later went to California, 
 was made the judge of a local court and was much in 
 demand as orator and poet for special occasions. Mr. 
 Leman would return from the theatre after the per- 
 formance and sit with Mr. Gushing discussing Shake- 
 speare's plays until the small hours of the morning, 
 for the merchant was never one who retired early. 
 
 When the present Boston Theatre was opened, it 
 was intended as an attraction for the buyers from the 
 south and west who visited the city, and Mr. Gush- 
 ing, believing that the new house might aid in Bos- 
 ton's commercial development, invited one of his 
 customers to go with him to this theatre a few days 
 after it had been dedicated. The nomenclature of 
 the various sections of the house was new to theatre- 
 goers here and when the ticket-seller glibly rattled 
 off the strange names Mr. Cushing's ear caught the 
 words "family circle" and he said that he would 
 take two seats there. 
 
 When he arrived at the family circle with his 
 guest, he found he had made a mistake, but as 
 the play was beginning and the view of the stage 
 was good, the two men decided to remain. Soon
 
 ^BostonStore 
 Salesmen
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 41 
 
 in one of the quiet speeches a baby near them, 
 that had been smuggled past the doorkeeper by its 
 mother, began to cry, and at the first sounds of 
 "Hush! hush!" from the auditors, the mother ad- 
 justed her dress and began to nurse the infant. At 
 this there were more exclamations and one man 
 grumbled loudly at such an exhibition, as he said 
 that the woman should be ashamed for nursing her 
 child so publicly. The man continued to grumble 
 until his neighbors were much disturbed and efforts 
 were made to keep him quiet. At last Mr. Gushing 
 turned to the disturber and said in a dignified man- 
 ner: "My dear sir, why should not the mother nurse 
 her child here? Certainly there is no more proper 
 place for such an act than the family circle." The 
 man joined in the laugh against himself, and mother 
 and babe were left in peace. 
 
 Up to a short time before his death Mr. Gushing 
 came to the store regularly, excepting during the 
 hottest days of summer. For many years his advice 
 was sought eagerly by the buyers, as he had a 
 remarkably extensive knowledge of merchandise. It is 
 seldom that a man who is an expert on teas and cof- 
 fees is fitted also to pass on the quality of all other 
 kinds of groceries, but whatever was brought to Mr. 
 Cushing's attention was judged with a nicety that 
 made him famous among the brokers, who were always 
 anxious to obtain from him a good opinion of their 
 wares, knowing that if he said that an article had 
 merit, there was slight chance of any one's ability to 
 prove otherwise.
 
 42 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 MR. SWALLOW'S ACCIDENT 
 
 A. MORETON SWALLOW was born in Nashua, N. H., 
 and educated at Townsend Academy. His grand- 
 mother was Lucy Emerson, a cousin ef Ralph 
 Waldo Emerson. It was not until he had passed 
 his majority that he came to Boston and entered 
 upon a mercantile career here. He was on Elm 
 Street for several years with J. Blanchard & Son, a 
 firm that changed its name several times during its 
 existence. In 1868 he became a salesman for Silas 
 Peirce & Co., and three years later, when Fitzroy 
 Kelly was admitted to the firm, Mr. Swallow also 
 was made a partner. He remained with the concern 
 until 1890 when he retired, at that time being the 
 oldest member of the firm. After his retirement he 
 lived quietly at Quincy, Mass., near the homes 
 of two of the former presidents of the United States, 
 John Adams and John Quincy Adams, until his death 
 in 1901. Many of the old customers of the house 
 will recall the severe accident that befell him a 
 few years before his retirement, when his head was 
 crushed by a descending freight elevator. Miracu- 
 lously he escaped permanent injury but was confined 
 to his bed for many weeks. He was genial, always 
 courteous and smiling, and something of a philosopher. 
 At the time of the accident he was questioned closely 
 as to the manner of its occurrence and if he became 
 insensible. His reply was: "No, I knew everything 
 that happened and the only thought that came to me 
 and that kept repeating itself in my mind, was, 
 ' What a fool I was to be so careless !' "
 
 ARTHUR C.ENGLAND 
 
 HERBERT H. PRICE 
 
 LOUIS B. WESTON 
 
 RAYMOND HALL 
 
 jJostonStarc 
 
 Salesroom 
 
 PERCY E.CHARLES 
 
 A 
 
 MERVILLE R.BARKLEY FRANCIS W.B.SCOTT
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 43 
 
 EDWARD H. NICHOLS entered the employ of the 
 firm on January 7, 1868. The son of William 
 Nichols, for twenty-five years the principal retail 
 grocer of Lowell, he graduated from the public 
 schools of that city and obtained a position as 
 page at the State House under Sergeant-at-Arms 
 Morrissey. Always pleasant and courteous, the 
 lad soon made friends with many of the legisla- 
 tors. These friendships he kept throughout his 
 life, and legislators who became figures of national 
 importance were always willing to serve him in 
 every way. 
 
 In 1859, while he was a page, the Prince of Wales, 
 afterwards King Edward VII, visited the State 
 House and was presented with an old firearm that 
 had a special history. The boy was bright and 
 attractive and was chosen to hand the weapon to 
 the one who made the presentation speech. The 
 papers of the day had much to say of the comely 
 lad who assisted at the ceremony. 
 
 He saw the sea-fight between the Monitor and 
 the Merrimac, when he was acting as clerk in 
 the Post Office at Fortress Monroe, Virginia. 
 After the Civil War he joined a group of Ohio 
 prospectors who were seeking oil in Canada. 
 Returning to this city he went to work in 1868 
 for Silas Peirce & Co., and on January 1, 1876, 
 was admitted to the firm, retiring in 1900. 
 His wife was a daughter of Silas Peirce, 2d, and 
 was much interested in benevolent and philan- 
 thropic work.
 
 44 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS YOUNG 
 
 On April 1, 1890, the firm celebrated its seventy- 
 fifth anniversary by a dinner at Young's Hotel. 
 Attention had not been called to the affair in 
 advance, and the guests, including a few prominent 
 men who were friends of the first Silas Peirce, 
 and the reporters, were the only ones who knew 
 of the dinner. The Boston papers gave long 
 accounts of it, and a few weeks later a veteran 
 journalist said that hundreds of dollars could not 
 have purchased the space that the press of the 
 country gave to this remarkable event, for there 
 were few newspapers from Maine to California 
 that did not comment on the unusual fact that 
 a firm in this country had retained the same 
 name for three-quarters of a century, with one 
 of the name always taking an active part in the 
 business. 
 
 WHAT THE EDITORS SAID 
 
 The New York Sun, ever ready to say a few 
 words about Boston, took as its text for a long 
 editorial, "The Peirces, Grocers," which began 
 as follows: 
 
 "When the old-line pepper and salt Bostonians, 
 who are not ashamed to wear chin whiskers or 
 to call for beans when there is a crowd present, 
 want to have a high old time and to keep the 
 Hub revolving fast and furious, they have a 
 dinner at Young's Hotel, and a mighty fine event 
 they generally make of it, too. The most recent
 
 INGRAHAM B. RYDER. JOHN J. SCOTT THOMAS HENDERSON 
 
 FRANK G. SPARHAWK 
 
 GEORGE HENDERSON 
 
 WILLIAM H.HENDERSON 
 
 ^ostonStore 
 
 Shipping 
 I department 
 
 JOSEPH J.RODOLPH 
 
 FRED W GRIFFIN 
 
 MAURICE F.FITZGERALD 
 
 THATCHER B.STREETER 
 
 EDWARD S.DEARMOND
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 45 
 
 celebration of the kind was given in honor of 
 Silas Peirce, who, it is averred, enjoyed the 
 distinction of being at the head of the oldest 
 grocery firm, not only in New England, but in 
 the United States." 
 
 The New York paper was not the only one 
 to say editorially pleasant words of the celebra- 
 tion. The Boston Transcript's editor thus referred 
 to the dinner: 
 
 "Seventy-five years is a good old age, and is 
 indicative of a strong constitution or a strong 
 character, or both, in an individual. In this 
 country, where business changes are so frequent, 
 the house that attains its seventy-fifth birthday 
 may well be congratulated on its years and honors. 
 Such an anniversary has more than a personal 
 interest, where, as in the case of Silas Peirce & 
 Co., the record of the firm is that of a long 
 career of probity and industry which have reaped 
 rich rewards. It is an object lesson which, in 
 these days when so many young men are tempted 
 to make short cuts to wealth, though the path to 
 riches is only to be successfully travelled by the 
 patient and industrious, we feel sure cannot be 
 too plainly presented. A business career of 
 seventy-five years is a history of itself, and is 
 suggestive of history, for the founder of the firm 
 was in business for himself when James Madison 
 was President, and very likely in common with 
 other merchants of the time anxiously awaited 
 the tidings of Napoleon's campaign in Belgium,
 
 46 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 and received the news of Waterloo as a matter 
 of great moment to the trade of the United 
 States." 
 
 The Boston Traveler was much interested in 
 the business relations of the house with some of 
 the older American mercantile establishments, 
 and on the day after the dinner gave this item 
 a place on the editorial page, heading it, "A 
 Mercantile Coincidence": 
 
 "A fact growing out of the dinner given by 
 Silas Peirce & Co. to their employees and friends 
 last evening is the following: The books of Pierre 
 Lorillard & Co., the oldest tobacconist firm in 
 the country, established in 1760, show an open 
 account with Silas Peirce & Co. as far back as 
 1826. As the Lorillard & Co. have retained the 
 same firm name, as well as Silas Peirce & Co., this is 
 probably as old an account between two American 
 houses without change of name as can be found." 
 
 A LAWYER'S REMINISCENCES 
 
 William L. Foster, a well-known lawyer of 
 Concord, N. H., sent a letter in regard to the 
 anniversary that embodies so much information 
 as to the early days of the firm from one who 
 was acquainted with its members, that it is here 
 given in full. 
 
 "My 'reminiscences' of the firm of Silas Peirce 
 relate to a period when the firm had reached 
 its majority and was about thirty years of age. 
 Those recollections are fresh and pleasant, but
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 47 
 
 they have nothing of 'anecdote' connected with 
 them, and nothing of special incident. 
 
 "My memory especially recalls the uniform 
 kindness and gentlemanly courtesy and con- 
 sideration which the firm of that day extended 
 to a raw and inexperienced youth. 
 
 "My acquaintance with the firm was made 
 about 1844, when I was engaged in trying to 
 learn the rudiments of law in the Harvard Law 
 School of Cambridge, under such teachers as 
 the ever sunny and cheerful (I had almost said 
 jolly) Judge Story, and the sharp, shrewd, critical 
 - the sly and crafty (in no bad sense) Pro- 
 fessor Greenleaf . We used to call him * Crafty 
 Simon.' 
 
 "I lived in Keene, N. H., with my father, who 
 kept a grocery store there, and whom I assisted 
 as his clerk in my vacations. He used to go to 
 Boston three or four times a year, to buy gro- 
 ceries, etc., and most of his trading was with 
 your firm. 
 
 "When I went with him from Keene, we used 
 to take the stage coach (sometimes, I guess, with 
 B. P. Cheney for driver) about four o'clock in 
 the morning, and we would drive into the stable 
 yard at No. 11 Elm Street (Wildes'), about 
 eight o'clock in the evening. In the summer 
 this was about the time when the watchmen 
 carrying a little ladder under their arms, were 
 going about lighting the street lamps filled with 
 fish oil.
 
 48 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 "While I was at Cambridge, my father would 
 occasionally send me a letter containing a list 
 of goods which he wanted, and I would go to 
 your store in Elm Street and bargain for them. 
 I would examine critically the samples of sugar, 
 molasses, tea, coffee, etc., and would sometimes 
 make a purchase so extensive as to amount to 
 perhaps $40 or $50 a big sum for me in those 
 days. I heard nothing about a 'sugar trust,' 
 but I knew I used to get trusted for sugar. Mr. 
 Peirce, Mr. Gushing and Mr. Hall were, one or 
 all of them, in personal attendance, waiting 
 upon customers, and Mr. Crane kept the books 
 in a little seven by nine office fronting on Elm 
 Street. I remember distinctly every line and 
 expression of the countenances of these four men, 
 and I recall the handsome, bold chirography of 
 H. N. Crane (written with his quill pen), and 
 which I should recognize and swear to, today." 
 
 Mr. Crane, the bookkeeper, was named for 
 the famous British Admiral, Horatio Nelson. 
 In the seven by nine office that Mr. Foster 
 mentions, the bookkeeper walked back and forth 
 in front of his desk day after day for many 
 years. Tradition says that on one occasion, 
 when members of the firm were in the cellar 
 inspecting some merchandise stored there, Mr. 
 Crane suddenly descended upon them feet first, 
 much to their consternation. The board on 
 which he stood had been worn so thin that at 
 last it had given way. Years afterwards Mr.
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 49 
 
 Crane's grandson entered the employ of the firm 
 and remained with it for several years. 
 
 DOWN THE HARBOR 
 
 During the celebration of Merchants' Week in 
 1888, the firm entertained its customers in a 
 novel manner long remembered by those who ac- 
 cepted the invitation extended to every one who 
 had purchased goods of the house within two years. 
 On May 16 a steamer of the Nantasket Line was 
 chartered and eight hundred customers enjoyed a 
 trip down the harbor. A band of music and a 
 bounteous lunch pleased the guests, and when the 
 steamer docked late in the afternoon the large 
 gathering from all parts of New England had 
 learned more about the harbor than many of those 
 present had ever known before. For a long time it 
 was a favorite jest of the drummers of rival houses 
 to ask customers if they were buying goods now of 
 Silas Peirce & Co., so as to get an invitation to the 
 harbor excursion. For months after the harbor trip 
 the firm continued to receive letters from gratified 
 customers. In several instances these letters stated 
 that the writers had never before seen the salt water. 
 
 JOHN JONES, JR., SKOWHEGAN, MAINE 
 
 As in every store that employs a number of 
 clerks, the firm had from time to time men who 
 form picturesque and fantastic figures on the 
 background of memory. One of these was a 
 tall, raw-boned Down-Easter, John Jones, Jr.,
 
 50 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 by name, of Skowhegan, Me., who stood nearly 
 six feet six in his stockings and was blessed with 
 a wife that was considerably under five feet in 
 height. Jones, a typical Yankee, had a striking 
 personality and first came to the attention of 
 the men in the store from his reply to the cashier. 
 The latter had on hand a large number of silver 
 dollars and when the men went to the office for 
 their pay on Saturday night, he would ask: "Can't 
 you use a few dollars in silver?" Jones was a 
 new man and the cashier, not dreaming of a 
 refusal, passed over the larger part of the weekly 
 wages in the cumbersome coins. Jones quietly 
 passed them back with the remark: "Thank you, 
 I don't care for these; my sidewalk's paved." 
 He was an original character with a ready wit 
 that made him known not only to the clerks 
 in the other stores, but also to the salesmen from 
 distant cities who came to sell goods to the firm. 
 Returning to his native town he lost one arm 
 and a part of his other hand by the premature 
 explosion of a cannon while celebrating the 
 election of Grover Cleveland as President. It 
 became the writer's duty to appeal in his behalf 
 not only to the grocers but to outsiders. Curiously 
 enough, the name John Jones, Jr., of Skowhegan, 
 Me., was a handicap, as many considered it an 
 alias. Indeed, one savings bank in Boston refused 
 to accept a deposit in his favor until assurances 
 were given that John Jones, Jr., of Skowhegan, 
 Me., was a real person.
 
 I
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 51 
 
 SHIPPER AND BOOKKEEPER 
 
 Among those who saw long service with the house 
 and who will be recalled by customers of a former 
 generation were George S. Richardson and Charles 
 W. Dodge. Young Richardson was universally 
 known as "Chub," a curious corruption of Sherwin, 
 his middle name. He began when a little boy to 
 ride to the store on one of the teams and on Satur- 
 day afternoons would try and help the men. While 
 still very young he was taken into the store and in 
 time rose to be a shipper. He died at an early age, 
 leaving a wife and baby. His memory has been a 
 pleasant one to the older employees and customers. 
 The loss of Mr. Dodge, a bookkeeper, was severely 
 felt. The tragedy of his death is one of the saddest 
 events in the history of the house. He was always 
 interested in gunning and every year spent his va- 
 cation on the North Shore, where he was well 
 known for his success as a sportsman. After the 
 death of Mrs. Dodge, he decided to get away from 
 the familiar places for a time and made preparations 
 for an extended gunning trip, trusting that the change 
 of scene would be beneficial. He went to the Bos- 
 ton & Maine Railroad station to take a late after- 
 noon train and shortly afterwards his body was 
 found on the tracks. The cause of his death re- 
 mained a mystery for twenty-four hours and then a 
 passenger on one of the outgoing trains who had 
 read an account of the accident in the papers, wrote 
 to the Boston Journal that he had seen the accident 
 the day before. He stated that a man was walking
 
 52 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 up and down the platform, apparently waiting for 
 his train to be made up, when a train came in on a 
 "flying switch" and struck the edge of a trunk that 
 projected from a pile of baggage on a truck. The 
 trunk, whirled through the air by the force of the 
 blow, struck the man in the throat, and just as the 
 passenger saw him fall, the spectator's train started 
 from the station. It proves how difficult it is to 
 fix the responsibility for accidents and crime when a 
 traveller can be killed outright in a station filled 
 with people and the mystery of his death solved 
 only by the merest chance. 
 
 EARLY BOOKKEEPING 
 
 A few of the old books of the concern are 
 preserved from the days when the grocer worked 
 sixteen hours on with eight off for sleep, and 
 when the only holidays for the clerks were Fast 
 Day and Thanksgiving. In one of these early 
 books are entries that exhibit the humors of 
 bookkeeping or rather of petty cash. "Cleaning 
 streets, 20 cents" is one entry, and the question 
 has been often raised as to the amount of work 
 that the street cleaners did for two dimes. Other 
 entries show that on March 23 the concern pur- 
 chased "one cat, 25 cents; March 24, one do., 
 25 cents; April 1, one rat trap, 88 cents." 
 Evidently rats were as numerous in a grocery 
 store then as now, and the two expensive cats, 
 after a week of trial, were discarded and a good 
 stout rat trap set to do the work.
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 53 
 
 In another book used in 1821, at a time that 
 Mr. Peirce carried on some retail as well as 
 wholesale business, are the names of many of the 
 first families of Boston, including those of J. 
 Putnam Bradlee, Abel Adams, and Francis Park- 
 man, D.D., father of the historian. This old 
 book has delighted scores of antiquarians. It is 
 a model of neatness and exactness, and every 
 entry was made with a quill pen. Some of the 
 charges are interesting as showing the extraordi- 
 nary prices of nearly a century ago, such as cur- 
 rants at 22 cents per pound, figs at 4 cents per 
 pound, whole allspice at 33}/2 cents per pound, 
 and nutmegs at $1.90 per pound. Cigars were 
 $2 per thousand, while the same number of 
 cheroots cost 25 cents more. 
 
 FIRE AND FROST 
 
 One cold day in January, 1886, when the 
 mercury was far below the freezing point, a clerk 
 in a butter and eggs store at the corner of Clinton 
 Street and Quincy Row, opposite the back doors 
 of Silas Peirce & Co., at 1 and 3 Mercantile 
 Street, while lighting eggs, dropped the candle 
 into a crate of straw. In an instant there was 
 a blaze which he tried to smother with blankets, 
 snatched from the horses that were shivering in 
 front of the store, but the fire was too quick 
 for him and he found it impossible to extinguish 
 it. Soon the department was called and the 
 alarms were rung in rapidly until all the available
 
 54 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 apparatus in Boston was engaged in fighting the 
 fire. Meanwhile the mercury kept dropping lower 
 and lower and the firemen were frozen to their 
 places. Indeed, one fireman on the aerial ladder 
 was so covered with ice that he could not stir 
 and his companions went to his rescue with 
 axes and chopped him away from the ladder to 
 which he was frozen. The business of the section 
 was at a standstill. The weary firemen found 
 that they could work but a short time before 
 they became so numb that their fingers dropped 
 the hose. The rear doors of the Peirce store 
 were opened and the fire fighters invited to enter 
 and have hot coffee, sandwiches and other food 
 that the firm provided. 
 
 All day long great pots of coffee were kept hot 
 on the huge old-fashioned stove that occupied 
 the center of the salesroom. Mr. Peirce's two 
 daughters came to see the fire and were pressed 
 into the service of waiting on the firemen. The 
 store was kept open all night and the young 
 women remained until midnight serving hot 
 coffee. The next day they helped again, as there 
 were a large number of firemen at work on the 
 burning building. The "all out" signal was not 
 given for eight weeks and three days, as the 
 greater part of the building was filled with flour 
 and canned goods packed solidly in storage, which 
 burned all this time. 
 
 Meanwhile the cold weather continued and 
 the water froze around the burning store. At
 
 ,-mv. 
 .
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 55 
 
 night the building looked like an ice palace lighted 
 from within, as the brilliant glow from the fire 
 shone on the glittering masses of ice. Sleighing 
 parties came from far and near to admire the 
 sight that was the talk of the town. It was 
 said that the contractor who removed the ac- 
 cumulated ice agreed to do so for one hundred 
 and fifty dollars, expecting to put on a force of 
 men that could easily do the work in twenty- 
 four hours. As a matter of fact they worked 
 day and night, including Sunday, for a week 
 before the tons and tons of ice were finally carted 
 away, and the contractor's loss was several 
 hundred dollars. The picture of the ice- covered 
 building was photographed on January 13, by 
 one of the clerks, Benjamin J. Bowen, from the 
 top of a low building on the "dump" built for 
 the storage of potatoes. Mr. Bowen, who had 
 shown much artistic talent while with the firm, 
 afterwards took up painting and is now one of 
 the principal members of a colony of artists in 
 Brittany, his pictures having been exhibited 
 several times in the Paris Salon. 
 
 HORSE HIRE 
 
 Prices of horse hire in 1823 are shown by a bill 
 that Silas Peirce, 1st, contracted that year. For 
 a horse and chaise to Roxbury he paid one dollar, 
 while the same conveyance to Scituate cost him 
 five, a saddle horse to the latter place being one 
 dollar less. For a four days' trip with horse
 
 56 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 and chaise to Amherst, Mass., he was charged ten 
 dollars, and at one time when he went to Scituate 
 for two days the stable keeper charged him only 
 five. Once or twice he had a "hackney coach," 
 but there is no record to show where it went. How- 
 ever, as the price was a dollar and a dollar and a 
 half, it is surmised that he did not go a very long 
 distance. By 1834 prices had advanced somewhat 
 at the livery stables. In that year a saddle horse 
 to Brookline or Cambridge cost a dollar, while a 
 horse and chaise to the latter place cost fifty cents 
 more. A horse and chaise to Lynn was two dollars 
 and a half, and a post chaise to New Bedford was 
 eight dollars. A horse and chaise to Newton was 
 two dollars and a half, and to Marblehead fifty 
 cents more. 
 
 OLD BILLS 
 
 During the preparation of this history a large 
 amount of correspondence was found, some of 
 which went back to the early days when the Founder 
 was beginning to make a name for himself in the 
 town. Probably when the firm moved to Com- 
 mercial Street the greater part of the books and 
 the correspondence was destroyed. However, there 
 were one or two books already mentioned which 
 came from the second Dock Square store, and there 
 are quite a number of letters and many bills from 
 Elm Street. These bills were from dealers in various 
 commodities, and the descendants of these mer- 
 chants have been seemingly much pleased to receive
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 57 
 
 these old invoices signed by the name of a grand- 
 father or distant relative. Several of these bills 
 are for advertising in the Courier, the Gazette, the 
 Transcript and other papers of four-score and more 
 years ago. 
 
 At first each bill was written out entirely by hand, 
 as printed billheads were not introduced into the 
 store until more than a quarter of a century after 
 the business started. The invoice reproduced was 
 
 made and receipted by Mr. H. P. Gushing. It 
 was fortunate for the salesmen of those days, who 
 often had to make the bills, that customers pur- 
 chased in larger quantities than at present, so that 
 there were not as many items. 
 
 Discrepancies in the prices of different articles 
 are noticeable on some of these bills. For instance, 
 one member of the firm was paying two dollars and 
 seventy-five cents a week for board in a first-class 
 house, and at the same time he was obliged to give
 
 58 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 a dollar and a half each for his shirts. In many 
 cases a lad was hired for a certain sum and his 
 board, and on a number of bills there is an adjust- 
 ment of the amount to be paid for the young clerk's 
 board and lodging. 
 
 MONEY DRAWER AND SAND Box 
 
 One of the curiosities that is shown to visitors 
 is the old money drawer used by the first Silas 
 Peirce when he started in business. The small, 
 time-worn little till is rather different from the 
 modern drawer now used as a money receptacle. 
 It has been worn thin in its years and years of 
 usage, and probably would not stand much more 
 service. Another curiosity is the old sand box that 
 can be traced back almost to the beginning of the 
 concern's existence. 
 
 "To BE CALLED FOR" 
 
 At the present time the branch stores are con- 
 nected by rail, but it is a curious fact that while 
 the Boston store in its early days had business with 
 New Bedford, Plymouth and Portsmouth, all of 
 these places were served by packet. Large num- 
 bers of receipts for merchandise shipped by coasters 
 have been found and often the goods were to be 
 left by the captains at certain places "to be called 
 for." The number of interior points that were 
 thus served, when the captain left the merchandise 
 on the coast and the dealer drove from the interior 
 and carted it away, looks amazingly large in these
 
 E.H.MATTISON 
 
 Salesman. 
 
 FRANK E. LEAVITT 
 
 Manager 
 
 c Portsmouth c Bra'nch 
 
 JOHN" W H. JACKSON 
 
 ORENMSHAW 
 
 Chauffeur 
 
 ARTHUR E. BARNES 
 
 Chauffeur
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 59 
 
 days of cheap and easy transportation. The time 
 consumed by the packets in delivering goods would 
 disgust many storekeepers now when quick delivery 
 is such an important feature in every well-regulated 
 business. 
 
 CURRENCY REFORM 
 
 Letters written to the house in 1834 testify 
 eloquently to the manner in which the merchants 
 were struggling with the changes in the currency 
 system. William Colgate & Company, then, as 
 now, one of the principal business houses of New 
 York, wrote under date of March 19, 1834: "Busi- 
 ness here has been at a stand while the public mind 
 has been fully occupied with the subject of the 
 National currency. The money market appears 
 measurably relieved and business has partially 
 commenced within a few days in this city. . . . 
 The people look for a reduction in the price of starch; 
 we have thought it best to fall the price in Boston 
 to eight cents per pound and charge for boxes." 
 
 Another letter, written a fortnight later from 
 the interior of Massachusetts, says: "I now send 
 you one hundred dollars which is all I can send 
 you now, which you may pass to my credit. I hope 
 you will be as patient for the remainder as possible 
 as we now begin to feel the effects of the Jackson 
 administration in a sensible manner." 
 
 THE SHIP TIBER 
 
 So eager was the concern to keep posted on mer- 
 chandise values in foreign countries that in the
 
 60 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 early days an English paper with market changes 
 was taken. There is reference in one of the Boston 
 papers forty years ago to the house as known in 
 the trade centers of Europe. As a matter of fact 
 three-quarters of a century ago the name of Silas 
 Peirce was as familiar in all the exporting cities 
 of the Old World as it is today in New York or 
 Philadelphia, for then the house owned and char- 
 tered sailing vessels and sent them to Italy, Greece 
 and the Dutch East Indies. The correspondence 
 relating to these ventures is among the most inter- 
 esting that has been found, and an agreement 
 relating to the ship Tiber gives an idea of these 
 transactions. Mr. Peirce and another importer 
 sent this vessel on a voyage to Batavia and other 
 ports "for a return Cargo or for Freighting as cir- 
 cumstances may render most judicious on arrival 
 at Batavia." It was agreed that the funds to pay 
 for all outfits and sailing of the vessel, and for the 
 cost of the outward cargo and insurance and all 
 expenses on same should be equally divided. The 
 proceeds of this outward cargo were to be invested 
 in the return cargo. A considerable part of the 
 investment in such a venture was in the insurance, 
 but if the vessel arrived in Boston safely the result 
 of the voyage was usually satisfactory. Mr. Peirce's 
 vessels brought back large quantities of currants 
 from Greece and he was one of the largest importers 
 here of Italian products. There is little doubt that 
 his voyage to Oporto did much to fashion his ideas as 
 to the wisdom of importing goods in sailing vessels.
 
 c. 
 
 Tirr 
 
 TUT
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 61 
 
 THE PARTNERS 
 
 Nineteen persons have in its century of history 
 been partners in the concern or directors since its 
 incorporation in 1900. 
 
 Silas Peirce, 1st 1815-1857 
 
 William Thompson, Jr. 1818-1822 
 
 William Borrows 1820-1821 
 
 William Stearns 1826-1832 
 
 Thomas Hall 1833-1857 
 
 Hayward P. Gushing 1833-1863 
 
 Charles E. Moody 1857-1868 
 
 Silas Peirce, 2d 1857-1898 
 
 Nathan Gushing 1863-1871 
 
 J. Hamilton Farrar 1863-1876 
 
 A. Moreton Swallow 1871-1890 
 
 Fitzroy Kelly *1871-1900 
 
 Edward H. Nichols 1876-1900 
 
 Silas Peirce, 3d *1889-1900 
 
 John B. Clapp * 1889-1900 
 
 Herbert L. Kelley 1900 
 
 Amos T. Leavitt 1900 
 
 Thomas L. Perkins 1900 
 
 F. Loring Wheeler 1900 
 
 'Partners, now directors. 
 
 THE FIRST BRANCH 
 
 Soon after the corporation was formed it was 
 found that in order to retain the trade of eastern 
 New England a warehouse was necessary where 
 customers could have their wants supplied without 
 sending to Boston. On May 26, 1902, it was de-
 
 62 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 cided to open a branch at Portsmouth, N. H., and 
 that date became one of the most important in the 
 history of the concern, for after the Portsmouth 
 store had been in operation for a time, the other 
 branches followed as opportunity offered to open 
 them. That summer a committee of the directors 
 visited Portsmouth but could find no suitable place 
 for a wholesale grocery. Finally it was decided to 
 build, and a piece of land and a small wharf were 
 purchased on which a one-story building was erected. 
 Later, additional land was purchased next the store 
 so that the building can be enlarged when occasion 
 arises. 
 
 The manager is Frank E. Leavitt, a brother of 
 Amos T. Leavitt of the Board of Directors. Mr. 
 Leavitt is one of the leading men of Portsmouth and 
 has always taken a great interest in civic affairs. 
 For years he was president of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association and held that office, together 
 with several others in charitable and religious or- 
 ganizations, until he was obliged to relinquish some 
 of them on account of the pressure of his other 
 duties. He is now one of the police commissioners 
 of the city and has done much to give Portsmouth a 
 clean and efficient administration. 
 
 FITCHBURG BRANCH 
 
 A branch at Fitchburg was opened in 1906 in a 
 barn that had been used for the storage of blinds. 
 The building was in no way fitted for a grocery store 
 but it was the only available place at the time when
 
 CHARLES \V. GODFREY 
 Manager 
 
 LEON LITTLEHALE 
 
 Stock Department 
 
 PAUL REGAN 
 
 Stock Department 
 
 GEORGE SURGESON 
 Shipping Department 
 
 JAMES PRICE 
 
 Shipping Department 
 
 DANIEL MARONEY JOSEPH J. DAIGLE OTTO HEDSTROM 
 
 Chauffeur Chauffeur Chauffeur
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 63 
 
 the company wished to establish a branch. In a 
 few months, however, a handsome building that had 
 been erected for a wholesale grocery concern was 
 rented and here the Fitchburg business has been 
 conducted ever since. The manager is Charles W. 
 Godfrey, one of the oldest employees of the house, 
 who has lived in Fitchburg for fourteen years and is 
 one of the best-known men in that city. For some 
 years he has served the city as alderman and is a 
 director of the Board of Trade. Always interested 
 in civic activities, he is vice-president of the Associ- 
 ated Charities and president of the Visiting Nurses' 
 Association. He is also connected with many of the 
 religious and philanthropic organizations of the city, 
 and has shown throughout his career his belief that 
 the best citizen is the man who tries to help his city. 
 
 AT PLYMOUTH ROCK 
 
 In 1910 it was thought wise to open a branch 
 at Plymouth, Mass., a historic town, known not 
 only throughout the United States, but wherever 
 the English language is spoken. After several in- 
 effectual attempts to obtain a building suitable for a 
 grocery, a grain mill was purchased and altered to 
 suit the needs of the company. The sandy roads 
 about Plymouth proved hard on the horses and in 
 less than three months one of the best animals died, 
 having been disabled by the severe strain. A prob- 
 lem confronted the store manager, for he was desir- 
 ous of delivering goods in the vicinity of Plymouth 
 and yet found that it would be impossible to do so
 
 64 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 without an extra expense for horses. For the first 
 time in the company's history, on May 1, 1911, an 
 automobile truck was purchased and this solved the 
 question of transportation. Now all the branches 
 use automobile trucks. 
 
 William H. Harriman, the manager, was brought 
 up in the Portsmouth store and when a vacancy 
 came at the Plymouth branch, he was promoted. 
 The Plymouth salesman is Edward S. Averill, one 
 of the best-known travelling men on the South 
 Shore, where he has sold goods for more than a 
 quarter of a century. 
 
 NEW BEDFORD BRANCH 
 
 One of the most prosperous cities in the State is 
 New Bedford, famous alike for its past history of 
 whale ships that did so much to build it up, and its 
 present record as a cotton manufacturing city where 
 different nationalities dwell together in peace and 
 unity. In February, 1914, an opportunity came to 
 purchase a wholesale grocery that had been obliged 
 to give up business. The company purchased the 
 business and retained the salesmen and clerks who 
 had made it. H. J. Tripp is in charge of this branch 
 and is always alert in looking after the interests of 
 the concern. 
 
 FRAMINGHAM BRANCH 
 
 The branch at Framingham was opened last June. 
 The most available building was a large straw 
 factory where formerly in prosperous times nearly a
 
 m 
 
 HIT
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 65 
 
 thousand hands were employed. It has the general 
 appearance of a country hotel and the large amount 
 of floor space makes it easy for the porters to handle 
 goods. 
 
 P. J. McCormack, who was brought up at the 
 Fitchburg store from a boy, has charge of the 
 Framingham branch and is rapidly making friends 
 in that section. Bion S. Jordan, the salesman, has 
 been with the house for nearly thirty years and is 
 known and liked in all the surrounding towns. He 
 lives in Framingham and takes an active interest 
 in its affairs. 
 
 MEN WHO DESERVE MENTION 
 
 There are a number of men employed by the 
 house who have seen long terms of service. Two 
 of the bookkeepers, George A. Gleason and George 
 E. Pratt, most efficient clerks, are known and 
 recognized as "fixtures" both by the concern and 
 by the customers. Mr. Gleason was born in Mil- 
 ford, Mass., and is now in his forty-fifth year of 
 service. Mr. Pratt, a Bostonian, educated at the 
 English High School, began as office boy in 1883, 
 but instead of strolling in and looking at the floor, 
 as the song relates, he attended strictly to business 
 and has charge of one of the important branches 
 of office work. 
 
 The shipper, William Henry Henderson, a native 
 of Roxbury, has been with the concern for thirty- 
 five years. Formerly he was a call-fireman in a 
 neighboring city and has rendered valuable aid
 
 66 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 in putting out fires that have started in near-by 
 stores. 
 
 WOMEN EMPLOYEES 
 
 Thirty years ago the concern hired Sarah J. Copi- 
 thorne, one of the best spice packers in Boston, to 
 assist in the spice department. She remained for 
 over a quarter of a century and saw many changes 
 in business houses regarding the employment of 
 women. At present there are a number of women 
 connected with the Peirce stores, as stenographers, 
 bookkeepers and spice packers. In the Boston store 
 are Georgie M. Macdonald, Maude S. Waters, J. 
 Blanche Miner, Florence A. MacKinnon, and Mar- 
 guerite M. Keating. At Plymouth is Beulah F. 
 Lanman, and at New Bedford are Gertrude O. 
 Pedro and Susan P. Miller.
 
 C.ALTON LOWE 
 Chauffeur 
 
 ALTON F. PRATT 
 Chauffeur
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 67 
 
 PRESENT ORGANIZATION 
 
 SILAS PEIRCE, 3d, president of the corporation, 
 is a Bostonian by birth and education. After 
 graduating from the English High School in 1878, 
 he took a trip to Europe and on his return entered 
 his father's store. He went through the regular 
 routine of the boy who begins at the foot, became 
 a store salesman and in 1889 was admitted to 
 the firm. Mr. Peirce is the treasurer of Boston 
 University and in that capacity has done much 
 for the finances of the institution. He is the 
 vice-president of the Boston Wesleyan Associa- 
 tion, and has held various offices in the Boston 
 North End Mission, one of the noblest of the 
 city's charities, with which his father and mother 
 were connected for many years. A director in 
 various railroads, trust companies and corporations, 
 he yet finds time, like his father, to assist in 
 looking after the affairs of numerous philanthropic 
 and benevolent organizations. As a member of 
 the Chamber of Commerce he takes an active 
 interest in it and it is a fact worthy of note that 
 the company is represented in the Chamber by 
 seven members. 
 
 JOHN B. CLAPP, treasurer of the company, was 
 born and educated in Boston, entering the employ 
 of Silas Peirce & Co. on his graduation from the 
 English High School. He was admitted to partner- 
 ship at the same time as Silas Peirce, 3d, and on 
 the incorporation of the present company became its
 
 68 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 treasurer. His parents came from Scituate, where 
 several members of the firm originated, as his 
 mother lived not far from the Peirce farm, 
 and the house in which his father was born is 
 now occupied as a summer residence by a member 
 of Mr. H. P. Cushing's family. Mr. Clapp has 
 been interested in the study of the stage for years, 
 having written many articles and several books 
 about plays and players which . are accepted as 
 authoritative. He is treasurer of the English High 
 School Association, which has the largest invested 
 fund for deserving students of any public school 
 in the United States. It is a noteworthy fact that 
 the president, treasurer, one of the directors, the 
 manager of the Fitchburg branch and several 
 of the bookkeepers and clerks are all graduates 
 of this high school. 
 
 One of the members of the present house who has 
 seen service for more than half a century, and with a 
 larger number of the former partners than any one 
 else, is FITZROY KELLY, a grand-nephew of the first 
 Silas Peirce. He was born at Winterport, Me., 
 the son of Albert L. Kelly, a prominent attorney 
 there. Coming to Boston, he entered the employ 
 of the concern in 1863. It shows the changes in the 
 city since the Civil War to learn that the lad boarded 
 on Lincoln Street when he first arrived here. Later 
 he made other arrangements and for a time shared 
 the room of a clerk who slept in the noted drug store 
 of I. Bartlett Patten, on the corner of Beach Street
 
 irrr
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 69 
 
 and Harrison Avenue, taking his meals on Harrison 
 Avenue. Mr. Kelly emphasizes the fact that he 
 began in the "counting room," as he says that now- 
 a-days there is no such place, "office" being the 
 only term. In proof of this not long ago an old-time 
 merchant telephoned to a business house, asking if 
 one of the partners would come to his counting room. 
 The girl who answered the telephone did not know 
 what a counting room was and the merchant had to 
 explain. 
 
 In 1871 Mr. Kelly became a partner, and in 1900, 
 when the present corporation was formed, he was 
 made a director, although he is not actively engaged 
 in business. While connected with the firm he was 
 much interested in whatever related to trade affairs 
 and was prominent in business organizations. As a 
 director of the Chamber of Commerce he did much 
 good work with that body. He was the second 
 member of the firm to become the president of the 
 Boston Wholesale Grocers' Association, Silas Peirce, 
 2d, having previously held that office. It is worthy 
 of mention that Silas Peirce, 3d, has but recently 
 retired from the same presidency. Mr. Kelly takes 
 great interest in whatever relates to Boston, and is 
 a life member of the Bostonian Society. 
 
 The oldest man connected with the house is 
 THOMAS L. PERKINS, who began on February 1, 1868. 
 He was born at Hampton, N. H., the son of the cap- 
 tain of a fishing vessel who was lost during a terrible 
 storm on the Bay St. Lawrence. The boy came to
 
 70 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 Boston and for a time worked in a dry goods store. 
 In the winter of 1861 he enlisted in the regular 
 army in the Engineer Corps and was sent with other 
 enlisted men to West Point, to be trained for work 
 in the field. Mr. Perkins left West Point in the 
 spring and from that time until near the close of 
 the war was always busy near the scene of hostilities. 
 
 At the time that he entered the grocery business 
 nearly all goods were sold in bulk and it was neces- 
 sary for any one in the business to be a good judge 
 of merchandise if he hoped for success. Mr. Perkins 
 was especially interested in molasses, teas and 
 coffees. In a few years his judgment was sought as 
 quickly as that of any man in the business here, 
 and it is due to his remarkable knowledge of teas, 
 coffees and molasses that the concern has made 
 these departments successful. 
 
 A story that shows how remarkable is his knowl- 
 edge of teas has often been told by the manager of 
 the Portsmouth Branch, Mr. Frank E. Leavitt. 
 Some years ago one of Mr. Leavitt's customers was 
 a Chinaman, who dealt only in high-class goods. 
 One day he asked Mr. Leavitt to have a cup of tea 
 with him and later insisted on presenting his guest 
 with a package of the tea, which he mentioned as 
 something not often seen in this country. Mr. 
 Leavitt, to test the ability of Mr. Perkins to judge 
 all kinds of teas, sent to Boston a sample of the 
 Chinaman's tea, with the message stating that this 
 was from a Portsmouth customer and that he would 
 like Mr. Perkins to say at what price it could be
 
 E.ALTON TRIPP 
 Salesman 
 
 J. B. HATHAWAY 
 Salesman 
 
 HERBERT J. TRIPP 
 Manager 
 
 HARVEY A. S H ERMAN 
 
 Transportation 
 
 Stock Department 
 
 ALFRED KING 
 
 Shipping Department 
 
 JAMES E.RYAN 
 
 Shipping Department 
 
 WALTER E. CUNNINGHAM 
 
 Assistant Skinner 
 
 PHILIP BRIGHTMAN 
 
 Shipper 
 
 PETER PEMENTEL 
 
 Shipping Department
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 71 
 
 matched. The latter examined the sample very 
 carefully and after due deliberation sent word to Mr. 
 Leavitt that the tea could not be matched in this 
 country, and if any customer in Portsmouth had 
 such a tea, which grew only in a certain section of 
 China, it must have been brought to this country by 
 a Chinaman or a returned missionary, for he had 
 not seen a tea like it for thirty-five years. When 
 the result of the test was reported to the Portsmouth 
 Chinaman he could hardly credit it, believing that 
 the Boston man must be a wizard. Among other 
 teas that have been sent to Mr. Perkins for examina- 
 tion was a Russian caravan tea worth almost its 
 weight in gold, and a tiny sample of tea that, it was 
 claimed, was carried away from the Boston Tea 
 Party by one of the "Indians" in his shoes. 
 
 Mr. Perkins is known to all of the older store 
 customers and in many cases has sold the father 
 until the business was left to the son, when he has 
 continued to sell the son. 
 
 AMOS T. LEAVITT' is another of the managing 
 directors who comes from New Hampshire. Born 
 in Hampton, he graduated from the Academy of his 
 native town, and coming to Boston found employ- 
 ment in a retail store. But the boy had ambitions 
 beyond the retail business, and after a few months 
 started again at the foot of the ladder, this time with 
 Silas Peirce & Co., as he wished to be connected 
 with a wholesale business. He went with the con- 
 cern on October 3, 1887, and worked hard during
 
 72 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 the day and in the early morning and at night carried 
 papers to eke out his small salary. After some 
 years he was a store salesman and besides made 
 one or two trips a month through the country. 
 When the corporation was formed he was made a 
 director and has shown judgment and tact in the 
 management of the business, always resourceful in 
 his settlements of the problems that arise where 
 many men are employed. 
 
 Mr. Leavitt lives in Quincy, where he has always 
 shown a pronounced interest in everything that 
 relates to the affairs of the city. He is an active 
 and energetic worker in numerous philanthropic 
 organizations and as one of the trustees of Hampton 
 Academy has done much to keep the alumni together 
 and maintain the spirit that characterized the school 
 in his day. It is rather a curious fact that while 
 neither Mr. Leavitt, nor the president, nor the 
 treasurer were college graduates, all three have been 
 intimately connected with educational matters. 
 
 HERBERT L. KELLEY was born in Belgrade, Me., 
 and like many other lads of the Pine Tree State 
 came to Boston to seek his fortune. For a short time 
 he was with the Continental Sugar Refinery, where 
 he attracted the attention of Silas Peirce, 2d, who 
 engaged him, and on September 12, 1887, young 
 Kelley entered the office of the Peirce store. Some- 
 time later the death of Paul J. Cooledge, a salesman 
 who had a trade through certain parts of New 
 Hampshire, left a vacancy which Mr. Kelley filled
 
 IS 

 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 73 
 
 so satisfactorily that he has travelled in that section 
 ever since. He is also well liked in Maine, where 
 he has sold goods for many years. He pays great 
 attention to the details of the merchandise in the 
 various stores and visits them regularly to see that 
 they are properly stocked. 
 
 F. LORING WHEELER was born in Boston and was 
 educated at the English High School. His grand- 
 father was long one of the prominent retail grocers 
 here and at the time of the seventy-fifth anniversary 
 dinner of the firm was the oldest customer living. 
 Another of Mr. Wheeler's near relatives was also a 
 grocer, so it was only natural that he should wish 
 to take up the same business. On September 23, 
 1873, he entered the employ of the firm. For years 
 Mr. Wheeler travelled on the South Shore and was 
 well known throughout the territory that is now 
 supplied by the Plymouth branch. Before the 
 present corporation was organized, Mr. Wheeler 
 also sold goods at Newport, R. I., and was a frequent 
 visitor there during the summer months. Of late 
 years he has given his attention to the canned goods 
 and dried fruit departments.
 
 74 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 CHRONOLOGY 
 
 1793. Silas Peirce, 1st, is born in Egypt, Scituate, Mass. 
 
 1808. Silas Peirce, 1st, arrives in Boston. 
 
 1814. Silas Peirce, 1st, sails to Oporto, Portugal. 
 
 1815. April, Silas Peirce, 1st, begins business at 21 
 
 Dock Square. 
 
 1816. Silas Peirce, 1st, removes to 6 Market Square. 
 1818. William Thompson, Jr., becomes a partner with 
 
 Mr. Peirce. 
 
 1820. William Borrows enters the firm. 
 
 1821. Mr. Borrows retires. 
 
 1822. Mr. Thompson retires. 
 
 Mr. Peirce moves to No. 2, Sears Buildings, Elm 
 
 Street. 
 
 1826. Silas Peirce, 1st, and William Stearns in partner- 
 ship. 
 Hayward P. Gushing commences with the firm. 
 
 1829. *February 11, Fire in Dock Sq & Broad St. 
 *February 12, Fire in Charlestown and 4 persons 
 
 burnt. 
 
 *February 16, Fire in Essex St. Glass Houses. 
 *February 25, Blanchard's store burnt. 
 *June 2, J. Quincy inaugurated Pres. of Harvard 
 
 University. 
 
 1830. *February 1, Dr. Beecher's church burnt morning. 
 *March 26, Great snow storm and very high tides in 
 
 consequences. 
 
 *June 5, S. P. gone to New York. 
 *June 12, S. P. returned from New York. 
 *August 20, Mr. P. set out for Frankfort. 
 * August 25, Commencement. 
 *September 3, News reed of Revolution in France. 
 *November 1, Cloudy A.M. U. S. Senator elected. 
 1832. *February 22, Washington's Centennial birthday. 
 *August 15, First appearance in the city of cholera. 
 
 *Early sales books contain almost daily items regarding weather and current events. 
 Linos starred are selected from these records.
 
 BION S. JORDAN 
 
 Salesman 
 
 CLIFFORD W. BACKUS 
 
 Office 
 
 HENRY H. TYLER 
 
 Shipper 
 
 P. J. MCCORMACK 
 
 Manager 
 
 T r 
 
 framingnam 
 Drancn 
 
 JOSEPH R.BARRY 
 
 Shipping Department 
 
 HERVEY H. FROST 
 
 Sh ippi m? De pa rtrmni 
 
 WILLIAM A. MORROW 
 
 Chauffeur
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 75 
 
 1832. William Stearns withdraws to establish the firm 
 
 of Stearns & Crosby. 
 
 1833. October 8, Silas Peirce, 1st, Hayward Peirce 
 
 Gushing and Thomas Hall in partnership. 
 
 1840. J. Hamilton Farrar enters the employ of the firm. 
 1845. Silas Peirce, 2d, enters the employ of the firm. 
 
 1853. *December 29, No business at all. Big Snow Storms 
 
 no one about. 
 
 1854. *May 12, 3 cases Cholera reported. 2 Died. 
 *May 13, 4 cases reported. 
 
 *July 8, 24 Deaths from Cholera. 
 *July 22, 14 " 
 
 through Aug. to Middle of Sept. 
 
 1855. The firm purchases lot No. 59 and 61 Commercial 
 
 Street. 
 
 1856. The firm occupies a part of the store at 59 and 61 
 
 Commercial Street. 
 
 1857. Silas Peirce, 2d, and Charles E. Moody enter the 
 
 firm. 
 Thomas Hall retires. 
 
 * January 19, No business Snow Storm. 
 *April 21, $120.05 Total Sales, Rain all Day. 
 *April 22, $5908.50 " " (Cleared up.) 
 
 1861. *December 31, Banks suspended. 
 
 1863. January 1, Nathan Gushing and J. H. Farrar enter 
 the firm. 
 
 * January 21, Fitzroy Kelly commenced. 
 
 1868. January 1, Charles E. Moody withdraws to estab- 
 
 lish the firm of Charles E. Moody & Co. 
 
 * January 7, E. H. Nichols commenced. 
 *February 1, Thomas L. Perkins commenced. 
 *March 21, Sales 925.78. Snow Storm 12 in. 
 *March 23, " $4421.82. 
 
 1869. "June 15, Commencement of Peace Jubilee. 
 *June 16, General Grant in Town. 
 
 1870. *September 14, Sales 9183.52. 19^ pages on sales 
 
 book.
 
 76 A CENTURY OF SERVICE 
 
 1870. "October 20, Sales 4432.04. Earthquake. 
 *November 15, Geo. A. Gleason commenced. 
 
 1871. January 1, A. M. Swallow and Fitzroy Kelly enter 
 
 the firm. Nathan Gushing retires. 
 
 1872. "October 24, Horse distemper. 
 
 "November 9, Commencement of Fire; loss $100,- 
 000,000. 
 
 1873. "August 4, J. B. Clapp commenced. 
 "September 19-20-22, Panic. 
 "September 23, F. L. Wheeler commenced. 
 
 1875. "March 4, Heavy Snow Storm during the night. 
 
 R. R. blocked up. All hands late. 
 
 1876. "January 1, E. H. Nichols admitted. 
 
 J. H. Farrar retires. 
 
 1877. "April 24, War declared between Russia & Turkey. 
 
 1878. "December 2, Silas Peirce, 3d, commenced (sic) . 
 
 1879. "August 27, Silas Peirce, 1st, died, aged 86 years. 
 "October 9, Thomas Hall " aged 67 " 
 "November 3, Heavy Snow Storm over N. Eng., 
 
 15 in. 
 "November 13, Thunder & Lightning. 
 
 1880. "June 5, Commenced to close at 2 P.M. Saturdays 
 
 during June, July & Aug. Given up after trial 
 
 3 or 4 times. 
 "September 17, 250 Anniversary of the Settlement 
 
 of Boston. Big parade. 
 "September 25, W. H. Henderson commenced. 
 "November 13, A. M. Swallow injured. 
 
 1883. "July 9, Geo. E. Pratt commenced. 
 
 1884. "May 10, Mrs. Fitzroy Kelly receiving congratu- 
 
 lations it's a girl. 
 
 1886. June 1, Edward S. Averill commences. 
 June 30, Charles W. Godfrey commences. 
 
 1887. "September 12, H. L. Kelley commenced. 
 "October 3, A. T. Leavitt commenced. 
 
 1890. January 1, Bion S. Jordan commences.
 
 SILAS PEIRCE & CO. LTD. 77 
 
 1890. April 1, Seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding 
 of the house celebrated by a dinner at Young's 
 Hotel. 
 
 1900. April 1, The firm of Silas Peirce & Co. incorporated 
 
 as Silas Peirce & Co. Ltd. 
 April 9, Charles F. Parker, William B. McClin- 
 
 tock and John F. Kearns, Jr., commence as 
 
 salesmen. 
 May 3, Frank E. Leavitt commences. 
 
 1902. November 26, Branch at Portsmouth, N. H., opens. 
 
 1903. September 15, William H. Harriman commences. 
 1906. June 12, Branch at Fitchburg, Mass., opens. 
 
 October 1, Louis B. Weston commences. 
 November 5, P. J. McCormack commences. 
 1908. September 5, William H. Eckert commences. 
 
 1910. November, Branch at Plymouth, Mass., opens. 
 
 1911. May 1, Auto truck purchased for Plymouth 
 
 branch. First one used by the house. 
 
 1912. August 1, Arthur C. England commences. 
 
 1914. February, Branch at New Bedford, Mass., opens. 
 June, Branch at Framingham, Mass., opens. 
 
 1915. April 3, Centenary Dinner at Young's Hotel to 
 
 the employees and their wives. 145 present. 
 Blizzard. Many lives lost along the coast. 
 Good sleighing in towns near Boston on Easter 
 Sunday, April 4.
 
 . 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
 Series 9482