The Clothing Industry of Buxton Center
This article is reprinted from the Buxton High School’s “The Crescent” and originally written by Ralph Sawyer, class of 1912.
In the early days the people of Buxton, like the people of all newly settled towns, wore “homespun flax and wool.” The wardrobe was scanty for even as late as the General Muster, a son of a prosperous family, having been summoned drill found himself in the afternoon without the required military suit, so mother and two sisters, spun, wove, cut and made, the white trousers for him to wear to training the next morning. Times gradually changed so that while the majority of men wore homespun as late as 1840, still the garments were not made by the mistress of the house, but by a tailor or tailoress, who came to the house annually, staying several days; or by a tailor who did the work at his own home.
One of the best known of these tailors was Mr. Stephen Hanson of, what was then Elden’s Corner, now Buxton Center.
About 1805 or 1810 Mr. Samuel Hanson, son of Stephen Hanson, went to Boston, where he was employed by George W. Simmons. When he came home on a vacation he brought with him two dozen coats for his mother and sister to make. These coats were of a thin alpaca-like material in a small brown and white, and blue and white plaid, were cut away at the front and were piped with brown or blue. The work was so well done that after Mr. Hanson went back to Boston other packages of coats were sent to the little shop in Buxton. It was not long before the bundles increased in size so that it was thought wise to give work to some of the neighbors. Several girls had already learned the trade at Mr. Hanson’s shop before work came from Boston and now others came and worked a month to fit themselves to carry work home.
At the time there was no P. and R. railroad, so all goods were sent to what is known as the Eastern station in Saco and were brought from that place in a team by Mr. Charles Hanson. Many of the older citizens remember the regularity with which this team made its trips and the long row of horses hitched before the tailor’s little shop waiting for it to arrive and distribute its load.
Very soon the dividing of packages of work into small bundles of two or four coats and the distributing of work took so much time, that it left no time for the family to sew; it was also found that alterations were sometimes necessary on the work let out, so it was thought best for Mr. Samuel Hanson return to Buxton Center and to move the business from the little shop to the brick store so long known under the name of “Hanson and Company.” This occurred in 1843. The store at the time was a square brick building; the wooden parts having been added at two different times as the business increased.
At first the lower floor was used for the distribution of the work and another member of the family, Mr. Ansel Hanson, moved his grocery business from a small store on the opposite side of the street into a new one. The upper floor was occupied by a few workmen.
There were no sewing machines, for the Elias Howe, the first double thread machine, was not in use until 1848, so all work was done by hand; edges, collars, and pipings were all finely backstitched. So even were these stitches that when today we occasionally find a stray garment, we marvel at the beautiful workmanship.
In the early days the people of Buxton, like the people of all newly settled towns, wore “homespun flax and wool.” The wardrobe was scanty for even as late as the General Muster, a son of a prosperous family, having been summoned drill found himself in the afternoon without the required military suit, so mother and two sisters, spun, wove, cut and made, the white trousers for him to wear to training the next morning. Times gradually changed so that while the majority of men wore homespun as late as 1840, still the garments were not made by the mistress of the house, but by a tailor or tailoress, who came to the house annually, staying several days; or by a tailor who did the work at his own home.
One of the best known of these tailors was Mr. Stephen Hanson of, what was then Elden’s Corner, now Buxton Center.
About 1805 or 1810 Mr. Samuel Hanson, son of Stephen Hanson, went to Boston, where he was employed by George W. Simmons. When he came home on a vacation he brought with him two dozen coats for his mother and sister to make. These coats were of a thin alpaca-like material in a small brown and white, and blue and white plaid, were cut away at the front and were piped with brown or blue. The work was so well done that after Mr. Hanson went back to Boston other packages of coats were sent to the little shop in Buxton. It was not long before the bundles increased in size so that it was thought wise to give work to some of the neighbors. Several girls had already learned the trade at Mr. Hanson’s shop before work came from Boston and now others came and worked a month to fit themselves to carry work home.
At the time there was no P. and R. railroad, so all goods were sent to what is known as the Eastern station in Saco and were brought from that place in a team by Mr. Charles Hanson. Many of the older citizens remember the regularity with which this team made its trips and the long row of horses hitched before the tailor’s little shop waiting for it to arrive and distribute its load.
Very soon the dividing of packages of work into small bundles of two or four coats and the distributing of work took so much time, that it left no time for the family to sew; it was also found that alterations were sometimes necessary on the work let out, so it was thought best for Mr. Samuel Hanson return to Buxton Center and to move the business from the little shop to the brick store so long known under the name of “Hanson and Company.” This occurred in 1843. The store at the time was a square brick building; the wooden parts having been added at two different times as the business increased.
At first the lower floor was used for the distribution of the work and another member of the family, Mr. Ansel Hanson, moved his grocery business from a small store on the opposite side of the street into a new one. The upper floor was occupied by a few workmen.
There were no sewing machines, for the Elias Howe, the first double thread machine, was not in use until 1848, so all work was done by hand; edges, collars, and pipings were all finely backstitched. So even were these stitches that when today we occasionally find a stray garment, we marvel at the beautiful workmanship.