How in the world did Marcus Tolley Tollero Cicero Richmond Rounds get such a long-winded handle? The “Richmond” is easy; it was his mother’s name. The rest seems to be a Yankeefied version of Marcus Tullius Cicero, the famed philosopher and orator of ancient Rome.
From 1859 to 1866, Marcus T. Rounds (as he signed deeds and other legal documents) ran a water-powered factory at the Willow Street millpond in Mansfield, where he turned out machine-made tacks, boat nails and a small amount of inexpensive jewelry.
Marcus Rounds was born in Taunton in 1804, the son of Simeon and Clarissa (Richmond) Rounds. When 22, he married Charlotte Crossman of Norton. We can see he respected women’s rights, because from then on, Charlotte’s signature appears on all his transactions.
Rounds came to this old town in 1859 with George White of Norton. For $100 down and $54 a year they rented from Atty. Horatio Pratt of Taunton the unused Rumford Cotton Manufacturing Co. mill that Pratt’s father, “Cotton King” Solomon Pratt, built in 1830.
“Rebuilt,” I should’ve said, because an earlier factory that “King” Pratt erected on the site in 1814 burned in 1830. Fires took a terrible toll on this Willow Street industry. Over a 171-year period, the factory would burn four times, and be rebuilt each time except the last
Along with the building, Rounds and White acquired what legally was called the “Lower Mill Privilege,” the exclusive water rights granted in 1684 by the Proprietors of Taunton North Purchase, under the authority of Plymouth Colony General Court.
Water power came from the pond, first excavated and dammed by millwright John Wilkinson about 1695 for Stephen Leonard’s gristmill. The dam was washed out in 1717 by melt runoff from that year’s catastrophic snowfall, and restored by John Hall.
Hall’s Millpond, as people called it, was 8 feet deep at the dam, covered 9 acres and held 8 million gallons of water – enough to keep the millwheel spinning except in dry late summers, when low flow caused the factory to shut down temporarily.
Rounds and White had hardly taken over when – sure enough! – their building went up in flames. They quickly rebuilt, but this was a financial low blow at the very start.
Another White, named Hiram, came to their rescue. His family operated a successful tack business in East Mansfield’s Whiteville section.
He and George used their expertise to outfit the mill with a main drive shaft on each of the three floors, connected by the buffalo leather belting common at the time, counter-shafts, a rolling machine and a nail machine, all driven by a clean new waterwheel.
When this work was done, George White signed his rights over to Rounds for $1,200, though for a while he hung on, making jewelry in a part of the mill.
The agreement with Atty. Pratt included the right to buy the property after renting for five years. For $900, Rounds did just that. At about the same time a Providence man, Samuel Davis, came aboard, paying Rounds $600 for a quarter share in the business.
Rounds then mortgaged the whole package to his Willow Street neighbor, the livestock trader, dry goods peddler and soap maker James W. Cobb, for $800.
But it wasn’t long before the tack and nail business of Rounds and his new partner received a second and more destructive blow. Much bigger firms like Taunton Tack Co. had formed a combine with the object of squeezing smaller competitors out of the field.
It was similar to what can happen to mom and pop stores when a heavyweight like Walmart comes to town. The Whiteville tack factory, which had been in business far longer than the Willow Street firm, gave up the lopsided fight. So did Rounds and Davis.
In 1865 they sold half their company to John Hunt of Taunton for $1,750. Then Davis bowed out, selling his quarter share back to Rounds for the same price he’d paid for it.
Rounds and Hunt on March 28, 1866, for $3,500 sold the factory and water privilege to jewelry manufacturer Ferdinand W. Cabot of Attleboro, who also assumed the mortgage.
Cabot was either luckier or a better business man than Rounds, because he successfully made and sold jewelry and silver coffin trimmings on the site for many years. Townspeople forgot Marcus Tolley Tollero Cicero Richmond Rounds, and renamed the pond “Cabot’s.”
Lifelong Mansfield resident Harry B. Chase Jr. served on the town’s first conservation commission and is a founding and charter member of the Natural Resources Trust of Mansfield. He can be reached at mansfield@cnc.com or at 508 967-3510.
From 1859 to 1866, Marcus T. Rounds (as he signed deeds and other legal documents) ran a water-powered factory at the Willow Street millpond in Mansfield, where he turned out machine-made tacks, boat nails and a small amount of inexpensive jewelry.
Marcus Rounds was born in Taunton in 1804, the son of Simeon and Clarissa (Richmond) Rounds. When 22, he married Charlotte Crossman of Norton. We can see he respected women’s rights, because from then on, Charlotte’s signature appears on all his transactions.
Rounds came to this old town in 1859 with George White of Norton. For $100 down and $54 a year they rented from Atty. Horatio Pratt of Taunton the unused Rumford Cotton Manufacturing Co. mill that Pratt’s father, “Cotton King” Solomon Pratt, built in 1830.
“Rebuilt,” I should’ve said, because an earlier factory that “King” Pratt erected on the site in 1814 burned in 1830. Fires took a terrible toll on this Willow Street industry. Over a 171-year period, the factory would burn four times, and be rebuilt each time except the last
Along with the building, Rounds and White acquired what legally was called the “Lower Mill Privilege,” the exclusive water rights granted in 1684 by the Proprietors of Taunton North Purchase, under the authority of Plymouth Colony General Court.
Water power came from the pond, first excavated and dammed by millwright John Wilkinson about 1695 for Stephen Leonard’s gristmill. The dam was washed out in 1717 by melt runoff from that year’s catastrophic snowfall, and restored by John Hall.
Hall’s Millpond, as people called it, was 8 feet deep at the dam, covered 9 acres and held 8 million gallons of water – enough to keep the millwheel spinning except in dry late summers, when low flow caused the factory to shut down temporarily.
Rounds and White had hardly taken over when – sure enough! – their building went up in flames. They quickly rebuilt, but this was a financial low blow at the very start.
Another White, named Hiram, came to their rescue. His family operated a successful tack business in East Mansfield’s Whiteville section.
He and George used their expertise to outfit the mill with a main drive shaft on each of the three floors, connected by the buffalo leather belting common at the time, counter-shafts, a rolling machine and a nail machine, all driven by a clean new waterwheel.
When this work was done, George White signed his rights over to Rounds for $1,200, though for a while he hung on, making jewelry in a part of the mill.
The agreement with Atty. Pratt included the right to buy the property after renting for five years. For $900, Rounds did just that. At about the same time a Providence man, Samuel Davis, came aboard, paying Rounds $600 for a quarter share in the business.
Rounds then mortgaged the whole package to his Willow Street neighbor, the livestock trader, dry goods peddler and soap maker James W. Cobb, for $800.
But it wasn’t long before the tack and nail business of Rounds and his new partner received a second and more destructive blow. Much bigger firms like Taunton Tack Co. had formed a combine with the object of squeezing smaller competitors out of the field.
It was similar to what can happen to mom and pop stores when a heavyweight like Walmart comes to town. The Whiteville tack factory, which had been in business far longer than the Willow Street firm, gave up the lopsided fight. So did Rounds and Davis.
In 1865 they sold half their company to John Hunt of Taunton for $1,750. Then Davis bowed out, selling his quarter share back to Rounds for the same price he’d paid for it.
Rounds and Hunt on March 28, 1866, for $3,500 sold the factory and water privilege to jewelry manufacturer Ferdinand W. Cabot of Attleboro, who also assumed the mortgage.
Cabot was either luckier or a better business man than Rounds, because he successfully made and sold jewelry and silver coffin trimmings on the site for many years. Townspeople forgot Marcus Tolley Tollero Cicero Richmond Rounds, and renamed the pond “Cabot’s.”
Lifelong Mansfield resident Harry B. Chase Jr. served on the town’s first conservation commission and is a founding and charter member of the Natural Resources Trust of Mansfield. He can be reached at mansfield@cnc.com or at 508 967-3510.
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