Amherst Steam Mill Company

MC 113

About the Amherst Steam Mill Company:

The Amherst Steam Mill Company was incorporated in July, 1846, with Samuel B. Melendy, Cyrus Eastman and Francis Peabody the first executives named. Aaron Lawrence became the president of the board of directors. Several buildings were erected. A sawmill began operating in February, 1847, a grist mill on May 1, and a clapboard and a shingle mill shortly thereafter. A fifty horse-power steam engine powered the mills. Notices appearing in the Farmer’s Cabinet, published in Amherst, called people to meetings, notified stockholders when assessments were due on their shares, advertised for workers, and finally in the summer of 1848, advertised the mills for sale. The buildings burned March 25, 1849.

About the Amherst Steam Mill Company Records:

The Amherst Steam Mill Company Records contain the charter of incorporation, by-laws, lists of subscribers and associates, stock certificates, receipts, directors’ orders, votes, contracts and annual treasurer’s reports. One ledger-type page seems to be dated 1842 and clearly has the name Amherst Steam Mill Co. on it. The final dividend statement is dated 1852.

Sources:

• Secomb, Daniel F., History of the Town of Amherst, Hillsborough Co., N. H. Printed by Evans, Sleeper and Woodbury, Concord, N. H., 1883, pp. 159-160, 461.
• Farmer’s Cabinet, published in Amherst throughout this period.