Peabody Narratives
Peabody's Leather Industry
The earliest references to the leather industry in this area was in 1638 when the
General Court issued a memorandum �To remember to barke the second month
for the tanning of diverse hides to come.� Trees were cut and stripped of their
bark for that purpose. The General Court in 1640 ordered that hides and skins of
animals, whether secured by casualty or slaughter, should be preserved and dried,
tanned and dressed. The first tanner in the area was Philemon Dickerson who
was granted land �to make tan pits and to dress goat skins and hides� in 1639.
The first tanners in Peabody were Joseph Boyce and John Burton. John Burton
was credited with having the first tan vat in Peabody in 1661, located north of
Andover Street near the railroad bridge.
According to historians, the Indians were the first to discover that Peabody was
good for tanning and dressing the skins of fur animals because of the qualities of
its water. The first white settlers in 1630 traded with them by giving beads,
hatchets, and fishhooks in exchange for furs and peltry. The early farmers and
settlers also took the hides of animals they raised and finished the leather for their
own use. The water in the ponds and brooks of Peabody was especially adapted
to the manufacture of leather. Because of this, Peabody was destined to become
the world�s largest producer of leather.
Tanning progressed slowly up to the time of the Revolution. In early manufacturing
many a settler sank an old boat in his farmyard and finished the old cowhide. They
also tanned the skins of moose, bears, wolves, deer, and other animals. The
leather went into shoes, harness, and clothing. Leather breeches were commonly
worn, as were coats, and there were also �peti skirts� for fishermen and farmers
made of leather. Wash leather was made into leggings.
There was a brisk trade between the people of Peabody and the northern
settlements. It was a common sight in winter for great sleds from towns and
villages in New Hampshire and Vermont to appear in Peabody. They were filled
with butter and eggs, great piles of sheepskins, and dry hides. That merchandise
was exchanged for West India goods and salt fish, earthenware and leather, the
products through which Peabody became famous throughout the East.
The early tanneries were somewhat primitive by modern standards, and the beam
houses were without warmth or comfort. As late as the 1850s, it was the custom
for the tan yards to be without covering; in winter, it often required a half-day�s work
to chop the covering from a pit. In 1835, some 3,500 tan vats in town tanned
140,000 sides of leather. The introduction of steam boilers and the invention of
the splitting machine revolutionized the leather industry in 1840.
As the old-time tanners dropped out, they were replaced by new blood with more
modern ideas. By 1855, the leather industry had become the chief industry of
Peabody. There were then 27 tanneries and 24 currying establishments. By 1860
the value of manufactured products in Peabody totaled $2,843,000 of which
$1,610,000 was in leather. The average yearly pay of a leather worker in 1860
was $375 a year. The leather industry by 1865 employed 542, had a capital of
$761,000 and a valuation of products of $3,028,000. It produced a total of
327,656 sides of leather, and 498,000 skins of morocco bindings. Peabody was
a well diversified industrial community in that period.
From City
of Peabody, MA Official Website - www.ci.peabody.ma.us
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