INDUSTRIAL WORCESTER By CHARLES G. WASHBURN THE DAVIS PRESS Worcester, 1917 Page 184 The firm TOLAND & HUNSTABLE continued until 1837, when the firm of A. TOLMAN & CO. was formed, composed of A. Tolman and G. W. Russell, Which continued forty years. Their work for many years was the manufacture of first-class family carriages, which they sent all over the world, some of them going to California, and even to Africa and Australia. Mr. Tolman once built a carriage for Mrs. Governor Duncan, of Ohio, before the days of railroad communication; it was shipped to New Orleans, and from there went up the Ohio River to its destination. Later hundreds of carriages came from Ohio to the East by rail. Page 186-188 In 1851, the carriage business in Worcester supported about fifty families. The largest factory was that of TOLMAN & RUSSELL; it embraced some half-dozen buildings and gave employment to twenty-five hands. Most of their carriages were of the more expensive kind. At this time they were finishing three, one for the Adams House, Boston; on e for a New Bedford merchant, and one for Mr. White, of Worcester, "the attentive and obliging hackman, whom everybody knows and everybody employs." Besides these heavier carriages, TOLMAN & RUSSELL manufactured a great many lighter vehicles of various patterns and prices, such as chaises, phaetons, rockaways and buggies. It is said that the members of this firm at one time refused to take a large contract from the Government for the supply of army wagons for the use of the army during the Mexican War, solely on the ground that they believed the war to be unjest and did not wish to participate in the profits of such injustice. The average number of vehicles manufactured by TOLMAN & RUSSELL at this time was about one hundred per year. For some time prior to 1889 TOLMAN & RUSSELL confined themselves almost entirely to the manufacture of hearses, which found a market in all parts of the United States. Mr. Tolman retired from the firm in 1879. The business was then conducted by H. J. & J. E. Russell and now by Herbert J. Russell at the old location, 32 Exchange Street. Under the old apprentice system in this business, boys were taken from fifteen to twenty-one years of age, and were paid from thirty to fifty dollars a year and their board. They bought their own clothes and the last year of their apprenticeship were paid seventy-five dollars, which included a "freedom suit." About 1830 the working day averaged from twelve to thirteen hours, and all the work was hand-work, down to the rivets and bolts. The average wages of a good workman, $1.25 per day. As late as 1866, a good many carriages were made by O. Blood & sons, TOLMAN & RUSSELL and Geo. T. Atchison, who also built water carts.