fruits of her enterprise to the cause of Missions.       President Humphrey of Amherst College, coming in soon afterward, bought the lot, and thus was the ball set rolling, which has never stopped. The next package made was sent to Mr. Arthur Tappan of New York, who immediately ordered twenty-five gross at $2 per gross; and the Willistons afterwards recalled that, in all their subsequent wealth, never did they feel so rich as they did when they received that first $50 from the firm of Arthur Tappan. Mr. Williston at once saw something of the possibilities of the new business, and gave up his farming and wool-growing to join in it. The business grew rapidly, until buttons were put out at least 1,000 families between Hatfield and West Springfield, from Granby to Peru, all being done by hand, till Mr. Williston, chancing to see machine-made buttons, brought from England for sale in New York, determined tat buttons could be made here by machinery, as well as in England, and at once entered into a co-partnership with the Messrs. Hayden of Haydenville to undertake their manufacture, and the first machine-covered button in this country was made in Haydenville on July 4, 1834. The business was continued there until 1847, when Mr. Williston bought the entire plant; the next year he transferred the works to Easthampton, and thus the year 1848, saw the building of the first factory in Easthampton.       This change brought several families from Haydenville, who became identified with the interest of both church and town, and filled larges places in various phases of the community, among whom well-remembered were Levi Parsons, C.B. Johnson, Oscar Hill, Moses Ferre and Joseph Harris. Mr. Williston was already a wealthy man, and so intensely and thoroughly had he, in his youth, dedicated himself and all that he might be to the service of God, that he accepted the wealth committed to him as the means through which he should do that service. Early deciding to devote his abundance to benevolent uses and Christian upbringing, he determined not to allow his wealth to accumulate beyond yielding a certain income. After much deliberation and West Boylston Mills. -- page 12 -- | Previous Page | Next Page | | Town of Easthampton Page | Hampshire County | | Western MA History & Genealogy | These pages are © Laurel O'Donnell, 2005, all rights reserved Copying these pages without written permission for the purpose of republishing in print or electronic format is strictly forbidden This page was last updated on 12 Sep 2005