Hearthside News

HEARTHSIDE HISTORY:  Did You Know?

This is the 12th in a series of history articles being featured throughout our Bicentennial Year.

This month our feature is on Frederick C. Sayles, owner of Hearthside from 1901-1903.

• Frederick Clark Sayles was a native of Pawtucket, born in 1835. His father was Clark Sayles and his mother Mary (Olney) Sayles. He had a brother named William F. Sayles.  

• W.F. and F.C. Sayles Company Complex

   Frederick and his brother ran the W.F. and F. C. Sayles Company (Moshassuck Bleachery), bleaching and finishing cotton shirtings and sheetings. Their bleachery was the largest and best equipped establishment of its kind in the world.  Glimpses of the mill complex may still be seen today in Saylesville, where Chapel Street, Walker Avenue andSmithfield Avenue meet.

   

•  Frederick Clark Sayles obtained Hearthside in 1901 for ten dollars. Prior to that in 1889, the Sayles family had purchased the 99 acres of land around the house, so Frederick's acquisition recombined the land and house. 

Frederick C. Sayles

• In addition to managing these bleacheries, Frederick also supervised the Glenlyon Dye Works and Lorraine Worsted Mills, which had the reputation of producing the finest ladies' dress goods that have ever been manufactured in America, challenging comparison with the best French makers of that time. Frederick also organized the Baltic Mills Company in Baltic, Connecticut, where he built a mill admired by many as the most handsome mill in New England. He was the president of the Baltic Mills Company until his death.
• After the death of William Sayles, his son Frank Arthur Sayles bought out the business. William Clark Sayles, Frank Sayles' older brother, probably would have succeeded his father, but he had died of tuberculosis in 1876 during his sophomore year at Brown University. His parents gave Sayles Hall at Brown in his memory.
• Frederick married Deborah Cook Wilcox in 1861. They built a home in 1868 which overlooked the city of Pawtucket near the Providence line and was known as Bryn Mawr. Together they had 5 children.
• It was due to Frederick and his brother that Saylesville prospered as a village of Lincoln, and in 1880, the Sayles Memorial Chapel of the Congregational Church was organized.
• In 1885, Frederick Sayles was chosen as the best representative of the people and elected as the first mayor of the city of Pawtucket. He served two terms during which time the city rapidly increased in population. Mr. Sayles was always interested in charitable causes and gave generously to the community, including a public library building to Pawtucket as a memorial to his wife.

  Mariposa Farm horses shown at Hearthside

• Because of his love for horses, Frederick went into the stock raising business about 20 years before his death purchased a farm about three miles from Pawtucket composed of several hundred acres on both sides of Great Road, that included the Butterfly Factory. The finely-appointed Mariposa (Spanish for "butterfly") Farm included a large number of trotting mares and dams of trotters of speed. His first purchase was the famous Palo Alto stallion, "Campbell's Electioneer" and later he bought the son of Campbell's Electioneer, "Symboleer," whose record of 2:11 as a 2-year old was the best in its time. Among other noted horses owned by him were "Sable Wilkes," "Consuelo S.," "Wiseburn," "Handspring" and "Alix", queen of the turf. He probably had the finest collection of great brood mares ever under one owner in his time. The stock from the farm gained many prizes.  Some of these famous horses are buried on the farm.

Auction booklet for horses from the Mariposa Farm

• In 1901 he took ownership of Hearthside that bordered the farm. When Frederick died in 1903, the house was sold to the Oak Hill Land Company, a holding company consisting of Sayles' heirs and descendants. Frank Sayles, son of William and nephew of Frederick, purchased the Mariposa Farm from the Sayles estate and continued to operate the farm, making many improvements to the land.

  Frank Sayles

The former Butterfly Factory across the street was purchased by Frank Sayles and turned into a riding academy during the 1920s and 30s.

• In 1926, following a fire which devastated the Chase dairy farm next door to the Mariposa Farm, Benjamin Chase purchased Frank Sayles' farm (Sayles retained the Butterfly Factory), and it became known as Chase & Butterfly Farm, with over 100 Holsteins in the herd, an onsite dairy and bottling operation, and milk delivery throughout the Lincoln, Cumberland and Pawtucket areas until 1965.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  (note: Benjamin Chase' granddaughter is Kathy Chase Hartley, currently working to preserve Hearthside and Great Road's history as president of Friends of Hearthside).
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Our Mission: The Friends of Hearthside is dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and stewardship of Lincoln's historic Hearthside homestead, as well as the other adjoining Town-owned historic sites along the Great Road. 

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