Life of a Mill Boss’s Family 1880

In 1880, Eugene Boss

was the Superintendent

of the Willimantic

Linen Company.

Mr. Boss grew up in Willimantic and started working at the Willimantic Linen Company in 1858. By 1880, he was the

Superintendent of the mill, which means Mr. Boss was the boss.

This is a page from the

1880 census. It shows the Boss family

living on Bellevue Street in Willimantic.

They had a live-in servant.

Here is the Boss family information from the census.

Name Race Sex Age Relationship to Head of House

Occupation Birthplace Birthplace of Father

Birthplace of Mother

Boss, Eugene S. W M 38 Supt. Cotton Mill Conn. R.I. Conn.

-------, Arabella W F 37 wife Housekeeping N.J. N.J. N.J.

------, Austin D. W M 12 son At School Conn. Conn. N.J.

----------, Helen W F 5 daughter Conn. Conn. N.J.

Lambert, Helen W F 23 Domestic Mass. Mass. Virginia

The Boss family lived in a large house on Bellevue Street.

In 1880, the Boss family lived in a large home on Bellevue Street, but they would soon move to an even larger home on Windham Road.

The new Boss house was built on a hill, overlooking the Willimantic River and the Willimantic Linen Company Mills.

The new Boss house was built on a hill, overlooking the Willimantic River and the Willimantic Linen Company Mills.

Here is a drawing

of the home the

Boss family moved into on

Windham Road.

In the new house, the Boss family would have at least

two live-in servants.

The Boss family were members

of the First Congregational

Church in Willimantic, which was one of the

first churches in Willimantic.

The Boss family lived in luxury.Mrs. Boss had the servants

serve tea to her friends in her dining room.

They enjoyed

music and

other forms of

entertainment.

The Boss family probably enjoyed entertainments at the Loomer Opera House, a theater in Willimantic

owned by their neighbor, Silas Loomer.

They would have been the customers of many different stores and banks in town.

The children of the mill bosses and the children who worked in the mills led very different lives.

The Boss children were

named Austin and

Helen. Austin was 12 and

Helen was five in 1880.

Their new baby brother, Harry was born on November

26, 1880.

Austin attended school in Willimantic.

Austin would

have had schoolwork

but he and Helen would have had much

leisure time.

They would have had many toys.

The children

might have taken music

lessons.

Austin and Helen would have had time to read and keep scrapbooks.

Austin and

Helen probably

had a

pet.

Helen and Austin probably went ice skating at Recreation Park.

There was a small train that carried materials from one of the Willimantic Linen Company buildings to another. It was

named the Helen B. after young Helen boss.

Austin may have had

a bicycle.

Austin probably had a rolling hoop.

Austin may have fished in the rivers near Willimantic.

Austin probably

played baseball.

Austin’s life as the son of the Mill Superintendent afforded him many benefits. Austin graduated from High School which was on the top

floor of the Second District School in 1885.

He studied mill and mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated

with honors in 1890.

Austin worked for the Willimantic Linen Company

(later the American Thread Company) for more than 40

years, taking over for his father when

he retired.

NEED PICTURE OF Austin Dunham Boss

Bibliography

Slide 1 Willimantic, Conn., 1882: From Blake Mountain / Wils Porter del. ; Charles Hart Lith., N.Y. , N.Y. : W.O. Laughna, Art Publishing Co., 1882.

Slide 2

Slide 3 J. Alden Weir, Factory Village, c. 1899. Willimantic, Connecticut.

Slide 4 Page from 1880 United States Census, Bellevue Street, Willimantic, Connecticut.

Slide 6 Close-up of Bellevue Street, Willimantic, Connecticut. Aero view of Willimantic, Connecticut 1909. By O. H. Bailey. New York, Hughes & Bailey, 1909.

Slide 7 Close-up of Windham Road, Willimantic, Connecticut, overlooking the Willimantic River and the Willimantic Linen Mill Complex. Aero view of Willimantic, Connecticut 1909. By O. H. Bailey. New York, Hughes & Bailey, 1909.

Slide 8 The 1900 United States Census shows the Boss family had two live-in servants at the Windham Road house.

Slide 10 Close-up of the First Congregational Church on Valley Street, Willimantic. Willimantic, Conn., 1882: From Blake Mountain / Wils Porter del. ; Charles Hart Lith., N.Y. , N.Y. : W.O. Laughna, Art Publishing Co., 1882.

Slide 13 Close-up of the Loomer Opera House, Willimantic, Conn., 1882: From Blake Mountain / Wils Porter del. ; Charles Hart Lith., N.Y. , N.Y. : W.O. Laughna, Art Publishing Co., 1882.

Slide 14 Close-ups of Willimantic Savings Institute, Walden’s Block, First National Bank, Dime Savings Bank, Brainard House, Turner Building, and Frinck’s Block. Willimantic, Conn., 1882: From Blake Mountain / Wils Porter del. ; Charles Hart Lith., N.Y. , N.Y. : W.O. Laughna, Art Publishing Co., 1882.

Slide 15 National Child Labor Committee. No. 435. Flashlight photo of children on night shift going to work at 6 P.M. on a cold, dark December night. They do not come out again until 6:00 A.M. When they went home the next morning they were all drenched by a heavy, cold rain and had few or no wraps. Two of the smaller girls with three other sisters work on night shift and support a big, lazy father who complains he is not well enough to work. He loafs around the country store. Location: Whitnel, North Carolina., LOT 7479, v. 1, no. 0435[P&P],LC-DIG-nclc-01528

Slide 17 Close-up of Natchaug School, Jackson Street Willimantic. Aero view of Willimantic, Connecticut 1909. By O. H. Bailey. New York, Hughes & Bailey, 1909.

Slide 18 'On The Riverbank' by W. K. Blacklock. and 'Gone Fishing' by John Seerey-Lester

Slide 24 Lithograph of boys trundling hoops. http://www.victoriana.com/antiquetoys/rollinghoop.html and Girl with a Hoop, Pierre-Auguste Renoir. 1885

Slide 25 Close-up of boys fishing in the Willimantic River. Willimantic, Conn., 1882: From Blake Mountain / Wils Porter del. ; Charles Hart Lith., N.Y. , N.Y. : W.O. Laughna, Art Publishing Co., 1882.

Slide 27 Close-up of Windham High School, Prospect Street, Willimantic. Aero view of Willimantic, Connecticut 1909. By O. H. Bailey. New York, Hughes & Bailey, 1909.