George Willett Reviews His Early Activities-This Day in Norwood History-July 9, 1937

Norwood Free Press
Norwood
Massachusetts

Gentlemen: I am glad of this opportunity of making a record of some of the happenings which have had & bearing upon the life of this community. I have felt it necessary to touch more intimately upon certain facts than a strict sense of modesty would perhaps permit, but facts are facts. I shall be careful to make only such statements as are subject to verification and, if anyone cares to check them with me, it will be most welcome.

It may be, owing to the press of matters at WESTOVER, that I shall have to ask your indulgence in the prompt preparation of these articles.

Sincerely yours, GEORGE F. WILLETT

Born in Walpole, Mass., 1870, on present site of Walpole Country Club. Graduated from Walpole High School in 1887. Entered Boston University in the fall of that year and took special engineering courses at M. I. T. Worked during vacations. In summer of ’90, took a job in the Bank of North America in Boston. Expected to stay on but man whose place was temporarily filling came back. It was too late for me to go back to college and I spent the next six months in advertising and other work while seeking a permanent job.

In the summer of ’91, I went into the wool business in Boston under my own name handling on commisison wool which Winslow Bros, of Norwood were pulling from “shearlings” which are the pelts of sheep slaughtered when their wool is very short. They pulled the wool to get the skins cheaper that way. The wool was a by-product with them. This chance to go into the wool business came to me through my acquaintance with Mr. F. O. Winslow, whom I had met in his work for the Y. M. C. A. I knew nothing about wool but fortunately for me, the Winslows needed someone at that particular moment to look after their interests in a financial transaction with a Boston wool merchant. In association with this wool merchant, I gradually gained sufficient knowledge of the wool business so that I could carry on for myself.

Early in ’92, a bad upset came to the “shearling” business of the Winslows. The “shearlings” from which they pulled the wool were nearly all imported and while there was a heavy duty on wool at the time, these “shearlings” had been allowed by the government to come in duty-free, or practically so. The business was profitable and others had taken it up. The supply of these short pelts was limited and importers began to bring in pelts on which the wool was longer, still hoping to get the benefit of a low duty. This had gone on unrestricted for a time but suddenly the government clamped down and ruled that full duty on the wool should be collected. This placed the Winslows in a bad position because they had not only a large stock on hand but had placed contracts abroad for future deliveries at what were now abnormal prices in the foreign markets and the government was seeking retroactive duties on “shearlings” which had already been brought into this country. It became a vital question as to how to meet this crisis.

Selling their wool had brought me more or less into contact with the wool pulling at the Winslow factory, although I then had no responsibility for its operation. It was, in fact, being carried on in a rather hit-or-miss fashion with very limited facilities. I was asked to go over the situation and make a definite report. I did this and gave the opinion that they should either close out their “shearling” business and take their losses or that they should go into the wool-pulling business in earnest with proper equipment and with men in charge who were trained in the wool business. I was strongly of the opinion that should they follow the latter course, that not only could their losses be held down but that a profitable business in wool pulling could be built up.

The firm of Winslow Bros, at this time consisted of George S. Winslow and Francis O. Winslow These two men were alike only in their strict observance of high standards of business and personal integrity. George S. Winslow was the older and senior partner. He was the aggressive member of the firm. F. O. Winslow was more conservative and cautious — he looked after the accounts and finances. George S. Winslow was a Democrat and F. O. Winslow was a Republican. Political opinion at this particular time was at a high pitch. It was a Presidential year and Grover Cleveland was candidate for the Presidency. George S. Winslow had been persuaded to run for the General Court in Massachusetts and F. O. Winslow, who was Chairman of the Republican Town Committee had, unwisely in my opinion, and without success, been led to oppose his brother’s candidacy. And here they were, face to face with perhaps what was the most important decision of their whole business career.

To make a long story short, they finally accepted my recommendation to establish their wool-pulling business on a permanent basis but with the condition that I would take active charge of carrying out the new program. I accepted the job and we spent between $40,000 and $50,000 for new buildings and equipment and hired a competent woolman to handle the factory end of the business. I continued to sell the wool on a small commission but never received any direct salary or other compensation from them. On the other hand, they did give me credit which was of great value to my own wool business.

The new wool-pulling business proved successful from the very start. He soon made up the losses in the old “shearling” account and it became an important and profitable part of the business, and has continued as such to this very day In fact, from that time on, wool or wool men have been the dominating factor in the affairs of the Winslow business. My duties at the Winslow factory in Norwppd brought me in touch with the Winslow families and in June, 1893, I married Mr. F. O Winslow’s youngest daughter. I have been glad as matters have turned out in later years that the value of my relation to his firm had been one firmly established before this happened. The differences growing out of the political contest of ’92 between the Winslows were slow to heal. It preyed upon their minds and their health was affected. I found myself involved more or less as a go-between in the affairs of their entire business, although, as already stated, I had no other relation with them except as the commission agent for their wool.

One day, Mr. George S Winslow suggested that I become the managing partner of the business upon equal terms with each of them, but I thought it best not to do this, although it would have meant a considerable increase in my income. The fact is that I wanted to stay on my own, as it were, rather than go into business with my father-in-law. There was no one for whom I held a higher regard than him but I just wanted the satisfaction of standing on my own feet and making my own way I have always been glad of that decision.

Matters went on without much change until the fall of ’95. As time went on I was having more to do with the sheepskin end of the business and seeking to apply better methods to its operation. Standardization of the raw material and the use of scientific methods of chemical control were doing wonders. My own business was growing rapidly and in spite of the panic of ’93 which still held on, was slowly building up a capital of my own. One day, Mr. George S. Winslow suggested that I buy the business and named very favorable terms which he said he would accept if Mr. F. O. Winslow would do likewise. Mr. George S. Winslow made the suggestion that they would leave in enough special capital to run the Winslow end of the business which, in reality, gave me a chance to buy the business out of its own profits. Mr. F. O. Winslow agreed with these proposals and the date at which I was to take over the business was set as Jan. 1, 1896. This closed any direct connection of the Winslow family with the Winslow business.

I then formed a partnership with Mr. E. C. Mills who had at one time sold sheep skins for the Winslows and had then gone into business for himself. It was, in reality, a partnership of businesses—Winslow Bros., manufacturers of sheep leather, and wool pullers; George F. Willett, wool; and E. C. Mills, sheep leather. Everything went well with us and the net profits for the first two years—’96 and ’97— amounted to well over $300,000 which was more than the total capital with which we had started two years before, including the special capital which the Winslows had left in the business.

The sales of my own wool firm had been phenomenal. In fact, the year ’97 completed a record which is perhaps unique in the history of the wool trade because starting in ’91 with no capital and no knowledge of the business, our sales of wool had doubled each year until ’97 when they reached a total of eight million dollars. We had become, overnight, leaders in pulled and scoured wools and as I am led to believe the business has retained that position of leadership up to the present time.

All through this formative period of the business, I was filled with the keenest appreciation of the unusual opportunities which had come my way and was determined to make the most of them. It was for the first few years a period of intense, personal application with no let-up whatever. I had the benefit of sound advice from the Winslows and of experienced men of the old school in the Winslow factory but, in reality, an entirely new organization had to be built up. My training at M. I. T. in chemistry and mechanics proved valuable.

It was not until the summer of 1898, when the success of the business had become firmly established, that I began to take any time off for recreation. I made my first trip to Europe that summer with my wife and Mr. and Mrs. F. O Winslow and the following winter went to California.

In 1898, I bought the Lyman Smith Co. business. This concern was an offshoot of the original sheepskin business which had been established by Benjamin Guild in 1776, near the present Winslow plant. The business had come into the possession of John Smith. He had a son, Lyman, and a daughter, Olive, who married the first George Winslow. Lyman Smith had two sons, John and Charles, and George Winslow had five sons and they were all going along in the business together. Friction came up between the two branches of the family and in 1851, Lyman Smith took his two sons, John and Charles, and established the business of Lyman Smith and Sons, about a mile away, at what is now the Smith plant opposite the Norwood station. These two businesses had run along for nearly 50 years in more or less competition until I bought out the Smiths in 1898.

I continued to run the business as a separate concern until 1901 when my partnership with Mr. Mills expired and I joined the two businesses together in the corporation of Winslow Bros. & Smith Co. Mr. Mills stayed on for a while as treasurer of the new company but soon dropped out which left me practically the sole owner. At the time in 1901 that the business was incorporated, its assets together with Willett and Co., were about a million dollars and its earnings were safely established on a basis of from two to three hundred thousand per year and were constantly growing. The next five years continued with undiminished success. The business was growing in all directions. Connections both in wool and leather were established all over the world and Winslow Bros. & Smith Co. and Willett & Co., which had now become the name of my wool firm, had become recognized as leading firms in their respective lines of business.

Starting in 1898, I had become greatly interested in golf and in the building of golf courses. I played tennis some, but golf had become an absorbing sport. In order to enjoy the golf in the summer at Essex County and Myopia, I bought in 1902 a splendid site on Coolidge Point, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and built a house there which satisfied every requirement of beauty and convenience—a cool, delightful spot jutting out into the ocean. I had become a good enough golfer so that I played in the various events but never was quite good enough to get very far. The best I ever did was to get into the quarter-finals of the National Amateurs at Nassau County Club, Long Island, in 1904. And so it went on, without a cloud in the sky, until another five years had gone by—1901-06—when there came perhaps the most momentous decision of my life.

GEORGE WILLETT.

(All articles were originally published in the Norwood Messenger unless otherwise noted)