In 1845 Thomas P. Goodrich became an active partner in the concern and business was done as the firm of Rice, Bly & Co. During the preceding year, the firm had manufactured on their own premises more or less machinery, and with what they bad purchased they had at the time mentioned sixty looms in operation. In 1845, an L part of fifty feet was added to the mill, and thirty looms and preparation put therein, making a total of ninety looms. A commodious store had also been built.

In November, 1849, Mr. Bly sold his interests to Major Rice and retired. The firm was coutinued as L. Rice, & Co.

In December, 1850, the mill was wholly consumed by fire, calls causing a severe loss above the insurance.

In the spring of 1851, Maj. Rice purchased the interest of Burke & Goodrich and exchanged the whole remaining property with R. H. Wells for his interest in the firm of Wells, White & Co.

In 1851 Messrs. Rodman H. Wells, Shubael W. Brayton and Henry Wells formed a copartnership, with the firm name of Wells, Brayton & Co. and the two latter became joint owners, with the former, of the property he had purchased of Major Rice. The hew company erected on the site of the burned edifice, a spacious, well constructed stone mill 102x40 feet, four stories high, for the manufacture of satinets and cashimeres.

In 1862 R. H. and Henry Wells sold their Interests to S. W. Brayton & S. Johnson, the firm being changed to S. W. Brayton & Co. In 1870 the inside of the mill was completely, destroyed by fire, causing severe loss to the partners. The mill was immediately rebuilt and enlarged, S. W. Brayton buying his partner’s interest in the concern, the firm being S. W. Brayton.

In 1871 Mr. Brayton sold all his real estate in the Beaver, including the mill, water privilege, tenements, store, etc., to W. W. Gallup, Chester Baily, A. C. Houghton and Arthur A. Smith. The firm was known as Gallup, Baily & Co. Soon after the other partners bought Mr. Baily’s interest, the firm being changed to Gallup, Houghton & Smith. In 1877 William Arthur Gallup bought the interest of W. W. Gallup, and in the same year Messrs. Gallup and Houghton bought Mr. Smith’s interest. The firm was then changed to Gallup & Houghton. The company now are running 210 looms, employ about 150 hands, and turn out 1,500 pieces of print cloth each week.

In the year 1825, David Estes & Son erected a brick mill 46x3l feet and four stories high. This afterwards formed a part of the mill near the Eagle street bridge, which was burned in 1845. The machinery at first consisted of 180 spindles and 9 looms. Satinets were manufactured. Connected with the same was a wooden building, for cloth dressing, also 150 spindles for making satinet warps.

S. Burlingame, in 1824, commenced the turning business in the lower room of the Eagle factory. Previous to this, temporary lathes were fitted up wherever power could be obtained.

Mr. Fuller commenced the business in Tinker’s machine shop, and was succeeded by S. Burlingame.

Homer F. Darby succeeded Mr. Burlingame, his shop was on River Street.

Ezra and Alvin Leonard, in 1831, commenced the business of general wood turning, bobbin makers, etc., in the building, adjoining the saw mill on the west bank of the river near Main street bridge. They afterwards erected a shop on Brooklyn street which they occupied for a number of years.

This important section of our village was originally known as the “Gory lot.” This name was probably given it as burlesque, from the fact of a colored man and his family named Gory living there solitary and alone. He was employed in the flax machine, then standing upon the site of the Slater mill. This flax machine was built in the year 1800, by Bethuel Finney, owner of the land and mill privilege. About 1811 George Whitman purchased of Mr. Finney the whole premises and operated the machine for some years, when the dam and mill were carried away by a heavy freshet.

In 1816 Mr. Whitman disposed of the whole property to Giles Tinker for the sum of $600. This purchase included the whole tract of land and three water privileges from the upper Union street bridge to the top of the hill above the Eclipse mill. Mr. Tinker, in 1826, sold to Artemas Crittenden and Salmon Burlingame the water-power and one and a half acres of land, afterwards a part of the Ingalls, Tyler & Co.’s property, for $150.

In 1830 Dr. Isaac Hodges purchased of Giles Tinker all the remaining land and waterpower described above for $700. Dr. Hodges, A. Sanford and Joshua B. Hodges, erected the Slater mill in 1832. Dr. Hodges sold to 0. Arnold & Co. in 1831, a water-power and three acres of land for $300. In 1830 he also sold to Willard Gould and Gad Smith three acres of land and water-power for a saw mill, just above the Eclipse mill.