Person:Samuel Follansbee (1)

Samuel Follansbee(gggrandfa.) b. 8/14/1806 in W. Newbury, Ma is a descendant of Thomas Follansbee b. 1637, England. On April 2, 1844 he married Susan Gould of NY(or Newfane, Vermont), b. 1820. According to the 1850 census Samuel, Susan, a son, Frank F. b. 8/1845 and a daughter, Genette, b. 1847 lived in W. Newbury, Ma. For over 20 years Samuel and his children worked making combs and followed the industries growth to Leominster, Ma. In the Leominster Valuation Report, Samuels property was evaluated as house, 700.00; barn, 100.00; lot 3/4 acre, 700.00= total value $ 1500.00. Taxes were $27.50.

On the 1860 Leominster,Ma.census we find Samuel; w.Susan; Frank b. 1845; Genette b. 1847; and Susie P. b. 1850; Floretta C.b. 1854; Samuel,b. 186

According to Samuels obituary: In Samuels boyhood, while attending school, he worked in a ship carpenters yard, and later served a six years' apprenticeship to learn the shell comb makers trade. He was in business in Boston seven years (where he formed the relationship of Susan Gould, whom he married in 1844), and the rest of the time he spent in West Newbury until 1851 when he moved his family to Leominster, Ma. Here he worked at his trade, comb maker, filling the position of overseer, until in 1861 he bought a farm in Athol, where he lived for four years. Returning then to Leominster, he worked again at his trade. For the last few years of his life failing health prevented him from doing shop work, and last July (1891) he was persuaded to remove with his family to Athol and to make it his home with his son, at whose house he died Nov. 18, at the age of 83. Mr. Follansbee was a thorough mechanic, strictly honest in all his dealings, serving his employer to the best of his ability, and ever winning the warm friendship of his fellow workmen. He was for many years a regular attendant at the Methodist Episcopal church, and was respected and esteemed by all who knew him. A few days before his death he said to his son that he could not think of any one whom he had knowingly wronged in all his life. He leaves to his children the priceless legacy of a good name, and a life record which they will ever prize more highly than gold. His funeral was held on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the house of his daughter, Mrs. R.F. Walker, and the services were conducted by Rev. Charles F. Rice.

In 1870 Samuel (gggrandfa.), Frank (ggrandfa.) and Susie all worked making combs in Leominster. There was a great fire in Leominster in 1873 and it destroyed much of the town including a large comb factory and piano making shop. After this time Samuels occupation is listed as a mechanic, I believe in a shop. According to the Leominster, MA directory 1865 thru 1891 Samuel is listed as working on 80 West St. as a mechanic. It was discovered through his death record that he died in Athol, MA in 1891 at his son, Samuel N. Follansbee, but was buried in Leominster. His son, Samuel, lived in Athol, MA as a jeweler in the late 1880's. Miss Nellie Follansbee mentioned in the Leominster directory through the years 1891-1895 is Genette using a nickname. Genette never married and cared for her blind mother until the mothers death in 1912. 1892 FOLLANSBEE, Samuel/ Athol/ Will / case #13261

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In America, the comb industry centered around W. Newbury and later on in Leominster,Mass. Enoch Noyes established a comb making comp. in 1759 in the sub-cellar of his home at the corner of Crane Neck and Main streets in W. Newbury. He is known for contriving many inventions. His combs of wood and horn were simple, primitive objects until a stranger, so the story goes, appeared at his door in 1778 asking for employment. This man was William Cleland, a German Hessian deserted from Burgoynes army after being captured by Gen'l Stark and placed at Major Little's farm. William was a comb maker by profession, and a skillful workman. He brought with him old country skills and special tools for making combs. This was the commencement of the comb-making business in Newbury. The cattle horns would arrive in barrels and had to soak for months to soften them up. The insides had to be scraped cleaned and the softened horn would be cut and flattened by heated iron plates. The odor of the soaking horns in barrels for months was putrid. There are other procedures for preparing the horns but this was the most popular. Combs would be cut to size, and when the teeth on the combs were complete they had to be hand filed like a toothpick. The combs produced after Williams joining Mr. Noyes were much finer and more finished products. They became so successful that by 1793 there were 70 horn smiths working in the area making combs. Years later Enoch also had a comb manufacturing business in Newburyport which eventually his son and grandson took over. Obadiah Hills learned the trade of making combs by hand in W. Newbury. He took his trade and moved to Leominster, Ma. starting a comb making business. The industry was even more successful in Leominster than in W. Newbury as there was an abundance of raw supplies. This growth in combs stimulated a decade of rapid population increase in Leominster. But as the local, national, and worldwide demand for combs mushroomed, supplies of horn, tortoise shell, and ivory became increasingly harder to obtain The horn made comb industry slowly died out around 1900's with the invention of celluloid (a plastic) around 1870 .

1.   Essex, Massachusetts, United States. 1850 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration Publication M432).
2. ↑ Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. 1860 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration Publication M693).
3.   Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. 1870 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration Publication M593).
4.   Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. 1880 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration Publication T9).
5. ↑ There are two entrances to the cemetery which have stone beside them. Use the southernmost (closest to Leominster center) entrance, opposite Morton St, to go to the Samuel Follansbee grave. Drive straight in on Kendall Ave to a point between Houghton St and White St. The Follansbee stone is just beyond large ones with the names “Wetherbee” and “Kenney”. The stone appears newer than others from the same period.
6.   1880: The indexer misread the name as Tollansbee: The Samuel Follansbee household in Leominster consists of Samuel 73, Susan S. 60, daughter Genette C. 30, and son Samuel 20, daughter Floretta C. Smith (now widowed) 26, and grandson George A. Smith 5. Father Samuel works in a comb shop, Genette works in a box shop, and Samuel N. works in a jeweler shop.