History

Back in 1866, as America began its recovery from the crippling effects of the Civil War, American papermakers had a need for English china clay and other imported supplies. An enterprising young New Englander decided to make a business of filling that need. So Edwin MOREY established the firm of MOREY & Company to import and market paper mill supplies. An office was set up in Boston, close to the wharves where British merchant vessels regularly docked. Besides china clay, the sales-minded Mr. Morey imported woolen felts and jackets from the London establishment of Porritts & Spencer. Felt washing soaps were included, too, in the cargo from overseas. Customers were attracted to the MOREY office from paper mills in New England, New York and Pennsylvania. Boston was regarded as the principal center for importing papermaking machinery and supplies from overseas.

As the paper industry prospered and grew, the MOREY products line expanded, too. Items of domestic manufacture were added, including chemicals for the papermaking process. A major supplier then was the present-day Pennsylvania Salt Company. And with the growth of the industry the list of MOREY customers extended to the Mid-west, where new mills were opening in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

MOREY & Company had become a name both widely and highly regarded among papermakers of the late 1800's. Whatever Edwin Morey sold, he “stood behind 100 hundred percent.” His reputation for reliability and integrity was respected by every papermaker in the states. This commitment to high principles was shared by Edwin Morey's two sons. The father guided and advised the two, Charles and Walter, as gradually they assumed more and more responsibility for the operation. This development allowed Edwin Morey time for additional interests. He organized the Improved Paper Machinery Company and built the original plant. He did the same with the Sherbrook Machinery Company of Canada. The products of both manufacturing concerns were marketed through MOREY & Company.

Another of the senior Morey's business interests - this one outside the paper industry – was the Boston & Lowell Railroad. He served as president of this line until it was leased to the larger Boston & Maine Railroad.

Edwin Morey pursued his hobbies with the same intensity and drive that marked his business career. He acquired a farm near Poland Spring, Maine, where he raised prize cattle. The farm fast became a showplace, attracting thousands of visitors each year. But the farm wasn't his only hobby. The sea held an equally strong attraction for him. He was a familiar figure along the Maine and Massachusetts seacoast, plying the waters in his steam-powered Lawley. Edwin Morey had labored hard for the papermaking industry and the industry respected and repaid him well for his dedicated service.

Some years before Mr. Morey retired completely from business it had been decided to extend the scope of MOREY & Company's activities. A growing need for paper scrap had developed among New England mills. Steeped in the tradition of “all-out” service, the MOREY firm undertook to meet this need. The task wasn't as simple as it might sound, however. It involved building a special plant for the collection, sorting, shearing and baling of paper scrap. The new plant was located across the Charles River in Cambridge, just north of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Quarters in the new building were allocated to the company's main office, which was transferred to Cambridge from Boston.

The increasing demands of the waste-paper business made it expedient, in time, to separate the scrap and the mill supply divisions. The Cambridge operation was assigned to Charles Morey. His brother Walter assumed responsibility for the original supply business founded by the father. Offices were resumed in Boston and the firm name was changed to MOREY Paper Mill Supply Company.

Walter Morey was a carbon copy of his father in his adherence to fair and honorable business practices. Also he showed the same keen enthusiasm and wholehearted dedication to serving the paper-mill industry. Another characteristic akin to his father's was his fondness for farming and livestock.

Shortly after Edwin Morey's death the heirs disposed of the famed MOREY Farm in Maine. But the idea of a farm as a hobby persisted in Walter Morey's thinking. Before long he took title to a large farm in Poland Spring, Maine within sight of the renowned Poland Spring Hotel. As a combination hobby and commercial venture he and his daughter raised Russian Samoyed sled dogs. Milk for the handsome, snow-white dogs was provided by Togenburg goats, imported to the Maine farm from Greece. And to provide feed for the goats acres of the farmland were cultivated to grow alfalfa. So once again there was a splendid MOREY Farm, which reflected creditably on the MOREY reputation for initiative and high accomplishment.

Changing years brought gradual changes in the papermaking industry. New equipment, new materials and new techniques were being introduced. And fluctuating relations on the international scene were having an effect as well. Import tariffs choked off the traffic in woolen felts and jackets. English china clay had been supplanted by domestic varities. Keeping abreast of these developments posed some problems for the service-oriented Morey organization. It became necessary to develop new suppliers and add new lines. One of these new suppliers was destined for a major role in the MOREY Paper Mill Supply Company's future.

It was during the Hoover era – sometime in 1930 – that Walter Morey began dealing with the Fitchburg Screen Plate Company, manufacturers of slotted screens for the paper industry. The association brough Mr. Morey into increasingly frequent contact with Edward H. Hall, president of the Fitchburg firm. A strong bond of mutual respect and friendship grew between the two. Subsequently an invitation was extended to the younger Mr. Hall to participate in the management and operation of the MOREY firm.

In 1940, when Walter Morey passed away, Mr. Hall succeeded to the ownership of the long established business. Headquarters were transferred from Boston to Fitchburg, Massachusetts and the firm was incorporated in 1944. The company has continued to thrive. Sales representatives now serve mills throughout the United States, Canada and abroad. The line has been expanded to cover such highly regarded products as Scapa Dryer Felts, Fitchburg Screen Plates, National Perforated Plates, Warkaus Conically Drilled Screen Plates, Rubber Aprons and Deckles, Samson “Quick-Splice” Paper Machine Carrier Rope and many other operating supplies.

As MOREY Paper Mill Supply Company rounds out its first hundred years of service and enters vigorously upon its second, a fourth generation is represented in the organization. Serving as vice president and assisting in management is Edward H. Hall, Jr. As were the Moreys before them, the Halls, father and son, are of a single purpose in their resolve to carry on the MOREY tradition of dependable service and complete integrity.

A recent comment by Edward H. Hall, Sr., president of MOREY Paper Mill Supply Company, comprises an appropriate close for this brief sketch of a century of service. Mr. Hall said: “As we at MOREY start the second century of business, we are conscious of the fine record left by all who helped build the business through these many years. We pledge ourselves to keep the same high standards so scrupulously guarded since 1866. MOREY now enters the fourth generation of a management in an ever faster moving industry which presents a challenge we all accept.”

The story of Morey from 1966 to the present is to be continued....