Tileston & Hollingsworth Co.

Papermaking in Massachusetts began in 1730 when a mill went into operation on the Neponset River in Milton. By 1800, six paper mills had been established on the river. James Boies (1702-1798), a native of Ireland, entered the business in 1760, when he went to work for his father-in-law, Jeremiah Smith (1704-1790), who was another Irish immigrant. In 1765, Boies built a paper mill of his own on the Neponset in partnership with Richard Clark ( -1777). A few years later, he built another mill in partnership with his son-in-law, Hugh McLean (1724-1799), who had also been born in Ireland. The partnership between Boies and McLean lasted until 1790.

In 1798, Boies hired Mark Hollingsworth (1777-1855), who had been born in Delaware. Hollingsworth probably learned the papermaking trade as an apprentice at Thomas Gilpin's mill near Wilmington. In 1801, Hollingsworth formed a partnership with Edmund I. Tileston (1775-1834) of Dorchester, Mass. Together they operated a mill leased from Boies' son, Jeremiah Smith Boies (1762-1851). As the firm prospered, Tileston and Hollingsworth bought, leased, or built additional mills on the Neponset, and by 1843 they were a large concern, operating all of the paper mills on the river. Tileston and Hollingsworth Company was incorporated in 1889, and continued as a major manufacturer of paper well into the twentieth century.

The Tilestons and Hollingsworth maintained a strong family interest in the company. Mark Hollingsworth married Edmund I. Tileston's sister, Waitstill Tileston (1779-1858) in 1804. In 1831, Edmund Pitt Tileston (1805-1873), and Hollingsworth's son, Amor Hollingsworth (1808-1871), entered the firm. These grandsons of the founders eventually succeeded their fathers as heads of the partnership. At the death of Francis Lowell Tileston, his interest in the company passed to his brother, John Boies Tileston ( -1898), who was also a partner of the Boston publishing firm Brewer and Tileston. The business was incorporated in 1889. In 1907, when Amor L. Hollingsworth died, his nephew, Amor Hollingsworth, Sr. (1880-1955), succeeded. His son, Amor Hollingsworth, Jr. (1909- ), entered the firm in 1933.

From the description of Papers, 1755-1963. (American Antiquarian Society). WorldCat record id: 191259813