The Haley brothers arrived in New Market in Rockingham County, N.H., on the eve of the Civil War. There, they built their tailoring establishment at the corner of Main and Church streets. By the end of 1861, senior partner Samuel A. Haley had retired from the clothing business. His brother, Benjamin F. Haley, handled the company thereafter. During the first year of the war, this firm produced fatigue blouses for the 3rd, 4th, & 6th New Hampshire, plus frock coats and fatigue blouses for the 8th New Hampshire. In August 1862, Haley was again contracted to make a further 2,000 frock coats for the state quartermaster clothing department.
In this circa 1862 view, some of the employees pose for the camera. The prim ladies lined up at the main entrance were probably seamstresses, while the men wearing aprons at the foot of the stair case leading to the main work shop on the second floor likely labored as cloth cutters. Several women can be seen at work in one of the windows.
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