Cornflower

The ancestors of the Vasilkovs merchants lived in the city of Zaraysk, Ryazan Province . It is known that in the XVIII century, three generations of the family served as priests of the Transfiguration Church ^[2] .

Vasilkovs were engaged in leather dressing from the first quarter of the XIX century in Tula . In 1799, merchant S. Murykin built a leather factory, which was located in a complex of wooden buildings on Novo-Pashinskaya Street. He bequeathed this plant to his daughter, the Tula petty bourgeois Anna Semenovna Solodovnikova. In 1822 she sold this plant to tradesman Mikhail Yakovlevich Veselkov. He built a stone building on the site of the plant, which was designed by the city architect, and the project was approved by the governor. In 1823, 1 master and 2 apprentices worked at the plant, there were 6 civilian workers. In 1839 - 1849, the urban estate of the merchant M. Ya. Veselkov occupied 80x20 yards of land. On the estate there was a dwelling house built of wood, a two-story tannery, another stone tannery, a workshop, a barn , a drying room, a bathhouse ^[1] .

In 1857, a machine for crushing bark worked at the factory of M. Ya. Veselkov. Among the equipment there were 4 boilers, 12 ticks, 40 tanks for the ash pan. In 1859, M. Ya. Veselkov died, leaving a spiritual testament. According to him, since 1860 his widow headed the manufactory , and along with her sons were trading under the company of P. I. P. Vasilkov. This abbreviation means Pelageya, Ivan, Peter Vasilkovy. If in the first half of the XIX century the family bore the name of the Veselkovs, then in 1859, after the death of the father, his children began to be called Vasilkovs. The documents Pelageya Ivanovna listed as a widow, Tula 2nd guild merchant wife. And her children were merchant children. In 1862, Ivan Mikhailovich and Peter Mikhailovich Vasilkovs became Tula merchants of the 2nd guild ^[1] .

As of December 13, 1863 , the brothers Ivan and Peter Vasilkov are already listed as merchants of the 1st guild. They extend the agreement on the existence of a joint venture. In 1863, new equipment appeared at the factory. Two steam boilers for finishing and washing the Spanish wool, 2 machines for crushing the bark, a plumbing machine for pumping water, 11 manual machines for finishing the morocco begin to work. There were about 420 workers at the enterprise. The brothers produced morocco, husky black, muscoco, scarlet and green. For the year, mittens were made for 100 thousand rubles ^[1] .

In 1863, according to the Tula Diocesan Gazette, merchants of Vasylkivs made donations to create a new church ^[3] .

In 1863, merchants built a bridge across the Upa River, which became known as “Vasilkovsky”. This bridge connected Shtykovaya and Gryazevskaya streets. Its length was 92.5 meters and its width was 8.5 meters. The bridge was with a railing, pedestrians and horse-drawn vehicles were crossing over it. This bridge eventually stood up to the middle of the XX century ^[1] . He connected Zarechye and Kursky railway station, was destroyed during the construction of the plant ^[4] .

In 1874, at a meeting of the Tula City Council, the question of assigning the title of Tula honorary citizens to merchants Ivan Vasilkov and Peter Vasilkov was made. This title was given to them by the Decree of His Imperial Majesty of December 21, 1874. In 1880, the Vasilkovs' factory became already called "saffiano leather". The plant employed 2 machines of 8 forces each, which were necessary for washing leather and wool, 1 steam machine for crushing bark in 6 sire, 18 manual machines for finishing morocco, 2 water machines for pumping water. The plant employed 470 workers. For the year they produced materials for different types of mittens in the amount of 123 thousand rubles ^[1] .

In 1889, hereditary honorary citizens, Tula merchants of the 2nd guild Nikolai and Mikhail Ivanovich Vasilkovs became the owners of the leather factory. They concluded a contract and created a trading house under the firm "Ivan Vasilkov sons: Nikolai and Mikhail Vasilkov." The authorized capital amounted to 10 thousand rubles ^[1] .

• N.I. Troitsky. Holy temples of the city of Tula. - Moscow: Book on demand, 1888.

• Business Journal, 2016/01-02: Tula region. - 2016.