The Roswell Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1839 and was located on the banks of Vickery Creek. Several
dams on the creek provided power to the mills.
Barrington King, son of Roswell King, was its first president.
By 1854, two cotton mills built of brick with rock
foundations were in operation. The first
mill was only three stories high and measured 88 feet by 48 feet. The second
one was much larger: four stories high and measured 140 feet by 53 feet. Each of the buildings was equipped with
machinery for carding cotton, spinning yarn, and weaving cloth.
The mills produced yarn, cotton rope, and cotton cloth. Orders for the products were shipped to
northern markets in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Newark. Southern markets included Alabama,
Tennessee, and the Carolinas.
The Roswell Manufacturing Company purchased local cotton
that was hauled to the factory in wagons by area farmers. The bales of cotton, weighing an average of
500 pounds, were stored in the cotton warehouse.
There were 300 millworkers employed in the 1850s. It was not
uncommon for entire families, including children, to make up the textile labor
force. The operatives worked long hours, six days a week. According to a report in the minutes of the
stockholders’ meetings, dated 30
October 1854 :
… we began at five o’clock and ended at seven and
on Saturday stopping at five o’clock .
That sure sounds like a lot of hard work!
Wages of the mill workers were low and dependent on their
skill level. Work conditions were poor
and the mill buildings were not ventilated.
The workers often suffered from lung disease from breathing the lint
fibers for long periods of time.
This is the mill around 1900, when I got lost in
town. To find out more about my adventure in the city, check out my book, Rucker The Lost Country Dog.
Until next time!
