03414cam a22003493u 4500 77551 UtSlPG 20260610134809.0 m cr n 260607r20251925utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d UtSlPG en iso639-1 TS Stevens, Nathaniel, 1857-1946 A sketch of the early days of the woolen industry in North Andover, Massachusetts Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2025 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Release date is 2025-12-27 Charlene Taylor, Steve Mattern, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) A sketch of the early days of the woolen industry in North Andover,…. by Nathaniel Stevens is a historical address and local industrial history written in the early 20th century. It charts the emergence of woolen manufacturing in North Andover, Massachusetts, with a focus on early mills, technological adoption, and the people and families who shaped a regional center for flannel production. The address opens with the town’s late-18th-century push to favor domestic manufacture and sketches the first textile efforts, including the Schofield brothers’ early carding and spinning machinery and the pioneering mill at Sutton’s Mills. It surveys key sites along Cochichewick Brook—Saunders’s short-lived operation, the Hodges mill (later Osgood Mills), and the rise of larger enterprises—then concentrates on the founding of a woolen mill at the upper fall in 1813. The narrative follows that mill founder’s modest upbringing, sea voyage, grocery trade, and entry into manufacturing during the War of 1812; his early partnership structure; postwar setbacks; and eventual decision to specialize in flannels on advice from a neighboring manufacturer, a move portrayed as pivotal for sustained success. Anecdotes capture market skepticism from Boston merchants, involvement in the Merrimack waterpower project that birthed the city of Lawrence, and a formative lawsuit over a burned rental house. The account also details sourcing New England wool, the prevalence of sheep, book-keeping practices evolving from single to double entry, and growth from processing fifty pounds of wool a day to several hundred, while weathering the financial panics of the 1830s and 1850s and expanding to a second mill. A daughter’s vivid travel diary (1838–1839) conveys the era’s arduous transportation. The address closes with the founder’s civic and religious life, his death, and an appraisal of his character and legacy in North Andover’s industrial development. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: Andover: Andover Press, 1925 Woolen and worsted manufacture -- Massachusetts -- North Andover Wool industry -- Massachusetts -- History North Andover (Mass.) -- History Stevens, Nathaniel, 1786-1865 https://archive.org/details/sketchofearlyday00stev/page/n5/mode/2up https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77551 118271 118271