A Newburyport philanthropist, Timothy Dexter, contributed the use of his
stable. There, beginning in December 1793, the Scholfields built a
24-inch, single-cylinder, wool-carding machine. They completed it early
in 1794, the first Scholfield wool-carding machine in America. The group
was so impressed that they organized the Newburyport Woolen Manufactory.
Arthur was hired as overseer of the carding and John as overseer of the
weaving and also as company agent for the purchase of raw wool. A site
was chosen on the Parker River in Byfield Parish, Newbury, where a
building 100 feet long, about half as wide, and three stories high was
constructed. To the new factory were moved the first carding machine,
two double-carding machines, as well as spinning, weaving and fulling
machines. The carding machines were built by Messrs. Standring,
Armstrong, and Guppy, under the Scholfields' immediate direction. All
the machinery with the exception of the looms was run by water-power;
the weaving was done by hand. The enterprise was in full operation by
1795.
John and Arthur Scholfield (and John's 11-year-old son, James) worked at
the Byfield factory for several years. During a wool-buying trip to
Connecticut in 1798, John observed a valuable water-power site at the
mouth of the Oxoboxo River, in the town (i.e., township) of Montville,
Connecticut. Here, the brothers decided, would be a good place to set up
their own mill, and on April 19, 1799, they signed a 14-year lease for
the water site, a dwelling house, a shop, and 17 acres of land. As soon
as arrangements could be completed, Arthur, John, and the latter's
family left for Montville.
[Illustration: Figure 9.--IN THE COLLECTION OF THE HENRY FORD MUSEUM,
DEARBORN, MICHIGAN, IS THIS ORIGINAL SCHOLFIELD WOOL-CARDING MACHINE of
the early 19th century. (_Photo courtesy of the Henry Ford Museum._)]
The Scholfields quite probably did not take any of the textile machinery
from the Byfield factory with them to Connecticut--first because the
machines were built while the brothers were under hire and so were the
property of the sponsors, and second because their knowledge of how to
build the machines would have made it unnecessary to incur the
inconvenience and expense of transporting machines the hundred odd miles
to Montville. However, John Scholfield's sons reported[10] that they had
taken a carding engine with them when they moved to Connecticut in 1799
and had later transferred it to a factory in Stonington. The sons
claimed that the frame, cylinders, and lags of the machine were made of
mahogany and that it had originally been imported from England. However,
it would have been most uncommon for a textile machine, even an English
one, to have been constructed of mahogany; and having built successful
carding machines, the men at Byfield would have found it unnecessary to
attempt the virtually impossible feat of importing an English one. If it
ever existed and was taken to Connecticut, therefore, this machine was
probably not a carding machine manufactured by the Scholfields. It is
more probable that the first Scholfield carding machine remained in the
Byfield mill as the property of the Newburyport Woolen Manufactory.
[Illustration: Figure 10.--AN ORIGINAL SCHOLFIELD WOOL-CARDING MACHINE
AT OLD STURBRIDGE VILLAGE, STURBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS. It is now run by
electricity. (_Photo courtesy of Old Sturbridge Village._)]
During the next half century, this mill was held by a number of
individuals. William Bartlett and Moses Brown, two of the leading
stockholders of the company, sold it in 1804 to John Lees, the English
overseer who succeeded the Scholfields, and he continued to operate it
for about 20 years. On August 24, 1824, the mill was purchased at a
Sheriff's sale by Gorham Parsons, who sold a part interest to Paul
Moody, a machinist from the textile town of Lowell. Moody operated the
mill for the next 5 years and at his death in 1831 his heirs sold their
interest back to Parsons. In 1832 it was leased for 7 years by William
N. Cleveland and Solomon Wilde under the name of William N. Cleveland &
Co. Following the expiration of the lease in 1839, a portion of the mill
was occupied for 3 or 4 years by Enoch Pearson, believed to have been a
descendant of the John Pearson who had been a clothier in Rowley in
1643, and subsequently various industries occupied other portions and
later the entire building, which burned with all its contents on October
29, 1859.
If the first Scholfield carding machine remained a part of the property,
therefore it must have been lost in that fire. However, the Scholfields'
importance to American wool manufacture was not contingent on the
building of one successful carding machine, regardless of whether it was
the first. It was the change in the scope of their business ventures
after their move to Connecticut that synonymized the name of Scholfield
with mechanical wool carding in America.
John and Arthur had built their woolen mill at Uncasville, a village in
the town of Montville, and there Arthur remained with his brother until
1801, when he married, sold his interest to John, and moved to
Pittsfield, Massachusetts. John and his sons continued to operate the
mill until 1806, when difficulties over water privileges spurred him to
purchase property in Stonington, Connecticut, where he built a new mill
containing two double-cylinder carding machines.[11] In 1813, leaving
one son in charge at Stonington, John returned to Montville and
purchased another factory and water privileges. He continued in the
woolen manufacture until his death in 1820.
Arthur, soon after arriving in Pittsfield, constructed a carding machine
and opened a Pittsfield mill. The following advertisement appeared in
the _Pittsfield Sun_, November 2, 1801:
Arthur Scholfield respectfully informs the inhabitants of
Pittsfield and the neighboring towns, that he has a carding-machine
half a mile west of the meeting-house, where they may have their
wool carded into rolls for 12-1/2 cents per pound; mixed 15-1/2
cents per pound. If they find the grease, and pick and grease it,
it will be 10 cents per pound, and 12-1/2 cents mixed. They are
requested to send their wool in sheets as they will serve to bind
up the rolls when done. Also a small amount of woolens for sale.
The people around Pittsfield soon realized that the mechanically carded
wool was not only much easier to spin but enabled them to produce twice
as much yarn from the same amount of wool. Although many brought their
wool to be carded at his factory, Arthur was not without problems. These
were evident in his advertisement of May 1802, in which he stated that
if the wool was not properly "sorted, clipped, and cleansed" he would
charge an extra penny per pound. He also added that he would issue no
credit. Shortly after this, recognizing the need for additional carding
machines in other localities, Arthur Scholfield undertook the work of
manufacturing such machines for sale. Through this venture he was to
spread his knowledge of mechanical wool carding throughout the country.