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Crompton Loom Works
| Firmenname | Crompton Loom Works |
| Ortssitz | Worcester (Mass.) |
| Art des Unternehmens | Webstuhlfabrik |
| Anmerkungen | - |
| Quellenangaben | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 364] |
| Zeit |
Ereignis |
| 1837 |
Der Engländer William Crompton kommt nach Amerika. |
| 1838 |
William Crompton erfindet einen Webstuhl zur Herstellung von gemusterten Kaschmiren. |
| 1839 |
William Crompton kehrt mit seiner Familie nach Amerika zurück. |
| 1840 |
Der Crompton-Webstuhl wird in den Middlesex Mills in Lowell eingeführt. |
| 1851 |
Das Patent für den Crompton-Webstuhl läuft aus. |
| 1851 |
Der Sohn von William Crompton, George Crompton, wird volljährig und geht eine Partnerschaft mit Merrill E. Furbush ein. |
| 1859 |
Ende der Partnerschaft mit Merrill E. Furbush, und Crompton wird Alleininhaber. |
| ZEIT | 1868 |
| THEMA | Firmenbeschreibung |
| TEXT | In this city, are justly entitled to rank among the noteworthy manufactories, not of Worcester alone, but of New England. There are in fact but few establishments having a greater variety of novel and ingenious machinery, and of which the productions are of greater importance to the manufacturers and consumers of woollen goods. It holds the same relation to the woollen manufacturers in the Eastern States, that the Providence Machine Company does to the manufacturers of cotton goods. The name of Crompton is one that for nearly a century has been distinguished in the annals of ingenious inventors. Toward the close of the last century, Samuel Crompton patented in England a combination of the jenny and water-frame, calling it the Mule, now in general use in Cotton factories, and received from the British Parliament a gratuity of £5.000. Recently there died in England Thomas Bonsor Crompton, who invented a valuable apparatus for drying paper, and who was the owner of the celebrated Farnworth Mills. In 1837, an ingenious Englishman, named William Crompton, came to America, and in the following year invented a Loom for weaving figured cassimeres, for which he received a patent from the Government of the United States. He then visited England, and received a patent there, returning with his family to America in 1839. In 1840, this Loom was introduced into the Middlesex Mills, in Lowell, where its operation was so satisfactory as to establish its claims to being a most valuable machine; but like many other meritorious inventions, it was slow in gaining the confidence of those whom it was destined so largely to benefit, and the inventor, in consequence of pecuniary misfortunes and ill health, realized but little benefit from his invention during the existence of the patent, which expired in 1851. At that time his son, George Crompton, had become of age, and entering into partnership with Merrill E. Furbush, they engaged in the manufacture of the Loom, and by extreme care in the workmanship, and some improvements, the Crompton Loom soon took a position at the very head of all machines for figured weaving. This partnership lasted until 1859, when Mr. Furbush withdrew, and Mr. Crompton has since continued the business alone, extending his facilities and improving his machinery until he has now probably the most complete Loom Works in this country. The main building is of brick, with projecting arched ends, one hundred and ten feet long, fifty feet wide, and three stories high, with a basement used for grinding and polishing, wood working, making packing boxes, etc., and a part is appropriated to an engine of forty horsepower, which propels the machinery. In this building the shafting is turned, the small work finished, and the frames for Looms are made. These rooms, with their long lines of shafting, the revolving cog-wheels, the vices, lathes, and intricate and compound tools, present to the visitor when in full operation a scene of the most lively and inspiring industry. Attached to the main building, forming with it an L, is the Blacksmith shop, and beyond a Boiler shop, surmounted with a chimney of enormous height. At some distance from the manufactory, but connected with it by a covered bridge, is a two-story frame building, one hundred and eighty-five feet long by forty-five feet wide, which is used for putting together or "setting up" Looms. The Foundry is a separate building, one hundred and twenty feet long by fifty feet wide, with a shop for cleaning castings attached, forty by sixty feet. The machinery in this is propelled by a Corliss engine of twenty horse-power. These Works are located within an enclosed lot, having a front on a principal street of five hundred feet, and occupying about an acre of ground. Extensive as they are, we believe it is the intention of the proprietor soon to devote them to some other purpose, as he has purchased land in another location contiguous to the railroad, and is now burning two millions of brick, with a view of erecting another and much more extensive establishment. The productions of these Works include, besides plain and fancy Looms, a novel Tape Loom, for weaving webbing, saddle girths, mattress and carpet binding. This Loom operates one hundred pecks a minute, and contains from twenty to thirty webs in each machine. The leading article made here, however, is the Loom for fancy weaving, distinguished as the Crompton Loom. This, in the hands of the present proprietor, has undergone many modifications and improvements, for which he has obtained patents, and is now a very different Loom from the original, and probably the most perfect machine for its purposes in the world. Mr. Crompton now employs three hundred and seventy-five hands, and turns out an average of one hundred and twenty-five Looms per month. |
| QUELLE | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 364] |
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