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Samuel K. Wilson
| Firmenname | Samuel K. Wilson |
| Ortssitz | Trenton (New Jersey) |
| Art des Unternehmens | Wollfabrik |
| Anmerkungen | Auf Seite 542 auch als Baumwollfabrik angegeben. |
| Quellenangaben | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 238] |
| Zeit |
Ereignis |
| 1814 |
Bau einer Baumwollspinnerei durch Jacob Hoy an dieser Stelle |
| 1821 |
Geburt von Samuel K. Wilson in Gloucester County, New Jersey |
| 1849 |
Samuel K. Wilson beginnt den Handel mit Wollwaren in Philadelphia. |
| 1852 |
Die 1814 gebaute Baumwollfabrik geht in die Hände von Samuel K. Wilson über, der bedeutende Ergänzungen den Gebäuden anfügt. |
| 1852 |
Umzug von Samuel K. Wilson nach Trenton |
| 1864 |
Ein Feuer zerstört die alte Fabrik von 1814 völlig. Sie wird in solider Form wieder aufgebaut. |
| ZEIT | 1868 |
| THEMA | Firmenbeschreibung |
| TEXT | A fine four-story brick structure, two hundred and twenty-five feet long and about sixty-five feet wide. It is erected on the site of an old cotton mill built by Jacob Hoy as early as 1814. In 1852 the property passed into the hands of Mr. Wilson, who made important additions to the buildings, and after the fire in 1864, which destroyed the entire old portion of the mill, rebuilt it in a substantial manner, making it one of the most complete and conveniently arranged woollen factories in the State. The machinery includes six full sets of cards, eleven mules, three of them self-acting and larger than ordinary, containing about two thousand spindles, and two hundred looms. Nearly all the machines, excepting the automatic mules, which are of English manufacture, were made at the works of the Bridesburg Manufacturing Company, and are of the well-known Jenks' Patents. The machinery is operated by a steam engine of eighty horse power, and a turbine water-wheel of about seventy horse power. The two mediums of power are combined upon the shafting, but either steam or water can be used separately when desired. This factory employs from two hundred and fifty to three hundred persons, according to the demands of the season, and when in full operation consumes twenty-five hundred pounds of wool per day, besides .large quantities of warp purchased from other manufacturers. The operations of manufacturing cloth, as conducted in this mill, are not dissimilar from those pursued in other factories, and need no detailed description. The wool is first cleaned or sorted, then scoured to remove the grease, when it is fit for the dye-vats, in which a day is sufficient to give the required color. From the dye-house the wool goes to the picking and carding room, where it is separated and prepared for the mules, which convert it into threads or warp of sufficient fineness for the looms, which first give it the appearance of cloth. When it leaves the loom it is eighty inches wide, and full of sieve-like interstices. Another process is required to give it the requisite "body", which is supplied by the fulling machine, where, under the action of a vapor bath, the eighty inches are contracted to fifty-five inches. The cloth is now ready for the "nap", which is raised by a peculiar kind of imported burr called "teasel", although the same object can be effected by other means. It is then dried on a large cylinder heated by steam, and next passes to the shearing machine, where the knots, ends of thread, or other excrescences, are closely shaved off by revolving blades Bet diagonally on, a small cylinder. Revolving brushes are also employed to remove flue or dust, and it is then laid between glazed boards with occasional layers of hot iron plates, and subjected to powerful pressure in a hydraulic press, which gives it the requisite gloss and finish. The cloth is then measured, and is ready for packing and transportation. Throughout the process the fabric undergoes repeated and rigid scrutiny to detect imperfections. Mr. Samuel K. Wilson, the proprietor of this factory, was born in Gloucester county, New Jersey, in 1821. He commenced the manufacture of woollen goods in 1849, in Philadelphia, and removed to Trenton in 1852. He was one of the first in the State who purchased and operated self-acting mules; and for several years made a specialty of manufacturing "Trenton Cassimeres." This peculiar fabric, part cotton and part wool, became a standard article in the markets of the United States, and was exported largely to Canada. During the Rebellion he also engaged largely in supplying the wants of the Government for Army Cloth, but previous to this period he had already attained such success that he was entitled to rank among the wealthy men of New Jersey. Mr. Wilson, though retiring in his manners and modest in the appreciation of his abilities, is a man of great energy of character and fertility of resources, and well deserves, for his manly and sterling qualities, the large success that has attended his business career. He takes an active interest in all that concerns the community in which he resides, and Trenton has no more valuable man, nor more public-spirited citizen. His aims have always been large, his plans beneficent, and his career is justly considered one of usefulness and honor. |
| QUELLE | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 238] |
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