History Packet No. 5

Multi Era 4-9: 1815 to 1953

The Early New England Woolen Industry
Faulkner & Colony Mill Time Line
Bibliography

The Faulkner & Colony Mill

In 1775 a sawmill and gristmill was built on Piety Lane, today known as West Street, in Keene, New Hampshire by Elisha Briggs. As with all mills at that time, Briggs needed waterpower to operate his mills. Briggs, along with Samuel Bassett and Aaron Wilson, dammed part of the Ashuelot River to form a pond. From the pond a canal was dug under Piety Lane where they built a dam that controlled the flow of water to the mills. Nathan Blake bought the mills from Elisha Briggs and operated them until 1799, becoming known as Blake's Mills. Blake sold the mills to Luther Smith, who seven years later sold the mills to Moses H. Hale and Zebediah Kise in 1806. Hale and Kise added machines (and possibly an addition to the mills) for picking and carding wool. Josiah Colony managed the mills for Hale and Kise. John Maguire bought the mills in 1814.

In 1815 Francis Faulkner and Josiah Colony bought the mills from John Maguire. It is said that Mr. Faulkner was a good businessman and Mr. Colony a good mechanical man. This combination led to a great partnership.

Ten years after Faulkner and Colony purchased the mills there was a fire. The fire of 1825 destroyed the mills that were constructed of wood. In an attempt to prevent this from happening again, Faulkner and Colony rebuilt the mills using bricks. Thirteen years later the mill caught fire again. This second fire in 1838 caused a great deal of damage, yet the woolen mill was again rebuilt with brick, with the sawmill and gristmill located to the west of the woolen mill in separate buildings. The new woolen mill was three and a half stories high with a split-level roof, clearstory windows, and a bell cupola. Ringing of the bell became a morning custom. During this second rebuilding, the owners took this opportunity to update the mill by adding a steam engine. The addition of the steam engine had a dual purpose. First, the steam engine operated machinery when the waterpower could not, thus offering continuous production and employment throughout the year. Also, the exhaust from the steam engine was used to heat the building during the long cold winter months. This was the first building in Keene to use steam for heat.

The mill originally operated by water from Mill Pond, which flowed through canals from the pond, under West Street, and to the mill. (See map) When the water arrived at the mill, it would flow under the mill to turn a water wheel. Once the water had been used, it flowed back through a canal to the Ashuelot River. The mill ran at full capacity in the springtime when the water was high from the melted snow. Using only waterpower to run the mill had some drawbacks. Sometimes, the pond would have to be drained and often during the long, dry summer months, the pond would dry up. When this occurred, the mill had limited use and could not be run at full capacity. This caused production to be interrupted or halted. With the installation of the steam engine, mill production became continuous, which benefited both the mill owners and mill employees.

Francis Faulkner died in 1842, and his eldest son, Charles, took charge of the Faulkner portion of the mill. In 1859, Josiah Colony and Charles decided to make the woolen mill bigger by raising the roof of the building to four and a half stories. At this time, they also built an office building across West Street and five storage houses. The office space also served as a retail store for the goods produced in the mill. Several years later, Josiah Colony retired, and soon after his retirement, he died. Josiah's sons Horatio and George were appointed to run the mill with Charles Faulkner. The business incorporated in 1889, becoming the Faulkner and Colony Manufacturing Company.

When Charles Faulkner died, his son Frederick took over the family business. Due to an inheritance problem with one of Colony's sons, the Faulkner family bought one half of the Colony's stock leaving the Faulkner's in control of three-fourths of the company and management of the mill full time.

In 1900 the mill almost doubled in size with a three-story addition to the west toward Island Street. This addition, connected to the old mill building with a stair tower, was called No. 2 Mill and allowed the mill to add more looms and storage. During the expansion more storage houses were built and the sawmill was closed. With this new expansion, the woolen mill now consisted of six sets of carding machines, thirty-four looms, and four thousands spindles to provide yarn. Another addition was added to the mill in 1925. This addition included a two-story extension that expanded the mill further west to Island Street.

The Faulkner and Colony Manufacturing Company produced many types of woolens and flannels. There were four major steps in the wool production process: Shearing the sheep, sorting and grading the wool, spinning the yarn, and making the fabric. After the sheep were sheared, the wool was shipped to the mill. Here the sorting and grading workers remove damaged wool and sorted the wool according to length, diameter, waviness, and color. The workers scour the wool with detergents to remove any impurities. After the wool was dry, it was sent to the carding section. Carding involved rolling wool through rollers with thin teeth to untangle fibers and arrange them into flat sheets. Once the carding was completed the wool was now ready to be spun. Machines spun the wool by twisting and stretching wool into thin strands, which were then twisted into yarn. The wool could be dyed before or after it is spun. The wool then underwent a finishing process that began with fulling or wetting the fibers with water. Once the wool was wet, it was passed through another set of rollers. This made the fibers interlock as well as shrunk the material to give it additional strength. After the finishing process, the wool was ready to be made into cloth.

The mill was awarded government contracts to produce textiles for use in the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. The mill's fabrics were needed for uniforms, blankets, and tent materials. During the Civil War, the Union government needed large amounts of fabric for uniforms. It was during the Civil War when the mill owner's began to enjoy a large amount of financial success. The government believed the war would be short lived and therefore, agreed to the mill's high priced fabric. As the war dragged on, the high prices of the fabric allowed the mill owners to profit greatly. During World War I, the mill produced olive color fabrics for uniforms and tents. World War II was another productive and busy time at the mill, with approximately 500 men and women being employed and producing more than 1,406,000 yards of different types of cloth for the United States and Allied Nations.

After World War II the government contracts ended and synthetic cloth became more popular. The mill's business began to decline. In 1953, Faulkner and Colony Manufacturing Company was placed in receivership. When the Faulkner and Colony Manufacturing Company closed its doors for the final time, it had the distinction of being the second oldest mill in the United States to be run by the same family at the same location.

The entire property and water rights were sold to Barker Realty Company in 1954, and in 1955, the Mill Pond was filled in. For years, the mill remained vacant until 1983 when Emile Legere purchased and renovated the mill. In November of 1983, the Faulkner and Colony Manufacturing Company mill building, now known as the Colony Mill Marketplace, was once again open for business, but in the form of retail stores and restaurants.

In mill towns, neighborhoods around the mill housed workers, especially before the arrival of trolleys, buses, and cars. Some workers at the Faulkner and Colony Mill rented rooms in houses owned by the Faulkner's and Colony's. Before the 1900's, the Faulkner and Colony Mill also had a boardinghouse. In larger mill towns, such as Lowell, Massachusetts, workers often lived in boardinghouses that were owned by the mill owners. These houses had rules the workers needed to follow such as curfews and church attendance. Some boardinghouses had Keepers, who cooked meals, saw to it that the workers behaved, and acted as surrogate parents. The boardinghouses were very cramped quarters to live in. Because of this workers often formed a very close bond with each other and developed their own community.

Many of the mill workers had families with children. Children attended school while their family worked in the mill or with other companies around Keene. Some children, however, did work in textile mills. In Lowell, Massachusetts and the Amoskeag Mills in Manchester, New Hampshire the mills often employed children to take advantage of their small fingers in working with the machines and paying them lower wages. The 1870 Manufacture Census indicates that the Faulkner and Colony Manufacturing Company averaged four children laborers as part of the workforce in 1870. To what extent that children worked in the Faulkner and Colony mill remains unclear.

Textile mill workers in New England during the 19th century tended to work six days a week and up to 13 hours per day. Needless to say, they most likely enjoyed their time away from the mill. Mill workers spent their free time doing things that they enjoyed, such as time with their families, attending church, enjoying outings, picnics, and parades. After the railroad came to Keene in 1848, the circus was an event that many workers and citizens of Keene looked forward to attending. The railroad allowed people to travel outside of Keene and brought tourism to Keene. Eventually, Keene also had a trolley and a bus system. These trolleys and busses traveled around the surrounding areas allowing mill workers the citizens to travel to near by towns or such places as the "Rec" at Wilson Pond. The arrival of the railroad also gave the Faulkner and Colony Mill a new way to ship and to receive their goods.

The Faulkner and Colony Manufacturing Company has played a large part in the history of Keene, New Hampshire. Older residents of Keene remember the days of the Faulkner and Colony Manufacturing Company while younger residents are more familiar with the Colony Mill Marketplace. Much of the old mill is still standing today, and it is essential for all to know the historical importance of the Faulkner and Colony Manufacturing Company and its relationship to the city of Keene.

Keene State College student Lauren Miller wrote this History Packet as part of her American Studies internship with the Historical Society during the summer of 2003.