Descripción
5,909 manuscript documents, mostly on partially-printed stationery or billheads. Approximately three linear feet in total. Housed in a variety of accordion folders, manila folders, and other containers. Old folds on most documents, occasional light staining, inkspots, or minor chipping. Overall in very good condition. An extraordinary archive of nearly 6000 manuscript business letters and receipts from the years 1843 to 1866, all connected to P. Whitin & Sons, one of the world's largest textile machinery companies. The documents in this archive cover all aspects of the company's operations, including materials related to the feeding and housing of their employees, manufacturing and construction materials, logistics, and accounting. It is a remarkable collection of documents revealing the day-to-day operations of a company town in New England at the culmination of the Industrial Age, as well as for business logistics, prices, and trade goods in the mid-19th century. Paul Whitin founded the Northbridge Cotton Manufacturing Company in 1809, and in 1816 founded the Whitin & Fletchers mill with his brothers-in-law, becoming full owner in 1826 and bringing his sons on board as P. Whitin & Sons. After Paul Sr. died in 1831, his sons Paul and John continued the business, which grew to become a massive textile producer, one of the largest in the world. They operated Whitinsville, an unincorporated village in Northbridge, Massachusetts, as a company town for the next several decades. Despite difficult work and long hours for their employees (largely Irish immigrants), P. Whitin & Sons and later Whitin Machine Works ran a well-apportioned company town, providing workers with a general store, free home heating, property maintenance, and equipment for leisure activities such as sailing, fishing, and ice-skating on the nearby pond. The significant bulk of the material in this archive dates between 1843 and 1866, although some individual categories may have slightly narrower or wider date ranges depending on their subject matter. The vast majority of the documents relate to the Whitin firm's transactions with businesses in or around Boston and Providence, with some also from New York or other unspecified locations. The documents in the archive are categorized into twelve major groups as follows, each consisting of one ore more folders grouped by location and theme: 1) Boston and Providence Dry Goods Companies, 1316 documents. Includes letters and bills from many dry goods manufacturers and dealers in the Boston area and Providence during the period. Documents involve a wide array of dry goods purchased mainly to furnish the company town, including sewing supplies, housekeeping supplies, buttons, pencils, etc. 190 documents from Providence, 1126 from Boston and greater Massachusetts. 2) Boston and Providence Clothing Companies, 512 documents. The letters and bills in this group deal with clothing manufacturers in the Boston and Providence areas. Merchants represented in the collection include: Beech, Griffin, & Richardson; Bemis, Boise & Co.; Isaac Fenno; F.A. Hawley & Co.; Edward Locke & Co.; W.S. Mudgett & Co.; Talbot, Newell & Co.; John Simmons & Co.; Tillsons, Tobey & Tower; and others across Massachusetts. Providence merchants include H.E. Dodge, Cyrus Handy, Cushing & Sherman, Sterry Fry, S.L. Sherman, Henry Whitman, and others. Of particular interest are documents from H.E. Dodge, a clothing dyer, and from Cyrus Handy, whose wife was involved in his business' operations. 3) Shoe Manufacturers, 519 documents. Letters and bills from over fifteen different shoe manufacturers in Boston and Providence. Different shoes for men, women, and children made and sold during the period are listed, including gaiter shoes, toilet slippers, and "Polish grain Polkies." Manufacturers and dealers include: Samuel Atherton, Atherton & Stetson, George L. Thayer, Sarren Adams, Joel Bachelor, M.L. Taft, E.A. Goodnow, Arnold & Knight, and Arnold, Martin, & Pot. N° de ref. del artículo WRCAM57330
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