Sawyer Woolen Mills Records, 1827-1885, bulk 1830-1849

Title:

Sawyer Woolen Mills Records, 1827-1885, bulk 1830-1849

Creator:

Sawyer Woolen Mills

Accession / Call Number:

2023.046

Object ID:

2023.046

Date:

1827-1885

Physical Description:

2 boxes ; 0.77 linear feet

Scope and Content:

The Sawyer Woolen Mills Records are most complete for the years 1827 to 1849 (when Alfred Sawyer died). There are business receipts recording receiving tools, hardware, and other materials; hiring schooners; labor contracts, etc. Incoming business letters have content such as, "your goods do not look so well in yellow as in reds. A few might sell. There is an objection against the color being quite so much on the orange shade. We think we can give you good sales of your goods in reds." A bound memorandum book of 1841 offers an in-depth look at the mill operations: from whom he purchased his wool, how he shipped it, reasons for and duration of mill stoppages, terms of work and wages for men and women he hired, experiments in dying wool, costs of manufacturing per month (broken down into cost of spinning, weaving, carding, finishing, etc.). There is an 1839 letter about and patent for "Bayley’s Rotary Press" for pressing cloth. After a hiatus with no materials, the years between 1864 and 1885, when his brothers were running the business, are documented by cancelled checks (1870s and 1880s) and railroad shipping receipts (1864). There are two personal letters. One from his sister about religion (1838) and another from his daughter Hannah about having arrived at school, her studies and new bonnet (1847).

Subjects:

Manufacturing industries , Mill worker , Mills and mill-work , Patents , Textile factories , Textile manufacturers , Woolen and worsted manufacture

Locations:

Dover, NH

People:

Sawyer, Alfred I., 1799-1849 , Sawyer, Hannah, 1830-1898

Organizations:

Sawyer Woolen Mills

Credit Line:

New Hampshire Historical Society purchase.

Restrictions:

Available for research.

Level Description:

Collection