Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company Records |
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NAUMKEAG STEAM COTTON COMPANY RECORDS, 1835-1854
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection was funded by gifts from the Pingree heirs.
Collection Summary | |
| Repository: | The Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum 132 Essex Street Salem, MA 01970 Phone: 978-745-9500 Fax: 978-531-1516 |
| Creator: | Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company |
| Title: | Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company Records |
| Dates: | 1835/1854 |
| Quantity: | 0.75 linear feet (2 boxes, 1 flat file) |
| Abstract: | The Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company records contain financial records and correspondence. |
| Collection Number: | MSS 919 |
Series List
SERIES I. Financial Records
SERIES II. Correspondence
SERIES III. Other
Scope and Content Note
The Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company records contain financial records and correspondence. This collection contains three series.
Series I. Financial Records contains accounts, bills,
receipts, and estimates for work.
Series II. Correspondence contains correspondence,
most of which is addressed to the president, David Pingree. The correspondence
discusses everyday matters of running the mill, sales, orders, finances, broken
equipment, stockholders, and meetings.
Series III. Other contains a copy of the
corporation's by-laws from 1845 and a list of statistics of Lowell manufactures in
1847.
Historical Sketch
The Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company was incorporated in 1839. Retired ship master, Nathaniel Griffin, raised a majority of the half million dollars to build the mill along the water front in Salem, Massachusetts at Stage Point, on the South River, directly opposite Derby Wharf. Griffin then served as the first clerk and treasurer of the company until 1847. David Pingree (1795-1863) was the first president of the company (Frayler 5-6). By 1845, production was in full swing. The name "Naumkeag" came from the local Naumkeag Native American tribe, while "steam" referred to the unique processing process used by the company (Jarvis 28), originally powered by a 400-horsepower steam engine.
The primary, and later the exclusive, product of the company was cotton sheeting
(Frayler 4-7). The Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company operated the Pequot Mills, which
manufactured high quality Pequot bed sheets (Jarvis 7). By the beginning of the
twentieth century, the company continued steadily forward, with over twenty
buildings. In 1909, the Danvers Bleachery became part of the company (Frayler 7). On
June 25, 1914, the Great Salem Fire, which spread through the city of Salem,
destroyed all but a few of the Company's buildings. It was decided to rebuild the
company immediately, and by February 1916, the Company was up and running (Jarvis
29).
Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company closed its Salem location in 1953, and moved south
for economic reasons. In February 1955, the company acquired Indian Head Mills,
Inc., and assumed the corporate name Indian Head Mills, Inc. and began operating out
of its facilities in Alabama and South Carolina (Frayler 4).
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in Philcat. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Restrictions
Restrictions on Access
This collection is open for research use.
Administrative Information
Copyright
Requests for permission to publish material from the collection must be submitted in writing to the Manuscript Librarian in the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum.
Preferred Citation
Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company Records, MSS 919, Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.
Provenance
This material was donated by Pingree family heirs.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Hilary Streifer, January 2016.
Related Material
Frayler, John. "Mericani." Pickled Fish and Salted
Provisions: Historical Musings from Salem Maritime NHS. VI, no. 6
(October 2004): 2-7.
Jarvis, Clive. The Story of Pequot. The Berkley
Press of Boston: Boston, 1929.
David Pingree Papers, 1810-1939. MSS 901