A Little piece of Paradise… College Hill, Ohio - SELFCRAFT
A Little piece of Paradise… College Hill, Ohio - SELFCRAFT
A Little piece of Paradise… College Hill, Ohio - SELFCRAFT
- No tags were found...
Transform your PDFs into Flipbooks and boost your revenue!
Leverage SEO-optimized Flipbooks, powerful backlinks, and multimedia content to professionally showcase your products and significantly increase your reach.
woven into cloth.Meanwhile, Charles’ brother, Ward, and their brother-in-law, Edward Arnold, settled in Burlington,New Jersey on the Delaware River, about ten miles from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They purchased twoadjoining farms and erected a cocoonery and planted their land with Chinese mulberry trees, sendingsome to Charles’ company, the Mulberry Grove Silk Company. Seth and another brother, John, joinedWard in New Jersey.“Having 22 established the source <strong>of</strong> raw materials, the Chenys now were interested in the productionend <strong>of</strong> the picture. Accordingly in January 1838, they incorporated under the name <strong>of</strong> Mt. Nebo SilkMills in Manchester, Conn. with Ralph as president. By the end <strong>of</strong> 1839 the mill was employing 20hands...But along with other companies engaged in manufacturing silk, their greatest problem was to getadequate supplies <strong>of</strong> raw material. Even with three plantations operating, the Chenys could not keep themill going constantly, so Ward traveled to Georgia late in 1838 to make arrangements for starting anadditional plantation in Augusta. The milder climate indicated the possibility <strong>of</strong> a greater number <strong>of</strong> crops<strong>of</strong> silkworms because <strong>of</strong> the longer growing season and the greater output <strong>of</strong> mulberry leaves so induced.In the meantime Seth and Frank, the youngest <strong>of</strong> the eight brothers, and a mechanical genius, had gone toEurope to study and report on silk culture in France and Italy...While these young men were expending all their energies towards establishing an American SilkIndustry, the country as a whole was locked in the toils <strong>of</strong> the depression <strong>of</strong> 1837. But not until October1839 “...that the depression had much affect upon silk growers.” 23 By the summer <strong>of</strong> 1840, when theuproarious campaign was at fever-pitch, the enthusiasm for raising mulberry had waned such that treeswere abandoned and speculators lost their shirts for lack <strong>of</strong> buyers. Contracts made the previous fall forspring delivery in time for planting could not be fulfilled - few still wanted to buy, and the prices <strong>of</strong> trees,cocoons, eggs fell so rapidly the bottom dropped out <strong>of</strong> the market.The Chenys were caught in the avalanche, for while they were legitimate tree raisers and producers<strong>of</strong> silk, the pr<strong>of</strong>it derived from selling their surplus cuttings had helped to buy raw silk for the mill. Withthis supply cut <strong>of</strong>f, their activities had to be curtailed and they were unable to meet their own obligations.The Manchester mill closed temporarily, and the Georgia venture collapsed. Ward managed to hold ontothe Burlington land until late 1841.At Mt. Healthy Charles managed to hang on to his land, but suffered the loss <strong>of</strong> his wife Waitsell inApril 1841, just two days after President Harrison’s sudden death, as well as the death <strong>of</strong> their thirddaughter born in 1840.In spite <strong>of</strong> the bad luck they had endured, the younger brothers returned to Manchester, resolved todevote their skills to the manufacturing and <strong>of</strong> the industry. By the summer <strong>of</strong> 1843 the mill was oncemore operating, and the following year, 1844, Ward ventured into the dyeing end, building a separate dyehouse in 1845.”By 1847 they felt themselves sufficiently well established to suggest the Charles, living alone withhis surviving son Frank Woodbridge (Cheny) in Mt. Healthy, return and enter into the mill with them.Charleshad not yet re-married, and appears to have struggled along with his farm, occupied quietly in aidingescaped slaves on their way to freedom. His house was a station on the Underground Railroad, and“...young Frank had vivid recollections <strong>of</strong> riding beside his father, escaped Negroes hidden behind themin the wagon, on apparently innocent trips to the next station.” 24A nationwide mulberry blight killed many trees in 1844. Charles sold his farm to William S.Sampson and returned to Manchester in 1847. The Manchester mill had grown to employing about 5,000workers and the looms and other buildings covered 36 acres. The workers were housed on the site which22 Letter from Mrs. F. Spencer, op. cit.23 This was the time <strong>of</strong> the William Henry Harrison presidential campaign.24 Letter from Mrs. F. Spencer, op. cit.84