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GIFT OF 
 
THE ROMANCE 
 OF PEPPERELL 
 
 /T BRIEF ACCOUNT OF HOW A 
 ^* GREAT INDUSTRY DEVEL- 
 OPED AT BIDDEFORD TOGETHER 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS SHOWING 
 HOW PEPPERELL WIDE SHEETINGS 
 AND PILLOW TUBINGS ARE MADE 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 
 PEPPERELL MANUFACTURING Co. 
 
 BIDDEFORD 
 MAINE 
 
COPYRIGHT 1921 
 
 BY THE 
 
 PEPPERELL MANUFACTURING CO. 
 BIDDEFORD, MAINE 
 
 
 U'rittrn, desired, and Printed 
 
 by direction of 
 
 Walton Advertising and Printing Co. 
 Boston, Mass. 
 
fir 
 
 fa 
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 It gives us pleasure to present to you "The Romance of Pepper- 
 ell," which we hope will be of interest to you and your family. 
 Romance is always interesting whether it deals with individuals or 
 things. Inasmuch as there is much of romance in the history of the 
 Pepperell Mills, the management believes that this history, embodied 
 in an attractive form, will prove worthy of perusal by those already 
 familiar with Pepperell Sheeting and will not be uninteresting to 
 those to whom Pepperell products are little known. 
 
 An effort has here been made to sketch briefly how the industry 
 came to be and, by means of illustrations, to show some of the mar- 
 velous mechanical processes that are used in the production of Pep- 
 perell Sheeting. 
 
 The romance begins far back in Colonial times when fearless and 
 independent men and women were settling New England, taming a 
 primeval wilderness and meeting the attacks of enemies, both savage 
 and civilized. It tells you about the interesting courtship of Sir 
 William Pepperrell, what he did for early New England, and how 
 he captured the great French fortress at Louisburg, Nova Scotia. 
 It narrates how he started the early industries on the Saco River at 
 Biddeford, Maine, where now are located the mills of the Pepper- 
 ell Manufacturing Company, pictures the quaint and crude ways in 
 which our great grandmothers spun and wove, and shows by its 
 modern illustrations the present methods which have taken the place 
 of the primitive ways of the past. 
 
 \Ve feel sure after you have read this that you will have a more 
 intimate acquaintance with the great mills of the Pepperell Manu- 
 facturing Company and perhaps will want to know more of the 
 products which to-day are made by them. In addition to sheeting 
 they manufacture many other varieties of cotton goods, all ob- 
 tainable under the Pepperell trade-mark and ticket. The annual 
 output of their looms, placed end to end, is sufficiently great to go 
 nearly one and one-half times around the earth at the equator. 
 Pepperell products are known to every retailer in the United States. 
 
 The Company wishes to thank the following for their assistance 
 in the preparation of this volume: 
 
 Mr. G. D. Harrison, Mr. Burton H. Winslow, Mr. Thomas 
 L. Evans, Judge George Addison Emery, Mr. John Haley, Mr. Frank 
 C. Deering, Mrs. Miriam Mitchell. We are also indebted to "The 
 Story of Textiles" for data relating to the early methods of spinning 
 and weaving, and to the Draper Company for permission to use 
 their cut. r?> 
 
 456506 
 
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 ^ ','.;>:<, 
 
 , v. 
 
 
The ROMANCE of 
 PEPPERELL 
 
 BOUT the Pepperell Mills lingers the glamour of 
 romance. Its very site was once owned by that 
 "mighty man of Kittery," Sir William Pepperrell, 
 whose valiant conquest of the strong fortress of 
 Louisburg forms a most thrilling chapter in our 
 Colonial history. At one time a large piece of the 
 land in the neighborhood of Biddeford was owned 
 by Sir William. Across the river, a short distance away, was 
 located the garrison house which he and his business associates built 
 to protect his mills from the Indians. To Kittery Point, not far 
 from here, Sir William, who was as redoubtable a lover as he was a 
 conqueror, took his young bride whom he had wooed and won 
 from many suitors in Boston town. 
 
 Few places are so rich in fact and tradition as Biddeford, the 
 town upon the Saco* River, where now loom so impressively the ex- 
 tensive buildings of the Pepperell Mills. Here where their brick walls 
 glow red in the sunlight, once stood the old stone fort built by the 
 colonists during the troublesome times of the Indian wars. On 
 "Factory Island," known for years as "Indian Island," were the 
 dwelling places of the Indian sagamores of Colonial days, and here 
 and there in the town and in its neighborhood are places of historical 
 interest recalling thrilling incidents of the French and English warfare. 
 Is it not fitting, therefore, that any story of the extensive sheet- 
 ing industry on the Saco, which sends its millions of yards of finished 
 products to every nook and corner of the world, should begin with 
 the romantic story of Sir William Pepperrell whose name has been 
 given to the mills? And is it not quite as appropriate that the 
 
 *Pronounced "Sawco" - 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 compiler should linger for a while over the historic events of Colonial 
 history, in which Biddeford and Sir William Pepperrell have filled 
 so important a place? 
 
 Till "MIGHTY MAN OF KITTERY" AND MAID MARY 
 
 Whether he \\ere battering at the mighty fortress of Louisburg, 
 or besieging the mysterious heart of a woman, the line of attack 
 pursued by that "mighty man of Kittery," Sir William Pepperrell, 
 was much the same. His methods were characterized by infinite 
 caution, sound judgment, strong resolution and due regard to 
 ail. 
 
 So it happened that, when on one of his trips to Boston to attend 
 to matters pertaining to the great mercantile firm of Pepperrell 
 and Son, young William met the fascinating Mary Hirst, grand- 
 daughter of Judge Sewall of the Supreme Court, he decided after 
 due consideration that she should become Lady Pepperrell. Not 
 only was she a member of a distinguished Boston family, but she 
 possessed those practical, domestic virtues which would admirably 
 fit her to preside over his household. He took no chances of winning 
 his suit solely on the merits of his engaging personality and polished 
 manners, of which he could not have been wholly unconscious, nor 
 upon the fact that he was heir to a vast fortune; but he presented 
 the young lady with gold rings, a large hoop for her skirt and 
 numerous other gifts of considerable value, designed to impress 
 upon her the extent and sincerity of his affection. 
 
 It was not to be wondered at that a girl as charming as Miss 
 Mary should have had other suitors. She frequently visited at 
 me of the Rev. Samuel Moody of York, whose wife, a Hirst 
 her marriage, was Mary's aunt. It is recorded that the 
 "inpletely bewildered by the attractions of the 
 lady. Certainly he looked with no favorable eye upon the 
 Between Mary and W 7 illiam, but he was helpless 
 interfere. In a remarkably short space of time, due possibly 
 the gold rings and the hoop, young William succeeded in winning 
 ttle lady's affections; and on the sixteenth of March, 1723, 
 .en he was twenty-seven years of age, he led her to the altar! 
 om all accounts William Pepperrell was greatly to be con- 
 gratulated, for his young wife received much praise for her "natural 
 
 and acquired powers, for brilliant wit and sweetness of temper" 
 are told that she proved a most excellent wife, "but was a very 
 *oman with small intellect." The description referring to 
 
 her mf- \\fr-t c.r>i.- -U- i 
 
 -o^j I^LI^H iciciinitr LU 
 
 I 1 Udl< rather un Just, and is wholly unsubstantiated 
 
 'Is. 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 It is said that at the time of her marriage her father wrote her 
 a letter containing much valuable advice for young married ladies. 
 In this letter she is charged never to work one moment after sunset 
 on Saturday evening and never to lay aside her knitting without its 
 being in the middle of the needle; always to rise with the sun, to 
 pass an hour every day with her housekeeper; to visit every depart- 
 ment from garret to cellar, to attend to the brewing of her beer, 
 the baking of her bread, and to instruct every member of her house- 
 hold in their religious duties. If she adhered strictly to these rules, 
 it is hardly to be wondered at that she had little time to exercise 
 her intellect. 
 
 It is safe to say that Lady Pepperrell never regretted her choice 
 of husband, for Sir William Pepperrell stands out as one of the 
 most distinguished men of pre-Revolutionary days, and any woman 
 might well be proud to bear his name. Not only did his native 
 colony bestow upon him the greatest gift within its power, that of 
 President of the Council, but he received from the British Govern- 
 ment the highest honors conferred upon a colonist before the 
 Revolution, for he was made a baronet, and a colonel in the British 
 regular army and was promoted by successive grades to the rank 
 of lieutenant-general in that army. 
 
 His rise to fame and prosperity is all the more remarkable when 
 one considers the humble beginning of the Pepperrell family in this 
 country. The father of Sir William had come to America from 
 \Vales, when he was twenty-two years of age. He arrived at the 
 Isle of Shoals without a shilling in his pocket. At first he engaged 
 in the occupation of fishing, which in time led to the boat-building 
 industry. The latter pursuit took him frequently to Kittery Point, 
 Maine, where he met John Bray, the pioneer ship builder at Kittery, 
 and incidentally his pretty young daughter, Margery, who was at 
 that time sixteen years of age. Now Mr. Bray was much interested 
 in the young man, but not to the extent of giving him his daughter 
 for a wife, for young Pepperrell had not been slow in making known 
 his aspirations along that line. After the lapse of a few years, how- 
 ever, when Margery had reached a more suitable age, and Pepperrell 
 had given evidence of his remarkable ability, the father readily 
 consented to their marriage. He bestowed upon the young couple 
 his blessing also a large tract of land adjoining his own farm at 
 Kittery Point. On this land was erected the famous old Pepperrell 
 mansion where Sir William, sixth of the eight children of the elder 
 William Pepperrell, was born on the twenty-seventh of June, 1696. 
 
 Those were stirring times, for King William's War was raging, 
 and on every side were being enacted scenes of horror and tragedy. 
 Danger lurked in the very air. Held close in his mother's arms, the 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 boy must frequently have heard the grown people discuss with bated 
 breath the Indian massacres and outrages which occurred during 
 those troublesome times. At Rye, then known as Sandy Beach, 
 only a few miles away, twenty-one people were killed or taken captive 
 during one raid, and later four were captured, fourteen killed and 
 the entire village burned. A neighbor and intimate friend of the 
 Pepperrell family, Major Charles Frost, was waylaid and shot w r hile 
 returning from church. Mrs. Ursula Cutts, a dear friend of Mrs. 
 Pepperrell, was tomahawked and scalped with a number of others 
 while she was waiting for the Waldron family to arrive for the dinner 
 she had just prepared, which was ready and waiting upon the table. 
 No one knew where the blow would fall next. 
 
 For three years after Sir William was born the w r ar continued 
 to rage, then after an interval of four years was renewed and lasted 
 until 1713, so that thirteen out of the first seventeen years of his 
 life were spent amid the perils and dangers of Indian warfare. It 
 was not strange that there should be awakened in his boyish heart 
 a longing for daring deeds of heroism. It would seem that from his 
 very cradle he was being prepared for that brilliant exploit the 
 capture of Louisburg. With what thrills of delight he would watch 
 the military drills of his father's company, when he was a boy, and 
 listen to the thundering of the cannon at the fort and at Great 
 Island! When he was but sixteen he bore arms in patrol duty and 
 in keeping watch and ward. 
 
 Like most of the young men of that time, Sir William's early 
 education consisted of little more than an elementary training in 
 "reading, writing and 'rithmetic." His father, however, secured for 
 him an instructor who taught him surveying and navigation, two 
 very important branches of knowledge for a colonist and ship owner. 
 Constant activity in the open air, voyages on the sea and exploration 
 in the Maine w r oods where he had many an encounter with hostile 
 Indians developed in him a superb physical strength and endurance. 
 
 Gradually the Pepperrells extended their business activities 
 until they possessed the largest mercantile firm in he new world 
 and had amassed a princely fortune. Their warehouses were filled 
 \vith fish from the Banks o. Newfoundland; with sugar and molasses 
 from the West Indies; hemp, iron, linen and silk from Great Britain; 
 and with naval stores from the Carolinas. They had over a hundred 
 vessels engaged in fishing and in foreign trade, and the name and 
 pennant of the firm were to be seen in London and Bristol, in 
 Havana and at Charleston, in Wilmington and Boston. Part of 
 their rapidly increasing fortune was invested in large tracts of land 
 in Maine, which afforded lumber for their ship-building enter- 
 prise, one of the chief sources of their wealth. When Andrew, Sir 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 William's only brother, died, the firm name was changed from William 
 Pepperrell & Son to William Pepperrells. Young William made a 
 valuable partner in the enterprise and did much toward extending 
 its sphere of business. When he was n his early twenties he estab- 
 lished a branch of the house in Boston. While conducting this end 
 of the firm's activities, he formed many intimate acquaintances 
 with public men in Boston, was introduced into the best society and 
 acquired those courtly manners and the pleasing address for which 
 he became so distinguished. 
 
 It was only to be expected that a man of his personality and 
 ability should take a prominent part in the affairs of the colony. 
 He was but twenty-one when he was commissioned captain of a 
 company of infantry, and not long after was promoted to the rank 
 of major and lieutenant-colonel. At the age of thirty he was chosen 
 representative from Kittery to the Massachusetts Legislature, and 
 during the same year was made a colonel, which placed him in 
 command of all the militia of Maine. The following year he was 
 appointed a member of the Massachusetts Council by Governor 
 Belcher. In 1730 the Governor appointed him Chief Justice of the 
 C<>urt of Common Pleas for Maine, an office which he held until 
 his death. Undaunted by his lack of education for such a position, 
 Pepperrell immediately sent to London for a law library. It is 
 said of him by his eulogist, Rev. Dr. Stevens, that: "being intrusted 
 with the execution of the laws, he distributed justice with equity 
 and impartiality. And though he was not insensible of the necessity 
 of discountenancing vice by proper punishments, yet the humanity 
 of his temper disposed him to make all those allowances which might 
 be alleged in extenuation of the fault." 
 
 'IHl CONQUEST OF LOUISBURG 
 
 In the very midst of his public and private activities, when he 
 
 was heavily pressed by the cares and anxieties attending his numer- 
 
 as well as the management of the great mercantile firm 
 
 which he had fallen heir upon the death of his father, Colonel 
 
 Pepperell was called upon to lay aside his cash book and ledger and 
 
 :imand of the Colonial forces in the expedition against Louis- 
 
 The American Colonies had been watching with much interest 
 
 iety the progress of the war between England and Spain- 
 
 the tortunes of battle seemed to be favoring the English 
 
 i- apprehension became general that Spain would seek, and doubt- 
 
 am, an alliance with France, and that the Colonies would 
 
 into the conflict. Nor was the fear unfounded! In 17^ 
 
 lOf Shirley received dispatches from England, stating that 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 in all probability war would soon be declared. In October of that 
 year he informed Colonel Pepperrell of the state of affairs and 
 instructed him to prepare the frontier for war immediately. The 
 Colonel at once sent orders to this effect to his officers, adding to 
 his letters of instruction the following message: "I hope that He 
 who gave us our breath will give us the courage and prudence to 
 behave ourselves like true-born Englishmen." 
 
 In March of the following year war was declared by the French, 
 and hostilities immediately commenced in Nova Scotia. On the 
 island of Cape Breton, which with the island of Newfoundland 
 guarded the entrance to the St. Lawrence, the French had erected 
 the mighty citadel of Louisburg, named for King Louis, the Magnifi- 
 cent. Five millions of dollars had been expended and twenty-five 
 years consumed in the construction of the city and fort. A solid 
 stone rampart, two and a half miles in circumference, surrounded 
 the citadel. At the fortress were one hundred and one cannon, 
 seventy-six swivels and six mortars. The capacious harbor which 
 afforded a safe anchorage for the French men-of-war, a place of 
 refuge for their merchantmen and fishing vessels and a convenient 
 gathering place for their privateers, was defended by an island 
 battery of thirty-two "twenty-two pounders" and a royal battery 
 of fifty cannon on the shore, with a moat and bastion so perfect 
 that it is said, "They thought two hundred men could defend it 
 against a thousand." The garrison of sixteen hundred men was a 
 constant menace to the Colonies. The fort itself was a depot for 
 the war supplies of all the French armies in Canada. Clearly Louis- 
 burg must be captured, but how? At its winter session, the Legisla- 
 ture of the New England Colonies discussed plans of action. That 
 no suspicion of these plans should reach the French, the Legislature 
 had been laid under a strict oath of secrecy during their deliberations. 
 One of its members, however a pious old deacon was overheard 
 at his private devotions invoking God's blessing upon the enter- 
 prise, and so the affair leaked out. After considerable opposition, 
 and much discussion, the expedition was finally decided upon, and 
 once the decision was made, the people became enthusiastic in its 
 support. 
 
 Now remained the difficult task of securing a commander for 
 the expedition. A long period of peace had brought about a dearth 
 of officers experienced in difficult military manoeuvres; but there 
 was one man whose training in the border wars with the Indians, 
 and whose remarkable ability for making a success of any venture, 
 however difficult or foreign to his experience, had won the confidence 
 of the people as had no other in the entire colony, and that was 
 Colonel William Pepperrell. He was unanimously chosen for the 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 position, and was officially appointed by Governor Shirley. Would 
 he accept? At first he was reluctant. His beloved wife was ill, 
 and his business in an unsettled state. The success of the venture 
 was exceedingly doubtful. With his characteristic caution, he care- 
 fully considered the matter. The famous preacher, George White- 
 field, who was on one of his missionary expeditions through New 
 Knulaiul, was at that time a guest at the Colonel's home; and when 
 consulted by Pepperrell in regard to the affair, he said: "I do not 
 think the scheme very promising; if you take the appointment the 
 M of all the world will be upon you; if you do not succeed, the 
 widows and orphans of the slain will reproach you. If you do 
 Micceed, many will regard you with envy, and endeavor to eclipse 
 your glory. You ought, therefore, if you go at all, to go with a 
 single eye, and you will find your strength proportioned to your 
 neces 
 
 Convinced at last that his country depended upon him in this 
 hour of need, Pepperrell laid aside his other interests and responded 
 to its call. Within two months he had recruited and equipped a 
 force sufficient to undertake the expedition. He also contributed 
 freely from his own purse to the funds which had to be raised to 
 finance the affair. 
 
 ( )n the twenty-fourth of March, the Massachusetts troops set 
 >ail. It was a bright, breezy day. In the hearts of the people who 
 thronged to the dock to see the men off, were mingled hope and fear. 
 Colonel Pepperrell, in his scarlet uniform, with a Bible in his pocket, 
 
 i farewell to the group of officials and friends who had accom- 
 panied him to the ship, and went to join his men. It was a motley 
 throng, the men being clad in garments of many hues. They came 
 from nearly every walk of life. "The officers," Hawthorne tells 
 re grave deacons, justices of the peace and similar digni- 
 taries." There were sons of rich farmers, mechanics, fishermen, 
 merchants and carpenters, "husbands weary of their wives, and 
 bachelors disconsolate for want of them." Above them in the breeze 
 fluttered their flag with its motto, "Nil Desperandum, Christo 
 urnished by the Rev. George Whitefield, giving to the 
 expedition the semblance of a crusade. 
 
 They arrived at Canso, the gathering place for the Colonial 
 
 troops, on the first of April. Commodore Warren, with the West 
 
 India fleet, arrived shortly to take charge of the naval end of the 
 
 t was a tremendous task which confronted these untrained 
 
 dial troops, but with a skill and foresight which distinguished 
 
 Dne of the greatest of Colonial generals, Colonel Pepperrell 
 
 Fully directed the operations. Regardless of raging surf 
 
 de, the troops landed immediately upon their arrival, 
 
 12 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 made their way through thickets and bogs, and on sledges which 
 they had constructed they dragged their cannon through morasses 
 knee-deep in mud. Under Pepperrell's leadership they learned to 
 co-operate and were able to conduct their attack against the trained 
 French troops entrenched behind the strong fortifications, with 
 comparatively small loss of life. Forty-nine days after their arrival 
 at Louisburg, that mighty fortress capitulated. It was a great 
 day for the provincial army, which marched into the fortress through 
 the south-west gate and paraded before the French troops who were 
 drawn up in front of the barracks to receive them. What a curious 
 sight the men of the Colonial army must have presented as they 
 marched in triumph through Louisburg! Hawthorne tells us of 
 one man who had gone to war equipped with two plain shirts and 
 one ruffled one. The last he had saved for the day of victory, and 
 he made a ludicrous figure as he marched along in his rough brown 
 suit and blue yarn stockings, with the huge frills sticking forth from 
 his bosom. 
 
 The news of the fall of Louisburg was received with rejoicing 
 in England as well as the Colonies. At Boston and Salem, in New 
 York and Philadelphia, bells were rung, bonfires lighted and cannon 
 fired. Air. Harding referred in the House of Commons to the victory 
 as "an everlasting monument to the zeal, courage and perseverance 
 of the troops of New England," and Voltaire, in his history of the 
 Reign of Louis the Fifteenth, ranks the capture of this strong fortress, 
 by husbandmen, among the great events of the period. Colonel 
 Pepperrell was made a baronet and was given a high commission 
 in the British regular army. In 1749 he visited England and was 
 received with marked distinction. He took no glory to himself 
 for the success of this great enterprise, but ascribed it all to the 
 prayers of the people. He had sacrificed not only his business 
 interests by devoting over a year to this military service, for he 
 remained in command at Louisburg some time after its surrender, 
 but he permanently injured his health by exposure to the cold and 
 dampness of the low marsh ground in front of Louisburg where he 
 contracted rheumatism which later caused his death. 
 
 After his marriage to Mary Hirst, Pepperrell took up his resi- 
 dence in the family mansion at Kittery. A large part of each year, 
 however, was spent by the family in Boston, where the Colonel was 
 occupied with his business affairs and his activities as President 
 of the Council for the Colony of Massachusetts, and other public 
 duties, while Lady Pepperrell devoted herself to her home cares 
 and the education of the children. Keenly aware of the importance 
 of learning, Colonel Pepperrell determined that his children should 
 have the best educational advantages which Boston afforded. They 
 
 13 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 had four children, two of whom died in infancy. Upon the others, 
 Elizabeth and Andrew, were centered all the affection and hopes of 
 their devoted parents. Elizabeth, the only daughter of a distin- 
 guished merchant, with her winning personality and rare accomplish- 
 ments was a popular belle in Boston society circles, and figured 
 prominently in the activities of the younger social set. Many were, 
 the admirers who flocked about her and staked their happiness for 
 ijrlc smile. It was Nathaniel Sparhawk, son of a clergyman in 
 tol, Rhode Island, who finally succeeded in winning her affec- 
 
 N- INMTATIOX TO SIR WILLIAM PEPPERRELL IX 
 
 ' 
 
 i 
 
 ' s- 
 
 young couple were united in 
 
 S P' endid 
 
ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 Great preparations were made for the wedding of Sir William's 
 only daughter. The following letter, ordering a portion of her trous- 
 seau, was sent by Sir William to his agent in London. 
 
 "Piscataqua in New Eng. 
 
 "Oct. I4th, 1741. 
 "FRANCIS WILLIS, ESQ.: 
 
 "Sir, Your favor of the i6th May and 26th June last I rec. by Capt. 
 Prince, for which am much obliged to you. Enclosed you have a receipt for 
 46 p'ds of gold weighing 20 ounces which will be delivered to you, 1 hope, 
 by Capt. Robert Noble of ye ship America which please to rec. and credit 
 to my acc't w r ith, and send me by ye lirst opportunity, for this place or Boston, 
 silk to make a woman a full suite of clothes, the ground to be white paduroy & 
 flowered with all sorts of colors suitable for a young woman. Another of white 
 watered tabby and gold lace for trimming of it 12 yds. of green paduroy 
 13 yds. of lace for a woman's head dress 2 inches wide as can be bought for 
 135 per yd. a handsome fan with leather mounting, as good as can be bought 
 about 2Os. 2 pair silk shoes and clogs a size bigger than ye shoes. 
 "Your servant to command, 
 
 "WM. PEPPERRELL." 
 
 The difficulty of securing textiles at this early period is apparent 
 from the above letter. All of the luxuries and most of the neccessi- 
 ties possessed by the colonists of Sir William's time had to be im- 
 ported from abroad, for only the coarsest of home-spun materials 
 were made in this country. 
 
 ANDREW PEPPERRELL'S UNFORTUNATE ROMANCE 
 
 Andrew, only son and heir of the Pepperrell name and fortune, 
 was the idol of his parents. When only nineteen he graduated from 
 Harvard with distinguished honors. Of a kind and affectionate 
 disposition, and with the polished manners and courtly bearing so 
 characteristic of his father, he was a great favorite among a wide 
 circle of acquaintances. The news of his engagement to Hannah, 
 daughter of General Samuel Waldo, the devoted friend of Sir William, 
 was received with much rejoicing by both families, and caused no 
 little excitement among the fashionable set in Boston. Part of 
 the fortune bestowed by Sir William upon his son went toward the 
 erection of a beautiful house at Kittery, which was made ready for 
 the bride. The day of the wedding was set when Andrew became 
 seriously ill, and the affair had to be postponed. After his recovery, 
 the day was again set at various times, but was postponed by Andrew 
 upon one pretext or another. 
 
 Finally, after the lapse of about two years, the date was again 
 announced, the invitations extended and everything in readiness for 
 the ceremony, when Miss Hannah received a letter from Andrew 
 asking for another postponement of a few days. It is possible that 
 his illness which was followed by severe losses of property at sea had 
 
ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 caused a state of despondency which accounted for Andrew's strange 
 actions. Hannah made no reply to the note asking for another 
 postponement, but when the day arrived which Andrew had named 
 
 nore convenient for him, and the wedding guests were assembled 
 and the minister about to perform the ceremony, Hannah turned 
 to Andrew and informed him "that all was at an end between them,, 
 for he certainly could have no true affection for one whom he had 
 so constantly mortified." The affair was enough to make Boston 
 
 Vty hold its breath, but not its tongue, especially when in less 
 
 than six weeks, Hannah was led to the altar by Thomas Fluker, 
 
 lire, secretary of the province. Both families were greatly 
 
 disturbed by the unpleasant denouement of the affair. General 
 
 \Valdo wrote to Sir William from London: 
 
 "1 was i: really chagrined at the news of my daughter's changing her mind 
 and dismissing your son after the visit you mention, which I was apprised of 
 by her, and concluded that the affair would have had the issue I had long ex- 
 
 <d and desired, and that the ship which brought the unwelcome news of a 
 
 .it ion. \\ould have given me the most agreeable advice of its consumma- 
 tion; but I find she was jealous that Mr. Pepperrell had not the love and friend- 
 ship for her that was necessary to make her happy. This I understand from 
 her letter to me, and that the last promise made when your son was in Boston 
 
 disregarded by him in not returning at the period he had fixed. This disap- 
 pointment to a close union with your family, which above all things I desired, 
 had given me great uneasiness, and the addition thereto will be greater if I 
 should find ihc fault lie on my daughter; but be that as it ma}-, I should be very 
 to have it break friendship between us, or any of the several branches of 
 our families; those of yours I assure you I wish as well as to my own, and I shall, 
 if ever in my power, convince them of it. 
 
 "S. W." 
 
 SIR WILLIAM'S BEREAVEMENT 
 
 This unfortunate ending to the proposed marriage of his son 
 .-real disappointment to Sir William, but an even greater 
 was to come to him, for that idolized son in whom all his 
 and ambitions were centered was to be taken from him. On 
 wemieth of February, 1751, Andrew attended a social gathering 
 Kmouth one of the gayest of the merry group of young 
 e returned home late that night, and the next day de- 
 loped a fever brought on by the exposure to the cold while crossing 
 jcataqua. This soon developed into typhoid. The best 
 mmmoned but the young man grew steadily worse. 
 was a man of strong religious principles and a firm 
 in prayer besought the clergy in neighboring parishes to 
 Wm and h,s family in praying for the son's recovery, 
 "ing pathetic appeal was sent by Sir William and his 
 al messenger to the ministers in Boston: 
 
 16 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 "DEAR CHRISTIAN FRIENDS: 
 
 "The great and holy, just and good God is come out against us in his holy 
 anger. O, may it be fatherly anger! He is bringing our sins to remembrance, 
 and seems to be slaying our only son. O pray! pray! pray! for us, that the Lord 
 would keep us from dishonoring his great name in our distress and anguish of 
 soul; that He would support us under, and carry us through, what he shall, in 
 his sovereign pleasure, bring upon us, and if it be his blessed will, that our child 
 may yet be spared to us, and sanctified and made a blessing. Pity us, O our 
 friends, and cry mightily to God for us! 
 
 "\\'e art- your distressed friends, 
 
 "WILLIAM PEPPERRELL, 
 "MARY PEPPERRELL. 
 
 "P. S. Dear cousin Gerrish, let our case be known to Christian friends 
 along the road, and carry this letter as soon as you get to town, to each one of 
 the ministers to whom it is addressed." 
 
 Through the long night hours the grief-stricken parents watched 
 over their son, but Divine Providence had not willed that he should 
 be spared, and on March first, ten days after he became ill, Andrew 
 was taken from them, in the twenty-sixth year of his life. It was a 
 severe blow to the parents, and one which almost staggered the 
 heart-broken father. Fame and prosperity had been his. From 
 the uneducated son of a poor fisherman, he had risen to a position 
 of wealth and importance in the colony. His commanding of the 
 untrained Colonial forces in the siege against Louisburg and the 
 almost miraculous success of the expedition, had made his name 
 famous on both sides of the Atlantic, and England had bestowed 
 upon him many honors. In his splendid mansion, which was the 
 gathering place for prominent and distinguished visitors, were hung 
 costly paintings and mirrors. His sideboards were loaded with silver 
 and his cellars filled with choice wines. Beautiful deer roamed in 
 his park. But all of these he counted as nothing in comparison to 
 the son of whose future he had dreamed since Andrew was a tiny 
 babe. Now his fondest hopes were blasted, and the object of his 
 greatest ambition was gone forever! 
 
 He felt that his own life was drawing to a close yet he did not 
 retire from public activities, but continued to serve wherever he 
 was needed up to the time of his death. He rendered much valuable 
 assistance in conducting important negotiations with the Indians 
 of Maine at various times. In 1754 he received orders to raise a 
 regiment of foot for service in the royal army, and while in New 
 York on military business the following year he was commissioned 
 a major-general in the British regular army. He did not serve in 
 the field at that time, owing to jealousy on the part of Governor 
 Shirley, but he took an active part in raising troops for the war 
 which England was then waging with the French, and was given 
 command of the forces which guarded the frontiers of Maine and 
 New Hampshire. On the sixth of July, 1759, just as victory was 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 about to crown the efforts of the British forces, Death summoned 
 the old veteran from the field of action, and, laying aside his earthly 
 cares, he went forth to join the beloved son whom he had lost^eight 
 
 n before. On the day when the "mighty man of Kittery" was 
 Jaid to rest, drooping flairs hung at half mast on both sides of the 
 I'iscataijua. \\hile from the neighboring churches came the sound of 
 tilling bells, mingled \\ith the salutes of the minute guns from the 
 batterie>, and the mournful rumbling of muffled drums. 
 
 ( )ver one hundred and sixty years have passed since the death 
 ,-f Sir William, but the name of the old baronet still lingers in the 
 valley of the Saco, as well as in other beauty spots of New England. 
 The service which he rendered his country in her hour of need entitles 
 him to an honored place in the pages of her history. Yet it is not 
 onl\ at military leader that Sir William is remembered. He 
 
 lived at a time when men of ability were called upon to play many 
 and varied parts, and he gave whole-heartedly of his splendid talents 
 uherever they were needed. It is said that the one controlling pur- 
 of his life was duty. As Chief Justice of the Court of Common 
 I'k-as for Maine, he had an important part in the legal affairs of the 
 colony. In a period when the majority of the colonists were chiefly 
 concerned with their struggle for existence, Sir William stood for 
 the higher things of life. His home was a center of culture and 
 refinement, and he himself became a patron of letters, and the 
 benefactor of American institutions of learning. He was also a suc- 
 cessful business man and colonizer. No other American, with the 
 exception of certain royal patentees, possessed such vast estates as 
 those belonging to the Pepperrell family. With that remarkable 
 energy and power which were so characteristic of him, he succeeded 
 in subduing the wilderness, and in transforming the great trees of 
 forest into ships, by means of which commercial relations were 
 
 .blished between America and other parts of the world. In 
 ^pite of his marked success in these various lines, it is said that pros- 
 pent) never made him arrogant, or marred the simplicity of his 
 nature. 
 
 It is singularly fitting that the great cotton mills on the banks 
 
 the Sao, River at Biddeford, Maine, should bear the name of 
 
 this man who. over two hundred years ago, saw the untold possi- 
 
 this section, and, with his father, bought tracts of land 
 
 banks of the river, including the present site of the Pepperell 
 
 :ie time Sir William claimed that he could travel from Kittery, 
 
 Maine, to Saco, a distance of about thirty miles, and not leave his 
 
 ' P<; l'> 1716 he purchased a large part of the present 
 
 extending from the sea several miles along the 
 
 18 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 Saco River. The land was bought from Samuel Walker and Rebecca 
 Goodwin, successors of Benjamin Blackman, who had purchased 
 it from the original proprietors, Gibbons and Bonython. Saco 
 and Biddeford, lying on opposite sides of the river, were originally 
 one town. In 1762, shortly after Sir William's death, they were 
 separated and the part lying on the east side of the river was called 
 Pepperrellboro, in honor of the baronet. This name was retained 
 until 1805, when the old name of Saco was substituted. 
 
 Along the eastern banks of the river, Sir William erected his 
 lumber mills, and at Biddeford Pool, where the waters of the Saco 
 empty into the ocean, he and his father carried on their ship-building 
 industry. In 1757, on the petition of Sir William and others, the 
 General Court granted permission to the people of Saco to hold 
 a lottery, the proceeds of which were to go toward the building of 
 a bridge over the Saco River, and Pepperrell was placed at the head 
 of the commissioners who had charge of the affair. This bridge, 
 the first which ever spanned the waters of the Saco, crossed the 
 branch of the river on the east side of Indian Island, now known 
 as Factory Island. It was a momentous day for these people when 
 this bridge was ready for use, and the method which was used in 
 obtaining it, apparently, did not detract from their enjoyment of it. 
 
 Sir William spent considerable time in looking after these vast 
 estates, especially after his return from England where he went 
 after the conquest of Louisburg. While in Saco he frequently 
 visited at the home of Rev. Mr. Morrill. Whenever he was there 
 on Sunday he always attended services in the little church, and 
 it is said that he never failed to drop a guinea on the collection 
 plate. His coming was quite an event in the little town, where the 
 people gazed in awe and admiration upon his manly figure, clad 
 in the embroidered waistcoat and scarlet coat of that period. All 
 loved the courtly old gentleman with his stern, strong face and 
 kindly but resolute eye. 
 
 IN THE DAYS OF THE RED MEN 
 
 Others before and since Sir William's time have found the Saco Val- 
 ley a pleasant place. It was especially beloved by the Sokokis Indians, 
 who once roamed through the dense forests in search of game or the 
 healing herbs, for which their tribe was noted. Here they erected 
 their rude wigwams, and at night the sound of the waters as they 
 dashed over the rocks, lulled them into peaceful slumber. Gathered 
 about the blazing camp fire the old men of the tribe would tell the 
 young warriors the mysterious legends of this section. 
 
 19 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 
 <*>% *.- <- 
 
 BIRD'S KVK VIEW OF BIDDEFORD AND SACO IN 1875 
 
 Among these was the legend of "the lost maiden" that beauti- 
 ful daughter of an Indian family living near the head waters of the 
 Saco. None could compare with this maiden in beauty or virtue. 
 
 as skilled, also, in all of the arts known to her people. Surely 
 so marvelous a maiden must have a mate who was worthy of her! 
 But in vain her parents sought for such a one. He was not to be 
 found! Suddenly the maiden disappeared. No trace could be 
 found of her dainty, moccasined foot in forest or glade, and where 
 once her silvery laughter sounded, now mournful silence reigned. 
 At last some hunters, roaming far into the mountain fastnesses in 
 M-arch of game, saw the maiden standing on the banks of a quiet 
 stream, and by her side a marvelous youth whose hair, like her own, 
 fell down to his waist. At the approach of the hunters the two fled 
 into the forest and disappeared. When the parents were told of 
 
 :K-V knew that her companion was one of the pure spirits of 
 ilu- mountain, and from that time on they considered him as their 
 BOO, calling upon him whenever game was scarce, and never did 
 they call in vain. 
 
 Such was one of the legends of these simple children of nature 
 \\lin lived and loved, and built their humble dwellings along the 
 
 20 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 banks of the Saco in those far-away days before the coming of the 
 white men. On Indian Island resided generation after generation 
 of their sagamores. It was with a great sorrow and heart ache that 
 they turned their faces away from these loved scenes, forced to 
 retreat farther and farther to the westward by the relentless en- 
 croachments of the white men. 
 
 THE COMING OF THE WHITE MEN 
 
 In 1605 an English exploring vessel, commanded by Captain 
 George Weymouth, was cruising along the coast of Maine, and 
 finally put into the harbor at the mouth of the Penobscot 
 River. The Captain and his men visited the Indians living in this 
 section and succeeded in luring five of their chief men on board. 
 These they held captive and took back with them to England, where 
 they were seen by the explorer, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who became 
 much interested in them and took them into his family. They 
 were with him three years, during which time they learned to speak 
 the English language, and told him a great deal about the coast of 
 Maine with its "goodly rivers, stately islands and safe harbors." 
 It was not strange that Gorges should become interested in this 
 wonderful new world, which was pictured to him with all the glamour 
 and beauty and mystery which the red man is capable of expressing. 
 He was not long in interesting others in the scheme of planting 
 colonies in America, and the organization which they formed for 
 this purpose was called the Plymouth Company. From King James I 
 they obtained a grant of all the land from the Hudson River to 
 Cape Breton, including all islands within one hundred miles of the 
 coast. When the rights of the Company were transferred to forty 
 noblemen, Sir Ferdinando Gorges was granted the portion now 
 included in Maine, so that he became the first individual land owner 
 of that State. 
 
 Numerous explorers were sent out by the Plymouth Company, 
 but practically all brought back unfavorable reports of the pros- 
 pects in the new world, declaring that the coast was unfit for civilized 
 settlement. Gorges, however, refused to be discouraged. In 1616 he 
 sent out a crew of thirty-two men, "hired at great cost," to spend 
 the winter on these shores and test the severity of the climate. 
 Sixteen of the crew were left at Monhegan to fish, probably to offset 
 the cost of equipping for the voyage. The remaining sixteen, under 
 the direction of Captain Richard Vines, arrived at the mouth of the 
 Saco River in September, 1616, several years before the settlement 
 of Massachusetts by the Puritans. It was a magnificent sight which 
 greeted them. The country, wrapped in its myriad-hued mantle 
 
 21 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 of autumn, was never more beautiful, and at night the great round 
 harvest moon, reflected on the rippling surface of the water, gave 
 the final touch of magic and mystery to the scene. The men spent 
 the autumn exploring the coast, and bartering with the Indians. 
 The red men of that section were suffering from a terrible disease 
 which was laying waste their numbers. This was looked upon by 
 the colonists as a special dispensation of Providence in their favor, 
 for they felt that God was making "way for his people by removing 
 the heathen and planting them in the land." Though the white 
 people mingled freely with the Indians and accepted their hospitality, 
 often spending the night in their wigwams, they did not suffer from 
 the contagion. 
 
 It soon became apparent that they should begin to erect their 
 winter quarters and prepare for the coming of cold weather, which, 
 according to numerous signs, promised to be exceedingly severe. 
 The corn husks lay thick and close about the ears; the beach and 
 walnut burs were unusually thick, while the foxes and squirrels 
 were wrapped in thick, warm coats, and the wild geese were early 
 in flying south. Would it be possible for these Englishmen to spend 
 the winter on this stern New England coast, or would they like the 
 Sagadahock colonists and others, find this section of America unfit 
 for civilized habitation, and the experiment upon which Gorges had 
 set his heart, end in failure? Time alone would tell! 
 
 After exploring all points along the shores of Saco Bay, the 
 men finally selected a spot in lower Biddeford, on the west side of the 
 Pool, and there erected a log cabin, the first habitation of civilized 
 man ever built within the limits of the present cities of Saco and 
 Biddeford. The cabin was built securely and thatched with the long 
 grass gathered from the marshes, while a wide fireplace and a chimney 
 were built of the stones picked up on the beach, and the floor 
 carpeted with the fragrant boughs of the hemlock. They were 
 snug, comfortable quarters and though the winter was extremely cold, 
 the men did not experience any great discomfort. In the spring 
 they returned home with favorable reports of the country. Gorges' 
 experiment had proved a success! The place where these colonists 
 passed the winter of 1616-17 received the name of Winter Harbor, 
 and the neighborhood is still visited by those who love to view 
 these historic old landmarks and live again in imagination those 
 early days which marked the beginning of this great nation. 
 
 Gratified by the result of this experiment, Gorges and others 
 were active during the next seven years in transporting colonists 
 to these shores, and numerous settlements were established in the 
 vicinity of Saco Bay. Here they erected their rude log cabins and 
 engaged in the few occupations which the country permitted. These 
 
 23 
 
th* ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 VINES 
 
 were chiefly fishing and trading. A few tried farming, and one, 
 Thomas Rogers, made such a success of it that his farm was desig- 
 nated on the early maps as "Roger's Garden." He settled here 
 in io}X, and the trees which he planted lived for over a century, 
 and became the "old orchard" from which that popular summer 
 resort received its name. 
 
 The first importation of cattle into the State of Maine was in 
 i, when a cargo of hogs, goats, sheep and cows was brought 
 in the settlement, and added materially to its prosperity. Horses 
 were not introduced until many years later. Traveling between 
 the various settlements was by boat or along the Indian trails 
 through the woods. The food of these early settlers was principally 
 venison and fish. Their corn was crushed in wooden mortars, and 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 their garments made of rude home-spun material or the skins of 
 wild beasts. It was a rude, primitive life, but it produced a sturdy 
 race of people. Each year added new numbers to the little groups 
 of settlers, until Saco Bay became an important point in the new 
 world. 
 
 TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS 
 
 For over fifty years these settlers lived in peace with the Indians, 
 and carried on a profitable trade with them. In 1675, however, 
 there occurred an event which precipitated a long series of bloody 
 wars. The young wife of Squando, a noted chief of the Sokoki 
 tribe, was crossing the river in her canoe one day. She had with 
 her her babe, the first-born son of the great chieftain. Some sailors 
 from an English vessel anchored in the river, saw her and desiring 
 to find out if Indian children could swim by instinct like wild animals, 
 they upset the canoe. The babe sank, and the terrified mother dove 
 after it and brought it to shore, but it died not long after, and the 
 heart-broken father determined to seek revenge. 
 
 The western Indians, under Philip, had laid their plans to wipe 
 out all the white settlers on the coast, and Squando decided to lend 
 them his assistance. The settlement at Saco Falls, where the great 
 mills now stand, was doomed to receive the first blow. It was a 
 peaceful Saturday morning on the eighteenth of September, 1675. 
 The gay laughter of happy children, playing about the door of the 
 log cabin, mingled with the humming of the spinning wheel, came 
 from within as the busy mother worked at her morning task. Oc- 
 casionally were heard the sounds of the woodman's axe, or the sharp 
 report of some hunter's gun. Suddenly the scene changed! An 
 Indian whom Captain John Bonython had once befriended con- 
 veyed to the Captain the information that strange Indians were 
 lurking in the vicinity, and there was danger of an attack. 
 
 Immediately the alarm was spread and the panic stricken in- 
 habitants left their unfinished tasks and fled to the garrison house 
 of Major Phillips on the west side of the river. Scarcely had they 
 reached its shelter than Captain Bonython's house which stood 
 on the Saco side of the river, burst into flames. The attack had 
 commenced! House after house was fired, the cattle slain, and 
 finally the garrison was attacked. The first onslaught was repulsed 
 by the settlers. Shortly afterwards, Major Phillips went to an 
 upper window to watch the movements of the red men. He was seen 
 by a lurking Indian who shot at him, wounding him in the shoulder. 
 Believing that he had been killed, the enemy rallied for a second 
 
 25 
 
the ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 attack, and were again repulsed. Six of them were killed, and a 
 number \\ounded, including their leader. 
 
 The Indians next set fire to the mills, thinking the men would 
 come mil to defend their property, but they made a mistake! Attack 
 aft CM- attack was made upon the garrison, the firing continuing 
 through the night. Suddenly the Indians had an inspiration! 
 They secured a cart which had been used at the mills, loaded it 
 with" bitch bark and other inflammable material, set it on fire and 
 attempted to run it against the house and toss the flaming brands 
 on to the roof with long poles. The cart upset, exposing the entire 
 party to the tire from the garrison. Fifteen were killed and wounded, 
 and the others withdrew, discouraged. Within the garrison house 
 the weary little band of settlers breathed a prayer of thanksgiving. 
 The siege had lasted for eighteen hours. Major Phillips and two 
 others had been wounded. When the sun once more rose over the 
 little Saco settlement, it revealed a mass of smoking ruins. Only 
 the river, dashing noisily along its rocky channel, reminded one of 
 the peaceful scene of the day before. 
 
 Major Phillips appealed to the colonists at Winter Harbor for 
 help, as the ammunition was nearly exhausted and the little group 
 
 - t tiers in great distress, but none could be spared to assist him. 
 So the people from the Saco settlement left their ruined homes and 
 went to Winter Harbor where they joined forces with those colonists 
 in preparing for the reign of terror which followed. 
 
 This war lasted about three years, and the scattered settlements 
 along the coast from New Hampshire to the Kennebec suffered 
 
 rely. It had burst upon them with such fury that they had 
 little time for preparation. Garrison houses were destroyed before 
 t hey were entirely built, and many settlers killed or captured. Every- 
 one went armed. Even the women kept a loaded musket beside them 
 when they were busy about their household tasks. At church, armed 
 men sat at the end of the seats that they might protect the women. 
 It is said that the congregation actually watched while the minis- 
 ter prayed. 
 
 After an interval of about ten years, King William's War broke 
 
 out, in inxs, but the Saco settlement did not suffer during this 
 
 uprising as it had in King Philip's War. An interesting incident 
 
 occurred at this time, a memorial of which is still preserved by a 
 
 prominent family in the city of Saco. A party of Indians who had 
 
 on a marauding expedition in Kittery and Berwick, suddenly 
 
 appeared at the Saco settlement. They descended upon the home 
 
 Captain Humphrey Sea, ..man where Mrs. Scamman was alone 
 
 ith her hve children. Her little ten year old son had just started 
 
 ith a mug of beer for the father who was mowing in a nearby 
 
 26 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 meadow. The little fellow saw the Indians and rushed back to tell 
 his mother, setting the mug of beer down on the dresser. There 
 was no time to escape. The house was surrounded almost instantly 
 and the mother and children taken captive. They demanded that 
 Mrs. Scamman tell where her husband was, but she refused. At 
 length the chief promised that all their lives would be spared if she 
 would reveal his whereabouts. For a moment she hesitated. Could 
 she rely on his promise? She looked at the terrified children clutch- 
 ing at her skirts, and yielded. The Captain was also taken, and the 
 Indians, fearing an attack, hastened away with their captives. 
 
 They were taken along the forest trails to Canada, stopping at 
 Peckwogett, now Fryeburg, which was once the capital of the Sokoki 
 tribe. They suffered many hardships and cruelties, and finally the 
 council decreed that they should be slain, but the chief remained 
 faithful to his promise. They continued on their journey to Canada, 
 where the captives were disposed of among the French and scattered 
 through different parts of the province. The following year a treaty 
 was signed with the Indians, and the entire family returned in safety 
 to their home. Their favorite cat was waiting for them on the door- 
 step, and inside, on the dresser, the mug of beer was still resting 
 where the boy had placed it over a year before, when he had run 
 to his mother with the dread news. A picture of the mug is shown 
 on page seventy-two. This mug has been preserved and handed 
 down from generation to generation, and is now in possession of 
 Mrs. W. E. Elmer, one of the descendants of Captain Humphrey 
 Scamman. 
 
 THE OLD STONE FORT 
 
 The stone fort, often referred to as the "Old Stone Fort," stood 
 on the west side of the river where some of the mills of the Pepperell 
 Manufacturing Company are now located. It was built in 1693 by 
 Captain Hill and Major Francis Hooke, under the direction of Major 
 Converse, a famous old Indian fighter. The Indians were never able 
 to subdue the forces kept there under the command of Captain 
 George Turfrey and Lieutenant Pendelton Fletcher, but they lurked 
 about in the vicinity, watching their chance to kill or capture any 
 who might venture forth from the shelter of those massive stone walls. 
 It is said that fourteen persons lost their lives or were captured in this 
 way. 
 
 FORT MARY 
 
 Troops were quartered at the stone fort until 1708 when they 
 were removed to the new fort which had been built at Winter Harbor. 
 This fortification, named Fort Mary, was under the command of 
 
 27 
 
ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 Captain John Hill during the greater part of King William's War, 
 and was the scene of many thrilling and romantic adventures. The 
 story is told of how a young woman named Mary Dyer, living at 
 Biddeford Pool, was startled one day while the men were out fishing 
 by seeing some Indians coming down the beach toward her house. 
 With her two small children, one in her arms and the other clinging 
 t> her skirts, she hastened to the "Gut" where a boat w^as lying. 
 Placing her children in the bottom of it, she pushed it off and swiftly 
 rowed across the water toward Fort Mary. Having reached the 
 land she secured her boat and started up the cliff. A bullet from 
 the pun of one of the Indians struck the ground beside her. Calmly 
 she stooped down and marked the place with a stick before continu- 
 ing on her way to the fort, which she finally reached in safety. Her 
 home was plundered, but her quick and heroic action had saved her 
 life and that of her little ones. After the Indians withdrew, she went 
 out and dug up the bullet which had been aimed at her. This was 
 kept in the family for three generations. 
 
 During the time that Captain Hill was stationed at Fort Mary, 
 William Peppcrrell, father of Sir William, was engaged in ship 
 building in that vicinity. The following letter was sent to Captain 
 Hill by Peppcrrell the year that young William was born. 
 
 "Kittery Point, Nov. 12, 1696. 
 .tin Hill. 
 
 "Sir: With much trouble 1 have gotten men and sent for the sloop, and 
 
 desire you to dispatch them with all speed, for, if all things be ready, they may be 
 
 mod t<> leave in two days as well as in seven years. If you and' the carpenter 
 
 think it convenient, and the ground has not too much descent, I think it may be 
 
 safer and better to bend her sails before you launch her, so as to leave immediate- 
 
 But I shall leave it to your management, and desire you to hasten them 
 
 ind night; for, sir, it will be dangerous tarrying there o'n account of hostile 
 
 the vicinity, and it would be very expensive to keep the men on pay. 
 
 >u a barrel of rum, and there is a cask of wine to launch with. So with 
 
 J oursclf and lady, hoping they are all in good health, as I am at 
 
 promt, who arc your humble servant at command, 
 
 "WILLIAM PEPPERRELL." 
 
 '.veil in those remote and troublesome times, a launching was 
 
 mcwhat of an event, if we may judge by the "appurtenances" 
 
 idcd by Peppcrrell for the occasion. From all accounts brandy 
 
 rum was an essential part of every celebration from a launching 
 
 r house raisin^ to a marriage or a death. 
 
 OLD LANDMARKS 
 
 There are numerous historic old landmarks about Saco and 
 the atmosphere of other days still lingers. On 
 the road to Biddeford Pool stands the old Haley 
 28 
 
"the ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 house where many generations of that family have been born. They 
 came to this place from the Isle of Shoals, and took a prominent 
 part in the early affairs of the settlement. John Haley, one of the 
 prominent citizens of the town today, is a direct descendant of this 
 old family, and he proudly calls one's attention to the fact that nearly 
 all of the Haleys have lived to a ripe old age. In fact the only two 
 of the first five generations who died before they were well into their 
 nineties, were both victims of the Indians. One who was an officer 
 
 TABLET MARKING SITE OF FORT 
 
 at the old stone fort was killed when he left the fort to get some wood. 
 Another Haley had long been on friendly terms with the Indians, 
 and though repeatedly urged by his friends, had refused to follow 
 their example and go to the garrison house. One night he was aroused 
 by a loud rapping at the door. He opened it and two Indians walked 
 in. He hospitably built a fire for them, but it soon became apparent 
 that they were bent on mischief and he ordered them out. They 
 grabbed the fire brands, and threw them about the room, endeavor- 
 ing to set the house on fire. Mr. Haley seized his musket and drove 
 them into the woods, while his brave wife beat out the flames. After 
 that Mr. Haley joined the garrison, but he had aroused the enmity 
 of the Indians who were determined to have their revenge, and he 
 had many narrow escapes. One evening his cow did not come home, 
 
 29 
 
ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 and hearing the tinkling of her bell, apparently not very far off, 
 Mr. Haley started out in search of her. The sound of the bell kept 
 receding into the depths of the woods. His family waited for him 
 anxiously for some time. Suddenly the report of a musket was heard 
 and an armed squad immediately set off in the direction of the sound 
 to find out what had happened. In the woods they found the cow 
 which had been slain, and farther on the body of Mr. Haley, which 
 had been cut into small pieces. He had at last fallen victim to the 
 Indian- with whom he had lived on friendly terms for so many years. 
 The old Haley house is a typical one of that period in which it 
 built. It is constructed of strong timbers, some of which are 
 fifteen inches in diameter, and was built to withstand the strain 
 of Indian warfare. 
 
 JORDAN'S GARRISON 
 
 On a little inlet of Biddeford Pool there has stood probably since 
 1717 an old structure known as Jordan's Garrison. It is possible 
 that it dates back even earlier, but it is known to have been inhabited 
 at that time by Captain Samuel Jordan. It was originally erected 
 as a garrison house and was surrounded by a high palisade of stone 
 and timber, at the corners of which were lookouts, commanding a 
 view each way. The house was securely built and afforded protection 
 not only to his own family but to the neighboring colonists who took 
 shelter within its walls when danger threatened. 
 
 Captain Jordan kept a general merchandise store and carried 
 on a fairly prosperous business. As a boy he had been taken captive 
 by the Indians and had lived among them for a number of years. 
 The knowledge which he gained of their language, customs and 
 methods of warfare admirably fitted him for the perils and hardships 
 which he and the colonists at Winter Harbor were forced to experience 
 during the years of strife with the Indians. It is said that once when 
 he was working in his field he was attacked by a band of natives. 
 He had his gun with him but no surplus ammunition, and unwilling 
 to use his only shot, he calmly aimed his gun at them and walked 
 backwards until he reached the garrison. At another time he stole 
 upon a party of Indians who were joyously cutting up a calf which 
 they had stolen from his herd. As they carved out huge slices of 
 
 flesh, he heard them say, " So will we cut Jordan." It was hardly 
 
 be wondered at that he lost his patience and sent a charge of 
 whizzing through the group. One of the Indians was 
 lied, and the others tied, leaving their muskets behind 
 
 At the time of the Revolution this old building was the residence 
 Captain James P. Hill, one of the committee of safety, and many 
 
 30 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 MONUMENT AT THE SITE OF FORT MARY 
 
 distinguished persons gathered within its walls to confer on various 
 matters of importance during that period. The snows of many a 
 New England winter have fallen upon this venerable mansion of 
 memories, but it still survives, recalling to the minds of those who 
 know its history these stirring scenes of the past when it was the 
 center of numerous activities in this old settlement. 
 
 COLONEL THOMAS CLTTS 
 
 High up on the hill of Indian Island, or Factory Island, which 
 lies midway between Saco and Biddeford, is a stately old colonial 
 dwelling known as Colonel Cults' mansion. It is occupied at ihe 
 presenl lime by Mr. Ernesl L. Morrill, agent of the Pepperell Manu- 
 facturing Company. Its original owner, Colonel Thomas Culls, 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 COLONEL CUTTS' HOUSE AT BIDDEFORD 
 
 was the son of Major Richard Cutts of Kittery, who served under 
 Sir William Pepperrell at the siege of Louisburg. As a young man, 
 Thomas Cutts had held the position of clerk to Sir William. In 
 1758, when he was twenty-two years of age, he came to Saco with 
 just one hundred dollars, borrowed of his father, in his pocket. It 
 was quite characteristic of him that he should pay back this sum at 
 his first opportunity. 
 
 Thomas Cutts was not slow to appreciate the advantages of 
 Indian Island which for some time was called Cutts' Island in his 
 honor. As soon as he was able he purchased a small tract of land on 
 this island for ninety dollars, and built a small house, part of which 
 was used for a store. This humble structure may still be seen, stand- 
 ing at the foot of the island where it presents a striking contrast 
 to the splendid mansion on the hill above. His business prospered 
 and in time he owned the entire island, having purchased half of 
 it from the heirs of Sir William Pepperrell in 1775, and smaller 
 portions from other owners. He was soon obliged to enlarge his 
 quarters, and in addition to his other business he engaged in ship 
 building and navigation. From his mansion high up on the island 
 he could see his ships starting out on their voyages to all parts of 
 the world, and returning laden with the products of other lands. 
 
 He owned lumber and grist mills, and with Josiah Calef, Esq., 
 built the first nail factory for the manufacture of cut nails in the 
 State of Maine. In those days the Saco River was alive with salmon, 
 
 33 
 
flu ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 nd the ttorv is told of a most unusual strike declared by the opera- 
 ves of he Saco nail factory who, weary of havmg this fish served 
 , o them at the boarding house seven days in the week refused 
 o work unless they could have a change of fare Finally a com- 
 promise was agreed upon whereby it was understood that they should 
 lot have salmon but three days a week. 
 
 Not only was Colonel Cutts one of the most prominent merchants 
 in Maine, but he was one of Saco's most distinguished citizens. 
 
 HKST HOUSE AM) STORE BUILT BY COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 
 
 He was appointed first major of the third regiment by the Council 
 of Massachusetts in 1776. and two years later was made colonel of 
 the same regiment. He held many public offices in Saco and, with 
 his associates, organized the SacoBank and served as its first president. 
 
 Colonel Cutts owned many farms and large tracts of land in 
 various parts of Maine. Some of the horses, oxen and other stock 
 on his farms were let at halves, and the story is told of how a farmer's 
 wife one day brought him two little kittens which she explained were 
 one-half of the increase of farm stock. 
 
 In his own prosperity he did not forget the needs of others. 
 \\ hen he put down a barrel of pork or beef for himself he prepared 
 another for the poor. 
 
 34 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 THE OLD HALEY HOUSE 
 
 Residence of the Haley family, from which the owner, John Haley, was lured 
 by a cow-bell into an Indian ambuscade, where he was killed. 
 
 The Colonel's children received the best education which that 
 period afforded. The sons were sent to Andover Academy and one 
 also went to Harvard, while the girls were educated in Boston. 
 Mrs. Cutts is described as "a tall, well proportioned lady, with a 
 strong face but not handsome." From all accounts she was a model 
 wife in every way. That their children loved and respected their 
 parents may be seen from the following letter written by one of 
 the daughters: 
 
 "Honrd Papa & Mama, 
 
 "1 imbrace this favorable opportunity of acquainting you I am perfectly 
 well & very happily situated. 
 
 "Give me leave to assure my dear Papa & Mama it shall be my constant 
 study to make improvements sufficient to compensate for all the trouble & ex- 
 penses I am sensible I put you both to. I shall be extremely obliged to my dear 
 Mama to be so kind as to send me a skirt & some stockings, anything from Mama 
 will be gratefully received from her loving daughter. 
 
 "I have nothing more to add but to request my love to brothers and sisters. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Druitt desires their most respectful compliments to you both. 
 
 "Believe me to be with the greatest respect & esteem, 
 
 "Your ever dutiful and obedient daughter 
 
 "MARY CUTTS. 
 "Newburyport, 
 "Novr 9, 1779." 
 
 PART [II 
 
 At this point in the story let us pause and glance over the story 
 of cotton which fills such an essential role in the manufacture of 
 Pepperell sheeting. Cotton is the youngest in the family of products 
 used in the making of textiles, and in the days of Lady Pepperrell 
 
 35 
 
si 
 
 I! 
 
 W c 
 g3 
 
 ^ 
 
 H -& 
 < g 
 
 f 
 
 PH 
 
 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 MAIN STOREHOUSE, CAPACITY 35,000 BALES 
 
 Cotton in bales taken from cars that bring it from the South. It is roughly 
 mixed and blown through tubes into Picker Rooms. 
 
 and Mistress Cutts, cotton was almost unknown, most fabrics being 
 made of either wool, flax, or silk, though in the far East cotton has 
 been in use almost since the beginning of history. 
 
 COLUMBUS DISCOVERED COTTON IN AMERICA 
 
 The first mention of cotton in America occurs in the journal of 
 Christopher Columbus, who, under date of October 12, 1492, de- 
 scribes the natives of Watling Island, where he first landed, bringing 
 among other things, skeins of cotton thread out to his ship. 
 
 "Afterwards when we were in the ship's boats," he continues 
 under the same date, "they came swimming toward us, and brought 
 us parrots and balls of cotton thread and spears, and many other 
 things which they exchanged with us for other things which we gave 
 them, such as strings of beads and little bells." 
 
 Under date of October 13, 1492, he says the natives were ready 
 to trade for everything down to bits of broken crockery and glass. 
 "I saw one give sixteen skeins of cotton for three of ceotis of Portu- 
 
 37 
 
the ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 A PORTION OF THE STOREHOUSE 
 
 Sin-wine i he opened bales before the cotton is placed in the hoppers of the 
 Machines which break it up and distribute it onto 
 a moving endless belt. 
 
 t'ul, equal to one blanca of Spain, the skeins being as much as an 
 arroba of cotton thread. I shall keep it and shall allow no one to 
 lake it, preserving it all for your Royal Highnesses, for it may be 
 obtained in abundance. It is grown on this island, though the short 
 time did not admit of my ascertaining this for a certainty." 
 
 He subsequently found trees of cotton of sufficient fine quality 
 to be woven into good cloth. He also saw handkerchiefs of fine cloth 
 very symmetrically woven and worked in colors. Under date of 
 October 16, he speaks of seeing, on the Island of Fernandina, cotton 
 cloth made into mantles. Speaking again under date of October 
 16 of cotton, Columbus says of the natives, "Their beds and bags 
 for holding things are like nets made of cotton." Here Columbus 
 says they "saw married women wearing breeches made of cotton, 
 but the girls do not, except some who have reached eighteen." 
 
 This is especially interesting because it shows that very early 
 the American natives, particularly those of the South, not only 
 raised cotton, but wove it into fabrics and garments of various kinds. 
 Balls of native cotton spun on distaffs by natives of Guiana, South 
 America, and similar to those spoken of by Columbus, are to be 
 , seen in the museum at Georgetown, Demerara. 
 
 38 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 OPPOSITE VIEW OF THE OPENING MACHINES IN STOREHOUSE 
 
 Showing endless belt in the foreground. This transmits the cotton to a series 
 
 of huge pneumatic tubes which blow it to the several 
 
 Picker Rooms of the mill. 
 
 COLONIAL USE OF COTTON AS A GARDEN FLOWER 
 
 So far as is known, the first mention of cotton growing in the 
 United States proper is by de Vaca, who found it in 1536 in what 
 is now the States of Louisiana and Texas. The English colonists 
 sowed the first cotton-seed in Virginia in 1607. In 1620 a pamphlet, 
 called the "Declaration of the State of Virginia," stated that cotton 
 wool was to be had there in abundance, and in 1621 cotton is quoted 
 at eightpence a pound. Many travellers mention the cultivation 
 of cotton in America during the seventeenth century and early 
 half of the eighteenth century. One of the first large cargoes of 
 cotton for the colonies was brought to Salem by the ship "Desire" 
 in 1638. The "Trial" was the first vessel to unload a cargo of cotton 
 at Boston. It is mentioned in Virginia in 1649, in South Carolina 
 in 1664, 1682, 1702, 1731, and 1741, and in Georgia in 1735, 1738, 
 and 1749. 
 
 39 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 VIKVV OF A MILL STREET 
 
 the tulu-s through which the cotton is blown from the storehouse 
 to the various picker rooms 
 
 1 1 was regarded, however, as a garden plant rather than for 
 domestic use in most localities except parts of South Carolina and 
 (icorgia, and it was not until after the Revolution that its cultiva- 
 tion began on a large, systematic scale in the South. Apparently, 
 cotton was used more extensively in the South than it was in New 
 England during the early colonial days. 
 
 In a letter written by Jefferson in 1786, there is found the fol- 
 lowing paragraph: 
 
 "The four southernmost States make a great deal of cotton. Their poor 
 [are almost entirely clothed with it in winter and summer. In winter they 
 wear shirts of it and outer clothing of cotton and wool mixed. In summer 
 their shirts are linen, but the outer clothing cotton. The dress of the women 
 is almost entirely of cotton, manufactured by themselves, except the richer 
 class, and even many of these wear a great deal of home-spun cotton. It 
 is as well manufactured as the calicoes of Europe.'' 
 
 There were two causes which militated against Southern cotton 
 LTowing during this country's connection with England. The first 
 was the discouragement by England of the establishment of any 
 industry in this country that would compete with the English cotton 
 industry; and, secondly, there were no means of cleaning the Ameri- 
 can cotton from the seed even after it was grown, so that it was only 
 when the Revolution cut off trade with England that the Southern 
 
 40 
 
"The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 cotton growers, stimulated by the home demands, set about growing 
 cotton systematically. 
 
 The raw cotton was purchased by the colonists in small quantities 
 and used at first for stuffing bedquilts and petticoats and other simi- 
 lar purposes. The seeds were removed by hand, one by one. Some- 
 times the cotton was carded on the wool-cards and spun into yarn 
 which was used as warp for the old-fashioned fabric known as linsey- 
 woolsey, and also for rag carpets. Occasionally one thread of cotton 
 and one of wool were made into a yarn which was used for knitting 
 stockings. Its possibilities in the manufacture of cloth were un- 
 dreamed of, and it was so difficult to clean that the demand for it 
 was very small. Even Lady Pepperrell, who, as the wife of one of 
 the most prosperous merchants of colonial times, was accustomed to 
 seeing business done on a large scale, would have been unable to 
 conceive of an industry as vast as that of the Pepperell Manufac- 
 turing Company which now occupies the land once, owned by her 
 husband on the banks of the Saco. 
 
 It would be interesting to speculate upon her emotions, could 
 she visit even one of the storehouses of this Company today and 
 watch the loads of baled cotton from the South as they are taken 
 from the cars and stored in the immense brick building, six stories 
 high, which stands beside the railroad track. To one who was ac- 
 customed to seeing only a few pounds of cotton at a time, the sight 
 of this building where as many as 35,000 bales, each weighing about 
 500 pounds, can be stored, would be decidedly bewildering. And if 
 she could step into a room at one end of the building and watch the 
 cotton as it is pulled apart in hoppers of the openers, and is then 
 drawn into the mouth of a large tube through which it is blown all 
 the way to the mills, some of which are fully a quarter of a mile away, 
 she would doubtless declare that the whole thing was the result of 
 black magic. 
 
 INVENTION OF THE COTTON GIN 
 
 In the early days the separation of the cotton from the seed and 
 boll was slow and tedious, owing to the work being done by the hand 
 labor of the large slave population of the South. It was largely 
 the work of colored women, who separated the seed and cleaned 
 the cotton from the boll with their finger-nails, and it took a negro 
 a day to pick a pound of cotton from the boll and separate it from 
 the entangled seed. All that could be produced in the year 1792 
 was 138,324 pounds. 
 
 The invention of the cotton gin, perfected in April, 1793, by 
 Eli Whitney, a graduate of Yale, revolutionized the industry, and 
 
Tht ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 cabled a negro to clean five thousand pounds of cotton a day, 
 
 orch greatly increasing the supply of American cotton. Indeed 
 
 S a few years of the invention of the gin the products had 
 
 " L from the one hundred thousand and odd pounds to many 
 
 Sons of pounds of cotton a year, and had simulated the cotton 
 
 Uwtry so greatly that the production of cotton goods led all 
 
 FIRST PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE 
 
 ton arriving from storehouse tubes, being automatically dropped into hoppers 
 of Opener Pickers. 
 
 others. As a boy, young Whitney had given evidence of his re- 
 markable inventive genius, for he was constantly experimenting 
 along various lines. Once while his father was at church the boy 
 took his watch to pieces and then successfully put the different parts 
 back again. After his graduation from Yale he decided to study 
 law: and, to secure the necessary means, he became a tutor in the 
 family of General Nathaniel Greene, near Savannah, Georgia. 
 One Jay some gentlemen who were visiting at this home commented 
 upon the slow process which was required to remove ' the cotton 
 seed from the boll. Mrs. Greene suggested that they get her young 
 
 42 
 
ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 PICKER ROOM 
 
 When four rolls of cotton (known as "laps") have been delivered from the Opener 
 Picker they are simultaneously fed into the Intermediate Picker. Four rolls are 
 
 then taken from the Intermediate Picker and fed into the Finisher Picker. The 
 product of the Finisher Picker is then fed into a Carding machine. The purpose 
 
 of the Picker machines is to clean the cotton, which they accomplish by means of 
 fans and beaters and also to form it into a roll of uniform thickness. 
 
 friend, Mr. Whitney, to invent some means of doing the work more 
 swiftly, declaring that he could make anything. At this time Whit- 
 ney had never seen cotton or cotton seed, but he hunted up some 
 the next day and immediately set to work upon his invention, which 
 was completed in April, 1793. 
 
 Cotton could now be used to a far greater extent than ever before, 
 but it took James Hargreaves' invention of the spinning-jenny and 
 Cartwright's power looms to place cotton manufacturing upon a firm 
 industrial basis. 
 
 After undergoing the process of ginning, cotton was shipped 
 to the locality where it was to be spun. But even then it usually 
 retained a great deal of leaf and other foreign matter enmeshed in 
 its fibre. 
 
 This was removed by the process of "Willowing" which was 
 so called because the cotton spread on a light hammock of cords, 
 called the bowstring, was beaten with willow switches. The process 
 dated back to prehistoric times. Cotton for fine spinning was care- 
 
 43 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 fully washed, and was always soaked with water and dried so that 
 t lie fibres would cling together. 
 
 FIRST STEPS IN Till-: INVENTION OF COTTON-MAKING 
 
 MACHINERY 
 
 Hurd's History of Middlesex County quotes Daniel Knapp as 
 riving this account of the way cotton was cleaned: "In the spring 
 of 1814 my parents were young laboring people, with five small 
 children, the oldest not over eleven years old. We had the cotton 
 brought to our house by the bale to pick to pieces and get out the 
 seeds and dirt. We children had to pick so many pounds per day 
 as a stint. We had a whipping machine made four feet square, and 
 about three feet from the floor was a bedcord running across from 
 knob to knob near together, on which we put a parcel of cotton, 
 and with two whip sticks we tightened it up and got out the dirt 
 and made it ready for the card." 
 
 The carding process which followed, and which in turn was 
 followed by the spinning, consisted of combing the cotton between 
 two surfaces of wire bristles. 
 
 USE OF 'rill- DISTAFF AND SPINDLE 
 
 The use of the distaff and spindle was the first step in the inven- 
 tion of textile machinery, and began at so very remote a time it is 
 impossible to fix it. Earliest records on stone, brick, and papyrus, 
 of the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Egyptians, picture the use of 
 the rock, or distaff, and the spindle, and Solomon, Homer, and 
 Herodotus frequently allude to it. The distaff is said to have been 
 introduced into England by Anthony Bonvoise, an Italian, during 
 the twentieth year of the reign of Henry VIII, and then began the 
 making of Devonshire kerseys and Coxal cloths. 
 
 The spindle, as it has been from time immemorial, was a round 
 stick of wood about a foot long, which tapered at each end. A ring 
 of stone or clay, or sometimes potato, girded the upper part of it to 
 ^ivc it steadiness and momentum when it revolved. At the extreme 
 upper end there was a notch, or slit, into which the yarn was caught. 
 The distaff, or rock, was a longer, stouter stick, around one end of 
 which, in a loose ball, the material to be spun was wound. 
 
 The spinner either fixed the other end of the rock in her girdle 
 or carried it under her left arm, so that the coil of material was in 
 a convenient position to draw out to form the yarn. The end of the 
 yarn, after being prepared, was inserted in the notch, and the spinner 
 
 44 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 DISTAFF SPINNING 
 
 From a print of an old sketch reproduced in "The Story of Textiles. : 
 
 set the spindle in motion by quickly rolling it with the right hand 
 against the right leg, and thus throwing it out, spinning in the air. 
 Meanwhile the spinner drew from the rock with the left hand an 
 additional supply of fibre, which was formed by the right hand into 
 a uniform and equal strand. After the yarn was sufficiently twisted, 
 it was released from the notch and wound around the lower part of 
 the spindle, and again fixed in the notch at the point insufficiently 
 twisted. Thus the rotating, twisting, and drawing operations went 
 on until the spindle was full. In this way, spinning was practised 
 in prehistoric and ancient times. And in the self-same way it is 
 today done in some remote sections of Scotland. Yarns of greatest 
 fineness and strength are still spun in this way. 
 
 The first improvement in this method of spinning was the con- 
 struction of the hand wheel, in which the spindle, mounted in a frame, 
 was fixed horizontally, and rotated by a band passing around a large 
 wheel set in the framework. Such a wheel has been used from pre- 
 historic times in the East, but was not introduced into Europe until 
 about the fourteenth century. 
 
 45 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 SPINNING WHEEL INVENTED IN 1533 
 
 The earliest manuscript that mentions the spinning wheel was 
 written in the fourteenth century, and is in the British Museum. 
 This wheel was evidently one at which a woman stood, for that which 
 came into general use is said to have been invented in 1533 by a 
 cili/.rn of Brunswick, and was the first wheel at which a woman could 
 sit. Other improvements enabling one to spin with a treadle move- 
 ment, and thus allowing the spinner to work with both hands free, 
 were added at later dates that cannot be fixed. Thus came into 
 use the spinning wheel as our forbears used it in the homespun in- 
 dustries of New England and as it is still used in the isolated rural 
 districts of Ireland, Scotland, and Europe. 
 
 From a print of an old sketch, reproduced in "The Story of Textiles" 
 
 H\M> CARDING, ROVING, AND SPINNING BY THE HAND WHEEL 
 
 Figure i shows the hand cards with wire teeth and wooden backs. The cotton after 
 
 hemg : combed between them, was scraped off in rolls about twelve inches long 
 
 ree-quarters of an inch in diameter. These rolls, known as cardings, were 
 raun <.ut into rovmga on the hand wheel shown in Figure 2 The card nes 
 arc lyns t e knee of the rove, in Figure 2 . The roving were taken to Figure 
 
 L spun mto welt. On the sp.ndle of Figure 3 the weft was finallv prepared 
 be weaver. In roving, the cardings were drawn out at an angle of forty toforty- 
 
 I t 7'"^ ^ 'T^' In Splnnin *' the ro S s were *" 
 t a right angle. The hand wheel was one of the first mechanical appli- 
 ances used in woolen manufacture. 
 
 46 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 LAP FROM FINISHER PICKER ENTERING REVOLVING FLAT CARD 
 
 Mere the fine teeth of the card clothing gather any dirt or leaf that may have gone 
 ^ through the picker. The cotton comes from the cards in the form of a rope-like 
 "sliver" and is automatically coiled into cylindrical cans which are carried to the 
 nearby Drawing Frames. 
 
 It was not long before every woman in England spun, and terms 
 of the industry had become a part of the language. Thus spear side 
 and distaff side of the house became the legal terms respectively 
 for the male and female lines of inheritance. Spinster was and is 
 still the English term for unmarried women. January 7 was jocu- 
 larly called St. Distaff's Day, or Rock Day, and signified the re- 
 sumption of spinning after the rest of the Christmas holidays. 
 
 It was not until Arkwright's invention of the water frame 
 just before our War of Independence that much warp yarn strong 
 enough to stand the weaving process was spun from cotton fibre. 
 Before this warps had been made, either of wool or flax. Accordingly 
 in Lady PepperrelPs time it is not probable that much cotton was 
 spun. There was, however, a great deal of interest taken in the spin- 
 ning of wool and linen. 
 
 47 
 
I'hc ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 SONCi OK THK SPINNING WHEEL 
 
 \<.\v the song of the spinning wheel is silenced. Never again will 
 its music he heard in the villages and hamlets of New England. 
 In its place, as though the echo had been caught and magnified 
 many fold, one hears the whirring of millions of spindles in the 
 great mills of America's "spindle cities. 1 ' Vet in countless homes 
 throughout the country one may still see, dust-shrouded and half 
 forgotten in some obscure attic corner, the old-fashioned spinning 
 wheel of other days. 
 
 Its work is finished; but like a mute messenger from the past, it 
 brings to mind those picturesque days of long ago, when the light 
 of the blazing logs in the huge colonial fireplace fell with a cheerful 
 glow upon the bare, rough-hewn walls and floor, and lingered lovingly 
 upon the quaint figure of the young girl standing beside a large spin- 
 ning wheel. Across the bench which forms the lower part of the wheel 
 lie rolls of white wool which she has spent many hours in preparing. 
 The fleeces had to be opened up and cleaned of all the sticks, burs 
 and other dirt which they contained. Then had come the disagree- 
 able process of greasing it with "melted swine's grease," about three 
 pounds of which had to be thoroughly worked into ten pounds of the 
 wool. After this she had patiently carded out the fibers on crude 
 hand cards which consisted of rectangular pieces of board with han- 
 dles. Over each board had been fastened a piece of stout leather set 
 with bent wire teeth. Taking one of these cards in her left hand 
 and resting it on her knee, she had drawn a tuft of wool across its 
 spiked surface several times, until the soft fibers had caught upon 
 the wire teeth. Then she had taken the second card, which had to be 
 warmed, and drawn it across the first until the fibers were all brushed 
 parallel. Finally, with a deft movement, she had carded the wool 
 into the small, fleecy rolls which arc lying across the lower part of 
 the wheel, ready for spinning. 
 
 She makes a fascinating picture as she moves gracefully back 
 and forth, drawing and winding the. yarn. In her right hand she 
 holds .-. wooden peg, about nine inches long and perhaps an inch in 
 diameter. This was called a "driver" or "wheel-peg" and was used 
 to turn the wheel. With her left hand the spinner picks up one of 
 the long slender rolls of wool and deftly winds the end of the fibers 
 on the point of the spindle. Giving a gentle motion to the wheel 
 with the wooden peg, she takes hold of the roll at the right distance 
 from the spindle to allow for a "drawing." The low humming of 
 the wheel rises to a musical whirring; the spinner steps swiftly back- 
 ward, holding the yarn as it is twisted by the swiftly revolving spin- 
 
 48 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 DRAWING FRAMES 
 
 Six coiled "slivers" taken from six cans and passed through four pair of steel rolls, 
 
 which on account of their relative speed attenuate the six "slivers" into one. 
 
 This is then coiled into a can at the front of the Drawing Frame. 
 
 dies, and then, moving forward, allows it to wind up, either on the 
 spindle itself or upon a spool or "broach" placed at the end of the 
 spindle and revolving with it. This motion is repeated over and over. 
 One can fancy the girl's lover standing near, admiring her graceful 
 movements and watching almost hopelessly for an opportune moment 
 to steal a kiss! 
 
 When the broach, which is often only a corn cob or a roll of husks, 
 was filled, the yarn was reeled off into skeins. This was done in 
 various ways. Sometimes the belt was removed from the wheel, 
 and wooden pegs placed in certain holes in the spokes. The end of 
 the yarn was tied to one of these and the wheel turned until it was 
 wound into a hank, two yards in circumference. Skilful workers 
 could sometimes spin six skeins of yarn a day. It is estimated that 
 the walking back and forth required to do this amounted to over 
 twenty miles. 
 
 When a firm, closely twisted thread was desired for the weaving 
 of a stiff cloth, the woolen yarn was spun twice, the tirsi spinning 
 being referred to as the roving. One spinning, however, was suffi- 
 cient for ordinary knitting yarn. 
 
 The maidens and housewives of those days prided themselves on 
 their ability to spin fine yarn. In her book entitled, "Home Lite 
 in Colonial Days," Alice Morse Earle tells of a certain Mistress Mary 
 
 49 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 Prigge who spun a pound of wool into fifty hanks of eighty-four 
 thousand yards, nearly forty-eight miles in all. During the girlhood 
 of Lady PcppcrrcU, the belles of Boston took part in a big spinning- 
 bee on the Common. Schools were established and everything 
 \\a^ dune to promote the art. 
 
 TYPICAL CARD ROOM ROVING FRAMES ("Intermediates") 
 The process of combining two or more strands into one is known as "doubling." The 
 
 process of attenuating the strands is known as "drawing." Practically all the 
 
 machinery from the Pickers up to and including the Spinning Frames either double or 
 
 draw the strands and some do both. 
 
 A PKN PIC'IVRK OF COLONIAL SPINNING 
 
 It took weeks and sometimes months before the fleece from the 
 backs of the sheep could be transformed into the coarse home-spun 
 garments worn by the majority of the people in those days. The 
 story is told, however, of a Massachusetts woman and her daughters 
 who, during the War of the Revolution, sheared one black and one 
 white sheep, carded out a grey wool, spun and wove it into cloth and 
 vut and madr a MJ'I! of clothes for a buy to wear to the war, all in 
 
 50 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 one day and night! It would be difficult to break such a record as 
 that, even with the modern machinery of today. 
 
 During the rush of the busy day and in the quiet of the evening 
 by the flickering light of the fire, the work went on. There were few 
 idle moments for the members of those old colonial households. 
 From the white-haired grandmother who, in spite of her dimming 
 eyesight, was able to card out the rolls of wool for the spinning wheel, 
 to the little girl who sat at a small wheel filling the bobbins with yarn 
 ready for the loom all were busy. It was the skilful fingers of the 
 father who fashioned the wool-cards, piercing the leather back with 
 an awl and setting in and clenching, one by one, the bent wire teeth 
 which he had cut from a long length of wire. 
 
 INTERMEDIATES IN ANOTHER CARD ROOM 
 
 The Roving Machinery follows the Drawing Frames. By the time the strands of 
 cotton have reached these machines they have become so attenuated that unlc 
 
 a twist be inserted in them they would easily break apart. The Roving Machine 
 (Slubber, Intermediate, and Fly Frame) therefore insert a slight amount of tw 
 
 as well as fulfilling their other functions. When the strands pass through the Spinning 
 
 Frame, however, the strands are given their final twist and in that way arc- made 
 
 strong enough to be woven into cloth. 
 
 Si 
 
ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 EARLY INVENTIONS 
 
 Not until ^1784 was there invented a machine which would cut 
 and bend thirty-six thousand of those wire teeth an hour The 
 women and children could then purchase them by the box also 
 bundles of the leather strips which had been pierced by another 
 machine. It was then a comparatively easy matter for them to set 
 the teeth themselves as they sat about the fireplace in the evening, or 
 gathered in the afternoon at the home of some neighbor for a friendly 
 chat; for even the few social affairs "of these pioneers were closely 
 allied to the stern tasks which confronted them in their struggle for 
 existence. 
 
 ANOTHER SPINNING ROOM 
 
 One by one the magic hand of invention removed these tiresome 
 tasks from the weary shoulders of the colonial housewives. In the 
 latter part of the eighteenth century Amos \\hittemore invented a 
 machine which in a short space of time could turn out a fully made 
 card. Finally, carding engines were invented in England the 
 forerunners of those marvelous machines now used in the mills of 
 the Pepperell Manufacturing Company, which draw in the soft 
 rolls of cotton lap, or batting, and carry them under a succession ot 
 revolving flats. The fine wire teeth brush off a thin film of the 
 
 53 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 cotton, which emerges from the machine in a delicate white misty 
 veil. When the carding machines were installed in the mills of the 
 United States, the hand cards were gradually abandoned, and people 
 sent their wool to the mills to be carded, even when it was spun and 
 woven at home. It was not an uncommon thing in those days to see 
 a young farmer's girl riding along the country lanes, from the mill, 
 with a home-spun sheet filled with wool towering up behind her. 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF COTTON MILLS 
 
 In 1789 there arrived in New York the man who has universally 
 been called "the father of the American cotton industry." This 
 was Samuel Slater, who put into successful operation in this 
 country the system of cotton machines perfected by Richard Ark- 
 wright, the Englishman who in 1769 had erected at Nottingham the 
 first practical cotton mills in the world. While Slater was running his 
 mill at Pawtucket, he boarded with a family by the name of Wilkin- 
 son. It was Hannah, the daughter of this family and later Slater's 
 wife, who conceived the idea of taking some fine Surinam cotton yarn 
 which Slater had spun and twisting it on her own spinning wheel for 
 sewing thread, in place of the linen twisted yarn. This led in 1793 
 to the manufacture of the first cotton thread in America. 
 
 A REMINISCENCE OF BIDDEFORD 
 
 Mrs. Miriam Mitchell, one of Biddeford's very old ladies, being 
 now over ninety years of age, who lives within a few miles of the 
 Pepperell Mills, tells of how her mother used to get the unginned 
 cotton from the South, pick it out of the boll, card it with hand cards 
 and spin it on the old spinning wheel, warp it onto the looms, weave 
 it and dye it, and make it into dresses for herself the whole process 
 done by hand! She says that one day during the war of 1812 her 
 mother, who was then a child of twelve, was weaving some cloth on 
 the loom, when a British vessel which had come into Biddeford 
 Pool to destroy the shipping of Captain Thomas Cutts, fired some 
 cannon balls over the town. Many of the inhabitants ran and hid 
 themselves, but her mother, fearing that, if she left the nearly 
 completed cloth on the loom, the British would destroy it, continued 
 with her work until it was finished and then ran and hid it in the 
 pasture. 
 
 THE OLD HAND LOOM 
 
 Hand weaving, now an almost forgotten art in Nr\v England, 
 was practised quite extensively in the r..|.>nial days. The uld- 
 
 55 
 
7 
 
 14 1 1 1111 
 
 li.ii fiii 
 
 IITllllll 
 
 * r 11 i 1 1 1 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 A WEAVER AT AN OLD FASHIONED HAND L(X)M 
 
 a photograph owned by the Draper Company showing the primitive 
 construction of the hand loom. 
 
 fashioned loom consisted of a frame of four square wooden 
 about seven feet high, placed about as far apart as the posts of the 
 old-time four-post bedstead. Across the back of the loom stretched 
 the yarn-beam, about which the parallel warp-threads were wound 
 and stretched to the cloth beam at the front of the loom. 
 
 MORE OF THE OLD HAM) LOOM 
 
 A rather romantic accessory to the loom was the curious little 
 contrivance known as the "swift"; a revolving, cylindrical frame 
 upon which the skein of yarn was placed preparatory to winding it 
 off on the bobbins for the shuttles or the spools for the warp. Lovers 
 often made presents of beautifully carved swifts to the young ladies 
 of their choice. Such a gift must have served as an inspiration to the 
 weary worker during the slow process of weaving. The threads of 
 the warp had to be placed in regular order upon the warp beam and 
 set in the loom. Then came the "drawing in," where the end of 
 each warp-thread was drawn with a warping needle in regular order 
 through the eye of the harness, or "heddle," which consisted of a 
 
 57 
 
WARPER BEAMS AT BACK OF SLASHERS 
 
 Warper beams being unwound behind Slashers. The yarn passes through a trough 
 
 of boiling starch, is then dried on huge steam-filled cylinders, and is finally wound 
 
 on the Loom Beam at the front. 
 
 FRONT VIEW OF SLASHER IN DRESSING ROOM 
 
 Showing Loom Beam with yarn being wound onto it. 
 
The ROMANCE of 1'KITKRKU, 
 
 row of twines or wires stretched vertically between two horizontal 
 bars which were about a foot apart, the upper being suspended by a 
 pulley at the top of the loom and the lower fastened to the foot- 
 treadle. The eye through which the warp-thread was drawn was in 
 the center of each length of twine or wire. The warp was next 
 drawn through the "sley," or reed, which was composed of short. 
 thin strips of cane or metal set between two parallel bars of wood. 
 The reed was placed in a groove along the lower edge of a heavy 
 batten which, supported by two side bars, swung back and forth 
 from an axle at the top of the loom, and as it swung, the reed forced 
 every newly woven thread of the weft into place with the sharp blow 
 which made the thwacking sound always associated with weaving 
 at these hand looms. 
 
 PROCESS OF HAND WEAVING 
 
 The actual process of weaving was threefold. By the action of our 
 foot-treadle, one harness, or "heddle," which held every alternate 
 warp-thread was lowered beneath the level of the rest of the warp, 
 forming an opening through which the weaver threw the shuttle con- 
 taining the weft, or filler, thread from one side of the loom to the 
 other. The third step was the crowding of this thread into place 
 by the batten. Another foot-treadle forced down the other warp- 
 threads, which were drawn through a second set of harnesses, and 
 the shuttle was thrown back; and so the process went on until yards 
 of this durable home-spun fabric had been produced. 
 
 During the summer of 1775 there was heard throughout the 
 length and breadth of New England the busy humming of the spin- 
 ning wheel and the "thwack-thwack" of the hand looms, as the 
 patriotic women of the colonies hastened to prepare thirteen thousand 
 warm coats for Washington's army, which was jeeringly referred to 
 by the English as the " Home-spuns." 
 
 OLD-TIME BLEACHINC; AND DYEING 
 
 The materials which were not dyed were generally bleached by a 
 slow and tedious process. In the old method of bleaching practised in 
 England probably as early as the sixteenth century, sour milk and 
 cow's dung were first used. The linen was then steeped in waste 
 lye; and for a week boiling hot potash lye was poured over it, after 
 which it was taken out and washed and then put into wooden vats 
 of buttermilk, where it was allowed to remain under pressure for 
 five or six days. Finally it was spread on the grass and left there 
 for several months, care being taken to keep it wet. This latter part 
 
 59 
 
WEB DRAWERS AT WORK 
 Loom Beam containing starched yarn placed on a rack, high enough to be easily 
 
 reached. Each end of yarn is drawn by hand through Eyes in the Loom 
 Harnesses. The number of Harnesses determines the pattern or twill on the surface 
 
 of the cloth. Then the threads are further drawn through slits in a narrow 
 
 Rccd which keeps them separated during the weaving process. The tool used by the 
 
 operative in this Web Drawing process is a thin steel hook. 
 
 60 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 \V.\RP TYING MACHINES 
 A modern method to avoid the necessity of "drawing in" every warp. It can 
 
 only be used where the same style of cloth is continued, and consists of 
 
 tying each thread of a new warp to the corresponding thread of the old one just 
 
 running out. The warps are then ready to go to the looms in Weave Room. 
 
 of the process was called crofting, while the steeping in the lyes was 
 known as bucking. It often required from six to eight months to 
 complete the process, during which time linen was apt to be stolen. 
 This led to an enactment by George II which made such an act a 
 serious offense, punishable by death. 
 
 Gradually various improvements were made in the process of 
 bleaching. Dr. Francis Home of Edinburgh discovered the value of 
 sulphuric acid as a substitute for sour milk in the souring process, 
 which could then be accomplished in a few hours where it had formerly 
 taken days and weeks. 
 
 The value of chlorine as a bleaching agent was discovered in 1774 
 by C. W. Sheele, the Swedish chemist. The discovery was due to 
 his accidently noticing that the cork of the bottle which contained 
 his chlorine had been bleached by the action of the chemical. Im- 
 pressed by its great possibilities, the eminent French chemist, 
 Claude Louis Berthollet, applied chlorine to the bleaching of fab- 
 
 61 
 
O _C . 
 
 _ O <" C 
 
 olllf 
 
 SW| 
 
 J IM 
 
 C co _c ^ aj 
 
 ^'c^S 
 
 ~ o^3 
 ^ 
 
 u^-J 
 
 OS ^ bfc -M 
 
 _Q C C t! 
 
 Cj 3 
 
 <U j= G J= 
 
 73 % 
 
 C-g oj 
 
ROMANCE oj PEPPERELL 
 
 SHEARING ROOM 
 
 Cloth from looms is scxvn together at ends of Cuts, and is then run through machines 
 which simply brush and clean off loose threads or other dirt. Tiicn it pocs to 
 
 the folders. 
 
 rics, with great success. He showed his experiment to James Wall, 
 the English inventor, in 1 786, and the latter commenced to use chlorine 
 on the bleach-field of his father-in-law, near Glasgow. Later it was 
 discovered that, by the use of eau de Javel, much of the injurious and 
 unpleasant odor arising from the use of the chlorine was removed. 
 
 PERFECTING THE Oil) PROCESSES 
 
 And so the process was constantly being perfected. Today the 
 bales of cotton cloth from the Pepperell Mills are sent to the Lcwistmi 
 Bleachery and Dye Works in which the Pcppcrcll Manufacturing 
 Company is the largest stockholder. Here the various cut; arr 
 sewn together on a circular sewing machine and by a series of 
 are pulled in a long rope-like strand through porcelain-lined "pot 
 eyes" in the ceiling or wall, to the various rooms where the bleaching 
 process is carried on. From lime machine to kier, on through "log- 
 washers " and sulphuric acid baths to the bleaching powder solution, 
 it is reeled and is finally washed in pure spring water, starched, ironed 
 and folded into neat pieces of snowy-white sheeting bearing the 
 familiar label of the Pcppcrcll Manufacturing Company. 
 
 63 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 LEW1STON BLKACHERY AND DYE WORKS, LEWISTON, MAINE 
 The largest owner of the stock of this Bleachery is the Pepperell Mfg. Co. 
 
 AMERICAN EFFORT TO SECURE ENGLISH MACHINES 
 
 The Revolutionary War, bringing with it the suspension of trade 
 with England, from whence had come most of the cloth used by the 
 colonies, had started American looms weaving on their own ac- 
 count, and the industry was soon well under way. 
 
 When the war was over, movements were started to promote 
 American industries, but these were hampered by the fact that 
 England had taken precautions to prevent the knowledge of the 
 labor-saving machines, which turned out fabrics for her, from being 
 spread abroad. Very little was known about them here. There 
 was not an Arkwright machine in this country, although Har- 
 greaves' jennies and carding machines had been smuggled in. Con- 
 tinued attempts were made by Americans to secure either designs 
 or copies of the English machines, even by underhand methods. 
 
 Tench Coxe, of Philadelphia, sent an English mechanic, then 
 living in Philadelphia, to England to construct brass models of the 
 Arkwright machines, and to ship them to Paris, where the American 
 minister would reship them to America. But his scheme was dis- 
 covered, the models seized and the mechanic was bonded not to 
 leave England for three years. This effort was repeated at another 
 time, but the models were seized in transit. In some instances 
 English machines were taken apart, boxed separately, labelled 
 Glass or Agricultural Implements and reshipped to America. Card 
 Clothing, in one case, was mounted on handles, and called "Cards 
 fnr Cattle"; while the spindles were called "Teeth for Horserakes." 
 
 64 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 SITE OF OLD GARRISON HOUSE 
 The building shown here, part of which is occupied by the York National Bank of 
 
 Saco, is the site of the Old Garrison House. The garrison house was built by 
 
 Sir William Pepperrell and his associates to protect their mills on the banks of the 
 
 Saco from the Indians. 
 
 
 
 In 1790 Samuel Slater constructed Arkwright machines in 
 Pawtucket. Soon after 1800 the textile industry in America was 
 an established fact. 
 
 EARLY INDUSTRIES AT SACO AND B1DDEFORD 
 
 Down through the years when Colonial spinning and weaving 
 were in use and the early textile inventions were being made, the voice 
 of the Saco's turbulent waters as they tumbled in precipitous glee over 
 rocks and boulders, sent forth its challenge to men of brain and 
 brawn, and many answered. As early as 1650, Roger Spencer, 
 a prominent business man of the town, had a saw-mill in Biddeford. 
 All traces of these early industries have vanished. On the site now 
 occupied by the York National Bank of Saco, were found not lonjr 
 ago the remains of an old garrison house erected by Sir William 
 Pepperrell and two business associates for the protection of their mills. 
 Both garrison and mills have long since crumbled in ruins. The 
 humble industrial plants of those early settlers have given place 
 to great modern manufactories. Where the "old stone fort" once 
 stood on the banks of the Saco in Biddeford, are now located some 
 of the mills of the Pepperell Manufacturing Company. 
 
 This immense plant now extends over more than ten acres in 
 the business centre of Biddeford, which is a thriving little city with 
 
 65 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 a population of 10,000, a large percentage of which are foreign born. 
 The mills were built near the falls on the Saco River, where the 
 water from the upper level could be conducted through flumes or 
 canals constructed for the purpose, and passing through water- 
 wheels, would cause them to revolve continually, thus furnishing 
 
 FOLDERS IN CLOTH ROOM 
 
 Cloth from shearers is folded in yard folds. It is then carefully inspected fold In- 
 fold in order to find any possible defects. The inspectors are seen looking DMT 
 the cuts on long tables. 
 
 power at much less cost than that produced from steam power gen- 
 erated by the burning of coal. Steam power is also used to supple- 
 ment the water power, and the steam is needed to heat the mills in 
 winter, and for some special processes in making the cloth. 
 
 Nearly one hundred years ago an Amesbury man named Rufus 
 Nichols, lured by the call of the Saco, came to this section and built 
 a shop for the manufacture of cotton mill machinery. Eleven 
 years later, in 1838, he sold out to the newly organized Saco Water 
 Power Company which then owned the mill privileges. Thomur^ 
 Quimby, a civil engineer, was elected clerk of this company in 1841 
 and held the office for many years. 
 
 67 
 
- 
 
 U . 
 
 Tjc 
 
 o 
 
 O H3 
 
 "o 
 
 s 
 
 a,-* 
 
 'fi 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 The company soon opened a shop on the Biddeford side of the 
 river for the manufacture of cotton mill machinery, and made 
 Rufus Nichols its agent. The advantage of having a nearby market 
 for this machinery soon became apparent. With this idea in view 
 the Saco Water Power Company built the Laconia Company, making 
 Rufus Nichols the agent of this also. The first Laconia mill, a small 
 brick building, was erected in 1845. A small number of textile 
 workers, most of whom were Yankee girls, were employed here. 
 
 In the list of regulations issued by the Laconia Company for 
 their employees in the early days, was the following: 
 
 " It is expected that all persons in the employment of the Company 
 will be regular in their attendance upon public worship on the 
 Sabbath." 
 
 Such a ruling would be difficult to find in a list of instructions 
 for the employees of any industry at the present time! 
 
 Encouraged by the success of the Laconia mill, the Saco Water 
 Power Company was led to build the larger Pepperell Manufacturing 
 Company which later absorbed the Laconia Company. This move 
 was made, however, during a business depression, and the mill 
 remained idle for two years. In 1850, William Dwight of Boston 
 bought the Pepperell Mills and organized the company, becoming 
 its first treasurer, in Boston, and the venture now proved a great 
 success. 
 
 In the early days of the company only Yankees were employed. 
 Girls came from all parts of Maine and New Hampshire. Fred 
 Greene, an old resident, of Biddeford, who went to work in the Pep- 
 perell in 1858, and was for many years overseer in the weave room, 
 tells of the long boarding house blocks where these girls lived, like one 
 big family. They went to the mill early in the morning and worked 
 all day, returning to their tasks after supper. They received small 
 wages but were happy and contented. In the summer they generally 
 returned to their homes, so that the mills were compelled to partially 
 shut down during this period. 
 
 The coming of the French Canadian people to work in the mills 
 was a great boon to the industry, for they are considered by mill 
 officials to be most ideal cotton mill workers. For thirty years the 
 majority of the employees were of this nationality and even today 
 a large percentage are French. The mills of the Pepperell Manu- 
 facturing Company now give employment to nearly four thousand 
 operatives of many nationalities, including French, Armenians, 
 Albanians, Greeks, Poles and others from Southern Europe. It is 
 not unusual to see entire families represented in the various rooms. 
 
 From 1899 the date of the consolidation of the Laconia Manu- 
 facturing Company and Pepperell Manufacturing Company under 
 
 69 
 
Till-. orADRANCLK OF THE PEPPERELL DIVISION SHOWING SOME 
 OF THE EMPLOYEES 
 
 FIRST AID TO THE INJURED ROOM AT THE PEPPERELL MILL 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 the name of the Pepperell Manufacturing Company to January i, 
 1915, a period of about sixteen years, there were manufactured at 
 these mills, 1,030,604,502 yards or 585,570 miles of cloth, enough to 
 circumnavigate the earth twenty-three and a half times. Thirty- 
 four percent of the cloth produced during this period was drill's, 
 which are especially popular in China. Allowing ek'ht jrarda to J 
 person, enough of this material was manufactured to clothe 44, 1 7 1, 629 
 Chinese with one suit each, or 2,766,726^ Chinese a year. 
 
 In a report to the Department of Commerce, 1916, on "Cotton 
 Goods in China," Ralph M. Odell, commercial agent for the I'nited 
 States Government, says, "The 'Dragon' chop (or trade mark) of 
 the Pepperell Mills commands the highest price because of its good 
 quality and the fact that it has been in the market for many j 
 and is a well-known chop." 
 
 "The 'Beaver/ one of the most common chops seen on the Chinese 
 market, was taken from the original 'Beaver' chop of the Pepperell 
 Mills. The brand on the outside fold below the chop usually consists 
 of seven lines of lettering. This is not due to a coincidence but to 
 the fact that the Chinese demand it because the jeans which have 
 been on the market longest and are most widely sold are branded 
 in this manner. Other jeans in the market, however, have live, 
 six or eight lines of lettering." 
 
 So it is that, although there is no registration or protection of 
 trade marks in China, the Chinese merchant has learned to count 
 the number of lines under this particular brand, for it is a pretty 
 safe guess that no other manufacturer will have the exact number 
 of lines used on the goods which he has come to recognize as standing 
 for superiority and reliability. 
 
 Not only in China, but in far-away India are the Pepperell prod- 
 ucts found. In another report, " Cotton Goods in British India, 191 S," 
 Ralph M. Odell says: "The grey drills supplied by the United States 
 consist almost entirely of the well-known Pepperell brand, manu- 
 factured by a mill in Maine, and they have been sold in India for 
 many years. In the opinion of some of the prominent importers 
 in India, it is one of the largest selling brands of cotton goods in the 
 world, and is considered a staple article in the piece-goods trade of 
 India. The natives buy it partly because they are familiar with 
 the brand, but mainly because its high quality has been maintained 
 over a long period of years." 
 
 Why does the intelligent American housewife who understands 
 the texture of goods, pick out the Pepperell products when she is 
 selecting her sheets and pillow cases? Because the sheeting, sin 
 pillow cases and tubings which bear the Pepperell label, and which 
 are sold under that label alone, are so made that for the cost they 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 are the most serviceable and best appearing of any on the market. 
 Owing to the superior grade of cotton used and to the number of 
 threads woven to the square inch, Pepperell goods are most flexible, 
 stand up best under the wear of hard laundering, and yet are light 
 and easy to wash. They keep their whiteness. In every respect 
 IVpperell products meet the desires of the fastidious housekeeper. 
 They are appropriate in houses of taste and refinement, where a 
 well-made bed with snow-white sheets and pillow cases is as essential 
 as a correctly set table with its fine linen and silver; and yet they 
 stand up and give perfect satisfaction under the exacting require- 
 ments of hospital, sleeping car and hotel uses. Pepperell has been 
 a standard family sheeting for over two generations. Its low cost, 
 ai tractive appearance, and great wearing qualities make it the great- 
 est bargain of them all. 
 
 Thus is the name of Sir William Pepperrell carried into all parts 
 nl the world into countries where the old baronet was never heard 
 of. But just as the very name of Colonel Pepperrell inspired the 
 colonists with courage and hope during those troublesome years of 
 war and anxiety, so does the Pepperell brand of cotton goods carry 
 with it a guarantee of reliability and satisfaction today. 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 MADE-UP SIZES 
 
 OF PEPPEREI 
 
 ,L BLEACHED GOODS 
 
 PILLOW CASES 
 
 BOLSTER CASES 
 
 SHEETS C'KIH 
 
 SHEETS 
 
 42 x 36 
 
 42 x 63^ 
 
 50 x 90 42 
 
 x <q 
 
 x 38^ 
 
 x 671/2 
 
 ^-1 x 90 
 
 x68 
 
 x 4o>_; 
 
 X 72 
 
 .x '/V , 
 
 x 73 
 
 45 x 36 
 
 x 7 (> ' a 
 
 X 91 y 
 
 x 77 
 
 
 x8i 
 
 X IDS 4 - 
 
 xf> 4 
 
 x40>^ 
 
 45 x 6 3 y 2 
 
 63 x 90 
 
 X oS 
 
 5 x 36 
 
 x 67 X 
 
 x 94 1 A 
 
 x 73 
 
 x 38^ 
 
 X 7 2 
 
 x 99 
 
 X77 
 
 x 40^2 
 
 x 76^2 
 
 X IOS ^ o 
 
 x 73 
 
 54x36 
 
 x 381/2 
 
 x 81 
 
 sox 63^ 
 
 7 2 x 90 
 *94^ ^ 
 
 X77 
 x 73 
 
 x 40 ' \ 
 
 x6 7 '. 
 
 X99 
 
 x 77 
 
 
 X 7 2 
 
 x 108 
 
 
 
 X 7(1' .' 
 
 X 11] 
 
 
 
 x Si 
 
 8 1 x 90 
 
 
 
 54 x 63^ 
 
 X94 1 .' 
 
 
 
 x 6 7 3 / 2 
 
 x99 
 
 
 
 X 7 2 
 
 X IOS 
 
 
 
 x 76*^" 
 
 x 113 
 
 
 
 x8i 
 
 90 x 90 
 
 
 
 
 x 94/ / 2 
 
 
 
 
 X99 
 
 
 
 
 X IOS 
 
 
 
 
 x 1 1 3 
 
 
 PEPPERELL WIDE SIIEET1NCS 
 come in I IK- following widths: 
 
 UNBLEACHED BLEACHED PEPPERELL BLEACHED TI-BIN<; 
 
 comes in the following widths 
 
 
 42" 
 
 9/8 
 
 42" 
 
 
 45" 
 
 5/4 
 
 45" 
 
 
 48" 
 
 50" 
 
 5" 
 
 '6/4 
 
 54" 
 
 6/4 
 
 54" 
 
 
 60" 
 
 7/4 
 
 63" 
 
 8/4 
 
 72" 
 
 8/4 
 
 72" 
 
 9/4 
 
 81" 
 
 9/4 
 
 81" 
 
 10/4 
 
 90" 
 
 10/4 
 
 90" 
 
 1 1/4 
 
 99" 
 
 1 1/4 
 
 99" 
 
 12/4 
 
 108" 
 
 
 
 4 o 
 42 
 
 inch 
 
 73 
 
The ROMANCE of PEPPERELL 
 
 SHEETINGS 
 
 F.vrjy pirce of IVppt'rrll Wide Sheetings and Pepperell Tubings, without excep- 
 tion, carries this ticket. Do not accept substitutes. 
 
 Wholesale Distributors 
 
 BLISS FABYAN & CO. 
 
 BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 
 
 U. S. A. 
 
 74 
 
The ROMANCE of ?PJE&KRKl.L 
 
 . VW ~W--T 
 
 !N ".:_"".;" 
 ; SHEETINGS 
 
 This represents in miniature the Pepperell Sheetings as you will see 
 them in the store. 
 
 Wholesale Distributors 
 
 BLISS FABYAN & CO. 
 
 BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 
 
 U. S. A. 
 
of PEPPERELL 
 
 TRADE MARK REGISTERED 
 
 PEPPERELL MILLS 
 BIDDEFORD 
 
 MANUFACTURED IN 
 UNITED STATES OF AM ERICA 
 
 me reppereii standard IJnll snowing the repperell 
 Dragon trade mark, which is as well known in India and 
 
 China as it is in the United States. It represents the Standard of 
 Excellence of all Cotton Goods exported from the United 
 
 States to these countries. The Sun never sets on Pepperell Products. 
 
 Wholesale Distributors 
 BLISS FABYAN & CO. BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO U. S. A. 
 
 76 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY