The Bernat Mill, also known as Capron Mill, and later Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company, was an American yarn mill in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, that was for the most part destroyed by fire on July 21, 2007.
This mill complex at Uxbridge had been a hub of manufacturing for Bernat, once based in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. The town of Uxbridge was the site of Bernat's main manufacturing unit in the later 20th century. This was the third largest yarn mill in the U.S. The Bernat mill and the town of Uxbridge have a role in U.S. history, and the history of the American textile manufacturing.
"Bernat" is a trademark of an existing company which manufactures yarn products.[1]
History
The Capron Mill, built by John Capron Sr. and his sons Effingham, and John, c. 1820, at Uxbridge, Massachusetts. The mill manufactured the first satinets, used the first power looms for woolens in America, and made U.S. military uniforms for over 140 years.
The original mill, the Capron Mill, was built in 1820, by John Capron, the father of Colonel John Capron and anti-slavery champion Effingham Capron on the Mumford River at Uxbridge Center.[2][3] The first power looms for woolens were introduced at the Capron Mills.[4] These were made in a machine shop at Cumberland, Rhode Island.[4] These were reportedly the first power looms ever made for woolens in the U.S.[4] The first manufacture of "satinet" was at this mill. Uxbridge became famous for its Cashmere wool. The period of the Capron Mill, and later as the Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company was famous for manufacture of clothing and the manufacture of military uniforms for the United States.
The Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company
The mill was featured in the August 24, 1953, edition of Time magazine, in an article entitled, "The Pride of Uxbridge"[5] as the site of the Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company, which was then one of the most successful textile mills in New England.[5] The Time article interviewed the CEO of Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company, Harold Walter. This company had been started by Edward Bachman of New York City, and Harold Walters's father-in-law, Charles Arthur Root, of Uxbridge. This site was the hub of seven plants throughout the U.S., employing 6000 plus workers, and some of its wool synthetic blends dominated the women's fashion industry in the early 1950s.
The first woolen mill in the Blackstone Valley was built in Uxbridge in 1810 (3rd in U.S.), and by 1953, the Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company was on the verge of a merger with the debt laden American Woolen Company to become the largest U.S. woolen manufacturer. The Town of Uxbridge had become synonymous with woolenmanufacturing, "blended fabrics", complete vertical integration of textiles to clothing, and textile industry efficiency innovations, when production peaked in the early 1950s.
Research into textiles at Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company produced a range of blended fabrics, including the "wool-nylon serge" used for army uniforms. The original U.S. Air Force Uniform produced at the factory was dubbed and patented "Uxbridge Blue" or "Uxbridge 1683", after blue dye color selected at Bachman Uxbridge. This dye was used in the manufacture of uniforms from 1947.[6]
"In January 1948 President Truman approved authorization of the proposed new blue Air Force uniform and a week after that Air Force Chief of Staff Hoyt Vandenberg officially circulated word that funding had been approved by the congressional appropriations committee. The new uniform, incorporating a shade of blue fabric (patented as 'Uxbridge Blue' and based on 'Uxbridge 1683 Blue, cable shade 84', developed at the former Bachman-Uxbridge Worsted Company) would be available for distribution by September 1950".[7] Shortly thereafter, on March 29, 1954, Time magazine reported: "American Woolen Co. will ask its stockholders to approve a merger with Bachmann Uxbridge Worsted Corp. As a combined operation, troubled American Woolen (1953 sales, $73,494,160; net loss, $9,476,981) and Bachmann Uxbridge (1953 sales, $52,609,000; profit, $272,000) would be by far the biggest woolen manufacturer in the country. Textron, Inc., which wants American Woolen to merge with it, and claims to own almost 4% of American Woolen's stock, plans to fight the merger".[8][9]
The merger of American Woolen and Bachman Uxbridge was however blocked by Textron, which emerged in the 1960s as a Providence, Rhode Island, based conglomerate. This was Bachman Uxbridge's last bid to be the largest woolen company in America.[10] By 1964 the assets of Bachman Uxbridge were sold to Bernat Yarn of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.
American Civil War uniforms, World War I khaki overcoats, and World War IIU.S. Army uniforms have all been manufactured in this mill.[2] Latch hook yarn kits were developed by Bernat, here circa 1968 and the name of the mill changes to the Bernat Mill, then the third largest U.S. yarn mill.
2007 fire
Early, on the Saturday morning of July 21, 2007, a fire erupted at the historic mill, devastating the complex on Mendon and Depot Street. 600 firefighters from 66 communities battled the blaze, but the complex was nearly totally destroyed. It took three days to extinguish the flames fully. At the time of the fire, the 400,000 square feet (37,000m2) structure, had ceased operating as a mill and had been converted into space containing 65 small businesses.[11] The business losses following the fire were estimated in the millions of dollars and between 300-500 people lost their jobs.[citation needed]
Fire cause and aftermath
The fire marshall's report concluded that there was unpermitted welding occurring in a mill business, the sprinkler was not operable, and that both contributed to the fire.[12] Mill owners planned to rebuild.[12] The two-state incident command, disaster response was viewed as a regional model.[citation needed] Senator John Kerry introduced loans from his committee in the U.S. Senate to support the business owners impacted by the fire.[citation needed] Governor Deval Patrick[13] left the National Governors' Conference in Michigan to return to Uxbridge to be present for the immediate recovery. Governor Patrick invoked immediate state and federal aide to victims and businesses of the Uxbridge mill fire.[citation needed]Hurricane Katrina funds were applied to the relief efforts.[citation needed] As of 2009, plans to rebuild were on hold.
Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States, first colonized in 1662 and incorporated in 1727. It was originally part of the town of Mendon, and named for the Earl of Uxbridge. The town is located 36 mi (58 km) southwest of Boston and 15 mi (24 km) south-southeast of Worcester, at the midpoint of the Blackstone Valley National Historic Park. The historical society notes that Uxbridge is the "Heart of The Blackstone Valley" and is also known as "the Cradle of the Industrial Revolution". Uxbridge was a prominent Textile center in the American Industrial Revolution. Two Quakers served as national leaders in the American anti-slavery movement. Uxbridge "weaves a tapestry of early America".
Worsted is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham, formed a manufacturing centre for yarn and cloth in the 12th century, when pasture enclosure and liming rendered the East Anglian soil too rich for the older agrarian sheep breeds. In the same period, many weavers from the County of Flanders moved to Norfolk. "Worsted" yarns/fabrics are distinct from woollens : the former is considered stronger, finer, smoother, and harder than the latter.
Cashmere wool, usually simply known as cashmere, is a fiber obtained from cashmere goats, pashmina goats, and some other breeds of goat. It has been used to make yarn, textiles and clothing for hundreds of years. Cashmere is closely associated with the Kashmir shawl, the word "cashmere" deriving from an anglicization of Kashmir, India, when the Kashmir shawl reached Europe in the 19th century. Both the soft undercoat and the guard hairs may be used; the softer hair is reserved for textiles, while the coarse guard hair is used for brushes and other non-apparel purposes.
The Wool Act 1698 was an Act of the Parliament of England, long titled An Act to prevent the Exportation of Wool out of the Kingdoms of Ireland and England into Forreigne parts and for the Incouragement of the Woollen Manufactures in the Kingdom of England. It was intended to increase England's woolen product manufacturing by preventing Irish wool production, manufactures, and export; it also forbade the export of wool and products from the American colonies. Competing woolens from these areas had recently become more available in foreign and domestic markets. The Act prohibited American colonists from exporting wool and wool products, or export to markets outside the individual colony in which it was produced, or to be transported from one place to another in the same colony. The act did not forbid the making of woolen fabrics for private consumption, but simply forbade the making of woolens for the public market. At this time the woolens exported from England had to pay heavy export duties. The act, one of the Acts of Trade and Navigation, was mainly aimed at Irish woolens and established a policy to crush the Irish woolen industry. It had little effect on the American colonies; at most it only slowed the potential industry. Shopkeepers had a very hard time during this period when the Wool Act was in force. Some colonists opposed this act by buying more flax and hemp.
The American Woolen Company is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of men’s and women’s worsted and woolen fabrics. Based in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, the company operates from the 160-year-old Warren Mills, which it acquired from Loro Piana SpA in June 2014.
Daniel Day was an American pioneer in woolen manufacturing.
John Willard Capron was an American military officer in the infantry, state legislator, and textile manufacturer. Famous for being a military uniforms manufacturer, he became Colonel in the army and Chairman of the Board of Selectmen.
Luke Taft was an industrial pioneer in the manufacture of woolens in 19th century New England.
Moses Taft 2nd was born at Uxbridge, Massachusetts. He was significant as an early American Industrialist and financier in the historic Blackstone Valley, and a member of the famous Taft family.
Harold J. Walter, who was born in Colorado 1901 and died in 1962 in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, was an American textile manufacturer.
Wheelockville is a village in the town (township) of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the village centering on Mendon and Henry streets is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Wheelockville Historic District. Wheelockville appears on the Blackstone U.S. Geological Survey Map. The Village receives municipal services from Uxbridge, for fire, police, EMS, School district, public works, and other services. Worcester's Judicial District includes Uxbridge District Court. The geography of Wheelockville includes several other distinct mill villages, including: Hecla and Elmdale.
The Waucantuck Mill Complex was a mill complex in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Despite its 2010 demolition, it is still listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The West River, in the US state of Massachusetts, is a 13.4-mile-long (21.6 km) tributary of the Blackstone River.
The history of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, founded in 1727, may be divided into its prehistory, its colonial history and its modern industrial history. Uxbridge is located on the Massachusetts-Rhode Island state line, and became a center of the earliest industrialized region in the United States.
Satinet is a finely woven fabric with a finish resembling satin, but made partly or wholly from cotton or synthetic fiber. The fibers may be natural or synthetic.
Stanley Woolen Mill is the common historic name applied to a defunct company based in southeastern Massachusetts and to the company's buildings which stand at the southern entrance to the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park. The mill is an important footnote in the history of the textile industry in America. Stanley Woolen Mill is the centerpiece of the Central Woolen Mills District which is part of the National Historic Register.
Effingham Lawrence Capron, a Quaker, was a mill owner, and nationally recognized leader of the anti-slavery movement prior to the Civil War. He was known especially in the Northeast United States for his anti-slavery work. He was born in Pomfret, Connecticut in March 1791, and died in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1859 at the age of 68. He was also a noted manufacturer of cotton and woolens in the early American Industrial period.
Shearing is a kind of mechanical finish in which the appearance of the fabric is enhanced by cutting the loops or raised surface to a uniform and even height. The machine may have a spiral blade similar to a grass cutting machine. A Shearing machine can cut the loop or the pile to a desired level. Shearing was most commonly used to make woolens and worsted materials. It was a part of dry finishing of woolen and worsted goods. Previously, shearing was also a component of gigging or napping; when partially produced goods were exposed to shear in order to improve the impact of gigging or napping, the process was referred to as "cropping."
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