Beverly Cotton Manufactory

Beverly Cotton Manufactory

Illustration of Beverly Cotton Manufactory
Cotton
Brick
Location	Beverly, Massachusetts, U.S.
Owner	The Proprietors of the Beverly Cotton Manufactory
Coordinates	42°34′21.52″N 70°53′35.46″W / 42.5726444°N 70.8931833°W / 42.5726444; -70.8931833
Construction
Built	1785 (started)
Completed	November 1, 1787
Demolished	October 13, 1828

Beverly Cotton Manufactory was the first cotton mill built in America, and the largest cotton mill to be built during its era. It was built hoping for economic success, but reached a downturn due to technical limitations of the then early production process and limitations of the machines being used. Being the birthplace and testing grounds of the cotton milling industry at the time, it has been called the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution.

The founders of the original mill business concept were Thomas Somers and James Leonard, who had recruited others to build and create the mill and machines. In 1787, Beverly Cotton Manufactory was established by The Proprietors of the Beverly Cotton Manufactory, a Massachusetts company that consisted of Capt. John Cabot, George Cabot, Andrew Cabot, Deborah Higginson Cabot, Henry Higginson, Dr. Joshua Fisher, Moses Brown, Israel Thorndike, and Isaac Chapman. In 1789, legislation had shown that 22/40 of company ownership was shared by Cabot and Higginson incorporators, with 9/40 being owned by Fisher, 4/40 by Brown, 4/40 by Thorndike, and 1/40 belonging to Chapman. Capt. Cabot and Fisher were the largest shareholders individually, 19/40 together, and were the managers of the manufactory. Massachusetts legislature formed a decision on lending for the mill to be built. As a group, the proprietors were the inventors of the first methods in America of spinning cotton commercially. On February 17, 1789, Massachusetts legislature decided to repay The Proprietors of the Beverly Cotton Manufactory for £500 of their losses and efforts in starting the mill, as a valuable resource for the community.

Although the plant was not erected until the summer of 1787, there are port records indicating shipments of cotton being imported as early as March 1785. Business officially opened for the plant November 1, 1787. On November 23, 1787, 1 box of "coarse woolen and linnen cloth here manufactured" was shipped to Maryland, and on December 11, 1787, "1 piece coarse check'd cloath here made" was shipped to the Cape de Verde Islands. Records suggest the Manufactory machines may have been in use before the actual building for the Manufactory was conceived, most likely for testing purposes regarding the new invention.