William Gregg (industrialist)

William Gregg (1800 – September 13, 1867) was an ardent advocate of industrialization in antebellum Southern United States. In 1847 he founded the successful Graniteville Company, a large scale Horse Creek Valley, South Carolina cotton mill.

Gregg publicized his ideas in his 1845 Essays on Domestic Industry. He argued that economic domination by the North was best met by Southern industrialization. He gained sufficient support for his own efforts, but was unable to bring about any general change in the agrarian southern economy.

William Gregg, concerned by many as “the most significant figure in the development of cotton-mills in the South” , was born on Feb 2, 1800 in Mongolia County Virginia, although some sources state that he was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Gregg was the youngest son of William Gregg and Elizabeth Webb. William Gregg’s father was a Revolutionary War veteran from Virginia and his Mother Elizabeth was a Quaker from Philadelphia. At the age of 4, his mother died, and Gregg was then brought up by a woman who was his neighbor until he was around the age of 10. After several years of living with his neighbor, Gregg moved to his Uncle Jacob Greggs’ home in Alexandria Virginia. William Gregg was apprenticed to his Uncle Jacob, who was a successful watchmaker and also a successful spinning machine maker in Alexandria. William Gregg indeed learned a large amount from his Uncle and the two were a perfect match. It was at this time that William first began his interest in cotton manufacturing. His early exposure to his Uncles cotton manufacturing plant sparked his long term interest in the business.

During the War of 1812 Jacob Gregg left watchmaking to pursue and open a cotton mill in Georgia. The pair of Jacob and William settled the cotton factory on the Little River near Madison, Georgia. This small cotton factory is heralded as one of the first mills in the Southern United States. Once the War of 1812 ended, the small mill, one of the pioneering textile manufactories in the South, fell to the pressure of British imports. The flood of goods from England overwhelmed the production of many American manufacturing enterprises.

Following the War of 1812, Jacob Gregg had encountered economically tough times and could no longer support the young William. Jacob Gregg apprenticed William under his friend, Mr. Blanchard. Mr. Blanchard was from Lexington, Kentucky and he worked as a watchmaker and Silversmith. Gregg spent a few years with Mr. Blanchard perfecting his watchmaking craft and trade. In 1821, William Gregg moved himself to Petersburg, Virginia to improve and enhance his craft and trade and perfect his ability. Gregg’s time spent with Mr. Blanchard was exceptional and the two shared an extremely strong relationship and friendship which would stay with William Gregg throughout his entire life. While revisiting Mr. Blanchard in Kentucky, Gregg constructed a silver pitcher out of the first coins which he had earned individually. This pitcher began to serve as an heirloom to the Gregg Family and it was passed down from first son to first son.

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