Birch Brothers.

Twin brothers Albert and Arthur Birch arrived in the U.S. in the winter of 1883 as salesmen for their father, William Birch, who invented and manufactured finishing machinery in Manchester, England. The sons struck out on their own and founded a small factory in 1889 in Somerville, Mass., which was also associated with the Somerville Machine Works and the Columbia Napping Machine Co. The firm manufactured textile finishing and dyeing machinery for bleacheries, print works, worsted and woolen producers, dyers and finishers and later for the finishing and dyeing of silk and plush. While initially specializing in machinery for the bleaching and print works trade, it later occupied a disproportionately large position as a diversified supplier to the dyeing, wet finishing and cloth handling segments of the textile finishing industry.

Albert Birch's inventions are associated with machinery for various finishing processes: scutchers, conical openers and continuous crabbing machinery for worsted plants, an open width vacuum extractor for removing liquid from cloth, and an industrial sewing machine. Arthur eventually left the company to establish the Arlington Machine Works in Arlington, Mass., which also manufactured bleaching and dye works machinery. In the late 1960's, the company moved to Waxhaw, N.C., and is known as Birch Brothers Southern Inc. It is still a family-run business.