Wauregan Company

The history of the Wauregan Mills, the Quinebaug Company and other related mills is very much tied to the history of the Atwood [see Appendix for genealogical chart; due to software incompatibilities the genealogical information cannot be displayed electronically, please contact the collection curator for a copy of this information] family. In each generation, son followed father in the management of the mills with which the family became connected. In each case, their education included working from the bottom up. Each Atwood worked his way, albeit rapidly, from bobbin boy to management. Their knowledge of the textile industry enabled their mill enterprises to achieve great success marked by an expanding work force and new mill construction.

The family's connection with the Wauregan Mills began with the effort of John Atwood, son of Kimball and Salinda (Colgrove) Atwood. He was born on 16 February 1805 and died 31 July 1865 . He married Julia A. Battey on 9 September 1830, and they had two children. John entered the employ of the Williamsville Mill owned by Caleb Williams, who had constructed the mill in 1827. Samuel and William Foster subsequently purchased this mill. In 1849, John Atwood became a partner. During this time, Atwood was able to produce a better grade of cotton sheeting than other mills. His product was finished by the W.F. & F.C. Sayles Company bleachery in Saylesville, Rhode Island . This exceptional sheeting captured the trade for years.

James S. Atwood, one of John's sons, was born 17 March 1832 . James was educated at Smithville Seminary in Scituate, Rhode Island and Woodstock Academy in Woodstock, Connecticut, after which he began working under the guiding hand of his father at the Williamsville mill. At Williamsville, he "mastered every detail of cotton manufacturing, serving in the various posiitons from bobbin boy to general manager, and thus making himself perfectly familiar with the construction and working of every machine in the mill." He married Julia Haskell on 17 September 1855, and they had three sons. Their twin sons James Arthur and John Walter were born 18 May 1864 and were later intimately involved in the family's textile business.

James S. Atwood became superintendent of the mill at Wauregan in 1853. At the time, a mill building was erected (1853-1854) for the manufacture of "plain and fancy cotton cloth." In 1858-1859 and 1866-1867, the mill building was expanded and new buildings were constructed. Amos D. Lockwood sold his stock in the mills to Orray Taft & Company soon after its founding and J.S. Atwood became resident agent. Water from the Quinebaug River and steam pwer were used to run the factory, in addition to 700 cords of wood and 1,500 tons of coal annually. There were five turbined wheels which generated 1,000 horsepower; an additional steam engine was able to provide another 400 horsepwer when required. The factory was lighted with gas from coal oil made on the premises. Under Atwood's direction, Wauregan Mills soon became well-known for its cotton goods, including various types of flannels and other woven cloth.

In his relation to the village of Wauregan, James S. Atwood "took great pride in the village which he saw, under the fostering care and ownership of the company, develop into one of the model hamlets of the vicinity, where the employees could find attractive and comfortable homes near their daily tasks." There were 104 company owned houses, providing 255 low rent tenements. In 1859, a railraod station was built and later, in 1860, a post office was established. The company constructed two boarding houses in order to accommodate the single workers. A dairy farm, light company, and general store were part of the mill operation as well as woodland acreage. The company store was built in 1875. J.A. Atwood III noted that the company constantly had to subsidize the store's operations because it had traditionally been a "losing operation." Across from the store was a building used as a firehouse and clubhouse. The village jail was attached to this building and its upper floor housed a reading room and library.

During this time, the Ponemah Mill at Taftville (Norwich), Connecticut, was an enterprise in which James S. Atwood's "managing hand was very evident. It was built after his own plan and under his direct supervision, and like the business at Wauregan, enjoyed phenomenol success." The Ponemah Mill was a pioneer in the manufacturing of "fine and fancy goods" and was perhaps the first mill to use combers on a large scale.

James S. Atwood was a long-standing member of the Republican Party and served in the Connecticut State Legislature in 1862 and again in 1868. He was also a Presidential Elector in the campaign of 1864 for the Republican ticket. He was also a member of the Congregational Church and it was through his efforts that the Congregational church in Wauregan was constructed. He died 20 February 1885 in Wauregan, Connecticut .

James Arthur Atwood, son of James S. Atwood, was educated in the Wauregan schools and attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, graduating from that institution in 1881. He continued his education at the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University and graduated in 1885. He then followed the same training at the mill in Wauregan as his father. Starting as bobbin boy, he was soon moved into the office and eventually was appointed agent for Wauregan in 1889. At various times in his life, James A. Atwood held the positions of president of the Williamsville Manufacturing Company ; president of the Wauregan Company ; president of the Ponemah Mills ; and director, until 1901, of the Sterling Dyeing & Finishing Company of Sterling, Connecticut . He married Helen Louise Mathewson on 11 December 1888 . Their two children were J. Arthur, Jr. and Dorothy.

In March 1897, J.A. Atwood also assumed the position of agent for the Quinebaug Company in Danielson, Connecticut . He operated two mills there. The oldest was built in 1820 by Comfort Tiffany and was known as the Danielson Manufacturing Company, or the "Tiffany Mill." The mill was bought in 1851 by Amos D. Lockwood and his associates from Providence, Rhode Island . It then became part of the new Quinebaug Company . In 1864, the Qinebaug Company built a second mill in Danielson, "a massive stone mill." The oldest mill was constructed of wood. Its water wheel system produced 100 horsepower. The stone mill, was many times larger than the wooden mill and generated 900 horsepwer. In both mills, steam engines provided pwer when water levels were inadequate for water power. The Quinebaug Company operated 54, 736 spindles and 1,400 looms in its two mills by 1889. Also in that year, the company employed 800 people and issued a payroll of $19,000 every four weeks. The company built 200 brick tenements in Danielson for employee housing. It also built and operated a large store, grist mill and saw mill. By 1889, its two textile mills were producing 3,000,000 yards of cloth a year, primarily sheetings of different widths and weights. The stock of the Quinebaug Company was owned mostly in Providence. The mills of the Wauregan Company were only a few miles down river. Close ties existed between the two companies because of their common ownership by the Lockwood family. The Atwoods created stronger links between the companies in later years. James Arthur Atwood was the agent and president for both companies, becoming agent for the Wauregan Mills in 1889 and for the Quinebaug Company in 1897.

John Walter Atwood followed the same educational path as his twin brother, James Arthur Atwood . In 1888, he was appointed superintendent of the Wauregan Mills . During his adult life, he was active in the Republican Party and was elected to the Connecticut State Legislature in 1899, where he served as a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee. He was commissioned Commissary General and served as such until 1 July 1899, at which time he was appointed paymaster general. He married Ethel Alexander on 1 June 1887 .

In January 1899, the name of the company was legally changed to the Wauregan Company . James A. Atwood and his brother, John Walter Atwood, spent the following years expanding and making general improvements on the mill. By 1917, the company employed 325 men and 160 women and children. The company's general offices were located at Twenty Market Square in Providence. James Arthur Atwood, Jr. served as assistant treasurer until his untimely death in 1922. Gordon Harrower was treasurer and general manager of the Wauregan mill, and became president when James A. Atwood, Sr. died. Harrower learned the textile business at Nashawena Mills in New Bedford, Massachusetts . He became associated with the Atwoods through their New York selling house, the American Bleached Goods Company .

In October 1932, the Wauregan and Quinebaug mills merged to form the Wauregan-Quinebaug Company, Inc. Both of these mills were operated by the Atwoods and their agents. The merger took place in such a manner that the Wauregan Company became the controlling partner. The mills specialized in cotton fabrics and experimented with a number of types of weaves and spins. In 1942, the Wauregan-Quinebaug Company again reorganized. The Quinebaug mills was sold to the U.S. Rayon Corporation, and the main plant became the one located in Wauregan. James A. Atwood, Sr. retained the presidency while Gordon Harrower remained as treasurer and general manager. By May 1943, the company was known as the Wauregan Mills, Inc.

During World War II, the Wauregan company concentrated on the manufacture of military facbrics, in particular, "shirtings" for the Marine Corps. Thousands of dollars were spent on equipment for this effort. The company received five "E" awards from the Army and Navy for "outstanding production of war materials." During this time, almost 90% of their output was shipped to the armed services.

James Arthur Atwood III spent two years in England as an instructor in radar for the 8th Air Force. After the war, he studied at the North Carolina Textile School . While in school, he worked part-time in the Pilot Mills in Raleigh, North Carolina . His first full-time employment after graduating was with the J.P. Stevens Company in Greenville, South Carolina, where he worked his way through their management course. J.A. Atwood III returned to Wauregan in 1948 because of the poor health of his grandfather and Gordon Harrower . He began as assistant treasurer and became president and treasurer of the company in 1957.

Once the war was over, the company returned to peace-time production. Wauregan joined other mills in the manufacture of rayon and wool facbrics. Unfortunately, the "bottom dropped out" of the market for this product in 1949 and the company lost about $750,000 that year. The fluctuations in the marketplace were soon followed by a devastating flood of 1955.

Both mill and village suffered the ravages of the great flood of 1955. Contemporary newspaper accounts reveal that it was an extraordinary feat that the mill was able to rebuild and operate afterwards. The flood caused a disasterous delay in the supply of Dacron from Dupont which Wauregan had hoped to run in a 35/65 blend that the mill had developed with Dupont. Wauregan had spent thousands of dollars on this development and the delay in delivery of the raw materials caused a severe financial burden for the company.

At the same time, the increased competition from Japanese imports and their ability to "inventory" in the United States created an industry-wide pressure on domestic textile manufacturers. In 1957, Wauregan consolidated back to one mill building (building closest to the Quinebaug River ). It was finally decided to stop mill operations in early 1958. After this time, the company began to sell its equipment and surplus real estate. The company ceased its operations in Wauregan in 1979, although it continues to exist as a corporate body.