J.P. Stevens & Co.

The company, located in New York City, was founded in 1899 by John P., Nathaniel and Samuel Stevens as the family-controlled selling agent for fabrics produced by M.T. Stevens & Sons Co., North Andover, Mass. It sold woolen goods of M.T. Stevens and cotton fabrics from other mills and invested in a number of southern mills, including producers of synthetics. After John P.'s death in 1929, sons Robert T. and John P., Jr. took charge, with Robert T. as president from 1929 to 1942. In 1941 he entered the Army, was promoted to colonel and served to 1945 in the Quartermaster General's procurement division. He returned to J.P. Stevens Co. as chairman of the board, 1945-1953, and served as Sec. of the Army, 1953-July 1955. He defended the Army against charges of Communist influence and infiltration by Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy during hearings held in 1953-1954. He returned to the company as president from 1955-1959 and chairman of the executive committee, 1969-1974.

After the death of Nathaniel Stevens in 1946, M.T. Stevens & Sons and 8 other mills merged with J.P. Stevens & Co. to become a public stock company. From 1946-1972, J.P. Stevens acquired several other New England woolen mills. Economic conditions led to the closing of all of its New England Woolen and Worsted Division mills by 1972. In 1988, J.P. Stevens & Co. was acquired by West Point-Pepperell, Inc. of West Point, Ga. In 1989, West Point-Pepperell was taken over by Chicago investor William Farley, chairman and chief executive officer of Fruit of the Loom, Inc. Farley was eventually forced to resign and the company was reorganized. A new company, Valley Fashions Corp., was formed which held 95% of West Point-Pepperell. In 1993, Valley Fashions and West Point-Pepperell announced a refinancing plan which allowed Valley Fashions to acquire the remaining shares of its 95% owned subsidiary, forming a new company, WestPoint Stevens, Inc. WestPoint Stevens filed for bankruptcy protection in 2003. In 2005 it was forced to lay off over 2,000 employees and close 2 plants.

J.P. Stevens and Co. was founded in 1813 in North Andover, Massachusetts by Captain Nathaniel Stevens and later incorporated on New Year's Eve of 1923. The company started in a converted grist mill producing woolen broadcloth in 1813. When the company was taken over and divided up in 1989 by Odyssey Partners, West Point-Pepperell, Inc., and Bibb Co., it had mills from Maine to Georgia making everything from cotton and woolen yarns and fabrics to carpets and synthetics. At the time of the 1989 turnover Stevens also owned two subsidiaries: Stevens Aviation and Stevens Graphics. The 175 years between 1813 and 1989 saw many changes for J.P Stevens and Co., Inc., including several name changes. The company started as Nathaniel Stevens and Son in 1850, when Moses T. Stevens became a partner. Captain Nathaniel Stevens gave up active management of the company in 1860 and he later died in 1865. In 1885 the name of the company changed to M.T. Stevens & Sons and was later incorporated in 1901. In 1883, John P. Stevens (nephew of Moses T.) went to work for the commission house of Faulkner, Page & Company. In 1899, he formed a partnership commission house to sell the products of M.T. Stevens & Sons and A.D. Gleason. The company was named J.P. Stevens and Co., and later incorporated in 1923. By 1903, J.P. Stevens and Co. was the selling agent for the woolen mills owned by M.T. Stevens and Sons Co. located in Andover (Marland Mills, est. 1820) and North Andover, MA (Stevens and Osgood Mills, est. 1813, inc. 1901) and Franklin, N.H. (Franklin Mills, est. ca. 1863, leased by Moses T. Stevens beginning 1871) and the woolen mill owned by Stevens and Co. located in Haverhill, MA (Penntucket Mills, est. 1830, bought by Nathaniel Stevens in 1855). The Nevins Co. of Boston, MA was the selling agent for the Stevens Linen Works (est. 1846, completed 1867) in Webster, MA. Except for the linen works and the Osgood Mills, all the mills produced woolen dress goods and dyed and finished their own fabrics. Along with dress goods, individual mills produced flannels, broadcloths and carriage cloths. The linen work produced linen crash toweling, while the Osgood Mills made worsted yarns. In 1918, M.T. Stevens & Sons added mills in Peacedale, RI (Peace Dale Mills, est. 1801, completed 1848). By 1930, the company had added mills located in Dracut, MA (Merrimack Woolen Mills, Inc., 1902). Both these mills made woolen dress goods and dyed and finished their own fabrics. Also by 1930, the Pentucket Mills in Haverhill, MA were under the ownership of M.T. Stevens & Sons Co. The Hockanum Mills Company was bought in 1934 and five woolen mills in Rockville, CT were added to M.T. Stevens & Sons. In 1935, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc., became a Delaware corporation when it merged with the Milton Corporation. J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. was the continuing corporation. In 1946, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. merged with M.T. Stevens and Sons Co. and Slater-Carter-Stevens, Inc. The resulting corporation continued under the name of J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. The shares of stock owned by Slater-Carter-Stevens, Inc., in the Carter Fabrics Corp. of Greensboro, NC and Slater Manufacturing Co. of Slater, SC would become the property of J.P. Stevens and Co. Inc. In addition, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. bought out cotton and rayon yarn and cloth mills in Virginia and North and South Carolina: Aragon-Baldwin Mills, Dunean Mills, Piedmont Manufacturing Co., Republic Cotton Mills, Victor-Monaghan Co., Wallace Manufacturing Co., Inc. and Watts Mills. These corporations and mills along with M.T. Stevens and Sons Co. became subsidiary corporations of J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. According to Ron Copsey, Director of Public Relations (1981-1988) for J.P. Stevens and Co. Inc., when the company moved south in 1946, it acquired 29 new mills and became a publicly owned corporation. By 1947, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. had acquired woolen mills in Gleasondale, MA (originally Stowe Woolen Mills, est. 1813, inc. 1915). In 1956, the company bought the Worumbo plant in Lisbon Falls, ME. In 1957, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. acquired the Forstmann Woolen Company located in Passaic, NJ. By 1960, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. had 50 plants in 41 locations and offices in New York, NY, Greenville, SC, and Greensboro, NC. In 1975, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. had 82 textile plants in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The main offices remained in New York City, with administrative offices in Greenville, SC. The company also owned two subsidiaries: Stevens Aviation and Stevens Graphics. The textile plants produced cotton, wool and synthetic yarns and fabrics (woven, non-woven, and knitted) and products such as towels, carpets, hosiery, glass fabrics, and sheets. In 1989, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. was taken over by Odyssey Partners, Inc., West Point-Pepperell, Inc., and Bibb Co. During the takeover, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. was divided up and parts went to both the two corporations and the company. Also at this time the JPS Textile Group, Inc. was formed. Under this corporation were five other corporations: JPS Automotive Products Corp., JPS Carpet Corp., JPS Converter and Yarn Corp., JPS Industrial Fabrics Corp., and JPS Elastomerics Corp.

The company, located in New York City, was founded in 1899 by John P. Stevens and his brothers Nathaniel and Samuel Stevens. It was the family-controlled selling agent for fabrics produced by the mills of M.T. Stevens & Sons Co. In addition to selling the woolen goods of M.T. Stevens, it began to sell cotton fabrics from other mills. It also invested in a number of southern textile mills, including producers of synthetics. After the death of John P. in 1929, his son Robert T. became president; he later served as Secretary of the Army from 1953-1955. After the death of Nathaniel Stevens in 1946, M.T. Stevens & Sons and eight other mills merged with J.P. Stevens & Co. and became a public stock company. From 1946 to 1972, J.P. Stevens acquired several other New England woolen mills. However, economic conditions led to the closing of all of the company's New England Woolen and Worsted Division mills by 1972. In 1988, J.P. Stevens & Co. was acquired by West Point-Pepperell, Inc. of West Point, Ga. In 1989, West Point-Pepperell was taken over by Chicago investor William Farley, chairman and chief executive officer of Fruit of the Loom, Inc. In 1999, Fruit of the Loom filed for bankruptcy. A new company, Valley Fashions Corp., was formed, and in 1993, its name became WestPoint Stevens, Inc. This company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2003 and in 2005 was forced to lay off several thousand workers and close two plants due to the end of U.S. textile quotas on imports from low-wage countries.

Whitney Stevens, son of Robert T. Stevens, became a vice president in 1957, a member of the executive committee in 1962, and president of J.P. Stevens in 1969. In 1980 he became chairman and chief executive officer.