The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-04-12
THE LARGEST CIRCULATION OF AMY NORTH GAR0TIT7 DAILY

EE
. tOmac river If this be true-I am
entitled to the honor of having dyed
with my own hands and had woven un-
der my own supervision the first ward
OF coLored cotton goods manufactured
in the South.
8 While working in the dve-hO,rsp.
wore oyeralRs made OF Osnaburgs and
dled IN AN indigo vat and it may not be
4 out OF place in this connection to r1A-
late a little incident that occurred
gabout this time. A few months aFtsr
my wife and myself were married
8sOme of her lady friends from Green's
bOro were on a visit to her, and one
SafternOOn they concluded that they
& would drive down TO the mill and see
= this process of dyeing yaTn-it being
3 something new at that time. Fhev
walked into the dYe-house and I OBJ
sserved that my wife did not recognize
4 me with nay OVeralls on--sO slipping
up beside her, threw my arms around
4 her and kissed her She very indip-
Enaatly drew back and catching up a
Y ''Wrlnging stick" (which is about the
h size of a mans wrist and made out Of
q the best and hardest hickory woody.
= made for me, and but for my making
i myself Immediately known would
Y have paid dearly for my kiss
When Holt and Carrigan started
stheir cotton factory they began with
j28 spindles. A few years later l6
looms were added. When ! left the
mills in 1861 there were in operation
q 1 POO spindles and 96 looms ana TO run
q these and the grist mill and saw mill
exhausted all the power of Alamance
. creek, on which they were located.
My father trained all his sons IN the
MAN ufacturing business and as we
grew up, we branched out for our
selves and built other mills, but the
plaid business in our family and 4 may
say in the State Of North Carolina. rose
! from and had its beginning at this
/ little mill on the banks of Alamance
creek, with its little copper kettle and
an ordinary wash pot
b l am glad to be able to state that
my grandfather, who so bitterly oD-
posed my father in the inauguration OF
his enterprise and from whom he would
never borrow a dollar or permit him
. to endorse his papeF-on account of
his promise in the beginning, that his
, father should not become involved in
anyway on his account, lived to see
and rejoice In the success of the en-
terprise. When the machinery for the
I cotton factory arrived the makers
. hlessrs. Goodwin, Clark & Co, of Pat
terson, N. j., sent an expert along with
it 10 put it up and run it until my
. ia ther became competent to run it him
. self. This expert remained about is
months and in the meantime my faith
er learned how to run it himself-he
, taking charge of and managing the
mill and his partner, Mr.. Carrigan, the
store and Che keeping Of the books.
The mill ran i2 hours n day. / was
little fellow, (Only six years old, when
the cotton factory started and weA do
/ remember sitting up with nay mother
waiting for my father to come home
at night In the winter time the mill
would stop at 2 o'clock and after stop
ping he would always remain i'm the
building for half an hour, to see that
an the lamps were. out and the stove
. in such a condition as there would be
no danger from FIRE and then be would
ride mile and a quarter to his home.
In the morning he would eat his.
breakfast BY daylight and be at the
mill by G.30 O'Clock TO start the ma
ChineTy going. He kept this habit up
for several years and until his mill was
paid for and in the meantime he en-
gagged the services of q bright young
man from the country and taught him
how to run the mill After this young
man became competent to run the
mill, it. was turned over to him and
run by him under the supervision Of
my father.
J Edwin M Holt was strong parti-
zan and an enthusiastic Whig, but he
IA
his friends and neighbors often soli-
cited him to do so. I'm the year 1s45
there was d small cotton factory built
lat Haw River, ~ c., having only 528
.spindles and in 1853 the company own
ling this mill failed My father and
myself purchased the property at an
'eXecution sale, made by the sheriff of
the county, and in 1861 bought his in
.terest in this property and moved to
.Haw River to live. From time to time
land as fast as made money, / invest
ed it in machinery and at the present
time there. are 1866 spindles and 63S
looms in full operation. We are now
building n new mill. When this mill
is completed we will have i'm operation
at Haw River 22,834 spindles and $40
looms. All of these looms are and will
be running on ColOred goods of var
iOus kinds and the whole of it, had it's
origin and beginning in the small start
made with the copper kettle and the
wash pot, and I attribute the success
which has crowned my efforts in man
in a great degree to the
early training and business methods
impaired to me in my boyhOod by my
father
Respectfully,
THOs. M. HOLT.
GnIIMHu ne STATES AHTInM