The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-08-14
ONCE HEAD OF A GREAT MILL.
sprague, Whose Books In 1872 Showed
Profits of s2o.ooo,ooo Is Dead.
From the Boston Herald.

From the Boston Herald.
Amassa Sprague. the senior partner Of
the once prosperous and powerful firm
known throughout the land as the A. &
W. sprague Manufacturing company,
died Monday Afternoon at his home In
Coweset heights. Warwick, R. L, of a
eaneerous affection of the spleen, aged
"A years
His brother William who survives him,
was United States senator from Rhode
Island. He achieved a national reputa-
ton as Rhode Islands war governor. 3"
when, in 1861 he responded with remark
able promptness to President Lincoln's
call for troops to defend the city of
Washington, taking the ne1d in person.
At this time the credit of the Spragues
was pledged in the interests of the gov
eminent, and the call for horses for the
Rhode Island battery was answered by
Amasa, who furnished $50, and had them
on their way to Washington within three
days after the Presidents permission
had been obtained TO let the troops go
forward.
Amasa Sprague was born In Cranston,
R. L. and received his early education in
Greenwich academy. While yet scarcely
II years old the management of the great
manufacturing and printing properties of
his parents fell to Amasa and his brother
William. Their holding increased rapidly
and before many years they had plants
at Natick, Arctic. Quidneck, In Rhode
Island, Baltic, Conn. and Kennebunk,
Me. At one time a large part Of the
center of Rhode Island was owned by
them.
In the early EOS, before the building
of the New England railroad, the
Spragues operated a horse freight line
between Cranston and Providence, and
afterward built passenger line. In 1867
Amasa built the Narragansett track, and
for long term of years he served the
town of Cranston in the general assem-
bly, In 1890 he was elected sheriff of
Kent county, and served as such until
death.
In 1873 business reverses overlook the
family. and the greater part of the es-
tate. including their immense printing
plants. went into other hands. Since
that time neither of the brothers has
engaged in active business. The output
of the Sprague mills was greater than
that of all the other factories IN the
United States combined. and according
to the recent statement of a member of
the family, the books for the year pre-
ceding the panic exhibited a profit Of
20 million dollars. The company was
running nine mammoth mills, capable Of
weaving 100000 yards of cloth and print
ing 100000 yards of calico per week
The brothers owned steam and street
railroads had their own gas and water
plants, and owned every village and con-
trolled the towns where their constitu-
ents lived. But in the depression which
followed the civil war the great concern
went down, the properties were sold and
two men, who. more than any others be-
fore or since engaged in the printing Of
cotton goods, had brought this partieu-
lar line of manufacture to its highest
point, retired from the textile world.
Their ancestors were the earliest cot
ton manufacturers in Rhode Island, and
William sprague. second. was the first
calico printer In America. The first
Spragues came to this country from
England in 1923 Besides his brother
William. Amasa Sprague Is survived by
a widow and one son.