Bigelow Carpet Pioneers
The carpet industry in the United States began in 1791
when William Sprague started the first woven carpet mill in Philadelphia.
Others opened during the early 1800s in New England. Included in that area was
Beattie Manufacturing Company in Little Falls, New Jersey, a company that
operated until 1979.
In 1839, Erastus Bigelow permanently reshaped the
industry with the invention of the power loom for weaving carpets. Bigelow's
loom, which doubled carpet production the first year after its creation and
tripled it by 1850, is now part of the Smithsonian Institution's collections.
He continued to devote his life to innovation -- 35 separate patents were
issued to him between 1839 and 1876. Bigelow introduced the first broadloom
carpet in 1877.
The power loom with Jacquard mechanism was developed in
1849, and Brussels carpet was first manufactured by the Clinton Company of
Massachusetts. The Brussels loom was slightly modified, making possible the
manufacture of Wilton carpet. Later, the Hartford Carpet Company joined with
Clinton Company to become Bigelow Carpet Company.
In 1878, four
Shuttleworth brothers brought 14 looms from England and established their
manufacturing plant in Amsterdam, New York. In 1905, the company introduced a
new carpet, Karnak Wilton. Its instant success was phenomenal. Flooded with
orders, a new building had to be constructed to exclusively handle Karnak
production. Weavers worked four and five years without changing either the
color or pattern on their looms.
Alexander Smith started his carpet
manufacturing plant in 1845 in West Farms, New York. An American, Halcyon
Skinner, had perfected the power loom for making Royal Axminster in 1876. He
and Alexander Smith combined, forming a very successful carpet company.
Alexander Smith was elected to Congress in 1878, but died on the evening of
Election Day. Sixteen hundred people were employed at his factory at the time
of his death. Alexander Smith & Sons continued. During World War I, the
carpet looms were converted to make tent duck and navy blankets. In 1929
Alexander Smith & Sons was the largest manufacturer of carpets and rugs in
the world.
Simulating the "Oriental" rug
Industrialist/retailer
Marshall Field had a traditional Axminster weaving loom modified to create
what no one else had ever created -- a machine-made rug woven through the
back, just like a handmade Oriental, featuring intricate designs and virtually
unlimited color variety. Karastan’s rug mill was established in 1926, and
introduced the first Karastan rugs to the public in 1928.
Alexander
Smith, Bigelow, and Karastan are companies continuing today as divisions of
Mohawk Industries, headquartered in Georgia.
There are many
manufacturers today producing both simulations of antique designs and updated
"oriental" type rugs by both weaving and tufting processes.
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 2 Apr 1814 - West Boylston, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA 2
Death: 6 Dec 1879 - Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA
Burial:
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Events
1. Residence 2, 1850 in Clinton, Worcester, Massachusetts
Parents
Father: Ephraim Bigelow (1791-1837) 1
Mother: Polly Brigham (1795-1855) 1
Spouses and Children
1. *Eliza Frances Means ( - ) 1 [MRIN:2463]
Marriage: 16 May 1843 - Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA
Children:
1. Helen Bigelow (1844-1933) 1
2. Susan W King [8564] ( - 1841) 1
Marriage:
Children:
1. Charles Bigelow [8565] (1841-1847) 1