Figure I o. — An Original Scholfield Wool-Carding Machi.nk ai Oi.u .Sii kiikiui.l \ illai.l, 

 Sturbridge, Massachusetts. It is now run by electricity. {Pholo courtesy of Old Sturbridge Village.) 



tlic mill was purchased at a Sheriff's sale by Gorham 

 Parsons, who sold a part interest to Paul Moody, a 

 machinist from the textile town of Lowell. Moody 

 operated the mill for the next 5 years and at his death 

 in 1831 his heirs sold their interest back to Parsons. 

 In 1832 it was leased for 7 years by William N. 

 Cleveland and Solomon Wilde under the name of 

 William N. Cleveland & Co. Following the expira- 

 tion of the lease in 1839, a portion of the mill was 

 occupied for 3 or 4 years by Enoch Pearson, believed 

 to have been a descendant of the John Pearson who 

 had been a clothier in Rowley in 1643, and subse- 

 quently various industries occupied other portions 

 and later the entire building, which burned with all 

 its contents on October 29, 1859. 

 If the first Scholfield carding machine remained a 



part of the property, therefore it must have been lost 

 in that fire. However, the Scholfields' importance to 

 American wool manufacture was not contingent on 

 the building of one successful carding machine, re- 

 gardless of whether it was the first. It was the change 

 in the scope of their business ventures after their move 

 to Connecticut that synonymized the name of Schol- 

 field with mechanical wool carding in America. 



John and Arthur had built their woolen mill at 

 Uncasville, a village in the town of Montville, and 

 there Arthur remained with his brother until 1801. 

 when he married, sold his interest to John, and moved 

 to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. John and his sons con- 

 tinued to operate the mill until 1806, when difficulties 

 over water privileges spurred him to purchase prop- 

 erty in Stonington, Connecticut, where he built a 



PAPER 1 : SCHOLFIELD WOOL-CARDING MACHINES 



11 



