only vary in size but have a pitch that would have been 

 impossible to produce after the original plate had 

 been made.'* 



There is no doubt that this carding machine was 

 made by Arthur Scholfield, or under his immediate 

 supervision, sometime between 1803 and 1814. It 

 may well be one of the machines sent to southern New 

 Hampshire in 1809 or 1810, as it is known to have 

 been run in Nashua and JcfTrcy, New Hampshire, in 

 the 1820's and 1830's, after which it was run by James 

 Townsend in Marlboro, New Hampshire, from 1837 

 until 1890, when it was exhibited at the Mechanics 

 Fair in Boston. Mr. Rufus S. Frost purchased the 

 machine and owned it until his death in 1897. When 

 the Frost estate was settled, the old Scholfield wool- 



" The author is indebted to Mr. Don Berkebile of the 

 Smithsonian's U. S. National Xfuseum staff for his examination 

 of the metal tcctli on the comb plate of this machine. 



carding machine was purchased by the Davis & 

 Furber Machine Co., by which in 1954 it was pre- 

 sented to the National Museum. 



The disappearance of the original Scholfield carding 

 machine is regrettable, but fortunately the Scholfields' 

 importance to the American woolen industry does not 

 depend on their having produced this one machine. 

 These brothers, arriving here at a critical time in our 

 nation's history, made important contributions to our 

 economic and to our technological progress — John by 

 his mill operations, Arthur by his ultimate work of 

 constructing wool-carding machines for sale. Of these 

 two aspects, it is the contribution of Arthur that has 

 had the more far-reaching effect, for he spread his 

 e.\pert knowledge of mechanical wool carding, in the 

 form of machines, throughout the New England 

 woolen centers. His machines now stand as monu- 

 ments to the work of both. 



14 



BULLETIN 218: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



