OLDEST COTTON MACHINERY—LEWTON 507 
SLATER’S THIRD MILL 
John Slater, a brother of Samuel, arrived from England in 1803, 
bringing with him a knowledge of the spinning mule invented by 
Crompton. In 1805 a new enterprise was planned, Almy, Brown, 
and the two Slaters each taking a fourth interest, and during 1806 
the erection of a mill was begun in the northern part of Rhode 
Island on the South Branch of the Blackstone River. The mill was 
finished and began operations in 1807, John Slater being superin- 
tendent. This was the beginning of the village of Slatersville. 
John Slater eventually bought out all the other partners, and the 
mills and village were passed on to his grandson, John W. Slater. 
SLATER’S FOURTH MILL 
In 1811, in company with a young man named Bela Tiffany, who 
had been in his employ a number of years, Samuel Slater started a 
cotton factory at Oxford, Mass., a part of which village is now 
known as Webster, about 35 miles northwest from Providence, R. I. 
An excellent water power was furnished by the French River and 
several ponds. At first the business was conducted under the name 
of Slater & Tiffany, but it soon came wholly into the possession of 
Samuel Slater, and ultimately was carried on in the name of Samuel 
Slater & Sons. The property in 1817 consisted of one cotton fac- 
tory of 2,000 spindles, a woolen mill, a grist and saw mill, 16 dwell- 
ing houses, and 700 acres of land. 
In 1822 with Willard Sayles and Lyman Tiffany of Boston, 
Oliver Dean of Franklin, and Pitcher & Gay of Pawtucket, Slater 
formed a company, and purchased an estate consisting of a small 
cotton mill, several tenements, and a fine water-privilege at Amos- 
keag Falls, on the Merrimack River. This was the foundation of 
the well-known Amoskeag Manufacturing Co., and the real begin- 
ning of the great manufacturing city of Manchester, N. H. 
The War of 1812, by shutting out foreign goods, gave a great 
impetus to domestic manufacture, and as Samuel Slater had all 
his various enterprises well under way, he was enabled to reap great 
advantage. Cotton cloth sold at 40 cents a yard, and the demand 
was unlimited. Besides the interests which he possessed in the mills 
already mentioned, he invested capital in woolen and iron manufac- 
ture, and other lines of business. 
According to a memorial presented to the United States Congress, 
there were reported to be at the close of the year 1815, 99 cotton 
mills in Rhode Island, with 75,678 spindles; in Massachusetts, 57 
mills with 45,650 spindles; and in Connecticut, 14 mills with 12,886 
spindles; making a total of 170 mills operating 134,214 spindles. The 
average capacity of cotton mills at that time was only 500 spindles, 
