In the West Riding of Yorkshire fully two thirds of the population depended on the wool trade. The amount of cloth produced there had increased substantially in the fifty years before 1820. But the number of people employed had not grown proportionately; mechanical improvements had made it possible for one man to do more work. Before 1787 carding by hand had lost its former significance; water wheels turned the carding machines. By 1800 the spinning jenny was in general use, and Slubbing was done by the billy. (A Slubbing Billy is a machine for putting a twist into wool and cotton so it can be spun). The power mule, although new, bore in its frame the threat of a fully mechanized spinning process. Almost all weaving was still done by hand, but power-driven machinery was radically changing the finishing processes. It was the revolution in the techniques of cloth finishing that most disturbed the equanimity of the countryside around Huddersfield. In 1812 the croppers rioted when the shearing frame threatened to supersede the hand shears they had traditionally used to finish cloth. The change in technology would of itself have disturbed the finishers, but in this instance it coincided with rising food prices, falling wages, and increased unemployment, caused by the naval blockades that were part of the Napoleonic Wars. The opposition to the introduction of machines in the finishing processes signaled the imminent defeat of the domestic system as it gave way before the factories. The independent artisan and small manufacturer were on their way out. After 1800 periods of prosperity were followed regularly by periods of depression. It was the recession of 1826 that provided the Hollingworths with the excuse they needed to pull up their English roots and replant them on the other side of the Atlantic.
Joseph left England at the age of 16, in late September of 1827 and boarded the Immigrant Ship Isaac Hicks bound to New York from Liverpool. He arrived in New York on the 6th of December 1827 along with his Mother, brothers and sister Hannah. The family settled initially in Leicester, Massachusetts where they joined their father, John, Jabez and James. They went to work for the Leicester Manufacturing Company. Joseph went to work in the finishing room, James spun, and Edwin, the youngest, served as a warp winder. Mr. Hollingworth apparently worked as a weaver.
Spring of 1830 found Joseph, James, Edwin and George Hollingworth in Southbridge, Massachusetts where they were employed by the Hamilton Woolen Company, then one of the largest firms in America. Father and Joseph were warping, James was a jack spinner and Edwin was spooling.
John and Jabez moved to Woodstock, Connecticut about the same time to work in the Muddy Brook-Pond Factory. They were joined within a year by their other brothers and their father. Joseph, Jabez and James leased the Muddy Brook Pond Factory from 1830-1834. Their attempt to run the Woodstock factory as a family venture is the last reasonably full account we have of their life in America. The family apparently kept the factory for the original three year lease, but they did not purchase the mill. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1845, and never rebuilt.
In 1831 Joseph married Hannah Blackmar and started a family a year later. Joseph remained in Woodstock, where at various times he owned a blacksmith shop, another woolen factory and a sawmill. He died suddenly in 1861 from accidental injuries sustained by a horse, according to the Brown Diary, Woodstock, 1777-1900.
The Town Clerk records of Woodstock, Records of births, marriages, and deaths, v. 1-5, 1686-1929, States a death date of 9 Oct 1861 and the Connecticut deaths and burials 1772-1934 indicates a burial on 11 Oct 1861.
The following excerpt is from the "Vital records of Woodstock 1686-1854": Top of page 424
This may certify that Joseph Hollingworth and Hannah Blackemor both of Woodstock were Joined in marriage November 15th A D 1831 by me Alvan Underwood Minister of Woodstock The above is a true record of the original certificate Attest Benjamin Webster Town Clerk.
A Letter From Joseph to Uncle William Rawcliffe in 1830.
Joseph left England at the age of 16, in late September of 1827 and boarded the Immigrant Ship Isaac Hicks bound to New York from Liverpool. He arrived in New York on the 6th of December 1827 along with his Mother, brothers and sister Hannah. The family settled initially in Leicester, Massachusetts where they joined their father, John, Jabez and James. They went to work for the Leicester Manufacturing Company. Joseph went to work in the finishing room, James spun, and Edwin, the youngest, served as a warp winder. Mr. Hollingworth apparently worked as a weaver.
Spring of 1830 found Joseph, James, Edwin and George Hollingworth in Southbridge, Massachusetts where they were employed by the Hamilton Woolen Company, then one of the largest firms in America. Father and Joseph were warping, James was a jack spinner and Edwin was spooling.
John and Jabez moved to Woodstock, Connecticut about the same time to work in the Muddy Brook-Pond Factory. They were joined within a year by their other brothers and their father. Joseph, Jabez and James leased the Muddy Brook Pond Factory from 1830-1834. Their attempt to run the Woodstock factory as a family venture is the last reasonably full account we have of their life in America. The family apparently kept the factory for the original three year lease, but they did not purchase the mill. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1845, and never rebuilt.
In 1831 Joseph married Hannah Blackmar and started a family a year later. Joseph remained in Woodstock, where at various times he owned a blacksmith shop, another woolen factory and a sawmill. He died suddenly in 1861 from accidental injuries sustained by a horse, according to the Brown Diary, Woodstock, 1777-1900.
The Town Clerk records of Woodstock, Records of births, marriages, and deaths, v. 1-5, 1686-1929, States a death date of 9 Oct 1861 and the Connecticut deaths and burials 1772-1934 indicates a burial on 11 Oct 1861.
The following excerpt is from the "Vital records of Woodstock 1686-1854": Top of page 424
This may certify that Joseph Hollingworth and Hannah Blackemor both of Woodstock were Joined in marriage November 15th A D 1831 by me Alvan Underwood Minister of Woodstock The above is a true record of the original certificate Attest Benjamin Webster Town Clerk.
A Letter From Joseph to Uncle William Rawcliffe in 1830.
In the West Riding of Yorkshire fully two thirds of the population depended on the wool trade. The amount of cloth produced there had increased substantially in the fifty years before 1820. But the number of people employed had not grown proportionately; mechanical improvements had made it possible for one man to do more work. Before 1787 carding by hand had lost its former significance; water wheels turned the carding machines. By 1800 the spinning jenny was in general use, and Slubbing was done by the billy. (A Slubbing Billy is a machine for putting a twist into wool and cotton so it can be spun). The power mule, although new, bore in its frame the threat of a fully mechanized spinning process. Almost all weaving was still done by hand, but power-driven machinery was radically changing the finishing processes. It was the revolution in the techniques of cloth finishing that most disturbed the equanimity of the countryside around Huddersfield. In 1812 the croppers rioted when the shearing frame threatened to supersede the hand shears they had traditionally used to finish cloth. The change in technology would of itself have disturbed the finishers, but in this instance it coincided with rising food prices, falling wages, and increased unemployment, caused by the naval blockades that were part of the Napoleonic Wars. The opposition to the introduction of machines in the finishing processes signaled the imminent defeat of the domestic system as it gave way before the factories. The independent artisan and small manufacturer were on their way out. After 1800 periods of prosperity were followed regularly by periods of depression. It was the recession of 1826 that provided the Hollingworths with the excuse they needed to pull up their English roots and replant them on the other side of the Atlantic.
Joseph left England at the age of 16, in late September of 1827 and boarded the Immigrant Ship Isaac Hicks bound to New York from Liverpool. He arrived in New York on the 6th of December 1827 along with his Mother, brothers and sister Hannah. The family settled initially in Leicester, Massachusetts where they joined their father, John, Jabez and James. They went to work for the Leicester Manufacturing Company. Joseph went to work in the finishing room, James spun, and Edwin, the youngest, served as a warp winder. Mr. Hollingworth apparently worked as a weaver.
Spring of 1830 found Joseph, James, Edwin and George Hollingworth in Southbridge, Massachusetts where they were employed by the Hamilton Woolen Company, then one of the largest firms in America. Father and Joseph were warping, James was a jack spinner and Edwin was spooling.
John and Jabez moved to Woodstock, Connecticut about the same time to work in the Muddy Brook-Pond Factory. They were joined within a year by their other brothers and their father. Joseph, Jabez and James leased the Muddy Brook Pond Factory from 1830-1834. Their attempt to run the Woodstock factory as a family venture is the last reasonably full account we have of their life in America. The family apparently kept the factory for the original three year lease, but they did not purchase the mill. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1845, and never rebuilt.
In 1831 Joseph married Hannah Blackmar and started a family a year later. Joseph remained in Woodstock, where at various times he owned a blacksmith shop, another woolen factory and a sawmill. He died suddenly in 1861 from accidental injuries sustained by a horse, according to the Brown Diary, Woodstock, 1777-1900.
The Town Clerk records of Woodstock, Records of births, marriages, and deaths, v. 1-5, 1686-1929, States a death date of 9 Oct 1861 and the Connecticut deaths and burials 1772-1934 indicates a burial on 11 Oct 1861.
The following excerpt is from the "Vital records of Woodstock 1686-1854": Top of page 424
This may certify that Joseph Hollingworth and Hannah Blackemor both of Woodstock were Joined in marriage November 15th A D 1831 by me Alvan Underwood Minister of Woodstock The above is a true record of the original certificate Attest Benjamin Webster Town Clerk.
A Letter From Joseph to Uncle William Rawcliffe in 1830.
Joseph left England at the age of 16, in late September of 1827 and boarded the Immigrant Ship Isaac Hicks bound to New York from Liverpool. He arrived in New York on the 6th of December 1827 along with his Mother, brothers and sister Hannah. The family settled initially in Leicester, Massachusetts where they joined their father, John, Jabez and James. They went to work for the Leicester Manufacturing Company. Joseph went to work in the finishing room, James spun, and Edwin, the youngest, served as a warp winder. Mr. Hollingworth apparently worked as a weaver.
Spring of 1830 found Joseph, James, Edwin and George Hollingworth in Southbridge, Massachusetts where they were employed by the Hamilton Woolen Company, then one of the largest firms in America. Father and Joseph were warping, James was a jack spinner and Edwin was spooling.
John and Jabez moved to Woodstock, Connecticut about the same time to work in the Muddy Brook-Pond Factory. They were joined within a year by their other brothers and their father. Joseph, Jabez and James leased the Muddy Brook Pond Factory from 1830-1834. Their attempt to run the Woodstock factory as a family venture is the last reasonably full account we have of their life in America. The family apparently kept the factory for the original three year lease, but they did not purchase the mill. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1845, and never rebuilt.
In 1831 Joseph married Hannah Blackmar and started a family a year later. Joseph remained in Woodstock, where at various times he owned a blacksmith shop, another woolen factory and a sawmill. He died suddenly in 1861 from accidental injuries sustained by a horse, according to the Brown Diary, Woodstock, 1777-1900.
The Town Clerk records of Woodstock, Records of births, marriages, and deaths, v. 1-5, 1686-1929, States a death date of 9 Oct 1861 and the Connecticut deaths and burials 1772-1934 indicates a burial on 11 Oct 1861.
The following excerpt is from the "Vital records of Woodstock 1686-1854": Top of page 424
This may certify that Joseph Hollingworth and Hannah Blackemor both of Woodstock were Joined in marriage November 15th A D 1831 by me Alvan Underwood Minister of Woodstock The above is a true record of the original certificate Attest Benjamin Webster Town Clerk.
A Letter From Joseph to Uncle William Rawcliffe in 1830.
Inscription
My body is laid beneath the sod,
My spirit is in your midst:
To roam about from place to place,
My mission to fulfill.
Family Members
Siblings
Advertisement
Advertisement
