by Barbara Rimkunas
This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, January 28, 2022.
When John Wheelwright arrived in Exeter in the late winter of 1638, he was most likely wearing woolen socks. Europeans used two basic fiber sources for their clothing – linen and wool. Both of these were produced in the temperate climate they came from and both could be cultivated in New England. But until the time of the American Revolution, most textiles were imported from Britain. The first Englishmen in our area put most of their effort into basic survival. Considering sheep can provide both food and clothing, it would seem like they’d be perfect. But, in fact, sheep are nothing but trouble. They prefer open cleared land, cannot defend themselves against even small predators and are hell-bent on getting lost and injured. They’re the toddlers of the livestock world. For the first hundred or so years, Exeter folks depended on imported textiles. John Giddings’ account book lists numerous types of fabric that he transported and sold in town: serge, kersey, baize, tammy, durant, osnaburg, flannels, garlix, kalt, broadcloth, shaloon and even a bit of cotton and silk. All were either produced in the British Isles or imported from Europe, India or China. There were some small-scale local producers of cloth, but no large manufacturers.
The Revolution and War of 1812 cut off trade with Britain and it was during this period that homespun became more common. In fact, you might say it set off a frenzy of wool production, aided by the importation of merino sheep, which produced a finer quality of wool. The “merino craze” prompted many New England farmers – particularly in Vermont and western New Hampshire – to clear land and build rock walls to keep the sheep from the corn fields. The bubble would burst within a few decades (which is why we find rock walls in the woods today – after the sheep disappeared, nature took over) but even the diminished number of post-boom sheep were more than had been in the region before.
Exeter’s wool history fits into this narrative slightly sideways. Our 16 square mile town never had large herds of sheep. Our inland waterfront made it possible to ship goods into and out of town. We know that there was a bit of wool production in the area. Early accounts of Exeter mention “fulling mills” on the river. Wool, in its raw state is dirty and oily. Even if the sheep’s fleece is cleaned before shearing, the cloth that is produced will be loosely woven and still quite greasy. Fulling is the process of beating and shrinking the fabric until its fibers felt together into the rugged weave used for heavy clothing. The 1802 map of Exeter shows “Clark’s fulling mill” on the eastern side of the upper falls in the center of town. There is no adjacent weaving mill, so we can comfortably guess that homespun fabric was brought to the mill to be fulled. Timothy Dwight’s description of Exeter in 1796 mentioned “two fulling-mills.”
Charles Bell tells us that, “a woolen factory had been added, which was on the west side of the upper dam. This was a building of considerable size, erected by Nicholas Gilman in 1803 to contain carding and other machinery.” A later account, which appears in the 1872 town directory, indicates that the woolen factory existed for about two decades. “A woollen mill, which stood on Water Street, was carried on by Nicholas and Daniel Gilman, who manufactured most of the wool raised in this part of the state.” The building stood just where Water Street bends before reaching the Great Bridge. It burned, according to Bell, sometime between 1845 and 1850. There is such a building depicted on the 1845 map labeled as “old factory.” The Gilmans owned the factory, but it seems to have been run by three other men. Advertisements in the Watchman read: “WOOL WANTED – The subscribers wish to purchase a quantity of merino, mixed blooded, and common WOOL – for which cloths will be exchanged at cash prices. Moores, Sargent & Robbins, Woolen Factory, Exeter, June 10th, 1817”. Early summer was an excellent time for sheep shearing. The same edition includes a long essay, taken from the Boston Palladinna, on shearing. Sheep needed to be warm enough so that, “it must have sweated many days together, that the moisture may have lodged itself about the wool, and in a manner oiled it so, that the washing for cleanliness shall not carry it entirely off.” In short, sheep’s wool needed its natural lanolin to prevent brittleness, but it still needed to be washed first. “Sheep damage their wool by lying in dirty places, for they are not naturally a clean animal.”
Wool acquired through shearing is the pleasant means of wool production. The sheep is annoyed, but unhurt. Exeter’s wool industry took economic leaps forward in the mid-1800s. Both John Moses and Abner Merrill took an interest in wool through their hat manufacturing businesses. As the Civil War began, there was an increased need for woolen cloth by the military. But there was no fun-loving wrangling of sheep for shearing in this business. Both Moses and Merrill were in the “wool pulling” business. Pulled wool is taken from the skins of animals that have been slaughtered for meat. It was considered a lower quality wool, but perhaps this was what was needed for uniforms and blankets. Moses built his factory on Tan Lane. “tanned sheep and lamb skins (wanted)” advertised Moses. Both firms began with wool-pulling in Exeter during the Civil War and, having made fortunes, turned to being wool merchants in Boston in later years. Moses’ son, Henry, built himself a fine home on the corner of Pine and Linden Streets that most people recognize today.
The Exeter Manufacturing Company, which produced cotton textiles beginning in the 1830s, would out-pace any fledgling wool manufacturing in Exeter. Probably for the better, as it kept all those sheep out of town.
Barbara Rimkunas is curator of the Exeter Historical Society. Support the Exeter Historical Society by becoming a member! Join online at: www.exeterhistory.org