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Washington became vested in this matter, growing his stock of manufacturing fine wool appeared in Lowell, Massachusetts. As the
sheep from 200 in 1797 to 800 in 1788, while investing in a Persian demand for high-quality wool continued, employment numbers
ram to improve the overall quality of the wool being harvested. Thomas climbed, the number of people needed to fill the jobs climbed. By the
Jefferson invested in Tunis sheep (although not the same as Tunis sheep mid-1800s, the mills turned to hiring women from near and far to fill
today) and a quality Shetland ram, and invested in Tunis brought here the vacancies, showing this opportunity to be more of a delightful
from North Africa and East Asia. adventure where women could bond
Others followed in their tracks by while working side-by-side.
breeding with better quality rams, but
they lacked the one thing people were This One’s for the
pining for: Merino wool.
Girls
Make Mine Merino Selling the idea of allowing women
While importing sheep into this to join the workforce of factories was a
r, marketing “ploy,” saying it was all
new country was difficult at best, the about financial independence and
DuPont family brought over the first joining together with other women
m imported sheep named Don Pedro (and girls – some discovered to be as
y, from Spain in 1801 and began his young as 10) in a community of
foray into the wool industry. In 1802, happiness and support. Little did
Col. David Humphreys also imported many of the young girls selected to
100 merinos, 25 rams, and 75 ewes work in the mills know that they were
from France. Then, in 1810, Spain about to enter the world of the sweat-
exported 20,000 merinos to the U.S. shop filled with 12 to 14-hour work-
because Spain needed the money and A pair of rams named “Don Pedro” stand watch at the tree-lined entry days, pay constrictions, and tight,
America needed the sheep. to the former DuPont hunting lodge in Cambridge, Maryland. communal living arrangements where
The looming War of 1812 cut the photo: Dorchester Community Economic Development
U.S. out of trade with Great Britain there were at least two, but more likely
three to a bed.
once again, and the wool from the sheep was once again being
somewhat depleted by war. After the war ended, cheap fine wool At right:
was once again available from England because there was now a surplus This brief piece states that girls come
of merino. from far and wide to work at the
The ups and downs of supply and demand were taking their Lowell mills because the pay is better
toll. It was time for America to have its own wool industry with than they would make at home.
refined quality. The article contends that a girl can
make only four dollars a month
working in a family,
America, Let the Industrial a pittance compared to her
Revolution Begin earnings at the mill.
An American breed or sheep was being further defined by breeding
ewes to the Tunis (“Barbary sheep”)
rams, and also to merino sheep helped
bring about a more refined wool. George
Washington’s stepson George The typical prized recruit was a
Washington Parke Curtis played a role in “farmer’s daughter” who was between 14
promoting American wool and proper and 35 years of age looking to help pay
breeding after he “discovered a flock of for her brother’s college tuition, help the
feral sheep on Smith Island that were said family with bills, take part in the lectures
to have wool as fine as any merino. Custis and programs available to them from the
crossed the Smith Island sheep with his factory, or sometimes acquire a little
Persian ram and another longwool ram financial independence. Often, the girls
named “Bakewell” (not to be confused would recruit friends or members of
with the Bakewell breed of sheep, also their families to join them to make life a
known as Leicester Longwool) and creat- bit less lonely.
ed the Arlington Improved breed." (The
American Wool Industry) From there, he Not Your Average
”
started annual sheep-shearing contests, “ Dickens Factory
and over the course of a few years, it was Both boarding houses and the
still the Merino that won the day. educational opportunities that were
This all brought focus to the building offered to the employees were thanks to
of the American sheep that had originally Francis Cabot Lowell who was looking
come across the ocean, much like the to distance the conditions there from the
farmers who raised them. Inventions

leading to a greater vision of processing E. Corbould and H.W. Smith, The Maid of the
wool and other fabrics brought about the Mill, 19th century print
Industrial Revolution as it was applied to The story depicted here is about a young girl who
the textile industry. relinquishes her middle class life and identity to
Mills were popping up across the experience life as a working mill girl, fancying
country, and with each new mill came that this will grant her a “freer life.”
new towns and cities surrounding them She ultimately meets and falls in love with a
and providing the labor needed to work young boy whom she believes to be a cottage hand
the machinery. As machinery continued but is, indeed, a rich gentleman. The story, like
to improve, the sizes of the mills grew the image, provides an example of how mill girls
exponentially, and a small mecca for were frequently romanticized in literature directed
at the middle class. photo: American Antiquarian
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