Luke Taft (3 June 1783 – 7 April 1863) was an industrial pioneer in the manufacture of

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

ens in 19th century

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

Family

Luke Taft was a fifth-generation descendant of Robert Taft I, of the American Taft family. Robert Taft I had settled from England in the western section of Mendon in 1679 which later became Uxbridge in 1727. Luke was the son of Esther and James Taft of Uxbridge, and born into a family of eight other siblings. Luke Taft married Daniel Day and Sylvia (Wheelock) Day's daughter, Mercy Day, and was also subsequently married to Nancy (Wood) Taft. He had a total of five children, including a son, Moses, who was his second born in Uxbridge in January 1812. He also had four other children, James, Joseph, Robert, and a daughter Irene who may have been born from a later marriage.

Textile mills

Luke became an early American industrial pioneer and the builder of two early

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

s. Luke Taft built a dam, and his first textile mill on the West River (Massachusetts), in 1824. This was the third woolen mill in Uxbridge, a very early US industrial center. Luke Taft was the son-in-law of Daniel Day, who had earlier established the first woolen mill in the

Blackstone Valley The Blackstone Valley or Blackstone River Valley is a region of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was a major factor in the American Industrial Revolution. It makes up part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and Nationa ...

, at Uxbridge, circa 1810. Luke Taft's first textile mill was located near the site of the now former ''

Waucantuck Mill Complex The Waucantuck Mill Complex was a mill complex in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Despite its 2010 demolition, (except for a historic storage building) it is still listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The original Luke Taft Mill, built i ...

'' site, a national historic site. Luke Taft later built a second

in 1833, on the

Blackstone River The Blackstone River is a river in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It flows approximately 48 mi (80 km) and drains a watershed of approximately 540 sq. mi (1,400 km2). Its long history of industrial use has left ...

at the site of the present day Stanley Woolen Mill. This mill was also known as the "Luke Taft Mill". Luke's son, Moses Taft, built a larger mill at this same site in 1852.

A 200-year family enterprise

These mills, together with the Daniel Day Mill, and family connections to the Taft and Wheelock families, became the longest-running family-owned

s in the Northeastern US (perhaps in the US). Daniel Day was also a member of the Taft family as his mother was Deborah (Taft) Day. Daniel Day's wife was Sylvia (Wheelock) Day. The Wheelock family ownership of this local family-owned textile dynasty continues today under the name of Berroco Inc., a yarn distribution company, headquartered at the site of Daniel's original carding mill until 2010. In that year Berroco moved a few miles south to neighboring North Smithfield, RI, the first planned mill village started by

John Slater (industrialist) John Slater (December 25, 1776 – May 27, 1843) was an early American industrialist, founder of Slatersville, Rhode Island and younger brother of Samuel Slater, father of the American Industrial Revolution, and a member of the well-known Slater ...

and

Samuel Slater Samuel Slater (June 9, 1768 – April 21, 1835) was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" (a phrase coined by Andrew Jackson) and the "Father of the American Factory System". In the ...

Historic context

Uxbridge is in the heart of the Blackstone Valley, a major contributor to the earliest industrialization of the U.S. Luke Taft was a member of the famous Taft family which has its roots in Mendon and Uxbridge. The Waucantuck mill, in later years, became the first manufacturer of "wash and wear" fabric in the U.S. The historic mill town of Uxbridge was noted for leading with many advancements in the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...

in America including

power looms A power loom is a mechanized loom, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. The first power loom was designed in 1786 by Edmund Cartwright and first built that same year. ...

for woolens, complete

vertical integration In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the suppl ...

of textiles to clothing lines, blended fabrics and "

satinet Satinet is a finely woven fabric with a finish resembling satin, but made partly or wholly from cotton or synthetic fiber. The fibers may be natural (as with cotton, woolens or cashmere wool) or synthetic. In the United States of America The pro ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taft, Luke People from Uxbridge, Massachusetts People of the Industrial Revolution American textile industry businesspeople 1783 births 1863 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople

Family

Textile mills

A 200-year family enterprise

Historic context

See also

References