Mac Whatley, historian, and Director of Local History and Genealogy Resources at the Randolph County Public Library, takes us on a deep dive into the rich history of the power loom.
Research into the origin of textile machinery in the United States has been handicapped by the destruction of early records and artifacts, leading to generations of theories, suppositions and assumptions as to the actual appearance and operation of even the most seminal inventions such as the 1815 Waltham power loom of F.C. Lowell, as well as its unpatented competitor, the 1817 Rhode Island loom of William Gilmour.
What does it mean that Lowell’s was called a “Wiper Loom,” and Gilmour’s a “Crank Loom”? Whatley deconstructs power looms down to their constituent parts, first to deduce how these evolved from the inventor’s original model, and then to reconstruct the probable appearance of each branch of power loom design before 1820.
