MERINO SHEEP AND THE WOOLEN INDUSTRY A Chronology of Events Courtesy of Sheeptacular Pittsfield!, 2003­2004

• 1800 Arthur Scholfield arrived in Pittsfield; introduced the first carding machine for wool. In 1801, he began employing workers and perfecting models for looms and spinning jennies.

• 1804 First broadcloth made in U.S. was made by Scholfield. The cloth was grey­mixed, coarse, and did not sell well locally. A few weeks later, a local merchant called on Scholfield to examine cloth purchased in New York. Scholfield pointed out his own private marks on the cloth, identifying it as the same piece local merchants had rejected. Thus, interest in Scholfield’s cloth was peaked.

• 1805 April. Wool prices: 8 cents/lb for picking, greasing and carding white wool. Twelve and one­half cents/lb for mixed wool. At this time, 20 sheep produced about 11 lbs of wool at a single shearing.

• 1807 Elkanah Watson moved to Pittsfield and purchased Henry Van Schaack’s home, currently the Pittsfield Country Club.

• Fall 1807 Chancellor Livingston of New York, and James D. Colt of Pittsfield, brought the first Spanish sheep, the Merino, into Pittsfield, that sold for as high as $500 each. Watson exhibited two of these fine Spanish sheep at Park Square. This was the first time Merino sheep had been shown in New England. Merino wool could be “woven into a fabric almost as sheer and resilient as silk, yet possessing greater strength and warmth.” Its fleece was of uniform quality, which was preferred in an era when spinning was becoming a factory job.

• 1808 Arthur Scholfield manufactured 13 yards of black broadcloth, which was presented to James Madison. Scholfield had selected enough wool from the Merino sheep to make this single piece, and President Madison became the first president to be inaugurated in American broadcloth.

• 1808 Watson preached the virtues of Merino sheep, and urged farmers to organize for mutual improvement.

• 1810 Farmers exhibited 383 sheep, seven bulls, 109 oxen, nine cows, three heifers, two calves and one boar at the Park. It was termed the First Berkshire Agricultural Fair. This was the first fair aimed at improvement rather than the mere sale of farm products.

• 1811 Second Berkshire Agricultural Fair and first official fair of The Berkshire Agricultural Society.

• 1812 First cloth mill of any size operated in Berkshire County was owned by L. Pomeroy’s Sons in Pittsfield. For years only one set of machines was used, and five or six hand looms. Twelve thousand pounds of wool were manufactured annually.

• After War of 1812 Embargoes and blockades of War of 1812 sent wool prices upward and Berkshire sheep farmers were quick to follow Watson into Merino sheep business.

• 1807­1813 Number of sheep in county increased four­fold during these years. When Merino wool hit $2.50/lb, farmers began buying sheep at an ever­increasing rate. Farmers also started turning to Saxony sheep, a Merino variant from Germany. • 1820 Watson wrote “History of Agricultural Societies on the Modern Berkshire System”. Yankees read this and headed west, taking the ideas with them. The “Fair” became a part of American life.

• 1825 First powered broadcloth loom was introduced in the County.

• 1837 Peak year for sheep raised in Berkshire County. From 136,962 sheep, nearly $250,000 worth of wool was produced. Mills were using 481,500 lbs of wool each year. Fifty­three percent of the wool was produced in Berkshire County. The industry was growing because of low price of wool. It was more profitable to ship finished cloth instead of raw wool.

• 1840s ­1860s Large numbers of immigrants, including Irish and French­Canadian craftsmen, came to Western Massachusetts to work in the textile mills.

• 1845 Number of sheep started to drop by about 2%.

• 1855 See chart for statistics of Woolen Manufacturing business as follows:

• 1865 Ten woolen mills in Pittsfield hosted 52 sets of machinery; employed 531 males and 415 females.

• 1875 Total aggregate goods for Pittsfield was $4 million. The woolen industry produced $1.9 million, almost 50% of total industries. Eight mills.

• 1895 Total value of goods ­ $6 million, woolen industry produced $1.5 million, still 25% of market.

• 1901 Mills declined tremendously; paper goods industry was rising.

• 1950’s The last woolen mill, the Wyandott Mill off upper North Street, closed. Manufacturing woolen Army blankets, it had been a magnet in the 20th century for Pittsfield’s Polish immigrants, who could be assured of work there.