Historic Resource Study
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National Park Service <Running Headers> <E> U.S. Department of the Interior Northeast Region History Program “AN INCORPORATION OF THE ADVENTURERS” A History of the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, Paterson “Silk City” and its People, and the Great Falls of the Passaic River EDITH B. WALLACE, M.A. HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY PRESENTED TO THE PATERSON GREAT FALLS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN HISTORIANS/ NATIONAL PARK SERVICE “AN INCORPORATION OF THE ADVENTURERS” A History of the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, Paterson “Silk City” and its People, and the Great Falls of the Passaic River HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY BY EDITH B. WALLACE, M.A. PRESENTED TO THE PATERSON GREAT FALLS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN HISTORIANS/NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NORTHEAST REGION HISTORY PROGRAM NATIONAL PARK SERVICE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DECEMBER 2019 Cover Illustration: Thomas Whitley, oil painting of the Nail Factory, circa 1835. Passaic County Historical Society. “AN INCORPORATION OF THE ADVENTURERS”: A HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY FOR ESTABLISHING USEFUL MANUFACTURES, PATERSON “sILK CITY” AND ITS PEOPLE, AND THE GREAT FALLS OF THE PASSAIC RIVER HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY Edith B. Wallace, M.A. Presented to Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park In Partnership with the Organization of American Historians/National Park Service Northeast Region History Program December 2019 Recommended by: May 12, 2020 Shaun Eyring, Chief, Cultural Resources Division, Northeast Region Date Recommended by: May 12, 2020 Darren Boch, Superintendent, Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park Date Cover Illustration: Thomas Whitley, oil painting of the Nail Factory, circa 1835. Passaic County Historical Society. Disclaimer: The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of this author and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures . ix Acknowledgements . xv Preface . xvii Research Methods . xvii HRS Text Development with Chapter Descriptions and Major Findings . xviii List of Abbreviations . xvi Introduction . .1 Geology of the Great Falls and the Watchung Mountains . .2 Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park: Significance and Resources . .5 CHAPTER 1 Peopling the Great Falls of the Passaic Landscape . 17 Introduction . 17 Algonquian Roots . 18 Peoples of the Mid-Atlantic before 1650 . 19 Lenape of the Mid-Atlantic, CE 1600 to 1650. 25 Lenape of the Passaic Valley . 31 European “Discovery” and the New Netherland Claim . 35 Dutch Contact with the North River Lenape . 37 The Anglo-Dutch Wars and a Renewed British Claim . 41 Extension of Settlements into the Passaic Valley . 44 Land around the Great Falls of the Passaic . 49 Conclusion . 53 CHAPTER 2 Building a New Nation . 57 Introduction . 57 Water Power and Manufacturing in Colonial East Jersey. 58 Seeds of Revolution . 61 Northern New Jersey in the American Revolution . 64 Competing Political and Economic Visions for the New Nation . 69 Alexander Hamilton and Tench Coxe: Developing the Independent American Economy . 73 Conclusion . 79 v Table of Contents CHAPTER 3 The Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, 1791–1799 . 81 Introduction . 81 American Corporations in the Late Eighteenth Century . 82 Prospectus and Charter of the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures . 83 The First Year of the S.U.M.: Location, Location, Location… . 88 Pierre L’Enfant and Peter Colt: Building the S.U.M. and Paterson . 98 Workmen of the S.U.M. Construction Phase . 107 S.U.M. Manufacturing and Factory Workers . 108 Conclusion . 113 CHAPTER 4 S.U.M. after 1800, a Platform for Technological Innovations . 115 Introduction . 115 The US Economy at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century . 116 S.U.M. Infrastructure Makes Paterson a Destination for Industrial Growth . 119 Innovative Technologies and the Industrial Revolution . 133 Connecting to the S.U.M. Raceways . 141 US Immigration and Paterson’s Mid-Nineteenth-Century Population . 144 Conclusion . 151 CHAPTER 5 Silk City . 153 Introduction . 153 A Brief History of Silk Production in the United States . 154 The Silk Manufacturing Process . 156 John Ryle and Silk in Paterson . 159 The Paterson Industrial Boom, 1870–1900 . 167 Other Paterson Industries . 171 Role of the S.U.M. in Supplying Power Evolves . 181 Paterson Layers: “Silk Barons” and Mill Workers . 188 Labor Unrest—The Paterson Silk Strikes of 1911 and 1913 . 196 Conclusion . 204 vi Table of Contents Table of Contents CHAPTER 6 Changing Paterson: Migrations, Depression, and War . 207 Introduction . 207 Paterson’s Changing Population—African Americans . 208 World War I and Paterson Industry . 209 Paterson’s Changing Industrial Landscape through the 1920s . 212 Hinchliffe Stadium and the Great Depression . 220 World War II and Paterson Industry . 228 The End of the S.U.M. 230 Conclusion . ..