Sibley Manufacturing Company, 1717 Goodrich Street, Augusta Canal, Augusta

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER GA,123-AUG,54-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Located on the Augusta Canal, one of the few remaining power canals in the country, the Sibley mill continuously has used the canal to generate its own power; at present, it supplies between 50% and 75% of the mill's power. Located on the site of the historic Confederate Powder Works, the mill is a unique example of a 19th-century utilitarian struc- ture designed in an eclectic architectural style. The mill has adapted to new technology and continued to enlarge the plant, additions and alterations trying to keep the original building's architectural integrity.

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER GA,123-AUG,54-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Robert C. Jorgensenj It is understood that access to this material rests on the condition that should any of it be used in any form or by any means, the author of such material and the Historic American Engineering Record of the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service at all times be given proper credit. Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 2) SIBLEY MANUFACTURING COUPANY ORGANIZATION AND EARLY

History

The Augusta Canal fl] was a source of pride to Augustans and a physical symbol of the town's industrial potential. Economic prosperity and population growth was in the town's grasp only if new industries located on the canal, creating a need for supportive services and attracting a labor force. The town's industrial future depended on attaining this goal.

[2] During the late articles and editorials promoting industrial growth appeared in the Augusta Chronicle and Con- stitutionalist, and when industrialization did not occur immediately after the enlargment of the canal, the editors reprimanded the citizenry for their lack of initiative and condemned the practice of waving the "bloody shirt" at Northern capitalists interested in investing in South- ern manufacturing and those wealthy citizens who "hold aloof and prefer to keep their all invested in stocks and bonds..." [3] The editors issued a plea in the name of "public spirit and enterprise" for the investment of Augusta's own wealth into pursuits which would give people jobs and pay dividends. [4] The editorial appeared while plans were already underway for the development by Jones S.

Davis of a new cotton mill along the canal. [5] Davis, a skilled promoter from Massachusetts, where he had been involved in the development of several towns, was probably influential in the . local boosting of industrialization. He had been superintendent and architect of Augusta's Enterprise mill he was evidently turning his organizing skills southward. Prominent businessmen discussed the feasibility of .erecting another large cotton mill; two persons pledged each to the enterprise if enough interest in it could be generated. [6] The project took a tangible step forward when Davis presented draw- ings of a 24,000-spindle factory for the manufacture of both colored and white goods.

The editors of the local paper commented that the proposed factory "...is one of the handsomest affairs that we have ever seen," and described it as three stories high and feet in dimension, with "a highly ornamental central tower and four shorter towers." [7] Davis placed the drawings in the Commercial Bank for inspection by the public to increase their interest in and support of the project. Descriptions in the Chronicle and Constitutionalist suggest that all this activity occurred within a 10-day span. [8] On 17 November Davis and prominent Augusta businessmen held an organizational meeting at the Augusta Factory offices to ascertain whether the. amount of interest in the project justified definite action. [9] W, X.

Wheless, an Augusta banker, served as chairman of the meeting and suggested that first a name be given to the proposed mill and a charter be obtained. Someone "anonymously" suggested Sibley Mills in honor of Josiah Sibley a widely known and respected local cotton broker, businessman, and civic leader. The assembly unanimously Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 3) agreed, and Sibley later approved the decision. Th.e use of Sibley's. name served a dual purpose.- His .reputation and standing in th.e commu- nity would make it easier to obtain stock subscriptions, and the com- munity would be-able to show Sibley their appreciation for his previous civic involvement. * A chartering committee called upon prominent citizens, "gentlemen of financial strength/' to become incorporators.

Application was made to the Superior Court of Richmond County for a charter, which was granted 5 January The original capital amounted to with the capability to increase it to $1 million; a increase occurred in May A committee handled the stock subscription and received aid through the Commercial Bank, where a separate subscription book awaited anyone interested in subscribing. Investment from the Augusta area, Savannah, and Charleston amounted to Josiah Sibley and his eldest son, William C. Sibley made a suc- cessful business trip to New York, obtaining several large subscriptions there. Investors from Cincinnati supplied the remaining required capital.

In April Josiah Sibley asked the city council to sell the company 30 acres of land adjacent to the canal at the site of the old Confederate Powder Works refinery plus water power rights and the * approximately bricks remaining on the property. The city coun- cil authorized the mayor and canal committee to negotiate with the Sibley Manufacturing Company a fair price for the land which would be in the best interests of both parties. The council also established the water .power rates at per horsepower and limited the new mill to a maximum of horsepower. The old Confederate Powder Works bricks were sold to them at a thousand. Formal organization of the Sibley Manufacturing Company occurred on 26 May at the first stockholders meeting.

After serving as tempo- rary president, Josiah Sibley stepped down from the position, refusing to seek the permanent office. A nomination committee selected nominees for president and six directors, the stockholders rubber-stamping their choices. William C. Sibley was elected president. A resolution was unanimously adopted thanking Jones S. Davis for his valuable ser- vices rendered in helping organize the company. Davis was the originator of the enterprise and it was brought about through his zeal- ous endeavors." An advertisement for sealed bids for lumber, brick, lime, cement, iron, and other building materials for the mill appeared in the Chronicle and Constitutionalist 16 Hay and construction began around 1 June with Jones S, Davis.as supervisor.

By 4 June, laborers had dug trenches for foundations, and work progressed both day and nighl. From its inception, most newspaper articles about the Sibley mill Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 4) 0 appeared as front-page news., and the paper continued to present con- struction reports. Such..coverage generated interest. Large numbers of Augustans visited the construction site, along with, many non-local visitors from southern and New England industrial cities; Lowell, Massachusetts, had a sizable representation on the Visitors Register. International visitors from Manchester 'and Harrogatej England, as well as Ireland, toured the site.

Pearl Sibley, daughter of William, laid the "corner brick" on the northwest corner of the main building at ceremonies held on 13 October By the second stockholders meeting on 27 April the original cost estimate of had risen to The cost overrun resulted from the board of directors' decisions to.construct a fourth story on the main mill building and the.resultant expense in equipping it from the extra expense in excavating and enlarging the wheel pit and forebay in case of future mill expansion from unprecedented winter weather conditions; and from the decision to have the capability of manufacturing either colored or plain goods.

At this time the two-story office building, the two-story superintendent's house, the one-story dye house, and the three-story supply and cotton warehouses were completed, with construction reaching the third story on the mill building. The company needed more funds to complete the complex, and the directors increased the capital stock to As construction progressed, William C. Sibley, M. F. Foster, and Jones S. Davis visited Lowell, Massachusetts, to investigate the pur- chase of mill machinery. The company's purchases from the Lowell Machine Shop and the Kitson Machine Company included ring-filling frames; the Foss and Pevy under flat cards; single carding; and the Kitson picker with preparer or porcupine opener.

On 27 January Pearl Sibley laid the last brick on the south- west corner of the mill while construction crews worked to complete the walls of the bulkhead, placed the machinery in the building, and began the operation of sharpening the cards. The grand opening of the Sibley mill was held on 22 February with "streams of pedestrians and long lines of carriages" approaching the mill for the ceremonies. President Sibley made several remarks before the headgates were opened; 20 minutes later water was let into the wheel pit. A donated bale of cotton was run through the picker, and visitors made an inspection tour of the mill,

Business History

In April at the stockholders, meeting things looked promising for the recently completed mill. The board of directors again raised the capital stock, from to $1 million, to cover added expenditures. Frevious to this increase a list was drawn up naming all stockholders and the number of shares held by each. There were 25 stockholders holding 100 or more shares of stock, their total amounting Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 5) to shares or of the.total stock. The top 11 stockholders controlled shares or practically half of the stock. Started as a local project to help holster the economic base of the community, it took on a more national scope with 6 of the 11 top stock- holders from 2 northern cities, only 2 from Augusta, and 3 stockholders' residences unknown (most? likely Northerners).

A shift of power away from the two major northern cities back to the Augusta area was evident as the years passed. I28j At the stockholders meeting, Sibley declared that during the first.full year of mill operation, it-had not lived up to their expectations. No dividends were paid, and a net profit of only was realized.' The total expenditure on the mill, other buildings, and the application of water power to that date was The mill was still operating at less than half its capacity in spindles and one-quarter its capacity in looms. The following year, still operating at half capacity, the mill improved its.net profits to but did not pay any dividends. Bonds were sold to buy machinery, bringing the mill to its full capacity.

This brought the number of spindles and looms from and 536 up to and respectively, by the number of looms was later increased to approximately The mill did not purchase more spindles or looms until when the number was increased to spindles and looms, expanding production by This machinery and other improvements were paid for out of the surplus' earnings. During these years the goods manufactured included checks, chevoits, plaids, ticking, convict stripes, cottonades, awning stripes, sheeting, drills and ducks, convict drills, and kersey. They were considered by many to be the finest in the country, overtaking the Amoskeag products.

With the increase in machinery, the mill's consumption increased from pounds of cotton in to pounds in Demand was so great in several of these years that the mill's production from its wide looms was sold ahead for several months. Optimism was still high early in Sibley having increased its net profits con- siderably, but the cotton industry had been in an almost constant decline since the Sibley mill opened. This decline culminated in the depression of the over-production in the cotton industry was its primary cause.' The Sibley mill fared better than other Augusta cotton mills in the early part of the crisis..

The Augusta Factory decided to run two-thirds time (work four out of six days per week, thus cutting back by one-third the operatives' wages; they reduced the president's and officers' sala- ries by 20% and the employees' by Likewise, the J. P. King Manufacturing Company decided to enforce a 15% reduction in all salaries. The Sibley mill adopted neither policy because they had enough Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 6) low-priced cotton in their warehouses to last them three months. Accompanying this economic disaster was a natural one, A fire in the third story of the picker building destroyed the fourth story and roof in August The insurance was enough to replace the worth of damage, but the*major loss resulted in the shutdown of mill operations for the two months, required for repairs.

Automatic sprin- klers were installed in both the mill and the picker houses at this time. The effects of these two disasters showed prominently in the year's financial report to the stockholders. The loss for the year was but with .the previous year's profit the net loss amounted to Slowly, the mill climbed out of the red, and by April the first divident of $3'a share (totalling was paid, seven years after the mill was organized. From this year to the end of 47 semi-annual dividends were paid. Only seven years saw just one divident paid.

The semi-annual dividends averaged with the highest divident of paid in the second half of and the first half of and the lowest, paid in the latter half of With the payment of dividends, attendance at the stockholders meeting declined; Sibley commented on "little interest when everything was all right." The last 15 years of the century saw the Sibley Manufacturing Company grow into one of the best operated and managed mills in the country. Its physical structure and appearance enhanced these qualities, Manchester Lad wrote in the trade journal Fiber and Fabric: "The inside management is the best I ever saw in America. Perhaps their equal exists, but hardly their superior.

The help employed are the best of their kind, intelligent, faithful and the best of feeling exists between employers and employees."

Power System

When originally constructed, the wheel pit was large enough to con- tain the required number of turbines to operate a mill twice the size of the original one. Two turhines and an electric dynamo Cprobably for lighting only) were installed below grade in the wheelhouse. An under- ground flume, serving as a headrace, fed water into the turbine pit. A great deal of leakage occurred between the canal and the pit because an upward pressure was always present inside the timber flume, since the top of it was lower than the canal level, and the Port Royal and Western Carolina railroad tracks passed perpendicularly over the flume without adequate support beneath. Resulting vibrations made the leakage worse, and in August it was decided to-correct the situation.

The company uncovered the flume and provided an open headrace. New stone arching supported the railroad tracks; water passed under them before again Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 7) seeking the canal!a.level on the other aide. By a third tur- bine went into operation, and the dynamos were moved to an adjacent room. The north end of the first floor was turned into the belt room. Occasionally the mechanical transmission system within the mill gave inadequate service., On 6 August a long line of shafting jarred loose and fell in the card room. One of the pulleys on one of the main shafts had broken, and 125 feet of shafting fell, damaging several machines and injuring two people. The mill was closed for three weeks while the Lombard Iron Works repaired the damage.

The dates of other changes in the mill's power system and the switch from hydro-mechanical to hydroelectric power and the subsequent purchase of electric power are unknown. Today the company has three generators operated by water power. The James Leffel Company manufactured two turbines still in use. Installed in they were designed to operate under a 36-foot head. They power two Westinghouse generators, one having a 750 kVA capacity and the other an 875-kVA capacity. The third generator is a General Electric machine with a 1000-kVA capacity; the manufacturer of its turbine is unknown (see 7 of 7 sheets, Sibley Drawings). ADDITIONS AND ALTERATIONS During the the Sibley mill expanded to satisfy its growing demands.

In the company put up a new building to house the machine, carpenter and blacksmith shops, and a general storage room. This "marked the beginning of a change in the interior arrangment of the mill to make more economical use of the space. The company constructed a weave room annex between the north front and rear wings prior to a two- story addition to the cloth room, as well as a second story to the existing cloth room, a bleach house and supply house behind the dye house, and cotton warehouses behind the existing ones. .(See second sheet of 7, Sibley Drawings, to follow construction description.) By the mill had constructed small additions to the bleach house and supply house, a one-million-gallon reservoir at the rear of the lot, and a new paint shop and shed. A triangular addition, c.

on the north- east corner of the mill connected the weave room and the dye, bleach, and supply houses. More cotton and cloth warehouses were added in and and a boiler house was constructed in The mill also built a new wheelhouse, probably at the same time they installed their most recent generators and turbines, c. Most of the mill's win- dows were bricked up when air conditioning was installed. Then, as now, production needs dictated the construction of new buildings and changes in the functions of older ones. Another important aspect of the Sibley Manufacturing Company was its mill workers1 housing.' The stockholders, recognizing its impor- tance from the outset, voted to build 30 new tenements in Sibley Co. RAER GA-19 (Page 8) It developed into a millworkers1 village, with. W. C.

Sihley providing personal funds for the construction of the Sihley Presbyterian Church.. The company also operated a nursery, kindergarten, and mill school. This paternalism came to an end when the Graniteville Company purchased the mill and ordered all the company owned dwellings sold. The company sold the last seven residences in The'decision to demolish the superintendent's house was made in the early since it was vacant and in need of repair. ARCHITECTURE The Sihley mill is one of the finest examples of the "untypical" in 19th-century cotton mill or industrial architecture in the United States.

Whereas many cotton mills could be described as plain or utilitarian style architecture, writers throughout Sibley's early his- tory commented on the mill's striking features, described the mill as handsome, noble, and imposing, or used phrases such as "a gem of archi- tectural beauty" and "casting its significant shadows." In contrast, the mill's interior planning and placement of machinery is quite typical and evidenced little technological advance. Twin central towerss containing the bell and water tower, protrude forward and rise 125 feet, forming the central feature of the mill. (See 1 and 4 of 7 sheets, Sibley Drawings.) The two thin round arched windows on each floor of the towers' single bay are separated by a mid- dle bay with a large central pedimented window.

The towers' corner crenels are capped by finials. Pour corner towers also extend forward and rise above the main building's roofline (see 2 of 7 sheets* Sibley Drawings). The date of the mill's organization is marked at the cor- nice of each corner tower. Fifteen bays with two segmental arched win- dows per pay per floor extend on either side of the central towers. The entire roofline is crenellated. The middle two bays of each wing also are punctured by two round arched windows per floor and are terminated at the roof by a large parapet wall on which is fastened a colorful cast iron coat of arms and motto of the Sibley family with a tin molding strip enclosing it (see 3 and 5 of 7 sheets, Sibley Drawings). A cast iron fire escape adds further ornament and helps break up the long facade.

All the round arched windows are of a blue translucent colored glass. Most of the windows are bricked up, except those in the central towers and several in the middle two bays of the wings. The trim and some of the depressed ornamental brickwork are painted, creating a very active facade. The office building and superintendent's house (now destroyed) continued to be crenellated, thus tying the main buildings together with the short crenellated tower on which the Confederate Pow- der works chimney is"placed. Jones S. Davis was the architect, or more precisely the mill superintendent who designed.the buildings. There was a dramatic change in style between Davis's two Augusta cotton mills. The more Sibley Co.

HAER GA-19 (Page 9) # typical mill structure is characterized by the.Enterprise mill, with its central -stair and"bell tower.flanked by two symmetrical wings. The. Sibley mill was a more elaborate edifice, displaying more archi- tectural embellishment;. Explanation for this shift in style can only be guessed at. However, several influences can be.perceived in the design of the Sibley mil*l that were not present at Enterprise. When Josiah and William C. Sibley became involved with, the pro- ject, they most likely had an input into the planning and design of the mill. They were involved financially, and William C, president of the Langley mill and future president of this enterprise, was experienced with cotton mill operations.

The use of the Sibley family's coat of arms and motto rising above the central bays of each wing under- scores the Sibleys1 involvement and influence. Josiah Sibley also held the opinion that anything worth doing was worth doing well. This attitude and the fact that it was a community-based project might have engendered the feeling that something other than a utilitarian shell with no qualities other than practical ones would be suitable. The belief that people are influenced by their surroundings might have prompted the Sibleys to use the mill's appearance to foster community loyalty and pride. The mill's monumental appearance seems to have accomplished this. The Sibley mill is a unique example of a 19th-century utilitarian structure designed in an eclectic style.

It fits the picturesque point of view and the castellated type of design, as Henry-Russell Hitchcock, a prominent architectural historian, defines it. Concern for the visual qualities of the mill is apparent, especially in the skyline where a variety of forms are silhouetted against the sky and stand out against the surrounding environs. Local folklore and misconceptions often cloud discussion of the Sibley mill's origin and design. One opinion regarding stylistic influ- ences is that the mill was patterned after the Houses of Parliament in London. A parallel between the two can be drawn when comparing Parlia- ment's Thames River facade and the mill's canal facade: both are very rhythmic and symmetrical in elevation, and both are reflected in the water flowing before them.

The Gothic Revival facade of Parliament, placed on a classically composed plan, is much more ornate than and stylistically different from the ornamental finials., towers, parapet walls, and crenellations on the Sibley mill. There is no primary source documentation to suggest the House of Parliament served as the primary influence on the mill's design. Other misconceptions concerning the mill are that it was part of the Confederate Powder Works, the chimney was used as a shot tower, and the chimney is still in use. All the Confederate Powder Works, buildings except the chimney and the tower on which it stands were torn down, and the bricks were used in other buildings and for other purposes. The Sibley Co.

HAER GA-19 (Page 10) Works did not manufacture shot, so there was no need for a shot tower. The chimney is.not connected with any of the Sibley mill's industrial processes; it is a city-owned memorial to the Confederate dead. There are, however, more local and regional influences expressed in the Sibley mill than 'previously discussed. The primary influence was the Confederate Powder Works, planned by George Washington Rains and designed by C. Shaler Smith. The crenellations of the Powder Works complex recall medieval Norman castles fortified to withstand attack a militaristic detail and an appropriate one for the Powder Works. Previous to this the Richmond Academy in Augusta had remodelled, c. adding crenellations.

Perhaps the Academy had been influenced by the remodelling of the First Presbyterian Church one block away c. in which crenellations were strung along the roofline and pediment. Crenellations were fashionable in the mid-19th century and were widely adopted in the southern U.S.; whether Davis or the Sibleys knew or cared about specific stylistic influenced involved is not certain. It was probably' more out of a sense of place, as deemed appropriate by Josiah Sibley, that the-mill building looks as it does.

TWENTIETH-CENTURY DEVELOPMENTS Newspaper coverage of the Sibley Manufacturing Company's annual stockholders meetings ceased around The "newness" of the mill wore off, and in the early decades of the century Augusta was ing to change her image from "the Lowell of the South" to "the Garden City of the South" to attract northern winter tourists. There was a change of management in the mill when William C. Sibley retired in John W. Chafee, the former secretary-treasurer, suc- ceeded him and retained the office until or when Theodore S. Raworth was elected president. The far-sightedness and sound business practices that characterized Sibley's leadership were not evidenced by his successors.

Problems arose in when the mill was unable to sell such goods as it could manufacture; only 50 percent of the machinery was in operation. The mill also experienced a labor shortage. Workers were seeking employment at other mills paying higher wages. Raworth experi- mented unsuccessfully with recruiting immigrants from New York to work in the mills, most of whom left after several days. The following year the company's New York agents failed, leaving a debt of ^ew agents were found, but the mill's fortunes continued to worsen. The situation culminated, on 31 March in Raworth's announce- ment that it was impossible for the Sibley Manufacturing Company to con- tinue borrowing money in New York or elsewhere on the existing basis.

According to its New York banks, the mill was over-capitalized and sufficient working capital. The company was criticized for installing no new machinery and for paying out most of its earnings in dividends. The company's New York agents, J. H. Lane and Company, agreed with the Sibley Co. RAER GA-19 (Page 11) bank and presented a plan and recommendations which would put the mill in good operating condition and financial health. The agents' final comments were that "unless new machinery is installed and suffi- cient working capital provided, there appears to be no hope of a suc- cessful future of the mill." * Instead of heeding the warnings and advice, the board of directors, whose spirit of independence was aroused, ignored the recommendations and tried to form a plan of their own.

The situation worsened. The net loss ending the- six-month period on 30 September was All the sources consulted recommended measures similar to those of J. H. Lane and Company. Finally, in attempts were made to replace the older machinery, but it was too late and too little to resurrect the foundering factory. In the Sibley stockholders approved the sale of controlling interest in their company to the Graniteville Company of South Carolina at a share, with a resulting change in management.

The Graniteville Company also started to gain control of the Enterprise Manufacturing Company in The officers and directors of all three companies were becoming the same, ultimately leading to the consolida- tion of the Sibley and Enterprise mills under the corporate name of the Sibley Enterprise Manufacturing Company in In this new com- pany was completely absorbed into the Graniteville Company, Sibley and Enterprise representing separate divisions of the larger concern. Today. the Sibley mill is still a division of the Graniteville Company. The division manufactures Indigo products, no grey or white goods, and the various denims are sold to garment manufacturers. Levi-Strauss is the mill's biggest customer.

Equipment includes warp spindles, filling spindles, and 634 looms, approximately half being 50 .inches and the remainder 44 inches wide. The mill pro- cesses pounds of material per week, totalling about 22 million pounds a year. The supply of raw material to the mill is no longer local. Georgia and South Carolina are not the primary producers of raw cotton; western Texas supplies 90% of it. The mill's market has also broadened and includes both Far East and European countries. There is still pride in the old mill building. The management realizes the sig- nificance of the structure and tries to incorporate changes and addi- tions to it in an unobtrusive manner.

SUMMATION Starting as a local project nurtured by a northern industrial devel- oper, the Sibley Manufacturing Company was a well managed and highly praised cotton mill during its first two decades. It used the most mod- ern equipment and technology available when operations began in hut the first 15 years of the century saw the mill's operation neglected. The company purchased no new machinery and introduced no new business methods. The mill is a unique example of a 19th-century Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 12) utilitarian structure designed in an eclectic style. No other mill in the surrounding area presents such grandeur. Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 13) Footnotes 1.

The inspiration to construct a power canal originated in with Henry Harford Cumming, who saw the potential for Augusta to become the great manufacturing capital of the South. For an historical account, see Historic-American Engineering Record, Augusta Canal Projects Report No. 1, Augusta Canal, HAER. 2. Augusta Chronicle and Constitutionalist, 19 November (Here- after cited as AC&C.) 3. Ibid., 22 October 4. Ibid. 5. Jones S, Davis, originally from Holyoke, Massachusetts, had been in charge of a number of Massachusetts cotton factories.

During that time he had been active in helping organize the Hampden County Manu- facturers Association in and the New England Cotton Manufactur- ers Association in In the early he spent time in Atlanta, Georgia, as a cotton mill superintendent before moving to Augusta to draw up plans and supervise the construction of the Enterprise Manufacturing Company in later serving as its superintendent.

Davis commented to an Augusta Chronicle and Senti- nel reporter on 28 September that "...he had built up four towns in Massachusetts, and he intended to do a good deal for Augusta if they just gave him money enough." His position at the Sibley mill was similar to what he held at Enterprise, but he resigned all mill positions in The Augusta City Direc- tory lists Davis as an architect in partnership with Cortez Clark. The advertisement in the directory reads "Plans and drawings in Elevation and Detail, with Specifications and Bills of Material of ever}' description for Churches, Banking Houses, Schools, Villas, Cottages, Mill Engineering. Construction Superintended when desired, Will also Furnish First Class Managers for Cotton, Woolen or Paper Mills." Davis's whereabouts after are unknown.

6. AC&C, 24 October 7. Ibid., 1 November A factory this size would increase the population by approximately Changes most likely occurred in the final building design, among them two central towers taking the place of the one originally planned. 8. Ten days is a short timespan to see the groundwork laid for such an ambitious project, especially when it presumably started with an editorial and ended with a set of drawings, Jones S. Davis was con- sidered the mill's originator, promoter, and architect by the com- pany's incorporators and people involved with the project. He had Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 14) probably been working on it many months previous to this time, speculating on the Augustans?

need for and inte.re.st in such, an enterprise before presenting the idea publicly through, the newspaper. 9. Throughout the early history of Augusta's mills, along the canal, there was a spirit more of camaraderie than of competition. This was in part due to the civic attitude, previously described, devoted to the development of Augusta into a manufacturing center for the betterment of all. Also, many of the same people were con- nected with several mills. 10. Born 1 April at Uxbridge, Massachusetts, Josiah Sihley came to Hamburg, South Carolina, across the Savannah River from Augusta, in to work for his two older brothers Amory and Royal, prominent merchants in the area, and later became a partner in the business.

He prospered in this endeavor and later on his own in cotton and general business, and became involved in many business and civic activities. After the Civil War, Josiah was one of a few Augustans who would borrow large sums of money in the North, having made wise cotton investments in England before the War. When Augusta was in financial straits in he borrowed for the city to get it back on its feet. As a. member of the city council during and he participated in the discussion and supported the pro- jected enlargement of the Augusta Canal, using his influence to help realize it. Sibley was a prominent force behind the establishment of the Langley Manufacturing Company in Langley, South Carolina, and in the building and early management of the Georgia Railroad.

He was also involved in many other enterprises. Retiring from active business in Josiah died 7 December at Augusta after suf- fering several paralytic strokes in his later years. His Sibley ancestors sailed from England in with the "Winthrop Fleet" and settled in Salem, Massachusetts. For a more detailed biography of Josiah Sibley, his ancestors, and his descendants, see Robert Pendleton Sibley, John Adams Sibley, and James Longstreet Sibley, compilers, Ancestry and Life of Josiah Sibley (Augusta: Williams Press, See also Charles Colcock Jones and Salem Dutcher, Memorial History of Augusta,_Georgia (Syracuse: D. Mason & Co., pp. 11. The following men were incorporators: Josiah Sihley, Z. McCord, E. P. Alexander, W. E. Jackson, John Davison, A.. Backer, H. H. Eickman, W. J.

Wheless, Thomas G. Barrett, Charles H. Phinizy, W. C. Sibley, E, R. Schneider, R. H. May, H. H. Steiner, Charles Estes., R. A. Fleming, George T. Jackson, George R. Sibley, W. H. Barrett, James -G. -Bailie, M. A. Stovall, H. Allen, John Wallacej and J. S. Davis. Augusta Circuit, Richmond County, Minutes of Superior Court, October Terra (Augusta, pp. Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 15) 13. AC&C, 16 January 14. Born 3 May William C. Sibley, eldest son of Josiah., was also one of Augusta's leading and most influential citizens. Re served a two-year term on the city council beginning in where he took a prominent past--in advocating and inaugurating the Augusta Water Works (see HAER, Report No. 5, Augusta Water Works).

At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private; at its. conclusion he retired as a major. Between and he worked in New Orleans in the cotton business. He then returned to Augusta to help organize the Langley Manufacturing Com- pany in Langley, South Carolina, and served as its first president. He was involved with many business concerns, including the Commer- cial Bank of Augusta and the Augusta Land Company, and served as president of Coaldale Brick and Tile Company, the Warrior Coal and. Coke Company, and the Round Mountain Coal and Iron Company, all of Alabama. He died 17 April of pneumonia after being sick for some time.

His obituary appears in the Augusta Chronicle, 18 April For a more detailed biography of his family, see Robert Pendleton Sibley, John Adams Sibley, and James Longstreet Sibley, compilers, Ancestry and Life of Josiah Sibley (Augusta: William Press, pp. 15. The only gunpowder works in existence in the United States previous to the Civil War were in the North, so it was imperative for the Confederacy to find a safe, suitable location for the manufacture of gunpowder. Jefferson Davis appointed George Washington Rains to undertake this assignment. Rains made a quick tour of the South and selected Augusta as the powder works site because of its cen- tral location, railroad facilities, security from attack, and its canal, which offered both transportation and water power.

The site was located between the Augusta Canal and the Savannah River, part of which belonged to the old United States Arsenal. Never having been associated with this industry before, Rains relied heavily upon a pamphlet written by Major Bradley, superin- tendent of the Waltham Abbey Works in England, one of the finest powder mills in the world, and by a man named Wright who had worked there. The pamphlet contained no drawings, plans, or details of buildings or apparatus, only a succinct written description. Sketches were made by Rains giving dimensions and locations of buildings on either side of a two-mile-long corridor on the canal. These were turned over to C.

Shaler Smith, the architect and a civil engineer, who took the "rough sketches of buildings to elabo- rate and give architectural finish." Construction of the 26-huilding complex began 13 September under the- supervision of Miller Grant, a civil engineer' from Savannah. The works were superintended by William Pendleton, for- merly of Tredgar Mills and later part owner of the American Foundry Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 16) in Augusta (see HAER, Report.No. 10, American.Foundry!, and the builders were Denning and Bowes of Augusta. The Augusta and Hamburg brickyards supplied the bricks., and the granite for the sills, lintels, copings, and foundation stones was quarried at Stone Mountain. The buildings were separated by at least feet for safety precautions - in case one of them exploded.

They were so arranged that the gunpowder manufacturing process started at the end nearest town with the raw materials and was. successively transported up the canal through, the refining, mixing, incorporat- ing, and granulating process until it arrived as a finished product ready for storage or shipment at the magazine. The primary supplier of machinery for the works was the Tredegar Iron and Machine Works at Richmond, Virginia, the only industry in the South capable of manufacturing the heavy and extensive machinery required by the powder works. The Webster Foundry and Machine Works in Chattanooga and iron works in Macon and outher southern cities made various machinery and equipment for the works.

The different manufacturing processes originally were designed to utilize water power for their operation, but the canal could not supply an adequate amount of water demanded by the 12 incorporating mills. Steam engines were used to generate power at those, while water power was employed at the other more dangerous buildings where the manufacturing processes required smaller amounts of.power. Rains envisioned, the central portion of the refinery as a monumental structure. He located a 150-foot obelisk-shaped chimney on a square tower directly in front of it to attain this goal. The cornerstone for the powder works was placed in a corner of the obelisk's cornice.

The total cost of the Confederate Powder Works was After the war, the powder works came under the jurisdiction of the United States government. On 28 June the Secretary of War directed that as much of the works as had been added to the original Augusta Arsenal lands by the Confederacy acres) be sold. Dr. E. W. Horker of Augusta purchased 220 acres of it from the Freedmans Bureau in and the remaining 128 acres located on either side of the canal were purchased by the city for on 19 October Inspection of the buildings on the remaining grounds by Captain James H. Rollins of the Augusta Arsenal in 18 72 found them to be dilapidated, with the machines inside usable only as junk.

The City of Augusta purchased the equipment for on 31 October the machinery was sold to Judge Samuel Watson of Nashville, Tennessee, in Even at this date the Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel expressed hope that a cotton factory would be built at this site. For a detailed description of the Confederate Powder Works, see Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 17) George Washington Rains, History of the Confederate Powder Works (Augusta: Chronicle and Constitution Printers, Also consult Joseph Milgram, y and Norman. P. Gentieu, George Washington Rains.

Gunpowdermaker of the Confederacy (Philadelphia: -Foote Mineral Company, and Florence Fleming Corley, Confederate City, Augusta, Georgia, (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, George Washington Rains was born in at New Bern, North Carolina, He attended West Point between and graduating third in his class and first in scientific studies. During his military career he obtained an assistant professorship at West Point in chemistry, minerology, and geology. He continued in the service until when he retired as a colonel and became presi- dent of the Washington Iron Works and Highland Iron Works of Newburgh, New York. He served in that capacity until July when he offered his services to Jefferson Davis.

Following the Civil War, Rains became a Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. He later served as its Dean until when he became Professor of Emeritus, holding this title until when he returned to Newburgh, dying there 21 March For a more detailed biography, see Joseph B. Milgram, and Norman P. Gentieu, George_Washington Rains Gunpowdermaker of the Confederacy (Philadelphia: Foote Mineral Company., and "Florence Fleming Corley, Confederate City, Augusta, Georgia, (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, I960). C. Shaler Smith was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 18 January In he took a position on the Mine Hill Schuylkill Haven Railroad, starting a long association with railroads.

He became an assistant to George MacLeod, the chief engineer of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, in later being transferred from the field to the office as an assistant to Albert Fink, engineer of bridges and buildings for the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad in North Carolina. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in the Confederate Army and was appointed Captain of Engineers and stationed at Augusta, In Smith organized the engineering firm of Smith, Latrobe and Company with Charles H. Latrobe and his father Benjamin H. Latrobe.

Its name was changed to the Baltimore Bridge Company in Smith served as president and chief engineer until the firm's dissolution in Smith's contributions to the engineering profession included the use of iron trestle work, which he was the first to use-on a large scale, in and on bridges along the Louisville, Cincinnati and Lexington Railroad and the Elizabethtown and Paducah. Railroad, ranging from 50 to 135 feet in height. His most important contri- bution-was as a pioneer in the practical demonstration of the uses and value of the cantilever as a means of displaying false work. Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 18) In he designed a 3QQ-foot draw span over the Salt River using this method'.

During his later years h.e served as a consulting engineer for several of the largest and most prominent railroads and.bridge companies.' He died 19 December as a result of a fall suffered while inspecting the St. Louis .Exposition Building, for which he was the. consulting engineer. A more detailed bio- graphy of his .pxofessional career can he found in John MacLeod, Robert Moore, and.Owen' Bates, "Memoirs of. Deceased Herabers, Charles Shaler Smith.," American Society'-of Civil Engineers 13- (August and Florence Fleming Corley, Confederate City, Augusta,_ Georgia, (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 16. AC&C, 11 April and Augusta City Council, Council Minutes, 5 April and 10 April (Augusta, Georgia), pp. 17. The following men were elected to directorships: Josiah Sibley, R. A.

Fleming, T. W. Wheless, and M. F. Foster, all of Augusta; Samuel Keyser, of New York; and Walter Smith, of Cincinnati. Smith was not one of the large stockholders but probably represented those stockholders from Cincinnati. There were write-in votes, Josiah Sibley receiving a substantial number of votes for president and Charles Estes receiving 210 votes for a directorship. AC&C, 27 May . 18. AC&C, 27 May 19. Two of the more impressive remarks written in the register were, "A splendid factory and a grand piece of work," and, "The mill is worthy of Augusta and Augusta is worthy of the mill." Sibley Manu- facturing Company, "Visitors Register," 11 May to 10 October Graniteville Company vault, Graniteville, South Carolina. 20.

The revised estimate was as follows: Bills for machinery Amount expended up to Other expenditures Total Outlay AC&C, 28 Aptil 21. The addition made possible the increase in spindles from its origi- nal capacity of to approximately and looms from 672 to By this date, spindles and 630 looms had been con- tracted for. An optimistic attitude prevailed concerning the project, and William C. Sibley realized that if there was future expansion they would have the capability to operate a mill as large as the one being Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 19) # built with the only future expense being water wheels. The wheel pit was feet with a depth of 38 feet from the water level of the canal, 25. feet of which was through rock that was not antici- pated and cost more to excavate. AC&C, 28-April 23.

AC&C, 28 January 24. AC&C, 23 February 25. The company1s balance sheet was as follows: Constructive account $ Real estate March payroll Total assets Capital stock AC&C, 27 April 26. Sibley Manufacturing Company, "Journal," Enterprise Manufacturing Company, Vault, Augusta, Georgia, pp. 27. Samuel Keyser and C. D. Cooke, both of New York, were the largest stockholders, with 600 shares each; Samuel Wyman, also of New York, ranked ninth (tied), with 250 shares. R. M. Shoemaker, David Sinton, and C. W. West, all of Cincinnati, ranked third, fifth, and ninth (tied) respectively. Josiah Sibley was the sixth largest, with 333 shares, and William C. owned 302-shares, ranking seventh. Jones S. Davis, considered to be the mill's originator and its archi- tect, held only 15 shares. 28.

When the board of directors paid their first dividend in April shares were held in New York and Cincinnati, while shares were held in the Augusta area. By April the New York and Cincinnati shares had diminished to while shares con- trolled by Augustans increased to The April dividends saw only shares in the two northern cities, while Augusta stockholders collected dividends on shares. Sibley Manufac- turing Company, "Dividend Books," Enterprise Manufactur- ing Company vault, Augusta, Georgia. 29. The production records showed pieces, pounds, or yards of goods manufactured. AC&C, 26 April 30- AC&C, 1 Hay 31. Of the 800 looms, 224 were of the Crompton and Eridleburg pattern and used for colored work, while the remainder were of the Lowell pattern and used for plain work.

Both varied in width from 30 to Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 20) 64 inches. In and jacquard heads were put on 100 looms so figured 'goods could be manufactured.- Charles Colcock Jones and Salem Dutcher, Memorial History of Augusta, Georgia CSyracuse: D. Mason and Co., p. 32. Ibid. 33. AC&C, 1 May 34. AC&C, 28 May 35. HAER, Augusta Report No. 12, Augusta Factory. 36. HAER Augusta Report No. 4, John P. King Manufacturing Company. 37. Sibley. refused to make any decisions on the problem until his cotton reservoir was all used up. AC&C, 28 May 38. AC&C, 30 April 39. During these seven years-, stockholders received nothing and could only sell their stock at a loss.

The visions of a primarily suc- cessful mill, exemplified by the Augusta Factory throughout most of its history, had b.een further away than the stockholders had anticipated. AC&C, 29 Aptil 40. Sibley Manufacturing Company, "Dividend Books," Enterprise Manufacturing Company, vault, Augusta, Georgia. 41. AC&C, 26 Aptil 42. Manchester Lad, "Facts About.the South," Fiber and Fabric 21 (1 June The Augusta Chronicle and civic brochures also commented favorably on the mill's operation. 43. AC&C, 10 August The article does not state what form the final solution took; the one described is the mill's present layout, the assumption being that it was most likely changed to its present state during the major changes in 44. HAER, Report No. 1QA, Forest City Foundry; AC&C, 7 August 45.

Presumably the Minutes of the Sibley Manufacturing Company would give this information, The minutes were found at the end of this summer project -in the Graniteville Company vault in Graniteville, South Carolina. The author has seen only one minute hook for the years between and All the company's Minute Books are supposedly located there. Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 21) 46. This data was obtained from brass plates mounted on the generator covers. 47. -Textile Record 13 (August 48.

Previous to this, the only new structure built was a one-story addi- tion to the cotton warehouse, constructed between and The original mill complex consisted of a four-story mill housing the twisting, spooling and winding, and weaving operations on the first floor; weaving operations on the second; carding operations on the third; and spinning operations on the fourth floor. Storage rooms on each floor separated the north and south wings. Directly behind and connected to the central bay of the main building was a four- story structure containing the carpenter's shop on the first floor, the machine shop on the second, the picker room on the third, and slashers on the fourth floor.

The dye house and cloth room formed the north and south wings, respectively, of a one-story structure behind and connected to the carpenter's shop. A three-story cotton warehouse was located south of the main building, and the two-story waste house and paint shop were east of it. The lumber and sawing shed, pine shop, and wagon shed were located at the rear of the lot behind the main structure. The two-story office building was on an axis running through the Confederate chimney and the center of the main building, and the mill superintendent's two-story residence was located north of. the mill across the headrace. The power or wheel house was at the north end of the mill building, partially below grade. 49. These are approximate dates taken from a Sanborn Fire Insurance map.

A study of the and fire insurance maps also was helpful in determining the changes which took place. 50. AC&C, 27 April 51. The church is now the First Free Will Baptist Church. Interview with George R. Sibley and his daughter Margaret Dale, Augusta, Georgia, 19 July 52. D. D. Wallace, "A Hundred Years of William Gregg and Graniteville," a history of the Graniteville Company written at the request of President. Swint, p. 276 (typescript). 53. The hell still hangs unused in the south tower. It was manufactured by the. McShane Bell Foundry, Henry McShane and Company, of Baltimore, Maryland, in and has the board of directors', the president's, and the company's names and the date of organization inscribed on it. The bell's name was "Josiah," 54.

At this time, the belief that industrial buildings were the arena for the engineer and not the architect was still common. Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 22) 55. This Interpretation accepts that during the. probable course of events there was a certain amount of behind-the-scenes, organiza- tion and planning before making the project public. 56. Whether it was the Sibleys' idea orDavia's, permission to use the coat of arms and motto had to be granted by the Sihleys. The motto is in Latin, Ess;e Quam Nidere,' which translates, "To be, rather than to seem to be." An explanation and history of the coat of arms can be found in Robert -Pendleton Sibley, John Adams Sibley, and James Longstreet Sibley, compilers, Ancestry and Life of Josiah Sibley (Augusta: William Press, 57.

Interview with George R. Sibley and his daughter Margaret Dale, Augusta, Georgia, 19 July 58. John Coolidge, in his book Mill and Mansion, describes an attitude that could have been prevalent in Augusta at this time: But in other parts of Europe and in the southern United States, where manufacturing was exotic, as institutions imported and fostered by men of wealth, industrial archi- tecture was assimilated to the prevailing monumental style, in terms of which its patrons thought.. These factories were designed just as other buildings were designed, pri- marily for aesthetic effect. (P.

Sibley was following in the same tradition as the builders of the three new mills, the Chisolm mill Bennett's mill and West Point mill in Charleston, and perhaps used them as exam- ples of what mill architecture could be.. 59. Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Baltimore: Penguin Books, p. 93. 60. The First Presbyterian Church was originally designed by Robert Mills in They have Mills's original drawings in the vault of a local bank. 61. J. H..

Lane and Company recommended that (1) dividends be discontin- ued and not resumed until new machinery had been installed and paid for, and until the company had sufficient working capital in hand to operate economically and satisfactorily; (2) the capitalization be reduced from to and (3) after the reduction, preferred stock be issued at 7%, which should be offered to the present stockholders, and a syndicate be organized to under- write any unsubscribed part of the account. The preferred stock issue should contain a provision for conversion into common stock at the option of the holder, or by the mill after a certain period of years. J. R. Lane and Company felt that if the Sibley mill would Sibley Co, HAER GA-19 (Page 23) 61. (continued) through 65. missing.

Page 23 of text (footnotes) missing This includes footnotes Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 24) Selected Bibliography - Augusta Chronicle and Constitutionalist Cand its successor, the Augusta Chronicle)* Excellent articles and editorials concerning the Sibley mill and the other cotton mills in general. During Sihley's planning and construction, articles appeared quite regularly. Annual meetings were also covered until about Corley, Florence Fleming. Confederate City, Augusta, Georgia, Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, Contains an excellent bibliography and short biographies of G. W. Rains and C. Shaler Smith, along with material on the Confederate Powder Works. Jones, Charles Colcock and Dutcher, Salem. Memorial History of Augusta, Georgia. Syracuse: D.

Mason and Co., Contains general information on the Sibley mill and is an excellent source on Augusta's history and development. MacLeod, John; Moore, Robert; and Bates, Owen. "Memoirs of Deceased Members," American Society of Civil Engineers 13 (August Good account of C. Smith's engineering career. Milgram, Joseph E. , and Gentieu,' Norman P. George Washington Rains Gunpowdermaker of the Confederacy. Philadelphia: Foote Mineral Company Good account of the operation and manufacturing of gunpowder at the Confederate Powder Works. Also contains a brief biography of Rains. Rains, George Washington. History of the Confederate Powder Works.

Augusta: Chronicle and Constitutionalist Printers, Authoritative account of the establishment and operation of the powder works by the man responsible for the construction and opera- tion of it. It.was given as an address to the Confederate Sur- vivors' Association at its fourth annual meeting, 26 April Sibley, Robert, Pe*idleton; -Sibley, -John Adams; and Sibley, James Longstreet; compilers. Ancestry and Life of Josiah. Sibley. Augusta: Williams Press, Good account of Josiah Sibley, his ancestors, and some of his descendants. Sibley Co.

HAER GA-19 (Page 25) Sibley Manufacturing Company The following business records are located at the Enterprise Divi- sion of Graniteville Company's vault in Augusta, Georgia; Ledgers; A - E - C - D - E - F - Journals: A - June to March B - March to March C - March to August D - September to June E - July to December Cash Books: 1 - May to January 2 - February to December 3 - January to December 4 - January to April 5 - May to February 6 - March to December Dividend Books: April to April October to October April to October Miscellaneous Records: Fifteen various incomplete record books (check books, draft receipts, stock ledger, stock transfer book, trial balance books, notes and bills, and stock certificates).

The following business records are located at the Sibley Division of Graniteville Company (in the office building's basement) in Augusta, Georgia: Payroll Books; Complete set starting in to Graniteville Company purchased the mill. The following business records are located at the Graniteville Company headquarters vault, Graniteville, South Carolina: Sibley Co. HAER GA-19 (Page 26) Minute. Books,: -Two-volume set beginning on 26 May and ending on 23 May The Minute Books were located at the end of the summer pro- jects leaving,little time to read them. The only volume the author saw was the second one the first, presum- ably; is buried somewhere in the vault.' Wallace, D. D.

"A Hundred Years of William Gregg and Graniteville." A history written at the request of President Swint in Graniteville Company, Graniteville, South Carolina. An excellent unpublished history of the company. Good account of Graniteville's takeover of the Sibley mill. Whatley, William L. "A History of the Textile Development of Augusta, Georgia, Thesis, University of South Carolina, Account of textile development of Augusta, with good footnote source material.