Crenshaw woolen mills

[Kykeydet12]

Gent.
I was wondering if anybody has any information on Crenshaw woolen mill of richmond.As far as I can tell they were deffinatly around in may 1860 because the superintendent wrote to him asking him about producing cloth for the use of the institute. If anybody knows anythign about this please let me know.

Very Respectfully;
R young

[CSchneider]

Re: Crenshaw woolen mills

Check out Wilson's Confederate Industry. There is a fair amount of information on the Crenshaw Mill, which was a significant source of supply to the Confederate government until its accidental destruction. I believe there are a couple uniform pieces still in existence purportedly made from Crenshaw cloth.

-Craig Schneider

[Kykeydet12]

Re: Crenshaw woolen mills

do you know if the book is avaliable online or should I look into an inter-library loan, I think that with somethign like that i would have found it at the vmi library. I figured they would have supplied alot of uniforms. I have proof that Col. SMith the VMI Superintendent loved his product and thought the quality was magnificent.

[roundshot]

Re: Crenshaw woolen mills

Kindly see this site for some good info on the Crenshaw Woolen Mills:

http://www.mdgorman.com/Written_Accounts/Enquirer/1861/richmond_enquirer,_10_17_1861.htm

[CSchneider]

Re: Crenshaw woolen mills

Its a fairly new book, so its probably not available in its entirety online, but its worth a look.

Crenshaw had some brand new machinery, and fairly high-tech stuff, so I don't doubt the mill was producing some nice goods. If I remember correctly, (I don't have any of this information in front of me), a lot of broadcloth, kersey and satinette was coming out of the mill, and little if any jeans. Scott Hanes may have some good information on this if he hasn't already posted it somewhere on this site.

-Craig Schneider

[Jimmayo]

Re: Crenshaw woolen mills

Wilson's book was copyrighted in 2002. A decent library should have no problem finding one to borrow. It is dry reading but packed with facts. If you are a student of the material culture of the war, I would reccomend buying it.

[Dan Wambaugh]

Re: Crenshaw woolen mills

If nothing else the footnotes and bibliography in "Confederate Industry" should give you a great jumping off point for research into the mill. It's like a road map to top quality research.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Crenshaw woolen mills

The MD Gorman "Civil War in Richmond" newspaper article on the website is good. Wilson's "Confederate Industry" is on google books in a limited preview form. There is some material in my notes on the Crenshaw Woolen Mills, including a decent picture. It will appear in the upcoming 2nd edition of the re-written (w/ David Burt) "Supplier to the Confederacy: S. Isaac Campbell and Caleb Huse." It will be probably be out in a few months.

"William G. Crenshaw was joint owner of one of the largest textile mills in Virginia. It was capable of producing both all-wool materials, as well as wool/cotton blends like cassimere and jean cloth very often used for uniforms. The firm also purchased the output of two smaller mills in Virginia and North Carolina, and employed one of the first power looms set up for making military style blankets in Virginia and North Carolina. Crenshaw and his brothers proposed a partnership whereby they would establish a steamship line to carry quartermaster and commissary stores to the Confederacy. The plan Crenshaw had was to have built at least twelve Blockade Runners of which the Crenshaw brothers would have a ¼ interest. Crenshaw came to terms with Secretary of War James Seddon to go to England and enter into a partnership with Alexander Collie who had offices in both Manchester and London. Crenshaw departed for England with Seddon’s full blessings, thou Seddon had not shared this plan with his staff. Seddon for his part was under the misgiving that Crenshaw was going to help Huse expedite his duties. Actually, the so-called “Crenshaw line” was driven by the potential for enormous profits, with half the cargo space onboard the ships taken by the War Dept, one fourth for the Navy Dept, and the rest of the space allotted to bring in whatever goods Crenshaw and Collie pleased. The Crenshaw/Collie goods brought in would be import duty-free, and the supplies, ships etc they purchased for the Government would bring them a 2 ½ % commission. The pact with Crenshaw was made without the knowledge of Huse or Slidell, who were in France working on the Erlanger loan."

[RD1]

Re: Crenshaw woolen mills

Its a fairly new book, so its probably not available in its entirety online, but its worth a look.

Crenshaw had some brand new machinery, and fairly high-tech stuff, so I don't doubt the mill was producing some nice goods. If I remember correctly, (I don't have any of this information in front of me), a lot of broadcloth, kersey and satinette was coming out of the mill, and little if any jeans. Scott Hanes may have some good information on this if he hasn't already posted it somewhere on this site.

-Craig Schneider

I had posted on Crenshaw's operations. Utilizing the search engine, it doesn't seem to be on the forum anymore.Nor, do most of my posting's.

L. Scott Hanes