Chatham
Blanketeer
Vol. 2
OCTOBER 5, 1934
No. 8
PLANT STARTED
AS SMALL MILL
Chatham Manufacturing Com
pany Made Cloth On One Loom
On Beginning Here In 1878
By ELIZABETH UNDERWOOD
The Chatham Manufacturing
company, Elkin’s oldest and larg
est manufacturing firm, had its
beginning 56 years ago as a small
cloth mill with only one loom.
The mill was located about one
mile from Elkin, on the Elkin
Creek. The firm started as Gwyn
and Mr. Alex Chatham, Sr. The
goods were yarns, jeans and cash
meres, which would be exchanged
for wool to the farmers in the
surrounding country. The sur
plus would be taken to Salisbury
in wagons and offered for sale.
The mill continued to prosper un
til the looms and spinning frames
had increased to twenty each.
In 1893 the company was or
ganized to Chatham Mfg. Co. Mr.
Chatham giving his part to his
sons, who bought out Mr. Gwyn’s
part in the business. In the years
1893 and 1894 a one-story brick
factory was erected on the pres
ent site of the old mill. A few
years later another story was
added as well as another building.
The first blankets were manu
factured in 1890, the first dozen
being bound on a sewing machine
by Capt. G, T. Roth’s sister, Mrs.
R. L. Hubbard.
The company organized in 1907
and a new factory erected in
Winston-Salem. About that time
blankets were manufactured ex
clusively, the output being about
1,200 per week.
The officers of the Chatham
Manufacturing Co., under the new
organization, were as follows: H.
G. Chatham, president and treas
urer; R. J. Reynolds, first, vice-
president; G. T. Roth, second
vice-president and superintendtot
and Mason Lillard, secretary. The
directors were: H. G. Chatham,
G. T. Roth, R. J. Reynolds, R. M.
Chatham, R. G. Norfleet, J. L.
Gilmer, H. E. Starbuck, W. M.
Nissen, C. J. Ogburn, F. H. Fries,
A. S. Hanes and W. A. Blair.
Beginning in a small way the
Chatham Manufacturing Co. has
gradually grown to be the largest
woolen mill in the world makmg
blankets.
These experts who declare thau
American life is moving in cycles
are just adopting a more comfort-^
ing way of saying we are runnmg
around in circles.
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The First Chatham Manufacturing* Co. |
I
i
1
The above picture shows the first home of Chatham Manufactur
ing Company, located on the Elkin Creek, a mile above the town of
Elkin.
DOBSON SHOULD
make good man
If Elected To House Of Represen
tatives Should Make Able Suc
cessor To Cape Haynes
In selecting Henry C. Dobson of
Elkin as their candidate for the
House of Representatives at Ral
eigh for the next two years the
Democrats of Surry County have
chosen an able successor to that
very capable “Cape” Haynes, who
has been the popular representa
tive for the past few years.
Mr Dobson is a native of Su^iy
county, having been born near
Rockford, a son of the late ^hn
H. Dobson and Mrs. Alice Cor
nelius Dobson. He grew to young
manhood surrounded by toe prob
lems and difficulties of the farm
er and with the training and
ability to overcome them.
Mr Dobson’s father, in addi
tion to being a dirt farmer was
a lawyer and a legislator of ex-
ceptioLl ability, and Henry m-
herited both the agncultural
legislative genius of the eiaer
Dobson.
About twelve years ago Henry
became connected with the Chat
ham Manufacturing Company at
tiie Elkin plant, and by honest,
Candidate
HENRY DOBSON
energetic and intelligent effort
has earned for himself a respon
sible position with this company.
His training for a legislator
SPONSOR SCHOOL
FOR EMPLOYEES
All Workers In Elkin Plant To Be
Given Opportunity To Learn
More About Job
(Continued On Last Page)
In keeping with the company’s
policy of doing its utmost for the
welfare and betterment of the em
ployees comes the announcement
that textile courses, which will
help everyone with his present job
and equip him for a better job,
are to be offered without cost to
all those interested. The Company
will provide class rooms and in
structors while all the individual
need pay is for his own textbook.
The books to be used are printed
by the International Textbook
Company, a branch of the Inter
national Correspondence School,
and will cost less than fifty cents
for a ten-week course of instruc
tion. The courses to be offered
are mapped out by the Trades
and Industries Division of the
North Carolina Department of
Education. These courses are
standard throughout the state and
credit cards are given for each
course completed and after com
pleting a specified number a di
ploma is awarded. A diploma
may be obtained in carding, spin
ning or weaving. Inasmuch as
these courses are standardized, if
one leaves Chatham’s employ and
goes to another plant where these
courses are given, he may start
where he left off and lose no cre-
it.
The courses are to be open to
both morning and evening shifts.
The classes will be for two hours
each and will meet twice a week
for ten weeks in the fall and ten
weeks in the spring. The present
plan is for the fall term to open
Oct. 9th. Since these classes are
to be held for the benefit of the
employees they will be held at a
time suitable to the majority of
those attending. A suggested
time to hold the classes would be
from 1:15 to 3:15 on Tuesdays
and Thursdays for the evening
shift and from 3:45 to 5:45 for
the morning shift.
These hours are suggested to
keep those attending from having
to make an extra trip to the mill.
The first course to be offered
will be Elementary Mill Mathe
matics. It will consist of the
fundamentals of mathematics in
cluding addition, subtraction, di
vision, multiplication, fractions,
decimals, percentage, measures
of length, weight, area, volume
(Continued On Last Page)