Biography

The site of Lowell Mill on the Little River south of Kenly was Johnston County’s earliest cotton mills. The first reference to the site’s water-power capabilities is an 1801 deed from Thomas Garrald to his brother Isacc of 65 acres on the north side of the river along with “damming improvements.” In 1819 the property was sold to Andrew Bass, who operated the mill as a grist mill and added a saw mill and cotton gin. The property was acquired in 1841 by officers of the newly formed Little River Manufacturing Company of Wayne County. In 1858 the property was conveyed to William Edgerton, president of the newly formed Lowell Johnston Little River Cotton Factory. In April 1865 a Union regiment led by General O. O. Howard was sent to secure the factory and had explicit orders from General Sherman not to destroy the mill. The 1870 Industrial census lists the cotton mill as having ten spindles and one wool card. By 1891, when the complex was sold to N.G. Holland it had been expanded to include a corn-and-flour mill, a cotton gin, and a saw mill but there is no mention of the cotton factory at that time. The grist mill operated until the death of its owner, J.W. Darden, in 1952. The mill building was destroyed by fire in the mid-1950s, and the site is vacant except for several farm buildings.

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