Lowell Consumer Milling Company Records

Collection — legal box: PC 129-139

Identifier: PC00130

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Consumers Milling Company at Lowell Records contain minutes from annual meetings of stockholders of the company.

Dates

Record Keeping: 1992 February 10
1917-1932

Creator

Lowell Consumer Milling Company (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Please send requests to heritagecenter@johnstonnc.com or through the ArchivesSpace request form.

Conditions Governing Use

The nature of the Johnston County Heritage Center’s various collections means that copyright and other information about restrictions on the use of materials may be difficult or even impossible to determine. The Heritage Center claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U. S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility in the use of materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal state, county or municipal right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual’s private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which Johnston County and the Johnston County Heritage Center assumes no responsibility. Researchers are advised that the Heritage Center maintains physical stewardship of these collections under varying terms and agreements. Collections that are given to the Heritage Center are done so under a Deed of Gift agreement in which the donor transfers physical ownership rights as well as, “all right and title to…items without limiting conditions to the Heritage Center.” To more fully understand rights restrictions for particular collections please consult with the Archivist or Director.

Biographical / Historical

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.