Talk:Samuel Slater/Archives/2014

Schochal studies
What was the yarn spinning machine? And what did it look like?Ş Bold textWhen did Samuel Slater die?

Slatersville
Technically, Slatersville (a village in  the present-day town of North Smithfield) was named after Samuel Slater's son John, who either owned or managed the mill that Slatersville was created for. Slatersville was the first planned mill village in the United States.

The History of North Smithfield by Walter Nebiker may be an important resource for any/all discussion of Slatersville.


 * For ease, I've removed the reference to Slatersville in the article. Thanks for the correction.  If the village really was the first planned mill village, perhaps it deserves its own article, which can be referenced back to Slater Mill? (I haven't checked if there is an article already) --CPAScott 13:57, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Semi-protect
This page, for some odd reason, has been the target of repeated vandalism by unregistered users. To stop this action, I've semi-protected the page. --CPAScott 13:57, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Additional Reference
I know that Wikipedia just usually gives a general overview of topics, and given that Samuel Slater may not be the first person that people would look up, but why not go a little more in-depth with it? "Industrial Genius: Samuel Slater" by Lewis S. Miner is a very good book, not just for reference but it's actually a fun book to read (imagine that!). It goes through Slater's life in detail, and is supported with a bibliography. For instance, I'm sure someone actually interested in Slater would love to know that he lived with his wife long before they were married, and that it was hard for her Quaker father to allow them to be wed because he felt that Slater's ambition would diminish the love Slater had for his daughter. I'm writing a paper on the industrial revolution, and thought I would check here for any additional information that might be useful...and was very downhearted to find that the page was only a few paragraphs long. I hope someone agrees with me and adds more information to this page (although I'm sure whoever is in charge has much more important things to do than read a book and update a wiki). Thanks 68.186.219.9 (talk) 02:01, 14 May 2009 (UTC)Colby

Slater Employment Practices
I have made some extensive edits to this article from my knowledge of the English side of the pond. However I am having some difficulty with Slater's initial attempts at getting employees.

The practice he was familiar with in England was that whole families would be given housing since the initial Strutt and Arkwright mills were in very sparsely populated areas. The children would work in the mills, often with their mothers, while fathers stayed in the house weaving the cotton into stockings - so called framework knitting. The youngest children would usually be looked after by their grandmothers.

I imagine that this would be how Slater would expect to go on. The inference in the article is that the families would need to be split unlike the English experience. I'm imagining that the families in the US might have their own property for a start and the fathers tied to the family locality by whatever employment they had. (In England in the late eighteenth century, many were commoners, and many families had been displaced by the enclosures) What was the usual employment in America for fathers? Was there the fashion in the US for stockings and thus the same demand for framework knitting? Chevin (talk) 16:11, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

Beverly Cotton Manufactory
I know the BCM had workers who lived in houses not on mill land. The mill was expensive to build, and went overbudget to begin with, so workers would have had their own homes beforehand. Beverly was a rich environment with lots of housing and work for early families, and with George Washington being based there at the time, the economy was only getting better. Silivrenion (talk) 14:12, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

Very poor article
Quote: "Slater was well-trained by Strutt, and at age 21 began a systematic study of the latest textile machinery"

He learned about about textile machinery through his apprenticeship. By the age of 21 he was in New York.

How about going back to last year when the article had some vestige of historical accuracy? Chevin (talk) 19:21, 6 July 2011 (UTC)


 * I still think a lot of valuable info has been lost from earlier edits Chevin (talk) 06:14, 8 July 2011 (UTC)


 * (Own edit amended above)Chevin (talk)

Robber baron?
I see no reason slater should be associated with the phrase Robber Baron. He is linked to this phrase, which has a post-Civil War context and the strong implication of criminal activity. Should his defection from England be placed in the same category as Fisk and Gould? I should think not, nor would the consensus of historians I should think. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.125.0.198 (talk) 00:23, 28 February 2013 (UTC)