Concord Steam Cotton Factory
aka Concord Mfg Company

Company records are available as a collection at the UNC at Chapel Hill
A volume containing acts of incorporation, records of stocks and property, minutes of meetings of the board of directors and general stockholders of the Concord Steam Cotton Factory; and two related items, 1839-1861. Also included is a typed carbon copy of the minutes of stockholders' meetings, 1879-1902, of the Odell Manufacturing Company.

The Concord Steam Cotton Factory, also referred to as the Concord Manufacturing Company, was organized
16 February 1839 by a group of six entrepreneurs. General Paul Barringer served as the first president. Other notable founders included John T. Phifer, Daniel Moreau Barringer (1806-1873), and Robert Washington Allison (1809-1898). The business started with capital of $24,000 and 600 spindles shipped from Fishkill, N.Y. This was the first cotton mill on record in Cabarrus County, N.C.

William Jenks, a Pennsylvanian, was the mill's first mechanic, but was replaced by John McDonald, also from Pennsylvania, before operations actually began. By April 1842, the mill was in full operation, producing cotton yarn, shirting, and nails. A year later, the company paid its first dividend at three percent per share. In 1859, John McDonald took over the ownership and management of the mill. The factory remained in operation during the Civil War and supplied cloth for uniforms.

In 1879, John Milton Odell purchased the firm and, with financial backing from seven other stockholders, built the Odell
Manufacturing Company on the same property. Odell was the president and major stockholder, and his son William was
secretary- treasurer. The Odell Manufacturing Company operated until 1907, when, in the face of worsening economic conditions and declining profits, the firm went bankrupt. Most of the mill itself burned in August 1908.

Back   Home