By Bruce R. Sievers

There is a village in the town of East Haddam, Connecticut, called Moodus, where for a century and a half the people manufactured cotton twine. Only a few of the twelve cotton mills that were built along the banks of the narrow Moodus River during the first half of the last century remain. Nine are gone now, victims of fire and abandonment. Of the surviving three, two are owned by the Brownell Company, the sole remaining mill in town, and the third has been vacant for at least twenty years, its last inglorious use being as a chicken coop.

Newcomers to the village today would not realize the enormous changes which have reshaped the physical character and collective identity of Moodus during the last 50 years. The town does not look the same: the bells in the mill towers no longer summon their neighbors to work, the mill ponds no longer attract young swimmers or skaters, the bales of raw cotton no longer serve to connect New England millhands with the agricultural fields of the South or the great maritime fleets of Massachusetts or the Great Lakes. However, there are people still living in town who remember the mills, and who understand their significance to the history of Moodus.

The mills are not the only buildings absent from this village landscape, the very town itself was razed by the bulldozers of urban redevelopment during the late 1960's and early 1970's and a new "shoppping center" built a quarter mile up the street. Redevelopment only served, however, to destroy one of the last tangible links the townspeople had with their mill past, for in the process of destroying the stores the wrecker's ball also demolished a 120 year old mill built of solid granite, and several nineteenth century houses which had been the homes of Moodus mill owners. The natural course of the Moodus River, the motive force which powered the cotton mills, was altered so as to conform to new road patterns, and the old mill dams, built by hand of stone and timber, were carelessly broken by the machines of the construction company which then filled in the ponds with dirt. 

The Moodus is a growing, changing community. New families are moving into the town. But to some it is a slow and sad transition as the sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters of the immigrants who came to work in the mills pass on, that community which knew the hustle and bustle of the Moodus mills is replaced by out-of-towners who have limited knowledge of the town's past and accept the town for the bedroom community it is today.

The Mills Of Moodus

Moodus presented an ideal location for the development of industry because, in addition to the aforementioned human resource, Moodus had the requisite water power (Moodus River), was located on a major waterway (Connecticut River), had the necessary skilled and unskilled labor (both native Yankee and immigrant), and had investment capital and bank credit available.

The Moodus River empties into the Salmon River at the Cove in Johnsonville. Although it certainly is not a big river (it more closely approximates a stream. The word "river" is loosely applied in this case), the river bed declines approximately three hundred feet in three miles, and its power was easily harnessed by dams and waterwheels The land adjoining the river was, at this time, unimproved, and there were many available sites for mill development.

Primary among any manufacturer's concerns is access to a means of easy and rapid transportation. Raw materials must be shipped to the factory, and the finished products must be transported on time to the customers. Nearness to a major avenue of transportation holds down the cost of receiving and shipping. During the years prior to the building of railroads and highways, waterways were the main arteries for commercial traffic. In central Connecticut the Connecticut River was the passageway from local towns to New York City and beyond. Moodus' location as a Connecticut River town meant that raw cotton from New York wharves could be delivered on a regular schedule to Goodspeed Landing, and that the steamboats, on their return voyages, could transport the finished goods from Moodus to selling agents in the City. Twice a day teams of horses and yokes of oxen made the round trip journey from the mills to the Landing .4 All the mills had warehouses for the storage of raw cotton which were located near the mills. The owners always tried to stockpile enough cotton to last them through the winter because, when the river froze, the steamers were unable to make their deliveries. Even after the building of the Valley Railroad, mill owners still found that this practice of stockpiling cotton was more cost effective than transporting by rail during the winter.

The Moodus cotton mills concentrated primarily on manufacturing three different products: yarn, duck, and twine. It was very common for a mill to switch products two or three times. This was no small task, requiring expenditures of time and money to either convert machinery or procure new machines. Frequently, the transfer to a new product was initiated by the sale of the mill to a new owner who was more aware of changing markets and consumer demand.

Four mills manufactured cotton yarn between 1819 and 1881. The Granite Mill made yarn from 1819 until it was destroyed by fire in 1849. The Smith Mill twice manufactured yarn: first, briefly, from 1823 until 1825, and then from 1866 until 1881. The Neptune Mill made yarn from 1832 until 1900, and the Chace Mill from 1848 until 185 1. The Granite and Smith Mills also installed power looms and wove the yarn into cloth and shirtings In 1821 looms were installed in the Granite Mill, and the Smith Mill wove shirtings from 1824 until 1845.

During the age of the tall ships, cotton duck was in heavy demand for use as sail cloth. The First World War also increased the demand for duck. It was manufactured in Moodus by five mills from 1845 until approximately 1920. The Granite Mill twice produced duck, from 1852 until 1869 and from 1901 until 1920. The Smith Mill made duck from 1845 until 1866. The Chace Mill manufactured duck from 1902 until 1920. The Atlantic Mill was in the business from 1852 until 1894, and the Williams Mill produced duck from 1855 until approximately 1920.

Twine, however, was the major product of Moodus involving, at one time or another, all twelve mills. The twine was sold either as cord or made directly into fish nets. Four companies manufactured fish netting; Brownell & Company produced seine twine from 1844 until 1977, the New York Net & Twine Company made fish nets in the Falls Mill from 1865 until 1904, the National Net & Twine Company manufactured fish nets in the Old Williams Mill from about 1920 until 1932, and Harper Boies made seine twine exclusively from 1881 until his death in 1888 in the Old Smith Mill (which was known at this time as the Boies Mill).

The Falls Mill introduced the first mechanical netting machine to Moodus. The machine tied multiple knots and greatly increased the speed of production. The New York Net & Twine Company was extremely proud of this new machine and, in a move considered a violation of Moodus' spirit of neighborly co-operation among millowners, secreted the machine on the fourth floor of the mill in a room which was kept locked at all times.,, Since Moodus manufacturers were not given to industrial spying, this move seems a tad extreme.

Two Moodus mills, the Moodus Net & Twine and National Net & Twine, manufactured gill nets which they sold to fishermen in New England and around the Great Lakes. The system of advertising and marketing their product was quite simple. These mills employed salesmen who brought samples to the docks and wharves and took orders from individual fishermen. At times the salesman representing a company might just happen to be the owner of the mill. Cary Brownell, owner of Brownell & Company, the parent company of Moodus Net & Twine, would frequently travel to Maine, maritime New England, Great Lakes, and Puget Sound visiting customers and carrying samples of his wares in the age-old tradition of the Yankee peddler.

The Decline Of The Moodus Mills

As the 19th century drew to a close the structure of mill ownership began to change and form a new shape as several mills were combined under single ownership, and control of others slipped from the grasp of their former Moodus owners. In 1898 a new manufacturing company, The Undine Twine Mills, was formed by Albert E. Purple. Purple had entered the cotton manufacturing business in 1868 with the purchase of Card's Lower Mill. In 1878 he bought the East Mill from the New York Net and Twine Company, and in 1898 he bought the Atlantic Mill, becoming in the process the largest mill owner in Moodus.

Moodus was a prosperous little town during the turn of the century. According to statistics reported in the Connecticut Valley Advertiser in 1900, there were 17,000 spindles in operation in town. The mills con­sumed 103 bales or 51,500 pounds of cotton per week or 2,575,000 pounds of raw cotton per year.

The decline of the cotton industry in Moodus began with the early 1900’s, accelerating during the 1920’s and 1930’s. The mills had prospered during the second half of the 19th century, eventually attracting the interest of speculators and opportunists who hoped to make a profit by purchasing or otherwise gaining control of some of the mills. This interest from outside in­vestors began to occur during a period of diminishing capital by several mill owners. Faced with the problems of a poor cash flow, low capital reserves, and manufacturing facilities which needed modernization, the Moodus mill owners began to sell.

In 1901-02 the ownership of three mills was purchased by the Hall Lincoln Company of Boston. In October, 1901, they bought the Granite Mill, added machinery, and began the manufacture of cotton duck. In 1902 they purchased the Williams Duck Mill and continued to make cotton duck until after World War I. Hall, Lincoln also purchased the Stone (Chace) Mill in 1902. The new owners ceased the production of cotton yarn and twine, changed the machinery, and began making cotton duck here, also.

When E. Emory Johnson died in 1905, an out-of-towner named George Frost became president of the Neptune Twine and Cord Mills. The story of George Frost represents an interesting episode in the history of the Moodus mills. Mr. Frost was an opportunist who was able to swindle his way into the Neptune Mills, and attempted to gain control of two others. He was a commodities dealer in cotton in New York City who advised several Moodus mill owners to buy cotton from him at the wrong time so that he could make money. This is illegal because a commodities dealer cannot advise a customer when to buy at a certain price. However, the Neptune, Brownell, and New York Net & Twine mills all bought cotton from Frost at the price he advised and, when unable to pay their bills when the price of cotton dropped, were at his mercy. He ruined the New York Net & Twine Company forcing them to shut down operations for two years and resulting in the sale of the mills in 1919. Frost was unable to gain any control over the Brownell Company. George Brownell, son of the owner Charles Brownell, reportedly stood up to Frost and threatened to have him arrested. The Brownells eventually paid their bill and Frost left them alone. However, E. Emory Johnson was not as successful, and Frost was able to acquire an interest in the corporation, remaining as president until his death.

The mills were not damaged in the great Moodus Center Fire of January 18, 1906, which destroyed the business district of the village, although Brownell's Upper Mill and the Red Mill stood dangerously close to the site of the blaze.

All of the mills in town prospered during WWI, mostly from the benefit of government contracts. Brownell & Company, for example, made twine for camouflage netting. Hall, Lincoln had government con­tracts for canvas. However, the market demand for cotton duck declined so rapidly after the Great War that they were forced to sell the Stone and Williams mills (they had already sold the Granite Mill in 1903).

Although the domestic demand for cotton duck and twine was falling, the foreign market continued to he strong, and Brownell & Company was the only Moodus mill to have a foreign trade. Charles Brownell had established a good business with Brazil and Argentina during the later 1800’s. Brownell sold only good quality twine to South America, whereas their competitors, Linen Thread Company, would ship irregulars. Brownell's logo was the condor and the South Americans, unable to speak English, always wanted the twine with the bird on the package. After losing his South American markets in 1910, Brownell began making cork and lead lines for gill nets which were sold directly to fishermen in Gloucester and on the Great Lakes.

In many ways the decade of the 1920’s was the beginning of the end of the cotton business in Moodus. Fire destroyed the Triton Mill in 1924 and, two years later, Purple's Lower Mill. The Triton blaze was caused by children who had set a pile of dry leaves afire on mill property. The fire spread out of their control, ultimately reaching the mill. Normally the fire would have been detected early and extinguished. However, this particular day was a Sunday and the people who lived in the tenements adjacent to the mill were all attending a social function. By the time the fire was discovered, the mill was beyond saving. The fire that destroyed Purple's Lower Mill was also the result of human carelessness. This mill was still heated by coal stoves, and some embers had fallen undetected onto the floor when the stove was last "shaken down." The floorboards, wooden and soaked with 80 years accumulation of machine oil, ignited. The mill was a total loss.

Business suffered in Moodus during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, but not as badly as many manufacturing communities in the state. One reason why the twine industry was not hurt too badly during the Depression was that the fishing industry remained fairly steady during these troubled years. Fish was less expensive to buy than beef, and many people began to add more fish to their diet. Since the Moodus mills sold twine to the net manufacturers, there remained a stable market for Moodus twine. The relatively healthy condition of the fishing industry attracted competition for Moodus from several twine mills in the Southern states. Bibb Manufacturing Company in Macon, Georgia, as well as Linen Thread in the Carolinas were the chief rivals. The North had the disadvantage of paying higher wages, but it was closer to the fishing fleets than the South. The fact that the Southern mills were closer to the source of raw cotton was negated by the fact that the price of cotton was determined by the commodities market in New York City and the price of raw cotton in Savannah would not buy any lower than the price paid in the North.

Brownell & Company was not hurt as badly by the financial collapse of the country as it was by the loss of its South American export trade. 1928 to 1932 were lean years for the company. Crary Brownell began to explore the market for specialty items that the larger mills did not want to touch. He made "a darn good zipper cord," which he sold to the Russell Manufacturing Company in Middletown, Connecticut, for a nice profit. He made trawl lines for which he had to develop an unbalanced twist to allow for shrinkage while in the water. He made cork and lead lines for gill nets. Mr. Brownell was an avid archer, and that interest led him into the manufacturing of linen bow strings. He bought Irish linen from J.E. Barber of Barber's Flax and twisted it into thread.

In Moodus the Depression forced the end of cotton manufacturing at the old Williams Mill of Falls Road. The owners of the mill, the Ludlow Manufacturing Company, in a move to consolidate their operations, moved the machinery to their main plant in Ludlow, Massachusetts, and sold the mill to a Robert Loblick and his associates who attempted to convert the building to a distillery. Their efforts failed and the East Haddam Distillery went out of business before they had even begun. The building was later transformed into a chicken coop, one of many coops in Moodus during the years when Moodus was a leading egg producer in the area.

The Depression effected a basic reorganization of American industry. Small, independent mills and factories built during the previous century along rivers in rural villages like Moodus were no longer able to fight the competition of larger companies who could afford to convert to the latest technology and pay union wages. The Moodus mills tried to hang on to their way of life, but they were facing constant pressure to change. One of the biggest changes in business life during the 1930’s was the industrial labor union movement. Moodus workers did not seek to unionize because they believed they had no need to ask any outsiders to arbitrate their relationship with their neighbors, the mill owners. Workers in Moodus were content with their working conditions and did not see any cause for complaint. They felt that the mills had been good to them, providing a steady income in an atmosphere of neighborhood friendliness and co-operation. However, this anti-union attitude did not win friends within the United Textile Workers union when they called for a general strike in the fall of 1934.

Newspapers estimated that across the country more than 300,000 textile workers were out. Where the mills brought in scabs, or in mills that had not gone on strike, the union sent carloads of strikers, called "Flying Squadrons" to fight workers. The State of Connecticut mobilized the National Guard to intercede, and the Guard even used airplanes to try to spot the movements of the strikers' squadrons so that they could be there when the strikers arrived.

The Moodus workers, being non­union, continued to work. One day during the strike a black Cadillac carrying strikers, one of the Flying Squadrons, drove into Moodus and attempted to talk to the workers. They were not allowed to enter Brownell's mills so they drove up Falls Road toward the Atlantic Mill. When the Cadillac pulled into the mill they were met by the foreman and several others who were standing on the loading dock with lap sticks in their hands. The Squadron was informed in no uncertain terms that they were not welcomed in Moodus and they should drive away unless they wanted a fight. Realizing that help from the workers would not be forthcoming, they left town, and the boys on the loading dock put down their sticks and went back to work. The strike was called off after three weeks when the union agreed to accept a number of recommendations that had been made by President Roosevelt's Textile Board of Inquiry.

As the decade of the 1930’s was approaching a close, fire once again claimed the life of a Moodus mill. This time the Atlantic Mill fell victim to the flames. At the end of each workday electric blowers were used to clean the machines and floor of waste cotton. During this operation the air inside the mill was full of floating fibers of cotton. The fire was caused by exposed wires on an extension cord igniting some cotton on the floor. According to an eyewitness, Joe Wolak, a flash fire erupted because of the quantity of cotton dust in the air. Workers gave the alarm and evacuated the building, some jumping from second floor windows. Miraculously, no one was killed. The local fire department, volunteers, and boys from the nearby Civilian Conservation Corps camp all tried to bring the fire under control, but their efforts were unsuccessful. The mill was a total loss.

During the 1930’s the DuPont Corporation had perfected a new synthetic called nylon which they hoped to market as an alternative product to cotton. DuPont had tried to interest several cotton seine twine mills into converting to the manufacture of nylon seine, but every mill had refused. They all believed that nylon seine, because of its superior strength to cotton and the fact that it will not rot in water, would initiate the demise of cotton seine manufacturing. Apparently, no one wanted to assume the responsibility of being the first to convert.

One mill, however, did refer DuPont representatives to the Brownell Company in Moodus where they were favorably received by Crary Brownell and his son Nathan. The Brownells realized that nylon was to become the fiber of the future; to accept or reject its inevitability could mean the difference between financial success or failure. The Brownells agreed to become the first twine mill to convert from the manufac­ture of cotton to nylon seine, and to introduce nylon twine to the commercial fishing market. In return, DuPont made Brownell the exclusive manufacturer of nylon seine twine for a period of five years. This would allow Brownell the opportunity to develop the product and to conduct market research. The success of the Brownell mill in manufacturing and selling nylon seine twine en­sured the economic survival of the company. The Brownell Company has sur­vived for 140 years as a result of hard work, manufacturing and product innovation, market diversification, and good luck. Today, the two Brownell mills are the only ones left on the river.

In 1943, the Falls Mill was destroyed by fire when bearings in the turbine overheated and caught fire, igniting the big leather belt which pulled the flames into the mill. That same year the East Mill, long since abandoned, was dismantled for salvage. The Stone (Chace) Mill experienced several fires during the 1950’s and 1960’s, and was finally demolished. In 1972 the Nep­tune Mill, which had been purchased in 1965 by Raymond Schmidt and was the focal point of his restored Victorian mill village of Johnsonville, was hit by lightning and burned to the ground.

The Brownell Company remained healthy due to the tremendous com­mercial success of nylon. The company built a modern, one-story manufac­turing plant on property located immediately behind the original mill, and presently operates on 80,000 square feet of floor space. In 1977, Cary Brownell sold the family business to Bridgeport-Gundry, Ltd., an English holding company which was looking to purchase a successful American business. Today, the Brownell Company is a leading manufacturer of synthetic line, twine, cordage and netting for commercial fishing, industrial, hardware, building construction, and sporting goods applications. The company also produces cargo net systems for aircraft and helicopters, archery bowstring materials and, for its Edwards Sports Products Division, a complete line of tennis nets and net accessories.