courtesy of
http://media.clemson.edu/library/special_collections/findingaids/Mss/jpstevens_1.pdfJ.P. Stevens and Co. was founded in 1813 in North Andover,
Massachusetts by Captain Nathaniel Stevens and later incorporated on New
Years Eve of 1923. The company started in a converted grist mill producing
woolen broadcloth in 1813. When the company was taken over and divided up
in 1989 by Odyssey Partners, West Point-Pepperel Inc., and Bibb Co., it had mills
from Maine to Georgia making everything from cotton and woolen yams and
fabrics to carpets and synthetics. At the time of the 1989 takeover Stevens also
owned two subsidiaries: Stevens Aviation and Stevens Graphics.
The 175 years between 1813 and 1989 saw many changes for J.P. Stevens
and Company, Incorporated, including several name changes. The company
started as Nathaniel Stevens and was changed to Nathaniel Stevens and Son in
1850, when Moses T. Stevens became a partner. Captain Nathaniel Stevens gave
up active management of the company in 1860 and he later died in 1865. In 1885
the name of the company changed to M.T. Stevens & Sons. The company later
incorporated in 1901 and changed its name to M.T. Stevens & Sons Company. In
1883, John P. Stevens (nephew of Moses T.) went to work for the commission
house of Faulkner, Page & Company. In 1899, he formed a partnership
commission house to sell the products of M.T. Stevens & Sons and A.D. Gleason.
The company was named J.P. Stevens and Co., and later incorporated in 1923.
By 1903, J.P. Stevens and Co. was the selling agent for the woolen mills
owned by M.T. Stevens and Sons Co. located in Andover (Marland Mills, est.
1820) & North Andover, MA (Stevens and Osgood Mills, est. 1813, inc. 1901) and
Franklin, N.H. (Franklin Mills, est. ca. 1863, leased by Moses T. Stevens
beginning 1871) and the woolen mill owned by Stevens and Co. located in
Haverhill, MA (Pentucket Mills, est. 1830, bought by Nathaniel Stevens in 1855),
- The Nevins Co. of Boston, MA was the selling agent for the Stevens Linen
Works (est. 1846, completed 1867) in Webster, MA. Except for the linen works
and the Osgood Mills, all the mills produced woolen dress goods and dyed and
finished their own fabrics. Along with dress goods, individual mills produced
flannels, broadcloths and carriage cloths. The linen works produced linen crash
toweling, while the Osgood Mills made worsted yarns.
In 1918, M.T. Stevens & Sons added mills in Peacedale, RI (Peace Dale
Mills est. 1801, completed 1848.) By 1930, the company had added mills located in
Dracut, MA (Merrimack Woolen Mills, Inc. 1902). Both these mills made woolen
dress goods and dyed and finished their own fabrics. Also by 1930, the Pentucket
Mills in Haverhill, MA were under the ownership of M.T. Stevens and Sons Co.
The Hockanurn Mills Company was bought in 1934 and five woolen mills
in Rockville, CT were added to M.T. Stevens & Sons. In 1935, J.P. Stevens and
Co., Inc., became a Delaware corporation when it merged with the Milton
Corporation. J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc., was the continuing corporation.
In 1946, J.P. Stevens and Co. Inc. merged with M.T. Stevens and Sons Co.
and Slater-Carter-Stevens, Inc. The resulting corporation continued under the
name of J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. The shares of stock owned by Slater-Carter-
Stevens, Inc. in the Carter Fabrics Corp., of Greensboro, N.C. and Slater
Manufacturing Co., of Slater, S.C. would become the property of J.P. Stevens and
Co., Incoraporated. In addition, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. bought out cotton and
rayon yarn and cloth mills in Virginia and North and South Carolina: Aragon-
Baldwin Mills, Dunean Mills, Piedmont Manufacturing Co., Republic Cotton
Mills, Victor-Monaghan Co., Wallace Manufacturing Co., Inc. and Watts Mills.
These corporations and mills along with M.T. Stevens and Sons Co. became
subsidiary corporations of J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc.
According to Ron Copsey, Director of Public Relations (1981-1988) for J.P.
Stevens and Co., Inc., when J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc., moved south in 1946 it
acquired 29 new mills and became a publicly owned corporation.
By 1947, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. had acquired woolen mills in
Gleasondale, MA (Originally Stowe Woolen Mills, est. 1813, Inc. 1915.) In 1956,
the company bought the Worumbo plant in Lisbon Falls, ME. In 1957, J.P.
Stevens and Co., Inc., acquired The Forstmann Woolen Company located in
Passaic, N.J. By 1960, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. had 50 plants in 41 locations and
offices in New York, N.Y., Greenville, S.C. and Greensboro, N.C.
In 1975, J.P. Stevens and Co., Inc. had 82 textile plants in Alabama,
California, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee and Virginia. The main offices remained in New York City, with
administrative offices in Greenville, S.C. The company also owned two
subsidiaries: Stevens Aviation and Stevens Graphics. The textile plants produced
cotton, wool and synthetic yarns and fabrics (woven, nonwoven and knitted) and
products such as towels, carpets, hosiery, glass fabrics and sheets.
In 1989, J.P.Stevens and Co., Inc. was taken over by Odyssey Partners, Inc.,
West Point-Pepperel, Inc., and Bibb Co. During the takeover, J.P. Stevens and Co.,
Inc. was divided up and parts went to both the two corporations and the
company. Also at this time the JPS Textile Group, Inc. was formed. Under this
corporation were five other corporations: JPS Automotive Products Corp., JPS
Carpet Corp., JPS Converter and Yarn Corp., JPS Industrial Fabrics Corp. and JPS
Elastomerics Corp.
