Samuel Slater.

by Rev. John L. Blake, D.D.

from Lives of American Merchants (1856)

Samuel Slater
Engraving by Wm. N. Dunnel from a painting by Cole, Boston.

[p.451] These is no individual deserving of a more honored perpetuity in American annals than the one named above. True, he had no far back ancestry, as common in the land of his birth, to nourish a silly pride. Heraldry had no laurels to encircle him. The dazzling splendors of a court had never cast their luster upon him. Nor is it known that he could cast an eye of complacency on any one of his own blood who had been particularly distinguished in the army, the navy, or the church. No, that blood had descended through successive generations—not by inundating floods and over lofty precipices, to arrest the gaze and call forth the acclamation of impulsive multitudes; but in limpid streams, noiseless and gentle, through the deep mountain-passes, till the alluvial plains below were made rich and verdant by their fertilizing agency. His father was a respectable yeoman of Belper, Derbyshire county, in a central part of England. The yeomanry of that country form a distinct class, farming their own lands, ordinarily possessing wealth competent for their own necessities; being a desirable mediocrity in society, equally removed, on the one hand, from all in scouted and unmitigated poverty that is degrading and paralyzing; and, on the other hand, from sudden overgrown riches and unnatural rank in social position.

Verily, it is no easy matter to write the biography of such a man as Samuel Slater; we mean, to write one that will be generally read in a community like ours. It is not denied that we are a business kind of people, proverbially philosophical and shrewd in all matters connected with the [p.452] acquisition of property; yet, few indeed think of reading the life of a business man. If urged to do it, the response will be interrogatories like the following:—What has he done that is memorable or calculated to interest mankind? Has he made any brilliant discoveries in science? Has the telescope opened to his enraptured vision hitherto undiscovered planets? Have the laboratories of the chemist enabled him to spread upon some broad and distinct panorama new analyses and combinations, and, as it were, new principles in the government of physical nature? Or, has he fought the battles of his country and clothed himself with martial glory? We can not answer in the affirmative. We admit, that usually in the life of a business man there is not to be expected much incident to arrest the attention of the sleepy and the dull. If he has acquired great wealth; if at home he gives constant employment and consequent subsistence, year after year, to hundreds or to thousands of mechanics and laborers; if, too, the virtuous poor are furnished by him with comfortable habitations, at rates the most reduced and advantageous; and, if abroad the canvas of his ships whiten every sea, and the merry notes of his gallant tars enliven every port in the known world; nevertheless his career has been comparatively uniform and monotonous—nothing in it stirring and dazzling, unless it be the grand result, the acquisition of a princely fortune. If now and then a rich cargo, amid the howling tempest and the upturned elements, sink into the ocean’s deep abyss; or if a conflagration in the dark hour of midnight sweep away whole blocks of houses and stores; these are deemed commonplace occurrences, scarcely deserving recollection. Whatever public sympathy may exist tends to another point. The tenants in being thus frightfully driven from their habitations by the flames bursting in upon them; and the mariners also in struggling for life, when shipwreck deprives them of food and all [p.452] rational means of safety, do indeed excite a deep sympathy, and a memoir of their perilous sufferings would be read by thousands; while the owner of the wasted property is not mentioned or thought of, except by a few personal friends and the insurance offices.

Such are the natural reflections in reference to the biography of a merchant. However, the case of Samuel Slater is somewhat different. For if he hath not like Fulton discovered a new application of principle which has completely changed the social and business relations of the whole world, he has, no one can deny, introduced from a foreign land into our own country and spread over its fair bosom the application of a principle that has already, as with the power of magic, resolved population and wealth into new combinations. What has made the city of Lowell? What is now making the city of Lawrence become a rival sister to her? What has cast the germ of a hundred cities, here and there, all about us in every direction, at present flourishing villages, where only a few years since was a dense forest, the stillness of which has given place to the multitudinous hum of business? The reader scarcely need be told. “With the young the story has become a kind of instinct. The hammer and the file of the machine-shop, the dizzy whirl of the yarn-spindle, and the rattling of the weaver’s shuttle, answer the question. Spinning by machinery has mainly done all this. For a moment imagine these germs never to have been thus spread broadcast over our country, and what should we now behold? The answer is obvious. Our wheels of improvement would be set backward half a century. So far as depending on this portion of our industry is involved, the geographies, the printed statistics, the newspapers printed sixty years ago, would tell you with startling accuracy what would now be our condition.

The limits assigned for this article do not admit of much [p.454] generalizing. They scarcely admit a well-connected view of the prominent facts in the life of the individual immediately claiming our attention. He was born June 9th, 1768. We have already alluded to his father, who being in comfortable circumstances, the son received the advantages of a common school education. When at school, he is said to have evinced an inquisitive mental aptitude, for which be was so much noted in subsequent life. With him arithmetic was a favorite branch of study. This conduced to the development of mechanical capabilities, that were the foundation of his principal success through life. And it is justice to remark, that he was indebted only in a small degree for this success to any other cause save intellectual vigor and the most rigid integrity. He was modest and diffident, which with sensible people always command esteem; and was completely destitute of that flippancy and bold pretension which with many appear to be a substitute for genius. It is doubted if he was ever known to profess knowledge he did not possess, or to control means of any kind unless apparently within his power. We have frequently heard him affirm, that it was his habit through life, and especially in the early portion of it, not to assume pecuniary responsibilities, without calculating at the time the source from which funds would be received to cancel them. This is a trait of character the more to be admired from the rarity of its existence; and a man who possesses it would not be inclined to commence, or to profess an ability to complete a machine, unless he had the perspective powers, that from the beginning would enable him at one glance to survey all its constituent parts. Instances indeed occurred, almost as a matter of course, of failure to receive anticipated means; but, the man who exercised such a habit would not remain long without providing new estimates for the redemption of his responsibilities.

It is probably known to our readers that spinning cotton [p.455] by machinery, in the boyhood of young Slater, was in its infancy. Richard Arkwright, born in 1732, and brought up to the humble trade of a barber, when about twenty-five years of age turned his attention to machinery—first, we believe, to an attempt for perpetual motion, and then to the object which has immortalized his name, and given benefits to the world of value surpassing all calculation. He soon obtained a patent for spinning cotton, and went successfully into the business. In 1771, Jedediah Strutt, the inventor of the machine for making ribbed stockings, formed a copartnership with Arkwright. Four years afterward, Mr. Strutt begun, on his individual account, the erection of cotton works at Belper, the residence of the Slater family. This prepared the way for the eventful career of young Slater, who, when at the age of fourteen years, became the apprentice of Mr. Strutt, to learn this business; and, by his father’s consent, who died about that time, he bound himself with a regular indenture to perform faithfully the customary duties of an apprentice. Who would have then imagined that such a stripling, by this act, laid the foundation for a large fortune in America, and introduced the elements of a business to employ, in his own life-time, probably more than a million of people! It seems more like fancy than reality. What conqueror ever produced a revolution in human society so wide and permanent in its character as that we are contemplating! A few such boys, each with a corresponding concatenation of circumstances, would revolutionize the whole world.

The signature of young Slater to his indenture, bears a striking resemblance to that written forty years afterward on the bills of the bank of which he was the president. True, one was the chirography of a boy just from school, and the other of a man of business, and a good penman; but no one can fail to observe the similarity. To us, this [p.456] voluntary surrender of himself to Mr. Strutt, under all the legal technicalities in such instruments, is an interesting incident in his life, and was the result of views more comprehensive and collected than is usual with persons of his age. Were it convenient we would give a fac-simile of the indenture, still preserved in the family as a cherished relic of his early life. Just as the world was opening upon him with all its gaudy fantasies, its sensual delights, and its subtle delusions; when the passions were ripening into full vigor, and the imagination was rampant; what an idea for a self-devotion of seven years to the interests and the will of another, with all possible entrenchments against idleness, extravagance, negligence in the care of property, and especially all improper indulgences in pleasure! It would be well if such cases were characteristic of the present age. Such, however, is not the fact. At the present day the lovely period of youth, in effect, is nearly obliterated from the annals of human life. Youth, in all its exterior attributes, is naturally lovely, no one can deny. The countenance is blooming like the flowers of spring. The physical proportions are symmetrical, and the motions are elastic and graceful. And what is far more important, the mind is disposed to receive instruction with a filial submission to authority, whether in age or position. We have sometimes lamented that this charming period of human existence, in olden times so distinguished, had not continued longer. Yet, now-a-days, both boys and girls, with one long stride, are prone to pass instanter from childhood to precocious manhood and womanhood; to assume positions and to exercise functions, as inappropriate and unbecoming, as would be to a dwarf the garments of a giant.

Nor was his new relation an unmeaning formality. He entered fully into the spirit of it. In no one instance is he known to have given cause for complaint. He served his master as faithfully as he was ever afterward accustomed [p.456] to reward his own interests. The hours, too, designed for rest and recreation were, to a considerable extent, occupied in experiments on machinery. Such was his fidelity, and so successful were his preliminary efforts in mechanical skill, that he soon became a favorite with Mr. Strutt, and was placed in situations of the utmost importance. Four or five of his last years he acted as an overseer, which, with his close habits of observation, was of great advantage to him.

But while serving his master faithfully, his mind was active in reference to his own establishment in business when the proper period should arrive. For some time previous to the termination of his apprenticeship, he had thoughts of locating himself in America. This, however, was a secret confined to his own bosom. Had he remained in England, he would unquestionably with less toil and painful anxiety have acquired a fortune; for it is well known that his knowledge of the business, and his peculiar habits of application, would have secured him all needful encouragement. After he left, Mr. Strutt declared that had he known his intentions, nothing should have induced him to part with him. But Mr. Slater apprehended that in his native country the business would be overdone; and from some advertisements in American papers, and from various rumors and reports that reached him, he concluded, and very justly, that here was an entire destitution of the talent which he possessed. Accordingly, he resolved that he would perfect himself as much as possible for the enterprise, and then make a bold and determined effort for its successful termination.

Having made all necessary preparation, secretly and without divulging his plans to a single individual, he bid farewell to the home of his childhood. His friends in the land of his adoption well know that he sincerely and ardently loved his mother, and that to all his family he was [p.458] kind and affectionate; they well know he could not have left them without a painful struggle; hut a youthful ambition animated his soul and enabled him to overcome his emotions. While waiting in London until the vessel was ready, he wrote to his friends, informing them of his purposes. The eventful day of departure was September 1st, 1789, being at that time only a few months over twenty-one years of age. The laws of England did not admit the emigration of machinists, and therefore he took with him no patterns or drawings, trusting solely to the powers of his memory to enable him to construct the most complicated machinery. But few men could have done this. His memory however was remarkably tenacious, and being a good mathematician, he was enabled to enter into all the nice calculations required in such a labor. It is true he had many perplexities in his way, and many difficulties to encounter, but his skill and perseverance were a sufficient guaranty. No one unacquainted with the nature of them can understand how much talent and resolution were requisite. It must be apparent that he had not only to prepare all the plans in the several departments of the process of manufacturing, but he either had to make with his own hands the different kinds of machinery, whether of wood, iron, brass, tin, or leather, or else teach others to do it. At that period the business in all its ramifications was new in the country. Thus he must have been skilled in several trades, in addition to that in which he had been particularly instructed.

Mr. Slater arrived in New York the latter part of November, 1789, after a tedious passage of sixty-six days. He had no letters of introduction, excepting his indenture. With this he made himself known; and soon after his arrival he made a temporary engagement with the New York Manufacturing Company. But the state of their business being low and inferior, compared with what he had been [p.459] accustomed to in his own country, he was soon dissatisfied with his prospects. Besides, he did not like the water privileges shown to him in that section of the country. Hence, on learning that attempts were being made at Providence, Rhode Island, for manufacturing cotton by machinery, after a short correspondence with the venerable Moses Brown, he left for that place early in 1790. Here were soon perfected the preliminary arrangements for business, and the following document presents the details of it, being a most interesting fragment in the early history of the business in America:

“The following agreement, made between William Almey and Smith Brown of the one part, and Samuel Slater of the other part, witnesseth that the said parties have mutually agreed to be concerned together in, and to carry on, the spinning of cotton by water (of which the said Samuel professes himself a workman, well skilled in all its branches), upon the following terms, viz.: that the said Almey and Brown, on their part, are to turn in machinery, which they have already purchased, at the price they cost them, and to furnish materials for the building of two carding machines, viz., a breaker and a finisher, a drawing and a roving frame; and to extend the spinning mills, or frames, to one hundred spindles. And the said Samuel, on his part, covenants and engages to devote his whole time and service, and to exert his skill according to the best of his abilities, and have the same effected in a workmanlike manner, similar to those used in England, for the like purposes. And it is mutually agreed between the said parties, that the said Samuel shall be considered an owner and proprietor in one-half the machinery aforesaid, and accountable for one-half the expense that hath arisen, or shall arise, from the building, purchasing, or repairing of the same, but not to sell, or in any manner dispose of any part or parcel thereof to any [p.460] other person or persons, excepting the said Almey and Brown; neither shall any others he entitled to hold any right, interest, or claim in any part of the said machinery, by virtue of any right which the said Slater shall or may derive from these presents, unless by an agreement, expressed in writing, from the said Almey and Brown, first had and obtained—unless the said Slater has punctually paid one-half of the cost of said machinery, with interest thereon; nor then, until he has offered the same to the said Almey and Brown, in writing, upon the lowest terms, that he will sell or dispose of his part of the said machinery to any other person, and instructed the said Almey and Brown, or some others by them appointed, in the full and perfect knowledge of the use of the machinery and the art of water spinning. And it is further agreed, that the said Samuel, as a full and adequate compensation for his whole time and services, both whilst in constructing and making the machinery, and in conducting and executing the spinning, and preparing to spin upon the same, after every expense arising from the business is defrayed, including the usual commissions of two and a half per ceut. for purchasing of the stock, and four per cent, for disposing of the yarn, shall receive one-half of the profits, which shall be ascertained by settlement from time to time, as occasion may require; and the said Almey and Brown the other half—the said Almey and Brown to be employed in the purchasing of the stock, and disposing of the yarn. And it is further covenanted, that this indenture shall make void and supersede the former articles of agreement, made between the said Almey and Brown and the said Slater, and that it shall be considered to commence, and the conditions mentioned in it be binding upon the parties, from the beginning of the business; the said Samuel to be at the expense of his own time and board thenceforward. And it is also agreed, that if the said Almey and Brown choose to put apprentices to the business, [p.461] that they have liberty so to do; the expense arising from the maintenance of whom, and the advantages derived from their services during the time the said Almey and Brown may think proper to continue them in the business, shall be equally borne and received as is above provided for in the expenses and profits of the business. It is also to be understood, that whatever is advanced by the said Almey and Brown, either for the said Slater, or to carry on his part of the business, is to be repaid them with interest thereon, for which purpose they are to receive all the yarn that may be made, the one-half of which on their own account, and the other half they are to receive and dispose of on account of the said Slater, the net proceeds of which they are to credit to him, toward their advance and stocking his part of the works, so that the business may go forward.

“In witness whereof, the parties to these presents have interchangeably set their hands, this fifth day of the fourth month, seventeen hundred and ninety.

“Wm. Almey,
“Smith Brown,
“Samuel Slater.”

“Witnesses
“Oziel Wilkerson,
Abraham Wilkinson.”

On the 21st of December, 1790, Mr. Slater started three cards drawing, roving, and seventy-two spindles, which were operated by an old fulling-mill water-wheel, in a clothier’s shop at the west end of Pawtucket bridge. In this place they continued the spinning until the subsequent erection, early in 1793, of what is called in that village the “Old Mill,” and which is believed to be still in existence. It has been remarked that Mr. Slater had many perplexities; and although he had full confidence in his ability to complete what he engaged to perform, yet the pressure upon his mind occasionally would seem to overpower him. In addition to the burden of carrying in his memory all the [p.461] plans and calculations of such complicated machinery, required in the several departments of the business, which is seemingly what no other mortal could do, the necessity, for the want of competent artisans, of performing so much of the labor with his own hands, occasioned unexpected delays. This, at times, nearly discouraged his partners. Of this he became aware—a circumstance adding much to other causes of solicitude. There is told of him a curious anecdote connected with the history of his first machinery; and, whether true or fictitious, it may be preserved for the edification of Messrs. Upham, Abercrombie, Macknish, and other inquirers into the philosophy of dreams. When the day arrived for putting his machinery in motion, great was the joy of the artist and his associates; but, unluckily, it would not move, or at least it would not move as intended, or to any purpose. The disappointment was all but overwhelming to him. Day after day did he labor to discover, that he might remedy the defect, but to no purpose. But what he could not discover waking, was revealed to him in his sleep. It was perfectly natural that the subject which engrossed all his thoughts by day, should be dancing through his uncurbed imagination by night; and it so happened that on one occasion, having fallen into slumber with all the shafts and wheels of his mill whirling in his mind with the complexity of Ezekiel’s vision, he dreamed of the absence of an essential band upon one of the wheels. The dream was fresh in his mind on the following morning, and repairing bright and early to his works, he in an instant detected the deficiency. The revelation was true, and in a few hours afterward the machinery was in full and successful operation.

Nevertheless, after the difficulties attendant on manufacturing were overcome—after as good yarn could be spun as in England, there was an apathy in the public mind which prevented the increase of business as might have been [p.463] expected. The consumers could not realize that as good an article could be made here as that imported. Hence the demand for it was extremely limited. Of the small quantity made the first two years, several thousand pounds of it remained on hand. It was nearly ten years from the commencement of the business in Rhode Island, before a second mill in that State went into operation. Still the profits were large, so that the company in which Mr. Slater was a party continually gained confidence and strength, and was hence in a condition, with favorable changes in public opinion, to extend the business. This was accordingly done; and soon after the beginning of the nineteenth century, cotton factories were springing up in almost every direction. As the event proved, Mr. Slater had laid the foundation for a large estate.

The increase of his business, and the brightening of his prospects for permanent prosperity, induced him, probably, to send for his brother. It is believed that the latter reached this country in 1805 or 1806. The presumption is, that he, brought with him a knowledge of the recent improvements in English machinery. Soon after his arrival a new establishment was projected, to be located in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and the village which in consequence sprang up is called Slatersville. The first spinning was here done in 1807. The establishment was first owned by William Almey, Mr. Brown, Samuel Slater, and John Slater, in equal parts, but it afterward passed into the hands of John Slater and the heirs of Samuel Slater. Here are about eight hundred inhabitants, depending mainly for subsistence on the business thus carried on there; and here may be seen all the evidence of thrift and comfort existing under the most favorable auspices.

The following account of the first meeting of the two brothers may not be without interest. When John Slater landed upon a wharf in Providence, he was seen and known [p.464] by William “Wilkinson, a brother-in-law of Samuel Slater’s wife. Mr. Wilkinson proposed carrying him to Pawtucket, where his brother Samuel lived. This he did; and on reaching the house he said to the occupant—“I have brought one of your countrymen to see you; can you find any thing for him to do?” Upon which he came up to his supposed countryman, and asked what part he came from. “From Derbyshire.” “What part of Derbyshire?” “Belper.” “Ah, the town of Belper; I am acquainted with that place. What may I call your name?” “John Slater.” When Samuel left, John was a boy, and he had changed so much he did not recognize him. The reader need not be told that the interview was a joyful one to the two brothers; it might well have reminded one of the meeting of Joseph and Benjamin. The elder of them asked questions more rapidly than they could be answered. “Is my mother yet alive? How are all my brothers and sisters? How is my old master, Mr. Strutt? How is my old schoolmaster, Jackson?”

For more than twenty years from the time of his brother’s arrival, Mr. Slater experienced uninterrupted prosperity. His possessions were increasing in number and value with incredible rapidity. The war of 1812 placed the seal upon his high destiny. By that time he had got so far under way, and his preparations were so complete, others stood no chance for competition with him. Cotton cloth then sold for forty cents per yard, and the demand had no limits. The opinion became prevalent, that such was his wealth, such was his general prudence and sagacity, and especially that such were his talents as a financier, no business disaster could reach him. However, in the great revulsion of 1828 among manufacturers, it was made manifest that he was the sole endorser of three or four large establishments among the unfortunate. Now, for the first time, he was known to make his own business a subject of conversation. [p.465] He became seriously alarmed and distressed ; not that two or three hundred thousand dollars, under ordinary circumstances, would ruin or essentially injure him; but such was the general panic in the community, and among the moneyed institutions of the country, that a man’s solvency was estimated in a ratio transverse to the amount of his property connected with manufacturing. But, as usual, the storm at last subsided. The frantic delirium of the occasion passed off, and thousands wondered how they could have been such fools as to have participated in the excitement. And the fiducial ability of Mr. Slater was not like the seamanship of the mariner who simply makes a quick voyage on a calm ocean, but is unable to navigate his ship in a violent tempest; it had long been distinguished for the former, and was now proved eminently sufficient for the latter exigency. Instead of experiencing any ultimate injury, it is believed he was greatly enriched by the occasion.

It would be useless to say any thing more regarding the talents of Mr. Slater. No one could do what he did, unless possessing an intellect of the highest order. It would be no more pertinent to raise a question on the subject, than to make a similar inquiry in regard to Franklin, or Washington, or Bonaparte, or Sir Isaac Newton. But Mr. Slater had other claims to consideration. The poor were never turned from his house hungry. The laborious missionary under his hospitable mansion always found a home; and usually on taking his departure, not a heartless benediction, but a memento wherewith to be warmed and filled in coming time. He apparently esteemed it as much on the catalogue of his moral responsibilities to provide the means of education, and religious instruction and consolation for those in his employ, as to provide the requisites for his own household table three times a day. In addition to the general provision adapted to the diversified tastes and prejudices in such a population, he made special and even [p.466] princely allowance for the maintenance of the religious institutions connected with his own faith. During the first six years of the existence of St. Paul’s Church in Pawtucket, the period which the writer was rector, his contributions therefor must have been in the range of one thousand dollars annually.

Among the acts of Samuel Slater deserving commendation, and not inferior to any other in importance, was the establishment of a Sunday-school for the persons in his employment. This was according to the example of his old master, Mr. Strutt. For no sooner did he find that his business brought together children and youth destitute of all means of instruction, than he opened in his own house a school on Sundays, sometimes teaching the scholars himself, but usually hiring a person to do it. There are, it is believed, persons now living in Pawtucket who attended this school, and were indebted to it for nearly all the education they received. Mr. Slater always supposed that he thus established the first Sunday-school in New England. It was a noble and praiseworthy example! It could scarcely fail that Providence would smile on the exertions of one who thus devised means to improve the moral and intellectual condition of such an interesting portion of the community.

The late Rev. William Collier, in early life pastor of a Baptist church in Charlcstown, Mass., and all the latter part of it engaged as a city missionary of Boston, received money to pay for his own education from Mr. Slater, as a consideration for teaching in his Sunday-school. At that time, the spring of 1796, Mr. Collier was a student of Brown University, the Rev. Dr. Maxcy being president. The latter received an application from Mr. Slater to send him one of the students for the purpose named, and he would allow him a suitable compensation. The president knowing Mr. Collier was poor, and unable to pay his college bills, [p.467] recommended him for the station. Mr. Collier at first hesitated, from conscientious scruples, fearing that such services might be incompatible with duties appropriate for that day. However, Dr. Maxcy ultimately prevailed on him to do it. And so little was this kind of Christian charity then understood, that one young man of that college was deterred from accepting a similar overture by his father, a clergyman in Connecticut.

It has been affirmed, on the authority of his own declaration, that Mr. Slater labored on an average not less than sixteen hours a day for twenty years after coming to this country. It might therefore be presumed he would have had but little opportunity or disposition to reflect on matters not connected with his business; yet it is a fact, that on many other topics his views were well digested and philosophical. For instance, on the condition of the poor. His sympathy for the distressed, and his kindness and goodwill for all, were ever warm, active, practical, and efficient, based upon steadfast principles, and aiming at the greatest attainable measure of good. In the relief of immediate and pressing want, he was prompt and liberal; but in measures which he adopted for its prevention in future, he evinced paternal feeling and judicious forecast. His motto was, “Employment and liberal pay to the able-bodied promoted regularity and cheerfulness in the house, and drove the wolf from its door.” “Direct charity,” he would say, “places its recipient under a sense of obligation which trenches upon that independent spirit that all should maintain. It breaks his pride, and he soon learns to beg and eat the bread of idleness without a blush. But employ and pay him, and he receives and enjoys with honest pride that which he knows he has earned, and could have received for the same amount of labor from any other employer.”

There was a peculiar quaintness in Mr. Slater’s manner [p.468] of expression on common subjects that gave great force to the sentiment expressed. Without a knowledge of this, many of his remarks that have been repeated by those who knew him personally, to others appear feeble, if not insipid. But when uttering them, there was a curl of the lip, and an expression of the eye, that made an extraordinary impression on the mind of those who witnessed them. We give an anecdote illustrative of this, during a visit to him of President Jackson, when making his northern tour. After the President and his suit had been conducted through the village of Pawtucket, and were expressing themselves as delighted with its appearance, its numerous and well-regulated establishments of business, its ample and commodious churches, and especially its intelligent and well-ordered citizens, they repaired to the house of Mr. Slater, then confined by a rheumatic disorder, to pay their respects to a man who had thus benefited our common country.

With the affability and complaisance so peculiar to General Jackson, he addressed Mr. Slater as the father of American manufactures; as the man who had erected the first valuable machinery, and who spun yarn to make the first cotton cloth in America; and who had, by his superintendence and direction, as well as by intense labor, erected the first cotton-mill in Rhode Island, which was the first in the land of the Pilgrims. General Jackson, who had been informed of these particulars, entered into familiar conversation on the subject. “I understand,” said the President, “you taught us how to spin, so as to rival Great Britain in her manufactures; you set all these thousands of spindles at work, which I have been delighted in viewing, and which have made so many happy by a lucrative employment.” “Yes, sir,” said Mr. Slater, “I suppose that I gave out the Psalm, and they have been singing to the tune ever since.” “We are glad to hear also that you have [p.469] realized something for yourself and family,” said the Vice-President. “So am I glad to know it,” said Mr. Slater, “for I should not like to be a pauper in this country, where they are put up at auction to the lowest bidder.”

It is well known that Mr. Slater was constitutionally frugal and prudent in his expenses. The times, too, in his early life, were favorable to such a habit. Now-a-days, many young men with five times the income he had the first ten years of his residence in America, instead of laying up money, as he did, so as to extend his business, spend it all as received, in conformity to the fashionable extravagances of the age. Thus he became frugal from habit, as well as from principle, s0 that, when he became rich, it seemed to require an effort on his part to change his style of living. We distinctly recollect a conversation on this subject, between him and a few of his intimate friends, when he was a little more than fifty years of age, and estimated to be worth half a million of dollars. It was in the front room of the Manufacturers’ Bank, where they were accustomed to meet and discuss all sorts of things of interest. At that time he lived in an old wooden house which might have cost two or three thousand dollars—decent and comfortable, it is true, and much like the better sort of houses in the village, excepting perhaps half a dozen. He also owned a good horse and chaise, the common pleasure vehicle in that part of New England; but he usually rode in an open one-horse wagon. His friends told him it was not right for a man of his property to live in that style; that he ought to build a better house and keep a coach.

Mr. Slater replied much in the following manner:— “Gentlemen, I admit that I am able to have a large and costly house, rich furniture, and servants to take care of it; that I am able to have a coach, with a driver and footman to attend me. And it is not that I am miserly that I do [p.470] not have them. But it is a duty in me to set an example of prudence to others, and especially to my children. The world is too much inclined to extravagance. If the style you recommend is to be considered an evidence of wealth, and I were on that account to adopt it, others not able might follow my example, in order to be thought rich. In the end it might prove their ruin, while prudent and honest people would have to suffer for it. And you know I have six boys. If they live, and have families, each will want to live in as much style as their father. Now if I am able to live as you recommend, my property, when divided in six parts, might not be sufficient to support six such establishments; besides, business may not continue as good as it is at present. I wish to set a good example for my children. If they do not follow it, the fault is not mine.” Mr. Slater did not himself materially vary his family arrangements in the above particular; but a few years afterward he married, for a second wife, a lady of talents and a decent fortune, who very properly did it for him.

Although Mr. Slater was much blessed, and prospered in his business, yet he had, especially in the latter half of his life, severe trials. Soon after coming to this country, he married a daughter of Oziel Wilkinson. The family was in the Quaker connection, and was distinguished for unusual talents. Mrs. Wilkinson was as much distinguished for moral excellence, and her daughters seemed to inherit no small measure of her good qualities. Hence, Mr. Slater was fortunate in his domestic relations. His wife had, we believe, ten children; but, in the latter part of 1812, she died of consumption, four of the children having preceded her to the grave. And one after another of those which then survived have passed away, leaving at present but a single individual of the number to sustain the reputation of their father. This is Horatio Nelson Slater, whom we have seen but once for nearly thirty years. He was a remarkably [p.471] fine boy, and has, we understand, redeemed the high expectations then raised concerning him.

We have space for a few additional remarks only, having already extended this article to a length not intended. His perceptions were quick, almost like magnetic action. He formed his own opinions; and such were his decision and energy that he was never inclined to relinquish them. This is apparent, from his steady and untiring perseverance in perfecting the plans he had formed. Obstacles rather increased than diminished his ardor. In the life of such an individual, an event of real magnitude is not appreciated, or even seen in all its grandeur and importance till subsequent to the time of its occurrence. The memory of common minds is gradually fading away, till completely lost. Common men die and are soon forgotten; whereas great minds appear more brilliant in the retrospect than when immediately before us. The living age is overcast with clouds of mist and dust, which prevent one from seeing clearly. Hence, the contemporary aspect of things is often confused and indistinct. His historian’s breath must pass over the scene to chase away what is light, and frivolous, and worthless; and then he may collect and reduce to an enduring form what is solid and precious. It belongs, therefore, to a succeeding generation to place a full estimate on the mental character of Mr. Slater, and on the magnitude of his labors in this country. Nor is this all. A near view, in point of space as well as of time, will often give one a less just conception of great men and their deeds, than a more distant view. The people of Pawtucket, constantly beholding Mr. Slater laboring night and day, sometimes perhaps, like Franklin, with a bale of cotton on a wheelbarrow, little imagined the extent of mental resources, or the magnitude, to successive generations, of the enterprise in which he was so completely absorbed. This could have been far better done by persons more remotely situated. [p.472] For this there are analogies. For instance, the eye placed too near the canvas of the painter, is frequently bewildered with all the separate multitudinous touches of the pencil; but, when removed to an appropriate distance, these all melt into an harmonious living picture. Mr. Slater died in 1835.

Text and engraving from: Rev. John L. Blake, D.D., 'Samuel Slater', in Freeman Hunt, Lives of American Merchants (1856), Vol. 1, 450-472. (source)