East Bethel Mill Records

Dwight Foster (D.F.) Faulkner was born in Watertown, MA on January 21, 1803, the son of Francis Faulkner (1760-1843) a successful Massachusetts woolen manufacturer. D.F. was the fifth child of twelve children, several of whom would become involved in the wool business, either as mill owners or as selling agents.

D.F. was a dry goods merchant in the firm of Goodnow & Faulkner in Boston, MA He also owned three woolen (flannel) mills, one in East Bethel, VT one in Plymouth, MA, and one in Turner, ME. He turned operations of these mills over to two of his sons (Dwight and Francis T.) but retained control and management from Boston with frequent visits to the mills.

There is little or no background information available on the East Bethel Mill. According to local historian Donald Hyde the mill was established in the 1840s and the Quit-Claim found in the collection is dated 1841, although the Faulkner name does not appear on the document. Using the correspondence from Mrs. D. F. Faulkner to Francis T., we can date the fire that destroyed the mill to the last week in February or the early part of March of 1862.

The Plymouth Woolen Mills were established in 1863 and operated by Dwight Faulkner through the 1860s. Except for Dwight's letters to Francis T., there are no records of the Plymouth Woolen Mills in this collection.

The Turner, Maine mill was erected in 1862, and except for a period of approximately 18 months during 1877-1879, remained in operation until it was destroyed by fire in 1905.



The invoices are for manufacturing items sent to the mills from D.F.'s store in Boston and also contain notes and instructions from D.F. to his sons.

There is also correspondence from Dwight to his brother, F.T. (Frank) describing his mill and its business in Plymouth, MA, and who his employees are and what he pays them. He asks for advice or dispenses advice on various matters including dyeing for certain colors and mill building repairs. In one letter Dwight describes a small "strike" staged by his workers when he hires a new employee.

Correspondence is found throughout the collection from Joshua Wedgewood of East Bethel, VT who assisted F.T. with operations in East Bethel and continued to purchase wool for the Faulkners after the East Bethel fire. Mr. Wedgewood was also F.T.'s father-in-law from his first marriage to Frances Anna Wedgewood (d. 1855).

There is a small section of personal correspondence to F.T. from his mother, Elizabeth Cole (d. 1878); brother, Dwight; and from his daughter Anna Theresa Faulkner (1857-1920). The correspondence from his mother discusses family matters including her concern over his buying a substitute during the Civil War. Anna first writes from the Maine Wesleyan Seminary and Female College and later from her first home where she resided with her husband (Aquila Mont Chase) and brand new baby, Francis Faulkner Chase.

D.F.'s son Dwight (1829-1894) oversaw operations at both the East Bethel Factory and at the Plymouth Woolen Mill (1860s) which for a brief time was called Dwight Manufacturing (early 1870s). By the late 1870s, Dwight had announced his new career as a wool-agent with an office in Boston, MA having left the manufacturing part of the business behind.

Francis Thomas (F.T.) Faulkner (1834-1905), D.F.'s second son, oversaw operations in East Bethel from 1854 until the mill bur