Stanley Woolen Company Records

Stanley Woolen Company was formed in 1905 upon the liquidation of the Calumet Woolen Company of Uxbridge, MA. Arthur Wheelock (1851-1927) former treasurer and agent of the Calumet Woolen Company and his son Stanley H. (1879- d.?) purchased the company's Calumet Mill, while the American Woolen Company purchased the company's Hecla Mill, also in Uxbridge.

Arthur Wheelock's father Silas Manderville Wheelock (1818-1901) founded the Calumet Woolen Company in 1883 to manufacture fancy cassimeres at what had previously been known as the Central Mill. In 1886 the Calumet Woolen Company purchased the Uxbridge Woolen Factory which became known as the Hecla Mill. Arthur Wheelock began work for the Calumet Woolen Company in 1883 as a director and mill manager. He had previously been employed with the firm of C.A. & S.M. Wheelock as a bookkeeper and assistant buyer.

C.A. & S.M. Wheelock was established in 1846 by Charles A. Wheelock (1812-1895), (uncle to Arthur) and his brother Silas M. to manufacture satinets, linseys, and tweeds at the firm's Waucantuck Mills, which it did until 1855 when the mill became dedicated to the manufacture of fancy cassimeres. Silas M. Wheelock owned the Waucantuck Mills from 1846-1891.

Silas M. and Charles A. were the sons of Jerry Wheelock (1784-1861). Jerry Wheelock was a "natural mechanic" and initially worked with his father-in-law, Daniel Day, who built Uxbridge's first woolen mill in 1810. Jerry Wheelock left his father-in-law's mill after a few years and went to work as an "erector" for Artemus Dryden, Jr. of Holden, a manufacturer of wool carding machines. In 1814, the Rivulet Manufacturing Company was organized at Uxbridge with Jerry as a share holder, mechanical engineer and mill superintendent. In 1818 he began to build woolen machinery under his own name and continued to do so until 1834 when he retired from manufacturing machinery and entered into a partnership with his sons, Charles and Silas, to manufacture woolens. Jerry Wheelock retired in 1846 and died on October 10, 1861.

After the 1905 purchase of the Calumet Woolen Company's Calumet Mill, Arthur Wheelock was named president and treasurer and his son Stanley H. Wheelock was named secretary of the newly formed Stanley Woolen Company. According to the History of Worcester County, Massachusetts (1924), the Stanley Mill was the first American mill to manufacture domestic woolens for men's wear.

In 1918, in response to the war effort (World War I) the Stanley Woolen Mill provided the United States Army, as well as the French and Italian armies, with a combined total of over 500,000 yards of cloth.

The company sold its product primarily through New York dry goods commissioners and selling agents. Over time,the Stanley Woolen Company manufactured products sold to a variety of clothing manufacturers including, Evan Picone, Perry Ellis, Brooks Brothers and Hager.

Stanley Woolen Company would remain a Wheelock family business until its closing, due to bankruptcy, in 1989, making it the longest running family-owned woolen mill in the United States.

In 1968, the Wheelock family had formed a new hand-knitting subsidiary, Stanley Berroco. This firm is one of the largest importers and wholesalers of hand-knitting yarns, patterns and supplies in the United States.

In 1992, Warren Wheelock, president of Berroco, created the Handeze® Glove Division which is the master distributor of the Handeze® glove in the craft industry. A glove designed for crafters the Handeze® glove is a made from a special four-way stretch fabric, which when activated by hand movement produces an automatic massaging effect. The gloves support active hands and soothe hand and wrist discomfort caused by Repetitive Stress Injury, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, arthritis and other injuries to the hand and wrist.