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Size | 3 items. |
Abstract | John Milton Odell, a cotton manufacturer from Concord, N.C., bought a cotton spinning mill in Bynum, N.C., in 1886. As part of the J. M. Odell Company, the Bynum mill sold much of its yarn to Odell weaving plants in Concord. The collection includes three record books of J. M. Odell Manufacturing Company of Chatham County, N.C. The earliest volume, 1887-1916, contains a copy of the act of incorporation, the by-laws, and the minutes of stockholders' meetings, including the reports of the secretary and treasurer and statements of the company's financial condition. The second continues with minutes, 1917-1933, of stockholders' and directors' meetings. The third volume contains accounts, 1899-1901, of the Bynum mill and company store, including accounts with suppliers, local farmers, mill workers and their families, and with Concord National Bank, and J. M. Odell Company in Concord, N.C. |
Creator | J.M. Odell Manufacturing Company. |
Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
Language | English. |
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John Milton Odell, a cotton manufacturer from Concord, N.C., bought a cotton spinning mill in Bynum, N.C., in 1886. J. M. Odell Manufacturing Company of Chatham County, N.C., was incorporated in 1887 by an act of the North Carolina General Assembly which declared that "J. M. Odell, W. R. Odell of Cabarrus County N.C., and W. H. Ragan and J. A. Odell of Guilford County N.C. their successors and associates are hereby created a body politic and corporate under the name of "J. M. Odell Manufacturing Co" of Chatham County N.C. with a capital stock of thirty thousand ($30,000) dollars... ." The company was authorized to manufacture and sell cotton goods and woolen goods, to erect and operate grist mills and saw mills, and to "buy and sell and deal in goods wares and merchandise of every kind and description, at its will and pleasure." As part of the J. M. Odell Company, the Bynum mill sold much of its yarn to Odell weaving plants in Concord.
The Bynum mill had been built in 1872 by Luther and Carney Bynum on their farm on the Haw River. With capital from neighboring farmers George Thompson and E. W. Atwater, and from Pittsboro merchant William L. London, the Bynums incorporated the mill as the Bynum Manufacturing Company. To accommodate workers, the Bynums built a mill village, including a church and a company store. By 1900, the village housed 28 families, most of whom came from farms in Chatham County. When the Bynums were no longer financially able to carry on the spinning business, they sold the mill to J. M. Odell. The Bynums served as mill superintendents until 1902.
For more information about the Bynum mill and the J. M. Odell Manufacturing Company, see Douglas DeNatale, "Traditional Culture and Community in a Piedmont Textile Mill Village," M.A. thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1980; and Gary Richard Freeze, "Master Mill Man: John Milton Odell and Industrial Development in Concord, North Carolina," M.A. thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1980.
Back to TopThe collection includes three record books of J. M. Odell Manufacturing Company. The earliest, 1887-1916, contains a copy of the act of incorporation, the by-laws, and the minutes of stockholders' meetings, including the reports of the secretary and treasurer and statements of the company's financial condition. The second continues with minutes of stockholders' and directors' meetings, 1917-1933.
The third volume contains accounts, 1899-1901, of the company's Bynum, N.C., mill and company store. The mill's accounts with suppliers, customers, and mill workers, and with the Concord National Bank and the J. M. Odell Company in Concord, N.C., are included.
Back to TopThree record books of J. M. Odell Manufacturing Company. The earliest, 1887-1916, contains a copy of the act of incorporation, the by-laws, and the minutes of stockholders' and directors' meetings, including the reports of the secretary and treasurer and statements of the company's financial condition. The second continues with minutes of stockholders' and directors' meetings, 1917-1933.
The third volume contains accounts, 1899-1901, of the company's Bynum mill and company store. The mill's accounts with suppliers, customers, and mill workers, and with the Concord National Bank and the J. M. Odell Company in Concord, N.C., are included. Accounts for machinery and real estate list the amounts paid for hauling lumber and other supplies for building houses, work on the dam and warehouse, and replacement of machinery in the mill. Other accounts include office expenditures and store inventories. Only a microfilm copy of this volume is available. The original remains in private hands.
Microfilm (M-4371/1).
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