Eagle Cotton Mill

[1] “Cotton Mill Incorporated,” Madison Courier reprint of Indianapolis Times article, November 12, 1883, article part of Gertrude Geraets Eagle Cotton Mill Research File, Subject Files—Businesses 3100, Jefferson County Historical Society, Submitted by applicant (herein abbreviated G. Geraets Research File);  Untitled article, Madison Courier, November 14, 1883;  “A Company Organized to Build a Cotton Mill,” Madison Weekly Herald, November 14, 1883, Accessed via Newspaper Archives; “The Cotton Mill,” Madison Weekly Herald, November 21, 1883, Accessed via Newspaper Archives; Madison Dollar Weekly Star reprint of a Dearborn Independent article, November 23, 1883, Accessed via Newspaper Archives; Madison Weekly Herald, December 26, 1883, Accessed via Newspaper Archives; “Trade Items: The Southward Drift of Spindles,” Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), April 3, 1884, Accessed via Newspapers.com; Untitled article, Indianapolis News, April 5, 1884, Accessed via Hoosier State Chronicles; “The Eagle Cotton Mill Company,” Pittsburgh Daily Post, April 11, 1884;  “Notice,” Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), June 14, 1884, Accessed via Newspapers.com; “Eagle Cotton Mills,” Madison Courier, June 18, 1884;  “City News,” Madison Courier, January 28, 1885; “City News,” Madison Courier, February 6, 1885; Untitled article, Madison Courier reprint of a Pittsburgh Dispatch article, February 24, 1885;  Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Indiana for the Year Ending October 31, 1884 to the Governor, (Indianapolis: Wm. B. Burford, Lithographer, Printer, Stationer, and Binder, 1884), pg. 108, Accessed via Google Books; “City News,” Evening Courier (Madison, IN), Jan. 12, 1885,G. Geraets Research File; “Additional City,” Madison Daily Courier, February 4, 1885; “Light in the Cotton Mill,” Madison Daily Courier, March 3, 1885; Madison Daily Courier, March 16, 1885;  “The Edison Light,” Madison Courier, March 17, 1885; “City News,” Madison Daily Courier, March 18, 1885; “City News,” Madison Daily Courier, March 19, 1885; Madison Daily Courier, March 20, 1885; “The Eagle Cotton Mills,” Madison Courier, April 3, 1885; “The Cotton Mill: A Visit to the Picker House,” Madison Courier, April 10, 1885; “City News,” Madison Courier, April 24, 1885; “City News,” Madison Courier, April 29, 1885; Madison Courier, June 8, 1885, Courier Journal, June 12, 1885, June 13, 1885, June 23, 1885, Madison Courier, Feb. 5, 1886, G. Geraets Research File; Untitled and Unnamed newspaper article, April 28, 1887, G. Geraets Research File; “Letter of the Eagle Cotton Mills Company, of Madison, Ind.” Report of Examination of Ohio River with a View to Obtaining Channel Depths of 6 and 9 Feet, Respectively, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, accessed by Google Books, p. 82; Untitled article, Madison Daily Courier, March 7, 1889; Cravens v. The Eagle Cotton Mills Company, May Term 1889, in John L. Griffiths, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Judicature of the State of Indiana, Vol. 120 (Indianapolis, The Bowen-Merrill Co., 1890), Accessed via Google Books.

The Eagle Cotton Mills Company was originally located in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and oversaw two mills: The Eagle cotton mill and Banner cotton mill. The owners of the Pittsburgh Eagle Cotton Mills Company reached out to the Merchants and Manufacturers’ Club, a voluntary organization of businessmen in Madison, Indiana, to gauge interest in selling and relocating their business to an Indiana corporation. Both the M. & M. Club and local Madison citizens supported the idea of having a cotton mill in the city to boost industry and employment. With the local support, a group of Madison businessmen affiliated with the M. & M. Club incorporated the new Eagle Cotton Mills Company with the Indiana Secretary of State in November 1883. The two corporations struck a deal to relocate the Pennsylvania mills’ machinery and business to Madison, Indiana, after the requisite stock and money could be raised.  The sale was finalized in April 1884. The first directors of the Madison corporation were Robert McKim, John Adams, Charles Cravens, James Hargan, Charles A. Korbly, Charles Alling, and S.M. Strader.  O.M. Harper, the president of the Pittsburgh company retained his position in the sale and relocation. Construction proposals were received for the building of a brand-new four-story mill, 247 feet long by 72 feet wide, in Madison in early June. Rankin & White, a local Madison company, won the bid and began construction in the summer of 1884, finishing in early 1885.  At that point, the machinery and business relocated from Pennsylvania.  About 25-30 workers and their families relocated with the business, including the mill’s president, O.M. Harper. The Madison mill was electrified with a 300-light Edison Dynamo in early March 1885, which was an exciting novelty for the city. The mill officers invited the public to witness the electrification several evenings in mid-March 1885. The Madison Courier reported on March 17, 1885, “When we arrived at the mill we found the immense structure brilliantly illuminated and from the river front presented one of the prettiest sights that it has been our privilege to witness. No one could look at it but feel proud that Madison has succeeded in securing so rich a prize.” Production at the mill was in full swing by the summer. The mill began producing cotton sheeting, twine, candlewick, carpet chain, yarn, and other cotton goods and were shipped to such locations as Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago, San Francisco, Albuquerque, Boston, and Philadelphia, eventually shipping internationally to such places as Shanghai, China, and the south coast of Africa.

[2] “Cotton is King,” Madison Dollar Weekly Star, November 16, 1883, Accessed via Newspaper Archive; “The Cotton Mills,” Madison Weekly Herald, November 28, 1883; “The Cotton Mill,” Madison Daily Courier, December 26, 1883; “The Eagle Cotton Mills,” Madison Daily Courier, April 1, 1884; “The City ‘Neath the Hills,” Madison Daily Courier, February 11, 1885; “Letter of the Eagle Cotton Mills Company, of Madison, Ind.” Report of Examination of Ohio River with a View to Obtaining Channel Depths of 6 and 9 Feet, Respectively, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1908, accessed by Google Books, p. 82; Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS No. IND-94: Eagle Cotton Mill, “Photograph, Written Historical and Descriptive Data,” (Summer 1971), Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, National Park Service, Dept. of the Interior, https://www.loc.gov/item/in0022/; Untitled article, The Columbus Republican, February 1, 1894; Jan Vethrus, “Former Eagle Cotton Mill has a long history of industrial activity,” RoundAbout Entertainment Guide, June 2021, http://www.roundaboutmadison.com/InsidePages/ArchivedArticles/2021/0621CottonMillHistory.html.

[3] Handwritten reprint of article by Gertrude Geraets, Madison Courier, June 8, 1885; Untitled article, Madison Courier, Feb. 5, 1886, in G. Geraets research file submitted by applicant; “Prospect for Cotton Manufacturing,” Madison Courier, Feb. 11, 1886, in G. Geraets research file submitted by applicant; “The Eagle Cotton Mills,” Madison Courier, May 27, 1887, in G. Geraets research file submitted by applicant; “The Strikers’ Organization,” Madison Daily Herald, March 11, 1889, accessed via Newspaper Archives; Untitled article, New Albany Ledger, March 12, 1889; “The Eagle Cotton Mill Strikers,” Madison Courier, March 12, 1889; “The Cotton Mill Strike,” Madison Courier, March 14, 1889, submitted by applicant; “News in Brief,” The Evening Bulletin (Maysville, KY), Fri. March 15, 1889, Accessed via Newspapers.com; Untitled article, Madison Daily Courier, March 19, 1889; Madison City Directory 1890-91, Jefferson County Local History, Jefferson County Public Library, https://www.jeffersoncountylocalhistory.org/citydirectories; D.H. McAbee, Second Annual Report of the Department of Factory Inspection, 1898, (Indianapolis: Wm. B. Burford, 1898), pg. 56, accessed via Google Books; Sixth Annual Report of the Department of Inspection, 1902,(Indianapolis: Wm. B. Burford, 1903), pg. 99, accessed via Google Books; Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS No. IND-94: Eagle Cotton Mill, “Photograph, Written Historical and Descriptive Data,” (Summer 1971), Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, National Park Service, Dept. of the Interior, https://www.loc.gov/item/in0022/.

The strikers formed the Operatives of the Eagle Cotton Mill on March 7, 1889, after female employees became frustrated with partition boards placed in the women’s restroom and rumors circulated that the mill superintendent, J.N. Taylor, had insulted the female employees by saying that there were no decent girls working at the mill. These initial grievances spurred the employees to lay out all their labor complaints since the strike was underway, and the strikers demanded a reduction of the 11 ½ hour workday to 10 hours and a small wage increase. The strikers’ organization was led by Mr. John H. Ryker and the Secretary was Miss Ella Abbott. The strike organization’s leaders had at least one noncontentious meeting with management, namely the General Manager Mr. McElroy, but according to the papers could not reach a resolution. The strikers, with the support of Madison citizens and some leading local businessmen held firm for a couple weeks. The strike ended by March 19, but the papers are unclear about whether the strikers’ demands were met or whether management held firm. However, during the fall of 1889, Superintendent Taylor reduced the mill work hours to 10 hours and 15 minutes Monday through Friday with an 8 hour and 15-minute day on Saturday.

[4] “The Eagle Cotton Mills,” Madison Daily Courier, May 22, 1890; “The Eagle Cotton Mills,” Madison Daily Courier, May 23, 1890; Untitled article, Madison Daily Courier, June 28, 1890; “Cotton Mill Changes,” Courier Journal, July 24, 1890; “New Improvements,” Madison Daily Democrat, Nov. 16, 1891, Accessed via Newspaper Archives; “John Johnson: A Respected and Useful Citizen, Dies a Victim of Cerebro Meningitis,” Madison Courier, August 21, 1899, Accessed via Find a Grave; “R. Johnson Yarn and Cordage Mills,” Madison Courier, March 5, 1900; “R. Johnson,” Madison Courier, March 14, 1900; “Deaths in Indiana: Richard Johnson,” Indianapolis Star, March 26, 1909; Transcription of Richard Johnson Obituaries across the state, Find-A-Grave; “William James Johnson Dead,” Madison Courier, April 17, 1918, Accessed via Find a Grave;  Twelfth Census of the United States, June 1900, Jefferson County, Indiana, pg. 135, Line 38, Accessed via Ancestry Library; Thirteenth Census of the United States, April 1910, Jefferson County, Indiana, pg. 126, Line 30, Accessed via Ancestry Library; Fourteenth Census of the United States, January 2, 1920, Jefferson County, Indiana, pg. 129, Line 26, Accessed via Ancestry Library; Fifteenth Census of the United States, April 12, 1930, Jefferson County, Indiana, Sheet No. 12B, Line 1, Accessed via Ancestry Library; Sixteenth Census of the United States, April 13, 1940, Jefferson County, Indiana, Sheet No. 12 B, Line 51, Accessed via Ancestry Library; Betty Johnson, “Madison: Typical American town,” Courier-Journal Roto-Magazine, June 27, 1943,pg. 8, Accessed via Newspapers.com; “Heart Attack Fatal to Richard Johnson,” Madison Courier, February 23, 1946, Accessed via Find A Grave; Madison Sesquicentennial Executive Committee, “Sesquicentennial, Madison,” (1959), pg. 39, https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p1819coll6/id/74351; Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS No. IND-94: Eagle Cotton Mill, “Photograph, Written Historical and Descriptive Data,” (Summer 1971), Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, National Park Service, Dept. of the Interior, https://www.loc.gov/item/in0022/; Mary Dieter, “Project will have cotton mill humming again,” Courier Journal, Mar. 31, 1985, Accessed via Newspapers.com; Don Ward, “Work continues on restoring Eagle Cotton Mill into a hotel,” RoundAbout Entertainment Guide, July 2020, http://roundaboutmadison.com/InsidePages/ArchivedArticles/2020/0720WardColumn.html.

In the spring of 1890, Richard Johnson bought out the remaining Pittsburgh stock of the Eagle Cotton Mill, which made Johnson the main owner and solidified the mill officially as a “Madison institution.”  With his purchase, outside of a small amount of stock owned by a few New York businessmen, the vast majority was now owned by local Madison capitalists. Johnson already owned the River Side Starch Works in Madison and had earned a reputation as a well-respected businessman. Johnson tapped his eldest son John to help run the mill after his stock purchase.  John Johnson held the position of Secretary and Treasurer of the Eagle Cotton Mill until the time of his death at age 48 in 1899. Richard’s next oldest sons (John’s half-brothers) William and David helped manage the cotton mill after John’s death. Richard founded the R. Johnson Yarn and Cordage mills in the west end of Madison in 1900. Richard died in March 1909, but the Eagle Cotton Mill remained in the family under the care of his sons and grandsons until the 1930s, when the building was repurposed for other manufacturing businesses.

[5] Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS No. IND-94: Eagle Cotton Mill, “Photograph, Written Historical and Descriptive Data,” (Summer 1971), Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, National Park Service, Dept. of the Interior, https://www.loc.gov/item/in0022/; Dean L. Miller, “Dean Miller Walking Tour: As I remember the Late 1890s,” Jefferson County Local History Project, Jefferson County Public Library, https://www.jeffersoncountylocalhistory.org/oraldeanmiller; “Madison, Ind., Plant Destroyed by Flames,” Cincinnati Post, Sept. 9, 1939, accessed via Newspapers.com; “Fire Loss $100,000 at Madison Plant,” Greenville Daily Advocate (Greenville, OH), Sept. 9, 1939, Accessed via Newspapers.com; “Fire Loss $100,000,” Kokomo Tribune, Sept. 9, 1939, Accessed via Newspapers.com; “Plant will reopen,” Indianapolis News, September 13, 1939, accessed via Newspapers.com;  Madison Sesquicentennial Executive Committee, “Sesquicentennial, Madison,” (1959), pg. 39, https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p1819coll6/id/74351; “3 Indiana Firms Listed in New Defense Awards,” Indianapolis News, Jan. 6, 1941; “Contracts Given to Indiana Firms,” Muncie Evening Press, Aug. 18, 1941; “Local Plants Turning Out Defense Products,’ Madison Courier, December 10, 1941;“War Boom Boosts Madison’s Population an Estimated Fourth,” Palladium-Item (Richmond, IN), December 21, 1941; Betty Johnson, “Madison: Typical American town,” Courier-Journal Roto-Magazine, June 27, 1943,pg. 8, accessed via Newspapers.com “Crest of 62 Feet Predicted at Madison,”Indianapolis Star, March 8, 1945; “Cutbacks Bring Work Stopages,” Madison Courier, August 18, 1945; “Madison, Ind., Warehouse Space,” Courier-Journal, November 18, 1979, Accessed via Newspapers.com; “Accountant,” Courier-Journal, April 11, 1980, Accessed via Newspapers.com; 1979 Madison (Jefferson County, Ind.) City Directory, (Taylor, MI:  R.L. Polk & Co. Publishers, 1979), pg. ix, 44, 113; 1980 Madison (Jefferson County, Ind.) City Directory, (Taylor, MI:  R.L. Polk & Co. Publishers, 1980), pg.42, 114; 1981 Madison (Jefferson County, Ind.) City Directory, (Taylor, MI: R.L. Polk & Co. Publishers, 1981), pg.139; “Who We Are,” Meese, https://www.meese-inc.com/who-we-are/#:~:text=Meese%20implemented%20the%20first%20plastic,%E2%80%9CLeonardo%E2%80%9D%20machines%20in%202008; “Company Overview,” Meese Orbitron Dunne Company, https://www.oemoffhighway.com/engineering-manufacturing/manufacturing/manufacturing-services/company/10055770/meese-orbitron-dunne-company-mod#:~:text=About%20Meese%20Orbitron%20Dunne%20Company,with%20fiberglass%20and%20polyethylene%20plastics; “Molding innovations, employee relations help drive Modroto,” Plastics News, Aug. 16, 2016,  https://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20160816/NEWS/160819859/molding-innovations-employee-relations-help-drive-modroto; Michella M. Marino, “Viewed Through New Lenses: A Comparative Study of Young Girls Growing Up in Madison, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky During World War II,” Master’s Thesis, Dept. of History, University of Louisville (May 2007), https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd/906/.

Meese, Inc. was founded in 1931 in Madison by Edwin W. Meese, Sr. In the early 1930s, the company produced canvas insulated ice cream shippers, canvas baskets, and other insulated frozen food shipping containers. The original Meese plant was located at Main and Vine Streets in downtown Madison, but this 4-story brick factory was destroyed by a fire caused by faulty electric wiring on September 8, 1939. At the time of the fire, Meese, Inc. had already been operating a second plant on the first floor of the Eagle Cotton Mill building. Within days, Meese, Inc. officials made the decision to relocate the rest of their operations to the second floor of Eagle Cotton Mill building and in 1940 purchased the entire building. They produced canvas goods out of the first two floors, while other local businesses used the top two. For instance, the Air-Kushin Shoe Manufacturing Company made women’s shoes on the top two floors during the early to mid-1940s.

Prior to US entry into the Second World War, the U.S. War Department awarded Meese, Inc. defense contracts to produce canvas goods such as dispatch cases, haversacks, rucksacks, and laundry baskets, among other items. Meese received further defense contracts throughout the war, and by the summer of 1943, over 90% of the company’s business was government production. As the war drew to a close, by mid-August 1945, these contracts were terminated. The end of wartime production and wartime contracts led to a workforce reduction of close to 200 employees at the factory, mostly women as Meese shifted back to pre-war production.

In the mid-1950s, Meese, Inc. pioneered the design and manufacture of new plastic laundry products, making them among the first companies to make fiberglass and polyethylene plastics. The company continued operating out of the Eagle Cotton Mill building until late 1979 or early 1980, wherein they relocated to a new facility on Cragmont St. on Madison’s hilltop.

[6] “Madison building may be renovated,” Cincinnati Post, March 7, 1985, Accessed via Newspapers.com; Mary Dieter, “Project will have cotton mill humming again,” Courier-Journal, March 31, 1985, Accessed via Newspapers.com; Dale Moss, “Old mill presents possibility, problems,” Courier-Journal, December 22, 2006, Accessed via Newspapers.com;  Miranda S. Spivak, “Second Act for Shuttered Mills Revitalizes New England Towns,” New York Times, November 5, 2019; Justin Stein, “Industrial Rebirth: Manufacturing and Warehouse Properties Take on New Lives in a Variety of Uses,” CIRE Magazine, https://www.ccim.com/cire-magazine/articles/industrial-rebirth/; Mark Campbell, “First shovels turned on the old Cotton Mill,” Madison Courier, October 1, 2019;  Indiana Landmarks, “Redevelopment Project Targets Madison’s Eagle Cotton Mill,” February 26, 2019, https://www.indianalandmarks.org/2019/02/redevelopment-project-targets-madisons-eagle-cotton-mill/; Indiana Landmarks, “Madison Capitalizes on Industrial Heritage,” October 28, 2019 https://www.indianalandmarks.org/2019/10/madison-capitalizes-on-industrial-heritage/; Don Ward, Work continues on restoring Eagle Cotton Mill into a hotel,” RoundAbout Entertainment Guide, (July 2020); Jan Vethrus, “Eagle Cotton Mill has a long history of industrial activity,” RoundAbout Entertainment Guide, (June 2021), http://www.roundaboutmadison.com/InsidePages/ArchivedArticles/2021/0621CottonMillHistory.html;  Indiana Landmarks, “Madison Cotton Mill Becomes Boutique Hotel,” September 23, 2021, https://www.indianalandmarks.org/2021/09/madison-cotton-mill-becomes-boutique-hotel/.