Stephen P. Heath Family

COL. STEPHEN P. HEATH, MACHINIST AND GUILFORD MILL MANAGER

Col. Stephen P. Heath was one of the more prominent names on the 1889 voter polls as a Guilford resident. He was also associated with the Guilford Mills from 1867 until it burned down in 1890. His father, Stephen Penniman Heath, Sr. was a machinist near the Laurel Mill and also an inventor specializing in cotton mill equipment.

Stephen P. Heath, Sr.

Stephen P. Heath, Sr., was born in Massachusetts likely in 1808 when he was baptized although his gravestone reads he was born June 7, 1809. He married Mary Wilson on Dec. 17, 1832 in Baltimore County. The 1850 census shows he was living in Vansville, Prince Georges County near current day Beltsville with his wife and 6 children, the oldest being Stephen P. Heath, Jr. listed as 15 years old.

In October of 1850 it was reported that Mr. Heath was building an improved machine for weaving fishing nets at the Laurel Factory. Mr. Heath was also involved in the building of a machine that improved “horse power” both in the field and in the mill (the article was a little cryptic in exactly what it did). In 1856 Mr. Heath was finally recognized for his technical skills with a patent for an improved power loom, along with his partner Robert Pilson.

In 1857, S.P. Heath, Sr. and James Arthur were the proprietors of the Avondale Cotton Factory in Laurel and the 1860 census shows he and his family was living near Laurel where both of the Heath men were listed as machinists.

In 1867, S.P. Heath, Sr. purchased the Guilford Factory property for $6000 from Henry H. Owings. The next year Mr. Heath borrowed, through mortgage, $10,000 from James S. Gary (owner of Alberton/Elysvilles/Daniels mill) to pay debts and maintain the factory. That mortgage was foreclosed but Mr. Heath received a $7000 mortgage from Mr. Gary in 1869. Mr. James S. Gary died in March 1870, so his son, James A. Gary (who would become the post-master general in 1897 under President McKinley) issued a new mortgage in December 1870 Mr. Heath for $10,000.

Mr. Stephen P. Heath Sr. died in 1874 at which time the Guilford factory ownership reverted back to Mr. James S. Gary. At that time, Mr. Gary appointed S. P. Heath, Jr. to be manager of the Guilford Factory.

Stephen P. Heath, Jr.

Prior to his management of the Guilford Factory, Mr. Stephen P. Heath enlisted in the Civil War at Camp Bradford near Baltimore in Nov 1862. He was promoted and mustered into service as a Captain of the Maryland 8th Infantry Company I in March 1863. From August 27th until September 15th, Captain Heath was on medical leave. He was discharged on April 16, 1864.

In March of 1865, Captain Heath mustered in again, this time in the Maryland 5th Infantry Company K. His duties included serving as the superintendent of a POW camp and a few weeks before his discharge he was promoted to Lt. Colonel by Maryland’s Governor Bradford. Col. Heath left service on September 1, 1865. Although his name was placed on a plaque at Gettysburg in honor of those who served at the Battle of Antietam, the battle occurred before he ever enlisted in the war.

Stephen Penniman Heath Sr, and his son Stephen P. Heath, Jr., owned and operated the Guilford Mill from 1867 until it burned down in 1890. But they were much more than mill owners. Stephen P Heath, Sr. Stephen P. Heath, Jr, would also learn the trade of machinist and served in the civil war initially as a Captain, and then as a Lt. Colonel.

Biography of S.P. Heath, Jr. (American Wool and Cotton Reporter, Volume 18, June 2, 1898, p. 694)

“Colonel S. P. Heath, the present able general manager of the Baltimore mills, owned and operated by ex-Postmaster General Gary & Son, was born in Howard (formerly Anne Arundel) county, Maryland, April 3, 1835. His father was born in Medway, Mass, and afterwards removed to Maryland.

When Paul Whitin commenced the manufacture of cotton machinery in Whitinsvilles, Mass., Mr. Heath Sr., was even then a large builder of cotton machinery at Laurel, Maryland, having started in business on his own account in 1837.

Mr. S.P. Heath and son, the subject of this article, learned the trade of a machinist with his father. Was with his father from 1865 to 1874 as a cotton manufacturer. In the latter year his father died, and the property passed into the hands of James S. Gary & Sons, who appointed Mr. Heath superintendent, who served whit this firm in Guilford and other places until 1890, when the mill was burned down.

He then went to Washington, D.C., and entered the employ of the United States government, where he was engaged in the patent office and navy yard until 1893. When James S. Gar started the mill in Baltimore, MD, January 8, 1893, he re-engaged Mr. Heath as general manager and superintendent, and he has been in service with this firm directly and indirectly for 24 years.

Mr. Heath, having learned the machinist trade in early life from his father, at Laurel, Md, he continued in the machine shop until he was 27 years old, up to 1861 when he joined the Eighth Maryland Volunteers, and served as captain for one year, and was the promoted to lieutenant colonel, and honorable discharged at close of the war., when he again engaged in the cotton manufacturing business with his father at Guilford, Howard county, Md. Mr. Heath is well preserved, and the “Reporter” hopes his life may be preserved for many years to come.”

Sources:

2010. Stephen P. Heath. 5th Maryland Infantry Company K. Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations during the American Civil War, compiled 1890 - 1912, documenting the period 1861 – 1866. NARA M384. Roll 0141. P. 13. Accessed from Fold3. https://www.fold3.com/image/266810452

2010. Stephen P. Heath. 8th Maryland Infantry Company I. Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations during the American Civil War, compiled 1890 - 1912, documenting the period 1861 – 1866. NARA M384. Roll 0169 p. 14. Accessed from Fold3. https://www.fold3.com/image/267529213

1880. Maryland Directory. J. Frank Lewis & Co. Baltimore, Maryland.

1870 12-17. Stephen P. Heath, Sr. Mortgage to James A. Gary. Howard County Circuit Court (Mortgage Records) WWW 3, p. 0267, MSA_CE488_3. Date available 04/21/2022. Printed 05/07/2022

1869 6-7. Stephen P. Heath, Sr. Mortgage to James A. Gary. Howard County Circuit Court (Mortgage Records) WWW 2, p. 0045, MSA_CE488_2. Date available 04/21/2022. Printed 05/07/2022

1868 10-12. Stephen P. Heath, Sr. Mortgage to James A. Gary. Howard County Circuit Court (Mortgage Records) WWW 1, p. 0134, MSA_CE488_1. Date available 04/21/2022. Printed 05/07/2022

1867 6-21. Henry H. Owings and Wife Deed to Stephen P. Heath, Sr. Howard County Circuit Court (Land Records) WWW 27, p. 0145, MSA_CE53_18. Date available 11/06/2003. Printed 09/23/2018.

History and Roster of Maryland Volunteers, War of 1861-6, Volume 1. 5h Maryland Regiment Company k. https://msa.maryland.gov/.../000367/html/am367--181.html Source document: L. Allison Wilmer, J. H. Jarrett and Geo. W. F. Vernon, History and Roster of Maryland Volunteers, War of 1861-5, Volume 1. (Baltimore: Guggenheimer, Weil, & Co., 1899). L20937-1, c.2.

History and Roster of Maryland Volunteers, War of 1861-6, Volume 1. 8th Maryland Regiment Company I. https://msa.maryland.gov/.../000367/html/am367--325.html Source document: L. Allison Wilmer, J. H. Jarrett and Geo. W. F. Vernon, History and Roster of Maryland Volunteers, War of 1861-5, Volume 1. (Baltimore: Guggenheimer, Weil, & Co., 1899). L20937-1, c.2.