Savage Mill was part of Savage Factory

WHY WAS SAVAGE MILL WAS OFTEN CALLED SAVAGE FACTORY?

Like the Guilford Mill, which began as a grist mill before 1744 with a saw mill and was converted to mostly a cotton mill in about 1833, the combination of more than one manufacturing effort led to it being called Guilford Factory.

Savage Mill had a much larger presence and manufacturing footprint which eventually led to it being sold in the 1850s to cover its debt going back to 1822. By the 1830s, Savage Manufacturing Company ran the following enterprises making it a Factory for sure:

• Cotton Mill

• Grist Mill

• Saw Mill

• Foundry

• Machine Shop

• Furnace

• Bleaching works

• Wheelwright Shop

• Railroad

Why did the William’s Brothers sell Savage Mill?

Amos Williams ran the on-site operation of Savage Manufacturing Company and was very ambitious. His authority to act upon business ventures and invest the Company’s funds doing so became a question that was subject to a Chancery case brought by Amos Williams vs Savage Manufacturing Company in 1848 that was eventually settled. Part of the problem arose when Amos became quite ill and was incapacitated from his job for several years resulting in questions about how he ran the factory.

The testimony given regarded the constant investment of funds in operations other than cotton manufacturing that created financial difficulties as the foundry required an extensive wood supply and the cotton mill competed for the limited water supply for power as did the furnace. Instead of paying down the original debt from the mortgage owed to John Savage, the continued investments were too much for the Company to overcome. Amos Williams formed the Savage Railroad Company and built a horse drawn railroad from the mill to the Washington Branch line and charged the Savage Manufacturing Company higher than standard rates for the shipment of good.

The factory had to be sold to cover debts and was eventually sold to William H. Baldwin in 1859. In an interesting note, William Baldwin first tried to purchase Guilford Mill in 1845 before he became the owner of Savage Mill.

Sources of Information

Williams v. Savage Manufacturing Co., 1 Md. Ch. 306 (1848). Sept. 1848 · High Court of Chancery of Maryland. 1 Md. Ch. 306

The North American Review. Vol. 20, No. 46 (Jan., 1825), pp. 99-138 (40 pages). https://www.jstor.org/stable/25109293

John McGrain. 2007. Molinography of Maryland - Howard County. Maryland State Archives. http://msa.maryland.gov/.../howard%20county%20chapter.pdf