On April 3, 1888 a small article appeared in the Columbus
Enquirer Sun reporting that Abram Blakeley, foreman of
the shops at Eagle and Phenix Mills, had been standing near a
small boiler used in the machine shop. The boiler exploded
and scalded his hands and face. This article caught my eye
because Abram Blakeley was my great grandfather and
employed by Eagle and Phenix Manufacturing Company.
Abram Blakeley was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on
January 22, 1844. His parents were Reuben and Suzanne
Selzer Blakeley. Reuben Blakeley was born in Yorkshire,
England in 1802 and arrived in New York City on the ship
John Wells in 1826. Reuben was a machinist and went to work
in a cotton mill in Chester, PA shortly after his arrival. His
younger brother Abraham went to work in a cotton factory in
Lancashire, England but decided to follow his brother to
America. Abraham arrived in Philadelphia in 1828 and
immediately went to work as a weaver for the firm Bullock
and Davis of Germantown, PA. By 1853, he was able to buy a
cotton mill in Chester, PA that already employed his brother
Reuben as a superintendent. Eventually several Blakeley
family members would work in the Blakeley and Sons
Manufacturing Company including Abram. In 1873 Abraham
Blakeley constructed a new mill. It was a three story building
outfitted with new and improved machinery. Eventually the
mill consisted of three main buildings with 276 looms, 35 sets
of cards and 8,500 spindles. Power was supplied by a Corliss
steam engine with three sets of boilers.*
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Thirty three bales of cotton were used to manufacture 80, 000 yards of material per week. The mill employed 200 people. After the Civil War Abram moved from Chester to Browneville, AL.
He married Elizabeth Birdsong Ely, a teacher in her
parent’s (Marcus Bethune and Martha Frances Dumas Ely) school, on October 13, 1878.
(Elizabeth’s father Marcus had served in
the Civil War with the Russell Guards (CSA) while Abram and his brother William
served in the Union Blues (37th Pennsylvania Regiment) from Chester,
PA. To my knowledge the Blakeley's are the only family line I have from north of
the Mason-Dixon Line).
Abram would have found his new place of employment to be
in sharp contrast to his uncle’s mill. The Eagle and Phenix
Mill, originally called the Eagle Manufacturing Company, was
constructed in 1851 by William H. Young. The mill produced
cloth for the war effort (1861-1865). The mill was reduced to
ashes by Federal troops in 1865. Young constructed a new mill
in 1866 and renamed it the Eagle and Phenix Manufacturing
Company (the name signifying its’ rebirth). In 1872 a second
mill was built and by 1877 it was deemed the largest mill in the
south. The mill had 44,000 spindles and 1,800 looms in operation
with 1,800 employees. Abram worked his way up in
the mill, first as a machinist, then foreman and finally
superintendent until his retirement.
Abram and Elizabeth, along with their children, moved to Woodbury, GA after he retired.
Abram died in Woodbury on January 4, 1912 and is buried in the Woodbury City Cemetery.
Abram and Elizabeth had seven children: Marcus, Bessie, Ruby, Mattielu, Willie, Esther and James. (Bessie and Willie died in infancy).
The Columbus Enquirer Sun, Columbus, GA , 03April1888, p.4
History of Delaware County, PA, Henry Graham, 1884,
pp. 399-400
Columbus on the Chattahoochee, Etta Blanchard
Worsley, 1952, 377-378
The Delaware County News, Chester, PA, 06Jan1912,
p.4
Wikipedia.com Corliss Steam Engine
Personal family photos
*The Corliss engine was a steam engine, fitted with rotary valves and variable valve timing patented in 1849, invented by and named after the American engineer George Henry Corliss of Providence, Rhode Island.
