William Madison Wood facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
William Madison Wood
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| Born | June 18, 1858 Edgartown, Massachusetts
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| Died | (aged 67) Daytona Beach, Florida
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| Occupation | Manufacturer |
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Ellen Ayer
(m. 1888) |
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William Madison Wood (born June 18, 1858 – died February 2, 1926) was an important American businessman. He owned many textile mills, especially in Lawrence, Massachusetts. People thought he was very good at making factories work efficiently. He became rich by helping struggling mills become successful. However, he was not popular with labor unions.
Contents
Early Life and First Jobs
William Wood was born in 1858 in Edgartown, Massachusetts. This town is on Martha's Vineyard island. His parents, Grace and William Wood Sr., were immigrants from the Azores, a group of islands that belong to Portugal.
His father worked on a New Bedford whaling ship. Sadly, his father died in 1871 when William Jr. was only 12 years old. William had to leave school to find a job and help his mother and younger siblings.
Luckily, Andrew G. Pierce, a rich textile factory owner, offered William a job. William started working at Pierce's Wamsutta Cotton Mill. Pierce quickly saw that William was a very hard worker. He promoted William to a department where he learned about factory costs and numbers.
When he was 18, William moved to Philadelphia. With help from Andrew Pierce, he got a good job at a company that dealt with stocks and bonds. This is where he learned how money is invested. After a while, he returned to New Bedford and worked at a bank. Later, he became a paymaster for a textile company in Fall River.
In 1885, a factory called the Washington Mill in Lawrence had problems and was bought by Frederick Ayer. Ayer was a very rich man who made patent medicines.
Building the American Woolen Company
Frederick Ayer knew a lot about medicine but nothing about textile factories. So, Ayer's new manager convinced William Wood to join them. William became the assistant in charge of manufacturing. Soon after, he was promoted to treasurer, and then to manager. He was earning a lot of money, about $25,000 a year.
In 1888, William Wood married Ellen Ayer, Frederick Ayer's daughter. This made him related to General George S. Patton later on. Ellen was well-educated, having studied in France and at Radcliffe College.
William was determined to make the Washington Mill a big success. And he did! After that, he wanted to do something even bigger. He planned to combine many small, struggling mills in New England into one large, successful company.
By 1899, William Wood had convinced seven mills to join his idea, which he called "The Woolen Trust." In April of that year, the company officially became the American Woolen Company. Frederick Ayer bought half of the company's shares, and William Wood bought the rest.
The Lawrence Textile Strike
In 1912, workers at the Lawrence Mill went on strike. They were supported by the IWW union. William Wood had to shorten the work week for all employees. He cut the week from 56 hours to 54 hours. However, he also made the machines run faster. This meant workers had to work just as hard and produce the same amount, but they were paid for fewer hours. This made the workers very angry.
During the strike, police found explosives near the mills. William Wood eventually reached an agreement with the striking workers. He gave them more pay for overtime and a small raise for those paid by the piece.
The problem with the strike was solved for a while, but authorities investigated the explosives. They found out that a mill contractor and another man had planted the explosives. They did this to make the IWW union look bad. Since these men worked for William Wood, he was accused of planning to damage the mills. After a long trial, a jury found William Wood not guilty on June 6, 1913.
Later Life and Retirement
After the strike, William Wood made big plans for his company's main office. He wanted to move it from Lawrence to Shawsheen Village, Massachusetts. This project took about five years, from 1918 to 1923. Wood turned a quiet town into a complete community for his employees. It had factories, homes, and places for fun.
During these years, the First World War helped the woolen industry a lot. Wood's company got many contracts from the Army, which helped it grow even more. By 1924, the American Woolen Company owned 60 mills and had over 40,000 employees.
In 1924, William Wood had a stroke. His doctor told him to retire and rest. William Wood followed this advice and retired. He chose Andrew Pierce Jr. to take over his company. Andrew Pierce Jr. was the son of the man who gave William Wood his very first job. In January 1926, William and his wife Ellen moved to Florida.
Sports Owner
William Wood also owned a soccer team called the Shawsheen Indians. This team won a big championship, the 1924–25 National Challenge Cup, in 1925. In June 1925, the Indians joined the American Soccer League. After William Wood passed away, the team left the league and stopped playing.
See also
- Cuttyhunk - Wood and family had two homes on the island now known as Avalon and Winter House.
