Weaving in the 19th Century US

If I had to pick a starting point for my study, I would begin with 19th Century Long Island.

I spent most of my life on Long Island and it is where I first learned of William Fisher. William was a resident of Riverhead, Long Island back in mid 1800s, and was a weaver working for the Peconic River Mill creating textiles for customers.

I first learned of him when I went to Colonial Williamsburg in 2002, to see an exhibition of woven coverlets most likely woven on a Jacquard loom which was the technology of the day. There were several coverlets by William and I was captivated by the knowledge that he had lived and worked so near to where I myself had lived for most of my life.

Spurred on to know more about him, I purchased the book, " Woven History - Technology and Woven History in Long Island Coverlets", by Rabbit Goody, a textile conservator and weaver as well as owner of Thistle Hill Weavers in Cherry Valley, N.Y.

From the details and  facts about Fishers' life, I became swept up in a desire to know him, and others like him, who had been born in Scotland, apprenticed as weavers, and immigrated to America to claim their fortune and be prosperous.

By the time I had discovered William Fisher I had been immersed in the study of 18th and 19th century textile tools for a decade, was somewhat of a weaver myself, and had done some consulting as well as research for several local museums. I was curious to know how, if at all, Early American weavers paralleled their Scottish counterparts both in Scotland and here in the US.

What follows is interesting if not always coherent. Remember, rather than a formal paper of sorts, this is simply a way for me to journal what I've learned as I've rooted out information over the last two years, so that others can follow my footsteps into woven history both in Scotland and here.