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1799 - 2002 Interesting Facts About Cotton, Daniel Pratt & The Gin Shop etc. 1607- The Colonists plant first cotton crop. 1664 - Colonists grow cotton as a principal crop. 1747 - Several bags of Cotton was shipped to Europe from the colonies. 1767 - George Washington manufactures 300 yards of cotton cloth. 1775 - Stephen Crane sells currency-type cotton fiber paper to engraver Paul Revere, who prints the American Colonies’ first paper money. 1777 - Cotton Grown in Pennsylvania to supply revolution Army. 1786 - Henry Odgen Holmes enters caveat of invention for a cotton Gin with the US War Department. 1787- The first Cotton Mill In the United States is built in Massachusetts 1793 -Samuel Slater erects water-powered cotton yarn mill in Rhode Island. 1793 - Eli Whitney patents his spike Cotton Gin 1796 - Henry Odgen Holmes patents the saw gin 1799 - July 20, Daniel Pratt is born in Temple, New Hampshire. 1800 - Jan 30, US population was reported at 5,308,483; Black population 1,002,037 (18.9%). 1813 -The first successful cotton mill is built in North Carolina. 1815 - Daniel at the age of 16, apprenticed to John Putnam, architect and friend of the family, in order to learn the building trade. 1817 - Daniel's Mother became ill and was nursed for several months by Daniel. She died December 8, 1817. 1817 - Mississippi Steamboats begin carrying cotton. 1819 - Daniel sailed to Savannah, Georgia, with hope of raising enough money to pay off Mr. Putnam's mortgage. 1819-Dec. 14, Alabama enters Union as 22nd state. 1819 - Daniel Pratt Twenty years of age in the seaport town of Savannah, Georgia 1820 -Jan, A large fire in Savannah, Georgia wiped out 463 buildings. 1821 - Daniel Moved to Milledgeville, Georgia. The heart of the new cotton growing area of the state. 1821 -1831 - Daniel planned and built some of the most beautiful and well constructed homes in Georgia. Many of these homes still stand today. Daniel also built boats on the Ocmulgee River at this time. 1827 - After a brief courtship Daniel Pratt married Miss Ester Ticknor of Columbia, Conn.. Ester was visiting the family of her late Brother Dr. Orray Ticknor the founder of Clinton Academy in 1819. 1830- Alabama Federal Census White
population=190,406 1831 - Pratt came to Clinton, Georgia as a manager of the Griswold Cotton Gin Factory for friend Samuel Griswold. 1832 - Daniel became a partner in the Griswold business. Pratt persuaded Griswold to established a branch in central Alabama, near water transportation and water power. 1833 - With material for 50 gins Pratt set out for the Alabama Territory. Daniel his wife and two African Negroes set out for Alabama. 1833- Daniel Pratt made a temporary stop at a water power site at mortar creek, in Autauga county, Alabama. This site was known as the Elmore Plantation "Elmore's Mill". This site is in present day Elmore, Alabama. In 1833 Autauga county was comprised of much of Autauga, Elmore and Chilton counties. Daniel assembled the 50 gins which found a quick sale. 1833 -"Stars fell on Alabama" with spectacular meteor shower (November 13). 1834 - Daniel leased, for five years, a water powered factory site on Autauga Creek, Known as McNeil's Mill. Here he produced an average gin production of 200 gins per year. This lease expired in 1839. 1835 - While still manufacturing gins at the McNeil site, Daniel purchased one thousand acres of land from Joseph May, Three miles up the Autauga Creek from the McNeil site. This site is present day Prattville, Alabama. The price was $21,000.00 (half was paid in cotton gins at the prevailing price). The remainder of the purchase was financed by a friend of Daniel's from New England $8,000.00 and $2,000.00 loan from the State Bank Of Alabama. All the debts were satisfied by the expiration of the lease at the McNeil site, in 1839. 1835 - 1836 Alabama gold rush, concentrated in east-central hill country. 1839 - Mississippi leads cotton production in the U.S. 1839 - Daniel Pratt moved his gin factory to the new site and started his planned town Prattville. 1840 - Over 900,000 bales of cotton were exported from New Orleans. 1842 -Sidney Lanier (d.1881), poet, was born in Macon, Georgia. 1845 -The style of button-fly pants was introduced to the US "despite protests from the religious community, who saw the flap as a license to sin." 1846 - William Gregg bans child labor in his South Carolina Cotton Mill. 1848 -Pratt erects 3-story masonry factory on site of former grist mill. The new structure is used as a sash, door, and blind factory, later to become part of the gin manufactory. 1849 - The thriving manufacturing town of Prattville host eight hundred residents The New England system of a planned town was followed from the beginning. Before settlement, the land was surveyed, streets and lots marked out, the site of a public square, a school, and other public buildings determined. The city is centered around the Pratt manufacturing complex. Similar to Lowell, Mass. Many of Pratt's buildings had short eaves styled as New England buildings. Buildings in the south had wide overhanging eaves to shade from the southern sun. Most towns in the south are centered around a courthouse or town square. 1850 - Levi Strauss creates cotton Levis in California. The first pair sold for $13.50 a dozen. 1850 - Mule drawn cotton Picker patented in Tennessee. 1850 - Alabama leads cotton production in the U.S. 1850 -Samuel and Elisha Griswold become partners in the gin company, temporarily named S. Griswold & CO.(1) 1850-
Alabama Federal Census 1850
Federal Census: c.1852 -3-story masonry machine and carpenter shop erected adjacent to c.1848 factory. The structure later is used as part of the gin manufactory. 1853 Samuel and Elisha Griswold withdraw from E.C. Griswold & Co. Name changes to Daniel Pratt Gin Company. 1854 Pratt moves gin factory to new three-story structure on the west side of the creek, adjacent to the c.1848 building. 1860- Alabama Federal Census State population=964,201. 1860
Federal Census: 1861 Jan 11, Alabama
seceded from the Union.
1861
Feb 4, Delegates from six southern states met in Montgomery, Ala., to form
the Confederate States of America.
1861
Feb 18, Jefferson F. Davis was inaugurated as the Confederacy's provisional
president at a ceremony held in Montgomery, Ala.
1861 Mar 9, First hostile act of the Civil War occurred when the ship Star of the West fires on Sumter, S.C. Orders from Montgomery were telegraphed.
1862 - Cotton is harvested in the California, San Joaquin Valley
1862- The Civil War rages on with many deaths on both sides.
1870- Alabama Federal Census State population=996,992. 1873 Death of Daniel Pratt. Nephew Merrill E. Pratt and daughter Ellen Pratt DeBardeleben become owners. 1879 - Crane Paper Company wins heated competition for U.S. currency paper made with cotton fiber rag.
1879 - Edison uses cotton thread in inventing the electric light.
1880-Alabama
Federal Census 1880 Federal Census: White
population= 662,185 1881 - Cotton Sheets made in Anniston, Alabama. 1881 Merrill E. Pratt buys DeBardeleben interest in company and becomes sole owner, with exception of small interest held by W.T. Northington. 1889 Death of Merrill E. Pratt. Business continues, operated by estate with son Daniel Pratt in charge. 1890-Alabama
Federal Census 1890 Federal Census: White
population= 833,718 1898 Three-story masonry structure added to expand gin factory operations. Steam power added to operate this building's machinery. Designed by Frank Lockwood. Built the same year as Union Station In Montgomery , also by Lockwood. 1899 Daniel Pratt Gin Company merges with Munger Improved Cotton Machine Mfg. Co. (Dallas, TX), Northington-Munger-Pratt Co. (Birmingham, AL), Winship Machine Co. (Atlanta, GA), Eagle Cotton Gin Co. (Bridgewater, Mass), and Smith Sons Gin and Machine Co (Birmingham, AL) to become Continental Gin Company, headquartered in Birmingham. 1900-Alabama
Federal Census 1900 Federal Census: White
population= 1,001,152 1903 - Cotton covers the wings of the Wright Brothers airplane. 1912 Four-story masonry building added for finished-gin storage. 1917 The Russian Revolution came, taking over all the banks, which resulted in the Company's loss of an amount exceeding $213,000.00. 1926 Woodruff family purchases controlling stock in Continental Gin Company. Woodruff Family owned the Coca-cola company. Started The Trust Company Of Georgia etc. 1930 -USDA establishes a ginning laboratory in Stoneville, Mississippi 1953 - The Arizona cotton crop equals the value of Arizona copper production. 1959 Fulton Industries acquires controlling interest in the company. 1962 Prattville facility expanded. Continental Gin Company moves headquarters from Birmingham to Prattville. 1964 Merger of Moss-Gordin and Continental Gin to form Continental/Moss-Gordin Company. 1968 Allied Products Corporation acquires Fulton Industries and their holdings. At the same time, Allied Products acquires Bush Hog Company, Selma. 1969- Apollo II astronauts wear all-cotton biological-isolation suits after trip to the moon. 1974-1975 - California is the top producing cotton state in U.S. 1975 Bush Hog/Continental Gin formed. 1986 Joseph and Roger Fermon purchase 50 percent of Continental Gin Company stock. Consolidation of Continental Gin Company and Murray division of Murray-Carver, Inc., forming Continental Eagle Corporation. 1988 Joseph and Roger Fermon purchase remaining Continental Eagle Corporation stock to become sole shareholders. 1999 Alabama Year Of Industry Daniel Pratt Celebration 2003 One Hundred and Seventy one Years in business Introduction of the LouverMax Lint Cleaner. 2004 Introduction of the Eagle Eye digital Cotton Imaging System. 05/09/2007
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