Aerial of Piedmont mills in the earlier days.
Mills were an essential part of the economy and lively hood in South Carolina, especially in Piedmont South Carolina. In South Carolina one sixth of the white population lived and worked in mills. This percentage was high because the employee contract came with mill houses for rent. These mill houses were in the mill villages, which were essential to the retainment of employees. The average employee would lease a single-family home, identical to the others built. While the managers lived in larger houses that were closer to the mill so that the commute to work would not be as far.
Union Church and later transformed into the YWCA building. (Built around 1879)
The Piedmont mill village was its own functioning society. It had everything from schools, churches, dry goods store, ballfields, and a post office. This was essential to the success of the mill. The mill provided the stores that ran on credit. Giving another revenue source for the mill but also allowing employes that lived in the village the opportunity to get goods even when they were low on money. All these services given by the mill helped boost morale with the employees and their families, this being a main reason why retention was high. Another avenue of keeping morale high was baseball and softball teams. Everyone in the village could play but different mills would also compete against one another. This gave the community and employees with an outlet to release stress from their workday.
News clipping from Greenville newspaper. Second image is from an annual report.
In 1891 Piedmont Manufacturing Company became one of the largest mills in the world. With this being the case, more women began working at the mill. They would have separate buildings for libraries and extracurricular activities. One building for example is the Union Street Church. It was transformed into the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in 1908. This was also used as a dormitory for young female mill workers.
Picture of Blanche Paynes house around 2020 (58 Main St, Piedmont SC).
Piedmont manufacturing company built a total of 147 mill homes throughout the lifespan of the mill. It started with building 77 mill houses between 1874-76. The first 77 houses were built in Piedmont. One of them being Blanche Paynes home. Originally the Paynes would have leased the home from the mill. Piedmont Manufacturing Company sold out to J.P. Stevens Company and Stevens Company bought all parts of the mill, including the mill village. In the 1950’s J.P. Stevens Company sold the village housing, giving the employees who lived in the mill homes the option to buy them. This is when James H. Payne bought his and Blanches Paynes home on August 12, 1952. The average mill home was sold for $2,600 (equivalent to $31,786 today) at this time.
Once the Paynes became owners of the home in 1952, James H. Payne later died in 1964. He left the home to his wife, Blanche Payne, and she became the owner in 1965. Blanche Payne lived in the home until she passed on March 9,1992. She left the house to Margret Payne; Margret was Blanche and James’s daughter. When Margret passed, she left it to her sister Lillian Gilreath, although Margret died in 2003 the house did not go into Lillians name until 2018. After Lillians passing in 2019, the house went to a Jones Tex Stevens Jr, who sold the house for $93,000. This was not the only property owned by the Blanche and James Payne, but this was their primary home. The house is still around today and is fully renovated. This house was built in the 1870’s and is still standing strong today, keeping the history of the original village mill homes alive.
Piedmont, 2023. Accessed October 10, 2025. https://www.greenvillecounty.org/apps/LongRangePlanning/uploads/PiedmontPresentation.pdf.
Greenville. “GIS.” Greenville County GIS. Accessed September 29, 2025. https://www.gcgis.org/apps/greenvillejs/.
Piedmont Historical Preservation Society, January 24, 2022. https://piedmonthistoricalpreservationsociety.org/.
Hopkins, Donna, Stephanie Tindle, Donna Young, SC Picture Project says, and William Clark. “Piedmont Mill.” SC Picture Project, April 13, 2019. https://www.scpictureproject.org/greenville-county/piedmont-mill.html.
It can be inferred that James Payne or Blanche Pyane worked for the Piedmont Manufacturing Company.
Who is E when referring to the letter?
Who is Johnnie?
Was one of the Paynes a manager at the mill due to the house being slightly larger than the others?
When did one of the Paynes begin working at the Mill?
The following object description information includes basic elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). An additional notes field is included to list dates from the actual letter, envelope postmark locations, and any other identifying details.
Piedmont Mill:
The Piedmont Mill, better known as the Piedmont Manufacturing Company or Piedmont Number One, was founded by Henry Hammett and his father-in-law William Bates between the years of 1862 to 1863. Located near Garrison Shoals and the Saluda River, it became a famous cotton textile mill. This mill had four stories and had an L shaped floor plan. A second mill known as Piedmont Number Two was constructed in 1888 built nearby on the west bank of the Saluda River. Waterpower was the form of energy for these textile mills. This means that a wheel is constantly being turned by surrounding water to spin the textiles. For Piedmont Number One, the water wheel provided enough power for 112 looms and 500 spindles. To have enough workers for the mill, Hammett decided to make a surrounding community to bring people in. This included houses, churches, schools, etc. By 1900, Piedmont Number One became one of the largest textile mills in the world.
Sewing in the 1900s:
The book, Home Dressmaking, by Mrs. Jane Ford, shows an example of the different kinds of stitches used in the early 1900’s, specifically dealing with buttons.
Published in 1913, this book, Practical Sewing and Dressmaking, written by Sara May Allington, describes different kinds of stitches that could be used for mending and creating clothes.
Sewing Machines in 1914:
This is a 1914 sewing machine made by the company New Home.
Newspaper Clippings on this day January 13, 1914 from the Anderson Daily Intelligencer:
This newspaper clipping from the newspaper the Anderson Daily Intelligencer shows an ad for wanted factory girls that can sew.
Historic Events on this day:
A volcanic eruption of Sakurajima, Japan happened on January 12th, 1914. This volcano is known to be very active, plus this was the largest eruption in Japan within the 1900s. Most were able to evacuate days and hours prior due to continuous warnings of upcoming earthquakes that would set off the volcano. Numerous homes and people were destroyed and killed from the lava flow of the volcano. Unfortunately, around 58 people died due to the eruption, following earthquake, and falling debris.
Citations:
Allington, Sara May. “Practical Sewing and Dressmaking”. Pages 16-17. Internet Archive, 1913. Accessed September 23, 2025. https://archive.org/details/practicalsewingd00alli/mode/2up.
Giangrande, Tara. “Eruption of Sakurajima”. Disasters and Rebuilding in Japan. 2016. Accessed September 25, 2025. https://www1.swarthmore.edu/library/exhibitions/japan/gallery/sakurajima.php
Ford, Jane Mrs. “Home Dressmaking”. Page 36-37. Internet Archive, 1913. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://archive.org/details/homedressmaking00ford/page/36/mode/2up.
National Historic Landmarks. “Piedmont Manufacturing Company Number One” National Historic Landmarks (U.S National Park Service). August 29, 2018. Accessed September 23, 2025. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/piedmont-manufacturing-company-number-one.htm.
Piedmont Historical Preservation Society. “Photo Gallery.” Piedmont Historical Preservation Society Discover Piedmont. 2019. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://piedmonthistoricalpreservationsociety.org/come-and-look/.
“The Anderson Daily Intelligencer”. January 13, 1914. Part One Pages 1-8, Page 2, Image 2. Historical Newspapers of South Carolina – University of South Carolina Libraries. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://historicnewspapers.sc.edu/lccn/sn93067669/1914-01-13/ed-1/seq-2/
“Sewing Machines Paul Has Owned By Age.” Foxharp.net. Accessed September 24, 2025. https://projects.foxharp.net/sewing_machines/by-age/.
Johnnie Stark wrote this letter in 1914, which was also the year World War I began. It was written in January, however, which was around 5 months before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the event that would be the catalyst for the Great War.
Prior to this event, tensions were on the rise in Europe as countries built up their militaries, formed powerful alliances, and competed for colonies and influence. These rivalries were driven by a hunger to colonize other nations and use them for their resources to become a more powerful nation. Growing rivalries between countries like Germany, Russia, France, and Britain increased political tensions and pushed Europe closer to war.
Many Americans knew of the rising tensions in Europe but did not want to be involved in the war. Many wanted to avoid conflict and felt joining the war was unnecessary and would only bring danger. Blanche likely would’ve been reading the paper and may have seen this newspaper just months after receiving this letter. Like many Americans at the time, she may not have wanted the United States to become involved, which would not happen until years later.
Greenville Library, Piedmont Collection, “Digital Item No. 44,” accessed September 29, 2025, Greenville Library, https://greenvillelibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/gvlpiedmont/id/44/rec/1?utm_source
“Over Here,”Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I, Library of Congress, accessed September 29, 2025, https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/world-war-i-american-experiences/about-this-exhibition/arguing-over-war/