“ It is claimed that the first production in the United States of finished cotton cloths under one roof and under the factory system was not at Waltham in 1816, but at Clinton in 1813; neither place was the first to spin by power, nor the first to produce finished cloths without the factory system. The comb industry dates from the eighteenth century. The first of the modern textile mills were established in 1838 for the manufacture of coach-lace. Clinton was a part of Lancaster, now a small farming township (pop. in 1910, 2464) , until 1850, when it was set off as an independent township. ”

“ From 1845 to 1851 he perfected his loom for the weaving of Brussels and Wilton carpets, the greatest of his inventions; and he established the Bigelow Carpet Mills here. He also invented the loom for the weaving of wire-cloth. ”

“ On this is situated the village of Clinton, which has large manufactories, among whose products are cotton and woollen fabrics, carpets, wire-cloth, iron and steel, and combs. The textile and carpet mills are among the most famous in the United States. In 1905 the total factory product of the township was valued at $5,457,865, the value of cotton goods, carpets and wire-work constituting about nine-tenths of the total. ”