Judson Mill

Judson, South Carolina 29611, United States

Created By: Brandon Inabinet

Information

Note: Written from the point of view of Bennette Geer, famous mill owner who became Furman University President.

In March of 1912, J. Irving Westervelt opened this sprawling mill in West Greenville--the largest in the world on thirty-six acres. With help from my friend James B Duke, I reorganized it in October 1913, and I changed the mill’s name to Judson. The name came from my favorite professor, Charles Judson, who taught mathematics and mechanics and was acting President of Furman University from 1902 to 1903.

I'm not sure that was a great idea, because with war in Europe and the economy in bad shape by 1915, I had to take similar steps as my other friends in business--stretching and cutting employee hours, firing folks, and cutting pay. Some operatives from the unions had to be fired, since they were organizing a strike. I also closed the mill for two weeks. Fortunately, these tough tactics worked and my employees returned happy to have a job and get a paycheck.

In the 1920s, following my friend's lead up at Union Bleachery, I got more innovative. I was the first to use DuPont’s new product called "rayon" in the whole South. Business was booming and I owned the largest mill in the Americas! My stock was so high that I sold most of it too Deering-Millikin (the textile magnates in Spartanburg), but they kept me as president until Furman University called on me to serve as its President. After I left, in 1939, Milliken moved away from the mill village model that we had all learned, and sold its 565 village houses to residents. In 1960, Judson Mill became a division of Milliken & Company.