In 1867 the greatest success story for a mill in the history of Mississippi cotton manufacturing was launched. Daniel Dupree, John Harland, and M. M. Brooks, supported by ten investors in Mobile, organized and began construction of a cotton mill on land formerly a part of a plantation near Enterprise and about twenty miles south of Meridian.

The new mill, named Stonewall Manufacturing Company in honor of Stonewall Jackson, opened in late 1868 with A. P. Bush as president and W. B. Hamilton as secretary-treasurer. In the beginning, the mill was powered by a steam engine to operate 2204 spindles but used country hand looms to weave cloth. At the time, the use of hand looms was not unusual as many mills concentrated primarily on spinning thread; in fact, many of the early cot- ton mills were "spinning factories" and stopped short of weaving cloth. But shortly after opening, the Stonewall mill installed fifty-two power looms and began weaving sheeting.

The first few years were difficult as financial losses mounted. By 1875 the directors had lost all hope of making a profit and assigned T. L. Wainwright to run the cotton out of the machinery and prepare the plant for sale. Wainwright, an enterprising young man, turned out to be the right man at the right time. Within a few months after taking the assignment, Wainwright turned the mill around and stopped the losses. So, the directors reevaluated their decision and elected to continue operations a while longer rather than putting the mill up for sale. They, then, promoted Wainwright to plant manager and gave him a new charge--make the mill profitable.

It was a fortunate decision and turning-point for the struggling mill. Under Wainwright's leadership, the mill continued to prosper; by 1882, the capacity of the mill had doubled. A few years later in 1895, the directors elected to increase the capital stock to $400,000 and add a second mill at a cost of $200,000. The expanded mill operated 10,000 spindles and 300 looms, and soon began producing a variety of fabrics, including ratine goods, sheetings, drills, osnaburgs, shirtings, mattress ticking, and Turkish towels.

Continuing success earned Wainwright the presidency in 1903. Four years later in 1907, the Directory of Southern Cotton Mills reported that the mill employed 500 workers in the operation of 21,000 spindles, 500 narrow looms, and 8 boilers. It listed the key officers and employees as T.L.Wainwright, President and Treasurer; G. I. Case, Secretary; H. C. Dresser, Superintendent; W. A. Gilliland, Engineer; Overseers: carding, S. L. Adler; spinning, A. L. Askew; weaving, J. S. Crane.

Wainwright retained the presidency until 1921 when the mill was sold for $1,500,000 to Crown Overall Company of Cincinnati. Oscar Berman, president of Crown Overall, assumed the presidency of Stonewall Cotton Mills and his brother Israel was named general manager. Crown, a producer of overalls, purchased the mill for the production of a line of denim it used in the manufacture of overalls. The new line was quickly added and soon replaced most of the other fabrics.

In the late 1930s, the mill's management, anticipating World War II, converted to the production of khaki and tenting. The conversion was timely. As it turned out, the military required great amounts of khaki and tenting, and with the military as its biggest customer, the mill enjoyed booming prosperity throughout the war years. The prosperity attracted the attention of the textile giants, and in the end, made the mill a candidate for acquisition.

The late thirties brought the addition of new and modern buildings and machinery, giving the mill the latest in state of the art textile machinery. Most important to the workers was the attention given to their living conditions. With the installation of city water and a modern sewage disposal system in the village, sanitary conditions improved and the "out houses" disappeared. Village improvements were accompanied by pay increases and paid vacations; the employee benefits, including improvements in the village and housing, were at the time unique in the Mississippi textile industry. This perhaps explains, to some extent at least, the great difficulty labor unions experienced in their unsuccessful attempts to organize the Stonewall textile workers.

The Stonewall mill continued throughout the thirties and war years of the forties to enjoy success after success. After the war, Erwin Mills, later a division of Burlington Industries, purchased the mill and in 1948 initiated another five-year program to expand and upgrade the plants, the machinery, and the mill village. In 1962 Burlington Industries purchased Erwin Mills, including the Stonewall mill, and immediately implemented still another intensive upgrading and modernization program. A few years later in 1976, it initiated another large expansion program which involved spending $35 million to construct a new weaving and finishing plant. Burlington not only upgraded and modernized the mill but signaled the community and the mill workers that the mill was there to stay. The signal was important because the Stonewall mill, the last surviving cotton manufacturing mill in the state, was becoming a part of the largest textile-mill corporation in the world.

The Stonewall and Wesson mills were pioneers in the development of cotton manufacturing in Mississippi. The Wesson mill led the way and enjoyed phenomenal success and fame for a substantial number of years and then faded into oblivion. The Stonewall mill, however, enjoyed greater success in the long run. At the time of this writing, one hundred and thirty years after its founding, it is still operating and planning for the future. Very few, if any, cotton mills in the United States, and no other in Mississippi, can boast that record.

After the writing of this article "A Study By Narvell Strickland" , Burlington Industried announced on January 10, 2002 that it would be closing the Stonewall plant.