The Knight family replaced the bankrupt Spragues
The impact of the Sprague family on Warwick, and all of Rhode Island,
was tremendous. They were the leading textile manufacturing firm in the
state and they were active in politics as well. This was the dominating
family in the state until the last quarter of the 19th century.
The War Governor
In the same fashion as his uncle, William Sprague had great political
ambitions and used his wealth and prestige in the textile industry to
fulfill his dreams. William Sprague, following in his uncle's
footsteps, was also Governor of Rhode Island and United States Senator.
He was governor at the outbreak of hostilities during the Civil War and
was the first governor to offer troops to Lincoln for the defense of
Washington. Later, William Sprague accompanied the Rhode Island troops
during the First Battle of Bull Run and returned to Rhode Island as a
hero.
His military ambitions took second place to his political and economic
ventures during the war and, as a result, his business flourished. The
estate on East Avenue was but one of the many fine properties owned by
the Sprague family in the mid nineteenth century. At the close of the
Civil War, the Spragues' wealth was estimated at $19 million, and they
employed over 12,000 workers. So many Irish and French Catholics worked
for the Spragues in 1867 that land in the Natick section was given for
the construction of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church.
The Panic of 1873
At about the same time the first Mass was being celebrated at the new
church in 1872, the large Sprague Empire began to collapse. William
Sprague, the firm's leader, had ventured into politics and, like his
uncle, was successful on both the state and the national level. While
he achieved great acclaim in many areas, he accumulated a large number
of enemies, invested unwisely, and speculated rashly.
Jealousy, business rivalry, poor business practices, politics, and
chicanery combined to destroy the largest firm in the state. The fear
of the loss of jobs and revenue to Rhode Island was great, but even
Senator Nelson Aldrich, with all his power, was unable to stop the
Sprague rivals from their destructiveness. The Spragues were unable to
satisfy their creditors and their holdings were put in receivership.
Modern historians feel that the senator’s enemies, plus incompetence
and/or fraud, more than lack of assets brought about the demise of the
once powerful textile firm.
A new force in the industry
While the financial panic of 1873 and the disintegration of the Sprague
Empire left the textile industry in New England badly shaken, it was
only a temporary setback. By 1875, trustee Zachariah Chafee had sold
most of the Sprague holdings. Much of the property was eventually
acquired by another important textile family, the Knights. They came
into possession of many of Sprague's mills, mill housing, company
stores and large farms.
The ascendancy of the Knight Company
In a relatively short time, the owners of the firm of B.B. & R.
Knight were able to use their great business skill to forge an even
greater textile company. In 1883, the Knights purchased the four Natick
mills for $200,000 from the Union Company, which represented the
creditors of the Spragues. In the following year, the Knights bought
the Spragues' Arctic Mill, one of the finest in the state, for $175,000.
Along with the mills, the Knight brothers also purchased much of the
land once owned by the Spragues. In 1875, the "mansion estate near the
village of Natick" came into their possession. They converted the East
Avenue homestead of Thomas Holden and "old" Governor Sprague into a
model "gentleman's farm" and showplace.
The man responsible for this conversion was Robert Knight. It was he
who first involved the family in the textile industry. His was the
classic American story of the poor boy who worked hard and became rich.
From humble beginnings on a small farm in 1826, he had acquired, by the
time of his death in 1912, a fortune estimated at $50 million.
The story of the Knight estate will be continued.
When the Sprague Empire collapsed, the Knight family became the dominant entity in Rhode Island’s textile industry. Much of the success of this family is due to the genius of Robert Knight who rose from simple beginnings to one of he most powerful and wealthy men in the United States.