Hollingsworth & Vose Company
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History of Hollingsworth & Vose Company

To trace the origin of Hollingsworth & Vose Company (H&V) one must start with a revolutionary development in the art of paper making that occurred in 1843. In that year, the brothers John Mark and Lyman Hollingsworth were granted a patent by the U.S. Patent Office for the manufacture of paper from manila fiber. These brothers were sons of Mark Hollingsworth who, in 1798, had come to Milton, MA, from Delaware as a foreman for the paper makers Jeremiah Smith Boise and Edmund Tileston, and whose descendants were influential in the development of the paper industry in New England.

The patent granted to John Mark and Lyman Hollingsworth was the result of their discovery, during the depression that followed the panic of 1837, that they could utilize a scrap pile of manila
Manila paper
Manila paper is a type of paper originally made from Manila hemp or abacá. It is buff in color and the fibers are usually visible to the naked eye. Because manila paper is generally inexpensive, it is commonly given to children for making child art....

 bolt ropes which they had previously cut from old sails as of no value. This rope paper proved to be of exceptional strength and had numerous industrial applications.

Purchase of West Groton Mill

In 1852 Lyman Hollingsworth purchased a paper mill from Jepthah R. Hartwell on the site of the present West Groton Mill of Hollingsworth and Vose Company. This mill had been in existence since before 1832, and during the ensuing twenty years, passed through numerous hands. Amongs its early owners were Phelps and Spafford from Connecticut, builders in 1830 of the first complete cylinder-type paper machine. In 1846, while in Hartwell's possession, the mill burned down and was rebuilt. After its purchased in 1852 by Lyman Hollingsworth and, until 1881, it was used to manufacture paper form jute and manila fiber for tag paper, pattern paper, abrasive backing, and wrapping paper. These products were sold both in America and abroad even before the Civil War, and became a standard of their time.

East Walpole Mill Bought

In 1871 Zachary T. Hollingsworth, a nephew of Lyman Hollingsworth and son of Amor Hollingsworth of Tileston and Hollingsworth, in whose mill he learned paper making, purchased the so-called Kennedy Mill in East Walpole, MA, from Francis W. Bird. This mill was on the site originally purchased in 1812 by George Bird, a paper maker from Union, Maine. On this site Mr. Bird had built the first paper mill in Walpole on the Neponset River, and manufactured newsprint. In 1817, Mr. Bird and son, Josiah N. Bird, formed the firm of Bird and Son, and continued the manufacture of paper under that name. The mill was later sold to Josiah Bird's brother, Francis W. Bird, who in turn sold the mill in 1871 to Zachary T. Hollingsworth.

At the time Zachary T. Hollingsworth purchased this mill it had only one machine. On September 22, 1873, the mill was destroyed by fire, but was immediately rebuilt.

In 1875, Charles Vose entered Zachary T. Hollingsworth's employ as a salesman. He had, since 1867, been employed as salesman by the wholesale paper house of B.H. Thayer and Company, selling agents for the products of Lyman Hollingsworth's mills at Bridgewater and West Groton.
Between 1878 and 1880 a partnership existed between F.W. Bird, and Charles S. Bird of F.W. Bird and Son, and Zachary T. Hollingsworth. In 1880 Charles Vose was admitted to this partnership which lasted until 1881.

Charles Vose Becomes Partner

In 1881, Zachary T. Hollingsworth and Charles Vose formed a partnership of their own under the firm name of Hollingsworth and Vose. During that year they purchased the West Groton Mill from Lyman Hollingsworth.
The purchase of this mill constituted a sizable increase in the production capacity of the rapidly expanding firm. This capacity was further increased during the years from 1881 to 1891.

Production Methods / Technologies

The new company specialized in the production of paper from jute and manila fiber, as had Lyman Hollingsworth, and also used a small amount if unbleached sulphate wood pulp.

Prior to 1900 the methods of cleaning and refining the paper stock were far different from modern means.

Nowadays H&V's process technologies include :
  • Wet laid — rotoformer, inclined wire, cylinder, and fourdrinier machines
  • Dry laid — carded thermal, latex and through-air bonding, and needlepunched
  • Polymer-to-web — meltblown and nanofiber coating
  • Laminated composites — adhesive, ultrasonic, and calendar bonding
  • Glass microfiber production

Corporation Formed

In 1892, the firm became a Massachusetts corporation with Zachary T. Hollingsworth as President, Charles Vose as Vice President, and E. Frank Baker as Treasurer.

Company Executives / Changes

Valentine Hollingsworth, a son of Zachary T. Hollingsworth, succeeded E. Frank Baker as Treasurer upon the latter's death in 1912. At the same time Robert W. Lennox was elected Assistant Treasurer. In 1918, Louis E. Vose, son of Charles Vose, was to the position of Manufacturing Manger of both mills.

A major change in organization occurred in 1921 when Zachary T. Hollingsworth and Charles Vose retired. Valentine Hollingsworth and Louis e. Vose became President and Vice President respectively.
At the time of these changes, Hollingsworth and Vose Company was already established not only as a pioneer in the development of paper of exceptional strength and uniformity, but also as a pioneer in controlled paper making. From its inception the company had been adopting the latest testing methods.

Due to the death of Valentine Hollingsworth on December 10, 1942, Louis E. Vose was elected President on June 15, 1943, and Aubrey K. Nicholson, who had been Superintendent of the West Groton Mill for several years, was elected Vice President. Following Mr. Vose's death on October 27, 1945, Mr. Nicholson was elected to succeed him as President on June 24, 1946. Robert W. Lennox was elected Vice President at that time, and Bruce G. Lennox was elected Treasurer. Mr. Robert W. Lennox died on March 22, 1950 in his seventy-fifth year. He had been associated with the company since 1892, and had been an officer of the company for thirty-eight years.

Mark Hollingsworth, son of Valentine, Amor Hollingsworth and Amor Hollingsworth Jr. were serving on the board of directors in 1950. In 1961 Mark was elected President. In 1997 Valentine Hollingsworth III was elected president.

Diversification of Paper Made

H&V has a heritage of investment in research and development as well as manufacturing processes, the continual diversification in types of paper made the company grew.
In 1890 the company made its first electrical insulating paper for Western Electric Company.

In 1920 the gasket paper field was added to the company's list of specialties, and in 1933 a new line of saturating papers started. The company's long experience in manufacturing technical and industrial papers enabled it to make highly specialized papers for the Navy, the Army Signal Corps, the Chemical Warfare Service, and other branches of the Armed Forces during the World War II, setting the foundation for H&V’s HEPA air filter market expertise in 1941, becoming in 1945 leader in engine cellulosic and high efficiency microfiber glass filter media manufacture and pioneers in the development of wet-laid nonwovens used in home furnishings (1958), developing diskette liner and becoming major industry supplier (1982) and leading manufacturer of microfiber glass battery separators (1984), entering the high efficiency meltblown filter media market(1991), developing chemisorptive product and process technology (1998), nanofiber coating technology (1999), commercializing Advanced Cure Resin (ACR) family of binders (2003), introducing novel family of pool and spa filter media (2005) and advanced nanofiber technology (2008).

See also

  • Klip Kimyevi Maddeler Ticaret A.S.
  • Neponset River
    Neponset River
    The Neponset River is a river in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. The headwaters of the Neponset are at the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, near the Gillette Stadium...

  • Pulp and paper industry
    Pulp and paper industry
    The global pulp and paper industry is dominated by North American , northern European and East Asian countries...


External links

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