Frank P. Sheldon

Frank P. Sheldon
Sheldon, c. 1911
Born(1846-02-16)February 16, 1846
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
DiedAugust 17, 1915(1915-08-17) (aged 69)
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
OccupationMill engineer

Frank P. Sheldon (February 16, 1846 – August 17, 1915) was an American mill engineer based in Providence, Rhode Island, and active from 1870 until his death in 1915. In his capacity as a mill engineer Sheldon designed cotton mills and factories for a variety of industries.

Life and career

Frank Perry Sheldon was born February 16, 1846, in Providence, Rhode Island, to Jeremiah A. Sheldon, a patternmaker, and Mary Sheldon, née Burbank. He was educated in the Providence public schools and at Scholfield's Commercial College. He first worked in the office of Providence civil engineer Niles B. Schubarth. He then worked as a mechanical draftsman for his father's employer, the American Screw Company, and in the machine shops of James S. Brown in Pawtucket. On Brown's recommendation Sheldon then went to work for Foster H. Stafford, treasurer of the Union Mills of Fall River, Massachusetts, for whom he drew the plans of the company's no. 2 mill. He then worked for Edward Kilburn, engineer of the Lonsdale Company at Lonsdale, Rhode Island, and with him designed the no. 4 mill of the Wamsutta Mills in New Bedford.[1]: 383–384 

By 1870 Sheldon felt comfortable enough to go into business independently as a mill engineer.[1]: 383–384  The idea of a "mill engineer" developed alongside the American textile industry and was at this time only just being professionalized. Such an engineer was responsible for the design of all of a mill's machinery and systems as well as the building that housed those systems. Some of these engineers, including Sheldon, carried out the original research required to provide these services.[2]: 18–21  He was sole proprietor of his business until 1903, when he formed a partnership with his elder son, Arthur Noyes Sheldon (1878–1973), practicing as F. P. Sheldon & Company. In 1907 they were joined by his younger son, Frank Lawrence Sheldon (1883–1925), and the firm name changed to F. P. Sheldon & Sons.[1]: 383–384  After Sheldon died in 1915, his sons continued the firm under the name F. P. Sheldon & Son. Frank L. Sheldon died in 1925, but Arthur N. Sheldon continued to lead the firm under the same name until his retirement in 1964.[3]

Personal life

In 1900 Sheldon was appointed director of textiles for the United States Commission to the Exposition Universelle in Paris. He was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the National Cotton Manufacturers' Association.[1]: 383–384 

Sheldon married in 1877 to Nellie Noyes. They had three children, two sons and one daughter. She died in 1883 and he married again in 1892, to Mary Elizabeth Lincoln, they had no children together.[1]: 383–384  He died August 17, 1915, at the age of 69, in Providence.[4]

Legacy

Sheldon's employees included Charles T. Main and Dwight Seabury, who left to establish their own practices in 1893 and 1896, respectively.[5]: 345–347 [6]: 392 

In 1921 the firm published a retrospective, entitled A Half Century of Achievement, to commemorate the firm's fiftieth year of business.[7] This book also contained summaries of the firm's research. Research activities were covered more thouroughly in the 1926 publication Miscellaneous Scientific Papers of F. P. Sheldon & Son, comprising papers presented by members of the firm.[8] In 1923 Sheldon & Son was recognized as one of the major mill engineering firms of the United States.[9]

Many of Sheldon's works survive and several have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places; others contribute to listed historic districts.

Projects

All dates are date of completion.

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Frank Perry Sheldon" in Lamb's Textile Industries of the United States, vol. 1, ed. John Howard Brown and E. N. Morris (Boston: James H. Lamb Company, 1911)
  2. ^ Betsy Hunter Bradley, The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999)
  3. ^ "Deaths," Brown Alumni Monthly 73, no. 9 (July 1973): 49.
  4. ^ "Obituary," American Wool and Cotton Reporter 29, no. 35 (September 2 1915): 1316.
  5. ^ Judith Boyce DeMark, "Main, Charles Thomas" in American National Biography 14 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999)
  6. ^ "Dwight Seabury" in Lamb's Textile Industries of the United States, vol. 1, ed. John Howard Brown and E. N. Morris (Boston: James H. Lamb Company, 1911)
  7. ^ a b c d A Half Century of Achievement (Providence: F. P. Sheldon & Son, 1921)
  8. ^ "An Interesting Book," Cotton 91, no. 6 (April 1927): 609.
  9. ^ J. P. H. Perry, "Architects and Industrial Building," Concrete 23, no. 5 (November 1923): 189-191.
  10. ^ Bruce Clouette and Maura Cronin, North Grosvenordale Mill Historic District National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (1993)
  11. ^ History of Bristol County, Massachusetts (Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Company, 1883)
  12. ^ Gary Tipler, Paramount Knitting Company Mill NRHP Registration Form (2011)
  13. ^ a b c d William H. Jordy, Buildings of Rhode Island, ed. Ronald J. Onorato and Wm. McKenzie Woodward (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004)
  14. ^ Candace Jenkins with Brian Pfeiffer, Berkshire Mill #1 National Register of Historic Places Inventory–Nomination Form (1982)
  15. ^ Wm. McKenzie Woodward and Edward F. Sanderson, Providence: A Citywide Survey of Historic Resources, ed. David Chase (Providence: Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, 1986)
  16. ^ Glenn M. Andres and Curtis B. Johnson, Buildings of Vermont (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013)
  17. ^ "Another new building. To be erected on Pine Street between Page and Richmond," Providence Journal, October 26, 1895.
  18. ^ "The new Warren mill. Cotton was started through the machinery this week," Providence Journal, August 27, 1896.
  19. ^ Jeff Mansell and Trina Binkley, Avondale Mill Historic District National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (2000)
  20. ^ Electrical World 48, no. 25 (December 22, 1906): 1220.
  21. ^ Sarah E. Zurier and Charlotte C.W. Tavlor, Ira B. Sweet House National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (2009)
  22. ^ Alisa Augenstein and Maureen Cavanaugh with Betsy Friedberg, Fitchburg Yarn Mill National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (2016)
  23. ^ Stephen J. Roper, Pawtucket, Rhode Island (Providence: Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, 1978)
  24. ^ Iron Trade Review 55, no. 22 (November 26 1914): 1010.
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