In 1891, James L. Orr assumed the role of President of Piedmont Manufacturing after Henry P. Hammett’s untimely death. Hammett’s death surprised everyone coming on suddenly ending the Hammett era of Piedmont’s textile industry. James initially served on Piedmont’s board of directors coming into the leadership of the Piedmont mills in the normal nineteenth century manner; he married Henry Hammett’s daughter, Elizabeth Bates Hammett in 1873. But James was not just a nobody off the streets either, he was the son of the prominent former governor of South Carolina, James L. Orr senior; it is good to be connected.
When Orr assumed the position as president of Piedmont’s textile mills, it was already a very respected business. This was the first modern textile mill in South Carolina and possibly the first modern textile mill in the south. Now while there were textile mills within South Carolina, all were a long shot from being considered “modern” before Hammett’s mill. Hammett’s “modern” textile mill started with a building specifically constructed as a textile mill, equipped with state-of-the-art machinery and New England skilled supervisors; all southern mills before were equipped with used New England textile machinery.
By the time James took over Hammett’s textile mills, Piedmont had already expanded from one to three mill buildings with a fourth on its way. Not only was James responsible for running the mill, but the mill was not just a factory. It was an entire mill village with several thousand employees and their families residing within the village built strictly for them. As president of the mill, James served as an unofficial mayor managing Piedmont’s mill village.
This mill was not just any average mill either. James’s Piedmont mill was the only southern textile mill that sold its production to Asian markets under its own “running horse” brand; no other southern mill at this time sold under their own brand; Piedmont was the height of southern textile production. In an 1895 article, James Orr explained that his plans were to continue Hammett’s dream of expansion of Piedmont Manufacturing, by adding onto the first 4 mills with mills 5, 6, 7, and 9, but something changed before the new century which is not known. Instead of adding on to Piedmont’s established mills, Orr decides to expand south in the town of Andreson, South Carolina. There he built a mill of his own, the Orr Mill, constructed by well-known mill architectural company, Lockwood Greene.
In 1899, Orrs new mill began production of cotton textiles and while this is nothing sensational, since there were already a number of new textile mills in South Carolina by this time, James new mill was different. It was the first textile mill in the south that was totally electrically powered from a commercial generator not located on site. This may be the reason that Orr built a new mill in Anderson, instead of expanding Piedmont mills. As quoted in a local publication, “Anderson, SC was the first city in the United States to have a continuous supply of electric power and the first in the world to create a cotton gin operated by electricity”. Anderson, S.C. is also nicknamed the “Electric City” because of this history.
Orr also took experience with him to his Anderson mill. When Orr’s new mill began, it began with skilled workers, some of whom left the Piedmont Mill to come to James new factory. One of these was Thomas Lyons, who assumed the position as manager of the mill. Later in 1946 the mill sold and the new owner, M. Lowenstein Company, renamed the mill, Orr-Lyons Mill, in honor of Orr and Lyons successes.
With Orr’s new mill now running on electricity and not water-powered, it could produce a top consistent textile product. What is meant that this statement is that all earlier mills and some by the dawn of the twentieth century used water to power their factories, but water-driven machines also operated as the speed of the water flowing in the river. If the water is running heavy, the machines run faster and if the water runs slow, then also the machines powered by water operate slow. This results in an inconsistent textile product. But electricity solved the problem of inconsistent production.
Within 10 years, Orr’s Anderson mills boasted a successful textile operation with 650 employees that operated 57,000 spindles and 1,500 looms. Within 20 years the mill added 150 more employees and 3,000 more spindles to its production capabilities. And while the Orr mill proved an important industry to the city of Anderson, James Orr did not realize all of its successes. He passed away in 1905, at the age of 52 years old.
In his career, James became a pivotal figure in South Carolina’s textile industry. He began with the first modern textile factory in South Carolina, then moved on to build his own factory in Anderson. His Anderson mill served as the most important industry within that city and county. He also served as vice president of American Spinning Company as well as president of Piedmont Manufacturing up until his death.
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