Samuel Slater

Slater, Samuel (1768–1835), British-born originator of the U.S. textile industry. As an employee of a company using the Richard Arkwright spinning machine, Slater learned about this revolutionary textile manufacturing process. Once in the United States, Slater reconstructed the Arkwright spinning machine from memory for Almy & Brown, a Rhode Island firm. Eventually he opened his own companies throughout New England, beginning with one in Rehoboth, Mass. (1798).

See also: Textile.