Ward Cheney

Ward Cheney (23 February 1813 Manchester, Connecticut - 22 March 1876) was a pioneer manufacturer of silk fabrics. Biography Cheney was principal founder of the house of Cheney Brothers and was most active in its business management. He entered the dry goods business in Providence, Rhode Island, with his brother Charles. When Charles moved to Ohio, Ward returned to South Manchester and found several brothers raising a Chinese mulberry, Morus multicaulis. The success of the experiments led him and brothers Frank and Rush to start a silk culturing operation in Burlington, New Jersey. In 1838 he and his brothers Ralph, Rush and Frank established the manufacturing firm of Cheney Brothers in South Manchester. They had many obstacles with which to contend. The factory was suspended after three or four years, but was revived in 1841. The business was finally organized as a joint-stock company, retaining the firm name, and Ward became president of the corporation. The brothers steadily built an extensive business, with mills at South Manchester and Hartford, employing 2,500 people. The materials they produced were considered equal to the best made in Europe, and found a special demand for use in sewing machines on account of their strength, uniformity of twist, and fine finish. They afterward made great progress in weaving silk goods with power-looms and made printed as well as plain-dyed fabrics. On their father's farm, the brothers established the model manufacturing village of South Manchester, with cottage homes, and a spacious and architecturally elegant hall and theatre where dramatic and other entertainments were given gratis, and religious exercises were held on Sundays. It also had a school, a library and reading room, boarding houses, and pleasure grounds. The brothers had their homes there too, and their relations with their workmen afforded a rare instance of cordiality and affection. From time to time, skilled operatives were brought over from England to settle in South Manchester.