George Crompton, the son of William Crompton and Sarah (Low) Crompton, was born on March 23, 1829 at Holcombe, Tottingham, Lancashire, England.
In 1839 William Crompton took the family to Taunton, Massachusetts, where, two years before, he had invented and patented a fancy loom which he now intended to introduce to the mill owners of New England.
George grew up at Taunton and received an education there in private schools and in the mills and machine-shops which his father’s business opened to him.
Later, when the success of his father’s loom was established, he was able to attend Millbury (Massachusetts) Academy.
After the completion of his course he worked in the Colt pistol factory at Hartford and in mills belonging to his father, holding a variety of positions, clerical and mechanical, and obtaining a knowledge of the textile industry that very soon proved useful.
In 1849 William Crompton was forced to retire because of ill health, and in 1851 the patents on his loom expired and automatically terminated the agreements for its manufacture. George Crompton succeeded in having the patents extended and, with M. A. Furbush, began the manufacture of the loom at Worcester, Mass. He immediately began to improve the loom, receiving his first patent, November 14, 1854, for the substitution of a single cylinder chain for two or more different patterns.
In 1859 Furbush retired and Crompton became sole owner of the business which was then known as the Crompton Loom Works.
In 1861 the war caused a depression in the demand for looms, and Crompton for two years manufactured gun-making machinery for government and private arsenals. Returning to the manufacture of looms, he continued his improvements and found a steadily growing demand that forced him to enlarge his works.
This plant in time became one of the largest and best-known of American machine-shops. The success of the business, and the two hundred patents on which his name appears, indicate the importance of George Crompton’s work.
He improved practically every part of the loom as well as its appearance, and invented many new textile fabrics. It is estimated that Crompton added sixty per cent to the producing capacity of the loom and saved fifty per cent of the labor formerly necessary for its operation.
By making a simpler loom he greatly reduced the time and cost of repairs and many of his looms were capable of more varied work than those before them. Crompton’s looms in world-wide competition at the Paris Exposition received the first award, and at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 the Commission pronounced them the best looms for fancy weaving. Crompton was a member of the board of aldermen and of the common council of Worcester and in 1871 was a candidate for mayor.
He was a member of the board of aldermen and of the common council of Worcester; a member of the common council.
He was married on January 9, 1853 to Mary Christina Pratt, who after his death became president of the Crompton Loom Works. Two of his sons also took out a large number of patents, Charles Crompton being one of the inventors of the fancy automatic loom and Randolph Crompton of the first practical shuttlechanging loom.
