Photos from the Wild Residence: Introduction

Introduction

Who was Nathan Wild?

Nathan Wild was born at Manchester, England, in the year 1790. He and his brother James came to this country early in the nineteenth century and were identified with the history of cotton manufacturing for nearly fifty years. His first employment was with the Slaters of Rhode Island, and then with his brother at Columbiaville, in this county. In 1817 he settled at Valatie, forming, with his associates - Benjamin Baldwin and James Wardle - the Kinderhook Manufacturing Company, and began the spinning of cotton yarn and weaving cotton shirting by hand-looms. . . This process was continued till about the year 1825, when the power-loom was introduced.

Nathan Wild-from The History of Columbia County, New York, after a photo by J. R. Allis.

The Wild Mansion, from a 1927 Christmas Card in the VFL collection

The Wild Mansion, from a 1927 Christmas card, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the home. Valatie Library collection.

Mr. Wild started the first power-loom that was run in this State. Under his energetic management the Kinderhook Manufacturing Company became the owners of the mills and water-power on the Valatie creek, where, in 1828, they built a brick factory for sixty looms (a large mill at that time). In 1833 the Kinderhook Manufacturing Company was dissolved, Mr. Wild taking the property on the Valatie creek. In 1845 he visited England, and soon after his return he erected a factory for ten thousand spindles and two hundred looms. He continued in business till 1858.

Mr. Wild was one of the most enterprising men of his time. His prompt and honorable dealing, his public spirit in promoting all improvements for the general welfare, his active sympathy for, and just dealings with, his employees through his long business career, were very prominent traits of his character, and won for him the respect and esteem of all who knew him.

He died in 1867, at the age of seventy-seven years.

Source: History of Columbia County, New York, by Captain Franklin Ellis, 1878.

About these photos.

The photos in this collection are reproductions of a set of “interiors” of the home built by Nathan Wild in 1826. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the house saw visits by many prominent guests, including Martin Van Buren, Amelia Earhardt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The photos were taken in the early years of the twentieth century. Although they do not portray the home at the time when Wild himself was resident, they do offer a glimpse into the lives of a prosperous family - Wild’s descendents - at the turn of the century. The Valatie Library is grateful to Tim Sammon for his generous gift of these photographs, and to Kevin Jacobs, the current owner of the Nathan Wild House, for additional information.