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The Southern Cotton Gin Company of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, manufactured this wood and cast metal cotton gin. Joseph Piazzek, a Polish immigrant living in Valley Falls, Kansas, purchased it for $60. Although not a significant crop in Kansas, cotton was grown more frequently during the Civil War when southern cotton was scarce. Piazzek processed bolls from as far away as Fort Scott in southeastern Kansas, typically accepting one-fifth of the finished product as his fee.
Creator: Southern Cotton Gin Company
Date: between 1860 and 1865
Item Number: 223437
Call Number: 1915.48.0
KSHS Identifier: 1915.48.0
Agriculture - Crops - Cotton
Business and Industry - Agricultural Industries - Machinery and implements
Business and Industry - Agricultural Industries - Processing
Collections - Museum
Date - 1861-1869
Objects and Artifacts - Tools & Equipment for Materials - Textileworking - Gin, Cotton
Places - Cities and towns - Valley Falls
Places - Counties - Jefferson
Thematic Time Period - Civil War, 1861 - 1865
Type of Material - Objects and Artifacts
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/223437