Mannetta Mills Monroe Plant Newsletters (The Manettism), 1927-1938

Benjamin Dawson Heath founded Manetta Mills in Lando, South Carolina in 1896. By 1921, the company was expanding rapidly, and Manetta Mills bought Jackson Mills in Monroe, North Carolina, thereby doubling its production capacity. The Monroe plant was located on the corner of Miller and Heath Streets. The Lando plant remained the company’s headquarters, with Monroe as the finishing plant. Cannon was one of the major brands made at Manetta Mills.

The Manettism, was created and printed by C.W. Walton, who was born on September 22, 1885 in Tignall, Georgia. He moved to Lando, South Carolina in December 1903, and accepted a position as a clerk. From there, Walton moved up in the company, took courses in bookkeeping and accounting, left to complete his education at Erskine College, and returned to Lando to take a position as principal of the company school. Following the acquisition of the Monroe plant, Walton became head and Treasurer of the new building. Married to Emma Wilson in 1916, Walton had seven children. On December 22, 1938, he became ill while at his office in Monroe, and died at home shortly thereafter. He was buried in the Monroe cemetery.

The Manettism was initially touted as published “some times” for the mill workers and their community, and later “usually twice each month.” Each newsletter included a cover drawing or picture, some jokes, and letters or articles by contributors about mill workers and community events. The price of a subscription was “Just Let Us Know You Want It.” Walton began printing it during the summer of 1927, and continued until his death in 1938. Its final January 1939 issue contains an obituary for Walton, and several tributes to him.