Paul Moody

Paul Moody (May 23, 1779 – July 5, 1831) was a U.S. textile machinery inventor born in Byfield, Massachusetts (Town of Newbury). He is often credited with developing and perfecting the first power loom in America, which launched the first successful integrated cotton mill at Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1814, under the leadership of Francis Cabot Lowell and his associates.

Early life Paul Moody was born May 24, 1779, at Byfield, Massachusetts, the son of Paul Moody and one of nine children.

Although Moody's academic education was limited, at age sixteen he learned the weaver's craft,

On July 13, 1800 (one source says September 1798 The couple went on to have three sons.

Soon after his marriage, he partnered with Ezra Worthen, Thomas Boardman and Samuel Wigglesworth to form the Amesbury Wool and Cotton Manufacturing Company. It was incorporated on February 16, 1813. He improved upon the double speeder, a device for roping cotton and got the patent on April 3, 1819.

In 1824 Moody developed a system of leather belting and pulleys to power machinery, which was almost exclusively used in American mills from then on. The new mode of power transmission was more economical and required less maintenance than the shaft-and-gear system used in the British mills. See: Line shaft

From 1823 to 1825 Moody was the chief engineer for the Locks and Canals Company. During that time he lived in the house now known as the Moody-Whister-Francis House (currently housing the Whistler House Museum of Art). He was later honored by having streets in Waltham and Lowell, Massachusetts, named after him, although sections of the one in Lowell were later renamed University Avenue and Textile Avenue, as it continues into neighboring Dracut, Massachusetts.