Matthew J. Whittall

Location: Section 24

By World War I, the Whittall Mills on Southbridge Street had 350 looms in operation and employed nearly 1500 skilled laborers. In the 1870s, English-born Matthew J. Whittall worked as a superintendent of the Crompton Carpet Mill founded in 1870 by George Crompton of the Crompton Loom Works and Horace Wyman, later of Wyman-Gordon Company. Eventually reorganized as the Worcester Carpet Company, the business and factory complex was purchased by Whittall between 1901 and 1906. The largest employer in South Worcester, the Whittall Carpet Company remained in business until 1950. Nearby St. Matthew's Episcopal Church was built in the 1890s by Whittall from plans by Worcester architect Stephen Earle. This monument is attributed to Worcester sculptor Andrew O'Connor, Sr.