Mill privileges at the Third Falls were leased to an enterprising young newcomer to Dover, Alfred I. Sawyer of Marlborough, Massachusetts. Sawyer had been in town about a year and saw great potential for clothe manufacturing on the Bellamy. He built a new two-story wooden mill on the site of Libbey’s mill, had a new dam constructed there by builder William Drew, and began to dress cloth in the small factory. In 1825, Sawyer added carding machines to the mill and the following year purchased the rights to operate a grist mill on the Second Falls. He began manufacturing flannels with one set of machinery; in 1837 a second set was added.
So by the time of his death in 1849, the cloth dressing carding, and flannel manufacturing businesses established 25 years earlier by Alfred I. Sawyer were thriving, profit-making businesses passed on to Alfred’s three brothers, Zenas, Francis A. of Boston, and Jonathan, who was only 32.
From the 1988 Heritage Walking Tour Booklet