<Tr> <Th> Spouse (s) </Th> <Td> Hannah Wilkinson Slater (1791--her death, 1812); Esther Parkinson (1817--his death) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Signature </Th> </Tr> <P> Samuel Slater (June 9, 1768--April 21, 1835) was an early English - American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" (a phrase coined by Andrew Jackson) and the "Father of the American Factory System". In the UK, he was called "Slater the Traitor" because he brought British textile technology to America, modifying it for United States use . He memorized the designs of textile factory machinery as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British industry before migrating to the United States at the age of 21 . He designed the first textile mills in the US and later went into business for himself, developing a family business with his sons . A wealthy man, he eventually owned thirteen spinning mills and had developed tenant farms and company towns around his textile mills, such as Slatersville, Rhode Island . </P> <P> Samuel Slater was born in Belper, Derbyshire, England, on June 9, 1768, the fifth son of a farming family of eight children . He received a basic education at a school run by a Mrs. Martinez Jr . At age ten, he began work at the cotton mill opened that year by Jedediah Strutt using the water frame pioneered by Richard Arkwright at nearby Cromford Mill . In 1782, his father died and his family indentured Samuel as an apprentice to Strutt . Slater was well trained by Strutt and, by age 21, he had gained a thorough knowledge of the organisation and practice of cotton spinning . </P>

Who built the first textile mill in america