Paul Whitin

Col. Paul Whitin, (1767–1831) was a skilled blacksmith and pioneering industrialist who in 1831 in Northbridge, Massachusetts. established the Whitin Machine Works, which would later become the largest maker of specialty textile machinery in the world.

He was born in 1767 in the South Northbridge section of Uxbridge, Massachusetts in Worcester County (which became the separate town of Northbridge in 1772). He began his career as an apprentice in Colonel James Fletcher's forge in South Northbridge. In 1793, he married Fletcher's daughter, Elizabeth (Betsey) Fletcher and they would have six children, including five sons.

Paul Whitin and four of his sons would become very influential in the development of the textile industry in the Northbridge, Massachusetts area during the 19th Century, establishing or acquiring several mills throughout the Blackstone Valley area, including ones at Uxbridge, Linwood, Riverdale and Rockdale. It was the Whitin Machine Works however, which would have the greatest impact on the area and the textile industry.

In 1835, the village of South Northbridge became known as Whitinsville in his honor.