1814-1879

American inventor and industrialist best known for developing the power carpet loom and for his role as a founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Bigelow invented a number of power looms for weaving everything from lace to figured fabrics and carpeting. In 1843 he, with his brother, built a gingham mill around which the town of Clinton, Massachusetts, developed. In 1851 he completed a power loom for the manufacture of Brussels and Wilton carpets. This loom greatly improved carpet manufacture throughout Europe and the United States.