William Gregg

William Gregg (February 2, 1800 – September 12, 1867) was an ardent advocate of industrialization in the antebellum Southern United States and the founder of the Graniteville Mill, the largest textile mill in South Carolina during the antebellum period. Gregg was a revolutionary figure in the textile industry. His practice of having his employees live in company-owned homes became common. Gregg publicized his ideas in his 1845 Essays on Domestic Industry.

He argued that economic domination by the North was best met by Southern industrialization. He gained sufficient support for his own efforts, but was unable to bring about any general change in the agrarian southern economy.