Amos Lockwood, founder of the firm Lockwood Greene, was an astute businessman who began a new career and a new business at age 60. Taking advantage of the emerging textile industry, Lockwood built his career at a time when the textile industry was booming in the South and engineers of the industry were becoming a recognized profession.

Lockwood came from a sturdy New England family. His father was a sea captain turned civil engineer. His brother, Moses was a surveyor and civil engineer. Amos became involved in the textile industry at the early age of 16 when was employed by the store of Peck and Wilkinson. Two years later he entered the factory of his employer working as an operative and learning the tricks of the industry. At age 21 he became an assistant factory superintendent in Slatersville, Rhode Island. Working there for the firm of Almy, Brown & Slater, Amos learned from the historic firm which had employed Samuel Slater to design the first successful cotton machinery in America in the 1790s.

By the age of 24 he had been appointed as resident agent of one of the country's leading mills. As a talented young man who showed great business skills at an early age, Lockwood quickly advanced by forming A.D. Lockwood and Company to lease the Slater Mills. The company consisted of himself, his brother-in-law Rhodes B. Chapman, and his brother Moses Lockwood. A.D. Lockwood & Company accepted numerous projects in New England to build, remodel, or enlarge mills with modernized equipment. Lockwood developed an interest in mill engineering and became known as the "mill doctor." Lockwood served as agent of the Franklin Company and the Androscoggin Mills. In the 1860 he designed, built and equipped the Androscoggin Mills. During the Civil War, the mills with which he was associated continued to produce while others stood idle.

Lockwood's work at Androscoggin began a chain reaction of lucrative jobs. Beginning with the Francis Skinner mills, next Pepperell, he became consulting engineer to the biggest and best. Finally, in Lewiston he replaced the famed David Whitman who had died. Lockwood was sent to Europe to see the developments there and if they would be lucrative for America. From this trip and his advice such inventions as the slasher, the English fly frames, and the light weight spindle were brought to the American scene.

It was initiative and organization skills of Lockwood that resulted in the forming of a new company to buy the Saco Water Power Company in 1866. Along with 5 other men Lockwood organized the company and was still president of the Saco Water Power Machine Shop in 1884 at the time of his death.

His great success and the high demand on his time and services resulted in Lockwood at the age of 60 relocating to Boston to open a consulting firm known as A.D. Lockwood & Co. cotton mill engineers. At the time of this relocation he was 60 years old and could boast a career that included positions from engineer to designer of the most impressive and powerful mills in America. In 1882 at the age of 71 Lockwood hand picked the young, affable, and dependable draftsman in his firm, Stephen Greene to become his business partner in the new firm Lockwood, Greene 7 Co. His son-in-law Danielson remained a partner. Instead of building and consulting the firm furnished supervision of construction and installation and assisted in owners in bidding contracts for construction.

After his death in 1884, his son-in-law John W. Danielson continued many of the responsibilities. In 1889 he sold to Stephen Greene his interest in Lockwood, Greene & Co.