USA > Delaware > History of the state of Delaware, Volume II > Part 5
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Valentine Hodgson, 1844-1845
L. C. Peterson, 1835-1836
William S. Pine, 1845-1846
William Woodcock, Jr.,
1836-1838 William H. Pierce, 1846-1848
Joseph Henderson, 1838-1841
Edward McIntire, 1848-1851
Joseph Richardson,
1841-1842
William Hemphill Jones,
1851-1852
Edward McIntire,
1842-1843
Edward McIntire, 1852-1872
William Woodcock, Jr.,
1843-1844
Isaac W. Hallam, 1872-
THE IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN.
The Improved Order of Red Men was founded in Baltimore in March, 1847. The order was introduced into Delaware at Wilmington, December 31, 1847, by the institution of Dela- ware Tribe No. 1.
The Great Council of Delaware was instituted December 19, 1856, its charter being granted by the Grand Council of the United States. The report of the Great Council of Delaware for the year 1905 shows the following tribes in existence, the dates of their institution and the present membership :
Name.
Location.
When Organized.
Membership.
Delaware No. 1 .
Wilmington .
. December 31, 1847
74
Keokuk No. 3
Wilmington .
.November 15, 1853
192
Cherokee No. 4
. Wilmington . . . November 10, 1855
161
Lenape No. 6 .
. Wilmington
. March
28,1868
425
Minqua No. 8
Wilmington .
. May
6,1869
245
Wawaset No. 9 .
. Henry Clay . .
. July
19,1871
182
Sakimas No. 10.
Milford
May
12,1872
168
446
HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES AND HUNDREDS.
Name.
Location.
When Organized.
Membership.
Mattahoon No. 11
Wilmington . August
13, 1872
97
Wicomico No. 13 .
Delmar .
June
24, 1874
90
Andastaka No. 14
Newport
September 28, 1874
139
Rossakatum No. 15
Laurel
June
3,1875
238
Sinepuxent No 16
. Whitesville
February 12, 1879
28
Hopockopacking No. 17 . Wilmington .
May
1,1879
104
Manitoo No. 18
. Wilmington
. April
13, 1883
120
Indian Hill No. 19
Bethel .
August 28, 1883
62
Wissahicken No. 20 .
Selbyville .
February
12, 1884
123
Nanticoke No. 21 .
Georgetown
April
22, 1884
119
Tuscarora No. 22 .
Seaford
January
13, 1885
128
Minnehaha No. 23
. Newark
April
8,1885
217
Appoquinimink No. 24. . Odessa
January
15, 1887
65
Askatum No. 25
. Dagsboro
November 25, 1888
28
Oklahoma No. 26
Lewes
June
5, 1889
78
Shawnee No. 27
Clayton
September 23, 1889
37
Chippewa No. 28
Milton
February 21, 1890
75
Pocomoke No. 29
Gumboro
March
7, 1890
66
Ottawa No 30
Williamsville
December 10, 1891
79
Mingo No. 31
. Harrington
December 22, 1891
50
Miona No. 32
Magnolia
November 30, 1893
115
Waneta No. 33 .
Dover
April
12, 1895
59
Cayuga No. 34
Frederica
March
25,1896
38
Joka No. 35
Ellendale
April
13, 1896
76
Assawaman No. 36
. Ocean View
January
29,1897
85
Indian River No. 37
. Renoboth
May
6,1899
31
Beaver Dam No. 38 .
Greenwood
June
28,1899
22
Osage No. 39 .
Wilmington .
. July
12, 1899
427
Woodenhawk No. 40
Bridgeville
December 28, 1900
92
Blackfoot No. 41
Millsboro
. March
15, 1900
57
Hiawatha No. 42
Wilmington .
September 13, 1900
172
Tecumseh No. 43 .
Hickman
March
15, 1901
32
Seneca No. 44
Middletown
June
26,1902
58
Wawa No. 45
. Union
November 2, 1902
126
Little Bear No. 46
. Bear
September 36, 1903
82
Alapocha No. 47
Talleyville
March
12, 1904
79
Pawnee No. 48
. Cool Spring .
. March
22, 1905
24
Total Membership
4965
At the annual session of the Great Council of Delaware held in October, 1906, the following chiefs were elected and in- stalled : Great Sachem, Dr. Francis E. Sansom, Ellendale ; Great Senior Sagamore, E. V. Baker, Selbyville; Great
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447
HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES AND HUNDREDS.
Prophet, Emory B. Riggin, Laurel ; Great Chief of Records, Edward McIntire, Wilmington ; Great Keeper of Wampum, Leonard Heiss, Wilmington.
The following have served as Great Sachems of the Great Council of Delaware Improved Order of Red Men since the organization of the Great Council in 1856:
Daniel W. Carter, Levi H. Springer, Sylvester Rianhard, Joseph Pyle, Samuel L. Rogers, Joshua Maris, Leonard C. Fuller, William McFarlane, William F. Weyl, Andrew Dettling, Edwin Hirst, John Fehrenbach, George W. McCoy, August Hilger, George K. Yates, George C. Maris, James C. Pierson, Frederick Maltritz, Isaac Woodrow, Joseph Mancill, E. M. Sprague, Christian Spoerl, B. R. Heisler, William G. Harrison, William F. Wainwright, Joseph A. Bond, Joshua M. Clayton, Edwin F. Eckel, George E. Temple, Emory B. Riggin, Aaron W. Shaw, William A. Moore, William H. Boyce, James S. Moore, T. H. H. Messinger, B. F. Sheppard, L. C. Vandegrift, William R. McCabe, David C. Rose, Jr., Aubrey Vandever, George G. Byron, William H. Taylor, W. H. Coulbourn, L. A. Zebley, Eli N. White, F. C. Howard, I. J. Brasure, Harry V. Easom, James Hargis, George C. Guthrie, James H. McGlothen, George R. Powell, O. G. Knight, William T. Purks, Robert H. Hanna, W. C. C. Knowles, Edward McIntire, Charles McIntire, Dr. Francis E. Sansom.
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS.
The order of Knights of Pythias was organized in 1864 in Washington, D. C. Its founder was Justus H. Rathbone, a resident of Egg Harbor, Michigan. The order was introduced into Delaware by the organization of Washington Lodge No. 1 in Wilmington on January 13, 1868. At the first meeting held on the above date eighty-one members were initiated, and the lodge has continued one of the strongest and most popular in the order. Eight additional lodges were instituted within a year from the establishment of the first lodge. The order has an attractive ritual, makes provision for sick and funeral benefits, and has won its way among a substantial class in the community. In Delaware it is not as strong as in some other localities, but it has proven itself a strong com- petitor in the field of secret societies.
The Grand Lodge of Delaware was formed in 1869, and the following have served as Grand Chancellors of the Grand Lodge, each having served one year :
448
HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES AND HUNDREDS.
James L. Smith, Robert White, Ralph Rigby, E. E. Seeley, Andrew Carey, John Wright, Henry S. Truitt, Lewis Zebley, James P. Hayes, John P. O' Daniel, Samuel Sheppard, Charles C. King, Frank A. Taylor, Edwin Hirst, John L. Thompson, R. P. Greenleaf, Watson D. Mull, Jerman J. McMullin, Stansbury J. Willey, Edward B. Rice, William H. Brady, William C. Weer, William J. Jefferis, Adam J. Schrack, Mark L. Garrett, Charles P. Maroney, James L. Rice, Samuel Johnson, Jr., Thomas N. Foreman, A. D. Sheldon, William Sim- mons, William H. Cann, Lemuel Marr, J. Knox, P. Morris, N. W. Talley, James B. Tucker, William J. Moreland, Thomas Mullan, Jr., L. E. Wallace, William A. Mullen, S. F. Marshall, William T. Lincoln, Joseph C. Jolls, John H. Scott, Wilmer Hanson, Owen W. Everett, R. Harry Williams, Charles H. Simmons, Edward L. Beeson, Charles H. Lippincott, Samuel H. Carson, L. M. Whiteman, W. W. Knowles.
At the thirty-seventh annual meeting of the Grand Lodge of Delaware held at Clayton, October 19, 1905, eighteen lodges were reported in the State with a membership of 1212, located as follows :
Name.
Location.
When Organized.
Present Membership.
Washington No. 1
. Wilmington . . . January
13, 1868
96
Lafayette No. 2 .
Wilmington
. . February
15, 1868
75
Lincoln No. 3
Wilmington .
. February 11, 1868
37
Clayton No. 4
. Wilmington
. April
2,1868
34
Osceola No. 5
Newark
June
6,1868
117
Champion No. 6
. Wilmington
September
2,1868
57
Adelphia No. 8.
New Castle
October
15,1868
74
Morning Star No. 9
Grubbs
October
20, 1868
62
Central No. 10
Dover
January
27,1869
88
Oriental No. 13 .
Wilmington
October
18, 1871
112
Active No. 14
Felton
December 29, 1871
20
Diamond No. 16
Marshalton
. December
6,1872
107
Red Cross No. 17
Delmar
April
12, 1886
124
Hobah No. 18
Seaford
December
8, 1887
68
Talleyville No. 19 .
Talleyville
March
5,1889
52
Kent No. 22
Clayton
July
18, 1903
39
Calanthe No. 23
Wilmington
October
12, 1905
Total Membership
1212
Damon No. 12
Middletown
January
27,1871
50
There is a uniformed rank connected with the order, and in times past it formed a valuable adjunct to the organization. Of late years it has been less active, but interest is likely to be revived in the near future.
THE TUSSEY HOUSE ON PENNY HILL. AN EARLY METHODIST MEETING PLACE.
449
HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES AND HUNDREDS.
BRANDYWINE HUNDRED.
Brandywine Hundred is the most northerly of the eleven hundreds comprising New Castle county, and derives its name from the river which forms its western boundary. The origin of the river's name is uncertain. Brandywine, or brentwine, is the old English word for brandy, burnt wine, and is the term still used in the Dutch, German and Scandinavian tongues. There does not seem to have been, however, any distillery in the Hundred in the early days, but tradition says that long ago an old Dutch ship laden with brandy and wine was wrecked by the ice on the banks of this stream, and that its name was thence derived. The Pennsylvania Indians called it Suspecough ; those in Delaware, Wawaset; the Swedes, Fishkill ; while the Dutch bestowed the present name, which for some reason or other has survived.
The Hundred forms the most elevated and rocky portion of the State, and is justly famous for its picturesque and beautiful scenery. The census of 1900 returns a population of three thousand nine hundred and ninety-four, a decrease of ninety- five from that of 1890. Valuable deposits of granite and limestone are found, and have been extensively quarried, though the tonnage has been much decreased within the last three years. The term " hundred " is of early English origin, dating from the time of King Alfred the Great, and was first used as the sub-division of a county, in Pennsylvania, of which Delaware was then a part. In 1682 William Penn uses the word " hundred " in a letter to the justices of the peace of Sussex county. Its use was discontinued among the various States after the Revolution, Delaware being the only one to retain the term in its ancient meaning.
Brandywine Hundred was first organized within its present boundaries in 1687, when a list of the taxable residents living north of the Brandywine was made, but it did not until long afterwards receive its present name, its various sections being known by local Dutch and other names, such as “ Vertrecht Hook," "Grubb's Manor Lands," "Rockland Manor," etc.
450
HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES AND HUNDREDS.
The first settlers were Swedes who occupied " Vertrecht Hook," the nearest good farming land on the Delaware above Fort Christina, which they had built for protection in 1638, the year they came upon the river. The settlers were unwill- ing to abide by the terms of the surrender of Fort Christina to the Dutch in 1654, viz., that they should leave their lands and locate in villages, and so in 1654 petitioned the council for permission to remain. But the sheriff, Gregorious Van Dyke, was ordered to gather them in villages at Upland, Passayonch, Kingsessing, or on the " Verdritige Hook," "Troublesome Hook," as it was styled after the combative Swedes who had settled there, though without receiving titles to their lands from Queen Christina. The latter, indeed, never gave a patent to any land in the State.
After the capitulation of the Dutch to the English in Feb- ruary, 1663, these boldings of the Swedes were restored to them by patents from the English Governor, Richard Nicholls. The first grant for Delaware soil thus issued was to one Niels Nielson, Sr., and his four sons " for each of them a plantation with a proportion of meadow ground for hay for their cattle on Trinity Hook," and bore date March 5, 1663. Another early landowner was Jacob Van de Vere, a sergeant at Fort Altona in 1660, who bought the tract opposite the "Rocks" called Cooper's Island from the circumstance that two Dutch- men once made casks and barrels there. He received a war- rant for one hundred and forty-seven acres in 1682, and in 1684 one for a second tract, five hundred and thirty-two acres in all, bounded on one side by Shellpot Creek, and on the other by the Brandywine. The " island " was probably the neck of of land which the railroad bridge now spans. The King's Road passing through the tract at the upper end, the court on May 13, 1675, ordered a " Ferry to be maintained at the Falls on ye West side." Later Jacob Van de Vere built a bridge lower down, which bore his name, and was in use till 1764, when it was replaced by a new one where the Market street bridge now crosses the Brandywine. This Van de Vere tract
451
HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES AND HUNDREDS.
included the village of Brandywine and the east-side settle- ment about the Eleventh street bridge, where an old Van de Vere farmhouse long stood. For one hundred and fifty years the land was in the hands of the Vandevers, when it was divided among many owners.
Peter Alrichs, nephew of Vice-Director Jacob Alrichs, and the holder of many offices under both the Dutch and the English, owned the tract above that of the Vandevers. This Alrichs' land was confiscated by the English, and granted to one William Tom, who sold it to Arnoldus De La Grange ; but in course of time the title lapsed, and in 1748 it was resur- veyed for the De Haes heirs, and is now known as the " Cherry Island Marsh." On May 20, 1688, Governor Penn granted warrants for five tracts of one hundred and sixty-five and one- half acres each to Henry Toosen and five other Swedes in what was then called " Vertrietige Hook," a body of land extending northward along the river front from the mouth of the Chris- tiana for about one and three-quarter miles. These lots ran through to the river's edge and the houses of these early Swedish settlers were commonly built on or near the Dela- ware. The interior being rocky and densely timbered, with- out roads or bridges, and the forests infested often by Indians, settlers would naturally, for purposes of commerce and safety, choose the sometimes less desirable lands near the river. In much the same way the entire river front from the Christi- ana's mouth up to the State line on the north, was peopled in those pioneer days by the thrifty Swedes.
The " Bout " or " Boght," a tract above Vertrietige Hook, running for two miles along the river front, was granted to Swedish settlers, three hundred acres in 1673 to Olle Fransen, Peter Mounsen and Neil Neilson, the last named building a mill on Stony creek, now called Quarryville creek. In 1675 Governor Andros patented the same land and four hundred acres more to Marcus Lawrensen. This mill was sold in 1688 to Peter Boynton, a New Castle merchant who came to be an ex- tensive owner of lands in the " Bout " tract, and five years
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HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES AND HUNDREDS.
later he conveyed a part of the land to two New England farmers by name of Ebenezer and Joseph Perkins, the latter also acquiring " Bout " lands next to those of Thomas Nixon, his descendants still occupying a portion of the same lands.
In 1683 Morgan Druitt bought five hundred and thirty-two acres in the "Bout" tract styled in the survey, "Newport," which land in 1737 came into the possession of the four sons of Reuben Ford, one of whom, Benjamin Ford, moved inland, and his descendants afterward took an active part in the early history of the Hundred. Johannes De Haes received a patent for " Bout " land in 1677, some of which formed later a part of the Rockland Manor, and one hundred and fifty-one acres thereof on which Grubb's Landing now stands, were assigned to John and Emanuel Grubb, and was until a few years ago held by that family. Several patents issued in 1688 to Hans Peterson, (a member of the Crane Hook church, and one of the founders of " Old Swedes") for one hundred and fifty- seven and a-half acres on Shellpot creek, and later other lands, both on the creek and on Chestnut Hill, were assigned to him.
In 1682 William Penn formed one of his many manors, out of all the lands in Brandywine Hundred, save those above- named, and a few others, and in 1683 granted two hundred acres on the south side of Shellpot creek to Henry Hollings- worth, adjoining another portion already granted to Thomas Hollingsworth. In June, 1699, the Penn Land Company of London bought of Penn sixty thousand acres of land, four thousand one hundred and twenty acres of which were in New Castle county, and two thousand in Rockland Manor in Brandywine Hundred, all of which were sold by 1765. Reuben and William Ford, early in the eighteenth century, bought lands on the Circle in Pennsylvania and Delaware, and in 1759 Reuben Ford and Samuel Reynolds of Pennsyl- vania, built a grist and saw mill and other buildings on the west branch of Naaman's creek, which they sold to Thomas
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HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES AND HUNDREDS.
Cummins of Nottingham, Pennsylvania. Thomas Strode bought one hundred and ten acres in 1772 on the Brandywine and county line, and Emanuel Grubb then acquired one hundred acres in the interior of the Hundred.
In May, 1760, Samuel Mcclintock, Samuel Stewart, Wil- liam Watson, John Bird, William, Samuel and David Talley, and some fourteen others, purchased two thousand six hun- dred and ninety-two acres, chiefly in small tracts ; and many of their descendants are now living on the soil thus acquired by their ancestors nearly a century and a half ago. Prior to these purchases Isaac Warner in 1695 conveyed two hundred acres on Naaman's creek to William Talley, and in 1697 Peter Lester conveyed one hundred acres on the Brandywine to John Ford. The Talleys were large landowners, while Isaac Grubb possessed at one time one thousand acres. His grand- father John Grubb died in 1757 ; the family first lived on the Delaware below the Landing, and Emanuel Grubb, one of the first English settlers, was born there. The Buckleys were also among the early comers and owners of much land, and related by intermarriages to the Grubb family. A Daniel Buckley built a brick house on his land late in the seventeenth cen- tury, and it was in good condition in 1847 when it was rebuilt by William C. Lodge. The Lodge family settled on the Druitt land, and William C. Lodge, a son of George Lodge, who died in 1880, at the age of eighty-three years, occupied part of the land for many years. Five generations of this family have for many years lived contemporaneously in Brandywine Hundred.
The Forwoods, another early family, are descended from William Forwood, an Irishman who came to America in the first quarter of the eighteenth century. His son William, who was born in 1723 and who died in 1814, was the founder of the Forwoods in the three States of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. The old homestead on the Marsh road is still held by the family. Another buyer of Rockland Manor lands was Francis Day in 1760, and his improvements on the Con-
454
HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES AND HUNDREDS.
cord pike have remained in the family for seven generations. November 27, 1787, there were returned to William Cassel, persons and estates, three hundred and thirty taxables in the Hundred, and at the district election held in George Miller's house, October 6, 1812, there were two hundred and sixty-five voters.
The Elliott family has been for generations one of the most prominent families in Brandywine Hundred. The family springs from English and Swedish stock, and members of the same took a conspicuous part both in the Revolution and in the War of 1812. The Elliotts have always been loyal ad- herents of the Episcopal Church, and some of the family were active in the building of the Old Swedes Church.
The grandfather of the present generation was Cloud Elliott, who was born on the farm still owned by the family, on the Concord pike, part of the same being now within the limits of the City of Wilmington. Cloud Elliott married a daughter of Dr. Stidham, one of the earliest Delaware physicians, and the union was blessed by a family of six children. He died in 1824. Two sons survived him, Isaac S. Elliott, who inherited from his father part of the original homestead, and for many years was recognized as a leading citizen of Brandywine Hun- dred. He was a man of the strictest integrity, and an ardent churchman. His son Isaac C. Elliott has until the last two years occupied his father's homestead. The latter served a term as Levy Court Commissioner from Brandywine Hundred, and made an enviable record in that body.
The youngest son of Cloud Elliott was John Cloud Elliott, born in the old homestead in 1822. He was educated in the schools of Brandywine Hundred, and also at the Hilles School in Wilmington. He acquired much farming land, and al- ways showed the liveliest interest in the cultivation of the soil. About ten years prior to his death he moved to Wil- mington, and made that his residence the remainder of his life. Mr. Elliott was a man of kindly temperament, modest and unassuming, and ever willing to assist those in need. In
J. CLOUD ELLIOTT. 1821-1897.
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HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES AND HUNDREDS.
politics he was a Republican, but never held public office. For many years he was a vestryman of St. John's Church, and also served as senior warden. He died in Wilmington, February 8, 1897. His children were Mary, wife of C. Regi- nald Van Trump; George A. Elliott, member of the New Castle Bar; Emily, wife of Jesse G. Simmons, and John C. Elliott, a farmer near Centreville.
An Indian trail along the Delaware from New Castle to Tinicum, originally used as a bridle-path, became the first road, though much less used than were canoe and sloop on creek and river. The second road was a mile or more inland on the higher ground, known as the King's road, following the course of the Wilmington and Philadelphia turnpike. The Christiana Creek Ferry road, on the Vandever tract, was established in 1680, while the roads in the western part of the Hundred were located at later times, the Concord pike taking the course of the principal road from Wilmington to Chester county, and the Faulk road bearing off northward into Dela- ware county. Naaman's creek road, the Grubb Landing road, and the one from Shellpot creek to the Concord pike, were located very early, the first two possibly before 1700. The bridge over Naaman's creek on the old road above described, running from Fort Casimir, or New Castle, to Tinicum, was built prior to 1680, and after being repaired and rebuilt several times, was replaced in 1802 by a stone arch spanning the creek at the very spot where the old Indian trail passed. It is still in good condition, and was until 1832 a toll bridge.
Two railroads, the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washing- ton, and the Baltimore and Ohio, pass through the Hundred parallel with the river and about a mile apart. Both the Brandywine and Shellpot creeks furnish power throughout their courses for many valuable mill seats, and these were very early utilized by the enterprising Swedish and Dutch settlers for manufacturing purposes, thus laying in some instances the foundations for industries which have added to the population and become in these later days, sources of
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HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES AND HUNDREDS.
great wealth to the Hundred and State. It is a pleasing task to trace these humble beginnings of more than two hundred years ago of what today are colossal enterprises.
One of the earliest of these attempts was made in 1658 by Joost Andriessen and others, petitioning the " Noble Honor- able Court of New Netherlands " to approve their plans to erect a saw and grist mill below Turtle Falls, now Shellpot creek. This mill as a fact seems not to have been built till four or five years later. In October, 1669, Governor Lovelace granted to Andreas Andriessen and nineteen others, a patent to erect a mill " on a creek called Andries ye Fynne's creek on Delaware river." So in 1675 Governor Andros recom- mended that the three several Courts of Delaware bay and river examine and repair all mills, and their banks, and build others at places suitable for mill sites, and to pass laws regu- lating tolls, and otherwise to encourage the like public-spirited works.
As the country became more thickly peopled other mills were built, e. g., in 1679 Olle Olleson petitioned for permission to build a water mill in "ye run of Shellfalls creek above the two lower mills ; " and in 1679 Charles Peterson, and in 1682 Jacob Van de Vere, received like permission to build mills. Some of these ancient mill seats have been abandoned and can scarcely be located at this late day.
The close relation which the entire Hundred sustains to the City of Philadelphia on the north and the City of Wilmington on the yet nearer south, forbids the growth of any city or large town within its boundaries. Talleyville, a small village on the Concord pike near the Pennsylvania line, is called after a family of that name who settled there in the early colonial times. The old "Spread Eagle Hotel " was once a noted inn in the village; while the "Blue Ball Inn," whose establish- ment was sometime in the eighteenth century, is now dis- continued.
The water-power formerly furnished by the Beaver run gave the locality of the Beaver Valley near the Pennsylvania
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HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES AND HUNDREDS. .
line great importance seventy-five years ago; but most of those manufacturing interests have disappeared, among others a woollen mill, Stephen Broadbent's Turkish carpets, a clover mill, and a plow factory by William Morrison and Company. So, too, the flour mills of Joseph Brinton and Isaac Smith, well known in the early nineteenth century, are gone. The furious freshets to which this precipitous little stream is sub- ject, repeatedly caused the demolition of many mills on its banks. The extensive iron works of the Sellers built up, near the City of Wilmington, the industrial village of Edgemoor, yet in operation.
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