USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume I > Part 44
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1135
Haverford township,
3989
Upland borough,
2221
Lansdowne borough,
4066
Upper Chichester township,
671
Lower Chichester township,
1250
Upper Darby township,
5385
Marcus Hook borough,
1573
Upper Providence township,
961
Marple township,
895
Yeadon borough, .
882
Media borough,
3562
making a total of 117,906, of whom 105,949 are white, and 35,877 are voters.
AGRICULTURE-MANUFACTURING-TRANSPORTATION.
It is a far cry from the day of the hand sickle to that of the modern reaper and binder, but when it is recalled that in that time we have pro- gressed from a walking communication with neighbors and distant friends to the telephone, from the horse to the automobile, from the sail-boat to the ocean-liner, from the stage-coach to the railroad train, in short, from semi-sav- age to civilized people, progress in agricultural work has kept pace with our onward march to the perfection of a Christian civilization. It would have been impossible for the farmers of our country to continue in their old meth- ods for the reason that, with our rapidly increasing population, the amount of food products procured from the soil would have been entirely inadequate to our needs. Consequently, it is small wonder that farmers have developed new methods of farming, new implements, new rules of crop rotation, new means of reviving and fertilizing seemingly useless ground-in short, have revolutionized the means by which we live.
In the early days in Delaware county, it was no unusual thing for farmers, after raising crops upon their land year after year, to find it so exhausted and lacking in nutriment, that they would sell it for almost any price that they might emigrate and settle in the "milk and honey" of Lancaster county, not realizing that there they would enact once more the tragedy they had been rehearsing in their native place. Of course, the causes of this were many and varied, but one of the basic reasons was the inefficacy of the primitive plow, which closely resembled those used by the ancient Egyptians, likenesses there- of being preserved on their sarcophagi. It was built entirely of wood, the mould board being a heavy block, a defective and clumsy implement. Eng- lish historians claim that James Small, of Berwickshire, Scotland, who built a plow with a cast-iron mould-board and a wrought-iron share, was the first to introduce metal on plows, but Watson, in his "Annals of Philadelphia," states that previous to 1785, when Small's innovation made its appearance, "William Ashmead, of Germantown, made for himself a plow with a wrought- iron mould instead of the customary board. This great improvement was much admired by General Lafayette, who purchased four of these plows for his estate,-LaGrange. The improvement was soon adopted by another per- son, who made the mould-board of cast-iron."
The harrow was used very early, for in 1698, Gabriel Thomas says, "Their ground is harrowed with wooden tyned harrows, twice over in a place is sufficient." The first thrashing in the county was done with the heavy flail, although later the system of horse thrashing about a large circular floor was inaugurated. John Clayton, of Delaware county, in 1770 received the exclu- sive right of manufacture and sale for a thrashing machine he had invented. The next machine of this nature was that made by Andrew Meikler, of Scot- land, seventeen years later. The date of the inception of the fan for the winnowing of cereals is uncertain, but a primitive form thereof was in use in Delaware county, prior to the Revolution.
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DELAWARE COUNTY
It is interesting to note the difference between the farms and farmers of the old and present day. Then there was nothing but general farming con- ducted, each farmer maintaining a truck garden, the products for home con- sumption ; a field of corn, wheat, and oats : a few chickens ; a pig or two ; per- haps two or three cows; and for fruit trees, several apple or pear trees in the "yard," or space about the farmhouse ; while now, throughout the county, are found wide stretching orchards, the farmer devoting all his time and skill to the raising of fruit ; broad fields of tossing grain, the only product of an- other farm ; green pastures filled with herds of sleek and well fed cattle, the property of a dairy farmer whose milk, certified by the county authorities, is purchased in the neighboring city, and, finally, long stretches of glass covered green and hot-houses, where floriculture is followed.
The transportation of domestic animals was begun in the Delaware river settlement long before Penn's arrival, there being several in the colony at New Sweden. Among many references in early annals, the journal of Sluy- ter and Danckers, written in 1679, mentions them as used for riding ; and Penn, when he arrived in 1682, had with him "three blooded mares, a fine white horse, not full blooded," and other inferior animals, not for breeding, but for labor, and on his return in 1699, brought with him "Tamerlane," a colt by "Godolphi Barb," the ancestor of the best pedigreed English stock. Many ef- forts were made to increase the number of the animals in Penn's colony, as well as to improve the stock. In 1683, the Assembly had forbidden the expor- tation of horses or mares under a fine of fio, and laws of the same year pro- vided no stallion under thirteen and a half hands high should be permitted to roam at large in the woods. Mention is made by Rev. Israel Acrelius, in 1758, of the fleet horses owned by the descendants of the Swedish settlers on the Delaware, the favorite gait being the pace. Probably one of the most in- teresting stories connected with horses, in Delaware county, is the one of the two dappled-gray Arabian stallions, presented by the Sultan of Turkey to Gen. Grant, which were on exhibition in Chester in June, 1879. The beauti- ful beasts' pedigree could be traced for more than a thousand years, their high, arched neck, flashing eyes, firm muscles, and restless feet, bearing silent yct eloquent testimony to their noble blood.
It was the custom in the early days to let cattle roam wild in the woods, the abundance of food procurable making them fatter than would otherwise be the case. Captain Heinricks, of the British army, stated in 1778, that "per- haps the reason why the domestic animals are not half so good as ours, is be- cause they are left out winter and summer in the open air." The ordinary method of procuring cattle for the market was for the butcher to go out in the woods with an owner, pick out as many of that man's cattle as were desired. by their brand, and drive them off. Under the Duke of York it was necessary to brand all cattle on the horns, but when Penn came into rule, he compelled all cattle to be branded when six months old, a time later extended to eighteen months, or be common property as strays. The record kept of the brand was similar to this, found in a record of a court, held in Chester, 5th mo. 1, 1684:
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DELAWARE COUNTY
"George Maris's cattle mark. A slit on the tip of the near ear, his brand mark G. M." The increase of cattle was neither so rapid nor so satisfactory as that of horses, for an act of Ist mo. 1683, forbids the killing of a cow, calf or ewe-lamb for three years, under a £5 fine, one-half to go to the informer. The price of cows rose from $18 previous to 1835, to $65 in 1862, with fluctuations in the years between, and since the latter year the price has always held high.
Sheep were brought into the province at a very early date, and thrived re- markably well, the absence of the various skin diseases to which they were subject in England being conspicuous. The same Captain Heinricks, men- tioned previously, records that they were of excellent quality, but condoned the fact that the wool was practically all lost by their roaming wild, mentioning also that their hides were sold for eight shillings a piece, York money.
The part played by swine was by no means unimportant, for the salted flesh of these animals was a large item on the daily menu of the families of the region. The hogs were turned loose in the woods, and because of the abundance of berries and other fruit did not develop into the "razor back" variety, but became plump and fat, attaining an enormous size. It was no uncommon thing for a one year old swine to weigh two hundred pounds. The grade of swine raised in the colony was quite as good as the finest Holstein, and hogs came to be such desirable property that their theft was common. compelling stringent laws for their protection. Penn, by act of March 10, 1683, ruled that a person convicted of that offense was compelled to pay three times the value of the hog stolen; for the second, a like fine, and six months imprisonment : for the third. twenty-nine lashes, and banishment from the colony, with such punishment as the direction of the county court saw fit if return were attempted. The running at large of swine became objectionable when improvement of meadow land in Chester began, and the Assembly in 1690 forbade unringed and unyoked swine from being at large in that town, all animals being so found reverting to the county of Chester by forfeit, while all damage done by goats or hogs of persons living without the prescribed limits was to be made good by the owner of the animals. The limits of Chester were the Delaware river on the south ; Chester creek, west ; Kings road, north ; and Ridley Creek, east. An act in 1705 ordered that no swine, unringed and un- yoked, should be allowed at large within fourteen miles of the navigable parts of the Delaware river, or in the town of Philadelphia, Chester or Bristol, any fine imposed being divided between the informer and the Government. As for the ordinary domestic fowls-chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys, and the like, were abundant, thriving well and increasing rapidly in the new climate.
From the advance report of the thirteenth census, compiled in 1910, for the year 1909, it is found that the entire area of Delaware county, is 118.400 acres, of which 69.7 per cent., or 82,575 acres is used for agricultural purposes. This is divided into 1429, the value of which is $13,281,990, and adding to this the value of the buildings and other farm appurtenances thereon, the total is $22,531,381. Of all the farms in the county, 827 are operated by their owners : 507 are rented; and the other ninety-five under managerial supervision. All
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DELAWARE COUNTY
these farms are well stocked with domestic animals, the aggregate value of which is $1.346,421.
The dairy and nursery interests of the county are large, many farms be- ing devoted exclusively to these lines. Flowers are also extensively grown for the city markets in both greenhouses and in the open. The value of dairy products for the county was in 1909, $914,221, a sum realized from 10.515 cows. In the slaughter houses of the county, sheep, hogs and cows were dressed, valued at $118,120. The value of the crops of all kinds raised in the county in 1909, was $1,842,914.
MANUFACTURING
Although now the territory included within the borders of Delaware county, is divided into countless well tilled fields and its many hills covered with grazing cattle of every kind, when first settlement was made, such was not the case. Forests covered the land, watered by swift running creeks and brooks, the only tillable areas being the low lands along some of these streams. Hence manufacturing began, even before the harvesting of the grain, planted by the water courses. The water of the streams was used as power to turn the wheels that drove the saws, that converted the logs into manufactured lumber to be used in the erection of homes, barns and other mills. Stones were set in these mills where the ripened grain was converted into flour and meal. Every available mill site was seized upon as fast as the forest gave way to the fields, and soon not only grist and saw mills were humming, but rude oil mills sprang up ; cotton mills were turning out coarse cloths, followed by woolen mills, paper mills and various plants for manufacturing clay into household vessels, bricks, etc. Quarries were opened, shipbuilding began in yards along the Delaware, then iron furnaces were built followed by larger and larger plants until now great mills are devoted to the manufacture of iron and steel according to the most modern discovery. The old-time method of spinning and weaving was carried on at every farm house until the great mills drove the spindle and distaff to the garret, and homespun became a lost word. To carry the history of manufacturing in Delaware county through all its detail would require many volumes, and space can only be given to the more important in- dustries of the past and present. The old-time dams and mills have largely disappeared, these being replaced in many instances by reservoirs from which great pumps force the water through miles of mains to near and distant homes. At others, electricity is generated, that lights these homes, furnishes power to drive the transportation systems of the county and the wheels of many factories. Rated as an agricultural county, yet in the value of its indus- trial plants and of its manufactured products, Delaware county ranks high. While Chester and suburbs is the central point of manufacture, there is no township in the county without manufacturing of some kind, and in many of the townships very important industries are located. The old-time milling of grain in all forms is yet an important one in the county, as is the manufacture of clay products into household utensils, tile and brick for varied purposes.
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DELAWARE COUNTY
Lumber manufacturing is also carried on extensively in saw and planing mills, while at Delaware river points, shipyards yet exist, although the boats now built at these yards are of the smaller variety of pleasure boats, fishing craft, tugs and lighters. The great yards at Chester, where leviathans of the deep were formerly constructed, and where was built the first iron steamship in this country, no longer exist in their former glory, but are given over largely to other purposes. The cotton and woolen mills, ever a feature of Delaware county manufacturing, have, however, grown and expanded until corporations have succeeded firms in ownership, and great factories have succeeded the modest plants of the founders. Immense steel works have also added greatly to the manufacturing glory of the county and contribute an important item in the value of manufactured products. Oil refining is also extensively carried on ; in fact, the inventions and advancement of the latter quarter of the nine- teenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries are well represented in the factories and mills of Delaware county. Of the early manufacturing plants, and those of a later period, prior to the present century, many have, of course, served their day and disappeared, some forever, others to be revised and de- voted to the manufacture of the very articles that drove the original mill out of existence. New conditions and new inventions brought others into exist- ence, each census report showing an advance in value of the mill property of the county and of manufactured products. Perhaps the latest great addition to Delaware county industrial development, is the establishment at Eddystone of an immense department of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, of which a fuller account will follow. Another industry dating from an early day, was the tanning of leather, tanneries existing in nearly every section of the county, after settlement had been permanently made.
Aston Township Mills .- The first mill in Pennsylvania was built in 1643 or 1644, on Cobb's creek, immediately above the bridge, near the Blue Bell Tav- ern, in what was later Chester county. The first mill built within the present limits of Delaware county was erected in 1683, on Chester creek, a little above the site of the present village of Upland. This was the foundation of the later famous Chester Mills. Richard Townsend, who came over with William Penn, in a letter written in 1727, says: "After some time I set up a mill on Chester creek, which I brought ready framed from London, which served for grinding corn and sawing of boards and was of great use to us." Richard Townsend, however, was only one of ten partners interested in this mill.
In Aston township, prior to the Revolution, Robert Hall and Abraham Sharpless owned and operated a grist mill on the west branch of Chester creek. Traces of the old race which fed this mill, and remains of the ancient dam, are yet discernible. In 1798 this property was sold to Thomas Jones, who operated it unsuccessfully until 1800, when he was sold out by the then sheriff, John Odenheimer. Captain Richards, the purchaser, added an oil mill and operated the plant for half a century until his death in 1858, although the flood of 1843 did him much damage. In 1864, John B. and Samuel Rhodes pur- chased the property and changed the old mill into a cotton and woolen factory,
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DELAWARE COUNTY
which in 1868 they greatly enlarged, and again in 1872. This plant, known as the Llewellyn Mills, caused the establishment of the village of Llewellyn (also Llanwellyn), which was made a post office in 1880. The Rhodes Brothers also operated the Knowlton mills and the West Branch mills, manufacturing doc- skins, jeans and dress goods.
The old forge at Rockdale, Aston township, is of record as early as 1785, but was in existence in 1750. These iron works were sold in 1802 by Dell Pennell,-who had owned and doubtless operated them since 1780,-to George Chandler, who in 1808 sold to Thomas Odiborne, a merchant of Malden, Massachusetts, who in 1809 erected a nail mill. The property changed to dif- rerent members of the Odiborne family, and in 1830 the old Sable Mills, under the management of Captain Henry Moore, consisted of a nail slitting and rolling mill, grist and saw mills. The iron ore and coal used at these mills was hauled from Chester and Marcus Hook, to which ports they had been brought in flatboats. Captain Moore, prior to 1826, built on the site of the old forge a four-story cotton mill. In 1833 he failed and the mills lay idle for about a year, then were rented, and in 1845 sold to Barnard McCready, who was an exhibitor at the National Fair at Washington in 1846, receiving special men- tion for cotton prints made at his mill. He erected a spinning mill adjoining the old factory ( later converted into dwelling houses), and continued in busi- ness until his death, when the business passed to other hands. The cotton mill, which stood on the site of the old forge, was totally destroyed by fire May 20, 1873, being then operated by Whitaker & Lewis in the manufacture of cotton yarn. The old forge dam stood just above the bridge at Glen Riddle and was removed by Samuel Riddle in 1875.
The Lenni Mills, dating from 1798, were built by a paper manufacturer of Upper Providence, John Lungren, on Chester creek, in Aston, in which town- ship it was assessed in 1799. A new dam was built in 1815 and the mill was operated by Lungren until his death in 1816. His sons rented the plant for several years and sold it to Peter Hill in 1825. He built a three-story cotton mill which he conveyed the same year to his nephews, William Martin and Joseph W. Smith, who gave it the name Lenni Mills. . At this time the paper mill (two vats) was operated by John R. Duckett, who manufactured weekly sixty reams of quarto post paper and thirty-three reams of printing paper. There were changes in ownership, new mills erected, old ones destroyed by fire, until 1877. when the mills were rented to Gen. Robert Patterson, and the stone mansion erected by John Lungren, the first owner, was occupied as a residence by Robert L. Martin, Gen. Patterson's agent. In 1882 the mills were closed.
The land on which the Crozerville mills stand was part of a tract of ten acres on Chester creek, on which its owner, John Bottomley, erected a woolen mill in 1811, later admitting his brothers, Isaac and Thomas. This factory made money for its owners during the war of 1812-1814, and was one of the noted plants of its day. But financial troubles came, and in 1826 the property was sold to John B. Duckett, who built a paper mill 30 by 86 feet, three stories
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DELAWARE COUNTY
high, operated by power from the West Branch. In 1837 he failed and the property was transferred to the Bank of Delaware County, the estate then consisting of the mill, mansion house, nine tenements and a store building. In 1838 the bank sold the property to John P. Crozer, who in 1839 erected the stone mill, which he operated until his death in 1866, when it passed to sons and sons-in-law. The Crozerville mills is one of the important plants of the township, cotton yarns being the exclusive product.
Between 1790 and 1795, Aaron Matson built a stone mill on the west branch of Chester creek, which he operated as a paper mill until 1824, when he became involved and was sold out by the sheriff. The property was bought by John P. Crozer, who changed it to a cotton mill and in 1826 had 1338 spin- dles working, spinning 1100 pounds of cotton yarn weekly. In the flood of 1843 the property was damaged and goods lost to the value of several thou- sands of dollars. The west branch mill remained in the Crozer family until 1882, when it was sold to John B. Rhodes, as stated in the mention of Llewellyn mills. These mills, under both ownerships, have been known as the West Branch Cotton Mills.
The Gladstone Mills, located at Bridgewater, in Aston, were originally built in 1845 by Isaac Morgan, who erected a four-story stone cotton mill to which he gave the name "Pennellton," in honor of his wife, Hannah Pennell. Edward Leigh was the first occupant of Pennellton mills, and carried on cotton, spinning and weaving from 1846 until 1850, when he, was succeeded by Charles and Joseph Kenworthy from 1851 to 1855. Later Patrick Kelly suc- ceeded, who popularized the "Powhattan" line of goods and became wealthy etiring in 1863. He sold his entire interest in the business and plant to Hugh Shaw and David Reese Esrey, who operated the Pennellton mills until 1886. when having built Powhattan No. I, in North Chester, the old factory on Ches- ter creek was bought by Joseph Wilcox & Company, who changed it to a pa- per mill and gave it its present name, Bridgewater. In January, 1872, Samuel Haigh & Company, of Philadelphia, purchased the estate, reconverted it into a woolen mill, enlarging by an addition to the western end, and now known as the Gladstone mills. Thatcher's tilt mill was located on Chester creek, above Grubb's bridge, prior to 1811. Joseph Thatcher operated the mill until 1812, when Enos Thatcher was the owner, but in 1815 the firm was Thomas & Enos Thatcher. In 1826 it is recorded that the "tilt and blade mill" owned by Thomas Thatcher had not been "much used in times past." At his death in 1840, the property consisted of a stone tilt mill with four fires, lathes, grind- stones and polishing wheels, and nearby a coachmaker's shop. In 1841 Joseph and Isaac Thatcher were there engaged in making "scycloidal self-sharpening plows." In 1843 his tilt mill was swept away in the great flood, nothing being found later but the tilt hammer and grindstone. In 1852 John W. Thatcher carried on coach making and blacksmithing there, continuing several years.
The Peters grist and saw mills date prior to 1799, but prior to 1750 a stone fulling mill had been built, followed by a saw mill. This saw mill is men- tioned in old records as a "slitting mill," it being employed in slitting logs to
22
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DELAWARE COUNTY
be used in building ships. In 1826 the fulling mill was in disuse, and a grist and saw mill were in operation and were owned in the Peters family until 1872, when Charles F. Johnson acquired the property, which he has since operated as the Forest Queen mills.
Thomas Dutton built a tan house on his grandfather Richard Dutton's farm in Aston, in 1790. He continued in business there until 1808, when he moved to New York state, but in 1817 returned and resumed his tanning busi- ness at the old location. He used a steam engine at his works, purchased of William Parrish, a manufacturer of Philadelphia, the first, it is said, ever set up in Delaware county. He continued in business until 1848, when he re- tired, aged eighty years. He lived to the great age of one hundred years. seven months, eleven days. He voted for Washington at his second candidacy. and for General Grant in November. 1868.
Upland Borough Mills .- Although incorporated a borough in 1869. Up- land was until that time a part of the township of Chester. Upland was the site of the first mills erected in Pennsylvania after the province passed under the dominion of Penn, although the first mill in Pennsylvania was the Swedish water mill, erected by Governor Printz on the east side of Cobb's creek, near the Blue Bell Tavern at Paschalville. The mills, owned by Richard Townsend and his nine partners, consisting of corn, grist and saw mills, passed through several changes of ownerships, Caleb Puscy selling to William Penn in 1706 his interest in "all those three water corn mills and saw mills, commonly called and known by the name of Chester mills." In 1745 the old mill was destroyed by fire. A new stone mill was built by Joseph Pennell, which was destroyed by fire in 1758. The dam breast was built in 1752 by Samuel Shaw, who sold the mills prior to the Revolution. They became the property of Henry Hale Graham, by whom they were sold to Richard Flower, his son-in-law. On Oc- tober 31, 1777, by order of Gen. Washington, the stones were removed from Chester mills, that no flour might be ground for the British army. In 1793, Rich- ard Flower purchased from Oliver Evans the right to use the latter's patent "for elevating grain and meal from the lower to the upper stories and convey- ing the same from one part of the mill to another, and for bolting the meal and attending the bolting hoppers." From the same old document recording this sale, it is learned that at that time the motive power consisted of "two water wheels situate on Chester creek," and that the property was known as Chester mills. In 1793, Richard Flower made entry at the court house of the brands exclusively made by him at these mills-"Chester Superfine," "Ches- ter," "Chester Middlings" No. 2-96, No. 4-98. He shipped several cargoes to Europe prior to 1800, but finally he and his partners lost three ships and car- goes to French cruisers, which were condemned by French prize courts, in- flicting a loss so great that they never again sought a foreign market.
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