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| Milk Bottle from Locust Grove Farm |
Unlike the other owners of the tract, the Lynams had no interest in milling, and as Scharf states, Robert Thomas Lynam tore down the old Reynolds mill in 1887. Very interestingly, according to an interview with later owner Raymond Lindell, the frame addition to the house (later used as a store for the dairy) was also built in 1887. Although I have no evidence for it, it's very tempting to speculate that some of the lumber from the mill might have been reused in the construction of the rear addition. No sources even state whether the mill was frame or stone, but if it was frame, it would not be unusual for the time for building materials to have been recycled from an older structure to a newer one. I think it is very possible that some of the wood used in the frame section of the house was actually part of Andrew Reynolds' 1799 mill.
At some point, ownership of the farm passed from father to son, with Robinson Lynam then owning the property. The younger Lynam (and possibly his father before him) operated the farm as a small, wholesale dairy farm. He sold the 65-acre farm in 1915 to Andrew Lindell, who previously had been leasing a farm near Limestone Road and North Star Road. Lindell took over the dairy, which Lynam had named "Locust Grove Farm", and continued to run it as a wholesale operation. He would load the milk onto a horse-drawn wagon, take it to Marshallton, and then load it onto a trolley car (likely a People's Trolley car) to be taken to Wilmington for sale. That all changed in 1933, though, when Andrew's son Raymond Lindell, just two years out of high school, took over another farmer's neglected route and began delivering 60 quarts of milk a day, thereby moving Locust Grove Farm into the retail market.
As a retail dairy, Raymond Lindell and Locust Grove Farm thrived. At its zenith, Lindell was delivering 400 quarts a day, on a 35 mile route to the east of the farm. He delivered from Marshallton, up Newport-Gap Pike to the Cedars, and all the way to the junction of Lancaster Pike. Additionally, he sold several hundred quarts a week out of the store he ran in the 1887 rear addition to the house. And it wasn't just milk, either. To compliment the 25 milking cows the farm kept, Locust Grove also boasted between five and six hundred laying chickens, whose eggs Lindell sold on his route along with the milk. The surrounding farm provided all the hay, barley, and corn needed to feed the livestock.
For 44 years, Lindell ran the dairy farm, and I'm sure there are many residents in the area that remember well drinking Locust Grove Farm milk. By the mid 1970's, Mr. Lindell was in his early 60's and looking towards retirement. He had no children of his own to take over the farm, so in 1977 he ceased dairy operations. He sold the cows that were still good for milking to other dairies, and the rest went for beef. For another three years he bought and fattened cattle for beef, but in 1980, he sold the majority of the farm. 60 acres went to developers, with Mr. Lindell keeping the two central acres surrounding the house. A few years later, he turned the house over to his nephew, ensuring that at least a small part of this historic property, as well as the house, would remain in the hands of the family that had lovingly tended to it for almost a century.
Scott-
ReplyDeleteMy wife grew up in Limestone Acres, directly behind the Lindell farm. She tells stories of Mr. Lindell chasing after cattle that had strayed across Mill Creek into the development. I suppose they were looking for greener pastures!
Right before Mr. Lindell died, we had him do some woodwork on a kitchen table we had bought. At the time, my wife was pregnant with our first child and, when we came to pick up the table, Mr. Lindell presented us with a hand-made cradle for our daughter. As she grew, the cradle became a receptacle for her dolls and still has a place of honor in her bed room.
My wife always had fond memories of Mr. Lindell and cherishes his gift.
Thanks for the funny and heart-warming stories, Bill. Reading this reminds me that a few years ago I remember seeing Mr. Lindell's obit (he died in 2003), and I think it mentioned that he did woodworking. It seems he was always a very handy person. And from what I've gathered about him personally, I'd guess that the success of his business had much to do with his personality and kindness.
ReplyDeleteHow funny I am reading this now, as I Knew Mr. Lindell as one of my neighbors since we moved into the Village of Lindell in 1995. I had a home day care and Mr. Lindell used to stop by and talk with us all of the time and tell us stories about how the land used to be used for dairy and strawberries. He gave me a dairy bottle that I keep with pennies in. He was such a sweet man. He would tell us how the road used to go from St James Church Rd through the neighborhood. I came across this site looking for history for a nursing class on a community assessment. Bill is an old friend from boy scouts! Small world. We still take care of the neighborhood! With Mr. Lindell in memory!
ReplyDeleteKim Woodward
That's awesome, Kim! Thanks for sharing!! Seems like everyone has good memories of him. Mr. Lindell, I mean. But Bill's a good guy, too.
DeleteOn the Lindell Dairy Farm, Mr. Raymond Lindell at one time rented out a small Cottage. Back in 1947 my Parents lived there, when they first moved back to Delaware (after World War 2, and my Father's Naval Service was up). From there they moved into a newly built home in Dunlinden Acres. They remained friends and customers with Mr. Lindell for over 30 years. I remember my Parents saying that the Cottage burned down years after they moved out. Is there any information out there on this Cottage ? Patrick F. Harrison.
ReplyDeletePatrick -- Thanks for this information! I hadn't heard about this before, and right now I don't know for sure where it was, but I can offer some guesses. I was looking at some of the historic aerial photos (here's the link if you want to play with it yourself: https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer), and this is what I can see. In the 1937 pic, there doesn't seem to be anything except the Lindell property and and old Forest Oak schoolhouse which was on St. James Church Road closer to Milltown Road. South side of SJCR, west of St. Francis Street. Here's the post I wrote about it: http://mchhistory.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-forest-oak-district-35-school.html. It's possible they lived there, it was a house at the time, except it appears it was torn down only about 15 years ago, best as I can tell.
DeleteThe other possibility is what appears to be a small structure just north of the Lindell house. It was not there in 1937, but does appear on the 1951 photo. I can't tell if it was a farm building of some sort or a cottage, but it might have been. It sat right about on the northern curve of St. Francis St. About where 2406 St Francis is. It was there in the 1970 photo, but gone in the 1982 when the new houses were being built. The only other things I see on the 1951 photo are a couple more houses at the end of St James, off of Milltown. That's my best guess, but I know there are people around who grew up or spent time in Limestone Acres in the 50's and 60's, so maybe they'd remember it. I'll post this on the Facebook page, too. More eyes = more chance of someone knowing something.
I’m just seeing this article for the first time. Originally, St. James Church Road ran down past the farmhouse and continued on and was connected through to the road on the other side of Kirkwood Highway past the church. Kirkwood Highway was probably old Capital Trail then. The house that is being discussed sat on the other side of the road across from the main house. Sort of out in the field. I always thought that it was probably a tenant house. If I ever knew, I don’t know now. It was rented out during the time that I was around the property. It caught on fire at some point and was torn down after that. Very cute little house. After the property was sold he and his wife bought a Village of Lindell lot adjacent to the farm house and he gave the house to one of his brother’s sons. He and his wife , Delma, were my aunt and uncle. Delma was my mother’s sister and I was very close to them. Wonderful people.
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