Spring Grove Factory and Estate -- Part I

Spring Grove, taken by Charles Philips, 1895

Many of the recent posts here have been about families and their farms, but as we all know, this ain't Farm Creek Hundred, it's Mill Creek Hundred. It's been a while since we've taken a look at one of the many mills that one graced our region, and one of the main reasons for that is that I've already written about most of the major mills that operated here. There were, however, numerous smaller mills around that operated for varying lengths of time, and about which we know very little. This is the story of one such mill -- Spring Grove. This is a fascinating story, with only a few small holes remaining in the narrative.

I've known of the existence of the mill for quite a while, but I had been unsuccessful in finding very much information about it, until recently. Through my own research and through the amazing and detailed research of the site's current owner, David Deputy, we've come up with an almost complete history of the site, the mill, and the house built next to it. And what a story it is!

We begin in the days prior to the American Revolution, when Henry Brackin, Sr owned a large tract of land along what would become Stony Batter Road, as well as an old sawmill built along Mill Creek. His land actually stretched slightly across Mill Creek, and it was on or very near the southeastern portion of Henry's farm, very near that sawmill, that on September 8, 1777, British and American sharpshooters traded shots as the invading Red Coats camped along Limestone Road. This event would be known as Gen. Weedon's Foray, and was uncovered by Walt Chiquoine during his research for his paper Finding the Nichols House. When Henry died in 1779, his property went to his son Henry Brackin, Jr.

It seems that a few years after his father's death, the younger Henry built a stone grist mill. We have an indenture dated March 25, 1794 in which Henry Brackin obtains from Joseph Ball the right to build a new mill dam across Mill Creek, and to allow water to flow through a newly-dug race across Ball's land. However, there is also a court document from 1791 wherein a millwright named James Jordan sued Brackin over the use of the stone grist mill, then nearly finished, and of the old sawmill. As mentioned, the sawmill had belonged to (and was presumably built by) the elder Henry. When Henry, Jr set about building a new, larger, grist mill, it required a larger race and a new dam (hence the agreement with Ball). For whatever reason (logistical, financial, legal), it took several years for the new mill to be completed. It probably was completed soon after, and the 1804 tax assessment lists Henry with a grist mill and a sawmill.

Henry Brackin's house and barn, formerly on the north side of Stoney Batter Road

It was also during the grist mill's construction that Henry petitioned the court to have an official road built from his house down near Mill Creek, up to Limestone Road. His 1787 petition also asked for a road going to the "road leading from Newport to Occasion in some point to the northward of John Walkers tavern." If you'll recall, "Occasion" was likely an early form of "Hockessin", and the portion of the road he refers to is now McKennan's Church Road. I was not aware that there was a tavern there (at the corner of McKennan's and Mill Creek Road, now Brookdale Farms), but that will have to wait for another day. The road on Henry's side up to Limestone is what's now Stoney Batter Road.

1788 draft for Henry Brackin's road, later called Stoney Batter

Henry Brackin died on September 14, 1813, devising his property to his son...Henry. On October 30, 1813, this youngest Henry sold a lot measuring just over five acres to George Whitelock and John Robinson. Whitelock was a cabinetmaker from Wilmington and Robinson probably a local farmer. I've been unable to find the actual 1813 sale to Whitelock and Robinson, but I do have an indenture from two years later where they've mortgaged the property to William Trimble and Moses Palmer. In this 1815 document, the property is described as being "whereon a Manufactory is now erected." This would seem to indicate that it was Whitelock and Robinson who either built the first textile mill there or adapted Brackin's grist mill for the task. I would also assume that the pair tore down the old saw mill, if it wasn't gone by then already.

The cotton mill that Whitelock and Robinson operated along Mill Creek was apparently not particularly successful. For, in 1819, they defaulted on their mortgage and the property was sold at auction to Martha Whitelock, who was likely George's mother. Martha Whitelock also obtained a mortgage for the property, in the amount of $2212.36 from the Bank of Wilmington and Brandywine. The logical assumption would be that Whitelock and Robinson continued to run the mill, but if they did, they didn't have much better luck.

Sometime before 1824, Martha Whitelock died and the mill property was auctioned again, this time bought by the same bank for only $500. The bank sold it four years later (1828) to James Gardner for $3045 (it's this indenture that first specifies that it's a cotton mill). Gardner turned right around and sold it for $4000 (half of which was mortgaged to Gardner) to John Stafford of Philadelphia. Since Stafford moved to the area (he's listed here in the 1830 Census), he's the first one I could say for sure would need some sort of house on the site. Whether that is, is part of, or has nothing to do with the house currently there, I don't yet know.

Notices from an 1823 Philadelphia paper mentioning both Stafford and Allen

John Stafford is listed as a cotton spinner in the 1832 McLane Report of manufacturers, but did not respond to the questionnaire. It's possible that he didn't respond because he was dead (if so, I'm willing to give him a pass). A John Stafford died in Philadelphia in early 1832, and our Stafford was definitely gone by 1836. In that year, Stafford's property was sold to Joseph Lindsey, whose farm was across Stoney Batter Road. The next month, Lindsey sold the factory to an established cotton manufacturer from Philadelphia, William Allen. Allen mortgaged the property to Lindsey, and it's in the mortgage indenture that we find something interesting.

William Allen's Cotton Factory -- Spring Grove -- on the 1849 map

In this 1836 document, we find the property described as, "...all that lot and buildings thereon erected known by the name of Spring Grove Factory..." I had originally thought that the name Spring Grove was given by a later-owning family, but it seems that either John Stafford or possibly even Whitelock and Robinson applied the appellation. The name can also be seen in the 1832 newspaper notice below. And whether it was the economy or William Allen's business skill, Spring Grove seemed to thrive. Well, at least it thrived enough for Allen stick around for over 20 years.

Spring Grove mentioned in the (Philadelphia) National Gazette in 1832.
The three factories below Spring Grove were also in Delaware.

When Allen finally did sell, he did so in 1858 to another established area textile manufacturer, James Broadbent. However, this English immigrant's specialty was in woolen fabric, and Broadbent, who had previously operated factories along the Brandywine as well as Pike Creek, converted Spring Grove into a woollen mill. He ran the Spring Grove Woolen Mill for a number of years, but exactly what number is the next gray area in the story.

A neighboring deed from 1870 mentions Broadbent's Factory and seems to imply he was still there then. The next deed I have for Spring Grove is from 1876, and in that one Calvin Derickson is selling the property to his father Aquila. The catch, though, is that it doesn't mention when or from whom Calvin purchased. Also, although it's dated 1876, it wasn't filed and recorded until 1883. What prompted them then was the recent death of Aquila. I think they had to file the 1876 sale to prove he owned the property, so that the heirs could then sell it to another one of his sons, Joseph W. Derickson, which they did at the same time.

The Derickson's had been in the area since at least the mid-1840's, when Aquila built his home on the west side of Limestone Road (now the home of Lee's Orientals Art Center). Aquila had three surviving sons -- Calvin, Bayard, and Joseph -- who all ended up with farms along Limestone Road. Despite the aforementioned mention of Broadbent's Factory in 1870, the census of that year lists Calvin Derickson as a Spoke Manufacturer. At this time, the nearby Greenbank Mill was also specializing in wooden products, including spokes. Perhaps Calvin worked there or took inspiration from the Philips brothers, and purchased (or, more likely, had his father purchase for him) Spring Grove and adapted it for spoke-making.

Spring Grove, now a woolen mill under Aquila Derickson's name, in 1881

The sale from Calvin to Aquila in 1876, along with the above 1881 map showing Spring Grove as a woolen mill, would suggest that it was changed back to textile production at that time. However, the evidence indicates that the factory was very much in decline, and would not operate much longer. In the next post we'll try to make sense of the last few years of the Spring Grove Factory, and trace the evolution of the property from industrial site to country estate. For though the mill would soon be gone, the house (literally and figuratively) behind it would live on and play host to a number very interesting residents throughout the 20th Century.