The Burnt Mill Road House --Part 1

The Burnt Mill Road House

Some old houses are on old roads that are still well-used today, making the homes easily visible. Some are "hidden" back in the middle of 20th Century developments, making them less well-known -- unless you happen to be a neighbor. But a few historic houses are so off the beaten path and out of the way, that most would never know they were there. One of this type, with an interesting history, is tucked right below the PA state line in central Christiana Hundred. And it's one of those odd properties with a very uneven turnover rate -- it was home to only two families in its first 130 years, then nine different owners in the next 60. Some of the last names you might recognize, even if you don't know the individuals. We'll take a look at that first era in this post, and delve into the second in the next.

The house and farm in question are on the south side of Burnt Mill Road, about three quarters of a mile west of Kennett Pike (good thing, because the north side of Burnt Mill, and I think the road itself, are in Pennsylvania), and are the only one of the several historic homes on the road to be on the Delaware side. Like most estates in the northern reaches of middle and western NCC, its history (at least its European-owned history) begins with the Penn family. The land was originally a part of the 15,500 acre tract known as the Manor of Stenning, given by William Penn to his daughter Letitia in 1701. On June 29, 1713, Letitia's attorneys in America, Samuel Carpenter and James Logan, sold 335 acres on the eastern edge of the Manor to John Cloud, for the price of a yearly rent payment of three shillings. (There's still a stone marker along Burnt Mill Road identifying the Manor Line.)

In 1726, Cloud sold 154 acres of his land to a cordwainer (a maker of leather shoes) named John Baldwin. I think that Cloud might have been the uncle of John Baldwin's wife Sarah. My approximation of that tract can be seen below - Burnt Mill Road is on the top edge of it, Snuff Mill Road runs through the bottom potion, and Old Kennett Road is just south of it (Kennett Pike (Rt. 52.) is to the right). I believe it was basically the eastern half of Cloud's property, although I don't have either the 1713 deed or the original of the 1726 sale (what I do have, and why, will be explained in a moment). Through subsequent generations, the Baldwin family would hold all of the land for the next 111 years, then about half for another six years.

Approximate outline of the 154 acres purchased by John Baldwin in 1726

I attempted to wade through Baldwin family trees to try to get some more information about John Baldwin and his family, but with this generation and the next, mostly what I found was: A) very little information, and B) what I did find had a whole lot of often reposted incorrect information. I do, however, think John was born sometime around 1697 in Chester County, and died in late 1744. From his 1744 will, we can discern a few things about his family. First is that he was relatively young when he died (under 50), and I believe his wife predeceased him by a few years. There are seven children mentioned in his will (but no wife): eldest son Francis, and the two youngest Hannah and William. There was a daughter Elizabeth, married to James Huklin. There was Mary, wife of Nicholas Pyle, and Sarah, wife of John Pyle (I assume they were brothers). And finally, another son named John.

The important point for us is that the house and farm were given to eldest son Francis, and the next major change was made via his 1784 will. In his will, Francis Baldwin gave various parts of his personal estate to his wife, his children (John, Sarah Robinson, Mary Way, Hannah Chandler), his son-in-law Abner Bradford, and grandsons (Francis, Samuel, and Eli). But the most consequential action he took was to divide his farm into northern and southern sections, giving the northern portion to son Levi, and the southern portion to son William. The division (as is the farm in general) is still very visible in today's property lines, and can be seen in the images below.

Outlines of the 1784 northern and southern divisions of Francis Baldwin's farm,
with current parcels. The 18th Century property lines are still quite apparent.

But before we leave Francis behind, a few paragraphs back I mentioned that I did not have the original 1713 or 1726 deeds, but that I had something. That something was an August 1774 indenture between Francis on one part, and Peter Gaskell and Christiana Gulielma Gaskell on the other. The reason for it goes back to the original 1713 sale, and the stipulation of the yearly three shilling rent. That had apparently transferred on, at least in a legal sense (I don't know if the rent had actually continued to be paid throughout the years). When Letitia Penn Aubrey died in 1746 with no children, she gave much of her estate to her great-niece, Christiana Gulielma Gaskell (daughter of William Penn III). With the Winds of War blowing (the Intolerable Acts had been passed earlier in the year, and the First Continental Congress would meet weeks later), I think the Gaskells were looking to wrap up their dealings in the Colonies, so for a one time payment of 25 shillings and 8 pence, the Baldwins were forever free of the yearly rent. Within this new indenture, the entire 1726 deed (with references to the 1713) was reprinted.

Returning now to 1784, the original 155 acre farm has been divided into a northern portion occupied by Levi Baldwin, and a southern one occupied by his brother William. After William died in 1787, Levi took ownership of the southern farm on the basis of questionable legal grounds. The problem is that Francis' 1784 will stated that the farm be divided and "that each part of my said plantation be valued by Men, to be chosen by my two sons, William & Levi, and the value thereof equally divided between them." Furthermore, each respective portion was given to each son "to him his heirs & assigns forever." I take that to mean that if either farm was valued higher than the other, the one son would compensate the other, and that after that they each owned their own farm outright.

Photos of the barn (still standing) and springhouse (mostly gone)
taken during a survey in 1982

However, in a later 1818 indenture, it's stated that after the making of this will, on August 1, 1785, Francis and wife Margaret sold the entire farm to both boys, as joint tenants (I have been unable to find that deed). You probably don't know as much about this as I do (because I just looked it up! yea internet!), but one of the big differences between joint tenants and tenants in common is that upon one party's death, in a joint tenancy the entire property reverts to the surviving tenant, while a tenant in common can pass their share to their heirs. Here, we seem to have contradicting situations.

The family seems to have resolved this amicably for a while, because it wasn't until 1816 (29 years after his death) that William's heirs -- William, Rebecca, and Lydia -- went to court to request ownership of the southern farm. They won their case, Levi appealed, and Levi lost again in June 1818. Very soon after that, Lydia died (perhaps she was ill and that's what spurred on the court cases?) and in August 1818 the southern farm of 98 acres was sold for $1 to William, Rebecca, and Lydia (Jefferis)'s children. In 1820 William acquired full right to the farm, but in 1823 sold it to Bennet Jefferis, Lydia's widower. Jefferis sold in 1837 to John Engle, who sold in 1845 to Levis Walter. We don't really need to follow down this farm's history any further at this point (maybe another day!), but there's one more interesting tidbit about it. In both the 1818 and 1823 deeds, whilst conveying the southern farm, it specifically says "...the said Plantation & tract of land with the messuages or tenements thereon erected or built of the said Francis Baldwin...". That seems to imply that Francis had resided on the southern portion of his land, and that his home stood there. That would further imply that Levi's home on the northern portion was either built by him, or perhaps was a tenant house occupied and/or enlarged by him.

The paragraph from Levi Baldwin's 1825 will stipulating that
the heirs are tenants in common, not joint tenants

As for Levi's northern farm of 73 acres, he remained on it until his death in 1825, raising, with his wife Jane (and possibly an earlier wife named Phebe), their seven children. I find the wording of Levi's will a little amusing, considering what had just happened. In it, after setting some things aside for Jane, he gives and bequeaths (after listing the kids,) "...to them, their heirs and assigns forever, all the rest and residue of my estate, both real and personal, to be equally divided amongst them, share and share alike, not as joint tenants, but tenants in common." (Italics mine). I guess he didn't want them to have any of the problems he did with his father's will.

I can't determine if any of the Baldwin children resided on the farm after Levi's death, but the family did retain ownership until 1843. At that time the children (six remained alive, and Margaret's children were parties to the sale) sold the 73 acre farm to a new owner, a relatively obscure member of a family that had been prominent in the area for several generations. After having been in only two families (the Clouds and Baldwins) for 130 years, the Burnt Mill Road House was about jump on a carousel of owners for the next century...which we'll detail in the next post.