The Fredericks of Mt. Cuba and Beyond

Location of Peter Frederick's Mt. Cuba property

It's not unusual for me to be contacted by someone, asking if I have more information about their historic home (and I'm deeply grateful to everyone who's done that). What's less common is for someone to ask about an historic home that used to be on their property, but that's just what happen not long ago in regards to a property near Mt. Cuba. The owners recently moved into a beautiful mid-20th Century home in one of the most scenic sections of the Red Clay Valley. They have a wonderful property with something unusual toward the back -- the remains of a much older house.

The property in question is located in the western edge of Christiana Hundred, in the roughly triangular area between Mt. Cuba, Pyles Ford, and Creek Roads. They knew that the house had belonged to the Frederick family, and that they had been butchers. Turns out that was true. That's all, thanks for reading folks, see you next time!

Ok, actually there was more to the story than that, as I'm sure you were hoping(?) there was. It began with a pair of German immigrants, Georg Peter Friederich and his wife, Catherine. They had come from Hesse-Darmstadt in western Germany in 1857, and were married in Philadelphia the same year. They soon made their way down to Delaware, where their first child, daughter Emma, was born in 1858. The 1860 Census has Peter (as he went by) working as a farm laborer, possibly for Samuel Armstrong on the farm that's now the Delaware Nature Society's Coverdale Farm. The Frederick family (the name was Americanized) is listed directly after the Armstrongs in 1860.

Seven more children would follow for Peter and Catherine over the next two decades or so, but their next big move came in 1862, with the purchase of some nearby land from farmer Otley Vernon. This first purchase was for about 3 acres, nestled along Pyles Ford and Mt. Cuba/Creek Roads, and includes the property that the current owners have. It seems that this was just land carved out of Vernon's larger tract, so the Frederick's house was probably built just after the 1862 sale. Ten years later, in 1872, Frederick purchased another 11 acres from Vernon. This land was across on the north side of  Pyles Ford Road.

Also in the 1860's, it seems that Peter Frederick enlisted in the Union Army in June, 1863. I'm not completely clear on the records, but it appears he served in the 1st Battalion, Delaware Cavalry as a private. If so, he would have seen action at Gettysburg in early July. It is both surprising and not surprising to me how many immigrants chose to serve their new country in the Civil War.

But back home, Frederick is listed as a laborer in the 1870 census, and with only 3 acres he probably still worked on neighboring farms (maybe the Vernons?) and had a small home garden. In 1880 he's listed as a farmer. It's not clear when Frederick began working as a butcher, but in 1870 there are two listed directly after him in the census -- James Brown (no, not that one) listed as a butcher, and Otley Vernon, listed as a "Butcher & Farmer". By 1880 Brown is gone, but Vernon's son William is now a butcher. 

Peter Frederick may have been working as a local butcher for a while, or may have been waiting for his sons to come of age, which they did in the 1880's. The first actual mention I've found of them as butchers was in 1887, in a story about how two of his horses tore away with his wagon from his stall at the Second Street Market in Wilmington. In 1890 there were a few ads like the one below, for Peter Frederick & Sons.

February 11, 1890

On a social note, in November 1894, Peter's son John celebrated his 25th birthday with a surprise party at their Mt. Cuba home. We sometimes tend to think of the area being sparsely populated at the time (at least compared to now), but there were 60 people at John Frederick's party! I don't think I know 60 people, let alone expect that many at a party. Four years later, in September 1898, Carrie Frederick had a similar party for her 16th birthday.

A party for John Frederick, Nov. 24, 1894

And one for Carrie, Sept. 23, 1898

Like many people at that time (and like many now), Peter Frederick seems to have tried several different means of making money. After having worked as a farmhand, on his own farm, and continuing to work as a butcher, in October 1898 he purchased four and a half acres of land from neighbors John and Michael O'Neal. At first I wasn't sure what this lot was, although it appeared to be between Mt. Cuba Road and Red Clay Creek. Eventually I came across the item below, which at least somewhat cleared up the mystery, stating that it was "fine quarry land". The mention of the Klondike (the gold rush was going on then) is interesting, because in a 1961 interview one of Frederick's daughters-in-law said the family used to own "the so-called Gold Hill", but that nothing was really found there. I don't know if the Fredericks actually did any quarrying or mining on the site, but I know it was not more profitable than the Klondike. (Although, bearing in mind that the vast majority of people who went to the Klondike came up empty, maybe it was.)

Notice of the sale of "Quarry Land" (maybe Gold Hill), Oct. 3, 1898

Whatever they might have done there, we do know that Peter's daughter Emma and husband Isaac Stoops built a house on part of this land, and would eventually buy about a quarter of an acre of it. That was after matriarch Catherine Frederick passed away in February 1904, and Peter later that same year, in October. When the estate was settled, sons (and executors) John and William Frederick sold the original 3+ acres and the remainder of the later 4-1/2 acres to their brother Harry, who continued on in the butchering business there. For some reason the 11 acre tract (purchased in 1872) was not sold by the estate to Harry until 1925. This could have been an oversight that needed correcting because the du Ponts were buying up land in the area. And sure enough, in 1929, Harry sold those 11 acres to the Nemours Corporation.

And what became of the five Frederick boys? Well, eldest son George was working in the rolling mill in Marshallton at the time of his first marriage in 1884. However, by 1892 when his first wife passed, he had opened his own butcher shop in Newport. He would continue it until his death in 1940. Next son Edward worked as a butcher in Marshallton until his untimely death in 1906 at age 41.

Third son William Frederick became a dancer....no, of course he didn't. He was a butcher also, working in the Prices Corner-Elsmere area. He was active in many local organizations, and was a director of the Marshallton Building and Loan, along with Powell Ford. I believe William's home stood on the north side of Kirkwood Highway, where the onramp to 141 is now.

William and John Frederick

Next was John, who made it four for four. In fact, all five of Peter Frederick's sons followed in his butchering footsteps. John began working in the Mt. Cuba area and married Jane Pyle in 1891. Three years later they purchased the John Bishop House from her father, Jehu Pyle. In 1899, they sold that house to Raffaele di Guglielmo, a.k.a. Rafael Julian, and purchased the Dixon-Chandler Frederick House on Kennett Pike in Centreville. There, John opened a butcher shop that he would run until his death in 1949, and that would be carried on by his son Edward M. Frederick (and I believe also his grandson, Edward P.).

Later, Edward M. would open Frederick's Country Store on the property. In 1967, Edward P. Frederick, who would come to be known as the unofficial mayor of Centreville, began converting some of the buildings behind the house for use as small retail shops. Known as Frederick's Country Center, this enclave still delights shoppers today.

This now leaves us with the youngest of Peter and Catherine Frederick's boys, Harry H. Frederick. Harry, of course, became a butcher as well, and stayed back home at Mt. Cuba, working with his father. After Peter's death in 1904, the family sold the home property to Harry and he took over his father's butcher business. Harry continued working as a well-known and respected butcher until retiring in about 1942. In addition to helping feed his community, Harry was concerned with its education, too. For over 30 years he was involved with the nearby Walnut Green School.

He and wife Margaret had two children -- son Meredith in 1905 and daughter Sarah in 1907. Meredith did carry on the family business for a time, working with his father at Mt. Cuba. Sadly though, Meredith died at the age of 33 in 1939, leaving behind his wife of seven years, Ethel. It may not be coincidental that Harry retired just three years later.

Sara Frederick married Raymond Jordin in April 1932 (four days after her brother was married -- a busy week for the Fredericks!), and the couple first lived in Elmhurst, near Richardson Park. They sold their house there in 1938 and were listed at Mt. Cuba in the 1940 Census. The current owners purchased the house recently from the widow of Sara and Raymond's son, Gene Jordin. This represents the first time (excepting a few legal maneuvers to change ownership within the Fredericks) that this land has been out of the extended Frederick family since 1862.

The details of who lived where (and when the "new" house was built) are a bit murky. My first guess would be that Harry and Margaret continued to reside in the old house until his death in November 1952. The county lists the build date for the new house as 1945. I'm often skeptical of these dates, but if the Sara and Raymond Jordin lived with her parents for a few years and then built their new home, it could be correct. If they didn't get it done by '41, I don't think there was much home building done during the war. However, aerial imagery from 1937 sure seems to show something right where the house is today, so it just might have been built before the war, for the Jordins to move into.

Obituary of Harry H. Frederick, Nov. 26, 1952

Another confusing item is Harry Frederick's obituary, seen above, which says his daughter's house was across the road. This may be nothing more than the reporter not knowing the layout of the area, but it does make clear that there were two separate households. We don't know if Margaret moved in with the Jordins right after Harry's death or if she remained in the old Frederick homestead. She still lived in Mt. Cuba in 1961, but beyond that is unclear.

As for the old house, there is a story of a fire destroying it in the early 1980's, but all I could find was a record of a fire call (Cranston and Mill Creek) for a house fire at the address on October 29, 1982. This could have been the destruction of the old house, or a small fire at the new one. It probably had been vacant for some time, but we're still trying to determine its exact fate. If you have or know someone who has has any memories, stories, or information about the Frederick family at Mt. Cuba, please let us know.

All that remains of Peter Frederick's c.1862 homestead

Remnants of the old Frederick barn and/or butcher shop

All that's left of the original Frederick home are a few foundations and ruins (as seen above), but their legacy lives on in things like the Frederick Country Center and Frederick Avenue in Elsmere. Plus, just try to imagine how many people the six Frederick butchers fed over the course of nearly a century.