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| November 15, 1911 headline of the burning of the silk mill |
From 1906 until 1911, and then possibly for a spell in 1914, the Marshallton Silk Mill was a source of employment for several dozen area residents. Although it was never as large or as long-lasting as the other two, for a time it was a significant employer in the area. And while there's not a whole lot that seems to be known about the operation, one thing I do know is that the story of the Marshallton Silk Mill is inextricably linked to that of its founder and owner -- George Washington Spicer, Jr.
George W. Spicer was born in June 1859, probably in Leipsic, Kent County, and grew up in Little Creek Hundred just north of Dover. His father was a merchant (listed as a Confectioner in 1860, at a feed store in 1870, and a grocer in 1880), so young George was probably never pulled into the farming life that the majority of his peers of that era were. He likely helped out in his father's stores when he was young, soaking up all the talk and gossip that came in with the patrons. And being near Dover, George may have heard a lot of political talk, stoking an interest he'd pursue passionately later in life.
I'm not sure what his connection was or why he ended up here, but by 1880 George Spicer was residing as a boarder in a home in Marshallton, and working at the Kiamensi Woolen Mill. His situation would change the following year, when in July 1881 he married Laura McGonigal, also of Kent County. The couple settled in Marshallton, and in November 1882 Spicer made a purchase that would set the rest of the story in motion. He bought from Vincent G. Flinn 19.67 acres of land on the southwest side of Newport Road and east of Red Clay Creek, much of which is now Washington Heights.
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| The approximate bounds of the 19.67 acre tract purchased by George W. Spicer, Jr. in November 1882 |
Spicer set about almost immediately in improving his new lot, as a September 1883 note in the newspaper states that he was building three double houses, to be ready in three weeks. Those houses could have been on Washington Street, or more likely along Newport Road. Bear in mind that at this time, Old Capitol Trail did not continue straight through past Newport Road. Coming from Price's Corner, the road dead-ended here, and one turned right to go across the creek (the Old Capitol Trail extension and bridge would not be constructed until the 1930's).
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| Marshallton as shown on the 1893 map, showing the Spicers' land, as well as the 14 acres sold to Thomas C. Harris |
Although George W. Spicer would have various business and political ventures, I feel like he may never have been quite as financially secure as he would have wanted to let on. In 1883 he mortgaged the property to Eli Nichols, but this was about the time the three houses were going up, so this might have been to finance that construction And there were a number of other transactions over the years, some of which I understand, some of which I can speculate on, and some I just don't understand. For example, in 1884 he sold the full 19.67 acre tract to wife Laura, in what I feel was some sort of financial or legal maneuver. Then, a month later, they sold the property to Laura M. Chaytor of Linwood, Delaware County, PA. Although odd, it became less odd to me when I realized that she was George's sister (so yes, both his sister and his wife (and his first child) were a "Laura M. Spicer").
The other notable thing about this sale is that the Spicers were described as being "of Camden, Camden County, New Jersey". It seems that in addition to being a storekeeper in Marshallton (and it's unclear exactly when he opened his store there), George W. Spicer was also a merchant involved with other firms -- in Wilmington, Chester, and reaching into New Jersey. It appears that they moved around from time to time, as various deeds show them as being of Marshallton, Wilmington, and Camden. When the Spicers bought back their land from Chaytor in early 1885 (three months later), Laura M. Spicer was "late of Marshallton".
The next big change came in 1890, when the Spicers sold 14.24 acres of their land to Thomas C. Harris. This comprised about three quarters of their property, being basically everything east of Washington Avenue (this can be seen on the 1893 map above). However, all their "good stuff" was west of Washington Avenue, including their home (at least when they were living in Marshallton) and George's store. I can't find any details as to when the store was built, but it was probably soon after they moved in. The Spicers lived in the house next to the store, seen in the photo below. In about 1902 they turned over the store (renting it out, I believe) John H. Foard. The Foards would move into the frame house behind it in 1905, and John would run the store until his death in 1943.
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| George W. Spicer, Jr.'s Marshallton store and home, possibly soon after turning the store over to John H. Foard in 1902 |
There are a few points about which I'm still unsure. For one, in March 1891 Spicer (along with fellow Marshalltonian(?) George W. Bennett) is listed as receiving a new liquor license. I don't know if this means he had some sort of tavern or if this went along with the store somehow. And in July 1897, there's a newspaper mention of preparations being made for the opening of a store "in the brick building owned by George W. Spicer". A later account and some of the deeds do say that the Spicer/Foard store was a brick and frame structure, so perhaps this is the beginning of this location. However, there are definite mentions much earlier of a Spicer's store in Marshallton, so maybe it was in a different location?
In any case, many of those mentions of a store were in reference to it being a polling place for Marshallton. This leads us into George W. Spicer, Jr.'s other great passion -- politics. More specifically, Democratic politics. He was a big player in Democratic circles in the area for much of the 1890's, culminating with his serving as the Clerk of the House of Representatives in Dover during the 1897/98 session. There was even a letter to the editor back in 1892 complaining about how small Marshallton had two polling places and districts, and that one of them should be called the Spicer District due to his influence and control over it.
Spicer seems to have left politics for the most part by the early 1900's, although (not surprisingly) he seems to have ruffled a few feathers along the way. In 1902 he was arrested for allegedly voting illegally in the school district election, because he had failed to pay his school tax (which was a prerequisite for voting). Also, in 1904 Spicer sued the Marshallton School Board for $65, claiming that he was owed $5 per year for the 13 years that children had been walking across the road from the school to drink water out of his pump. The issue divided the village.
This now finally leads us to one of George Spicer's last, and most unique, business ventures. By the early 1900's the silk industry was booming in the US, and more specifically not far from our area. The epicenter had been in New Jersey, but by the later 1800's was shifting slightly west to the Lehigh Valley. Spicer was no doubt aware of all this, and with his own textile manufacturing experience (recall that he had worked in the Kiamensi Woolen Mill) he decided to build a silk mill on his property in Marshallton.
In September 1905 he signed a lease (doing business as the Marshallton Silk Weaving Company) with the Crompton-Thayer Loom Company of Worcester, MA for sixteen 42½" looms, for a period of thirteen months. The reason I know these details is because (for some reason) the lease agreement was filed with the state among the real estate deeds. The venture was finally incorporated in 1906 as the Marshallton Silk Manufacturing Company, and was set to go.
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| Bounds of the lot where George Spicer's silk mill was located. The intersection above it is Old Capitol Trail and Newport Road. Red Clay Creek is to the left |
The mill was located on part of Spicer's remaining property, on the west side of Washington Avenue (in the shaded lot seen above). This was directly behind John Foard's store, home, and stables. As best as I can tell, the mill (steam, not water-powered) was originally fairly small and was later enlarged. A short mention in a national textile trade publication said, "The new building, 38 by 48 feet, to be occupied by the Marshallton Silk Weaving Co,. Geo. W. Spicer, Jr., proprietor, will be equipped with 16 looms, making black taffetas and other silks. There will be no dye house attached to the plant."
While the 16 loom number is consistent with the original lease, by 1910 a trade magazine lists it as having 39 Broad Looms. This larger number fits with a later description of the building, which we'll get to in a moment. I can find precious little information about Spicer's operation, but a 1909 article about the coming Peoples Trolley line spur to Marshallton states that the silk mill employs "35 or 40 persons". So, while it was smaller than the fibre mill or the Kiamensi mill, three dozen or more people is not insignificant in a village the size of Marshallton.
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| Close-up of an early Marshallton postcard of the "New Bridge"(Newport/Duncan Road), possibly showing the original silk mill over the right edge of the bridge. I still haven't decided. The three houses on the right are still standing along Washington Ave. |
I don't really have a feel as to whether or not the mill was profitable for Spicer, but I do know that he ended up selling it in October 1910 to the Highland Silk Company. Highland was a newly-incorporated Delaware firm backed by "Jersey City money" and headed by James Ferguson of Plainfield, New Jersey. It's not clear if there were any changes made under Highland and Ferguson, but if there were they didn't last long. Just over a year later, at about 11 PM on the night of November 14, 1911, flames were seen coming from the western end of the building.
Even though it was a rainy night, the fire quickly overtook the building. A call was put in to the Water Witch Fire Company in Wilmington (there were not yet any rural fire companies), and they made impressive time with their new automobile apparatus. In the meantime, employees from the fibre mill (the old iron mill) ran a hose from there to the silk mill and attempted to get the blaze under control. By the time the city firefighters arrived they all knew the mill was lost, so they turned their efforts to saving the surrounding structures -- the Foard barn, the house and store next door, and the houses across Washington Avenue. Thanks to their efforts, nothing else was damaged. (Click on the article below for an in-depth account)
The mill, though, was destroyed. And differing from the 1906 description, the fire article states that the mill was a one story frame structure, 250 feet long and 50 feet wide. That estimation by the reporter is certainly a bit high, as the entire mill lot sold to Highland Silk was only 93 feet wide (measured from the center of Washington Ave.) by 234 feet long. But clearly it was by then much larger than the original 38 x 48. It was stated that at the time of the fire the mill employed 30-35 women and girls, and 10-15 men.
Highland Silk did not seem to be interested in rebuilding their Marshallton mill (which they may or may not have called the Kiamensi Silk Mill -- articles about the fire refer to it as such, but that might have been reporters conflating it with the woolen mill downstream). Two weeks after the blaze there was a report of company officials looking for a new site in Wilmington, but I don't believe anything ever came from that. On March 30, 1912 they officially sold the property back to Laura M. Spicer, under whose name the family's holdings were listed.
As somewhat of a side note, it's unclear just how involved Mrs. Spicer was in the businesses. In fact, there was a court case in 1914 over an unpaid promissory note from the Spicers, wherein the plaintiff claimed that she was involved in the business, while Laura claimed that her husband was the manager and she signed the note only "as an accommodation to him". It wasn't totally unusual for property to be partially or totally in a wife's name at the time, but this feels different to me. With all the time George likely spent away from home -- between his political and business activities -- my gut tells me that Laura probably was more involved in things than the typical businessman's wife would have been at the time. Bolstering this idea is the fact (included in her 1954 obituary) that she was a graduate of the Wilmington Conference Academy in Dover, now Wesley College.
And speaking of the business, it's also unclear whether George Spicer ever had any thoughts of rebuilding the silk mill. Even if he did, he never had time to bring it to fruition, as George W. Spicer, Jr. passed away on July 2, 1912 at his Marshallton home, at the age of 53. His obituary said that he "was one of the men who helped to build up Marshallton". He surely would have been someone that everybody in the area would have known, and about whom many would have undoubtedly had strong opinions -- in both directions.
While we don't know if George Spicer wanted to rebuild the mill, we do know that his son Frank did. In July 1914, Laura Spicer sold the mill lot to her son Frank, and he did build a replacement silk mill. Not much is known about this second mill, except that it was built in the Summer of 1914 and was a one-story frame structure that sat where his father's first mill did. It was probably smaller, more like the original size of the first mill. All the information about it, including conflicting accounts as to whether or not it actually began operating, comes from articles about....the fire that destroyed it.
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| Account of the destruction of Frank Spicer's silk mill (1/8/1915) |
The blaze occurred in the early morning hours of January 8, 1915, and is said to have done most of its damage to the machinery and stock inside. This makes me think that the structure itself was not totally destroyed and might have been saved. It was never again used as a silk mill, but there is an oddly-shaped (for the area) one story house right where the mill should have been, and it's almost exactly the 38 x 48 feet dimensions of the original mill. I don't know one way or the other if this is Frank Spicer's silk mill.
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| 1932 photo of the new OCT bridge, also showing the rear of Washington Street. Foard's Store is behind the far right pylon, and their house behind the store. On the far right is the house, still standing today, that might have been Frank Spicer's silk mill |
In March 1915 Frank officially sold the lot back to his mother, and over the next few years she sold off all of her Marshallton properties. The family moved on and moved out of the area, but Frank remained in the silk industry. In 1920 he's living in Shamokin, PA (central PA in coal country, ironically right next to Marshallton, PA) working as a loom fixer in a silk mill, and in 1940 he's with his mother in Rehoboth, still in a silk mill. He had lived in Patterson, NJ in 1935, undoubtedly in the same field.
After the Marshallton Silk Mill's demise and the closing of the Kiamensi Woolen Mill in the early 1920's, textile manufacturing left the Red Clay Valley. The former iron mill carried on as a fibre mill for a time, then for many years under Haveg and Ametek until the flood of 2004 ended its operation. These days it might be hard to imagine something like a silk mill in the heart of Marshallton, but for 5+ years it was a very real part of the community.
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