The Robinson-Clark House

Modern view of the Robinson-Clark House

One of the many things I love about our local history is the variety in the historic homes standing in Mill Creek Hundred. In this case, specifically, how some look immediately impressive, while others, at first sight, might seem a bit more, shall we say, utilitarian. However, if there's nothing else you've learned from this site over the years, I hope you've come to see that all these sites have fascinating stories of their own. The particular home we'll look at now is a two story, stuccoed, slightly asymmetrical three bay home, set just a few feet off of Hercules Road, just east of Newport Gap Pike. That puts it on the north end of the property across from Emily Bissell Hospital, which is important, because that's the tract it was historically connected to.

Eventually, and for most of its time, the house would sit on a 12 acre lot, but before that it was part of a larger tract. Actually, the 12 acres were originally on the northern edge of the 239 acres warranted to Bryan McDonald, Sr. in 1689. It was then part of the land willed to his son Bryan, Jr. in 1707, then part of the 286 acres sold to Jeremiah Wollaston in 1746. Wollaston in turn sold the northern 147 acres of it to George Robinson in 1757. Much of this was laid out in the post about the David Graves House, as our 12 acres were part of the original tract that also contained the Graves House. However, with the transition to the Robinson family, we turn our attention to the post detailing the later Henry Clark Woolen Mill. It was in fact the Robinsons who erected the first mill here along Hyde Run, sometime prior to 1781.

We can confidently push it beyond that date because in that year a certain deed specifically referenced a corn or grist mill on the property. But to get the full picture, we have to jump back a few years. I mentioned in the Henry Clark post that information about the Robinsons in general was hard to come by. While that's still mostly true, there are a few things specific to this tract that I've since found. When George and wife Elizabeth moved onto their farm in 1757 (probably building the original portion of the house that would later become Sunnybrook Cottage), they had two sons with them -- John and Jacob. When George died in 1766, he willed his land to these two sons. They owned it jointly until 1781, when they mutually divided the land more or less in half -- John took the portion west of Hyde Run and Jacob took the portion east. This deed dividing the land specifically mentions a mill. Ah, but there was another, younger brother.

Approximate borders of the 147 acres purchased
by George Robinson in 1757

In 1789, Jacob sold a 12+ acre portion of his property to Job Robinson, who in a later deed is stated to be a son of George Robinson. In the 1789 deed, Jacob (with wife Lydia) is listed as a blacksmith, while Job is a cooper. In the few other references to Job I found, it seems he was likely born in 1762, which would explain why he didn't get any of Dad's land four years later. Logic would dictate that soon after acquiring his 12 acre property from his older brother, Job would build himself a house. I noted in the opening that the house in question is "slightly asymmetrical", which would indicate that it was built in more than one phase. In fact, the house once had two front doors -- the current front door is more or less centered between them. With the left end having a center gable fireplace (and a very cool hooded chimney), my guess would be that this was the original portion built by Job. However, he doesn't seem to have stayed there long.

The 12+ acres sold by Jacob Robinson
to his brother Job in 1789

In 1796, Job (already noted as being "of the Borough of Wilmington") sold his Mill Creek Hundred property to William Custalo, who had purchased the 10 neighboring acres to the east from Jacob Robinson in 1792 (Custalo was described as a "waggonmaker" in the deed). At some point Job and wife Margaret had moved into town, where he worked as a bookbinder. The Robinson family, however, was far from done with the area. Jacob appears to have sold what was probably the remainder of his land in May 1795 to Charles Anderson (though I can't find that deed). A month later Anderson sold a 68 acre portion of that (it honestly could have been almost all of it) to John Robinson. John was still there and operating his grist mill, and now had reacquired almost all of his father George's former farm. We'll now try (and mostly succeed) to leave John Robinson, his mill, and his farm for another time, and attempt to focus solely on the 12 acres now in the possession of William Custalo.

As best as I can tell from the 1810 and 1820 Censuses, William Custalo remained on his farm until selling it in 1823 to George Burge. I don't know if Burge lived in the house or used it as a rental property, but in 1827 he's listed as being "of Darby Township" when he sold it to Lewis H. Johnson, of Mill Creek Hundred. Johnson could even have been leasing the farm for a few years before buying it, because he also took out a mortgage with Burge. I don't know much about Johnson, except that in 1830 he's listed here with only himself and a 60 to 70 year old female (maybe his mother?) in the household. 

1939 aerial, looking east over Newport Gap Pike. Except for the Emily Bissell Hospital in the
foreground, probably would have looked similar in the mid-1800's. The Robinson-Clark Farm
 can be seen along Hercules Rd., just to the upper left of middle.

Johnson sold the 12 acres in 1836 to George Reese. Judging from the fact that both parties are "of Chester County" in the deal, and that I cannot find Reese in MCH in the 1840 Census, he may have leased out the farm as well. George Reese must have died in late 1840 or early 1841, as his administrators (Mary and Joseph Reese) sold the property to James Walker in March 1841. Walker almost certainly leased the farm, as he lived over closer to Limestone Road. He only owned it for a few years though, selling in 1844 to Martin Bowsinger (although, probably Bussinger), then of Chester County. Bussinger was, however, originally from Switzerland, likely emigrating to the US in about 1818. He was naturalized in 1833.

Martin and Anna Bussinger (or maybe Bossinger? -- between spelling and, probably, accents, it changes) owned the farm for eleven years, before selling in 1855. Judging by the 1860 Census, I think they moved up to work on the Giffen farm on Old Wilmington Road, near Loveville Road. The Swiss-born Martin Bussinger died from consumption (tuberculosis) in 1863, at the age of 80. But back in 1855, the new owner of the 12 acre farm along Hyde Run was a member of a family that had moved into the area nearly 25 years earlier -- William Clark.

Portion of the 1833 sale from James Robinson to James Donnell of 50 acres,
including the recently burned mill. Lewis H. Johnson then owned our 12 acres

As outlined in an old post (one that could probably use some fresh updating), Sussex County miller Henry Clark had purchased the old Robinson mill property (50 acres of it) from James Donnell in 1833. It had been acquired by James Robinson in 1822 at a sheriff's sale from John Robinson. The catch here is, I don't think they were related. As best as I can tell, James Robinson was a Scottish (maybe English) immigrant. He owned the mill until in burned down about 1833, when he sold to Donnell, who sold right away to Clark. It was Henry Clark who rebuilt the old grist mill as a woolen mill. To circle back around, William Clark was Henry's eldest son.

William Clark was about 32 when he purchased the house and 12 acres, and judging from the 1860 Census it does appear that he moved his new family into the home. At that time he was working with his father and brother James in the family woolen mill. But in November 1865, William and James purchased the former Garrett, more recently Pusey, Auburn Factory in Yorklyn. The brothers converted it from a cotton to a woolen mill, and William moved to Auburn to oversee it. He would remain there even after the mill burned down in 1878. It would ultimately be purchased by the Marshall family in 1890 and a few years later become the birthplace of their vulcanized fibre business.

Even though William Clark moved to Yorklyn and later to Chester County, he still owned the house along what would later be known as Hercules Road (the eventual sale was from him, and referenced no intermediate transfers). However, it looks like he effectively put the property into his father's hands, and the 1868 and 1881 maps even show them as belonging to Henry Clark. It's quite possible that brother James moved himself and his family into the home for a while, as the 1870 Census lists him as a separate household immediate following his father. By 1880, James is back in his father's household, and there are several other families listed on the same page who could be renting the house.

A copy of the 1893 deed from Clark to Magargal
(courtesy of the current owners)

The 1890 Census, as we know, is not available, and the next change in ownership occurred just a few years later, in April 1893. That's when the house and small farm were sold to 38 year old Orlando C. Magargal. Orlando was born in Christiana Hundred (near Richardson Park), but moved to MCH in 1862 when his father Ephraim purchased the farm on the south side of Lancaster Pike across from the end of Old Wilmington Road (where the neighborhood of Canterbury Hills is now). In 1878 he married Clara Mousley of Brandywine Hundred (for part of her childhood she lived in the house that still stands in Talley-Day Park, behind the Brandywine Hundred Library), and the 1880 Census has Clara and Orie (as he was listed) probably on the Lancaster Pike farm.

Reports of two Magargal parties. Left, in May 1898 at their "Brandywine Springs" home,
and right, in February 1910 at their home at Greenbank. Any of your relatives there?

The Magargals remained on their new farm, I think, for about 10 years or more. Quite honestly though, between Orie, his father, and some other family members, there were quite a few transactions in the area, making it hard to determine for sure where everyone was living at any given moment. I believe Ephraim owned a house on Newport Gap Pike at Greenbank, one that Orie and Clara may have moved to after his passing in 1905. I'm partially gathering that from reports of parties the Magargals threw over the years (see above). And incidentally, before we leave this family behind, if the name sounded at all familiar to you, we've come across it before. Orlando Magargal's nephew (Ephraim, Jr's son) Roy (Jacob Leroy, in full), was the last operator of the Greenbank Mill, up until its demise in a fire in 1969.

Bertha Hayes, on the front porch of her home

Having presumably moved down to Greenbank, Orie Magargal sold his 12 acre farm and house in June 1912 to George W. Hayes. George was a butcher who had most recently resided in Milltown, and who continued to practice his craft after moving in here. His father Joseph was also a butcher, and George grew up in the area of Hercules Road and Lancaster Pike. There was also a Reuben Hayes who owned a neighboring farm to this one in the 1860's (one of the remnants of the original Robinson tract), but I cannot determine if he was related.

1946 survey for the 1947 sale of part of the property from George
and Bertha Hayes to their son Harvey

George and wife Bertha owned their home -- but not all the land -- for the rest of their lives. Over time they sold off most of their 12+ acres, including three acres on the northeast end to Edith Schnitzer in 1946, and a bit more than five acres a year later to their son Harvey. Both of those sales are illustrated below. George Hayes passed away in 1952, and by the time of Betha's death in 1960 the property on which the house stood was down to a little more than an acre and a quarter. The Hayes sons, Harvey and Walter, sold the home in 1960 to Everett and Alma Whittaker. The house passed through only a couple other hands until recently being acquired by new owners -- ones very curious and respectful of the home's history.

Showing the 1946 sale of 3 acres to Schnitzer (top), 5+ acres in
'47 to son Harvey (middle), and the remaining house lot (bottom)

Given its placement right along Hercules Road, this the kind of house that's likely to make you think, "Hmm, that looks like it's probably old" as you go by, without giving you an idea of the full scope of its story. Although it may appear simple from the front, this house has been home to many families for likely more than 230 years. It was also directly connected to a grist mill that operated before there even was a United States of America, and its replacement woolen mill that produced both long before and after the Civil War. All the while, a variety of large and small families thrived within its hopefully now-appreciated walls.