BRANDYWINE MILLS. 1800
At the entrance of Wilmington is situated Brandywine, a place which
contains the greatest part of the houses belonging to the hundred of
Brandywine. This village, or rather this hundred, takes its name from the creek
which runs through it, and whose source is forty miles from the Delaware in the
mountains of Pennsylvania. It is sufficiently rapid, and contains water enough
to turn, in its course, from sixty to eighty mills, almost all of different
descriptions, such as paper, powder, tobacco, sawing, fulling, and flour,
mills, the latter of which are most numerous. The principal ones are situated
near the bridge over the creek. All the operations of the mills are performed
by water, from the unloading, the sloops which bring the corn, to the complete finishing
of the flour. Thus the sacks are hoisted into the granary, the flour is sifted,
is ground, and bolted, without the least manual labour. The mills are similar
to those at London bridge in England, and those which the brothers Perrier have
constructed at Paris near the Gros-caillou.
The latter are first set in motion by a steam engine, but as the secondary
motion is the principal, the mills of London and Paris give a sufficiently
exact idea of these of Brandywine. There is, however, in the process from the
grinding to the bolting, a difference in savour of the former. At London and
Paris the flour when ground falls into troughs, and is afterwards conveyed by
the labourer to another part of the mill, where it is spread, and turned by the
hand to cool it before it is taken to be bolted: such at least was the process
when I left Europe.
At Brandywine the flour falls as it is ground upon a wooden roller,
armed with little detached wings, which are so arranged as to form a screw.
This roller, fixed in a trough, is inclined towards a bin in such a manner that
it serves as a conductor to the flour, which would descend too rapidly if it
fell perpendicularly, and too slowly and at intervals if it were merely
conducted by a simple inclined plane. A chain of small troughs, about three or
four cubic inches long, dips into the bin, which receives the flour. This chain
is enclosed in long perpendicular wooden cases. It turns upon two pivots; one
of which is placed in the bin where the little troughs fill themselves with the
flour which is deposited there; and the other on the fourth floor, where the
fame little troughs empty themselves, and thence descend empty to recommence
their perpetual operations.
The flour, conveyed above by these troughs, falls on an inclined
circular floor, in the centre of which are several holes; it is there spread
about by a rake as large as the floor, the teeth of which are so placed ,as to
conduct the flour towards the holes, through which it falls, cooled, into the
bolters. These bolters are also different from those used in France and
England, as the stuff which covers them, and through which the flour passes, is
a fine silk, very closely woven. The
millers assert, that notwithstanding they pay six dollars an ell for this
stuff, it is cheaper than the common bolting cloth, to which it is likewise to
be preferred for giving a more beautiful colour to the flour. These bolters
will last five years in constant use without any repair: about twelve ells of
stuff is sufficient to cover them. Hitherto the stuff has been brought from
Holland j but a manufactory of it is about to be established at Wilmington.
Each pair of mills is furnished with Its winged roller, its chain and troughs,
its inclined circular floor, and its bolters. This mechanism for conveying the flour from the mill-stone to the bolter
was invented five years ago by Mr. Evans of Philadelphia, who obtained a patent
for the invention, which bears his name. There are three pair of mills, in this place, with that which we have
visited, that is to fay, six mills and twelve mill-stones. I explain myself
thus minutely to prevent mistakes. There are some parts of the machinery of
these mills, however, such, as the wheels, the trundleheads, &c. which are
not so well executed as in those of Europe.
The proprietor of the mill which I particularly examined is a quaker,
of the name of Tatnall [Joseph, 1740-1813]. His son-in-law, Thomas
Lea, [1759-1823] took upon himself the trouble of shewing me the whole of it. He is
also a quaker, about thirty years of
age [actually 41]: he is a handsome, cheerful, active, man. Like a true American patriot,
he persuades himself, that nowhere is any undertaking executed so well, or with
so much ingenuity, as in America; that
the spirit, invention, and genius, of Europe, are in a state of decrepitude
(these are his words), whilst the genius of America, full of vigour, is
arriving at perfection.
These opinions are not much to be wondered at in Thomas Lea, who is
merely a good miller; they ought rather to excite pleasure as the ebullitions
of a patriotic enthusiasm, the indulgence of which is not likely to be
prejudicial to him, as it does not
prevent him from adopting all the good inventions of Europe, by which he may
improve his mill. The same error, however, is discoverable in almost all
the Americans— in legislators and magistrates, in whom it is more baneful —as
well as in millers.
Thomas Lea is a most candid and
obliging man ; he answered all my questions with great politeness, and
voluntarily imparted much information, for which I could not have taken the
liberty to talk. He is in, partnership with his father-in-law: their mill is
not employed for the public, but solely in their own private service. It is
called a flour manufactory.
They purchase their corn in
Virginia, Maryland, and in the state of New-York, which is brought from
thence in two of their own ships;
they convert it into flour; and the same
sloops carry it back again to Philadelphia, where it is sold for exportation.
They grind about one hundred thousand bushels of corn yearly.
The whole labour of the mill is
performed by six men only; whose chief employment is to place the flour in
barrels : their wages are from six to eight dollars per month, with warning,
board, and clothing. There, are, besides,
twenty-four men employed by this manufactory for working the vessels, and
making the barrels. The coopers work by the piece; they can earn a dollar
per day, but board and clothe themselves. Tatnall does not employ any negroes,
as they do not work with the whites; but are slow, and bad-workmen. The laws of
the state of Delaware permit slavery, but the quakers as is well known, do not
make use of the permission.
Almost all the labourers
employed in these mills are foreigners, the greatest part of whom are English or Irish. The millers complain
of their drunkenness and indolence, and would
prefer Frenchmen as more industrious and sober, if they could be procured ,
which they very much desire.
The corn trade is in a more flourishing state at present than it has
ever been; at least wheat fetches a higher price. The common price of a bushel
of wheat, in time of peace, is seven shillings. In January 1795 it rose from
ten to ten and six pence, and during the eighteen succeeding: months, even as
high as thirteen or fourteen shillings. It has since fallen, but to nothing
near its former level. The bushel weighs sixty pounds. Five bushels yield a
barrel of fine flour, containing a hundred and ninety-six pounds, besides three
other inferior sorts of meal. The price of the finest flour is eight dollars
and a half; of the second quality, eight dollars; of the third, seven dollars;
and of the fourth, five dollars. The bran is sold at one eighth of a dollar per
bushel, containing thirty-five pounds; it is sent to Philadelphia.
The following is a statement of the
produce of one hundred bushels of
wheat as given me by Thomas Lea:—nineteen barrels of fine flour; two
barrels of flour of the second quality; three barrels of the third quality ; and
thirty bushels of bran. Total, five thousand nine hundred and ten pounds: waste
ninety pounds.
The wheat of the eastern part of
Maryland produces the finest flour, on account of the goodness of the soil
and the quickness of its growth; but this flour is not so heavy as that of
other parts; that of New-York for instance, though inferior in quality, is
good, and is heavier, because the grain is longer in ripening. The corn of the
province of Delaware is nearly of the same quality as that of Maryland. Large quantities of Indian corn are
likewise ground in these mills, of which they make bread and cakes: in
several parts of the United States they use no other sort of bread; in some
parts it is even preferred without any motives of oeconomy, as it is esteemed
by the faculty as the most wholesome.
It is used to fatten poultry and cattle, and is exported in great
quantities to the West Indies. As this grain contains more moisture than other
bread corn, it is dried in a kiln before it is sent to the mill. A bushel costs
at present five shillings; it weighs fifty-six pounds, and produces fifty-four
pounds of flour. The process of bolting separates the fine from the inferior
sort of maize-flour, but the latter is reground and mixed with the other. One
third of a barrel fells for three dollars. The bran, which is in very small
quantities, is not taken from the flour.
This information I received from the worthy Thomas Lea. There are
eleven other mills near his; four of them are very large, the others much
smaller. The ice in this river sometimes
stops the mills for two months, at other times only three weeks, according to
the severity of the winter, At this time the millers settle their yearly
accounts; which is easily done, as wherever their factors buy their corn they
pay for it in ready money, and wherever they sell their flour they are paid for
it on delivery by a bill at sixty or ninety days fight, which they immediately
discount with the bank. During this period they employ no labourers, whose pay
whilst in employ is so high that they experience no difficulty in supporting themselves
during its suspension: in general, after a few years service, they are enabled
to purchase lands in the newly-inhabited parts of the country.
I likewise visited the manufactory for making bolting silk. The
labourers are Irishmen ; as well as the proprietor. This manufactory employs at
present only three work-men: the silks
are made to suit the different qualities of flour.
Though this manufactory has only been established a year, it is a
profitable concern, and when more extensively known it will be much more so, as
these silks are cheaper than those sent
from Holland, and last longer, as those millers who use them have
experienced. In a country like America -where there are so many mills, the
advantages of these bolters must be very great; in fact, almost all the millers
use them in preference to linen cloths for bolting, as well as Thomas Lea. They are so useful, that an act of parliament has been made in England,
to permit the importation of them into that country. The silk is brought
from Georgia: if the Americans would plant mulberry trees, and raise silk-worms,
this species of manufacture would be a source of great riches to the
country.
Travels Through the United States of North America, vol 3 London: 1800 by François-Alexandre-Frédéric
duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt
"I have said that
Brandywine-creek, in its short course of seven or eight miles through the state
of Delaware, turns about sixty mills of different sorts.
We shall soon enter the little state of Delaware, but it has no large
towns, no mountains, and no large rivers. Yet the people raise excellent wheat,
and a good deal of it. In the other column there is a picture of a man cradling
wheat. Near Wilmington, we shall see some large mills for making flour, which
are the best in the country. We shall also notice some extensive paper mills."
Child's Book of American Geography: Designed as an Easy and
Entertaining ... Boston: 1837
Brandywine Flour Mills, Bass Otis c1840. original at Delaware Historical Society
Brandywine Flour Mills, Bass Otis c1840. original at Delaware Historical Society
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