Photo Archives News: Auction purchases
Friday, July 9th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
West Union Street between Wayne and New Streets, West Chester, PA, ca. 1906.
The Chester County Historical Society is pleased to announce that it was able to purchase photographs and manuscripts from Paul Rodebaugh’s Estate at a recent auction. Rodebaugh was a well respected teacher, local historian and collector of Chester County books, manuscripts and photographs.
Almost 400 lots of manscripts, ephemera and photographs were offered at auction held on June 10, 2010 in Philadelphia. CCHS was successful in bidding on 14 lots. Special funds restricted for new purchases made it possible to obtain some rare items. Rodebaugh was devoted to seeking out unique pieces of Chester County’s history.
I will be featuring on this blog today and in the weeks ahead, some of the treasures that will be made available to the public. Among the purchases are photographs of West Chester and other parts of Chester County, daguerreotypes of the Larkin and Hallowell families, stereographs of Chester County made by local photographers, photographs of families, organizations and albums of the Thomas-Hallowell family.
I was thrilled to bid on a lot of large format views of West Chester, showing images of business and streets I had never seen before. One of the views from the lot is shown above of the north side of Union Street - as a newly constructed housing development. The bidding moved quickly with a number of eager buyers. Would our bid be enough? I held my breath until at last CCHS bid had won! It was a night of nervous excitment, expectation, with both defeath and triumph.
African American family, West Chester, PA ca. 1896.
When I saw a lot of three photographs showing African American families with their homes and a Gay St. School class in 1919, I put it on my “gotta have it” list. Despite the ink stains, there is wonderful detail in this photograph. The family is unidentified, but the house is so familiar. This is where I need reader’s help in identifying this photo. The building has alot of distinctive elements. So let me hear from you!
Another great find was a number of views by Oxford newspaper editor Douglas Brinton from his series titled; “”Brinton Photographic Collection of Revolutionary and other Historical Landmarks in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.” Here we see the peaceful beauty of a tree lined street in Oxford.
"The Broad Walk, Oxford, PA," ca. 1900.
These views will enhance the holdings already in CCHS collection.
Stereoview by S. Clark, 1871-1874.
A stereograph taken by photographer S. Clarke is a rare find. According to “Directory of Pennsylvania Photographers 1839-1900 ,” compiled by Linda Ries and Jay Ruby, Samuel Clark made his way from Philadephia to Pittsburgh between the 1850s and the later 19th century. He stopped long enough to hang his shingle out in Downingtown early in the 1870s. It will take further research to identify the stone farmhouse, but I am hoping that one of the readers of this blog drives past it everyday (hopefully it still is standing)!
Thomas family album, 1860s-1870s.
Gems for the family historian are also included in the purchases. Many carte-de-visite (photographic visiting cards), cabinet cards and card photographs were purchased of the Thomas - Hallowell families. This album went on the “gotta have it” list when I saw all the idenfications beautifully written in a delicate hand in the tiny illuminated spaces under each photograph. Genealogists will have a field day locating ancestors.
More of the treasures will be featured in future blogs. When a guide to the collection is available it will be added to the website. Pamela Powell, Photo Archivist
Your comments are welcome! To leave a comment click on the link at the top of this posting or click on the photographs. Thank you!
Discoveries in the Darkroom: Market St., West Chester, PA
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Looking west on Market St., at the intersection of High St., West Chester, PA
It was exciting to see this view emerge from the gurgling print washer - an early 20th century view of Market Street at the intersection of High Street in West Chester, taken by an unidentified photographer. This central intersection has been photographed countless times, but I have never seen this angle before. What is fascinating about this photograph is the wealth of detail. I am hoping these minute details will provide a solid date for the image.
To start, lets look at the buildings. We see the Chester County Courthouse at the center of the photograph with the Courthouse Annex designed by architect T. Roney Williamson in 1891. On the left is the six-story Farmer’s and Mechanics Bank building (known as the F & M building) which was completed in 1907; and the historic Turk’s Head Inn is on the corner to the right.
The trolley tracks of the West Chester Street Railway pulls our vision into the center of the photograph. Not only are the sidewalks paved of brick, so were these main streets! Notice that there are no traffic signals at the intersection!
Other wonderful details emerge telling us how people communicated at that time. On the window of the F & M building is a sign for the Western Union Telegraph Company. Sending a telegram from this office will send a message boy in some distant city scrambling off to deliver it by bicycle or on foot. For less urgent mail you could use the postal letter box seen on the left on the support for the shed roof. On the far right on one of the posts of the Turk’s Head Inn is a Bell Telephone Booth sign. Always keep a nickle handy to make a call.
Detail, monument and Cafe sign
Now let’s look at some details that further define a date. The presence of the cannons and Old Glory statue on the courthouse lawn brings us up to 1915. You can even see the sundial on the south side of the courthouse. What I found curious was the electrified Turk’s Head Inn Cafe sign on the corner.
According to CCHS’ newspaper clippings file, the Turk’s Head Inn Cafe first opened on October 14, 1915. Proprietor Morris Sellers offered a club breakfast or business men’s lunch for 25 cents and a full course dinner for 50 cents. His advertisement guaranteed “Polite and Competent Help.”
Business was good for Sellers until the impact of World War I was felt locally. In an article from the Daily Local News dated July 12, 1918, Sellers closed the Turk’s Head Inn, due to the high cost of food and a wartime prohibition. Howard K. Moses purchased the business in October of 1918 and reopened it as a “dry” hotel.
The newspaper clippings on the Turk’s Head Inn are a great source for finding some detail to help fix a date on the photo. A clipping dated March 11,1927 from the Daily Local News reports that the old maple trees on the Market St. side of the hotel are to be cut down and the brick sidewalk is to be replaced with concrete. This is a clue that the photo was taken before 1927.
Detail, observe woman's dress
Another great clue to dating photos is costume. I was very curious about the woman’s dress; unfortunately the image is not entirely sharp. It looks like the woman is wearing a dress with a dropped waistline, which would place the photo in the 1920s.
Hemlines in the 1920s went through a rapid evolution. Early in the decade hems were just below the calf. In 1925-26 hems rose to higher on the calf , just below the knee. Prehaps this fashion was too high for the sensibility of most people and the hemlines fell before the stockmarket crashed. The hemline on this woman’s dress looks like it could fall into that 1925-26 time period.
What other details could establish a solid date? Automobiles are a great tool, and here again we see some curious details. On the left side of the street two cars and a truck are parked, but the auto in the center looks very different from the typical construction. Look at the difference in the hood.
Detail, automobiles are great tools for dating photographs
My thesis is that this is an electric car. After a short search on Google, the auto in question looks very similar to models made by Baker Motor Vehicle Co. in Cleveland, Ohio. According to old advertisements posted on the web, the autos were marketed for women, the selling point being that they started by simply turning a key, no messy hand cranking. The vehicle ran for about 100 miles on alkaline batteries.
I invite your comments and further information on this car. Maybe we will have a firm date for this photo yet! Pamela Powell, Photo Archivist
To comment, click on the underlined comments link.
Discoveries in the Darkroom: Bondsville Mill
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 | Historical photographs | No Comments
Bondsville Mill, E. Brandywine Twp., April 1898.
Cataloging photographs is one of the most interesting aspects of my work as photo archivist of the Chester County Historical Society. Trying to make sense of some collections is like putting together a puzzle with a number of the pieces missing. The collection of glass plate negatives donated by Mildred Clower Somerville 1962 was one of those enigmas.
It is a fine collection of images of the Bondsville textile mill in E. Brandywine Twp., views taken in Fisherville, family photographs and some views in West Chester, PA, between 1898 and 1904. But some information needed to understand the collection was never recorded. Who took the photographs? Why were the places photographed selected?
One particular inscription on a negative envelope was particularly puzzling: “Home of Grandparents and I, 7/8/1900″ It showed a house in Fisherville which still stands today on the Bondsville Road. But who is “I” and who are the grandparents?
"Home of Grandparents and I" on Bondsville Rd., Fisherville, 1900.
Looking into the history of the donor, I found that Mildred Clower Somerville was born in West Chester in 1901, daughter of Elizabeth Austerberry and John Clower. Could the “I” mentioned above be either of her parents?
I discovered in CCHS clippings file that John Clower, 1871-1959, was the son of Thomas Maxwell Clower, the president of Beaver Mills also known as the Bondsville Mills in E. Brandywine Township. Under his father’s instruction, John learned the weaving trade. The Daily Local News reported on November 12, 1895 that he was hired as the instructor of weaving and Keeper at the Chester County Prison, making a monthly salary of $65! That following year he married Elizabeth Austerberry and the couple settled on Market St. in West Chester.
Somehow it did not seem likely that John Clower had any reason to live apart from his parents.
Austerberry family graves, May 14, 1901.
It wasn’t until I took a closer look at some rather ordinary looking photographs of tombstones that the whole story came into focus. There were four tombstones in a row. The first read: “Joseph H. Austerberry Born at Oldham, Lancashire, England Dec. 26, 1847 Died Feb. 8th 1883 in the 35th year of his age.” Next to it was a tombstone of equal size which was blank, and then two smaller stones which were graves of children, Mary J. Austerberry 1876-1880 and James R. Austerberry 1882-1885. It became apparent that tragedy struck this family. This was the father and siblings of Elizabeth Austerberry Clower and the blank tombstone would one day be inscribed with her mother’s name Mary Riley Austerberry.
I can see how young Elizabeth would go to live with her grandparents. But who were they? Other tombstone photographs revealed graves of some of the Riley family in East Brandywine Baptist Cemetery. A Federal Census Record for E. Brandywine Twp. for 1850 revealed a James Riley living in Fisherville a few doors down from T. Maxwell Clower. The newspaper clippings file yielded an obituary on James Riley that gave the whole story.
James Riley and his wife, Elizabeth came to work at the Fisherville Mill just after their marriage from Manchester, England in 1847. The mill employed many weavers from England at that time. James worked as a weaver at the mill and later conducted a general store in Fisherville. The couple raised eight children.
So now it became clear that the “I” in the photo caption was Elizabeth Austerberry Clower and the grandparents were James and Elizabeth Riley of Fisherville.
Elizabeth Austerberry and John Clower with daughter Mildred taken in the yard of Chester County Prison, West Chester, PA, 1902.
The Mildred Clower Somerville collection is now cataloged and available when you visit the Chester County Historical Society library. Pamela Powell, Photo Archivist
I need to say a word of thanks to two very important people. We would not be able to enjoy these fascinating images from the past without their contribution. First I must thank CCHS volunteer Mary Painter for printing all of them in the CCHS darkroom and supporting this important work of the Society. Secondly, the Society is grateful to photographer David Gifford, of Gifford Images in West Chester, PA. Gifford donated to CCHS all of his darkroom equipment when he “went digital.” Letting go of this equipment which were the tools of his art was not easy. But the craft of traditional black and white photography lives on at CCHS through the program to print CCHS’ glass plate negatives. The Society and our researchers appreciate your contributions. Thank you!
Tribute to Jimmy John
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Everyone is saddened by the recent fire at Jimmy John’s restaurant and by the loss of some of the decorations that added so much atmosphere to the place. Today this blog is in tribute to Jimmy John. I feel fortunate to have met him and been touched by his sense of humor and creativity. He was a wonderful photographer, he could easily have pursued it as a profession and succeeded. But then we would not have had his wonderful hot dogs and cheeseburgers to enjoy! Here is a sampling of views he took documenting the home front in West Chester during World War II. If anyone can identify the people pictured I invite your comments. Pamela Powell, photo archivist
Aircraft spotters on top of the F & M Building, West Chester, PA 1942.
Scrap metal collection at Chester County Courthouse, West Chester, PA, 1942
War Bonds Booth, West Chester, PA 1942. Pictured L to R are: Betty McGowan, Harriet Ewing, Muriel Zebley, Joyce Faust.
Motor Corp volunteers farming, Lil Smith on left, 1942.
Recruits leaving West Chester on the train, 1942
Sailor's wedding, West Chester, PA ca. 1942.
Parting at the train, recruit leaving from Pennsylvania Railroad Station, West Chester, PA 1942.
Maryland School Named for West Chester High School Graduate
Friday, May 7th, 2010 | African American History, Uncategorized | No Comments
William B. Gibbs, Jr. as he appeared in his West Chester High School graduation photograph, 1927
After much work by many diligent people, an elementary school in Germantown Maryland is being named for William B. Gibbs, Jr. who was born and educated in West Chester, PA.
Gibbs is deserving of the honor for fighting for equal pay for African American teachers is a time when schools for black and white were separate, but were hardly equal. It happened that in 1936, Gibbs was a teacher and acting principal at Rockville Colored Elementary School in Maryland. He didn’t believe that it was fair for the the black teachers to receive only half as much pay as their white counterparts. Gibbs turned to the NAACP for help and found a young lawyer named Thurgood Marshall who was interested in rectifying this situation. Gibbs presented a petition to the school board for a salary schedule for teachers without regard to race. As expected, the School Board refused to grant the petition.
The next step was to file a suit against the school board. With Marshall arguing the case, the board was forced to negotiate a settlement. In 1937 the African American teachers received an incremental pay raise and the following year they recieved the same salary as white teachers.
Gibbs was fired by the school board over a technicality dealing with his principal’s certificate. He was unable to teach in the state of Maryland again.
Gibbs came from a family which had been rooted in Chester County for several generations. His family was centered in sucessful businesses, community life and church. He was a man who had the strength of character to do what was right even at a tremendous cost.
The William B. Gibbs Elementary School in Germantown Maryland will be dedicated on Mary 15, 2010. Pamela Powell, Photo Archivist
Discoveries in the Darkroom - Printing Office
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
F.S. Hickman Printing plant, SE corner Gay & Church Sts., West Chester, PA, ca. 1870.
Interior, Hickman Printing, ca. 1900. Photo by Albert Biles
Joseph Thorne's corner at Hickman's Printing, ca. 1900. Photo by Thorne
H.M. Talley at Hickman Printing Office ca. 1900. Photo by Thorne
Since January I have been featuring the photographs of Joseph Thorne on this blog. It has been interesting to look at what he found worthy to photograph over 100 years ago.
But who is this Joseph Thorne? Pardon me for not introducing him at the start.
Joseph Thorne was born in West Chester in 1849 to Benjamin and Anna M. Williams Thorne. His father served in Company E, 124th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War. Joseph Thorne married Annie Guss, the daughter of Captain Francis Guss and the couple lived in West Chester all their lives.
Thorne had apprenticed in the printing trade with Major E. B. Moore of the American Republican Newspaper. In 1868 he went to work for F.S. Hickman Printing, where he became the foreman. In his obituary, Thorne was called one of the best printers in West Chester. The Hickman Printing was extablished in 1845 doing all types of job printing and publishing, it flourished until the death of the owner in 1918.
The Thorne’s lived at 425 S. Church St. where they were active in the community. Thorne was a member of First West Chester Fire Company and the West Chester Methodist Church. He died in 1916 at age 67 from a stroke and was buried in Oaklands Cemetery.
In Thorne’s collection of glass plate negatives, none of the images are identified as a self-portrait. The wonderful interior view of Hickman’s printing office taken by Albert Biles shows several employees. Could either of the two older men be Joseph Thorne? If you can identify any of the people please let me know. Pamela Powell, Photo Archivist
Discoveries in the Darkroom - Chester Valley Railroad
Friday, April 16th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Chester Valley Railroad, 1892. Photo by Joseph Thorne
View along the Chester Valley Railroad, 1892. Photo by Joseph Thorne
Chester Valley Railroad, 1892. Photo by Joseph Thorne
On this blog we have been showing the photographs of Joseph Thorne, an amateur photographer working between about 1890 and 1910.
In the collection are these three excellent views of the Chester Valley Railroad which ran from Bridgeport, Montgomery County and terminated in Downingtown, Chester County. The line was chartered in 1835 to serve local farmers and industries of the Great Valley area. In Chester County it had stops at New Centerville, Chesterbrook, Howellville, Cedar Hollow, Valley Store, Mill Lane, Exton, Ackworth and Downingtown.
Ackworth is not a place name you would hear today. It was a stop to serve primarily two prominent families in E. Caln Township - the Ackers and the Worths. The Ackers were farmers and the Worths were associated with the iron industry. This same area was sometimes known as Baldwin’s Station for the Baldwin lime kilns and marble quarry in that area. The location of the old station was near the intersection of what is Boot and Quarry Roads today.
It is interesting to note that freight was hauled on this line into the early 1970s. When it was taken over by Conrail, the line was abandoned and today little trace is left of it.
None of the these views identify exactly which section of the Chester Vallery Railroad is being shown. I invite your comments on these photos. I am sure there are railroad buffs out there who know the location where these were taken! Pamela Powell, Photo Archivist
Discoveries in the Darkroom - Civil War Cannons
Friday, April 9th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Wayne Field, West Chester, PA, ca. 1900. Photo by Joseph Thorne.
Talk about things that aren’t there anymore- you would have to be a real old timer to recognize this view showing Wayne Field, the old Agricultural Fairgrounds with West Chester State Teacher’s College, as it was known then, in the background. Today this corner of Rosedale Ave. and New Street is sprouting new dormitories and buildings for the West Chester University of today.
This is the first photograph I have seen of the cannons at Wayne Field to commemorate Camp Wayne. During the Civil War, Camp Wayne operated for less than a year on this site. It began on May 4, 1861 serving as a training camp for recruits and as protection for West Chester. The 9th and 11th Pennsylvania Regiments were the first to arrive and slept in the horse sheds on straw. The 1st and 7th Pennsylvania Reserves arrived later to better conditions. Cabins were hastily erected. Here the men drilled and waited for their orders. Local men who enlisted in the 97th Pennsylvania received their first training here.
In June of 1861 a Griffith patent cannon was sent to Camp Wayne by the Phoenix Iron Company, Phoenixville for the use of the ‘Phoenix Artillerists’ who were training there. This mention in the Village Record of June 22, 1861 is the only mention of cannon in use at the camp.
The highlight of Camp Wayne’s history was a visit from Governor Curtin on November 12, 1861 to present the colors to the 9th Regiment. The visit was reported in great detail in the Village Record November 16, 1862.
After an unsuccessful attempt to torch the camp by Southern sympathizers, Governor Curtin ordered it to be dismanteled as reported in the Village Record, January 18, 1862.
I am interested to hear from readers where the cannons came from that were installed at Wayne Field to memorialize Camp Wayne. As far as we know, these cannons met a patriotic end in the scrap metal collection during World War II. Pamela Powell, Photo Archivist
Discoveries in the Darkroom - Bicycle Marathon
Friday, March 26th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Bicylist on Price Street, August 17, 1896 taken by Joseph Thorne
The caption on the negative sleeve read: “two wheeled bicycle marathon on Price St. near New, August 17, 1896.” What was even more curious was the image on the finished print – a lone bicyclist – a woman wearing a full skirt, jacket and a hat riding down the road. Somehow this was not what I expected!
The collection of glass plate negatives from West Chester printer Joseph Thorne has turned out to be full of surprises. Most of the plates had some sort of brief description, but even better, this one had a date. I turned to the Daily Local News on microfilm to see what was going on August 17, 1896.
In the sports section I found an announcement from the Time Wheelmen of a 150 mile marathon to be held on Labor Day, September 5th, 1896. The bicycling club offered prizes for riders that completed the course and a trophy for the club that had the most riders finish.
There were to be two classes – 100 mile and 150 mile courses that were set up with organized time schedules and dinner breaks. The 150 mile ride was to begin in Philadelphia at 3 a.m., traveling through Fort Washington, Montgomery Square, back to Philadelphia completing the first 49 miles in time for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. The group would then leave Philadelphia at 8:30 heading through Wayne, West Chester, Chadds Ford and then stopping in Wilmington for dinner by 1:30. The final leg of the journey would begin at 3:30 retracing the course back to Philadelphia by 8:45 p.m.
On August 17th the Local reported several of the riders checking out the course rode through West Chester. Curiously enough on the same page next to this story was an advertisement for Crescent bicycles sold by Henry R. Hoopes on West Gay Street. His ad proclaimed: “Wanted 100 ladies to teach to ride free of charge, if you buy.”
So was the fashionably clad woman in the photo part of the marathon group? Could a “lady” participate in a wheelman’s club? Let’s see what the microfilm tells us about the ride on September the 5th.
The front page story on Labor Day told of 500 bicyclists coming into West Chester on the big ride. Among them were a dozen “Plucky Lady Riders” entered in the 100 mile course. The women were described as wearing “old-style bloomers,” several rode tandems. The riders came through town on Church Street and headed west on Price Street towards Chadds Ford.
Only one woman was riding the 150 mile course. She was only identified as “Mrs. Rice” and she rode accompanied by her husband. According to the story in the Local, Mrs. Rice had survived the club’s three other “century runs” and was now ready for the longer course.
When the paper was printed that day it gave her a headline:
“AND MRS. RICE LIVES: Mrs. Rice the Plucky lady rider of the Time Wheelmen came through town with the 150 mile class and was as fresh when she arrived here as she was at the start and did not show the effects of the 80 miles she had already ridden in the least. She has the reputation of being the pluckiest lady rider in Philadelphia and she was well sustaining that reputation today. She has never yet dropped out of a run, even when many of the gentleman riders were compelled to do so. Her husband was also in this class.”
So what happened? Did she win a prize? The September 6th edition of the local had an ominous headline “OUT IN THE WET.” It seems that all went well for the riders until there was a tremendous down pour at about 3 pm. The riders on the 100 mile course had just finished their dinner break in West Chester and were heading back to Philadelphia. They rode in the rain and it wasn’t too bad while they were on macadam roads. When the course turned onto the dirt country road, the mud was so deep that the riders could only push their bicycles. Many abandoned the ride and got on the train at Fern Hill or Malvern.
For the riders in the 150 mile run, the rain struck when they were in Wilmington. Their group purchased some oil cloth and made improvised capes and continued the ride. A few of them reached West Chester by 10 p.m. after hours of difficult travel.
What happened to Mrs. Rice? According to the Local, “Mrs. Rice, for the first time of her life, was compelled to abandon her ride of 150 miles at Wilmington and took a train for home. She was with the pacemakers up to that time, but would not risk the ride through the rain.”
So could this photo be of the notable Mrs. Rice? What was her full name? I am hoping some readers of this blog may know these answers.
CCHS received as a donation some years ago from Mrs. Ruth Maconachy, this wonderful cabinet card photo of a very determined woman bicyclist wearing bloomers. I have always loved this picture and use is in some of my slide shows, even though it is unidentified it coveys a lot of “pluck.” The donor found it amongst some family photos, but did not know why here family had it. Perhaps it has something to do with a bicycle marathon on Price Street in 1896!
Pamela Powell, Photo Archivist
Unidentified bicyclist, ca. 1895
Discoveries in the Darkroom: Water Wheel Factory
Thursday, March 11th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Edge T. Cope's Machine Shop on the Brandywine, ca. 1890.
When this photograph of Edge T. Cope’s Machine Shop came out of the print washer, it took my breath away. Today if you pass the sight of this once flourishing business, all you will see are trees quietly growing beside the Brandywine.
By consulting newspaper clippings and business records in the CCHS library, the story of Cope’s foundry unfolds. It was located in East Bradford Township right beside Cope’s Bridge on what is today Route 162.
According to their letterhead Edge T. Cope & Sons were the “Manufacturer of the Best Turbine Water Wheel in the United States.” But let’s back up a minute. What brought them into such prominence?
The business began in 1830, when blacksmith Edge T. Cope (1809-1886) built a foundry to do iron work for the Pennsylvania Railroad making chains, switches, bridge bolts, car wheels and axles. Cope began making farm implements by purchasing the manufacturing rights to the Buckeye Mowing machine. By 1880 2000 Buckeye Mowing Machines were sold.
Cope made other equipment as well - such as horse powers, butter churns, steam engines, pumps, flour and saw mill machinery. Edge Cope was a blacksmith by training and he enjoyed passing on his knowledge to others. His obituary said that he trained many apprentices, treating them like his own sons.
Apprentices ca. 1870. L to R standing: William Thomas, Frank Hoopes; sitting William March, E. T. Cope Jr., Frank Painter.
Edge’s son Emmor patented a turbine water wheel which he exhibited during the Centennial Exhibition of 1876. Orders rolled in from across the U.S. , England and Ireland. The business refocused from agricultural equipment to the water wheels and milling equipment.
After Edge Cope retired in 1880 his sons Emmor(1834-1927) and Ezra (1838-1905) took over the business. At that time there were three buildings: a machine shop, foundry and carpenter shop. Emmor Cope converted the carpenter shop into a paper mill in 1889, which was not entirely successful. The business floundered and was sold by Sheriff’s sale in 1890.
This was a tough time for the employees of the firm. Richard T. Woodward began working at the machine shop at age 18 in the woodworking department. It was noted in the Daily Local News of November 6, 1882 that he had worked for 40 years without missing a day. This was in the day when the workday was 10 hours, 6 days a week. Unfortunately for Woodward, he had allowed his employer to withhold some of his pay each week to invest in the business. Over the years he had invested $1800. After the sheriff’s sale of the property, he recieved only $200.
The machinery was sold for scrap and finally the old mills were torn down in June of 1908. These photographs, letterhead designs and prints show us a once flourishing industry along the Brandywine. Pamela Powell, Photo Archivist.