Joseph Scott noted particularly the manufacture of "leather, shoes, 

 boots and saddles."*'"* 



There were ten tanneries reported in and around Wilmini2;ton in 

 1810, valued at ?56,405.-'" By 1814, the year in which H. Niles 

 thought the place "likely to become one of the most important 

 manufacturing towns in the United States," ''^ Isaac Poulson, 

 George Poulson, William Smith, and Davis Walker were making 

 shoes in nearby Brandywine Village; while across the Brandywine 

 in W'ilmington, thirteen tanners and curriers plied their trade.^^ 

 One year later, the hrm of "A. Cardon & Co." began business on 

 the banks of the Brandywine — an operation that will be examined 

 more carefully in the next chapter. 



In 1817, one of the oldest Wilmington tanneries, Thomas Smith's 

 (see fig. 17), was described in the Delaware Gazette with more than 

 usual detail. 



A Lot of ground on the corner of West and Second streets ... on which is 

 erected one large stone bark house, 60 feet by 31 feet, with a good cellar 

 underneath; one handling house and drying loft, 40 feet by 15 feet; one beam 

 house and drying loft, 20 feet by 15 feet; one mill house, 30 feet square; one 

 stable, 30 feet by 12 feet; one bark shed, 67 feet long, with a pump; one stone 

 lime house; one brick building, occupied as a counting house, 14 feet square; 

 with 86 holes, which consists of 2 pools, 3 limes, 6 bates, 12 handlers, 6 latches, 

 and 57 layaway vats, all in complete order. The pools, limes and bates 

 draw off at the bottom. The whole lot is enclosed with a good stone and 

 board fence. 



Toward the end the writer's enthusiasm mounted, and a routine 

 effort to sell a property became a hearty endorsement of local 

 commerce and its potential. 



A more particular description of this well known property cannot be 

 necessary; as a tannery, its local advantages are excelled by none if equalled 

 by any in the state. Health, an overflowing fountain of the finest water, 

 a ready supply of raw materials, a daily intercourse with the city of Phila- 



^^ Geographical Description oj the States of Maryland and Delaware, p. 171, 



^^ American State Papers . . ., Finance, vol. 2, p. 764. 



" Niles' Weekly Register (1814), vol. 6, p. 277. 



^- Directory and Register for the Year JSI4 . . . of the Borough of Wilmington and Brandywine 

 lists tanners and curriers in Wilmington as follows: William Brown, 22 E. High St.; William Chandler, 

 15 Shipley St.; Thomas Lock, Orange between 2nd and 3rd Sts.; Thomas Ring, 39 King St.; William 

 and Caleb Seal, west corner of Hanover St.; Thomas Smith, W. 2nd above Tatnall St.; Robert Squibb, 

 24 W. High St.; Thomas Stanton, W. High between Tatnall and West Sts.; Joshua Starr, West 

 between 2nd and 3rd Sts.; Trip and Bonsall, corner of Tatnall and 2nd Sts.; Benjamin Webb, West 

 between Hanover and Oueen Sts.; Robert Wilkinson & Co., 40 W. High St.; and David and Carson 

 Wilson, W. 3rd near Tatnall St. 



40 



