delphia, and situated in a part ot town where property is fast increasing in 

 value, are among the advantages that may be mentioned."-^ 



Wilmington tanners by 1821 included Jackson and Webb, 

 Evans Lewis, B. R. Webb, and Isaac Starr. ^^ Starr's tannery, 

 dating from the 1740's, a family business, was the oldest of the 

 four. Its longevity is surprising since Isaac Starr revealed that 

 "not having any joint concern or any borrowed capital, I have 

 not been under the necessity of keeping any accounts of purchases 

 or sales; have no balance sheet, nor any means to ascertain profits 

 or loss, but by experience." ^^ Webb was more precise in his 

 practices, indicating that he tanned "from 1500 to 2000 hides per 

 year," employed six boys, had seventy-two vats, and "manu- 

 factured from 20 to 30 tun of quercitron Bark at which from one 

 to two hands are employed." ^^ Evans Lewis's principal product 

 was sole leather. He tanned Spanish hides in an establishment 

 that employed "Four men and three boys," had "one cast iron 

 bark mill always in operation," and a capital investment of "From 

 15 to 20,000 Dollars." ^' Dry or Spanish hides were used for many 

 purposes: "viz: uppers for shoes and boots, Harnesses, and the 

 construction ot carriages of pleasure, mail bags, saddlery, engine 

 hose, rigging and for all purposes where flexibility is required, 

 [and] also for sole leather." "^ The demand for sole leather seemed 

 to Lewis to be "increasino;, though the price [was] low and profits 

 light." '' 



When tanners began to experience a shortage of bark in the 

 1820's, some closed and others reduced their output. But in New 

 Castle County nine tanners, curriers, and bark manufacturers (in 

 aggregate) still employed 37 men; they had $33,000 investeci in 

 real estate, waterpower, and machinery; they paid $50,396 for 

 raw materials annually; and they sold $60,800 worth of leather 

 and bark per year.^"° 



Isaac Jackson, another Wilmington tanner, provided a full 

 statement of one year's business in the following "Account of Stock 

 Purchased in the year ending Twelfth Month 31, 1831."^°^ 



^^ April 16, 1817. In the Delaware State Archives, Dover, Delaware, assessment list for Christiana 

 Hundred, 1816, p. 192, Smith is assessed $2916 for "one tan yard, tan house and other buildings 

 occupied as a leather manufactory." 



^'' Census Schedules, New Castle County, Delaware, 1820. National Archives. 



85 McLane Report, vol. 2, p. 748. ^'^ B. R. Webb, in Census Schedule, March 28, 1821. 



"^ Evans Lewis, in Census Schedule, April 20, 1821. 



*^ Jackson and Webb, in Census Schedule, May, 1821. 



8^ Evans Lewis, in Census Schedule, April 20, 1821. 



"0 McLane Report, vol. 2, pp. 756-757. "i Ibid., p. 826. 



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