in 1829. Crawford's capital investment was $6,000; he employed 

 six men at a monthly wage of $18; he tanned 500 hides and ground 

 350 cords of quercitron bark annually; and in 1832, Crawford 

 voiced the same opinion as Isaac Jackson, namely, that the tan- 

 ning trade had increased, but that the prices were too high."'^ 

 Crawford's tannery boasted an additional advantage. It was — 



situated in a moral and respectable neighborhood, also for obtaining of 

 Bark, it being on the road leading from the lower part of Chester County, 

 where the most part comes from into our market. It can be had from three 

 to eight dollars per cord, as seasons vary. From three to four hundred 

 slaughter hides can be had yearly. The improvements are, a Bark house, 

 40 by 20 feet, with a Bark mill underneath, in complete order, Currying 

 shop, Beam house, and Drying loft. Above the yard is paved with brick, 

 which has 28 layaway vats, which will hold 78 hides each, with 5 letches 

 drawing into a cistern that has two pumps worked by Horses power. Two 

 limes, two bat[els and two pools, with a spring of water passing through. '^^ 



Whether operating in town or in the country, New Castle 

 County tanners and bark millers, as well as those in the lower 

 counties, had in common many things aside from the tiresomely 

 similar appearance of their tanyards: they bought hides in Wil- 

 mington, Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore (both Spanish 

 and domestic) and sold leather in the same places; they worked 

 on an average of 10 to 12 hours per day, paying their men between 

 $15 and $20 per month; they manufactured mainly sole leather 

 from Spanish or South American hides; they ground black-oak 

 bark for the quercitron trade, which was shipped all over the 

 world; they preferred cash but sold their leather at three, four, or 

 six months' credit, but the bark millers demanded cash; and most 

 of them, when they expressed an opinion, felt that the last twenty 

 years had been trying ones for the tanner."^ However, it was 

 the consensus of New Castle County tanners that business prospects 

 in 1832 looked brighter than they had for years. F. H. Holtz- 

 becker best summarized this when he wrote: "Owing to [the] 

 increase of internal consumption, occasioned by [the] increase 

 in population, other manufacturing establishments, and exporta- 

 tion of shoes, boots, harnesses, etc.; the demand for all kinds of 

 leather is considerably increasing." "*' 



Downstate in Kent and Sussex Counties the same conditions 

 prevailed. But, there, tanneries and bark mills had at least one 



'1' McLane Report, vol. 2, pp. 744, 756. "^ Delaware Gazette, January 20, 1837. 

 "^ McLane Report, vol. 2, pp. 666 et passim. "^ Ibid., p. 754. 



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