Vessel would come down, we would have ready the quantity 

 wanted." In this manner quercitron was shipped to England 

 from Hagley in the 1820's.'-'- 



Most of the practical problems encountered by the Hagley tan- 

 nery involved transportation — getting bark to their mill. The 

 bark industry was closely connected to the shallop trade on the 

 Delaware River, and at times boats were difficult to procure. On 

 arrival in Wilmington they had to be met by wagons and drivers 

 who carted the bark to the Brandywine above tidewater. This 

 required coordination, and boat captains were frequently asked to 

 send "one of the Crew" to Hagley so that "we may look for the 

 Teams." It was Cardon's experience that in a flour milling city 

 one "could procure . . . teams more easily before, than during 

 harvest." ^^^ 



Through the ten years of operation, letters such as the following 

 were commonplace: 



Our Stock of bark being nearly exhausted, the object of this is to request you 

 to send on as soon as possible the 50 cords . . . which you promised to send 

 up as soon as boats could be procured, which must be the case now, as they 

 no doubt had since the opening of the navigation, time enough to make 2 or 

 3 trips either to the City or to the Mills with the grain taken in at your place 

 during the Winter.'^* 



A new concern, in a highly competitive business, consistently 

 found bark the most difficult raw material to obtain. 



Other materials were used by the tannery but in less bulk. Oil 

 of vitriol (sulfuric acid), lime, and dyestufi^s were purchased; and 

 du Pont de Nemours and Company provided various services, 

 including blacksmithing, millwrighting, and wagoning. Titus 

 Mosely did the wagoning, William Murphy the millwrighting, and, 

 generally speaking, the tanners found du Pont a great convenience, 

 either to conduct business for them in Philadelphia, to secure 

 credit, or to provide transportation.^^'' 



To tan morocco leather, Sicilian sumac was purchased along 

 with such dyes as Nicaragua wood (black), silver-gray cochineal 



'■*- Letter book, May 13, 1818; Invoice of Bark ... on account of A. Cardon by Joseph G. Oliver 

 & Co., 1822-1823 (OSOR, Tannery, box 1); letter book March 12, July 23, 1821; and Robert E. 

 Griffith to A. Cardon and Company, March 31, 1821, Griffith Correspondence (OSOR, box 127). 



1^3 Letter book, Cardon and Company, June 28, 1821. 



'^■' Letter book, Cardon and Company, March 26, 1822. 



'"^ Hagley Shop ledger, 1813-1837 (OSOR, Gunpowder, misc.); letter book, Cardon and Company, 

 et passim. All of the Cardon and Company accounts reflect the concern's dependence upon E. I. du 

 Pont de Nemours and Company. 



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