Exact copy of Brief of History from the HISTORICAL VOLUME OF THE ASSO- § 



ciation of Centenary Firms of the United States. j 



Forty-four One-hundred- Year-old Firms now in existence have been furnished histories « 



drawn after the same form. j 



Founded 1784 J 



D. LANDRETH SEED COMPANY ! 



SEED FARMERS AND MERCHANTS j 



Bristol, Pa. 1 



1784 The Landreth nursery and seed business was established in Philadelphia in 1784. Its * 



founder, David Landreth, born 1752, son of a Northumberland farmer who had, in J 



England, applied himself to the business of tree-growing. He emigrated to Canada f 



1786 m I ^ 81 ' shorti y after removing to Philadelphia. About 1786 he associated his brother 3 



Cuthbert in the business. The first place of business was in Philadelphia on High J 



Street, the position now being covered by the buildings 12 10 and 1212 Market Street, f 



then a location well out in the country. Contiguous land was rented, the largest sec- $ 



tion being a tract at Twelfth and Filbert Streets. l\ 



1789 The ori gi na l firm designation was David Landreth. The Landreth nursery and seed t 

 garden in the "Neck" was established in 1789 on rented land. A portion of the tract 



was purchased, and an adjoining tract purchased in 1799. /» 



1790 Fi 1790 the firm title was David & Cuthbert Landreth. The old mansion house on «• 

 the nursery grounds, which, embowered in vines and surrounded by rare shrubs and A 

 trees, had become one of the show places of Philadelphia, was, in 1847, sold to the I 

 school-board of Philadelphia. _ It was designated as the the Landreth School, subse- » 

 quently burned and a new building erected under same designation. 



1800 From the Landreth nurseries were drawn many of the specimens of fine trees which (f 



now embellish the old country-seats around Philadelphia. Fine examples of these & 

 trees are to be seen in the oldest ashes, elms, birches, oaks, and buttonwoods of Wash- 

 ington and Independence Squares, these being planted about the beginning of the 

 century. 



1808 * n T ^ 0 ^ David & Cuthbert Landreth conducted business at three locations — at the 1 



seed store on Market Street near Twelfth Street; at the southeast corner of the old 



iftlft court-house; at the nursery. In 18 10 a seed store was established on Second Street I 



J - 3AU below Market. I 



t» 



1818 I n 1818 a see d store was established in Charleston, S. C. Subsequently the property J 



Nos. 351 and 353 King Street was purchased, and the business continued until the real f 



estate and merchandise were confiscated, April 22, 1862, by order of the District * 



Court of the Confederate States. J 



1820 The Landreth seed store removed from Second Street to Chestnut Street below Third. f 

 1832 David Landreth, 1st, began the issue of the Floral Magazine, the first agricultural 



journal ever published in America, and very handsome and technical. I 



1854 A branch was established in St. Louis, Mo., but closed upon the outbreak of the » 



Civil War. 1 



1875 The title, which had been D. Landreth & Son since i860, changed to D. Landreth & f 



Sons, the partners being David Landreth, Oliver Landreth, Burnet Landreth, and S 



Leopold Landreth. J 



1880 David Landreth, 2d, died, the business being conducted by his sons, Oliver, Burnet, f 



and Leopold. S 



David Landreth, 2d, was an agriculturist of rare experience and ability — a rapid, § 



pleasing writer on rural topics. In 1827 he was one of the founders and, in 1828 and I 

 seven years following, the corresponding secretary of the Pennsylvania Horticultural 



Society, the mother of all similar societies in the United States. His firm was one of § 



the first manufacturers of mowing machines in the United States. 1 



Oliver Landreth died in 1897, Leopold died in 19 12. J 



1901 ^he title was changed to D. Landreth Seed Company, the great-grandsons, Burnet f 



Landreth, Jr., and Symington Phillips Landreth, entering the business. At this date S 



1915 there are four Landreths in the business, direct descendants: Burnet Landreth, Sr., of J 



the third generation; Burnet Landreth, Jr., Symington Phillips Landreth, and David f 



Landreth of the fourth generation. ' S 



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