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FIRST F 
LANDRETH SEED STORE, 3rd AND CHESTNUT STS., 1835 
OLD STONE BARN AT BLOOMSDALE, BUILT 1807 
A History of the Business — Continued 
David Landreth, Jr., was an agriculturist of rare ex¬ 
perience and ability—a rapid, pleasing writer on rural 
topics. In 1827 he was one of the founders and, in 1828 
and the 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, having operated a machine shop at Bristol, 
Pa. In 1849 he was one of the 11 founders of the Farmers 
Club of Pennsylvania, still in existence. 
Oliver Landreth having served faithfully from 1858 to 
1897 as senior partner after his father’s death in 1880, 
died in November, 1897. He was much interested in the 
Episcopal Church, being a Sunday School Superintendent 
for years; Rector’s warden of old St. Andrew’s Church of 
Philadelphia, on the Board of Directors of the Episcopal 
Hospital in Philadelphia, and a member of the standing 
committee of the diocese of Pennsylvania. 
The title was changed in 1904 to D. Landreth Seed Com¬ 
pany, Burnet Landreth being elected president. His 
sons, Burnet Landreth, Jr. and Symington Phillips 
Landreth being admitted to partnership in the business, 
and being joined in 1906 by David Landreth, 4th. 
Leopold Landreth after many years of service died in 
November, 1912. 
Wm. Linton Landreth, second son of Oliver Landreth, 
entered the business in 1885 and continued until 1902, 
when he retired. 
In 1915 there were four Landreths in the business, direct 
descendants: Burnet Landreth, of the third generation; 
Burnet Landreth, Jr., Symington Phillips Landreth, and 
David Landreth, 4th, of the fourth generation. 
In 1917, as a war measure, over one third of the Blooms- 
dale Farm, including all the buildings and the river frontage, 
was taken over by the United States Government for the 
Merchants Shipyard, where 40 ocean steamships were 
built; thereupon, the D. Landreth Seed Company office 
and warehouse were forced to move to the town of Bristol, 
two miles below, where a large stone building, offering 
greater facilities for storage, was purchased (see photo¬ 
graph). After the War, a large portion was re-purchased 
and is again in possession of the Landreth Seed Company 
(see photograph of the large stone barn built in 1807). 
The President, Burnet Landreth, up to 1928 was twice 
decorated by the French Government for services to Agri¬ 
culture, first being made a member of the Legion of Honor. 
Among his many achievements were: 
President for many years of the Pennsylvania Forestry 
Association; Founder and President until his death of the 
Association of Centenary Firms and Corporations of the 
United States (the only Association of its kind in the 
world); Vice President of the Philadelphia Society for the 
Promotion of Agriculture; Chevalier de Merite Agricole 
de France, Legionne D’Honeur; Fellow of the Horticul¬ 
tural Society of London; Officier Merite Agricole de France; 
Member of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society; 
Foreign Member Scottish Arboricultural Society; Member 
of the Philosophical Society; Foreign Member of the Royal 
Agricultural Society of Sweden; Honorary Member of the 
Agricultural Society of Brazil; Foreign Member Society of 
Agriculture of Chili; Foreign Member of the Imperial 
Japanese Agricultural Society; Member of the Society of 
Arts of London; Foreign Member of the Society of Agri¬ 
culture of France; Honorary Member of the Horticultural 
Society of India: Honorary Member of the Agricultural 
Society of Hungary. 
On December 2, 1928, Burnet Landreth died and w r as 
succeeded by his son Burnet Landreth, Jr., as President 
and Treasurer, and his other two sons, S. Phillips Landreth 
and David Landreth, 4th, as Secretary, and Assistant 
Secretary. 
In addition to these officers, two great, great, grandsons 
of David Landreth—Burnet Landreth, 3rd, and Charles 
H. Landreth, sons of Burnet Landreth, Jr., are now con¬ 
nected with the business, making the fifth generation that 
has carried on the seed business started by their great, 
great, grandfather, David Landreth. 
WAREHOUSE AT BRISTOL, 1918 
WAREHOUSE AT BLOOMSDALE, 1876 
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