The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-06-21
sIrELr.Por PARK.

I
| Oid--It SUN Strands a Relief of ID,
farr Pays Of Wilmington and the sar.
rounding Country.
Now that shellpot has been brought
| within such cas- reach by the electric
railway. 1t is visited by hundreds of per
sons every day, but II Its historic in
tsrest was fully known there is nc
doubt but the number OF visitors
would be largely increased. The parl
itself is beautiful. but its beauty con
sists in its natural ruggedness. I'm
mense boulders protrude above the
surface. and It Is probable the natura
topography OF the ground remains the
same as 1t was when the red mar
roamed undisturbed through the
original forests.
Not go with the stream, however, for
1t has vastly decreased In size and now
Is nothing but a purllng brook. across
which even q child can step without
wetting It's feet. But one hundred
years ago, thie brook must have been
mighty and powerful stream, fol
here to one side stands the remains OF
wheel twenty-four feet In diameter
crumbllng to decay. And It Ia more
especially about this mill In reference
| to which SO many questions are asked
that this article Is intended 20 trent.
| Many Of the facts. however, were
furnished by Bafliff A. G. Brinton, who
is an established authority In every.
thing concerning mills In New Castle
county.
This mill stands on the west side Of
| tho Shellpot above the present turn
pike, and is known as the webster
MILL" Mr.. Preston Lea. the president
OF the Wilmington City Railway Com
pany is now the owner Of the mill and
the surrounding grounds. The history
OF this structure dates back to the
colonial days, and the ground on
which 1t stands was first known as
| Mill Hook. or the junction OF tho
6hellpot and the Erie Nation Run.
The first mill built near this site was
q small affair. aad stood on the Nation
Run. Henry Stidham became the
owner of the ground at Mil Hook,
and In 1851 sold fifty acres to Henry
Webster for 10 pounds, Pennsylvania
| currency.
The mill was then built by Moore 4
| Webster, near the site OF the present
mill, and the waters OF Shellpot and
Nation Run were put to use to drive
the machinery, which ground the
grist Tor those who came many miles
At that time the place was considered
quite q business centre, and there Is
no doubt that when the colonists met
| at that spot the Entertainments OF the
mother country were fully discussed.
John Webster, one Of the owners, was
an ardent Methodist. and one OF the
pioneers Of the sect In that vicinity.
| About fifty years ago a man named
CLARK rented the mill and brought
Hour and meal to this city. But the
old structure was getting out OF re.
| pair, 30 Henry Webster, who had be.
come sole owner, employed Benjamin
| Mcdaniel to put in new gearings and
boiling reels and modernize tho mill,
about 1854 or 1856.
When the work was done there was
q grand set out to celebrate the event.
1t was called mill warming, but
whether the fire or the whisky was
too hot Is something that will never
be known now, but one thing is Ger.
tain, and that is they set fire to the
mill, and it was partly burned. Mr..
Webster had the damage repaired and
the mill was run several years, until
the supply OF water commenced to
fail. since which time 1t has been al-
| loved to 60 to decay, and 1t now Is
an object OF wonder aid admiration.
The old wheel. about twenty-four
feet in diameter, will soon be thing
OF the past, as 1t is rapidly falling to
pieces, but 1t still shows that with O
good supply of water 1T has proved a
powerful m otor. and no doubt has
done a vast amount OF good work
About one year ago Mr.. Lea secured
the mill and surrounding grounds.
which he has turned into Shellpot
Park. His country house stands some
distance to the north, and among its
many attractions Is an old well, with an
abundant supply Of pure cold water.
drawn TO thirsty lips by a genuine old
oaken bucket. The tombstone that
marked the place where the elderWeb-
ster laid was near where the pavilion
now stands was visible up to about a
year ago.
The history OF the first mill dates
back to the time Of the enterprising
and thrifty Swedish and Dutch settlers
who were not slow to avail themselves
of the excellent water power of the
Brandywine and Shellpot creeks. At
| that time the Swedes held Shellpot
Hill and Veraretlgo Hook, sometimes
known as Trinity Hood, but now as
Edgemoor. This land comprised
some 800 acres, which the Swedes had
acquired from the Indians, but anoth-
! or need for tina same lands was obtain.
ed In 1883, from the English Deputy
1 oofSAAoA w NY Nm
| Williamson, Mel Nelson and others,
who had previously been or. n ed the
lands by. the Indians In 1870. This
grant iucludsd the land on the eRet
| side from the Delaware river to above
the old mill, taking in all of Shellpot
Hill, where the lands of the Sellers,
Wedons. Talleys. Mr.. Weir and others
| are now located.
1.-The old mill was commenced soon az.
ter the Dutch secured possession of the
lands now known as Delaware, which
was In 1855. In 1858 they sent the fol.
lowing petition to the Director Gen.
eral OF New Netherlands, by which
name the possessions Of the birth In
America was known:
ITO the Noble Honorable Director
General OF New netherlands, etc.
Show with due reverence Joost An
driessen and companions. that they
are willing to erect saw and grist
mill below the Turtles Falls for which
the place and some land belonging to-
1t has boon granted to them by pro-
ylsional Commissaiy of the Honorable
W. l. Company, subject to your honor'sI
approval. Therefore your petitioners
respectfully ask that your honor will
please to approve the same and issue
letters patent for II, which doing, etc.
Joost Andriessen q Co.
On May 8, 1858 the petition was re.
turned endorsed as follows:
''The request lie granted, provided
that they shall not ask more for the
grinding Of grain than is paid at thel
Honorable Company's grist mill. .
The company formed for the pur-I
pose of building the mill was mostly
composed OF Swedes, but some werel
Dutch. Although permission wasl
granted them in 1858 to build mill,
nothing was done up to May 10. 1862,
when permission was granted to JAM
Staleop and Lucus Petersen to gol
ahead with the enterprise. PERMITS.
sion was granted on condition that
they should grind all the grist Tor the
Honorable Company's garrison free of
charge. The two pair of mill stones
for use In the mill were made in Hol-l
land. and imported to this country I'M
1868 or 1864. Shortly after tho pro-
prietor applied for piece of land onl
which they could reside. and were
granted 10 acres, which is now inclnd-
ed in the property of william Sellers,
Such is the history OF the old mill, very
little OF which now remains to mark
the spot whore it once stood. To this
place the sturdy settlers carried their
grlst, but now what little Is left of it is
scarcely ylelble except to very close
observers.
There were several other mills In the
vicinity but this was the first and dur
ing the time II WAS run the m oa+ In, u