Milford chronicle., 1893-07-14
HARRINGTON

anL points ln AhN GNAdWaAN E|AtHs'A'-
the principal railroad center south of Will
imnetou, with the exception Of Clayton,
where the Superintendents Office is located.
Before the opening up of the railroad IN 1850
all that there was IN what was then known
as Clark's corner; were one house and a /
store. The ground was mainly owned by /
the decendents of Benjamin Clark to whom
it had been patented in 1860. One hundred
and eighty acres comprising his grant EN- /
braced the land lying east and west of the
prseeut town. The land on the north ana
south was in possession Of Benjamin Faf- |
riugtou The first that is known of Clark S /
corner was in 1910 when Benjamin CLARK
erected a hotel upon the present site OF the
Harrington hotel, the old building still
forming a portion of the present strus ture.
Shortly after building the depot Matthew ].
Clark laid out number Of town lots which
he succeeded in selling rapidly and four
years later twenty new houses had been
erected. The building of the ]. and B. K.
gave the place an impetus. Burton Bennett
opeued another store where A. H. Matthews
now conducts a general merchandising busi-
ness. The old hotel had been closed for
years aud one being badly needed Zadock
Clark built the present Harrington House
which has since been conducted by BenJa-
min + Fleming, James Satterheld, Edward
c. Shaw, James Herserp. Frank Harmonsou,
Samuel Solomon, J. W. Wescott June
Rathel, Amos Cole, w. Dickerson and Cap
tain T + Heathers, who now occupies the
hotel The Delaware House was built as
store in 1858 by Zachariah Meriken but
shortly afterward + H. Macklen remodeled
it aud opened the hotel aud his successors
have been Thos. Fountain John C.. Gorby,
Amos Cole and Alexander Newman. The last
named proprietor, Mr.. Newman, has occu-
pied the Delaware House for the past eight
years has the reputation Of keeping one OF
the best houses on the peninsula. Persons
arriving at any time during the night can be
taken care of at short notice and sent 10 any
part of the peninsula The postOihce was
established in 1857, with Matthew ]. Clark
as postmaster; since which time il has been
in charge Of the following persons: John II.
/ VanGiesel, James Moore, S. L. shaw,
Thomas / Smith and Josiah II. Melvin, who
was recently appointed by Cleveland In
/ 1880 the population numbered eight
/ hundred. About this time number
Of Industries were started which attracted
laboring people and number OF hne stores
/ were built aud opened and careful estimate
made 10 1857 placed the population at 1900.
| The population from last census gives us
/ 1000. The legislature in 1869 changed the
name of the town from Clark's corner to
Harrington IN hodor of Hon. Samuel NJ.
1 Harrington, at that time Chancellor Of State.
The population waTrauting It, IN 1869 Har-
rii gton was incorporated and Vim. Shaw,
Thos H. Dorman, Martin w. Harrington,
| lanes II Vickery and VIM. T. VauGiesel,
were named as the first commissioners
/ They were 10 hold Office until 1870 and were
| then to hold an election for alderman, treas
urer, assessor, and collector aud to define
the limits Joseph Ward. our present justice
| Of tue peaep, was selected as surveyor. The
/ limits Of tue town were fixed one mile from
the tank house in every direction The
election resulted in the choice u Henry (.
| Wolcott for alderman. ]. w. Stevenson,
treasurer; lii Harrington, assessor and c. c.
/ Powell collector The new commissioners
opened new streets. laid sidewalks erected
street lamps and passed a number of ordin-
ances FIR the town government. The Har-
rinetom high school was built 10 1884 and is
'iT' shaped, one end beng thirty-fve by
! sixty aud the other thirty by thirty Ave
There are six large rooms, two slrorles. The
building is Of Queen Anne style Of aTchtec-
/ ture aud cost SIX thousand dollars. There
are accommodations for six teachers and
four hundred scholars. The school is graded
and the higher branches are taught The
district is a consolidation of districts nun.
bers "a (which was elected in 1902 1876 aud
Ia7 VI Kent county and was incorporated by
an act Of the Legislature at the session of
1883. The act named Robert S. Downs,
Robert H. Short, James A. Smith, Ezekiel
/
1 Sharp, Henry DickeTson, Amos Cole and
James Moore as board of education for the
town of Harrington. They were given
power to borrow 1--WE thousand dollars to
erect a school building and were to hold
office until April, 1883, at which time their
successors were to be elected. three to hold
one year, three, two years and three, three
years. The NJ, +. Church was built about
| four years ago at a cost of 81, 900. and has
/ 1aruaef ronurauafinra he daTfiraffOr
sermon was preached by the Rev. ], S. Will
lis of your town; the present pastor is J. H..
Rawlins. In 1873 the Presbyterian Church
was erected at a cost of two thousand eight
hundred and fifty dollars. The present
membership numbers I25 the present pas
tor is ]. B. Hutchinson. The Baptist Church
was built two years ago and dedicated free OF
debt; membership about $50; present pastor
Rev. Frank HOwes The M. P. Church
was organized in 1880 with a membership of
fifty. The church building was dedicated
August 10Th, 1881 by the Rev. T. H. Lewes,
Rev. r. T. Rowe and John E. Nicholson,
of Wilmington. The building is a neat
frame structure and cost two thousand dol
lars. The St. Anne's Episcopal Church was
cOnsecrated by Bishop Lee, June, 1876.
The building was erected BY subscription.
The greatest portion of the amount being
contributed by the Rev. J. L. McKim, OF
Milford, who held services there until about
1887 when the church closed The largest
aud far the most important manufacturing
interest in the town Of Harrington is that Of
Z, Fleming. In 1872 Mr.. Fleming started
a large saw mill with a capacity Of six
thousand feet of lumber per day. Since that
time ne has added a spoke factory in which
he manufactures white oak wagon spokes
which have achieved a reputation in the
large cities for their excellence. A grist-
mill and wagon works were next added. A
capital of SIS 900 is invested in the business
and constant employment is given to sixty
men Mr.. Fleming also built a large can
ming establishment on the road leading to
FELTON,, which gives employment to = num-
Der Of people during the summer aud fall.
Mr.. Fleming is making big preparations for
this seasons crop of tomatoes and peaches.
He will put up at least one million cans,
Mr.. ]. c. Reed has also contributed much to
the prosperity of Harrington. He also built
a canning factory in 1888, the extent of this
industry is shown by the fact that as high as
fifty thousand cases of canned goods haYe
been put up. Employment is given
10 two hundred hands and a capital
of ten thousand dollars is invested
Franklin Bros, both young men, have con-
/ Quoted since 1879 a successful basket factory.
William H. aud Omar ]. constitute the arm.
| They give employment to about seventy-hve
hands and have about fifteen thousand dol
| lars invested IN the business on account OF
the large peach crop expected. They have
orders which will keep them running on full
time until October.-Our town is represent
ed by eight lodges as follows: A. o. U. w.,
I. o. o. F., Jr. o. A NJ. Improved Order Of
/ Heptasophs, Brotherhood of the Union,
Order Of Red Men, and the c. A. R. They
are all ia a hourishing condition. The Har-
rington High School has closed in all Of its
departments and will reopen about the mid
die Of Sept. It is understood that Prof Knapp
was engaged as principal. for next year
Byron Smith, son Of T. J. Smith, while go
to FELTON, on the 4th Of July with his COM
panion, Eugene Sharp, accidentally shot him
self in the knee with a 90 Caliber revolver,
He immediately was driven to his home and
Drs Owens and West were summoned aud
1 probed for the ball but were unable to locate
It, Next day Dr. VIM. Marshall, of your
town, was telegraphed for. He made an ex-
animation Of the wound and reported it quite
painful but not serious. Howard Clymer
and Bert. Franklin, who have been attending