Milford chronicle., 1947-10-31
4 Tour OF Early Milford


The last place any of us would
choose for sight seeing toNr
would be our own home town. II
there Is one place we all know
by heart il is Milford And yet ii
Is sometimes possible not to be
able to see the woods for the
trees, and though looking at the
same thing every day not to see 1t
at all. So tonight we are going to
do kind of travel0gue in reverse
and try to get a picture of the
town as 1t looked when 1t was
young young and small.
Most of you know that North
Milford was the old town and was
a prosperous settlement long be-
fore South Milford grew up. For
many years there was nothing on
the southern side of the creek but
the great Crapper plantation, a
stretch of 1870 acres of land val
ued at $4,000, a large fortune In
that day. The plantation house,
which we know as the old Causey
Mansion. remains to this day, and
is stilI the most beautiful resi-
dence IN the town. It was built
about 1853 by Levin Crapper and
was then a house Of two stories
and half with dOrmers in the
roof, the back of the house being
what is now the front. It was Gov
ernor Causey who raised the third
story and gave the house the state
ly classic lines il now has. Per-
haps no house in Sussex so per-
fectly represents Delaware civili-
zation during the years before the
War between the States as this one.
All the culture, all the hospitality
and open handedness of our an
cient Delaware stock Is enshrined
there and You have only to look to
catch a glimpse of the past. In
one of the slave quarters lived the
black Nanny OF the household. AS
she grew old she grew fat so that
she could no longer ascend the
narrow little staircase to her
sleeping room above. so her mas
ter had enough bricks removed to
make wider passage for her and
to this day the hollow place made
for her comfort can be seen in the
wall.
For many years the life of the
Crapper plantation provided the
only activity of the southern side
OF the stream. but In North Mill
ford things were stirring. The town
owes It's origin to two men, both
of whom we must meet before we
examine the work they accom-
pllshed. First, Mr.. Joseph Oliver,
whose plantation comprised the
land, known as Saw Mill Range.
His house stood about half way
between the present site of Mr.,
James Stanton's and the creek. II
was many years later cut in halt
and moved to Front street in South
Milford about where JOseph's Gar
age now stands and where many
OF you probably remember it. Mr.
Oliver was a keen business man
he ran a store and bought country
produce which he shipped in his
own vessels out of the river. Hs
pelitioned for a drawbfidge across
the stream and 1t was built at The
expense of the two counties. Az
enterprising as Mr.. Oliver was, i
Is possible that his house Nigh
have remained the only one on thu
creek bank had it not been TO
the advent OF a new man, Vir
ginian. Mr.. Sydenham Thorne. MI
Thorne was the rector of Chris
Church, an able business man AM
a fine scholar. He bought all tha
land at the edge of town nov
known as the Draper farm an
built on 1t the handsome cOlonia
residence which we know as Sill
yer Hills. He was quick to Sc
the possibilities of the location 70
a town and he was not slow to fol
Mr.. Oliver and offered to build
dam across the creek at his owl
expense If Mr.. Oliver would agre
to lay out his land in building lots
The agreement was made and bot
projects were carried out. Then
grist mill was built where the oil
Red Mill stood and saw mill fur
ther up stream. BY 1890 there wer
eighty buildings in the town, thu
GAAV WINS Aa4A AaRA0 6AOWbA
When Mr.. Thorne came here tn
church stood at Chuchill about hal
way between here and Houston, i
fact the present highway passe
over the old graveyard that SUI
rounded the church. Mr.. Thorn
was so sure of the future of tn
town that he accepted the gift c
a town lot from Mr.. Oliver for tn
church and began the work {
building the present edifice al
though some of the congregatio
objected to the removal. He him
self paid for the making of til
bricks. but in the midst of hi
work he died at the age of 4
years. and the walls stood unfir
ished for some twenty years.
1888 Mr.. Oliver also donated tn
land for Methodist Church an
graveyard, part of the founds
ton yet remaining in the old yar
on North street across from I'll