Showing Collections: 1 - 4 of 4
Bellevue Hall land records
Bellevue estate, now the Bellevue State Park, is a historic estate that was once a series of farms owned by members of the Orr, Grubb, and Stevenson families and later purchased by William du Pont (1855-1928). The records are a series of deeds covering the conveyance of the Bellevue property from 1782 to 1920. There are also three maps of the estate, including one showing the location of the house and landscaping.
Deeds for mill-seats on the Brandywine Creek and environs
Oliver Canby (1716-1754) was a miller on the Brandywine Creek. This collection of deeds and indentures documents the acquisition of mills or mill seats, and other lands near the Brandywine Creek in Wilmington, Delaware by the Canby family. This collection was in the possession and care of the Canby family until it was given to Hagley Museum and Library in 2011 by a descendant of Oliver Canby.
Joshua Gilpin and James Riddle miscellany
Joshua Gilpin (1765-1841) was a merchant and paper manufacturer. Thomas Gilpin (1776-1853) went into business with his brother, Joshua, establishing Delaware's first paper mill on the Brandywine Creek. James Riddle (1802-1873) owned James Riddle Son & Co., a cotton mill along the Brandywine. This collection contains miscellaneous papers from the three men, including deeds, property agreements, and a copy of Riddle's will.
Reading Company employment and real estate records
The Reading Company, chartered in 1871 as the Excelsior Enterprise Company, became the holding company for the system of railroads, canals and coal mines assembled by the predecessor Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company between 1833 and 1896. The Reading Company employment and real estate records comprise a largely incomplete and extremely fragmentary synthetic collection of material related to the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company and its successors. The collection comprises incomplete employment records largely dating from the first half of the twentieth century, records related to the employee pension program and the Relief Association, a small amount of contracts, and deeds and agreements reflecting the company's process of land acquisition following initial main line construction in the 1830s and through to the early twentieth century.