The City Of Chester.

new addition he kept the Jacquard looms, and thereon were woven quilts and fabrics of a like character. The great difficulty he had to contend with was the scarcity of water, and to meet this want he expended thousands of dollars in sinking wells in the yard. The new enterprise, which had required a large outlay of means, was getting well established when the panic of 1857 came upon the country, spreading ruin in all directions, and crushing down industrial establishments by the thousands. Mr. Campbell at that time became financially embarrassed, and in 1858 the "Pioneer Mills" passed into the ownership of the late Gen. Robert E. Patterson.

After Campbell had erected the Pioneer Mills, the heirs of William Kerlin brought an action in ejectment against him, alleging that the land and buildings which Kerlin had conveyed to the county of Delaware in 1789 was conditioned on the use of the premises as a court-house and jail, and that inasmuch as the buildings had ceased to be used for the purposes intended, the title reverted to the heirs-at-law of Kerlin. The court below decided that the deed from Kerlin to the county was absolute and for a valuable consideration, with power of alienation in the county; and an appeal being taken to the Supreme Court, this opinion was sustained.

James Campbell, to whom Chester owes so much for its present manufacturing prominence, was born in Stockport, England, on Aug. 12, 1805, where at an early age he entered a mill, learning thoroughly the trade of cotton-weaving. Energetic and self-reliant, he came to this country in his early manhood, determining to make his way in this world. He sought employment at the factory of Mr. Philips, at Rockdale, and subsequently became the manager of the mills at Pennsgrove, then owned by James Houghton, now by Samuel Riddle, continuing there until 1837, when his employer removed to Groveville, N. J., to which place James Campbell declined to go, although he was urged to do so by Houghton, who was loath to part with him. At that time John Garsed, whose eldest daughter (Angelina) Campbell had married, had a machine-shop at Pennsgrove, and he offered to his son-in-law six cotton-looms, which he had made for parties who had failed in business and could not take the machines. Campbell accepted the offer, and placed the looms in a vacant building at Pennsgrove, and began his career as a manufacturer. Industrious and progressive, he soon established a reputation in business, and in the following year Hon. George G. Leiper proposed to erect an additional story to the bark-mill, at Leiperville, so as to afford sufficient room for the machinery required in a cotton-factory, if Campbell would agree to lease the property after the change was made. The offer was accepted, and in that locality Campbell was very successful, accumulating considerable capital, which he subsequently lost in his effort to develop the borough of Chester into a manufacturing town. His object was attained, hundreds have profited by his endeavors, but in the panic of 1857, when many of the commission-houses with whom he dealt suspended, it embarrassed him, and finally caused his failure. So great had been his struggles to prevent this result that his health broke under the strain, and after several years of almost unintermitting illness, during which his indomitable energy never forsook him, he died, May 14, 1862.

The mill, after Campbell's failure, was occupied by James Stevens until about 1863, when Messrs. Roberts, Wilson & Willey carried on the manufacturing business therein. In 1865, Gen. Patterson sold the