Upper Darby Township.
tives are employed, twenty-five bales of cotton are used, and forty thousand yards of goods are manufactured weekly.
Tuscarora Mills. - At the bend of Darby Creek, where the Springfield township line unites with that stream, these mills are located. Prior to the Revolution a grist-mill was at this place. Samuel G. Levis, an aged man still living, states that on the day the battle of Brandywine was fought mechanics were at work on a fly-wheel for a paper-mill then being built by Samuel Levis at this locality, and the distant cannonading could be distinctly heard. The paper-mill was owned and carried on by Samuel Levis until his death, in 1793, at which time it passed to his son, William Levis. The latter died in 1818, and the mills were sold to William Palmer and Jonathan Marker, who continued the manufacture of paper there until 1830, when Frederick Server, a son-in-law of William Palmer, succeeded to the business, the making of coarse card-board. A part of the mill building was washed away in the flood of 1843. The following year the property was purchased by George Burnley, who removed there from Cobb's Creek, in Haverford, where he had been operating, in partnership with James Haworth, one of Dennis Kelly's mills. In 1844 he built the stone cotton-mill, two and a half stories high, and named the works the Tuscarora Mills, the noted packetship of that name of Cope's line having been the vessel in which Burnley sailed from Liverpool. In 1860 his son, Charles, and John Burnley succeeded to the business. George Burnley operated the mills from 1865 for a short time, when Samuel Levis leased them and continued there until 1870, when he was followed for a year and a half by George D. Lewis. The mills were then leased to Henry Taylor and John Haley. Taylor subsequently had the mills and failed. The machinery and leasehold were sold at sheriff's sale, and thus arose one of the noted lawsuits of the county. After Taylor, S. A. Springer operated the mills until 1882, since which time the mills have been idle. The mills, owned by a daughter of George Burnley, are to be sold at public sale Sept. 6, 1884.
George Burnley, the son of John and Mary Burnley, was born Dec. 28, 1804, in Littletown, near Leeds, Yorkshire, England, where his youth was spent. His educational advantages were limited to a brief interval of study prior to entering a neighboring factory. After acquiring a knowledge of the business of a manufacturer, he sailed about the year 1825 for America, and at once located in Montgomery County, Pa. At a later date he removed to Haverford, and having rented a mill on Cobb's Creek, began the manufacture of cotton goods, having before this had a brief but not very successful career as a manufacturer of carpets in Philadelphia. In 1844 he removed to Darby Creek, in Upper Darby township, and erected the Tuscarora Mills, which were devoted to the manufacture of cotton goods and the spinning of yarn. This business was continued until 1861, when he retired from its active management, and was succeeded by his brothers, John and Charles, and his son, George E. Burnley. Mr. Burnley was married Dec. 31, 1838, to Miss Hannah Lomas, daughter of James Lomas, of England. Their children are George E., Charles W., Adaline (deceased), Mary Elizabeth (deceased), Washington, Hannah Jane (deceased), Alice (Mrs. William A. Fries), Sarah Jane (deceased), Michael, and Hester (deceased). Mr. Burnley voted first the Whig, and subsequently the Republican ticket in politics, but was not active in the political arena. He was in religion a Swedenborgian, and a member and trustee of that church. His death occurred Aug. 9, 1864, in his sixtieth year.
Ralph Lewis purchased one hundred and fifty acres of land June 14, 1692, a part of five hundred acres of land surveyed, Nov. 15, 1683, to John Bowne. This land came to Samuel Lewis April 20, 1708, and to Abraham Lewis Sept. 5, 1711. This was on the Bloomsberry tract, on Darby Creek, at the upper end of the township. In 1766, Abraham Lewis owned an interest in a grist-mill on this tract, for which he was assessed in that year. The mill long ago fell into disuse, even lost to tradition, and prior to the Revolution had been abandoned, for it is not mentioned in any assessment-roll subsequent to 1766.
Mills on Cobb's Creek. - This stream, which forms the eastern boundary of Upper Darby township, as also that of Lower Darby, until it unites and is merged into Darby Creek, in the early time of the Swedish settlement was known as Mill Kill or Creek, because the Swedish water-mill, built by Governor Printz in 1643, was located on its banks, near the present Blue Bell Tavern. Subsequently, when the English acquired ownership of the territory, the name Cobb was given to it, because a large tract of land was located along its banks by William Cobb, who in 1683 was appointed by the court at Chester constable for Amesland and "Calcoone Hook." Following this stream, beginning at the southern boundary of Upper Darby, the history of the industrial establishments located on Cobb's Creek and its tributaries will be narrated.
Bonsall's Saw-Mill. - The first mill-seat on Cobb's Creek within the limits of Upper Darby township was on the present grounds of the Fernwood Cemetery. This site was occupied by Benjamin Bonsall, who erected a saw-mill at the place soon after 1822, for in that year his name does not appear on the assessment-roll in connection with any mill in the township. The saw-mill, however, is mentioned in 1825, and was in operation subsequent to 1848, when it disappeared from among the industries of Delaware County. From the same dam whose water furnished power to Bonsall's saw-mill, water was had to run a snuff-mill, which was located on the east side of the creek, in Philadelphia. In 1807 this snuff-mill was owned by Gavin Hamilton, and was continued in operation long after 1826.
Sellers' Locomotive-Works. - About 1831 a