Also known as: Stephens and Manderson
Owner: Alfred du Pont, Alexander Stephens, James Stephens, William B. Stephens
Industry type: Textile mill
Location: Henry Clay Mill
Active dates: 1838-1843; 1845-1855
Summary: Alexander Stephens & Co. signed a one-year lease to rent E. I. du Pont's mill, which had come to be known as “Vernon Mills,” on March 16, 1838 for $2,500. The lease had ended by July 1, 1843, but in 1845, the cotton-spinning company began to occupy the mill again, with another local textile firm, A. W. Adams & Co. paying the lease. A. W. Adams & Co. had occupied the mill in the intervening years before moving to Walker's Mill and may have been serving as an agent for A. Stephens & Co. The company was renamed Stephens & Manderson in 1851 and was out of business by 1855.
Citations: Boatman, Roy. The Brandywine Cotton Industry, 1795-1865. Hagley Research Report, 1957.